The mysterious number 6174
6174. Does not seem, at first glance, an interesting number. Maybe paradoxically uninteresting? Or maybe not, for as Yutaka Nishiyama wrote back in 2006 here, 6174 pops up in a rather interesting manner: In…
A first hand account of being in the eye of an online shame hurricane – “Shame Storm”, Helen Andrews |
At First Things, a highly thought-provoking essay by Helen Andrews on online shaming, and specifically her own experience. One of the most repellent features of online and social media discourse,…
Don’t trust Alexa Crazy Fact: the name “Wendy” wasn’t invented for Peter Pan (and pig orgasms don’t quite last as long as all that)
One of the skills of Amazon’s Alexa is Crazy Fact. This skills allows Alexa to pop up with a fact which is a little unusual or offbeat. From this, I learnt…
“Tower of Ivory, House of Gold”: the Litaniae Lauretanae with Mozart, Zelenka, Heiligenkreuz Abbey and Benedict XVI
Contrary to the name, the “Litany of Loreto” is most likely to have originated in Paris between 1150 and 1200, according to this site. It is a litany of praises and…
Music for Christmas: “Dia do Bheatha” performed by Tonos
I recently saw Tonos perfom their Wintersong concert, the music from which was available as a CD at the concert. I would highly recommend this. Tonos – soprano Roisin O’Grady and…
“A Ceremony Of Carols”, Benjamin Britten, presented by Clontempo, St Mary’s Church, Irishtown, Clonmel, Dec 14th 2018
Here’s a poster for this event in one of the most beautiful (and atmospheric) churches in Clonmel: Here’s a video of the Vilnius Municipal Choir performing the piece. Although obviously…
The most pompous Irish ad ever?
A while back I posted a compilation of pompous Irish ads. Of course, this was in some way giving them even more exposure than they already received (though I don’t kid…
Against the inspirational
A while back I posted about what I called the Inspirational Imperative; the pressure to craft suffering and distress and setbacks into more-easily-digestible, feelgood stories of “inspiration.” The need to…
Séamus Sweeney 