Millennium

There are many men and women who defined the end of the last Millennium and who added to its magnificence and shame. There were visionaries, cult figures, revolutionaries, tyrants, trend-setters and opinion-makers. I loved Elvis Presley and my mother bought a lot of his records. Blue Hawaii,was played over and over again in our house until eventually I knew the album by heart. Walt Disney was another hero. The Disney cartoons, especially the longer feature length ones often brought a magical glow to our sitting room on a wet Sunday. When the theme music came on the television, "When you wish upon a star, makes no difference where you are...", you knew you were in for a very special treat. The Dalai Lama has became iconic to me more recently. Alfred Hitchcock was always frightening and Steven Spielberg inspiring. Bill Gates has enhanced and diminished our lives almost in almost equal measure. Adolph Hitler perpetrated some of the most heinous crimes in the history of humanity and Charlie Chaplin never failed to make me smile.
I have included two leaves, taken from my garden at the end of the millennium, here. I pressed them in an old telephone directory for a few years. One is dark and the other is covered in twenty three carat gold leaf. One represents exclusion, ill, and the maniacal tyrants who caused so much pain. The other leaf, marks the kind people who spread happiness in many quiet ways across the globe. I will let you decide yourself which represents which.

Medico Della Peste

During the Easter break from school we travelled to the beautiful city of Venice: City of Bridges and City of Light. It was a unique experience due to the beauty of the city and its long maritime history. I was intrigued by the many small side streets that are noticably quiet because Venice is the only car free city in Europe. Travelling is done by gondola or vaporetta (waterbus) or on foot.The many small islands that make up the city are linked by about 400 bridges, each with its own individual character.
The main streets are lined with colourful gift shops, coffee shops and restaurants. I loved the displays of masks, a centuries old Venetian tradition, now typically worn during Carnevale. They were originally used for a variety of purposes, some of them illicit or criminal, others just personal, such as romantic encounters.
The Medico Della Peste (The Plague Doctor's Mask) with its long beak is one of the most bizarre and recognisable of the Venetian masks. The striking design has a macabre history originating from Charles de Lorme, a 16th century French physician, who adopted the mask together with other peculiar sanitary precautions while treating victims of plague.
The doctors who followed de Lorme's example wore a black hat and long black cloak as well as the mask, white gloves and a stick (to move patients without having to come into physical contact). They hoped these precautions would prevent them contracting the disease.
My wardrobe does not include any of the macarbe clothing but I do use the small brass mask daily, as a key ring.

Ice Cream

I love good ice cream.....it is one of my favourite foods !
I also love the names of the flavours on the Ben & Jerry's tubs.....Cherry Garcia, Phish Food, Berried Treasure, Jamaican Me Crazy, Karamel Sutra, Mission to Marzipan and my favourite.....Imagine Whirled Peace ! Unfortunately not all available here yet.
Last Easter, we visited the Ben & Gerry's Ice Cream factory in Waterbury, Vermont, U.S.A. Nestled in the heart of the Green Mountains the ice cream factory sits on a rolling pasture overlooking the Worcester Range heading North from the town of Waterbury. The guided factory tour was very enjoyable.
The tour began in the Cow Over the Moon theatre with a company history moo-vie. The founders, two childhood friends, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, turned a $5.00 correspondence course on ice cream making into a very successful business. The factory, which was smaller than I imagined it would be, churns out 250,000 pints of ice cream every day !
From the theatre we were taken to a glassed-in mezzanine, where we got a bird’s eye view of the production room and an explanation of the ice cream manufacturing process. Then it was off to the Flavouroom to indulge in a sample flavour of the day, which I must say was a little disappointing because the portions were small!
Afterwards, we spent some time browsing the Gift Shop where all things Ben & Jerry’s were bright, colourful and very tempting. Finally, we sampled our favourite flavours from the variety of options offered in the Scoop Shop.
We brought home eight lovely ice cream bowls, some glass churn samplers of Vermont maple syrup and a little B & G's lapel pin.

When I was very young, the Coyne family shared our house in Doorly Park for a while. Kevin, the father was a sales representative for Perri Crisps and Palm Grove Ice Cream. On Sundays after dinner he would sometimes, take in a block of raspbery ripple or vanilla and it would be divided out between us. The children all scrutinised the cutting, as each precious slice was measured out equally. It was a great treat.
I would love to own a Palm Grove Ice Cream pin. I don't think one ever existed.... but a Ben & Gerry's one makes a very good alternative.

Rudy

Today I voted yes in The Lisbon Treaty. I am still not totally sure if it was the correct decision....but on the basis of all that I heard and read about it seemed the best option. My principal reservation was the common defence policy. Of course if any of my neighbours in Emyvale was being attacked I would intervene to help. I am sure the people of Ireland would not stand idly by either, if other European countries were experiencing hostilities from foreign invaders. Indeed, we would expect support from our European Union partners, if we too were under threat. My fear is, that with a powerful army, the E.U. would interfere in matters beyond our borders, for political and economic reasons. Ireland has a long and respected tradition of peacekeeping as members of the United Nations which I hope the E.U. seeks to emulate.
As my old Latin teacher once said: "The only thing we learn from war is that mankind never learns from war"
In 1974 a group of young people from Sligo did a group exchange with a group from Coesfeld in Germany. It went on for a few years and we became great friends when we visited each others homes. One of the boys, I think his name is Rudy, gave me an anti war trinket. It is what I hope the European common defence policy is going to be all about.