Virtual Methodist

I had one of those incidents this week of remembering something that didn't happen. Don't fear, I haven't developed false memory syndrome, although I am sure we have all experienced a variety of that where an event when we were young has been talked about so vividly that we are convinced that we actually remember it ourselves even though it is unlikely (or perhaps even impossible as we weren't actually there)... No, in this instance I was convinced that I had been to the previous production of the Lyric's "Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme" only to find out subsequently that I couldn't possibly have been as I wasn't in the country at the time! However, I know I DID see a production of it (and I don't think it was the Abbey's original production in Dublin) before early 1987. I also know I didn't see it alone, as I was never sad enough to go to the theatre on my own, so if there is anyone out there who accompanied ...

I am currently reading a book that looks at classical culture and at one point the author questions the possibility (or indeed the point of) establishing the historic truth of any of the foundation myths of an ancient city like Rome, looking back thousands of years to a tradition that was probably already almost a millenium old. We in this part of the world should know the truth of this as we already have difficulty untangling the historic truths of the past 50 years of conflict, never mind the foundation myths of the two jurisdictions on this island, many of which find their historic roots in the events of 1916 in the Easter Rising and the Battle of the Somme. There are many upcoming events commemorating/celebrating/reflecting on these and other anniversaries of this so-called "Decade of Centenaries" including two public lectures in Belfast South Methodist: IRELAND ON THE BRINK 1912-1922:  Some Thoughts on the Decade of Centenaries on Monday 15 th February  at...

This is Virtual Methodist's electronic equivalent of those glossy supplements you get in weekend newspapers that take a full week to get through... at least in this household... Its a few of the more developed stories I've come across this week which are too long for a FB post and which I haven't had time or inclination to post on myself. The first involves story of Mary Bale, a 45-year-old bank clerk, and former church choir singer,dropping a cat into a wheelie bin... Now given what happened to our cat while on holiday (and I'm not blogging about that yet... still too angry) I can understand some of the outrage, but I'm with Will Crawley who is bemused by the wholesale hue and cry in the media given the other, bigger issues in the news. One of those issues has dominated Will's blog, and the Northern Ireland news this week, that being the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman's report into the Claudy bombing back in the very darkest days of our most recent Troub...

Just got wind today of this new £1 coin celebrating my native city of Belfast. It has elements of the city's coat of arms on it, with a prominent sailing ship reminding us of Belfast's maritime and shipbuilding heritage... Slightly more fitting than the irony-free continual evocation of the Titanic everywhere you go here. I do find it amusing that the coin on the first day cover isn't quite level, suggesting that this sailing ship might head the way of the Titanic as well. But it did set me thinking what the coin would have looked like had it been designed by locals... or indeed those who only know Belfast from the news headlines. Balaclava clad gunmen? Peace walls? RUC Landrovers? Orange marches? Bonfires? Thankfully we don't feature in the international headlines quite so often these days and perhaps need to get on with fashioning an identity free of those images. But could I also ask for a moratorium on images of the Titanic, the Somme and George Best... Even C.S. Le...