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Continue reading →: Orangefest
Yippee it’s the glorious twelfth and the flags are flying in Belfast city. The deck chairs are out and the street vendors are preparing to make a killing. The bands hadn’t started marching when I cycled into town, but the rain may put a dampener on proceedings. Last night’s bonfires…
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Continue reading →: MOOC – Scottish Independence? Understanding the Referendum
Now that the summer holidays are imminent, I feel the need to broaden my horizons. So I have signed up for a course that should make the issues surrounding Scottish independence clearer. The University of Edinburgh are running the course via Future Learn. There is so much political hype…
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Continue reading →: Ballad performing
Yesterday I rolled out another rhyme for a colleague’s birthday, but with a difference. Inspired by James Simmons, I tried my hand at singing the rhyme. It went down very well, although it took my boss by surprise. I had printed off the lyrics and given them to a select…
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Continue reading →: Like an Alan Turing test – only different
miscreant [noun] a person who has done something wrong or unlawful. “the police are straining every nerve to bring the miscreants to justice” synonyms: criminal, culprit, wrongdoer, malefactor, offender, villain, black hat, lawbreaker, evil-doer, convict, delinquent, sinner, transgressor, outlaw, trespasser, scoundrel, wretch, reprobate, rogue, rascal; Take one miscreant aged about…
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Continue reading →: In memoriam – 7/7
It’s 9 years since the London bombings and the shocking images of carnage and destruction. The war against hate continues. Those who are misguided in their ideology, theology and morality are still a tiny minority of humanity. Those who acknowledge reason as the only logical determining factor in how we…
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Continue reading →: Flags are getting bigger
Not long ’til the glorious 12th of July when King Billy won the battle of the Boyne. This historic day is celebrated by lots of marching bands parading up and down the province, and the lampposts have been festooned with flags for weeks. This year the flags are the sort…
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Continue reading →: Another dum di dum rhyme – European travel
Kevin’s been off on his travels again Europe explored by boat or fast train Broadens the mind and eases the strain Until you come back to the heat and the rain Belfast is sultry which makes people mean Does your mind wander to Basel and Wien? Bratwürst, Kartoffeln and…
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Continue reading →: The Problem of Comics Temporality, Part One: Jim Starlin
Originally posted on Comics, Cartoons and Criticism: Perhaps there is no more complicated theoretical rabbit hole for understanding comics than the problem of temporality. Specifically, how are we to understand the temporal relationship between subsequent panels / segments / sequences, how do we measure time elapsed within discrete images, and…
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Continue reading →: Heroic superman saves man from burning car
Bob Renning, please take a bow. His Herculean effort enabled him to grab the door frame of a smoke-filled car in Minnesota and bend it! His prompt action saved the driver’s life, and his superpower must have come as a bit of a surprise to him after the excitement and…