Goodreads Ireland discussion

Omg a € on a bottle of wine!!!

Apologies to those outside of Ireland, who probably don’t know what I’m talking about!!

I'm going straight down to Lidl to buy as many cases as I can afford!

@ Tina - I think there may be a stampede!

LOL

I'm more worried about college fees. But still, if I fail to get an education I can always take up drinking...

Oh, wait!

Lol they knew that a tax on wine would draw attention away from other cuts, their crafty

I'm gonna start bootlegging cheap hooch to pay my tuition fees.

I am NOT responsible for any resulting blindness.

When I visited Dingle someone there gave me a tot of moonshine, some type of potato concoction. I breathed fire for days but my eyesight didn't get worse.

amused to see the wine aisle chock a block at 9 pm and the shelves practically empty -- it's going to be a 'merry' Christmas in some houses round here!!

Izzyreads wrote: "amused to see the wine aisle chock a block at 9 pm and the shelves practically empty -- it's going to be a 'merry' Christmas in some houses round here!!"

I'm sure it's just for cooking.

Roberta wrote: "When I visited Dingle someone there gave me a tot of moonshine, some type of potato concoction. I breathed fire for days but my eyesight didn't get worse."

If you can still see, you're not drunk.

Izzyreads wrote: "amused to see the wine aisle chock a block at 9 pm and the shelves practically empty -- it's going to be a 'merry' Christmas in some houses round here!!"

OK< not only are we at a loss on this discussion but at least tell me what chock a block is?

the tax only comes in as wine leaves the bond tesco are ruining a great deal 6 bottles one free and 10% off

@ Susan - we've had our budget and they have put tax on everything also chock a block is FULL.

I cannot imagine such a run on wine just to avoid E1 tax but specials and discounts would explain some of the craziness. Seeing the state of the economy it's hard to understand spending money like this.

is the potato drink illegal like the moonshine here? When I was in Spain, an Irish bar served it but said it was illegal. not sure if he was just kidding or not.. I didn't drink it though.
I wonder if the wine taste good or maybe that's why it was only one euro haha

There have been a brands of poitín released. The best known was called Hackler. It's not the same, though. It's much weaker and more palatable.

Today my first granddaughter, Raelyn Verena Johnson, was born. Mother and child doing well. Dad already wrapped around her little finger.












,y

Congratulations. What a lovely Christmas you will have.

Was she born on 12 12 12?


Kate :-)

Susan wrote: "Today my first granddaughter, Raelyn Verena Johnson, was born. Mother and child doing well. Dad already wrapped around her little finger.

Fabulous! Congratulations all around :) :)










,y"

Congratulations, Susan and welcome to the world Raelyn.

congratulations, Susan. I'm sure you'll be the best grandmother a little girl could ever have.

I-like-to-read wrote: "Congratulations. What a lovely Christmas you will have.

Was she born on 12 12 12?


Kate :-)"
No. They were going to induce on 12-12-12 but she has a mind of her own and came on 12/11. There was no stopping her.

Lasagne = nag sale :-)

Glad I'm a veggi!!!

I got saddled with a load of the products, myself. The gave me the trots. Don't worry. I'm in a stable condition. If you thought the burgers caused an outcry, the lasagne fiasco will stirrup a lot more trouble. How long will we stand for these breeches of trust? I'll never know for sure in the future if my filly mignon is actual beef or not.

tee hee :-)

My doctor told me to watch what i eat, So i've booked a ticket for the Grand National!!!!!!

Touché, Missus! But I think it's time we put these jokes out to pasture. ;)

I really enjoyed that documentary. If nothing else, the transformation of the UK after the war was astonishing.

The Spirit of 45 sounds good. I'll keep my eyes out in case it ever is available in the U.S. I find watching documentaries to be an excellent source of education on a variety of topics. I recently finished too from the PBS American Experience series, one on the founding of Earth Day here in the States and another entitled "Through Deaf Eyes" covering the history and experience of deaf people in America.

Sara wrote: "and another entitled "Through Deaf Eyes" covering the history and experience of deaf people in America..."

Have you seen Mea Maxima Culpa, Sara? It's quite the emotional rollercoaster and it will outrage you at times. Did Through Deaf Eyes deal with this at all?

Oh, and I have PBS, so I'm going to try and find an airing of TDE.

I have not, but it's in my Netflix queue to watch in the future. Through Death Eyes is from 2007 which is prior (I think) to the deplorable incidents at the deaf school in Wisconsin coming to light.

I'd still like to see it. I know shickingly little about the deaf community in Ireland or anywhere else. I really should pay more attention to their situation. There a small, but real chance that I may become deaf.

It's definitely worth seeing. It just may be harder to find since it's older. PBS here does sometimes re-air the older episodes of American Experience though.

Is it part of a larger series? I can't remember anything from a series by that name, but I do occasionally look through their schedule to see what they may have of interest. I've watched some good scientific documentaries and a rather good bio about Harry Houdini. I find their programs mostly on par with the BBC and that's as high a compliment as I can pay.

Being a non-American I get the impression that America is split between those who love PBS and those who couldn't give a damn about it. Have I gauged that correctly?

Declan wrote: "I'd still like to see it. I know shickingly little about the deaf community in Ireland or anywhere else. I really should pay more attention to their situation. There a small, but real chance that I..."

Declan wrote: "Sara wrote: "and another entitled "Through Deaf Eyes" covering the history and experience of deaf people in America..."

Have you seen Mea Maxima Culpa, Sara? It's quite the emotional rollercoaste..."

Declan, I haven't heard of Mea Maxima Culpa but The Ryan Report (on sexual abuse in Irish institutions) included reports of abuse in Irish schools for the deaf in Dublin. The St. Joseph's School for boys was apparently the site of a lot of abuse. It was torn down a few years ago which the Deaf Community supported because of many awful memories. The positive outcome of this was that the Catholic Institute for Deaf People sold the land just before the economy crashed and used the proceeds to build the Irish Deaf Village my link text. I visited there last October and got a guided tour from my "cousin" (this is our joke as my ancesters are Dwyer from Tipperary and he's O'Dwyer from the same county). I missed the Irish Deaf Film Festival by one day - drat.

Declan wrote: "Is it part of a larger series? I can't remember anything from a series by that name, but I do occasionally look through their schedule to see what they may have of interest. I've watched some good ..."

PBS is considered too liberal by some Americans, and too intellectual by others. They do a lot of fundraising as they have no advertising. However, a lot of the fundraising seems as bad as advertising - hours of Suzie Ormond (financial advice), Deeprak Choprah (new age spiritual stuff), and other "entrepeneurs" of self help.

You should Watch Mea Maxima Culpa, Barbara. It goes beyond St Joseph's and mentions things I'd never heard of. I was aware that the CC knew of the problem very early on, but I had no idea they thought it was bad enough to justify buying an island to treat paedophile priests.

If anyone ever makes the claim that PBS is too intellectual in the future, just point at Deepak Chopra and say "I rest my case." He'll no doubt be talking some rubbish about quantum interference patterns, or something else.

Declan wrote: "If anyone ever makes the claim that PBS is too intellectual in the future, just point at Deepak Chopra and say "I rest my case." He'll no doubt be talking some rubbish about quantum interference pa..."

That made me chuckle, Declan.

Cathleen wrote: "That made me chuckle, Declan..."

I'd laugh myself if there weren't so many people who believe his nonsense.

Declan wrote: "Cathleen wrote: "That made me chuckle, Declan..."

I'd laugh myself if there weren't so many people who believe his nonsense."

I don't pay enough attention to Choprah or physics but I am not surprised that a lot of what he says is nonsense.

He just pick random, impressive sounding words in order to give himself credibility. When he came up with 'quantum healing' I thought he was finished. I was sure that no one would be gullible enough to fall for that, but boy was I wrong.

Declan wrote: "He just pick random, impressive sounding words in order to give himself credibility. When he came up with 'quantum healing' I thought he was finished. I was sure that no one would be gullible enoug..."

I've only seen bits and pieces of Chopra's program, and it seemed a little too "touch-feely" for me, so I soon clicked to another channel.

TV has gotten so weird that I don't watch very much, except for PBS and some news and sports. And when PBS starts their fundraising drives, I usually tune out because they are usually the kinds of shows that Barbara mentioned--loads of self-help and people like Deepak Chopra or Wayne Dyer. PBS carries shows like Downton Abbey and Masterpiece Mystery--and good documentaries. Barbara and Susan have already mentioned them. The local Boston PBS station also carries a good number of British shows--like Doc Martin with Martin Clunes and Inspector Banks with Stephen Tomlinson (sp?)--so it's not surprising I watch those :) When I do flip through from time to time and see commercials for shows like Big Brother or "Parking Wars" (????) I always wonder who watches them. But someone must. I thought a friend was joking with me when she said there was a reality show about parking wars....She wasn't. There is. :)

Cathleen, I love Doc Martin. I just wish they'd make more of them. I also like Inspector Banks. Do you know they have an Inspector Banks group on Goodreads?

Susan wrote: "Cathleen, I love Doc Martin. I just wish they'd make more of them. I also like Inspector Banks. Do you know they have an Inspector Banks group on Goodreads?"

Agree, Doc Martin rocks. Stephen Tomlinson was the preist in the first couple of seasons of Ballykissangel. I wish they would rerun that show.

Does anyone get the Travel Channel? They used to have programming about, well, travel. Now it is all food or ghostbusting. Rick Steves went to PBS. Samatha Brown has disappered from American tv.

The Grosse Points (there are three or four of them) are all independent of Detroit, and still pretty much the enclaves of the monied class, the higher up auto execs, the lawyers, the doctors. There is almost a caste system in play here. You have the poor and uber poor on the inner city, surrounded by the lower middle class of the nearby suburbs like Dearborn and Livonia, and then the richer outer suburbs. None of the suburbs pay taxes to, or are served by Detroit.

Each city or town is a politically and economically separate entity. Your municiple taxes go to the town you live in. Your state taxes ( not all states have state income taxes, but Michigan does) go to the state which dispurses the money as it sees fit. But with the state of Michigan now taking over control of Detroit, I really have no clear idea of what the financial structure will be. I doubt it will bode well for anyone in the southeast of the state. To mutilate Ben Franklin, even if they all hang together, they are going to hang separately, too.

You are welcome. Growing up in Detroit in the 50's--well Detroit was a beautiful place. Started to unravel in the 60's. By 1968 I think the die was cast. I think Detroit hit the point of no return with the riots. Nothing was ever going to correct the situation after that. With the mismanagement of the auto industry, closing of manufacturing plants, white flight, the tax base was devestated, services dwindled into non-existance, crime and drugs mushroomed. There is too much profound infrastructure damage to ever be repaired. And it is just not just physcial. The people of Detroit have been beaten mentally and spiritually.

Susan wrote: "Cathleen, I love Doc Martin. I just wish they'd make more of them. I also like Inspector Banks. Do you know they have an Inspector Banks group on Goodreads?"

Hi Susan,
I know, I always eagerly await the new Doc Martins. But the good side of that is that the writers don't run out of story lines, and the gaps make the new episodes even more enjoyable.
I've noticed that about British and Irish shows. They follow the natural arc of a story line, and when it's done, it's done. Did you ever watch the series Gavin and Stacey? It sparkled, and I got everyone around me hooked on it. But after they got married and had the baby they wanted--done. That was the end :) If it were a typical American sit-com, they would have strung it along for years and years far past its "sell-by" date.