2016 – Postcards

Rick Parfitt, Dead at 68

December 29, 2016December 29, 2016 No Comments

Rick Parfitt, the archytypal rocker and Status Quo guitarist, died on the 27th from a sudden infection. IN A WORLD FULL of affectation, Rick Parfitt was a musician who enjoyed his status as a rock star, wearing it with good grace and a broad grin. The partnership he formed with fellow Telecaster-wielding guitarist and frontman […]

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Big Business Sounds

Mozart: Still got it after all these years… ?

December 28, 2016January 1, 2017 No Comments

Mozart has topped the CD sales chart for the year, according to qz. The music business as we know it is dead. It’s fitting that the final nail in its coffin would be Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart—the 18th-century composer, long-dead himself—who this month became 2016’s top artist by CD sales. Mozart owes the win to a […]

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Government Politics

How Democracy Ends?

December 28, 2016 No Comments

Asks David Runciman in the LRB. Can the modern, democratic state survive the assent of someone like Trump? Some have said that the US needs someone who ‘tells it like it is’ (which is doublespeak for ‘tells it the way I think it is’), who’ll make changes, a ‘strong man’. A ‘disruptor’. The heart of […]

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Life People

Carrie Fisher, Dead at 60

December 28, 2016 No Comments

Gone far too soon, it’s part of your childhood lost. Wonderfully outspoken about mental health, feminism and that outfit, she’ll be missed. Carrie Fisher, 21st October 1956 – 27th December 2016, drowned in moonlight, strangled by her own bra.

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Uncategorized

George Michael, Dead at 53

December 25, 2016January 17, 2017 No Comments

Sad to hear of the passing of George Michael on Christmas day. Another one gone too young. His album ‘Older’ is great, as is of course this poptastic gem which takes me back to college in Maynooth: George Michael (Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou), singer and songwriter, born 25 June 1963; died 25 December 2016

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Bits & Bobs Cycling Transport

Christmas Bike!

December 22, 2016 No Comments

I like to dress the bike festively during Christmas. Lights *and* tinsel this year.

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Bits & Bobs Life Nature & Gardens

Solstice

December 22, 2016 No Comments

Winter Solstice in Dublin. The turning of the year, now for the midwinter celebrations and the hope of the new year ahead. Probably my favourite time of year in some ways.

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Politics Technology

Legitimizing

December 13, 2016 No Comments

Very good point here: When I could get no really substantive on-the-record statements from the tech leaders, I pinged investor Chris Sacca, because I knew he would not let me down. “It’s funny, in every tech deal I’ve ever done, the photo op comes after you’ve signed the papers,” he said. “If Trump publicly commits […]

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Equality Technology

Hiring diverse teams

December 2, 2016December 2, 2016 No Comments

Jonathan Nightingale on hiring: In tech, a common pattern is for hiring managers to say “I don’t care who you are, just show me your hobby projects on github, or your think-pieces on medium” — but a bit of reflection is all it takes to realize that screening based on free-time pursuits gets you more affluent white […]

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Brexit Europe

France, the European Project & Our Future

November 27, 2016 No Comments

Jason O’Mahony is on top form, raising scary visages: France is where a Europe of free movement and cooperation and prosperity unknown in this continent’s history could come to an end. The freedom of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania hinges on how the people of Brest and Toulouse vote. If they vote for a woman who […]

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Who?

Murf

Rick Parfitt, Dead at 68

Mozart: Still got it after all these years… ?

How Democracy Ends?

Carrie Fisher, Dead at 60

George Michael, Dead at 53

Christmas Bike!

Solstice

Legitimizing

Hiring diverse teams

France, the European Project & Our Future

Year: 2016