Life: Bucket List Revisited for 2017

In 2014 I wrote my bucket list, in 2016 I revisited it but now it is 2017 I am ashamed to say I still haven’t achieved every much on the list, but I have done some cool things in the past two years:

• Going  Rhodes, Greece
• Going to Prague
• Going to Amsterdam
• Abseiling down the Europa Hotel, Belfast
• Saw U2 at the 02 in 2015
• Doing a Zip Wire across the Lagan River in Belfast

And this summer I am going to do some exciting things as well:

• Going to South Africa on a Safari,
• Going to see U2 30^th Anniversary Joshua Tree Concert
• Going to see Michael McIntyre live  - which has been one of my dreams

So am living life but just not achieving my original bucket list which has now been updated to : 

• Visit New Zealand
• Watch Ireland play Rugby Live
• Write a book
• Get book published
• Jump out of a plane
• Find a cure for MS
• Swim with Dolphins
• Go fishing
• Learn to weld
• Visit Brazil
• See the Iquazu Falls  in Argentina
• Climb Slemish
• Hold a Toucan
• Go to Wimbledon
• Meet Bono
• Stand underneath a waterfall
• Learn to dance
• Learn Pottery
• Do a somersault in the air
• Learn Makaton
• Achieve my ideal weight
• Fly first class
• Go whale watching
• Jet Ski
• Gallop a horse along a beach
• Drink Champagne and Eat Strawberries in bed
• Go Paint-balling
• Milk a cow
• Visit Auschwitz
• Go to Israel
• Swim in the dead sea
• Own a Border Collie dog
• See the Northern Lights

Poetry: Not for Nothing

During the past week the below poem came into my email box from A New Name and on reading it, I knew I had to share it on my blog so here is the beautiful poem:

I want you to know

that I see you.

Not just the bright smile you share with strangers.

Not just the bent shoulders, picking up toys.

Not just the coper, who gets it all done.

Not just the shiny bits; the triumphs and successes.

Not just the qualifications or the clipboard or desk.

I see when you stumble

I see when you sleep

I see when you fall and I see when you weep.

I see it all.  And I see all of you.  And I want you to know

that it matters. You matter.

I see.

Every time you wipe a nose

Or wash another plate.

Every email

every phone-call

every prayer.

I hear.  Every time you love

I catch your words, your works, your heart.

Keep going. I am carrying you.  I am proud of you.

I rejoice over you.  And I’ll never let you fall.

Poem Borrowed From Emma Scrivener

Culture: Northern Ireland breeds Stars!

Someone said to me the other day "Famous people from Northern Ireland, sure there are none" and I replied "Yes there are" to which they replied "Who?" So I provided them a list of people (see below) and out of that list they said the only people who generated google results when they googled them were:

C.S Lewis, Liam Neeson, George Best & Seamus Heaney. I find that very hard to believe as there are some more that would generate google hits like Kenneth Brannagh, Rory McIlroy, James Nesbitt, Jamie Dornan & Snow Patrol plus more.

Pah I say to that person, Pah! Northern Ireland is a great place and even though it has its issues like every country does, it has produced quite a number of people who have made an impact in the world of Sport, Literature, Music, TV & Film etc

Check out the list and see if you recognise a few stars!

Actors

Kenneth Brannagh

Liam Neeson

James Nesbitt

Amanda Burton

Richard Dormer

Colin Blakely

Jamie Dornan

Aidan Dunbar

Derek Thompson

Michelle Fairley

Bronagh Gallagher

Colin Morgan

Conleith Hill

Geraldine Hughes

John Lynch

Susan Lynch

Paula Malcomson

Sam Neill

Stephen Rea

Michael Smiley

Jayne Weisner

Writers / Poets / Playwrights

C.S Lewis

Seamus Heaney

Colin Bateman

Brian Friel

Brian Moore

Singers/Bands

Snow Patrol

Van Morrison

Two Door Cinema Club

Ash

Eric Bell (Thin Lizzy)

Gary Moore (Thin Lizzy)

Stiff Little Fingers

Vivian Campbell (Def Leppard)

Nadine Coyle (Girls Aloud)

Neil Hannon

The Divine Comedy

Duke Special

David Holmes (Composer)

Brian Kennedy

Ian Mitchell (Bay City Rollers)

Them

The Undertones

The Outcasts

Therapy?

D:Ream

Juliet Turner

The Answer

Footballers

George Best

Steven Davis

Jonny Evans

David Healy

Pat Jennings

Kyle Lafferty

Peter McParland

Neil Lennon

Michael O’Neill

Martin O’Neill

Brendan Rogers

Norman Whiteside

Rugby Players

Rory Best

Tommy Bowe

Andrew Trimble

Willie Anderson

Brendan Foley

David Humphreys

Jack Kyle

Willie John McBride

Formula One

Eddie Irvine

Golfers

Darren Clarke

Graham McDowell

Rory McIlroy

Ronan Rafferty

Motorcyclists

Joey Dunlop

Robert Dunlop

TV & Radio

Christine Blakely

Patrick Kielty

Colin Murray

Eamonn Holmes

Zoe Salmon

Inventors

Harry Ferguson

Wrestlers

Dave Finlay

Snooker

Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins

Dennis Taylor

Artists

John Lavery

Athletics

Mary Peters

Book Review:Five Go Gluten Free: Bruno Vincent / Enid Blyton

Five Go Gluten Free is a spoof version of Enid Blyton’s Famous Five books which saw Julian, George, Anne, Dick and Timmy the dog go off on adventures and face challenges during these adventures.

Five Go Gluten Free sees the four chums go on a diet which is not just gluten free, its diary free as well, actually it seems to be an everything free diet which was inspired by a spiralizer which Anne got for her birthday from George and a cook book that she got from Dick, which outlined all the things that they have been eating are actually bad for them.

Bruno Vincent puts the Famous Five into the context of a modern world and before reading this book I thought that this would be a book to make me laugh but it isn’t that funny, it is excruciating just like the originals are. This book could have been funnier but it is still wroth a read anyway, because even if its not rib tickling funny it is still quite amusing.

I do feel like there is something missing from this book especially at the end because it ends quite abruptly in my opinion with one of the chapters unexplained and not very realistic! 

Book Review: The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The Prisoner of Heaver is the third novel in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a series written by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.  The story continues on with the Sempere Family and is set the bookshop in which Daniel and his father work in – however the main focus is on Fermin Romero de Torrres - who is an employee in the bookshop and a close friend of Daniel’s.

Zafon tells of how Fermin ended up working in the Sempere bookshop – we read about this time locked up in Montjuic Jail and how with the help of fellow prisoner David Martin he escaped from the prison with a plan inspired by the Dumas novel “The Count of Monte Cristo”.

This novel is a story fraught with jealousy, suspicion, vengeance and lies but it also a story about the search for the truth, transformation, love, family and friendship.  It is a story full of emotion and intrigue and helps to bring together the stories of the “Forgotten Books Comedy”

Prisoner of Heaven is a very well written book, however for me it’s not the strongest in the series – that will also be Shadow of the Wind which was the first book and at the time was something new and full of intrigue and mystery, but Zafon is a strong writer and his books can stand alone. 

Culture: The Year That Was– 2016

Well we have come to the end of 2016 and what a year it has been – it will certainly make the history books for a variety of reasons.

Celebrity Deaths 

It has probably been the worse year for Celebrity deaths – starting off with Pat Harrington (actor) on 6 January and ending with Debbie Reynolds on 29 December (actress) – 72 in total. What a year.

There are too many for me to list so here is list of those who made an important impact on people’s lives in one way or another:

• David Bowie – Musician & Actor  - January 10
• Alan Rickman – Actor – January 14
• Glenn Frey – Musician  (The Eagles) – January 18
• Maurice White – Musician  (Earth, Wind & Fire)– February 3
• Nancy Reagan – Former First Lady of the United States – March 6
• Garry Shandling – Comedian & Actor – March 24
• David Gest  - Entertainer & Producer – April 12
• Prince – Musician – April 21
• Nick Menzie – Musician (Megadeth) – May 21
• Muhammed Ali – Boxer  - June 3
• Jo Cox – Minister of Parliament  - June 16
• Michael Cimino – Director (The Deer Hunter)  - July 2
• Garry Marshall – Director (Happy Days & Mork + Mindy) – July 19
• David Huddleston  - Actor  (Santa Clause the Movie) – August 2
• Kenny Baker – Actor (R2 D2) – August 13
• Gene Wilder  - Actor – August 29
• Arnold Palmer – Golfer – September 25
• Leonard Cohen – Musician – November 7
• Robert Vaughan – Actor – November 11
• Fidel Castro  - Former Prime Minister of Cuba & Revolutionary  - November 25
• John Glenn – Astronaut & first American to circle the Earth – December 8
• Alan Thicke – Actor (Growing Pains) - December 13
• Liz Smith – Actress – December 24
• George Michael  - Musician – December 25
• Carrie Fisher – Actress-  December 27th
• Debbie Reynolds – Actress – December 29^th

British News

BREXIT – the UK voted to leave the European Union in June which led to David Cameron resigning as Prime Minister and leading the way for the second female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom – Theresa May and a new cabinet including Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary!

The BREXIT Campaign was unravelled to be full of lies and even though he got what he wanted ( to make Great Britain Great again), Nigel Farage quit as leader of UKIP – for a second time!!

Sadiq Khan was voted Mayor of London, making him the first Muslim Mayor of a major western city.

World News

America voted Donald Trump to be the 45th  President of the United States of America!! 

ISIS struck again and again:

• Bombing at Brussels Airport & Maalbeek metro station  on 22 March killing  35 people and injuring 300 
• Bombing at Ataturk Airport, Istanbul  on 28 June killing 45 people and injuring 230
• 19 tonne cargo truck driven into Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France on Bastille Day 14 July  killing 86 people and injuring 434 
• A truck ran into a Christmas Market in Berlin, Germany on 19 December killing 12 people and inuring 48
• And many bombs in Turkey, Iraq, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia 
• Also knife & machete attacks in France, Germany, United States and Belgium

The continuing war in Syria

Zika Virus Outbreak leaving a lot of pregnant women worried

Barack Obama visited Cuba making him the first President of the United States to visit the country since 1928 

Egypt Air Flight M8804 went missing over the Mediterranean en route Paris to Cairo

Plane crashed in Colombia killing 71 footballer players from the Brazilian Chapecoense team

Battle of Mosul in Iraq 

Ceasefire agreement signed between Colombian Government and FARC rebels ending more than 50 years of conflict in Colombia

Commemoration of the Battle of the Somme  - 100 years

Commemoration of the Easter Rising in 1916 (Ireland) - 100 years  

Sporting Triumphs

Andy Murray won Wimbledon for the second time

Leicester City won the Premiership - the underdogs did good

Team GB did very well in Rio 2016 Olympics winning

• 27 Gold
• 23 Silver
• 17 Bronze 

A total of 67 medals for Team GB

And not forgetting the Paralympics where Team GB won 147 medals

• 64 Gold
• 39 Silver
• 44 Bronze  

Ireland Rugby Team beat the All Blacks 40 - 29  - the first time the Irish have ever beaten the world leaders in Rugby - New Zealand.

Northern Ireland Football Team made it to Euro 2016 - the first time they have ever been in the European tournament.  They made it to the last 16.  

All in all a very varied year - not a good one for celebrities and a couple of political upsets and the continuation of terrorism - what will 2017 hold for us all? 

Book Review: I Used to Know That: Stuff you Forgot from School: Caroline Taggart

After reading Caroline Taggart’s book on Grammar I decided to read more of her work as her writing is very interesting, informative as well as educational.

I Used to Know that covers topics taught in school - English, Maths, History, Geography, General Studies and Science.

I learnt a lot from reading this book especially as it covered information that was never taught in my school or else I don’t remember being taught!! The latter being more likely!  For example some of the Maths stuff was new to me, but then Maths was never my strong point and even on reading this chapter I still struggled with all the division, trigonometry etc. etc.

The Science chapter was excellent and probably the section I loved the best as I know we didn’t cover much of that subject in school – our teacher wasn’t very good. This section was split into three: Biology, Chemistry and Physics. I recommend this book if it’s only for the scientific stuff.

This book is a light hearted but also informative. Reading this book can help you in many ways - to reignite your mind and memory, to help your kids doing their homework, or to help you brush up on trivia for a pub quiz!!

So if you have forgotten what the capital of Mozambique is, which books were written by Charles Dickens, where oxygen comes in the periodic table, or which of Henry V’s wives were beheaded and which one survived, then this book is a certain for you.