On Google Maps the world looks flat. Believe me, it's not.

There is a song called Caledonia written by a Scottish guy called Dougie. Not me. Obviously It's maudlin, mawkish, sickly-sweet and sentimental. Very, very blokey. The sort of thing drunks put on a juke box when they're a long, long way from home. Ibiza, maybe. It's about loving a mythical Scotland that never existed. Which is why, years ago, it was used perfectly as the backing music for a no-less maudlin television advert for Tennents lager. The chorus goes: Oh and let me

The Einstein-Rosen Bridge we all possess (if we choose to use it): if we want a better future, we must not repeat mistakes from the past. Lessons from old witch hunts.

"He lifted up his gown and everyone kissed his arse. The men were turned nine times about and the women six times."

We Of Nagasaki (1951) by Takashi Nagai & And All The Trumpets (1955) by Donald Smith. Both books were written by survivors of war time atrocities.

A poem from my first book, Something That Comes Close. Illustration by Spike Deane.

A poem from my first book, Something That Comes Close. Illustration by Spike.

A poem from my first book, Something That Comes Close. Illustration by Spike.

A poem from my first book, Something That Comes Close. Illustration by Spike.

In loving memory of our mother.

For Betty. 16 January 1931 to 4 February 2025

It can be odd the ways in which one's mind plays tricks on us. My mind certainly. Today is the 25th anniversary of my arrival in Australia.

Not long after you break your neck in three places (in a not-swimming-well-enough accident) people tend to ask a lot of questions.

They do say ... write as if your life depended on it.

Last days of primary school, I think. Maybe 1968 or 69. Look at those ears and the ginger hair!!! The past is indeed a foreign country.

In the immortal words of John Lennon ... love is all we need.

Betty and my younger brother Joe. Mothers Day, Kilmarnock Scotland. ♥️

"People learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart" Mandela

Anyone who wins the best dressed man at the Galway Races, -- without knowing that's 'a thing' -- undeniably has sprawl.

It is in days such as today I find myself. Quiet, simple days where not much happens on the surface. Time passes slowly. I am with people...