Crosaire 2

Crosaire 13,858.

Total Clues: 64

Clues guessed of my own volition: 8

Clues I nearly could have gotten myself: 1

Total remaining that I had to rely completely on Bill for: 55

Right. So total absence of progress there then.

It’s admittedly much easier to  work them out when you have a few letters, which in many ways  defeats the purpose. Having said that, the clues I did get were relatively crosaire-y, so feel slightly like I might be starting to see some sort of pattern of how it works… maybe…

Cracking Crosaire

Via Mulley I landed on the greatest use of a blog I’ve seen in ages. Well, if you’re a word geek anyway.

I’ve always wanted to be able to do the Crosaire, and have long held the theory that it’s a matter of getting into the right mindset and figuring out what on earth the Crosaire writer may have been thinking or drinking at the time of composition.

So, with a little help from the aforementioned [ingenious] blog, I’m going to try to do the Crosaire for the next month or so and see if I get to the point of almost being able to at least get half way through it. Wild aims and claims, I know.

Starting today with Crosaire 13,857.

Total Clues: 56

Clues guessed of my own volition: 7

Clues I nearly could have gotten myself: 4

Total remaining that I had to rely completely on Bill for: 45

It may be a long summer

If you’d like to join in the challenge go print yourself a copy…

Perspective

I think it’s probably a very difficult week to be a Catholic in Ireland.

There must be a great conflict in having your faith so actively challenged and, maybe, threatened. On the other hand there are those who were relatively audible on radio stations yesterday who still don’t seem to see that any of this is a problem, but if I’m honest they’re not the kind of Catholics I’d be concerned about.

The Irish Times has a good summary of how the outside world has reported on the whole issue.  It’s interesting seeing how being that extra step back is influencing the coverage.

For reasons utterly unrelated to these issues, this is a week that I would normally have been envious of those who have faith. Not this time.

I honestly don’t know how anyone can cross the threshold of a church this Sunday. I say that in the full knowledge that aspects of the Catholic church are absolutely a ‘force for good’, and that there are plenty of priests and nuns who are as good… as they are all expected to be. But surely, given the week that’s in it, there’s something wrong with you if you don’t at least pause when you get to that doorway…?

Losing faith

“As far as we are aware none of the congregations concerned plan to revisit the terms of the agreement made in good faith.”

That’s what CORI had to say about the issue of compensation for the children, now adults, so horifically abused by people in positions of power and responsibility within the catholic church.

Takes the breath away.

I can understand that there may be legal issues around re-opening a done deal. But as Batt O’Keeffe (fairly weakly) pointed out last night, the catholic church and all those involved have every ability to start selling land and handing over the cash. They also have the capacity to stand up, start very actively and openly taking responsibility, apologise, co-operate, and atone.

The capacity to do so, but apparently a total absence of willingness to do it.

In slightly less sickening news, at least somebody still has some sense of humanity amongst them.

Impac Update: Ravel by Jean Echenoz

Quick update on reading of the IMPAC shortlist.

Finally got around to reading ‘Ravel’ by Jean Echenoz – loads of reviews here if you don’t want to rely on mine!

It’s a short book, so I’ll keep the review short. This is one of the loveliest books I’ve read in ages. Not sure if it’s because it’s a translation, or because I should read more french literature in general, but it’s lovely. Despite knowing it was about a composer, I didn’t realise til about page 10 (of 110?) that it’s about that Ravel. Silly me.

The book looks at the last ten years in the life of that Ravel, painting a portrait of sorts of the man. The last line of the book is particularly apt.

That’s all there is to it, truly, and it’s one of the best books I’ve read all year.

Election posters : dull as….

I was going to get a bit earth-shattering and post an actual image to the blog, but then spotted that this guy has a much higher res copy of the image.

It struck me that this might be the most persuasive election poster around this year – especially if you heard the piece on Morning Ireland yesterday about the latest National Library exhibition, where posters were “more about the message than the face”. There are virtually no calls to action on posters these days. One fella – I’ll give you a hint, he looks just like his dad and his posters are up a little early – has a completely rubbish line about keeping Dublin South a priority. Which distinguishes him for everyone else running in that constituency how? Lines about “experience you can count on” and “a voice you can trust” are essentially meaningless. And don’t get me started on “that shower”.

It’s something that was particularly evident during the Lisbon campaign last year. Posters that said nothing, a big smiling (photoshopped to within an inch of its life) face, a bland party slogan, and more recently an increasingly invisible party logo.

Hardly the call to action we need right now?

Minor rant

This annoys me.

I’d really like to see how the country would react if any official agency or government department decided that in order to maintain their records in a certain way they had to remove an ‘a’ from everyone’s name. That’s how rational and reasonable it is to remove a fada from someone’s name. It completely changes the sound of the name. In essence, it changes the name. And yet because it’s only in that silly langauge nobody speaks anymore, it’s fine to do it. What with computers not being able to make fadas.

Wait… áéíóú.

How did that happen? By jebus, it’s almost like every keyboard in the country can make that little squiggly mess with absolutely no effort whatsoever required.

Petition time. That everyone named Smith now be named Smth. Or maybe Mith. That’s funnier. Ohn Mith. Let’s run with it.

It’s easy to argue that it’s only a little change to your name, when nobody has ever sent you, say, an official document with someone else’s name on it disguised as yours.

Pure bloody ignorance.

Which 1000 words is this?

Bit off topic, but is this photo, given the subject involved, not a bit inappropriate?

You don’t usually get that kind of celebratory photo of someone who’s been acquitted of a murder, especially when they definitely did kill the person.

I know it’s not a straightforward case, but still.. strange, strange photo…

Electiony stuff

Given my residence in Dublin South, it’s about time I start yapping about the upcoming funfest on June 5th.

For the moment I’m distracted by goings on in Donegal. Is it wrong of me to hope the letter writer will send another one in tomorrow naming (and shaming!) the offending candidate?

Might be time for a bit of cyber-hunting.