tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35924139490131979682024-03-18T20:33:28.629-07:00Frankly speakingBusiness,technology and random thoughtsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09840356238615469937noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3592413949013197968.post-8656750112195804902012-12-19T06:59:00.002-08:002012-12-19T06:59:05.179-08:00A CONTRIBUTION WILL BE MADE TO DIAGEO ON FRIDAY IN LIEU OF SENDING PERSONAL CHRISTMAS GIFTS …..<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<img alt="" class="alignnone" height="464" src="http://cf.broadsheet.ie/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Irish_Santa.jpg" style="margin-bottom: 0.5em;" width="481" /><br />
<a href="http://www.google.ie/imgres?start=111&hl=en&safe=off&tbo=d&biw=1152&bih=564&tbm=isch&tbnid=R-EEgEGCtDi32M:&imgrefurl=http://weknowawesome.com/2011/10/26/mr-burns-is-the-1-eeeeexcellent/&docid=Fg1jRKcaaHm7KM&imgurl=http://weknowawesome.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/113ef4d9-8a81-4d75-903f-8de398dc952e.jpg&w=321&h=632&ei=worRUKW9JsaBhQer3IHgBA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=234&vpy=64&dur=102&hovh=316&hovw=160&tx=92&ty=163&sig=104260262665107327938&page=5&tbnh=148&tbnw=76&ndsp=28&ved=1t:429,r:27,s:100,i:85" style="color: black;"><span style="color: #333333;">From the author (“the wishor”) to you (hereinafter called “the wishee”),</span></a><br />Please accept without obligation, implied or implicit, the wishor’s best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, politically correct, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the winter holiday; practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all; and a financially successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2013, but with due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures or sects, and having regard to the race, creed, colour, age, physical ability, religious faith, choice of computer platform or dietary preference of the wishee.<br />By accepting this greeting you are bound by these terms that:<br />
This greeting is subject to further clarification or withdrawal.<br />This greeting is freely transferable provided that no alteration shall be made to the original greeting and that the proprietary rights of the wishor are acknowledged.<br />This greeting implies no promise by the wishor to actually implement any of the wishes.<br />This greeting may not be enforceable in certain jurisdictions and/or the restrictions herein may not be binding upon certain wishees in certain jurisdictions and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wishor.<br />This greeting is warranted to perform as reasonably as may be expected within the usual application of good tidings, for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first.<br />The wishor warrants this greeting only for the limited replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wishor.<br />Any references in this greeting to “the Lord”, “Father Christmas”, “Our Saviour”, or any other festive figures, whether actual or fictitious, dead or alive, shall not imply any endorsement by or from them in respect of this greeting, and all proprietary rights in any referenced third party names and images are hereby acknowledged<br />
Yours sincerely<br />
The wishor<br />
Frank Hannigan<br />Chairman<br />Razor Communications Limited<br />11 Euro Business Park<br />Little Island<br />Cork, Ireland<br />Ph +353 86 8280077<br /><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/hanniganfrank" rel="nofollow" style="color: black;">http://www.linkedin.com/in/hanniganfrank</a><br /><a href="http://www.twitter.com/frankhannigan" rel="nofollow" style="color: black;">http://www.twitter.com/frankhannigan</a><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09840356238615469937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3592413949013197968.post-86964271440720988312012-09-21T09:31:00.000-07:002012-09-21T09:31:40.246-07:00Re-imagining The Republic one citizen at a time<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="265" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/250035_529265317086898_1059975455_n.jpg" style="clear: both; display: block; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Carrigtwohill GAA under 11s" width="400" /></div>
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This bunch of 9 & 10 year olds represented their village, Carrigtwohill, in the Sean Twomey Tournament last Saturday.</div>
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My wife put it perfectly at the end of the tournament – ” this is exactly what I wanted my sons to experience”</div>
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What they experienced was:</div>
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A sense of place, something different from a sense of nation but just as profound.</div>
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A sense of achievement, the years of training turned into fluency and craft.</div>
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A sense of team, they played for each other, they supported each other to achieve shared success.</div>
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A sense of pride, they never gave up because the journey was just as important as the objective.</div>
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The effort to prepare for this tournament and the complete commitment they showed on Saturday will impact on their adult life.</div>
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This is the purpose of the GAA.</div>
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The GAA’s purpose comes from their ability to change the scale of a kid’s personal ambition.</div>
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The capacity to allow that kid to explore their personal skills and power.</div>
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The space to allow that kid to imagine how to apply those skills and powers working with others to impact on society.</div>
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This is the transformational ability of all sports.</div>
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The GAA’s position in every village/parish allows them a unique role in re-imagining the Republic one citizen at a time.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09840356238615469937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3592413949013197968.post-11797820346165090922012-05-03T06:26:00.001-07:002012-05-03T06:26:56.538-07:00Exceptional Start-ups sought<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Razor will be ten years old in October.</div>
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We have carved out a profitable business model.</div>
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We have become the Digital partner for Irish and UK Agencies – Advertising, PR and Web Development.</div>
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The work we do with these Agencies allows us to work with amazing clients and on groundbreaking Digital projects.</div>
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We are seeing rapid growth from existing and new Agency clients.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px;">
I personally work a lot with Start-ups.</div>
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I know the territory well.</div>
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Here is what I notice:</div>
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When an Internet start-up closes its seed round funding:</div>
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<li>They have approximately €500k in the bank</li>
<li>They have Digital milestones that are significant</li>
<li>The range of skills and experience needed are daunting</li>
</ul>
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For some, a CTO is in place, other teams focus on their commercial domain expertise.</div>
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In both cases they have less that 100% of the skills needed to execute.</div>
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They need:</div>
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<li>Graphic design skills</li>
<li>UX architecture skills</li>
<li>CMS and Database experience</li>
<li>SEO and PPC skills</li>
<li>Server implementation, performance and security skills</li>
<li>Agile project execution skills</li>
<li>Deep social media integration skills</li>
</ul>
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In Ireland and in the UK, start-ups compete with Google, Facebook, Apple, Twitter and others to attract those skills</div>
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Even if they find them, the cost can be crippling.</div>
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Razor has these skills in abundance.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px;">
We have the scale and resilience that our Agency clients demand.</div>
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We have been Beta testing a Start-up partner programme.</div>
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It works brilliantly for both sides:</div>
<ul style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px;">
<li>Our Internet start-up clients get the flexibility and scale they need</li>
<li>They access a brilliant confident team that add insight as well as codebase</li>
<li>There is none of the cultural dissonance that non-European engagement often encounter</li>
<li>Skype video makes agile integration of our team simple</li>
<li>Our team has perfect English – the accents are less daunting than those of West Cork or Glasgow!</li>
<li>We get really exciting work that allows our team to share in the buzz and excitement that make start-ups so compelling</li>
</ul>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px;">
The beauty is that great companies do not remain start-ups.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px;">
Their web and mobile needs grow with their commercial success.</div>
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We have designed Razor to partner effectively as they grow in scale and complexity.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px;">
The bottom line is that early stage companies can get 2,000 productive work hours from Razor – for the same cost as hiring one unexceptional developer locally.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px;">
Give me a buzz and I will share our portfolio and our vision in greater detail.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px;">
Frank Hannigan, Chairman, Razor Communications Limited</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px;">
frank@razor.ie</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px;">
+353 86 8280077</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px;">
Skype – frank.hannigan</div>
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Here are a few pictures of the Razor crew……</div>
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<img alt="" class=" " height="432" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/426069_10150549900682548_586557547_9017811_1818309997_n.jpg" style="margin: 0px;" width="576" /><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #666666; font-size: 12px; margin: 0.5em;">
Vuk Mirkovic, our founder and CEO</div>
</div>
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<img alt="" class=" " height="274" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/36886_1495874315277_1186664037_31413630_2074774_n.jpg" style="margin: 0px;" width="431" /><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #666666; font-size: 12px; margin: 0.5em;">
Ana Ciric – Account Director and Yoga guru</div>
</div>
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<img alt="" class=" " height="405" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/305053_10150297100202839_717372838_7858481_748806532_n.jpg" style="margin: 0px;" width="375" /><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #666666; font-size: 12px; margin: 0.5em;">
29 International Rugby caps, Deki, Account Director</div>
</div>
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<img alt="" class=" " height="330" src="http://www.92pixels.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Interview-with-Branding-Expert-Andrej-Matic.jpg" style="margin: 0px;" width="580" /><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #666666; font-size: 12px; margin: 0.5em;">
Andrej Matic our Art Director</div>
</div>
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<img alt="" class=" " height="390" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/5251_102764274628_549379628_1937634_4128708_n.jpg" style="margin: 0px;" width="580" /><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #666666; font-size: 12px; margin: 0.5em;">
Simon Kuzmanovic, Graphic Designer – quiet authority!</div>
</div>
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<img alt="" class=" " height="300" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/190350_10150145136279304_621829303_6213782_3763813_n.jpg" style="margin: 0px;" width="300" /><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #666666; font-size: 12px; margin: 0.5em;">
Technical mastermind and food expert</div>
</div>
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" style="background-color: #eeeeee; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; color: #555555; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0.8em; text-align: center; width: 442px;">
<img alt="" class=" " height="432" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/392949_10150389482478672_634123671_8331034_874400541_n.jpg" style="margin: 0px;" title="Vlad plays the green card" width="432" /><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #666666; font-size: 12px; margin: 0.5em;">
Vladamir Pavlovic plays the green card</div>
</div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09840356238615469937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3592413949013197968.post-79349604566988659232012-04-24T07:46:00.001-07:002012-04-24T07:46:30.806-07:00Funky Designer GAA T-Shirts & Clothing<p> </p><p><a href=http://is.gd/BZsVtG>http://is.gd/BZsVtG</a></p><p> </p><p><img src=http://css.knudger.com/campaignImages/20ba6ace-92b3-4faa-a193-e877047d9a88.png height='80px' width='80px' /></p><br/>Great GAA T-Shirt Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09840356238615469937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3592413949013197968.post-45773860499514539352012-04-24T06:34:00.001-07:002012-04-24T06:34:06.551-07:00Funky Designer GAA T-Shirts & Clothing<p> </p><p><a href=http://is.gd/BZsVtG>http://is.gd/BZsVtG</a></p><p> </p><p><img src=http://css.knudger.com/campaignImages/20ba6ace-92b3-4faa-a193-e877047d9a88.png height='80px' width='80px' /></p><br/>Great GAA T-Shirt Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09840356238615469937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3592413949013197968.post-60979912289992535192012-04-24T04:22:00.001-07:002012-04-24T04:22:45.686-07:00Have to make a Christmas speech? Solve your speech writing problem here in 60 seconds.<p> </p><p><a href=http://is.gd/3O9Lf7>http://is.gd/3O9Lf7</a></p><p> </p><p><img src=http://css.knudger.com/campaignImages/75460477-c3e8-415a-b822-9010f2380641.gif height='80px' width='80px' /></p><br/>For those of you who find writing speeches tricky - check out Fred Crowe's site - brilliant Irish service!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09840356238615469937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3592413949013197968.post-19056771430753064542012-04-24T04:18:00.001-07:002012-04-24T04:18:02.346-07:00Have to make a Christmas speech? Solve your speech writing problem here in 60 seconds.<p> </p><p><a href=http://is.gd/3O9Lf7>http://is.gd/3O9Lf7</a></p><p> </p><p><img src=http://css.knudger.com/campaignImages/75460477-c3e8-415a-b822-9010f2380641.gif height='80px' width='80px' /></p><br/>For those of you who find writing speeches tricky - check out Fred Crowe's site - brilliant Irish service!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09840356238615469937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3592413949013197968.post-4205065585979715292012-02-28T07:46:00.001-08:002012-02-28T07:46:38.960-08:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Europe is such a rich tapestry - so many cultures so many tastes,so many places and people to get to know.</div>
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For most Western Europeans and North Americans, the Balkans is not likely to be on their shortlist for a family holiday.</div>
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That's a real shame.</div>
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<img alt="" class="aligncenter" data-mce-src="http://files.myopera.com/savana51/albums/4699942/ZLATIBOR.jpg" height="864" src="http://files.myopera.com/savana51/albums/4699942/ZLATIBOR.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; cursor: default; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Zlatibor" width="1024" /></div>
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Over the next 5 months, I will be sharing with you our plans for our holiday which will include Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia.</div>
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Five years ago we visited Montenegro and fell in love with its beautiful coast and majestic highlands.</div>
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I hope some of the ideas, the places, the food and the people I write about will make you consider the Balkans as a destination.</div>
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If you have questions - bang them down in the comments section and I will do my best to answer them.</div>
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Right - let's get started.</div>
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So that's 1,310 km or about 18 hours driving - so breaking that down into manageable chunks will be key.</div>
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There will be two cars, four adults and four kids on this trip - Vuk and Ana Mirkovic, Betty H and myself, Niall H (10), Daragh H (8), Mia M (6), Uros M (2) - this has to work for the kids - if they are happy - we will be happy.</div>
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So the trip works like this.....</div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://hanniganfrank.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/viamichelin-routes-from-belgrade-to-belgrade.png" href="http://hanniganfrank.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/viamichelin-routes-from-belgrade-to-belgrade.png"><img alt="" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-101" data-mce-src="http://hanniganfrank.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/viamichelin-routes-from-belgrade-to-belgrade.png" height="531" src="http://hanniganfrank.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/viamichelin-routes-from-belgrade-to-belgrade.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; cursor: default; float: left;" title="ViaMichelin routes from Belgrade to Belgrade" width="580" /></a></div>
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Cork, Ireland to Heathrow, Greater London - 555 km 1 hour 28 minutes</div>
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Heathrow to Nikola Tesla Airport, Belgrade 1,701 km - 2hrs 48 minutes</div>
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I really wish Ryanair flew direct - it would be as close as Rome and just as fascinating a destination</div>
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We will be met by the Mirkovic clan and drive in from the airport to the city a short 12 km motorway journey</div>
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<img alt="" class="alignnone" data-mce-src="http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQZRptSm-i3iUTro3timcOzx7IqTiNpj97RLA9we4pbjluP3Nl7bw" height="175" src="http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQZRptSm-i3iUTro3timcOzx7IqTiNpj97RLA9we4pbjluP3Nl7bw" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; cursor: default;" title="Belgrade" width="289" /></div>
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Our base in <a data-mce-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgrade" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgrade" target="_blank">Belgrade</a> will be <a data-mce-href="http://www.hotelnevski.com/index.php?lang=en" href="http://www.hotelnevski.com/index.php?lang=en" target="_blank">Hotel Nevski</a></div>
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<img alt="" class="alignleft" data-mce-src="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTSS-mFDn7A0LVsNiKPOAtue4PPyh-85L43OM43opY-jN_l-95q" height="194" src="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTSS-mFDn7A0LVsNiKPOAtue4PPyh-85L43OM43opY-jN_l-95q" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; cursor: default; float: left;" title="Dorcal on the river Sava" width="260" /></div>
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Next morning we will head south to <a data-mce-href="http://www.ethno.co.rs/" href="http://www.ethno.co.rs/" target="_blank">Latkovac</a> - here is a nice walk through <a data-mce-href="http://youtu.be/uy05KlhMym0" href="http://youtu.be/uy05KlhMym0" target="_blank">video </a></div>
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Founded by Serbia's Female Entrepreneur of the year <a data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/SKnezzevic" href="https://www.facebook.com/SKnezzevic" target="_blank">Sanja Knezevic</a> - Ana Mirkovic's sister.</div>
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Its a lovely story, this was a tiny derelict hamlet that for over 200 years has been home to the Knezevic family.</div>
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Sanja has restored almost all the buildings to their original glory and has created an idyll in what is considered the heart of Serbia.</div>
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It's peace, organic traditional food and gentle hospitality attracts visitors from around the world.</div>
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Its Artists Colony is one of the most valued in South East Europe.</div>
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We are going to chill here for four days - more details on what we plan to get up to later.</div>
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We might have some of <a data-mce-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbian_food" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbian_food" target="_blank">this food</a> and some of<a data-mce-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbian_wine" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbian_wine" target="_blank"> this </a>and <a data-mce-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakija" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakija" target="_blank">this</a> to partner with it!</div>
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Then an early start and off for breakfast in one of the most intriguing cities in Europe. <a data-mce-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novi_Pazar" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novi_Pazar">Novi Pazar</a> is mostly populated by Moslim Slavs, <a data-mce-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosniak" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosniak">Bosniaks</a>.</div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://hanniganfrank.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/i36-novipazar15.jpg" href="http://hanniganfrank.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/i36-novipazar15.jpg"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-74" data-mce-src="http://hanniganfrank.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/i36-novipazar15.jpg" height="300" src="http://hanniganfrank.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/i36-novipazar15.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; cursor: default; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Novi Pazar" width="400" /></a>The way of life here allows you to sense what life was like in Turkish Europe, minarets outnumber churches vastly and the pace and details of daily life are unlike any other city in Serbia.</div>
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From there we take off on a 328 km journey to reach the <a data-mce-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montenegro" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montenegro">Montenegrin</a> Adriatic coast. Initially we drive parallel to the Kosovo border and then cross the border driving along its border with Albania. The journey is mountainous and extremely beautiful.</div>
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As we emerge on the other side of the highlands we arrive at Podgorica, the capital. Its a sleepy city and although I have very happy memories of working there over the last ten years- I am going to be impatient to get to the coast - which is one of the world's most extraordinary destinations.</div>
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We will take the relatively new Tunnel which cuts the time from Podgorica to the coast down to 1hr.</div>
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<img alt="" class="alignnone" data-mce-src="http://www.photo-montenegro.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Rijeka-Crnojevica.jpg" height="533" src="http://www.photo-montenegro.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Rijeka-Crnojevica.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; cursor: default;" title="Rjk" width="800" /></div>
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Then we will arrive at our villa/appt/hotel (the two wives will tell us which one and where shortly).</div>
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Apart from eating amazing food and drink, and plopping down on sandy beaches - we will spend seven days exploring the coast.</div>
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<img alt="" class="alignnone" data-mce-src="http://ulcinj4.me/portal/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/DSC_0208.JPG" height="535" src="http://ulcinj4.me/portal/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/DSC_0208.JPG" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; cursor: default;" title="Ada Boyana" width="800" /></div>
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We will visit <a data-mce-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kotor_Bay" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kotor_Bay">Kotor Bay </a> <a data-mce-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budva" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budva">Budva</a>, <a data-mce-href="http://www.petrovac.org/" href="http://www.petrovac.org/">Petrovac, </a><a data-mce-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulcinj" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulcinj">Ulcinj</a>, <a data-mce-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cetinje" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cetinje">Cetinje</a>,<a data-mce-href="http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/2f/05/ab/nearby-przno-beach.jpg" href="http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/2f/05/ab/nearby-przno-beach.jpg"> Przno</a> . It sounds daunting but Montenegro, or Crna Gora in the Serbo-Croat is a relatively small coastline to move up and down.</div>
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<img alt="" class="alignnone" data-mce-src="http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/klug/klug1001/klug100100074/6297897-view-of-the-kotor-and-kotor-bay-montenegro.jpg" height="320" src="http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/klug/klug1001/klug100100074/6297897-view-of-the-kotor-and-kotor-bay-montenegro.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; cursor: default;" title="Kotor" width="432" /></div>
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When our week on the beach is over - we will be on the move again.</div>
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This trip brings us to the Drina River - and to a famous <a data-mce-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bridge_on_the_Drina" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bridge_on_the_Drina" target="_blank">bridge in Visegrad</a>.</div>
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<img alt="" class="alignnone" data-mce-src="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT6FFSDNk35R-CLLwI93bcKUlUqOOC8qGyExPwvjCLQ90jMNoh2Hg" height="181" src="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT6FFSDNk35R-CLLwI93bcKUlUqOOC8qGyExPwvjCLQ90jMNoh2Hg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; cursor: default;" title="Ivo Andric and the Bridge at the Drina " width="278" /></div>
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We will spend a day on the river and then move on to beautiful <a data-mce-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zlatibor" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zlatibor">Zlatibor</a> - we will spend three days in the area.</div>
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From Zlatibor we will move on to <a data-mce-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarajevo" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarajevo" target="_blank">Sarajevo</a> - really looking forward to that.</div>
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<img alt="" class="alignnone" data-mce-src="http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSRFoA8wqFF2eWrloAHJXDTv8wrGyBgsHQZ-fe71VSKnYzCT5Wo" height="182" src="http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSRFoA8wqFF2eWrloAHJXDTv8wrGyBgsHQZ-fe71VSKnYzCT5Wo" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; cursor: default;" title="Sarajevo" width="276" /></div>
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Then one last road trip -back to <a data-mce-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgrade" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgrade">Belgrade</a></div>
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We will be there for five days - <a data-mce-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_Ciganlija" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_Ciganlija">Doing Ada</a>, <a data-mce-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgrade_Fortress" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgrade_Fortress">Doing the Fortress</a>, Heading to gorgeous <a data-mce-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zemun" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zemun">Zemun</a> and <a data-mce-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novi_Sad" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novi_Sad">Novi Sad </a>among other things like.....eating and hanging out</div>
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I am exhausted just writing this!!</div>
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In the weeks ahead I will be writing blogs in more detail about the various parts of the trip and linking to them from here.</div>
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Feel free to give your feedback - feel free to share your experiences and ask for more information or clarification.</div>
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Vidimo se!</div>
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<img alt="" class="alignnone" data-mce-src="http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ4mWt951AH2YRU26OpxUrbuJar63gqOG0vbcAUO35_r5VQ-Di6" height="134" src="http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ4mWt951AH2YRU26OpxUrbuJar63gqOG0vbcAUO35_r5VQ-Di6" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; cursor: default;" title="Sveti Stephan" width="377" /></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09840356238615469937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3592413949013197968.post-40871772724752090212012-02-15T14:53:00.000-08:002012-02-15T16:02:48.824-08:00End of the Rainbow - an introduction to Richard Thompson<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a data-mce-href="http://hanniganfrank.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/rt1.jpeg" href="http://hanniganfrank.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/rt1.jpeg"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-57" data-mce-src="http://hanniganfrank.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/rt1.jpeg" height="209" src="http://hanniganfrank.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/rt1.jpeg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; cursor: default;" title="rt1" width="242" /></a></div>
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If you only sample one new songwriter's work in 2012 - make it Richard Thompson. </div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
Here are a bunch of jumping off points....</div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
http://www.richardthompson-music.com/</div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Thompson_(musician)</div>
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<br /></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
BBC Documentary</div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://youtu.be/jCxdEc3gVwE" href="http://youtu.be/jCxdEc3gVwE" title="1/7">pt 1/7</a></div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://youtu.be/2rZhALSnyhY pt 2/7" href="http://youtu.be/2rZhALSnyhY%20pt%202/7">pt 2/7</a></div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://youtu.be/sxzDmu8krz4" href="http://youtu.be/sxzDmu8krz4">pt 3/7</a></div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://youtu.be/0WwYlqLe0HA" href="http://youtu.be/0WwYlqLe0HA">pt 4/7</a></div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://youtu.be/kUFeX6wPsng " href="http://youtu.be/kUFeX6wPsng">pt 5/7</a></div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://youtu.be/FKqMub-fc1U " href="http://youtu.be/FKqMub-fc1U">pt 6/7</a></div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://youtu.be/C8NfNFMocaw " href="http://youtu.be/C8NfNFMocaw">pt 7/7</a></div>
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<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
Newstalk BBC review</div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<a data-mce-href="http://youtu.be/7q2jCQoyfig " href="http://youtu.be/7q2jCQoyfig">part 1/2</a></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<a data-mce-href="http://youtu.be/R4eAsl39nbI " href="http://youtu.be/R4eAsl39nbI">part 2/2</a></div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://hanniganfrank.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/rt2.jpeg" href="http://hanniganfrank.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/rt2.jpeg"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-59" data-mce-src="http://hanniganfrank.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/rt2.jpeg" height="220" src="http://hanniganfrank.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/rt2.jpeg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; cursor: default;" title="rt2" width="230" /></a></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
Here are some of my favourite youtube moments</div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<a data-mce-href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zjFdDXauuA&feature=fvwrel" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zjFdDXauuA&feature=fvwrel"> 1952 Vincent Black Lightning</a></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<a data-mce-href="http://youtu.be/bOubQpbfzAY Over the rainbow" href="http://youtu.be/bOubQpbfzAY%20Over%20the%20rainbow">Elvis Costello cover</a></div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://youtu.be/GJKnk09YuQU" href="http://youtu.be/GJKnk09YuQU">Shoot out the lights</a> </div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://youtu.be/W9-lAOdQrGo" href="http://youtu.be/W9-lAOdQrGo"> Waltzing's for dreamers</a></div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://youtu.be/ZyW2HSsbzqk" href="http://youtu.be/ZyW2HSsbzqk">From Galway to Graceland - covered by Eleanor Shanley</a></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<a data-mce-href="http://youtu.be/V4WGsMplGxU" href="http://youtu.be/V4WGsMplGxU">Oops I did it again - originally made famous by Brittany Spears</a></div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://youtu.be/0Tx3Po07iPs" href="http://youtu.be/0Tx3Po07iPs">I feel so good</a></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<a data-mce-href="http://youtu.be/mdFJyP96aHU" href="http://youtu.be/mdFJyP96aHU">Persuasion - with Tim Finn</a></div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://youtu.be/HApy-Xoix-g" href="http://youtu.be/HApy-Xoix-g">Beeswing</a></div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://youtu.be/M4YNGnf-ECo" href="http://youtu.be/M4YNGnf-ECo">I missunderstood</a></div>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09840356238615469937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3592413949013197968.post-64564455328862514262012-01-09T12:19:00.000-08:002012-01-09T12:19:07.455-08:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Dka3YI1zpaOenbOHJWjfkyimZFSYBODQonQhHxMCT4FUNjzREkZ4gS3oj4n0MNB9jDCdXo-CxEdqvRt2hQy3JmBq2Njj8sGOnfSkeEmA2MdKpmuGTt8iCwfh0jtxbhi2Cu-uY9hfPRw/s1600/facebook.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">What can you say - this is what happens when you allow a multi-national crew to use Facebook.<img border="0" height="491" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Dka3YI1zpaOenbOHJWjfkyimZFSYBODQonQhHxMCT4FUNjzREkZ4gS3oj4n0MNB9jDCdXo-CxEdqvRt2hQy3JmBq2Njj8sGOnfSkeEmA2MdKpmuGTt8iCwfh0jtxbhi2Cu-uY9hfPRw/s640/facebook.png" width="640" /></a></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09840356238615469937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3592413949013197968.post-29424343196365778142011-12-30T05:15:00.001-08:002011-12-30T05:19:12.097-08:00OCCUPY LANGUAGE
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnclYrD0nreXJv3KLU6ON7w18Fgb-FnL1aPY82xXH-lcei1TWPstGoHEWqETJ5vuCoWWlOi_xb7gQ92wELv3qdiILOyKXiuTaekOMVZCOi3vxV_VuujrbAMQyo7jt67yMYW__PjONor4U/s1600/1theoa350.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnclYrD0nreXJv3KLU6ON7w18Fgb-FnL1aPY82xXH-lcei1TWPstGoHEWqETJ5vuCoWWlOi_xb7gQ92wELv3qdiILOyKXiuTaekOMVZCOi3vxV_VuujrbAMQyo7jt67yMYW__PjONor4U/s320/1theoa350.jpeg" /></a></div>
I heard Theo Dorgan on Matt Cooper’s show on Today FM.
There were four very noisy ten year olds in the car – all speaking at the same time as Theo.
I still knew I was listening to something really important – and I want to share it – and I hope you will share it.
” We don’t know what we want, but we don’t want this shit” – this was a tweet from some fan of the occupy movement.
The inchoate frustration is interesting – but it won’t change anything.
Dorgan says ” When you change language you change reality”
He talks about the disconnect between the state and the citizen.
He talks here too about how we in Ireland imported the nature of state from Britain wholesale and without any discourse about what kind of Republic we wanted back at the foundation of the state…and that now as it all collapses around us, once again we are shirking responsibility as citizens to re-imagine the Republic.
Of course, the issues addressed are much broader than Irish. Once again there is a breakdown of consensus on the nature of political society.
Each time this has happened in history poets and writers have played a key role in focusing the inchoate into language, into ideas, into a reality that we ordinary folk can sign up to.
The emergence of nationalism in 19th century Europe including our own relentless journey from a nation to a state was driven more by poetry and writing than by guns and warriors.
I include the radio interview and his earlier speech in UCC.
I feel optimistic.
I was afraid Ireland was moving back towards stasis and mediocrity.
It can’t as long as people like Theo have a voice and an audience.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo1ChzIaR4szuYFgjI8NqsZCswslRIUjx4pup4bbxcm33Yv9XRM1YBYh5nPtQ1P8KcjXZH1y7__RoIJyq3fIdu3Z5b42lYFwFqusQGlhRnNlGG4BFY8AH_yka2h9aql6YtGbKtiFxBLF0/s1600/theo.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="183" width="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo1ChzIaR4szuYFgjI8NqsZCswslRIUjx4pup4bbxcm33Yv9XRM1YBYh5nPtQ1P8KcjXZH1y7__RoIJyq3fIdu3Z5b42lYFwFqusQGlhRnNlGG4BFY8AH_yka2h9aql6YtGbKtiFxBLF0/s320/theo.jpeg" /></a></div>
– <a href="http://owlpod.com/tags/theo-dorgan">Matt Cooper Today FM</a>
- <a href="http://www.ucc.ie/opa/conferspech/tdorgan.html">UCC speech 2000</a>
– <a href="http://www.ucc.ie/en/cacsss/videos/tdorgan/">UCC speech 2010</a>
“Now is the season to know that everything you do is sacred”
— Hafiz
Today is an important day in the life of the Republic. A huge human investment has gone into the processes that have brought you here: all those who have fed and nurtured you, all those who have taught you, studied with you, befriended you, loved you, share today in what is by any standards a considerable achievement. You are citizens of a Republic, and this Republic has underwritten, made possible, your achievements. You are already, and have been for some time, privileged human beings: the wealth which others have generated has been placed at your disposal so that you may make the best of the talents you were born with. And you yourselves have made, perhaps, the greatest investment: you have put your lives so far into the work of educating yourselves, each of you has taken the one and only life you have and invested it in a dream of the future. You feel a sense, perhaps, of accomplishment. A sense of vindication. A sense of relief. And, if you are to be accurate, a sense of loss, too, because a whole phase of your life is over. Each of you must feel, in some crucial sense, very much on your own today. From now on, what happens will be as a result of your choices. From now on, you are responsible for what becomes of you. But I would like you also to consider this: more than has been the case before today, what happens to all of us now will be shaped by what you do, the choices you make, the ways you conduct yourselves as citizens. And because you are privileged, because your education confers on you a certain access to power in this society, what you say and do, what you become, will have an added force. Today, your responsibilities deepen.
Education is a curious thing. We derive it from the Latin, e-ducere, to lead out. We need to ask some questions about this, I think: who is being led, who is doing the leading, from where are we being led out, and into what? In some sense one is being led out of childhood, the extended childhood that is a mark of the western democracies in our time. One is also being led out of a presumed ignorance, into the light of learning. The model this etymology suggests is essentially authoritarian, it presumes a settled society, a certain naivety on the part of the student, a certain possession of learning on the part of the teacher, a chain of transmission, and therefore transformation, linking both. I am not so sure that this model holds in the present day. It suggests a continuity that is essentially human, it suggests a process where the wise and accomplished devote their lives to nurturing the humanity of the young, the end in view being the deepening of our human understanding of ourselves and others.
We live, however, in a problematic reality now, the variousness of what lives and dies only fitfully seen behind the lightning clouds of a consumer economy, the music of what happens drowned out by the roaring and screeching of an economy that has lost the run of itself. This Republic has invested time and money and human care in your formation, but somehow has lost itself along the way. Most of your exact contemporaries in the world today are born into poverty, in many cases extreme poverty. A huge number of them live under the rule of oppressive regimes, many of them face lives of powerlessness, of vain struggle, of hardship and the slow death of hope. We, on the other hand, live in comparative liberty, we are privileged politically, socially and materially as no nation on the face of the earth has ever been. On the face of it. We have gross inequalities here in Ireland, and I see them becoming grosser, and each of you must ask herself and himself what it is you wish to do about that. But, in essence, we are free. We share fully in the conditional freedoms of the Western democracies. The challenge you face now, as citizens of a Republic, is what to do with these freedoms.
The period of your life whose passing we are marking today has been a period of initiation. If you have been fortunate, as I was fortunate here, you will have met real teachers, women and men who will have encouraged in you what Hegel refers to as the particular courage of taking thought, of reflecting on your situation, your capacities and your desires. Some of you live in an unexamined way, and will be like this until you die, or until life shocks you into being awake; some of you were born with questions on your lips, and will die asking questions. Most of you, like most of us, will make sporadic attempts to understand this life, but will end up making those tiny accomodations that eat the soul, agreeing with one another that we can’t be always worrying about things, we have to be getting on with the practical realities.
What I wish for you today, on the threshold of this new phase of your lives, is courage. The courage to push yourselves beyond the incidental drives of the ego, the courage to dare yourselves, every day of your lives, to become more fully human. The courage to live in the light of Auden’s famous dictum, “we must love one another or die”. The courage to pursue wisdom and justice in all that you are and in all that you do. The courage to become, in the proudest possible sense, citizens of a Republic.
The great Russian poet, Boris Pasternak, tells us “to live your life is not so simple as to cross a field”. He’s right, of course. Life happens to us, and we struggle to make the best of it. Most of the time we get on with it, making it up as we go along. I don’t mean for a moment to suggest that this is a bad thing, far from it. I have no idea where we came from, not the least idea where we’re going. Like you, I want more than anything else to enjoy this life, to enjoy this strange world in which we find ourselves, “the richness of things being various”. My only use to you today is to say this: once I sat where you sit now, conscious of great kindnesses that were done to me here, conscious of privilege, impatient to be gone from here. I wanted more of everything -wine, dope, sex, work, company, love; I wanted poems above all, not to be a poet but to have the in eradicable joy of making poems. I knew what I wanted, or thought I did, and I couldn’t wait to get on with it. And buried deep inside that passionate appetite for life was a barely-acknowledged truth: I wanted to know, I wanted, though I wouldn’t have used the words then, to be wise.
I have spent my life since then in a stumbling pursuit of wisdom. I live here, in Ireland, in these complex and turbulent times. I have lived elsewhere, and will again, but this is my nation and this is where I must teach myself to be human. For all its glaring faults, its petty failings, its dull and mostly illiterate ruling class, this Republic, this place we share in space and time and history, is the stage on which we must shape and act our parts. I hope, of course, that some generous impulse in your minds and hearts will lead you to play a conscious part in shaping the world we live in. I hope that you will not be beaten down, that the shocks of life will not wear away your courage and passion. There will be bitterness and there will be joy and there will be, inevitably, a great deal of confusion. But let us agree to say at the end of things “I have lived as best I could have, I have done what good was in my power. I lived as a free and generous human being”.
I leave you with these words of the 14th century Persian poet, Hafiz:
“Now is the season to know
that everything you do
is sacred”
— HafizAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09840356238615469937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3592413949013197968.post-25148835842592060572011-11-12T17:32:00.001-08:002011-11-12T17:33:12.804-08:00At your wake, your life will not be measured by your bank balance20 minutes chat about creating value, Mongolian Vodka, Lean Startup and more..
Recording courtesy of Bernie Goldbach - @topgold
http://huffduffer.com/topgold/55663
Picture courtesy of Philip O'Rourke @piperhawk<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_anCrvN7hR0jk2NWGaf1py3nVI06Kx9NkBtitj9Vi5ZKqCv-5hBzP_63IpVm6zFoIYwnCUZAW5AuI_Si7KqW3-p1Ecm2OYnJpjREikoeiGZyo9n019VqFzFM0hwVTbz6SV2oMiTUApdY/s1600/5d652370067011e19896123138142014_7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_anCrvN7hR0jk2NWGaf1py3nVI06Kx9NkBtitj9Vi5ZKqCv-5hBzP_63IpVm6zFoIYwnCUZAW5AuI_Si7KqW3-p1Ecm2OYnJpjREikoeiGZyo9n019VqFzFM0hwVTbz6SV2oMiTUApdY/s320/5d652370067011e19896123138142014_7.jpg" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09840356238615469937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3592413949013197968.post-54798159410864488852011-10-26T03:47:00.001-07:002011-10-26T03:47:20.453-07:00A kick up the ArasValue politics and the Presidency
I have a very simple belief system when it comes to business or life in general.
The rules of the game are:
You create value
You distribute value
You capture some of that value for yourself
If you live a good life, you create more value than you capture
For my children, I want a state that provides the infrastructure physical and cultural that allows them to create plenty of value for their community.
I know that if they do, they will capture enough value to make the choices they need, and to offer their children all the choices they need.
Let’s leave the physical infrastructure to one side – that job is for government.
Let’s focus instead on the cultural infrastructure.
This is anchored by beliefs that are shared by the vast majority of a nation.
The beliefs we sign up to in Ireland include:
Equal rights regardless of birth, gender, race, creed or indeed access to dominant political organisations
Practical ethics in business and in private life
A commitment by citizens that balances personal liberty with the needs of the Nation and State
Its not a long list. There may be more but let’s consider the role of the President in regard to this list.
I have had a number of discussions on twitter and offline about Sean Gallagher.
I don’t know him from a bar of soap, and I have nothing against the man.
One business guy suggested to me that every businessman in Ireland would do exactly what it is being suggested SG did in relation to tax. “Ripping the arse out of the tax code is a key skill in Irish business” is exactly how it was put to me.
That is not a sustainable model of business ethics, and that will become clear when the cute hoors not paying their fair share of tax go looking for college places for their kids, or visit their mum as she lies in a corridor on a trolley.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0624/1224299525409.html
I don’t want to live in that country.
If a President does not sign up to the cultural infrastructure we want for Ireland, how can you expect others to do so.
We elect a President to reflect what’s great about our country.
Sean Gallagher’s campaign stood for “Hope” and “Positivity”.
Its what Ireland is crying out for, and its no surprise that he won a lot of support.
It is why Charles Haughey was elected, it is why Bertie Ahern was elected.
“Questions are like the knocks of beggarmen, and should not be minded.”
― Flann O'Brien
I don’t want to live in that country.
I was struck also by the €5k paid by GAA clubs to SG in order to copper fasten grant aid. "He was inside with Fianna Fail and the ministers and (he had) the inside track, he had been (Dr Rory) O'Hanlon's secretary. Once you got him to do it, you were going to get the grant.” According to sources in this article.
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/presidential-election/gallagher-charged-gaa-clubs-up-to-euro5000-for-grants-advice-2915300.html
That’s the Ireland my Dad grew up in. Access to a small elite – not your ability or your application decided your fate and the fate of your enterprise.
I have worked in developing countries where that logic reaches its inevitable end point, where corruption crushes initiative and turns good people into ex-pats.
It has a habit of breaking the people who stay and have the capacity to change countries like Ireland – I think of Noel Browne especially when I write this.
The human waste of our generations, the ‘40’s, the ‘50’s, the ‘60’s the ‘70’s, my own generation who left in the ‘80’s – is incalculable.
In this period, Europe rebuilt itself, America reimagined itself and our best and our brightest built rich lives invested in Nations far from home.
Ireland stagnated.
I don’t want to live in that country.
In business I have found myself in the company of what Flann O’Brien would call sleeveens.
I have seen close up the self delusion with regards to their ability; the cuteness built on a presumption that the rest of us are too thick to catch them out; the expectation that even though its wrong, they will get away with it, and there will be a great story to tell about that close brush with moral consequences.
Taking these guys down requires a lot of effort and personal sacrifice.
On Thursday, all you have to do is vote.
A vote for Sean Gallagher is a vote for the Ireland our parents grew up in.
I don’t want to live in that country.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09840356238615469937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3592413949013197968.post-77164670074577548162011-10-19T08:10:00.001-07:002011-10-19T08:10:40.121-07:00Steve Jobs and adoptionBeing adopted is a challenge.<br /><br />Half of those who seek out their birth parents, really wished they had not.<br /><br />Building a successful relationship with any parent takes decades of trial and error, love and mutual respect. <br /><br />Its hardly surprising that without that platform, relationships with newly discovered birth parents don't always work out.<br /><br />I am adopted - my real parents are Betty & Tadhg Hannigan. <br /><br />My birthparents are very real too - but I have not sought them out. <br /><br />I respect them and thank them for giving me the life I have. <br /><br />I don't feel any urge to have a relationship with them beyond that. <br /><br />It does not feel right. <br /><br />It seems unlikely we would have the ingredients for a valuable relationship.<br /><br />I think that's probably how Steve Jobs felt.<br /><br />http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052970203499704576620911395191694-lMyQjAxMTAxMDAwOTEwNDkyWj.html?fb_ref=wsj_share_FB&fb_source=home_multilineAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09840356238615469937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3592413949013197968.post-31413195433485682912011-08-27T13:22:00.001-07:002011-08-27T13:22:57.996-07:00A different Perspective on the Celtic Tiger
<br />Anyone with friends in emerging economies will have a very interesting perspective on Ireland today.
<br />
<br />We are very lucky and we should remember that when our media over egg our situation.
<br />
<br />Ireland is effectively bankrupt. The balance sheet is shot.
<br />
<br />This is due to an extreme bubble in property prices and a criminal lack of control of our banking sector.
<br />
<br />Ireland is a democracy. We have voted those in government who were responsible out of office.
<br />
<br />We are not an open society when it comes to wealth and powerful self serving groups. No one in business responsible for the destruction of our economy has spent a day in prison or faced any other punitive action.
<br />
<br />Trade Unions have not faced up to their responsibilities. They are insisting that those in the public sector get theirs - regardless of our country's ability to maintain these conditions.
<br />
<br />Our asset classes have not been allowed to clear as they might in a liberal economy like the US.
<br />
<br />Just as our country is bankrupt so too are many of our families. There is no chance that many can ever pay down their debt.
<br />
<br />This is being ignored, the can is being kicked down the road.
<br />
<br />Unlike in liberal economies, bankruptcy is a major stigma in Ireland. A bankrupt in Ireland will remain so for 12 years - compared to 1 year in the UK.
<br />
<br />We do not have banking. What is worse is that the banking sector produce statistics to suggest that debt is available to business and families. Its not.
<br />
<br />The celtic tiger reinforced the truth that our people are as good as any other.
<br />
<br />Irish companies and individuals raised their game - aimed to be outstanding, to be world class.
<br />
<br />Our people remain outstanding productive members of society.
<br />
<br />Our exports continue to grow at a very aggressive rate.
<br />
<br />Our companies and Foreign Direct Investment companies are growing fast, competing effectively with their competitors on a global scale.
<br />
<br />On the P&L - Ireland is on a positive trend. Construction and Banking are destroyed as sectors. Most other sectors not dependent on domestic demand are doing well.
<br />
<br />So there is a lot to fight for.
<br />
<br />What do we do next?
<br />
<br />Well - I am not sure to be honest.
<br />
<br />I know what outcomes we need to bounce back:
<br />
<br />- We need to reduce our public costs.
<br />
<br />- We need banking to re-start.
<br />
<br />- We need education and health systems that will retain the best and most productive people in this country.
<br />
<br />- We need to get unemployed people back into work.
<br />
<br />- We need to write down the value of assets, property, bonds and mortgages. We need to do this fast to re-start the economy and investment activity. Failure to do so will recreate the stagnation that Japan created by not being aggressive post their asset bubble.
<br />
<br />With no currency revaluation possible, we need to drive down all costs - including salaries. There has been some work done in this respect - but Ireland is still an expensive place to live and work - Iceland has been lucky in this regard. Revaluing their currency made this re-pricing automatic. We need to replicate this outcome.
<br />
<br />
<br />There is a lot outside of our own control.
<br />
<br />How the EU views itself and its responsibility to its citizens is perhaps the most important input into our countries future.
<br />
<br />What is obvious to me having visited ex-communist countries like Romania is that humans have an exceptional ability to survive and to prosper.
<br />
<br />Talking to people who lived through the '90's in the Balkans reminds me as an Irish person just how much we have going for us.
<br />
<br />I am optimistic. This too will pass.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09840356238615469937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3592413949013197968.post-3447213479403081802011-08-27T04:32:00.000-07:002011-08-27T04:42:38.735-07:00Steve HeighwayAt 6 my parents guided me towards supporting Liverpool and specifically this amazing new Irish player: Steve Heighway
<br />
<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Heighway.
<br />http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/history/past-players/steve-heighwa
<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSD_ABo4Qws
<br />
<br />He was a fantastic role model and I hope my kids find role models as powerful.
<br />
<br />In Messi, I believe they have found just that model - and its about a lot more than soccer.
<br />
<br />Messi's personality and lifestyle are in marked contrast to so many of the flashy trashy people in sport today.
<br />
<br />I have no doubt that at 63, like Heighway, Messi will be a valuable part of his industry and a good man.
<br />
<br />That's all I hope for my two sons.
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09840356238615469937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3592413949013197968.post-46002023125122000322011-08-09T06:55:00.001-07:002011-08-09T07:49:45.801-07:00Tim O'Reilly - Create more value than you captureTim O'Reilly should be a lot better known in Ireland.
<br />
<br />For those of you who think they know him - take a moment to read a little more about him here - there may be a few surprises.
<br />
<br />For Irish people not directly involved in technology - you may never have heard of him.
<br />
<br />This is a collection of links for anyone who wants to find out more.
<br />
<br />Why am I putting this blog together?
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />In a perfect world what I would love to see happen is....
<br />
<br /> - A member of the cabinet preferably Enda Kenny reaching out to ask this global leader for his help and support.
<br />
<br />- An Irish media organisation persuading Tim to invest time and energy to lead an event called - why not - Ireland 2.0
<br />
<br />- An ongoing role for Tim where he could evangelize, promote and give back to the country of his birth.
<br />
<br />I have been lucky enough to see Tim speak.
<br />
<br />We have people in common and they confirm that this guy is all he seems to be and more.
<br />
<br />He was born in Cork, he is proudly from Kerry.
<br />
<br />Gay Byrne for the Aras?
<br />
<br />Don't make me laugh.
<br />
<br />When you discover the impact this guy has had in his short life, few other Irish leaders stand a shoulder above him.
<br />
<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_O'Reilly
<br />
<br />tim.oreilly.com -- Various Thing I've Written: Tim O'Reilly's Archive
<br />
<br />http://www.inc.com/magazine/20100501/the-oracle-of-silicon-valley.html
<br />
<br />http://oreilly.com/about/
<br />
<br />Some Videos worth viewing
<br />
<br />http://thestartupfoundry.com/2011/03/09/how-tim-oreilly-bootstrapped-oreilly-media-with-happy-accidents/
<br />
<br />Create more value that your capture - Web 2.0 2010 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAau6W--iMo
<br />
<br />Velocity 2011 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Kn-RrAg9FI
<br />
<br />BBC interview 2007 - http://blip.tv/cubicgardencom-videos/tim-o-reilly-interview-for-bbc-pods-and-blogs-198960
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09840356238615469937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3592413949013197968.post-54603199662617008902011-07-20T08:42:00.000-07:002011-07-20T08:49:44.063-07:00Revisiting O'Donovan Rossa's Grave after the Cloyne ReportSplendid and holy causes are served by men who are themselves splendid and holy. <br /><br />O'Donovan Rossa was splendid in the proud manhood of him--splendid in the heroic grace of him, splendid in the Gaelic strength and clarity and truth of him. <br /><br />And all that splendour, and pride, and strength was compatible with a humility and a simplicity of devotion to Ireland, to all that was olden and beautiful and Gaelic in Ireland; the holiness and simplicity of patriotism of a Michael O'Clery or of an Eoghan O'Growney. <br /><br />The clear true eyes of this man almost alone in his day visioned Ireland as we to-day would surely have her--not free merely but Gaelic as well; not Gaelic merely, but free as well.<br /><br />We pledge to Ireland our love, and we pledge to Rome rule in Ireland our hate<br /><br />I hold it a Christian thing, as O'Donovan Rossa held it, to hate evil, to hate untruth, to hate oppression, and hating them, to strive to overthrow them. <br /><br />Our foes are strong, and wise, and wary; but strong and wise and wary as they are, they cannot undo the miracles of God, Who ripens in the hearts of young men the seeds sown by the young men of a former generation.<br /><br />Rulers and Defenders of Realms had need to be wary it they would guard against such processes. <br /><br />Life springs from death, and from the graves of patriot men and women spring live nations. <br /><br />The defenders of this church have worked well in secret and in the open.<br /><br />They think that they have pacified Ireland. <br /><br />They think that they have purchased half of us, and intimidated the other half. <br /><br />They think that they have foreseen everything. <br /><br />They think that they have provided against everything; but the fools, the fools, the fools! they have left us our broken and our <br /><br />dead, and while Ireland holds these graves, Ireland unfree shall never be at peaceAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09840356238615469937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3592413949013197968.post-89190636817991172812011-06-21T03:20:00.000-07:002011-06-21T03:51:03.479-07:00Distribution of equity among founders at start-upA friend called me about this issue.<br /><br />I don't have the solution for every given situation but I thought I would share my thoughts with you.<br /><br />Feel free to comment or improve on my points!<br /><br />I recommend starting with an equal share for each Founder, not each employee, I stress. <br /><br />If you can't tell the difference - you are an employee!<br /><br />Say you have two founders....<br /><br />Your shareholder agreement should allow for those shares to be bought back by the company at a nominal sum in circumstances where the 50:50 split is no longer fair.<br /><br />This would be by consensus or failing that with arbitration provided by a trusted third party - chairperson, lawyer etc.<br /><br />The shares should become whole on three dates<br /><br />1/3 whole on first anniversary, 1/3 on the following two anniversaries.<br /><br />After a year you should know if the 50:50 is fair, but if not - you have two further board meetings to set things right.<br /><br />If you are still not sure about the correct split after 3 years....it does not matter!!<br /><br />If you don't raise funds, you can give a 3d party a casting vote - a chairperson or a professional advisor like your legal advisor. <br /><br />This deals with the unlikely event of a complete empasse on key decisions.<br /><br />If you do raise funds, a 50:50 split will no longer be an issue. You will have a third voting block and hopefully they will be valuable and active in helping you make the right decisions.<br /><br />The only reason for moving from a 50:50 is if one person is demonstrably creating more shareholder value than the other.<br /><br />Even this extreme case can dealt with this elsewhere:<br /><br />Salary <br />Annual bonus<br />Share Options<br /><br />That's my tuppence worth.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09840356238615469937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3592413949013197968.post-31758956208231820662011-06-02T03:17:00.001-07:002011-06-03T01:07:38.940-07:00Mladic and The Balkans - a reading listI have put together a reading list that allows you to get to grips with the major issues around "The Balkan question"<br /><br />These books tell of horrendous evil and paint loss on a scale that most of us can hardly get our heads around.<br /><br />When you meet people in Belgrade, Tirana, Sarajevo or Dubrovnik, you find that every family has been visited by loss.<br /><br />The "Bridge on the Drina" novel gives you a sense that this loss goes back generations and has as many layers as a Baklava cake.<br /><br />So let's start at the start.....<br /><br />The split of the Roman empire - Rome vs Constantinople - created long term division in the Balkans.<br /><br />Primarily the division is Croats/ Catholics from their brother Southern Slavs - the Serbs/Orthodox.<br /><br /> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East%E2%80%93West_Schism<br /><br /><br />The Bosnian Christian Church had a history of heresy and were harassed by both Catholics and Orthodox churches. <br /><br />That made them open to conversion. Large numbers over centuries converted to Islam, brought to Bosnia by the Ottomans.<br /><br /> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamization_of_Bosnia_and_Herzegovina<br /><br />Mirkovic is a family name in all three traditions - all Slavs - all impossible to tell apart. <br /><br />We know from our own Irish history how corrosive the enemy within concept can be.<br /><br />That is a starting point to understanding the millennium of Balkan fear and loathing, a millennium of butchery and treachery - with all sides responsible. <br /><br />A history where there is little by way of a reckoning and even less in terms of a shared history.<br /><br />There has been no Truth and Reconciliation Commission like South Africa's. <br /><br />Albanians - who make up most of the population in Kosovo, Albania and a good portion of Macedonia add more spice to this cauldron. The majority are notionally Muslim.<br /><br />They have been persecuted by the Serbs throughout history.<br /><br />There have also been massacres in reverse. Ethnic cleansing of Serbs over centuries in Kosovo explains why Kosovo, a most sacred place for Serbs has so few Serbs living there today.<br /><br />This was the site of the Battle of Kosovo field. Serb and Albanian Princes fought and were defeated by the Ottoman Sultan - but at such a cost that the Ottoman advance into Europe was stalled for a generation. <br /><br />It was enough time to prepare Europe for what became the successful defense of Vienna when the Turks next attacked. <br /><br />Serbs believe that this battle saved Europe from becoming a Muslim backwater of the Ottoman Empire.<br /><br />The fact that this totem of Serb nationalism - the battle ground, historic churches and monasteries are no longer part of Serbia is a raw wound to almost all Serbs - whether ultra-nationalist or liberal.<br /><br />My work has allowed me spend time with people from all traditions in the Balkans. <br /><br />I find Balkan people from all communities open, honest and great fun. <br /><br />They have a lot in common with the Irish - and you find that the Irish percolate into all aspects of Balkan life.<br /><br />We have a similar world view and very similar core values.<br /><br />One thing you notice talking to people from the region are the huge gaps in their knowledge of Balkan history.<br /><br />Into these gaps flow many myths that do not stand up to scrutiny.<br /><br />Tito, (Joseph Broz) as leader of communist Yugoslavia, kept the lid on all the regions simmering hatreds. <br /><br /> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josip_Broz_Tito<br /><br />When he passed on - two men fanned hate and hyper-nationalism - Milosovic and Tudjman.<br /><br /> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slobodan_Milo%C5%A1evi%C4%87<br /> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franjo_Tu%C4%91man<br /><br />Media operated as unquestioning megaphones for their lies and hatred.<br /><br />All the fears and all the resentments carried in so many Balkan breasts were brought to the surface.<br /><br />Bosnia fractured, a quasi-state was created - Republic Serbski - led by Radavan Karadzic with its military leader Radko Mladic.<br /><br /> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radovan_karad%C5%BEi%C4%87<br /> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mladic<br /><br />The civil war that ensued killed over 100,000 people. The fighting was intense with military losses on all sides. The civilian casualties make up over 40% of all deaths. Of these a stark 83% were Bosniaks, Slav Muslim citizens. <br /><br />8,000 Bosniak boys and men were killed in the Massacre at Srebrenica.<br /><br /> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosnian_War<br /><br />The war in Kosovo that followed unleashed hell on millions and set bitter fault lines in place for future wars.<br /><br /> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosovo_War<br /><br /><br />What happened in the Balkans in the 1990's is red raw. <br /><br />It is unbelievable that it happened in our lifetime. It is unbelievable that it happened only a couple of hours away by plane.<br /><br />It is critical that this time the facts becomes recognised as a common history shared and accepted by all.<br /><br />What happened in the 1990's is history repeating itself.<br /><br />SS officers wrote of their revulsion at the horrors of the concentration camps in the Croatian Fascist state during WW2. <br /><br />In that war, total civilian casualties in Yugoslavia make up 85% of deaths in some estimates. The detail of how these citizens died is truly horrific. <br /><br />http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.CHAP9.HTM<br /><br />These horrors are repeated regularly over centuries of Balkan history.<br /><br />With Mladic facing trial for his crimes - is this all coming to an end?<br /><br />No is the short answer....<br /><br />Not unless Europe takes a long term leadership role in the Balkan future is the longer answer.<br /><br />Lincoln with the Civil War created a new manifest destiny for his America. It was to move the United States from a loose federation to unity of purpose. <br /><br />Indirectly that civil war and his vision changed the scale and nature of the global economy and global politics.<br /><br />With so many challenges in Europe today, we need a vision as profound as Lincoln's; a sense of purpose that all Europeans can buy into; a vision that sets nationalism in perspective; a vision that precludes anything like the Balkan wars from staining our continent again.<br /><br />The alternative, a return to 20th century nationalism seems hardly credible. <br /><br />The Balkans future is dependent to a huge degree on how the EU develops.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />If you want to find out more about the Balkans - here are some starting points.....<br /><br />@timjudah1 - on twitter<br /><br />http://www.amazon.com/Serbs-History-Destruction-Yugoslavia-Third/dp/0300158262/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1306837189&sr=1-1<br /><br />This guy is well worth following on twitter - he has a number of books on the balkans - this book is a must read.....<br /><br />@MishaGlenny - on twitter<br /><br />http://www.amazon.com/Fall-Yugoslavia-Misha-Glenny/dp/014026101X/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_3<br />http://www.amazon.com/Balkans-1804-1999-Nationalism-Great-Powers/dp/1862070733/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_7<br /><br />From Misha you get a sense of how frustrated journalists were with "fair reporting codes" and in general valuable personal insights.<br /><br /> Slavenka Drakulic<br /><br />http://www.amazon.com/They-Would-Never-Hurt-Fly/dp/0143035428/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_5<br /><br />This is harrowing - she sits in and report on the mighty and the not so mighty being processed through The Hague.<br /><br />http://www.amazon.com/How-Survived-Communism-Even-Laughed/dp/0060975407/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1<br /><br />A great rollicking read - great insights into the reality of life in Tito's Yugoslavia <br /><br />Ivor Andric<br /><br />http://www.amazon.com/Bridge-Drina-Phoenix-Fiction/dp/0226020452/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1306837506&sr=1-1<br /><br />Nobel prize winner from Bosnia - amazing tale of a bridge and its village from the time of the Ottoman empire up to the start of the WW1 - beautifully written.<br /><br />Very simply introduces most of the political themes of the Balkans.<br /><br />Rebecca West<br /><br />http://www.amazon.com/Black-Lamb-Falcon-Penguin-Classics/dp/014310490X/ref=sr_1_12?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1306837559&sr=1-12<br /><br />Anglo Irish partner of HG Wells - rambling account of several tours of the Balkans between the two World Wars.<br /><br />Leon Trotsky<br /><br />http://www.amazon.com/War-Correspondence-Leon-Trotsky-1912-13/dp/0873489071/ref=sr_1_45?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1306837688&sr=1-45<br /><br />This is on my wish list so can't comment until I read it - but it comes highly recommended.<br /><br /><br />Beyond this there is a world of rich Balkan Art, Culture and literature to dig into. Go for it!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09840356238615469937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3592413949013197968.post-79932408081625160802011-05-04T03:14:00.000-07:002011-05-04T03:18:40.395-07:00The damaged Celtic Tiger - one perspective<meta charset="utf-8"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, default; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; ">
<br />Anyone with friends in emerging economies will have a very interesting perspective on Ireland today.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, default; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; ">
<br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, default; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; ">We are very lucky and we should remember that when our media over egg our situation.
<br />
<br />Ireland is effectively bankrupt. The balance sheet is shot.
<br />
<br />This is due to an extreme bubble in property prices and a criminal lack of control of our banking sector.
<br />
<br />Ireland is a democracy. We have voted those in government who were responsible out of office.
<br />
<br />We are not an open society when it comes to wealth and powerful self serving groups. No one in business responsible for the destruction of our economy has spent a day in prison or faced any other punitive action.
<br />
<br />Trade Unions have not faced up to their responsibilities. They are insisting that those in the public sector get theirs - regardless of our country's ability to maintain these conditions.
<br />
<br />Our asset classes have not been allowed to clear as they might in a liberal economy like the US.
<br />
<br />Just as our country is bankrupt so too are many of our families. There is no chance that many can ever pay down their debt.
<br />
<br />This is being ignored, the can is being kicked down the road.
<br />
<br />Unlike in liberal economies, bankruptcy is a major stigma in Ireland. A bankrupt in Ireland will remain so for 12 years - compared to 1 year in the UK.
<br />
<br />We do not have banking. What is worse is that the banking sector produce statistics to suggest that debt is available to business and families. Its not.
<br />
<br />The celtic tiger reinforced the truth that our people are as good as any other.
<br />
<br />Irish companies and individuals raised their game - aimed to be outstanding, to be world class.
<br />
<br />Our people remain outstanding productive members of society.
<br />
<br />Our exports continue to grow at a very aggressive rate.
<br />
<br />Our companies and Foreign Direct Investment companies are growing fast, competing effectively with their competitors on a global scale.
<br />
<br />On the P&L - Ireland is on a positive trend. Construction and Banking are destroyed as sectors. Most other sectors not dependent on domestic demand are doing well.
<br />
<br />So there is a lot to fight for.
<br />
<br />What do we do next?
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<br />Well - I am not sure to be honest.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, default; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; ">
<br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, default; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; ">I know what outcomes we need to bounce back:
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<br />- We need to reduce our public costs.
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<br />- We need banking to re-start.
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<br />- We need education and health systems that will retain the best and most productive people in this country.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, default; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; ">
<br />- We need to get unemployed people back into work.
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<br />- We need to write down the value of assets, property, bonds and mortgages. We need to do this fast to re-start the economy and investment activity. Failure to do so will recreate the stagnation that Japan created by not being aggressive post their asset bubble.
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<br />With no currency revaluation possible, we need to drive down all costs - including salaries. There has been some work done in this respect - but Ireland is still an expensive place to live and work - Iceland has been lucky in this regard. Revaluing their currency made this re-pricing automatic. We need to replicate this outcome.
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<br />There is a lot outside of our own control.
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<br />How the EU views itself and its responsibility to its citizens is perhaps the most important input into our countries future.
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<br />What is obvious to me having visited ex-communist countries like Romania is that humans have an exceptional ability to survive and to prosper.
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<br />Talking to people who lived through the '90's in the Balkans reminds me as an Irish person just how much we have going for us.
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<br />I am optimistic. This too will pass. </span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09840356238615469937noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3592413949013197968.post-20764729335745936802009-02-03T07:05:00.000-08:002009-02-03T07:20:23.803-08:00The endThis is the end of my sitting on the sideline of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">blogosphere</span> - <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">shneering</span> as a well known <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Navan</span> comic would put it.<br /><br />I am for the first time in ages a man with some leisure time on my hands.<br /><br />What I want to achieve with this blog is to get a dialogue going with people I trust and know well, but also with people I know nothing about, but who will in time become people I know and trust.<br /><br />I want to talk about business issues - telecoms, Internet and beyond.<br /><br />I also want to talk about parenting - because that is probably more important and a hell of a lot stickier.<br /><br />I will talk about Ireland because I think what is happening here is fascinating and our reinvention in the next five years will be a hoot.<br /><br />I will on <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">occasions</span> bore the pants off you about my family tree - those who are not <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">O'Boyle</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Hannigan</span>, Melvin, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">McHugh</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">McGlinchey</span> etc, will find this interesting - the rest of you can pass on these pieces.<br /><br />I am going to meet up with Damian <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Mulley</span> later in February and do one of his courses on blogging. If I am going to make an arse of this gig, I want to do it in an informed way!<br /><br />That is it - I am going to try and keep these pieces short and spend time on the conversations that they generate.<br /><br />Thanks for visiting and I hope you enjoyAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09840356238615469937noreply@blogger.com0