Thomas Edison lit us up with a workable electric light in his workshop on this day in 1879!

Now John Gormley wants us to embrace those new fangled CFL bulbs.

Thanks Mr. Edison and good night!

Journalist and author Nuala O’Faolain died last night at the Blackrock Hospice in Dublin.

She was 66 years old.

In an emotional interview on the Marian Finucane show on Radio One in April she spoke about being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

She said that she had turned down the option of chemotherapy because ‘I don’t want more time. As soon as I heard I was going to die, the goodness went from life.’

Her career:

• She was educated at University College Dublin, University of Hull and Oxford University.
• She taught at Morley College in London for a time.
• An internationally recognised journalist and author
• She worked as a television producer for R.T.É. and the B.B.C.

Her books:

• The Story of Chicago May (a history with commentary).
• Almost There: The Onward Journey of a Dublin Woman (a memoir).
• My Dream of You (a novel).
• Are You Somebody? The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman (a memoir in which she wrote about her 15 year relationship with journalist Nell Mccafferty).

Awards:

• She won a Jacob’s Award as producer of the RTÉ programme Plain Times in 1985.
• The Story of Chicago May was awarded the Prix Femina in 2006.

Ireland has lost a wonderfully gentle speaking lady and a highly accomplished journalist and author.

I have always admired Nuala’s candour and the contribution she has made to our country.

My condolences to her family and to Nell.

Rest In Peace Nuala.

Coca Cola first saw the light of day on the 8^th of May 1886.

It was invented by a chemist called John Stith (Styth) Pemberton.

Some Coca Cola facts:

• The original drink was based on a wine
• When prohibition was introduced in 1886 the wine was replaced with sugar syrup
• Coca Cola contained up to 60mg of cocaine until 1904
• Coke still contains an extract of the coca leaf (from which cocaine comes from – not to be confused with the cacao plant which is the basis for chocolate) but there are no drugs in it!
• The Chairman of the Coca Cola Company is E. Neville Isdell, an Irish man!

I reckon I am contributing a nice bit of cash to the Coca Cola coffers.

Between Coca Cola, Lucozade and Budweiser I do try to do my bit for the economy!

Happy birthday Coke!

Happy birthday Shirley!

Happy birthday Arfur (George Cole)!

Today (the 19th of April) is the third anniversary of Joseph Ratzinger becoming Pope Benedict XVI.

He is fulfilling his duty as caretaker Pope well!

Good man Herr Ratzinger.

The loss of Pope John Paul II is to be lamented. I have written previously that I liked the man, the way he lived his life and the way he treated all people.

Pope Benedict is a mystery man to me. A former youth of Hitler ‘preaching the faith’ to the plebs of the world.

I have a number of issues with the Catholic Church:

• Wealth is a sin …. so why is the Catholic Church sitting on so much wealth? Sell … sell … sell ………. make a difference to the poor!
• The Pope’s dallyance with the likes of George Bush is a hypocritical step too far for me. Why is the Church dancing with the devil? Don’t dance …. criticise …. use your ‘power’ for the betterment of mankind and not for encouraging the status quo.
• Where’s your ‘Equality of Access and Participation’ policy? We have one in my school. All are treated equally. Amazingly enough, Emminence, girls and boys are meant to be favoured equally. So when are you going to allow women an equal role in the Church?
• Allow priests to marry! By all means keep celibacy optional but allow the Bishop Caseys of the world the opportunity to do ‘it’ legitimately. (When I was a young lad I always thought that priests automatically got into heaven …. wow … was I wrong …. priests seem to be as bad if not worse than the ordinary Joe Soap sinner on the street). Priest were allowed marry until the twelfth century …. what ‘revelation’ made celibacy the ‘new fashion’? For the first 1200 years of the Church’s existence, priests, bishops and 39 popes were married!! Allowing priests marry might also reduce the instances of paedophilia amongst priests! If it saves one child from such treatment you’ll have made a good decision.
• Infallibility … the Pope may represent God on earth but he’s still a human …. and no human is perfect …. I can’t accept the argument that the Pope is infallible. Look at the shenanigans of previous popes and you’ll see what I mean.

If good and bad is so black and white …… why can the Church change black to white and vice versa when the inclination strikes it?

Answer: The Church is run by a group of power hungry men …. with opinions, feelings and biases same as the rest of us. The only thing is … when they make a decision or have a ‘revelation’ it affects half the world immediately.

As an aside ….. if there’s only one God …. whose God is the right God?

Is it the Catholic God?,

The Church of Ireland God?

The Muslim God?

The Buddhist God?

or?

It reminds me of the joke of a man dying and going to heaven. Peter meets him at the gate and welcomes him in. He tells the man that there are different areas in heaven …. the Jewish area, the Muslim area, etc. The only place Peter asks the man to stay silent is as they pass the Catholic compound. The man asks him why he has to stay silent while passing the Catholic compound only and Peter replies it’s because the Catholics believe they are the only group worthy enough to be in heaven. (Not quite the full joke/story …. but you’ll get the idea).

My ‘philosophy’ is life has evolved to trying to live each day the best I can without causing too much angst to those around me. ‘Live and let live’ would cover me I think.

As I don’t follow the Catholic ethos in my life anymore …. I guess my salavation is in jeopardy.

I don’t expect to leave a legacy after me when I die …. my only wish is that I will be remembered is some form now and again. I reckon my best hope will be for somebody to accidentally read my name on a graveyard wall. I don’t want to be remembered for my teaching (teachers are quickly forgotten when they are out of the classroom).

The Irish Free State became a fully independent republic on the 18^th of April 1949.

Happy birthday Hibernia.

The Ford Motor Company unveiled its new Mustang model on this day in 1964.

Happy Birthday horsey ……….. yeeeeeeeeeeeeee haw!

Samuel Beckett – author, critic and playwright. He won the 1969 Nobel Prize for Literature.

He was born in Dublin on the 13^th of April 1906.

Happy birthday and Rest In Peace Samuel.