Peace and a prosperous economy is all very well and fine, but what about the poor mural painters who’ve had their livelihoods threatened by the Good Friday Agreement?
Thankfully, a new Man of the Norn Iron people has emerged to take King Billy and Bobby Sands’ place on the gable walls of Belfast.
Yup, take a stroll down Montrose Street South and you’ll be regaled by a giant painting of David Healy sticking the ball into the English net last September at Windsor Park. The artist does seem to be under the mistaken impression that it’s Peter Beardsley in goal for England, but otherwise it’s a stunning piece of work, which can be viewed along with other Dulux adorned houses at www.ourweecountry.co.uk/wallmurals.html.
Sticking with matters football, it’s off to www.brazilname.co.uk where you can discover what you’d be called if you’d honed your silky skills on the Copacabana.
To give you a few examples, Edward Power of this parish becomes Powinho Da Costa, John Walsh morphs into Waldo and Tara Brady is henceforth Felix Taraldo. Spare a thought though for poor Duan Stokes who will now forever be known around HP Towers as Duildo.
Unable to remove ourselves from a sporting tip, www.deadspin.com has excellent photos of a man boxing a kangaroo (the kangaroo looks like he’s winning) and an athletics judge with a javelin stuck in his foot (the javelin looks like it’s winning too).
There’s too much American Football coverage for our liking, but otherwise it’s addictively entertaining stuff.
To commemorate the 20th birthday of the film that provided Olaf Tyaransen with a manifesto for life, www.withnaildvd.com/pb.html has gone live with all sorts of frivolous foppery and the chance to save a few quid on the new deluxe DVD version of the ‘80’s classic.
Which just leaves time for quick visits to www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YvIDCHWkB4 (Daniel Bedingfield is dead meat!); www.babytoupee.com (turn your child into a figure of fun); and www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7004996414 (gold teeth banned in Tajikistan).