The Sigla Blog

Apologies for the lack of activity around here in last week or so, work has once again accelerated, leaving me very little time to do anything. I’ve spent so much time writing work stuff, that my own writing has been left untouched. A notebook lies by my bed, with not a word added to it […]

I know the Observer Music Monthly beat me to it with their review of Aerial last Sunday, as did Pete Paphides in The Times but I think this might well be the first Kate Bush review to come out of Ireland (don’t quote me on that whatever you do).
Talking to wood pigeons, lyrics about […]

At Sigla, we’ve always been partial to haikus so thanks to The Guardian for pointing us in the direction of David Bader’s book Haiku U : From Aristotle to Zola, 100 Great Books in 17 Syllables.

In it, Bader synopsises 100 great literary works in haiku format. Some of them are obscure, most are spot on […]

The woman responsible for that quote is, along with Flannery O’Connor, one of the greatest short story writers ever. On Friday, it was Katherine Mansfield’s birthday and I had intended to post something about her on the day. The reason I didn’t, was time, work, the usual, but mostly because I wanted to go back […]

Harold Pinter has won the 2005 Nobel Prize for Literature. This is quite timely for us living on the island of Ireland as tomorrow, his new play, The Betrayal opens at Dublin’s Gate Theatre.

I’ll never forget the production of The Homecoming I saw at The Gate starring Ian Holm, Ian Hart and Lia Williams. […]

It’s hard to believe it’s one year on since the sudden death of John Peel. There’s still a huge gap in the schedule due to his loss, despite the BBC attempting to fill it with not one, but three other DJs. Various bands in Dublin over the years were lucky enough to get the chance […]

After an initial mountain of over one hundred books, a 17 strong longlist and now the final six, the 2005 Man Booker Prize will be announced tonight.

There’s probably still time for a a flutter if you’re so inclined. I stuck some money on Ishiguro with Paddy Power, but the option of betting on the […]

After my last post, it seems I’m disillusioned with Irish medicine. From boardroom ethics to verbal arrogance, it seems the medical profession still has much to learn in this country when it comes to sensitivity to patients and their families.

This day last week, a woman I know was told some very bad news. Her 20 […]

I spotted this article in The Irish Independent today, which Treasa has also commented on, and frankly, I just don’t get it.

Three members of the Mater Hospital’s board want to stop the treatment of three lung cancer patients in trials, because it may involve them using contraception. How can anyone conclude that the contraception is […]

I have an artist friend, who is great at both being artistic and a friend. Neva Elliott has a very different take on the world which extends from late night chats over wine to creating her diverse art. She has displayed an entire wall of newspaper personal ads, blacking out words that don’t describe […]

As thanks for yesterday’s meme, I thought United Irelander would get a giggle out of out something I heard over the weekend.
Q What’s green and has no arms?
A The IRA.
Well, I laughed.

Ok, there have been lots of list-style favourite stuff memes but this one’s different. Courtesy of United Irelander who tagged me, it involves a bit of trawling through the archives. It works like this:
- Search your blog archive
- Find your 23rd post
- Find the fifth sentence - this is apparently meant to say something about […]