Would anyone be inspired to write books, compose music, or paint pictures if there was no one to enjoy them? Yes, I think they would. It is my belief that each of us is given a gift although many go through life without discovering their unknown ability; a great pity.
The story about the sinking of the Gairsoppa is ordinary, but the weight of the treasure it was carrying when sent to the bottom was one of the largest in the world.
MICHAEL WALSH is reflective when making comparisons between political activism during the 1960s and 1970s and today. Caught up in marches, demonstrations, car cavalcades and street battles between what mainstream describes as ‘the far-right’ and the left, the former party leader constantly made newspaper headlines, appearing on TV and radio broadcasts.
The eyebrows of my cardiologist lifted when I conceded that I once smoked 40 cigarettes a day. Smiling, he then told me that had I said I had never smoked he wouldn’t have known. My lungs had completely recovered from the effects of 25-years of heavy smoking. My addiction started when I was a 16-year-old sailor and continued until I was 40-years-of-age.
Most people reject and many resent the suggestion that they would make a salesperson. In truth, everyone is a salesman or woman and has been good at selling throughout their lives.
I am much amused by a Hagar the Viking cartoon in which Lucky Eddie declares Norwegian girls as being the best. Hagar the sea bandit says, ‘Yes, but Bulgarian girls are pretty and they’re good cooks.’
Over far more years than I can count on your fingers and toes and mine, I was compelled to save wise or endearing quotations as I chanced upon them. As it was long before home computers or self-publishing was an option, I had no idea what I was going to do with them. Like the stuff in the attic I just could not bring myself to discard them.
European culture offers a feast of quality music that accompanies the more discerning on a journey from womb to tomb. Perhaps these suggestions will inspire you to explore and enjoy the finest music created by Europe’s most gifted musicians over centuries. Do feel free to YouTube or purchase any of the following titles that will familiarise you with music that will continue to enhance your life. Think of each track as a glass of sublime aphrodisiacal wine. I think you will return again and again.
Once, while at the Royal Spanish Academy in Rome, I tried to give lectures, but one woman constantly blinded me with a camera flash, which prevented me from concentrating on my notes. I said that while I was working, they should stop working, because of the division of labour. The woman turned off her camera but clearly felt pained.
The human condition is to segment life; for instance, Shakespeare’s ‘seven ages of man’. Life is a little like the seasons so dress for the season whatever the weather is doing. Or like the ticking clock, ‘if that is the time then tired I must be.’
Michael Walsh Stories and Books 
Recent Comments