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America, Countries, Culture, Europe, Ireland, Music, UK

Rainy Days and Songdays – Sweet Caroline, so good!

14th September 202014th September 2020 funtime65

Hands, touching hands/Reaching out, touching me, touching you – Sweet Caroline/Neil Diamond

And this’ll have you bopping on land or sea… Sweet Caroline, oh, oh, oh, good times never felt so good (so good, so good, so good).

You always know you’re onto a rousing stadium song and party favourite when the crowd know their cues.

And so randomly here are some of the places where those good times with Neil Diamond have never felt so good.

The duel in the crown

I don’t know what you’re having

Pat O’Brien’s duelling pianos, Universal Orlando: And you’ll need to bring a fistful of dollars with you (no, not the film though I dare say they’d play that soundtrack too).

Somebody will almost certainly ask for Sweet Caroline, and Piano Man, so that leaves the field open for your other faves.

Randomly I asked for (and got) Barry Manilow’s Mandy… ‘And I came and I gave without taking, and you sent me away, I’m Murty.’

Summer in New York

Holding hands… well, almost

The Beast, The Hudson River, New York: And on the hottest day of the summer with no space on the sidewalk (remember that) then the best place to go is the Hudson.

You’ll want to take the 70ft powerboat The Beast building up to 45mph around the Statue of Liberty.

And as you pass by New Jersey on the other side there’s a nod to that state’s favourite sons Bon Jovi and Livin’ On A Prayer.

Check it out as part of your New York CityPASS.

A gran old time in Austria

And that’s Ehrwald Presley there on the keyboards

Ehrwald, Austria: And what do you give a group of Irish senior walkers for musical entertainment?

The octogenarian oompah-oompah man laid on by Top Flight for Schools had tried some Austrian music and some Elvis.

But one of our group pointed out that we were an Irish group and ran off a list of Irish Wedding Songs… and obviously Sweet Caroline.

Booze cruise

And wait till the party gets started

Royal Caribbean, the English Channel: And we’re in the main shopping and entertainment area, of the Independence of the Seas rockin’ on our final night.

We’ve had the DJ belt out Hi Ho Silver Lining, 500 Miles, Delilah and It’s Not Unusual.

But the one that really rocks the boat is… you guessed it Sweet Caroline. So good, so good, so good.

America, Countries, Culture, Europe, Ireland, Oceania, Sport, UK

Football’s back – take your pick

12th September 202013th September 2020 funtime65

Now it all depends on whether you’re American, English, Irish or Australian who all embrace their football game.

It’s in the human DNA you see since the day Cain decided to kick Abel’s skull into a ditch.

So here are some thoughts on some of the teams I’ve adopted from my travels.

Off Pat

New England Patriots: I don’t know if you’re allowed it but I adopt all the American sports teams wherever I go.

It does make it easier to pick a winner if you’ve got the New York Jets (my Long Island cousins’-team), the Washington Redskins who are now looking for a new team, and the Denver Broncos.

It’s just that you go with the team where you spend the most time… and that was my summer after university in Boston.

Hoop dreams

All’s Well: Celtic v Motherwell. www.celticfc.net

And I had little choice growing up in Glasgow in the Seventies where Catholics and Protestants didn’t mix to choose Celtic.

Particularly as my Great-Uncles had built Celtic Park.

But Scots kids were allowed too to have an English team and I chose Liverpool.

Forward fast to the Nineties, had a son on Merseyside and it came full circle with The Son and Heir becoming a fully-fledged Red.

GAA-GAA

In Ireland, soccer (football) was known as a Garrison game, a preserve of the occupying British Army.

And Gaelic Football, Camogie (the female version) and the stick game hurling were the Irish sports.

I could pick any of Donegal, my Dear Old Mum’s county, Dublin where I worked for 13 years or Co. Wicklow, my adopted home.

But as my Mum drummed it into us as kids that Donegal was the best place on Earth.

And that the rest of Ireland hate serial winners Dublin, it has to be Donegal.

Perth, WA

My bonds with Western Australia started when my parents took me back a jersey of the West Coast Eagles. Minus the sleeves of course.

And continued when I joined a Top Deck booze bus to the Oktoberfest in Munich and discovered they were all Aussies and Kiwis.

Fast forward six months and Brownie and Smutley had arrived on my Aberdeen doorstep and went on to set up a WA colony there with their friends.

My one and only Aussie Rules football game was with an English guy at Surrey’s cricket ground, The Oval.

I remember Collingwood were one of the teams but don’t recall the other.

Collingwood are the New England Patriots, Dublin or Manchester United of their country.

Everybody else dislikes them unless you’re one of them.

MEET YOU ON THE PITCH

America, Countries, Culture

How New York’s leaders are betraying 9/11 heroes

15th August 202015th August 2020 funtime65

Firehouses aren’t on your New York tourist itinerary but they should be, and there are some native New Yorkers who would do well to visit one.

Like New York’s leaders who are betraying the memory of those heroes by pulling the annual light show memorial because of COVID-19.

Like most who have Irish blood coursing through their veins New York is part of my family’s story.

Three of my uncles decamped there, worked in bars and went on to open up their own businesses.

They never forgot what New York had given them, nor their children who went on to serve in their schools, hospitals, the NYPD and the NYFD.

Village route

And it was to his firehouse in Greenwich Village that my cousin Eddie took myself and my family when we visited.

Pride of place went to the lost firefighters, his friends who perished that fateful day, whose pictures adorn the walls.

The Village is notable, of course, for its artsy vibe and as the birthplace of the Gay Rights movement and that’s no coincidence.

As unlike the rest of Manhattan it predates the gridded road system.

Which was a hindrance to the 9/11 firefighters who had to negotiate the sharp bends on their way to the Twin Towers.

And Eddie took us up on an engine to show us how the firefighters did that with a hand-held turnilever at the back.

Which obviously slowed up their progress.

In the family

Eddie and another firefighter cousin of mine, Gary, worked 24/7 in the aftermath going above and beyond the call of duty.

So they and NYFD’s finest deserve a light being shone on them for what they did.

Oprah Winfrey did when she brought them on her show to cook.

While Eddie got his moment in the sun when he appeared in a calendar all buffed up.

Which we saw on a newstand on that family break.

Poster boys

We had, of course, got an earlier peek when Eddie showed it off at another Auntie’s funeral in Dublin.

When he took delight in alerting my other auntie’s, my own Mum among them.

And they all needed a seat.

We are that sort of family!

America, Countries, Europe, UK

School’s back for ever

11th August 202011th August 2020 funtime65

I’m reminded in this month when classes return in the UK that my last school day was in New York

I had left school in Scotland three months previously and my parents had rewarded me for my efforts with a trip out to see my cousins in America.

Eddie was (and still is) my wee cousin, my junior by a year, and so was still at school.

And so for me to hang out with him I’d have to join him in class.

Yes Sir

Lady Liberty hasn’t chamged

I still recall his headmaster sitting us down and telling me I’d have to behave (my reputation had clearly preceded me).

And that I nodded obediently despite the principal in truth holding no authority over me.

The experience was fairly unique as holiday expeditions go.

And I might as well have been from Mars as far as Eddie’s schoolmates were concerned.

So when I stuck my hand up and answered the teacher’s question their jaws fell as they’d never heard such a sound as came out of my mouth.

Teacher’s pet

The story ought to end there with me being a minor celebrity for the day… only for Eddie to reveal more years later.

On my extended trio down Memory Lane three years ago with detours through Washington DC and Philadelphia which ended of course in New York.

I of course revisited the family bar, the iconic Irish Cottage in Queen’s.

And I discovered that at least one girl that day back in Eddie’s school had wanted to meet me later to get to know me.

All of which ramblings are a celebration of the last summer after school.

Everywhere from the UK through Ireland and over to America, the three countries I know best it is a rite of passage.

And I dare say in other countries too.

French lessons

The previous year to America I had hoped was going to be my last in school only for me to miss out on university and have to repeat.

And I spent Summer ’82 it in the French Riviera… it was St Raphael then and Cannes years later in the Noughties.

There were no girls then either but not for the want of trying… but then that’s a different story.

Now for all those who are licking their wounds after not getting the grades you deserve because of COVID I feel your pain.

And that you haven’t got the holiday you earned either.

But rest assured all good things will come to he who waits.

As the guy waiting outside one camper’s tent in St Raphael told me when I was 16 as he awaited his turn.

America, Countries, Culture, Ireland, Sport, UK

My Sporting Weekend – Boxing clever

11th July 202011th July 2020 funtime65

And in the blue corner ‘Jugular Jim’ Murty and in the red corner ‘The Clones Cyclone’ Barry McGuigan.

We ought to start at the very beginning here when a sallow cub reporter was sent by his news editor to talk to the boxing champion.

Barry was appearing in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and I asked the former World Heavyweight champion which dwarf would he be playing.

Take that: Barry in action against Eusebio Pedroza

He bristled before regaining his composure.

On returning to the office my news editor fell upon the idea of us putting on a pretend sparring session.

All of which circling around the ring brings me onto the return of boxing in England this weekend.

There won’t, of course, be a crowd but one of the upsides is that we’ll be able to hear every thud and grimace more clearly.

Which you can only really do otherwise if you’re ringside.

Which I was lucky enough to be in my spell as a boxing writer in the Nineties covering the likes of Chris Eubank, Nigel Benn and Pat Clinton in Glasgow https://peoplemakeglasgow.com/.

Of course the Mecca for boxing is the US and it is every boxer’s dream to fight at Madison Square Garden and Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas.

And every fight fan (hands up) too… and while I love both cities https://www.google.com/amp/s/jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2020/03/28/old-new-york-hamilton/amp/ and Strip… the light fantastic I’ve yet to see ring action there.

See also www.lvcva.com and www.nycvb.com.

MEET YOU RINGSIDE

America, Canada, Countries, Culture, Europe

Get an eyeful of these high-rise buildings

16th June 202016th June 2020 funtime65

My Uncle Eddie pointed up… that’s the World Trade Center? Where I asked?

Two cranes of the neck later and there it was, touching the clouds. I was dumbstruck.

As the French announce the reopening of the Eiffel Tower https://www.toureiffel.paris/en/news on June 25 here are my five top tall towers.

Mais oui

The Eiffel Tower, Paris: The best things in life are worth waiting for.

And when the rigging was up around the Eiffel Tower when me and my buddies visited France post-school I missed out.

I never imagined that it would take another 30 years before I would get another chance.

It was made all the better because ma famille was with me. Bravo! See https://en.parisinfo.com.

Two for the price of one: The Twin Tower’s. www.history.com

Up, up and away

The Twin Towers, New York: You always remember your first time… an ear-popping experience at the top of the World Trade Center.

They say in NY that you can always tell who the tourists are because they’re the ones looking up.

True! But equally thrilling is looking down at the specks of people and the moving yellow taxis.

NY has an abundance of iconic buildings but the Twin Towers will always be magical.

Today you can visit One World Trade Center https://www.wtc.com/about/buildings/1-world-trade-center. And also check out www.nycvb.com and https://www.google.ie/amp/s/jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2020/03/28/old-new-york-hamilton/amp/.

Canada high

The CN Tower, Toronto, Canada:

The CN https://www.cntower.ca/en-ca/home.html was taller though at the time.

And as luck would have it my brother was living up there at the time.

We didn’t get to eat at the revolving 360 restaurant but you always need to leave yourself with something to come back for.

See https://www.seetorontonow.com.

Clock this

Astronomical Clock, Prague: Not the tallest tower, of course, but the Astronomical Clock should also be seen from the inside too.

Where one American loudmouth kid got more than he bargained for.

As our guide shot back at him that her city had been bombed.

I love those sparky, big-drinking Czechs. See www.czechtourism.com and Hope springs eternal.

Philadelphia storey

One Liberty, Philadelphia: The cityscape of Philly reveals this buzzing metropolis in its best light.

But it is as much the story behind One Liberty that is as enthralling.

It revolves around the Curse of Billy Penn.

Which was placed on Philly’s Big Four Teams after One Liberty Hall was built, higher than the-then tallest building which houses a statue of the founder of Pennsylvania.

Only one thing for it, put Billy back in his rightful spot on a beam on the Comcast Building, higher than anybody in Philly.

He approved and the tams started winning again. And I saw all their achievements in an exhibition too.

See https://www.visitphilly.com/articles/philadelphia/must-see-attractions-philadelphia/ and Philadelphia Freedom

America, Countries, Culture, Ireland, UK

Rainy Days and Songdays – Paul Simon in New York

8th June 20208th June 2020 funtime65

We’ve lived so well so long But when I think of the road we’re travelling on I can’t help but wonder what’s gone wrong – Paul Simon, American Tune

Rhymin’ Simon never billed himself as a protest singer but his American Tune spoke to the Nixon Years… and to today.

It is apt then that he is singing it now in his virtual set.

And chose it as the penultimate song in Dublin in his farewell tour. See him perform it here on American TV https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pHZ72yHQ0K8.

In American Tune, the New York prophet has caught the zeitgeist.

Paul Simon in his pomp. www.paulsimon.com

I unashamedly and boldly sang it on the streets of Manhattan on my last visit.

As I jostled through the throb of Times Square.

Sweltering in my cowboy hat, a rucksack on each shoulder, and dragging a suitcase behind me.

Simon & Garfunkel’s protests were never in the same vein as Bob Dylan and Joan Baez.

But they spoke to a Scottish adolescent in the 70s and sang of a different freedom, of travel, in a greyhound bus.

I went to look for America https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sFAoWwUwknc in the Eighties in the iconic coach from New York https://www.nycvb.com to Boston https://www.boston.gov/visiting-boston.

Where we came across our first Native Americans, a vagrant, but alas no shifty-looking spy in a gaberdine suit.

Thirty years later I was on another Greyhound on the way from Washington DC https://washington.org and Easy DC to Philadelphia https://www.visitphilly.com and Philadelphia Freedom.

And I was thankful to the driver for making up the time we had lost waiting in DC for passengers.

You see I only had an afternoon to see the cracked old bell and follow in the footsteps of Benjamin Franklin and Rocky Balboa.

Before it was then off to NY https://www.google.ie/amp/s/jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2020/03/28/old-new-york-hamilton/amp/.

When I ‘counted the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike.’

Another famous New Yorker was waiting for me in Times Square when I got there.

And he obviously had his hand out.

MEET YOU BACK IN THE USA

Countries, Europe, Flying, Sport

My Sporting Weekend – Pigeons and high-fliers

30th May 202030th May 2020 funtime65

Not everything is grounded just now and the clearer skies have been a Godsend to pigeons and their fanciers.

Pigeon fancying sounds like it should be the preserve of old men in anoraks.

But try saying that to sporting hard men Mike Tyson and Duncan Ferguson.

Iron Mike, the self-styled ‘baddest man on the planet’ is even said to have thrown his first punch at 10 after a thug ripped the head off his pigeon.

Struggling for sports to report on during lockdown…

Britain’s award-winning radio station talkSPORT https://talksport.com has been turning its attention to the Sport of Wings.

And educating us in the ways of birds – it transpires that pigeon-fancying originated in the Lowlands of Belgium.

They came in useful during the First World War www.visitflanders.com and In Flanders fields to carry messages.

But had in truth been a sporting pursuit since the mid-19th century and was taken up and developed after the war.

And why do we think that these are perfect circumstances for new pigeon racing records.

Well, it’s said that pigeons find their way back the 100-1,000kms distances through sound.

And there are fewer distractions in the skies right now.

For more on pigeon fancying (and they are the perfect social distancers) then visit https://www.rpra.org/about-rpra/getting-started/.

Now Venice’s St Mark’s Square, Dam Square, Amsterdam, New York’s Washington Square and London’s Trafalgar Square may be renowned for their pigeons.

And here are some thoughts that will make you coo with delight.

In https://www.visit-venice-italy.com , www.nycvb.com and https://www.google.ie/amp/s/jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2020/03/28/old-new-york-hamilton/amp/, www.iamsterdam.com, Pictures of Amsterdam and https://www.visitlondon.com and The London life.

But if you want to hear some other birdies twittering then try www.visittobago.gov.tt and https://www.google.ie/amp/s/jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2020/03/17/ready-steady-goat-racing-in-tobago/amp/.

America, Caribbean, Countries, Culture

Who was that masked man? A bandanaman’s guide to COVID-19

15th April 202015th April 2020 funtime65

I was right to stockpile bandanas, then.

Because the bandana will be your friend throughout this COVID-19 crisis.

Drop it down from your head onto your nose and mouth – or if you like keep it on your pate and use another one over your face.

And if you want to go the whole hog use a third around your neck as a kerchief.

What do you mean you don’t have three bandanas?

Now everyone has their own bandana heroes.

Yours might be Bruce Springsteen, another might favour Axl Rose.

While women have rocked the look from Brigitte Bardot through Lady Gaga to Rihanna… https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/culture/rihanna-in-barbados/ and https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/culture/my-kiss-with-rihanna/

And Martha Washington. Yes, that Marsha Washington, the mother of the Modern Bandana.

*By George.. John Hewson’s tribute to Mr Washington*

Martha had been inspired by printmaker John Hewson who defied the British ban on textile printing at the time.

And wore the bandana in support of George’s many achievements… I’m still waiting for my First Lady to do the same.

The bandana has remained a political garment in American life and was used by Dwight Eisenhower supporters to promote their man in the Fifties.

For more insights into the life of an American President and much, much more visit https://washington.org and Easy DC.

Our favourite square of cotton has been used variously over the years for any number of messages.

To promote the war effort, and women’s role on their home front, in the US.

As a marker of your loyalty to a sports team, along with baseball caps.

And through John Wayne as a part of the cowboy outfit although your own Bandanaman put his own marker on it in Colorado.

Riding out on the rangeThe New Frontiersmen… www.colorado.com And https://www.heddels.com/2017/05/the-history-of-the-bandana/

While the hip Denveronians wear the bandanas as part of their outdoorsy schtick., https://www.denver.org and Go West.

Be careful where you put your bandana when you’re not wearing it…

Anyone who has seen the Al Pacino film Cruising will know that which back pocket you put your bandana in will mar out your sexual preference.

But while we ponder all such matters as we walk the aisles of our supermarkets or take our daily walks.

And all the time shield our noses and mouths here’s a thought.

Bandanas are fun and the most fun time I’ve had, among many a party, has been in the Caribbean… www.visitbarbados.org and www.visittobago.gov.tt.

And here’s the evidence… Let’s rumba in Barbados and My kiss with Rihanna and Ready, steady GOAT… racing in Tobago.

And here’s to the woman who first showed me how to tie my own bandana.

And a couple more shoots of your Bandanaman in his favourite headgear.

They used to say that if you want to get ahead then wear a hat, so what’s your favourite headware.

Let me know and I’ll share.

Uncategorized

Moanday Morning – Electioneering

25th November 201925th November 2019 funtime65

Holidays are coming and so is electioneering. In fact where you are it may already be here.

All over Britain people are drawing curtains and turning down their televisions for fear of encouraging the doorsteppers.

Our time will come in Ireland in the New Year.

When election posters will go up on every available pole.

No electioneering here: In Tirol, Austria

It’s like being gatecrashed by the annoying people down the pub.

It’s not just that they have an opinion on everything and promise you the Earth with no intention of delivering.

Or eat into your time when you’re watching I’m A Celebrity.

But those damned posters are so distracting in your eyeline when you’re driving.

At Thiepval, Belgium where they honour my Great-Uncle

I’ve seen how they do it in other countries and although, of course, I’ve not been in the tinpot dictatorships of the world.

I’ve found other people do do it better.

For example in Ehrwald in Tirol in Austria https://www.tyrol.com.

Where they were holding a general election when we visited with https://topflightforschools.ie.

You wouldn’t have known it as nothing cluttered the pure white vista.

And Daniella, our Italian hotel host, seemed pretty non-plussed on Election Day when I’d asked who’d won.

In other European countries too they make sure politicians don’t become a blot on the landscape.

Like in Belgium where they make sure half of their government is French-Belgian and the other half Flemish.

They know from history that compromise is the only way to peace… A pilgrim’s prayer and https://www.visitflanders.com/en/?country=en_GB.

You may have caught on that screen in the corner of your room that the Americans are ratcheting up their Presidential race.

But when we visited New York as a family back in November 2008 it was all low-key on the street.

Yes, you could get buttons (or pins as we like to call them).

And I recall wearing a We’re With The Duke button when I was working in Boston in 1988.

I can always be depended on to pick a loser.

Back to Obama and that election race and it being Halloween when we visited I was particularly taken by the Obama pumpkins.

While even better are the Trumpkins… New Yorkers https://www.nycvb.com can be guaranteed to give you your (not their) opinion too.

And have been since the days of Hamilton…

Vote this way

Of course for all our ennui with politicians and elections there are some countries for whim true democracy is still nascent.

Which our South African hosts shared tales of queueing from the early hours to vote Nelson Mandela in in the Nineties.

When I visited Port Elizabeth http://www.visiteasterncape.co.za and the Eastern Cape with https://www.southafrica.net/uk/en/.

I’m putting my cross next to the Monster Raving Looney Party.