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“Gatlin, the cynosure of all eyes” somewhat improbably shouts the top page headline in the local English newspaper, The Peninsula. Not quite – five minutes before the soon to be fastest man of earth settles into his blocks for the 100m final at the World Super Tour meet in D*ha, the stands empty. And I […]

THE HEAT IS ONFrom what I hear, the weather isn’t too good back home. A hint of spring followed by a return to winter.As I sit here, there is a film of sweat on my arms and on my face. I’m wearing a loose t-shirt, light shorts and flip-flops and that’s too much. Outside the […]

Thank you to everyone who ran the Wicklow25/50k and helped raise over Eu300 for these young athletes in Yngelan(not sure of the spelling there, but a small village four hours south of Addis Ababa) , Ethiopia. Watch out for some of them in Beijing!Coach Mick Bourke, who you can see standing back left, is heading […]

Here seven weeks now and time to list some of the things that are unusual but which you learn to live with (before I stop noticing them altogether). 1 The weekend. It’s Friday and Saturday. Friday is prayer day (no, I have no idea why and not going to risk making a guess), so nothing […]

Finally saw some examples of the terrible driving everyone talks about here. When it comes to putting one country up against anothe, we naturally think our own is the best but sorry you lads in your Hummers and Porsche SUVs, I still think the bad drivers of Ireland are in a class of their own.Break […]

In the 18th century that great Anglo Irish writer Jonathan Swift, wrote a treatise called “ An Indecent Proposal”. Appalled by the poverty surrounding him in Dublin city, he proposed that rather than abandon children to a life of poverty and starvation in the filthy streets of the time, that a society that clearly didn’t […]

Just in case any of you are interested in my third floor flat off the B Ring Roadd. The first image shows the view from the front door; the second the view from the bedroom. Don’t you just LOVE the rich red furniture! Under the window is the vital Air Con and, as you can […]

This poor sad camel wandered back down the track after his race, head swivelling from side to side, anxiously seeking out his handler, who had clearly lost interest. You could almost see the poor animal’s lips quivering and the tears welling up in his big brown eyes. Since he finished second last, let’s hope he […]

Here you have it – the essence of camel racing. The “robot” on the camel’s back, the owner/trainers roaring at the poor animal from the car (always white, always an SUV) driving inside the track, the cameras recording it all. Although it lacked, say, the frenzied atmosphere of Cheltenham, the final day of camel racing […]

Off to the final day of camel racing later today; see http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2005/04/25/kamel-the-robot-jockey/For pics of the robot jockeys!