Speaking of Irish people who aren't actually Irish, had you read Malcolm Lowry's "Under the Volcano" before?

It is a towering novel, top ten in history in my view, up there with "Heart of Darkness" and "Hello God, it's me, Margaret."

As a <Canadophile>, I though you might appreciate this other Andrew Sweeny video I made about INDIANS AND LAND AND SUCH.

It has almost exclusive 100 per cent Canadian content images.

"The Heart is a Pathless Land"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYxZ...

Here is the epigram I put in front of the lyrics on the video-

"Everything that is bad has been laid against me this summer, there is nothing of it true ... Had I wanted war, I would not be here now. I should be on the prairie. You did not catch me. I gave myself up. You have got me because I wanted justice."

-------Chief Poundmaker, 1885

He said that after a CANADIAN CANGAROO COURT (CCC) found him guilty of treason, the gingery beggars

She’s the one-eye, one-eye, one-eye, one-eye
She’s the one-eye, one I love

Now you might wonder what she’s thinkin’
‘Cause it looks like she is winkin’
In arguments I yell and cry
But she just can’t see the other side
It’s worse than it looks, says her mother
‘Cause she’s blind in one, blond in the other

She’s the one-eye, one-eye, one-eye, one-eye
She’s the one-eye, one I love

Now how it happened, she just won’t spill
Was it scissor sprint or William Tell?
Well the eye got put out and was never found
Gone to take a look around
My Columbo cutie, Popeye punkin’
Sammy Junior, Sandy Duncan

I've never been so nicely complimented - well, apart from the time that you, an actual Canadian, used the 'genius' word. And maybe a few other times too. Still, my little heart filled with pride.

Freud, the daft old bat, would say that insults reveal deep desires. So maybe Trav gazes out over the Great Lakes, longing for lumberjacks. And, well, *Mounties*.

Of course that murder was vile and horrible. You're right about that. But I don't think anyone was saying that the meaning of words was *more* important, were they? Just that, even when ugly stuff happens, we need to look at what we're saying. Maybe especially when ugly stuff happens.

I think I understand your reaction -- people who intellectualize such things sometimes seem to lack the ability to *care*. On the other hand, people who lash out with 'condemn' words seem to be reacting on autopilot.

BTW, that particular murder got almost no media coverage here. We had our own atrocities, I guess. In the past, few people would hear about such killings unless they lived locally or knew the victim personally. TV changed that. I'm suspicious about the way TV works on the emotions.

Anyway, I guess we're friends. Happy new year.