Culling tourists

For those of you who don’t know Head Rambles, described as Rambles around the head of an Irish Senior Citizen, this is a great introduction. You have to have a black sense of humour (which I have) to appreciate it mind you, especially the illustration. Tom O’Neil old friend of mine from SCM days, who I have not seen for 30 years, used to have a theory about tourists in Ireland. He reckoned that the Irish Tourist Board used to parachute old men with flat caps, pipes, donkeys and peat baskets ahead of any incoming tourist. They had a limited supply and needed to maximise their utilisation. Tim was a part of the Red Hand family (cultural reference you will either get it or not) a rebel in terms of religion, sex and politics but that is another story. In those days the SCM was a political movement as much as a religious one. Their web site gives me no clue as to whether this is still the case, but if anyone knows it would be interesting. Ditto, if anyone has come across Tim, or my best man Bernard O’Neil from the same period let me know.

Back to the subject of tourists. I just hope the citizens of California have a different attitude to Head Rambles. Tomorrow is Gettsyburg for battlefield walks, before Huw and I fly to Los Angeles and set off on a circular drive. Current plan is Palm Springs, Grand Canyon, Sierra Nevada, Redwoods, San Francisco, Monterey but that may be too ambitious. Blogging may be intermittent during this period.

For those awaiting podcasts, the technology is now in place, expect announcements shortly.