A Week Of Women – Day Nr 4
Posted on March 18, 2015
Motorbiking
All over the third world you will see thousands and thousands of motorbikes and scooters in daily use, as people seek the cheapest possible means of motorised transport. A woman may be attracted to a man who owns a bike rather than one who does not. In many countries the law on safety helmets is extremely lax. The below photo was taken by MB in Nepal where the law requires only the driver to wear a helmet. The huge level of poverty means that more often than not a second helmet is not acquired. Consequently many many women die in vehicular accidents. Kathmandu, the capital city reports some 130 serious accidents every day and thousands of minor ones.
A Week Of Women – Day Nr 3
Posted on March 16, 2015
Nepal
Traveled to Nepal in 2012. Spent an entire day trekking through the hills in an area called Nagarkot, about a one hour drive from the capital city Kathmandu. During that day and on other occasions on other days, MB witnessed the females doing most of the manual labour in the fields. Where heavy work was concerned, men were practically invisible. Maybe because many of the men go to the capital to find work. Or emigrate to the construction sites of the Arabian Gulf. Qatar, as MB has noticed in recent months, is wash with Nepalese men working on the sites. But not sure really.
A Week Of Women – Day 2
Posted on March 15, 2015
The Henna Lady
MB went to a wedding in Sudan in August 2014. One of the many wedding parties that takes place as part of the overall wedding festival is the Henna party. There are two separate parties in truth – one henna party for the bride & one for the groom. Each party is like a wedding party in itself. Food, music, dancing and loads of family & friends in attendance.
At the end of the night when the music stops and the crowd drifts off, close family members and close friends remain on to receive a decorative henna tattoo on the hand (men) or hand and arm and a lot more elaborate for the ladies. The procedure involves placing some henna oil on the hand. A portion of henna mud is then held in the palm of the closed fist. Oil & strips of henna mud are then dressed over the knuckles as shown in the pic – where MB’s white Irish skin is visible. The lady who did MB’s henna was an aunt of the groom, and a superb job she did. Following day MB had and orange coloured tattoo which turned jet black over the following 48 hours.
A senseless death…
Posted on March 15, 2015
We arrived at the Children’s Hospital Emergency Room at the same time.
He and his partner parked and I pulled up to their left and did the same.
I got out of my car and watched as the officer hurried from his seat and opened the back, driver’s side door.
When the officer grabbed the boy from the back seat of his police Tahoe, I knew almost instantly.
There was a split second though, before instantly I guess, where I didn’t know. For that split second, the officer looked like any dad grabbing his sleeping boy from the car and putting the boy’s head on his shoulder to carry him inside to sleep comfortably in his own bed.
For that split second, it was a sweet moment.
The officer, an around fifty year old white guy, clutched the little boy over his left shoulder gently, but with a clear purpose. The boy was small, a…
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A Week Of Women – Day 1
Posted on March 13, 2015
A Qatari lady wears a face mask called a ‘burqa’ – not to be confused with the same word used in Western countries to describe the head to toe black dress that is also worn in these parts – that ‘burqa’ name comes from Afghanistan. The ‘burqa face mask is often work by elderly ladies in the Gulf region. The younger ones are are much less likely to wear one, preferring sun glasses by ‘Prada’ and others.
Weekly Photo Challenge – Wall
Posted on March 13, 2015
The HX region has over 5,500 years of continuous human habitation dating to the neolithic period. On the road between HX crossroads and the nearby lake of Lough Gur lies the ruins of an old church called Teampall Nua (New Church – in English language), which dates from the 17th century.
From The Lough Gur website (loughgur.com):
New Church replaced an older chapel which was used by the Earls of Desmond. The present structure dates from 1679 – a simple rectangular building. It was endowed with a chalice and patten which bear the inscription: “The guift of the Right Honourable Rachel Countess Dowager of Bath to her chapel-of-ease Logh Guir, Ireland 1679” The famed poet harper Thomas O’Connellan who died in 1698 in Bourchiers Castle is buried here in an unmarked grave as is Owen Bresnan (1847-1912) local poet and historian who composed Teampall Nua and Sweet Lough Gur side.
A piece by Thomas O’Connellan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Blt9B16TIQ
Pics by MB!
Weekly Photo Challenge – Orange
Posted on March 6, 2015
The Keeper Of The Secret
Posted on March 5, 2015
In a graveyard near MB’s HX homeland stands a headstone with the following inscription:
John Murphy died this
11th day of October 1784
aged 219 years
May the Lord have mercy on his soul
The Scaffold Series – Volume 2
Posted on March 4, 2015
This post is a joint effort by Irish poet Seamus Heaney (deceased) and MB (not deceased).
Scaffolding
by Seamus Heaney
Masons, when they start upon a building,
Are careful to test out the scaffolding;
Make sure that planks won’t slip at busy points,
Secure all ladders, tighten bolted joints.
And yet all this comes down when the job’s done
Showing off walls of sure and solid stone.
So if, my dear, there sometimes seem to be
Old bridges breaking between you and me
Never fear. We may let the scaffolds fall
Confident that we have built our wall.
—-
Scaffolding
by MB
Weekly Photo Challenge – Rule Of Thirds
Posted on February 20, 2015
This week’s challenge is the photographic concept – the rule of thirds.
One of the most popular tourist attractions in Istanbul is the Topkapi Palace, which lies in the old town next to the Hagia Sophia Museum & Blue Mosque. The palace was home to the Sultans and their harem of females for three hundred years in the days of the Ottoman Empire, until Sultan Abdülmecid in 1853 decided to move to the nearby Dolmabache Palace.
MB visited Topkapi Palace in early November 2014. The palace lies on the bank of the Bosphorus Sea Straits and the views from the palace grounds are spectacular.
Caught this shot of one of the soldiers on duty, with the Bosphorus blurred in the background:
PS – Ignore the tree!
A Little Slice Of Ireland
Posted on February 14, 2015
MB attended the Irish Football tournament in Qatar yesterday. For most of the day he could have sworn he was in Ireland! Read More
Weekly Photo Challenge – Symmetry
Posted on February 13, 2015
Ajman Fish Market – UAE (Ajman is one of the 7 Emirates of the UAE)
The fishing boats (generally manned by fishermen from the state of Gujarat in India) unload their catches onto Ajman quay every Saturday afternoon and lay them out symmetrically in terms of size & species. The fish traders from the adjoining market then bid for lots through an auction process as the auctioneer with his microphone walks through all the lines of fish one by one.
Lots of symmetry in this one. The buildings behind. The roofs of the boats. And the fish. Lots of fish!
HX Report 
