The question that just begs to be asked is how could it ever be the same for Derek McGrath.How could he ever devote himself to another bunch of players as he did to Waterford these past five seasons?“Treat your men as you would your own beloved sons and they will follow you into the deepest valley,” he said, quoting the ancient Chinese philosopher and general Sun Tzu in his presentation to the GAA national coaching conference on Saturday.But how many sons can one man have?Of course, things would be different, but the goal would be the same. His ideology too. “I think it will be difficult, but the only way you can do is immerse yourself in getting to know people. I don’t think it could be naturally correlated with Waterford, based on the relationships I had with the players from the age of 12 in (De La Salle) school and the club. Copying that would be difficult, but the powers of communication and forming a bond within a group of players would have to be done in … [Read more...] about Derek McGrath and the importance of being earnest
Earnest ice cream
Review of the year: Knife crime casts long shadow in 2018, Nazanin still in jail and Phoenix Cinema saved
PUBLISHED: 10:10 30 December 2018 Sam Volpe and Harry Taylor Fowsiya Abdi and family head the Camden Against Violence march, joined by Cllr Georgia Gould lead of Camden Council (Picture: Polly Hancock) Archant The last 12 months have seen heartening tales of community action interspersed with trauma, tragedy and political intrigue. Harry Taylor and Sam Volpe take a look back at the biggest stories we’ve brought you in 2018 – and a couple of the weirdest, too. Richard Radcliffe stands opposite Downing Street before supporters sing carols for the thrid successive year, to Free Nazanin.Knife crime: Blood on our streetsThe last 12 months have seen a surge in youth violence in Camden.Two people were killed in a night of violence in Kentish Town. Sadiq Aadam and Abdikarim Hassan died on February 20, in an event that shocked the borough.It sparked a march through Camden, from Queen’s Crescent to Mornington Crescent. Groups such as Camden … [Read more...] about Review of the year: Knife crime casts long shadow in 2018, Nazanin still in jail and Phoenix Cinema saved
What my dad, who died on Christmas, taught me about giving gifts
Sonja Haller USA TODAY Published 6:00 AM EST Dec 24, 2018 Dad poked his head out his bedroom door, saw me passing by and yanked me inside. “Help me wrap!” He needed help with gifts for my younger brother and sister. We sat on the floor, surrounded by ribbons and scraps of holiday paper. He was still in his blue work shirt after pulling an all-night tow call, asking me whether I thought Santa would bring me everything I wanted. I was 16. I pulled from the Napa Auto Parts bag a rubbery black stick. He snatched it back. Because that was clearly MY gift. “No, not that one. This bag. Wrap what’s in this bag.” That’s how I knew, with my newly minted driver’s license and first used car, I got a tire air pressure gauge for Christmas. Every year, my mom gave us neatly wrapped packages signed in perfect script with “Love, mom and dad.” She gave us clothes, toys and jewelry. These were the gifts we'd asked for … [Read more...] about What my dad, who died on Christmas, taught me about giving gifts
Little Women and America’s great big problem with motherhood
This Sunday marks the 150th anniversary of Louisa May Alcott’s novel for young readers, Little Women. Depending on how you read it, the book is a coming-of-age classic, or the drippiest thing since someone ate an ice cream cone inside the magma chamber of an active volcano. The author herself, who wrote what would sell to earn a living, described her earnest tale as “moral pap,” and you can see her point. It’s also something else, which gets less attention: a hymn to motherhood, setting the tone for a strange American culture that idolises mothers as much as it tears them apart. Long before the hockey mom strode onto the scene, there were the rustling skirts and self-sacrificing smile of “Marmee,” a pioneer-age icon of American maternity. The real heroine of Little Women isn’t fiery Jo or placid Beth: it’s their mom. This was what struck me the most, re-reading the book as a jaded 30-something mother. It’s there from the earliest … [Read more...] about Little Women and America’s great big problem with motherhood
ConsumerBusinessSpotlightConsumerBusinessSpotlightConsumerBusinessSpotlightConsumerBusinessSpotlightConsumerBusinessSpotlight From Myers Briggs to the Love Languages: the renaissance of the personality test
Most afternoons in my early Noughties tweendom were spent in front of a computer screen, taking online personality tests. I spent hours labouring over life’s greatest questions: what type of ice cream I was, what country I should live in based on my favourite songs, and what all of this meant for my future marriage prospects. For millennials, personality tests were an integral part of growing up, an element of our childhood to savour with friends, siblings and alone, secretly, while our parents ran errands. They were as ubiquitous in tween content consumption as they were in Eighties and Nineties women’s magazines and television shows from Blind Date to The Newlywed Game. But after their online iteration, personality tests were marginalised. They lost their lustre in all forms, becoming “uncool” for tweens-turned-teens, who migrated from Facebook to less quiz-friendly platforms (such as Instagram and Snapchat), and similarly repelling adults, who learned … [Read more...] about ConsumerBusinessSpotlightConsumerBusinessSpotlightConsumerBusinessSpotlightConsumerBusinessSpotlightConsumerBusinessSpotlight From Myers Briggs to the Love Languages: the renaissance of the personality test