Month: October 2001
Virus Hoaxing: Scrub Your Mind
This article by Blather's Dave Walsh first appeared in The Irish Times of Monday, October 29, 2001, as Don't mind the memes The fear of viruses is disproportionate to the potential of any actual virus, argues Dave Walsh. Any kind of virus, regardless of its capabilities for chaos and destruction, is a flagship for the purveyance of fear. Viruses seem to exude an evil sentience as they weasel their way around your body or your computer. How may of our doctor's visits have ended with an unsatisfying diagnosis of an unspecified "virus"? New biological viruses appear all the time . . . just like computer viruses. The scare-mongering of the last year or so would suggest that computer viruses have taken over the mantle worn by the Y2K bug until January 1st, 2000. True, viruses muck up computers and networks, and cost a fortune in downtime. Arguably, virus fear and...
The Irish Zorro
Blather on TV - the truth about Zorro (of course, he WAS an Irishman), and other mad stuff. "A certain Fabio Troncarelli, Professor of History at Italy's Viterbo University, apparently found "detailed proof" in the Vatican's Inquisition archives. He discovered that Zorro, the masked Robin Hood of Mexico was in fact a bloke from Wexford called William Lamport." Blather, on Irish TV. For a whole 30 seconds! (Ireland only) True Lives: Tell Me Captain Strange Tuesday 23 October 22:10 RTE 1 Blather's Dave Walsh appears (and speaks) briefly in this highly entertaining documentary about Irish UFO witnesses. So who will admit to knowing that that Co. Kerry was abuzz with UFO sightings just five days after the alleged 1947 Roswell happening? Also stars Eamon Ansbro, a UFO researcher referred quite a lot in the Blather archives. Directed by Colum Stapleton Tell Me Captain Strange discussion ZORRO FROM WEXFORD? About a...
Tarot Junkies – Dublin Tarot Readers
Life getting you down? Feeling a bit out of control? How do you cope with the curve balls life throws you? Annmarie O'Connor gets personal with a pack of tarot cards. I used to be an optimist. But that was bound to end. I was always the one who'd pipe up with "come on, what's the worst that can happen?", Armageddon and the Wrath of Babylon swiftly following in tow. I'm that poor sod who never saw it coming a mile away... I found a way to trick fate. I've considered my options when it comes to damage limitation. Now there's no real clause in the "Life Handbook" is there? Otherwise we would never: a) have our credit cards rejected in front of a shop full of amused onlookers; b) assume we could drink 2 jugs of Mai-TaI and a half a bottle of tequila without falling over; c) need...
Dublin Tarot Readers and Raelians in Ireland
A cornucopia - Rael on TV in Ireland, and and guest writer Annmarie O'Connor gets up close and personal with Dublin Tarot readers. Tarot Junkies Life getting you down? Feeling a bit out of control? How do you cope with the curve balls life throws you? More... SH*TE No, we're not censoring ourselves - not exactly. Last week's Blather uttered an evil, heinous word - sh*t, with the 'i' intact. It seems that some email servers didn't kindly to that kind of Blather, and sent the issue back. 'We have scanned your email and find that some of the content is inappropriate' we were told. Another message, from BT Cellnet found that the issue included 'inappropriate language (i.e. one or more obscene words'. How daft is that? EVEN BETTER THAN THE RAEL TING, LIKE Blather hasn't mentioned Rael since RTE's The Late Late Show interviewed him in February 1998. A...