My Blog

Today I have decided to be silly. And the Godfathers of silliness are The Monty Python team.

One of their best sketches must be The Ministry of Silly Walks. With John Cleese at his very very best. I learnt recently that they are doing another series of Fawlty Towers which should, hopefully, be a treat. Although, sometimes I feel certain classics are best left alone. John is said to team up with his daughter, Camilla Cleese, as they will both write and star in the comedy.

I have mentioned these clips before in honour of being silly but today I figure that they merit mentioning again to justify my longing for silliness.

The Ministry of Silly Walks

https://youtu.be/eCLp7zodUiI

The Silly Olympics tickles me also

https://youtu.be/qgSzGIkFq2A

Monty Python-Would you like to buy an argument?

https://youtu.be/xpAvcGcEc0k

And Philosophy football

https://youtu.be/LfduUFF_i1A

In honor of the genius of Monty Python, I pledge to carry out the following acts of silliness today

1. To complete a full grocery shop performing the silly walk intermittently.
2. Try and engage a friend in a -Would you like to buy an argument, debate.
3. To ask the person in a petrol station whilst paying for petrol if they sell squirrels.

If you can think of any more, please let me know as I am hoping to dedicate one day a month to being very silly indeed.

 

All the best

Stay fab

Adele

In 2021, forty animals were disqualified from Saudi Arabia’s annual camel beauty contest because they had Botox. Two things are wrong with this sentence: one is a camel beauty contest, and two, forty had Botox. They also inflate other parts of the camel’s body using elastic bands. The mind boggles. Prize money of 49 million was up for grabs. Who knew? And do the owners of the losers get the hump? I couldn’t resist; it was too obvious.

Judges at the festival, hosted in the desert northeast of the capital Riyadh, said they are using ‘specialised and advanced’ technology to detect nip and tuck this year. This is baffling. I would give anything to know exactly what this technology is.

What’s next, horses with lip filler? Lash extensions? Alpacas with hair transplants to give them a better-looking mullet? I am just showing off now as I recently learnt that the main difference between an alpaca and a llama is that an alpaca has a mullet, and a llama does not.

Maybe we have missed out here in Ireland on the prospect of a cow beauty competition. It could be udderly amoosing. And again, who knew, I have just learnt from Google that these occur in Russia.

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/12/07/siberian-cows-compete-in-bovine-beauty-pageant-a72257

All the best

Stay fab

Adele

https://www.her.ie/life/470-world-landmarks-turning-green-st-patricks-day-stunning-454922

The Chicago River and the fountain in the Whitehouse

I love that over the years, famous iconic structures and places have been green-lit in honour of St.Patrick’s Day. It began in Sydney in 2010 and was known as the Global Greening marketing campaign, which cost 40,000 euros at the time. Tourism Ireland wished to mark the 200 years since the governor Lachlan Macquarie celebrated the Irish in Sydney.

In Brazil, Archibishop Dom Orani Joao Tempesta green-lit Christ the Redeemer in thanks to the good work the Irish missionaries have done in the city over the years. The Irish have a very strong presence in Dubai, as many of the captains of industry are Irish. The CEO of the Jumeirah Group, which owns the Burj Al Arab, is from Galway and has green-lit the beautiful building every year.

St.Patrick’s Trust in Cape Town, South Africa, were honoured for the many homes they built in South Africa by green lighting Table Mountain.

This year the campaign ends due to the energy crisis but we have many years and beautiful photos to look back on.

The following are some of the major structures that have been green-lit.

1. The Colosseum
2. Rio-Christ The Redeemer
3. Burj Al Arab
4. The Empire State Building
5. The Sydney Opera House
6. Disneyland Castle in Shanghai, China
7. Windmill in Weert, the Netherlands
8. The leaning tower of Pisa
9. The London Eye
10. Glasgow, Edinburgh and Cardiff also mark the occasion.

https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/festivals/st-patricks-day/buildings-around-the-world-wont-light-up-for-st-patricks-day-as-global-greening-

Have a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day.

Stay fab

 

Adele

I get goosebumps when I listen to my favourite song or hear a new song I adore. It is such a great word, and I felt compelled to research its origin. They’re called goosebumps because, when you have them, your skin looks like the skin of a goose or a chicken whose feathers have been plucked out. So, if you want, you could call them chicken bumps, too

And, of course, the next natural question that entered my pretty head was- And what do geese or chickens get when excited?  On the famous Irish Late Late Show on St. Patrick’s Day,2023, they featured an egg laid by a chicken that was twice the size of any regular egg. Imagine the excitement of that chicken? Or/ and the pain? He must still have a wonky walk, the poor thing.

When my nieces were young, their description of this was – fizzy hands or fizzy feet, which I love and still use to this day.

It is said that only certain types of people, such as empaths, experience goosebumps more frequently than others, but I do not believe this. As humans, whenever we have the grace of experiencing moments of awe, we get goosebumps. I think it is intrinsically linked to our spirit and frequency, which both create this magical physical experience.

Let me know what you think.

 

All the best

Stay fab

Adele

 

Poem

 

 

Meet me at the breakers

Meet me at the breakers and we shall share a salty kiss.

Cresting hands of ocean waves will add to our glorious mood.

Irelands Eye shall wink at us as we exalt in our bliss.

Our dogs playing amidst sand ribs, seaweed and driftwood.

 

 

 

You find an oyster shell that resembles an angel’s wing.

You tell me I am the pearl that you were always searching for.

I later find a similar shell as we embrace and then we sing

In the arms of an angel as our hearts soar.

 

 

 

You shall swaddle me in my robe after our daring icy swim.

Our skin tingling, we embrace and do our post-swim wiggle.

Dancing back to the dunes to get shelter from the wind.

The dogs fighting over razor clams will give us a fit of the giggles.

 

 

 

We shall hide amidst the seagrass in the dunes of Malahide.

And debate about the bridge to Donabate.

You shall kiss my hand and ask me to be your bride.

It has only been three months but we know we are soulmates.

 

 

 

The Lego cruise ship on the horizon shall make us plan our honeymoon.

As we dream of our impending travels and adventures.

Our music festival-style wedding will never come too soon.

As we playfully argue over the set list, of our first dance, we are sure.

 

 

 

The giant fire pit and Shalimar will make it a night to remember.

The bodhran, harmonica and fiddle players will play The Fields of Athenry.

Lying entwined beneath our blanket and the burning embers

Counting our blessings and never daring to ask why.

 

 

 

I know that you are out there and that someday we shall meet.

I have faith in the universe and the love that I deserve.

I can see every moment and feel every heartbeat.

A long lifetime of love will be our glorious preserve.

By

Adele Leahy

At home, I enjoy practicing Yoga and a little Pilates at the end of a session; I have called it Yogalates. When I mentioned this to someone during the week, they asked if it meant I did my yoga session followed by a latte, and I said,’ No’, but as it was a good idea, I may well incorporate it into future practice.

I have been doing beginner yoga on and off for twenty years and am not very good at it. When I finish with a few Pilates movements, I can hear my back crack like a bowl of Rice Krispies, and I must admit it is very satisfying. Snap, crackle and pop goes my back whilst my two dogs gaze at me in bemusement from the chair. Last year I attended a ten-week Pilates course which increased my confidence.

Sometimes, to my delight, Buzz will join me in a downward dog, and once or twice, he has decided to rest on the end of my back while I am in the cobra position. It is obvious where the ‘downward dog’ gets its name from, as my two little fellas love a good stretch following a rest on the sofa following a walk. My day is always better when I have completed a meditation followed by a yoga session.

But for now, I am off to have a Latte.

All the best

Stay fab

Adele

Happy Valentine’s Day

 

Where in the world would we be without love? What if we were not conditioned to love and existed within a world of apathy and indifference? And whilst you ponder that, allow me to share a beautiful song with beautiful lyrics, Where is the love, by the Black Eyed Peas.

Where is the love, by the Black Eyed Peas. It is hard to believe that this song is thirteen years old, and W.I.L.L.I.A.M looks even cooler nowadays. They were ahead of their time singing about kindness and tolerance, as the lyrics are a prayer for peace.

https://youtu.be/WpYeekQkAdc

And indulge me again, please, whilst I share my two favourite songs about love.

Imagine, by John Lennon. The ultimate clarion call for peace. Released in 1971. The need for peace is more relevant today than it ever was.

 

IMAGINE. (Ultimate Mix, 2020) – John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Band (with the Flux Fiddlers) HD

 

https://youtu.be/YkgkThdzX-8

 

And my favourite song, which, for some, is the most depressing song on the planet. It was written for Romeo and Juliet with Leonardo Di Caprio and …………… I love when he smiles as he sings ‘before all hell breaks loose, ‘I was at Glastonbury in 2017 to see them, and I am not ashamed to say that I cried when they sang this; I still get goosebumps every time I hear it.

Radiohead – Exit Music for a Film (7. Glastonbury 2017)

https://youtu.be/16izdtkzEz8

And here is one of my favourite Father Ted scenes, which features Tommy Tiernan and Exit Music for a film at the end. It cracks me up, every time.

Father Kevin Gets Depressed (Tommy Tiernan On Father Ted) | TOMMY

https://youtu.be/vIaYblOZHq8

 

Besides Martin Luther King, this is my top speech of all time.

The Great Dictator with Charlie Chaplin

 

The Great Dictator Speech – Charlie Chaplin + Time – Hans Zimmer (INCEPTION Theme).

‘Machine men with machine minds and machine hearts’ is a line that always stays with me.

 

https://youtu.be/w8HdOHrc3OQ

Here is the text for your perusal.

I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an Emperor, that’s not my business.

I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone.

I should like to help everyone, if possible, Jew, gentile, black man, white.

We all want to help one another, human beings are like that.

We want to live by each other’s happiness, not by each other’s misery.

We don’t want to hate and despise one another.

In this world there is room for everyone and the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone.

The way of life can be free and beautiful.

But we have lost the way.

Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate; has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed.

We have developed speed but we have shut ourselves in: machinery that gives abundance has left us in want.

Our knowledge has made us cynical, our cleverness hard and unkind.

We think too much and feel too little: More than machinery, we need humanity; More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.

The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men, cries out for universal brotherhood for the unity of us all.

Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people.

To those who can hear me I say “Do not despair”. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress: the hate of men will pass and dictators die and the power they took from the people, will return to the people and so long as men die liberty will never perish . . .

Soldiers: don’t give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you, enslave you, who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think or what to feel, who drill you, diet you, treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder.

Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men, machine men, with machine minds and machine hearts. You are not machines. You are not cattle. You are men.

You have the love of humanity in your hearts.

You don’t hate, only the unloved hate. The unloved and the unnatural.

Soldiers: don’t fight for slavery, fight for liberty.

In the seventeenth chapter of Saint Luke it is written: – “The kingdom of God is within man” Not one man, nor a group of men, but in all men; in you.

You the people have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness.

You the people have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure.

Then in the name of democracy let us use that power.

Let us all unite!

Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give youth a future and old age a security.

By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power, but they lie. They do not fulfill that promise, they never will. Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people.

Now let us fight to fulfill that promise.

Let us fight to free the world, to do away with national barriers, to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance.

Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness.

Soldiers! In the name of democracy: Let us all unite!

Happy Valentine’ day.

 

All the best

Stay fab

Adele

I am a fan of therapy: I always have been. Over many years I have ducked in and out of it, and I am more consistent these days. My attitude has always been if we can go to the gym for our bodies, where do we go for a good mind workout? Why, a therapist, of course. I adore mine, but I was treated to a rather unorthodox response last week when I shared what was bothering me.

I was having a fat day and shared this with her. The response I received was, ‘Well, everyone feels fat and ugly sometimes.’ I was shocked as I had not mentioned that I felt ugly. Inwardly I smiled as I wondered whether she realised what she had said. Later in the session, she mentioned how attractive I was, which I knew was her way of undoing what she had let slip. Afterwards, I began to think whimsically that maybe I needed a therapist to help me with my therapist.

The irony is that she actually cheered me up as it reminded me that no one is perfect. Not even a therapist, as it is a hard job, particularly when they are mindful of saying the right thing all the time.

 

All the best

Stay fab

Adele

I simply could not resist creating this poem from my favourite Doggy rock blog.

Poem Doggy Rock

 

If dogs could talk, I so wish they would rock.

I know as a band; they would enthrall and shock.

They could be called Bone Jovi

And boy, how I would Live on their prayer daily.

 

 

What about Snow Pawtrol?

I would Run to see them, Rock’n Roll,

Super Furry Animals and their Golden Retriever would light up a crowd.

The Animals at their Carnival playing loud and proud.

 

 

Furreigner singing Don’t stop retrievers,

Is a song I would truly believe in.

I gotta feeling Ruff Leopard and the Black Eyed Paws,

Would bring out the Animal in me and fill me full of awe.

 

 

Bones and Roses and Muttley Crue would never be Estranged.

And in Paradise City, I would dance deranged.

I would have Faith in Limp Dog Bizkit, Earth, Wind and Furr;

As they rock my canine Fantasy making my imagination stir.

 

 

The Velvet Undergrowl would give Some kinda love;

Then more Love etc, as the Pet Shop Boys go above

And beyond. The Boomtown Ruffs would make us always like Mondays.

And the Hot House Fowlers with Don’t go could be the latest craze.

 

 

The Waggerboys would have me wagging my tail.

To The Whole of the moon, I would chorus and wail.

I would never Give it away to the Red Hot Chili Papillons.

And Eight days a week, the Beagles would have me singing every song.

 

 

The Irish Rovers would support the magnificent Muttorhead.

And I’ll tell me Ma my Heroes have all my dreams made.

Daschund Midnight runners and Geno would be festival stunners.

As Barkade Fire Wake up and give so much wonder.

 

 

All the best

Stay fab

Adele

Over the last year, I have posted many vignettes from my debut Romcom Novel, Tara Tree, on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, which have received great responses. But I do have to admit that my favourite blog of all time has to be Doggy Rock Bands. It combines my three greatest passions, writing, music, and dogs.

Having my first short story published was definitely a highlight of 2022, and visiting Glasgow for the launch and reciting my piece was also a privilege. Ending the year with some old and original bad jokes was a fitting end to a very enjoyable year of sharing my blogs with you. 2023 is going to be a great one; I can feel it in me water ( as we say here in Ireland, sometimes). It has the number three, which is good enough for me as I have a particular affinity with the number.

 

1.September 25^th Tara Tree excerpt -Carved to imperfecktion – http://adeleleahy.ie/tara-tree-excerpt-carved-to-imperfecktion/

 

2. Nov 13^th Sloth Dance – http://adeleleahy.ie/sloth-dance/

 

3. November 27^th 2022 Doggy Rock Bands – http://adeleleahy.ie/doggy-rock-bands/

 

4. December 3^rd Glasgow Thi-Wurd Anthology Launch of Alternating Currents – http://adeleleahy.ie/glasgow-thi-wurd-anthology-launch-of-alternating-currents/

 

5. December 10th 2022 Non-Christmassy jokes and a few of my own – http://adeleleahy.ie/non-christmassy-jokes-and-a-few-of-my-own/

 

All the best

Stay fab

Adele