International – Page 13 – For the fainthearted . . .

Robin Hood and naked men

August is the season of slow news and Ireland’s national broadcaster RTE has been gathering unlikely stories. There is the tale of the 800 mile trek by wandering elephants in China, there is Wally the Arctic Walrus who has been as far as Bilbao and is now damaging small boats off the Co Cork coasts, and, silliest of all, the controversy surrounding nudists in Sherwood Forest, naked men who are upsetting walkers.

No mention of Sherwood Forest would be complete without reference to the legends of Robin Hood and the …

Slow learning military men

While it is the 105th anniversary of the protracted conflict that has been recorded in history as the Battle of the Somme, today marks the 160th anniversary of the first major battle of the American Civil War. The action, called the first Battle of Bull Run by the Union army and the Battle of Manassas by the Confederacy, had been fought in the manner of battles of previous wars. Commanders on both sides immediately realized the need to develop new strategies and tactics if they were to triumph in the …

Truthful stories

“Is that story true, sir?”

“Yes,” I said, “Google it.”

The students are inconsistent in their approach. Credulous about everything posted on TikTok and YouTube, they question every story they are told by other people. How would they have responded to the storytellers in a country community?

One man of ninety-five would tell stories that began at the middle. Perhaps he assumed everyone knew the necessary opening part of the tale.

“He was in the bed next to me in hospital and one evening he said to me, ‘I am

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Teaching the rules of war to fourteen year olds

A lesson on the idea of a just war and the Year 9 students were cynical about there being “rules of war.” A video from the International Committee of the Red Cross did nothing to persuade them. “Sure, sir, who is going to enforce those rules?”

“Theoretically, the United Nations.”

“Yeah, what are they going to do about commanders who ignore the rules. Who is going to arrest them?”

“It’s a good point. Unless the United States provides assistance, then no-one will be brought to justice.”

I talked about the …

Grupetto work

It has been heartening to watch the successes of Mark Cavendish in this year’s Tour de France, and to read of his determination to stay in the Tour even on the most challenging of days.

On Saturday, he spoke of riders working together to get each other to the line:

“We knew it was going to be a tough stage from the beginning. We thought we would all get back together after first climb, and we didn’t. We were a bit surprised because we didn’t know what was happening at

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A favourite movie phone box?

The Film Programme on BBC Radio 4 included a feature on the 1983 film Local Hero and invited listeners to write in suggesting their favourite film featuring a phone box.

Pondering the suggestion, I recalled a short film that has remained in the memory for forty years. It is unlikely that it is anyone’s favourite, but it is a film that once seen is never forgotten.

Having always imagined the film to be French, only today did I Google “film French phone box.” The search immediately identified the film, it …