Juno might well have been a cool urban cat. Born and raised in London, then transported by her servant to Cardiff. But she knew inner city living was shared with a variety of interesting characters. Borrowing from a Hollies song of the 1960’s… look through any window, and what do you see…
An energetic little thing getting some training in for the pet olympics, maybe…
Then tempting a dangerous eyeball to eyeball vibe…
With a ‘kiss my furry ass‘ touch of insolence…
Then, with topical timing, up steps one of the ‘calling birds’ of Christmas fame…
With a distant relative playing a poor game of hide and seek…
While the inexperienced youngsters are simply peering into dangerous places…
Looking beyond the immediate window, the 2025 brood are snacking outside the local dockside One Stop Shop. Hopefully, they dispose of their plastic rubbish after the hearty meal…
While the local heron just waits… and watches… for the next meal to swim by unexpectedly…
Until we speak again, Chez Juno remains a place of natural wonder deep in the heart of the city. But wait a minute… who’s this imposter?
Yes, I know, that’s a crazy statement in so many ways. I was a townplanner many years ago, so please… hear me out. There are rare moments in life when the planningsystem fails to completely fuck everything up.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not with the intention of doing something good… that hardly aligns with the built-in values system. No, accidents do happen, and sometimes with wonderful consequences.
Take the Salutation pub in tbe university area of Manchester, for example. I was there when it stood alone in acres of cleared derelict land back in the 1970’s. Now, surrounded by modernism on all sides, it’s survival is all the more heroic. Particularly, as it’s largely a student-run enterprize these days…
Then, there’s the issue of what to do with old underground Victorianpublictoilets. In most cases, at ground level, they are rusting gates and railings secured by a sturdy lock and chain. Left as eyesores to blight the urban landscape, while desperate passers-by go in search of somewhere for a leak.
But, on Great Bridgewater Street in the centre of Manchester something altogether different is happening. For nearly 30 years, TheTemple (ofConvenience) has been welcoming thirsty punters… and not just for the relief of a good slash!
Until we speak again, don’t just knock the townplanners, raise a glass or two to celebrate their occasional mishaps!
It seems my current focus on liquidity knows no end. For those of you wondering if Manchester has anything non-pub related… well, these are my 50thanniversaryrecollections, so you’ll just have to go and see for yourself?
Making the right decision shouldn’t always have to be a brave decision. But, when you come under constant pressure from history’s most despicable lying narcissist, a certain amount of bravery is unfortunately required.
Bravo, NobelPeacePrize panel for recognising the importance of Maria Corina Machado in her continuing fight to uphold the principlesofdemocracy. Even while having to remain in hiding, she provides opposition to the bulldozing of basic humanity by another despicable autocratic… the one in Venezuela.
As a panel, you have shown the world we don’t have to give in to the demands of bullies (former DPP’s excepted).
Until we speak again, you’ve also spared us from what would have followed if the world’s oldest grumpy teenager had been given the reward for a mega sense of entitlement.
Once upon a time, I travelled often to Norwich for work purposes. As well as sampling some of the previous post’s mention of its history, there was one particular oasis of tranquillity, the PlantationGarden…
Most visitors and a good few locals may be completely unaware of this beautifully quiet corner tucked away behind the Roman Catholic cathedral. The garden was created out of an old chalk quarry in the first half of the 19th century.
For me, it was always a place to quietly prepare or reflect on the consultancy work project of the time. The gentle sound of the ornate fountain greatly enhances the meditative qualities of this amazing space.
Until we speak again, years further on, I can honestly say that all of those precious elements continue to aid contemplation. Staying chilled!
I can’t say there was much I didn’t already know as I took a guided tour of AuschwitzBirkenau… but wow, does being there pack an emotional punch to the gut.
It’s been almost 50 years since it was first suggested to me that if the chance comes along, I should make the visit. The nearest thing we will know to the gatesofhell.
In all of those years, I’ve been dumbfounded when I hear of holocaustdeniers and the unbelievable nonsense perpetrated by conspiracytheorists. The Nazis tried and failed to cover up their own evil…
There is no way conspiracynutjobs should be given any space for their lies and disinformation to cover over the truth. I’m more convinced that conspiracytheorists were deliberately created so that those of us who have a brain shouldn’t become complacent! The rightwingthugeratti just happen to be their main way of communicating their message of fear. Sometimes… the truth is far more terrifying.
Until we speak again, today’s visit only showed me even more strongly what happens when you ride roughshod over diversity, equity, and inclusion. Wake up, world, the lesson has yet to be learned!
We can’t say we weren’t warned by the first moronic incoherent instalment. The pathetic images of an AmericanPresident fawning almost on his knees before a grinning psychopath who knows he only has to spin a few congratulatory lies to a fellow thin-skinned narcissist to get what he wants.
Where were you, America, when the free world needed you to justify your self-congratulatory position as its lead? I know the alternative choice was very underwhelming back in November 2024, but don’t say you didn’t see what was coming… for you as much as the rest of us. Did you really think a convicted felon serial liar and attempted overthrower of your own electoral system was a good bet?
I see Psychopath 1 has changed from grinning to smiling… ventriloquism has a lot to answer for! Having his arm up the rear end of an orange poodle is an image I’ll leave you to conjure for yourselves. By all means, fill the following space with your own image, and try not to blame me if it continues to torment you…
Until we speak again, we’ll need to be sad witnesses to the unpalatable retreat of America into the lies and disinformation that the MAGA movement of Dumbfuckistan thrives on to ingratiate themselves with their new Russian overlords. Putin feeds his poodle the Kremlin lies machine, and his new Americanpoodle buys and trumpets it without question. The MegaArseholeGobshiteAlert is also a serious wake-up call to Europe to get its act together.
What’s the difference between Russia and the USA? The leader of one of them going forward hasn’t been convicted of any charges… yet? Only one openly boasts his misogyny, while the other enacts it more secretly.
Beyond that, they seem to broadly share psychopathic, narcissistic, lying tendencies on an industrial scale.
On the morning of 6th November 2024, a deeply troubled world took a devastatingly darker turn, as one of the few bastions of freedom and openness embraced it’s full on Dumbfuckistan character.
That this wasn’t the will of the minority is perhaps the most shocking outcome of the last 24 hours. Even the popular vote has underpinned this world tragedy. For once, it seems the anachronistic ElectoralCollege, famed for trulystealingelections from the people, has provided the Americanpeople what they want.
Until we speak again, I will uphold my personal principles of so-called, leftyliberalelitewokery by enacting my own boycott of the USA. I don’t intend to spend…
… on an economy of a country that can shut down its collective mind to the behaviour of a narcissisticracistmisogynist and promote him to Liar-in-Chief.
The years ahead will be interesting… for all the wrong reasons. Goodbye, America… from someone who visited quite often and loved many things about your former country!
You have the whole of the Algarve to be soaking up rays in… so why bother taking the other direction out of the airport into the city?
For a start…the rays are here as well! No, not just on the other side of the track…
It’s got a genuine OldTown… not just something that’s about 30 years old, which the sun worshippers already consider to be uncool and out of date…
There’s a restaurant with a well in the middle of it that’s over a 1000 years old…
Your safety isn’t just guaranteed from falling down unexpected holes in your eating joint… it’s also a matter of 24-hour vigilant surveillance. With a nest like this, do you really think the occupant has any other intentions…
The food elsewhere may claim to come from the sea, but here, the smell of the sea leaps off your plate (believe it or not, there’s a salmonfilet residing beneath this roof of shells and veg!)…
The local residents are so chilled they can’t even raise the effort to flutter a few feathers…
And did I mention the much sort after rays can be found here as well. Why not take a boat out across the nature reserve to find beaches in the shadow of a 170 year old lighthouse…
Then, there’s the matter of the SmokeTiki. After a couple of these, your trusty correspondent struggled to remember what an Algarve was supposed to be used for… an implement for sun worshipping… possibly? Who needs the sun when your drink comes with a blow torch accompaniment, anyway?
Until we speak again, you’re welcome to go to everywhere else on the Algarve in search of your rays. Me, I’m not venturing far from Faro! Just maybe, those SmokeTiki misdemeanours are rendering movement a bit more restrictive!
Say what you want about the diminished size of the BritishArmedForces. But, here in Cardiff docks, the Senedd Cymru (WelshParliament) is ensuring its own security against foreign invasion in this increasingly uncertain world.
Until we speak again, a special thanks go to the Spanish Armadasurplusstores for the loan of Galeon Andalucia. What, you thought the British Navy had anything more viable? 🤔🤣
Who’d have thought it back in the summer of 2013… as a cat deep in thought, pondered nothing but good intentions towards a swan on the canal beneath Chez Juno? Wind forward nearly 11 years, and the 500th post on Juno’sView has arrived.
How best to celebrate this milestone… when you just happen to find yourself in Dublin? As the previous post pondered… what are you going to do? Perhaps a quality control review of the city’s finest is in order… after all, it’s Guinness time!
First off, it’s TheStagsHead… and yes, that first pint really does hit the spot while surrounded by the trappings of a well-preserved Victorianpub.
Then there is TheBrazenHead… for some genuine history. It just happens to be the oldest pub in Ireland dating back to the 12th century and serves a cracking pint of the black and white stuff. What’s more, a traditionalIrishband seems to be celebrating the 500 with me!
Then a call into Darkey Kelly’s just happens to combine all that’s good about visiting Dublin, including tasty Irish beef stew and great music…
Don’t be flagging, as there’s a load more celebrating to be doing. Kehoe’s might just provide that much needed pint… in between pints!?
Not forgetting TheTempleBar… so good they named the whole neighbourhood after it…
If bands are a bit full-on at this stage, try TheAuld Dubliner for a Guinness with a solo guitarist/vocalist backing soundtrack…
And you lucky old soak, you, as there is only a few yards to stagger to TheOliver St JohnGogarty across the cobbles. You might even have a horse-drawn carriage waiting outside for you to finally be poured into as you head off into your drunken stupor!
And when you wake up the day after the day before, there’s always a visit to the Guinness Storehouse Brewery Museum itself as a reminder of why your head’s not feeling like it did 24 hours earlier! A fabulous educative tour across several floors culminating in that hair of the dog pint in the Gravity Bar… complete with a 360-degree view of all you’ve forgotten you did before!
Until we speak again, that quality control review is published in full as follows… Wow! Here’s to the next 500… wherever they may be. Juno may be long since passed, but Juno’sView continues!
JUNO's VIEW 