SO THERE you are, no surprise. Our brilliant motorbike rider Jonathan Rea hasn’t had a look-in at the Sports Personality of the Year. Out of the six finalists, five are men and all English.
A BBC Spokesperson said: “The shortlist is decided by an independent expert panel who choose contenders based on their sporting achievement in a given year.”
They chose cricketer Stuart Broad, jockey Hollie Doyle, previous winner Lewis Hamilton, footballer Jordan Henderson and snooker player Ronnie O’Sullivan. The sixth nominee, boxer Tyson Fury, doesn’t rate the competition; he believes he has proved himself with the public and doesn’t need all the bells and whistles of this boring programme and has asked to have his name removed.
But, that doesn’t suit the great British Broadcasting Corporation. They told him he will remain on the list for SPOTY 2020.
“As always the winner will be decided by the public voting during the live show and it is of course up to Tyson if he chooses to participate.” Let’s see.
:: ‘The world is ill divid’
Where on Earth do you go for a cup of coffee and a chat with a friend? Isn’t it awful that rules don’t allow cafés to open even over lunchtime? And what about restaurants?
I find it hard to understand why those with a liquor license weren’t allow to open. Why, when all it requires is a promise not to serve drink?
There have been some funny restrictions. What about the couple who spent £250,000 on a Covid-secure drive-in cinema in Carryduff, believing the Stormont ministers when they said such cinemas would remain open during lockdown?
What about Christine Mackin who stocked up her Radiance Beauty and Day Spa on Lisburn Road in Belfast, spending over £5,000 for Christmas gifts? She also spent £7,500 on making the salon Covid safe but she’s a non-essential business.
In order to get the Christmas-branded goods to the public she, like so many other small businesses, has gone online with the hope of opening soon.
It’s been a double blow following the last lockdown when she took the generous decision to donate her stock to frontline workers who, because of wearing face masks, appreciated the skin-care products. (radiancedayspa.co.uk)
No matter where you turn, while the big powerful stores can remain open, selling everything from Christmas wrapping paper to presents to toys and electrical gadgets, our local hard-working men and women are on their knees.
That reminds me of a dear friend of mine who ran out of Christmas paper late on Christmas Eve afternoon and dispatched her husband to buy a roll to finish off the family presents. He got back only to discover he’d bought ‘Happy Birthday’ paper by mistake. But Paul is a resourceful man. After the row was over he sat down with a felt tip pen and amended the message to read ‘Happy Birthday Jesus’!
There’s a lot of talk about hard times for artists of all types, there’s no limit to the how this invidious virus penetrates all areas of life.
:: Men of straw
One local artist who has had no problem with lockdowns is Tim Shaw. One of the youngest members of the Royal Academy of Arts, Tim has been putting the finishing touches to his London exhibition which runs until January.
Entitled ‘The Mummers’ Tongue Goes Whoring Amongst The People’, it is a project he’s been working on for some time. He told me how the origins of the idea go back to the early 90s when he was living off the Cavehill Road in north Belfast.
“One afternoon I was in the newsagent’s when I saw this remarkable front-page image of three people wearing masks made from straw. I wondered what part of Africa they were from then realised they were in fact from Northern Ireland. I was astonished because there was never any mention of mumming when I was growing up.”
Then, 10 years ago he saw the Armagh Rhymers perform in Co Armagh.
“St Stephen’s Day, a heavy snow lay on the ground and the mummers rhymed their way from door to door, dressed in masks and skirts made from straw," Tim recalls.
"I’ve watched them perform several times since. What I’m trying to do through my work is find the essence and the meaning of this custom – if you’re trying to find out what mumming is all about, good luck with getting a straight answer from a mummer, but it seems to me that it’s about performing song and rhyme ‘to put things right and ensure the future’.
"It’s about celebrating the passing of time: death and resurrection; the dying back of winter and the rebirth of spring.
“It comes from a time when we were at the mercy of the seasons – but what’s the relevance of these performances today? Perhaps during this Covid pandemic they give us space to think about what’s important and what counts beyond the endless pursuit of wealth and acquisition of stuff that really doesn’t matter.”
:: Warm welcome
Tim visited the mummers two years ago when they were performing on the Falls Road, “an area were Protestants may not have previously felt so welcome during The Troubles".
"As we arrived in front of a terrace of houses, the mummers processed down the road, to form a ring on the grass," Tim says.
"We looked across to the people who lived in those houses and they looked at us. There was a moment of acknowledgement that once we were on different sides of the sectarian divide. Then one person came over with an offering of mulled wine and biscuits. This moment of reconciliation, subconscious or otherwise, was for me what gives depth and meaning to the rhyme and song of the mummers’ tongue."
Tim’s ambition is to scale up these foot-high mummers and place them in a group somewhere here in Northern Ireland.
If it’s a Christmas present you’re looking for, a bronze edition of one mummer costs £3,850.
:: For more details search online for Tim Shaw Mummers’ Exhibition
