Eat To The Beat

This signal box on the Holywood Road, Belfast, has been repainted by FGB (ig) to look like a Drumstick – not the musician’s tool or the chicken leg but the chewy lolly. The Drumstick dates back to 1957 (swizzels.com). Swizzels makes not just Drumsticks but also Refreshers, Double Lollies, Love Hearts, Double Dips, Lipsticks, and Whistles.

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Spring Into Art

A paint-pot for a helmet, the lid for a shield, a paintbrush for a lance, a caparison sporting graffiti as a coat of arms – the knight of art springs into the playground of the imagination.

By Dublin artist ADW (ig | web) for HTN22 in Kent Street, Belfast.

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Lucky Fives

The slot machine last year came up with a 55 Scottish league title for Rangers and Rangers fans across Belfast celebrated with stickers and flags (Let Us Shout Joyfully | Order Restored | 55 | F*ck Your Ten In A Row | Blues Brothers | We’re Back | Legends Never Die) and also the stencilled electricity box from Berlin Street, west Belfast (above) and the furniture and barrel (below) from Sandy Row, south Belfast. This year is not looking so good, as they are six points down with three games to go (SkySports).

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At Home And Abroad

Two types of mourner at the grave of a fallen WWI soldier: on the left, comrades in arms; on the right, members of the family they left behind.

Work on the mural began in December, 2021, but progress seems to have stalled. One of the bayonets is in outline as is the giant poppy overheard. The effect is that the scene seems to be taking place under the stars.

Ashmore Street, west Belfast

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Ukraine Has Suffered Enough

After amassing roughly 200,000 troops along the border, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began on February 24th; yesterday thus ended the tenth day of fighting. Perhaps 10,000 soldiers (both Ukrainian and Russian) and 2,000 civilians have died, and roughly 1.4 million people have fled the country. “Слава Україні!” [Slava Ukraïni!] is the salute of the Ukrainian armed forces but has become a rallying cry in the mouths of people and nations around the globe in support of Ukraine, amongst which are artist FGB (ig) and the Sunflower bar in Kent Street, Belfast.

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Larne Invites You

“The popular Ulster seaside resort – Larne invites YOU this summer! – Attractions for the old and young. – The place to spend a happy, healthy holiday. Free guides from the town clerk (Dept 5), Larne, Northern Ireland. – McNeill’s 7-day conducted tours, May till September. Motor excursions to Gobbins caves and cliffs, Whitehead, Glenariff glen, Giant’s Causeway, Portrush, Belfast, Garron Tower, Antrim and Lough Neagh, Sallagh Braes, and the famous Antrim coast road.” – This last is shown in the image above, with the Black Arch in the foreground.

Previously: Larne – The Original Tourist Resort | Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines

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Let Us Shout Joyfully

“O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our maker. For He is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the sheep under his care.” In Psalms 95, the current generation of Hebrews is exhorted to declare Yahweh as their god, or suffer the fate of the previous generation who did not believe and were left to die in the wilderness during the exodus: a wrathful Yahweh declares, “They shall not enter My rest” (Enduring Word). After ten years in the wilderness of the Scottish league minor divisions, Glasgow Rangers are again champions and the Rangers faithful are shouting joyfully – here is Sandy Row on the hoarding around the site of the old Gilpin’s shoe shop and the UFF funeral volley mural.

See previously Order Restored (which will link to even more posts).

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X09087 X09090 X09091 [X09086] [X09088] [X09089] the battles we refuse to fight today become the hardships our children must endure tomorrow

Tsuru

“Tsuru” is the Japanese for “crane”, which a symbol for peace, and it appears here on the Cupar Way “peace” line in west Belfast. The QR code is for an iPhone and Android app about peace building in Belfast and Hiroshima. You can learn how to make an origami crane here.

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Eternally Loved

In 2009-2010-2011 the giant rock in Tír Na nÓg (Springhill Park) bore a celtic spiral pattern – see the final image, below. As these images show, it has now been repurposed as a memorial site to two local children.

This is, we believe, the first appearance of TikTok as a social media reference.

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Football For All

Cumann Spóırt An Phobaıl (Fb | ig) is an all-abilities (and all-ages – starting at age 5) soccer club based on the Ballymurphy Road in west Belfast. The club was profiled in the Irish News in late 2020. “CSP Abú”

The murals are in Springhill Avenue; for the community mural at the blind end of the road, see Inspire, Uphold, And Make Happy; for the pro-Palestinian murals, see Grasping The Barb, David And Goliath and Over Time.

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