We go to a Celtic Thunder concert
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (381837)
Rockingham, Australia
May 14, 2016 7:01am CST
Last Sunday my sister Shirley, a friend Lynn, Vince and I drove into Bunbury to attend a concert by Celtic Thunder. My sister is a great fan of theirs and Lynn had been to see them in Perth (Western Australia) several years ago. We had good seats and thoroughly enjoyed the show.
One of their standards is 'Ride On' with the lyrics from Christy Moore. One of the early lines is 'True you ride the finest horse I've ever seen, Standing 16 one or two with eyes wild and green'. The '16' means the horse is 16 hands with a hand being 4 inches. 'One or two' means one or two inches so the horse is 65 or 66 inches tall at the wither, the highest point on the spine just in front of where the saddle would sit. This is a big, upstanding horse judging on its height. What has all this to do with the Celtic Thunder show?
Behind the group was a screen on which a projected image appeared. This differed for each song. For 'Ride On' the image was not of magnificent, upstanding horses but of a group of smallish ponies with pot bellies, suggesting infestations of worms. For anyone with a knowledge of horses, the vision didn't do anything at all for the song. Ireland has some wonderful, strong, big horses and so much more could have been made of the visual effects.
Have you encountered instances where, as someone with a bit of knowledge, you've been disappointed with an amateurish depiction of a subject?
The photo shows a typical Irish hunter standing in a field.
21 people like this
20 responses
@ElizabethWallace (12069)
• United States
14 May 16
This is the curse of smart people with an education. Knowledge is out there for the having. Once obtained, we notice the lack of it in others. Disappointment is the result, but I would rather be disappointed, than ignorant. It is curious as to why those in charge do not hire better people.
2 people like this
@ElizabethWallace (12069)
• United States
15 May 16
@MALUSE Even here, there are problems with English on signs. I once copied a sign I had seen that morning on the white board for my seventh grade English students. It took them only a moment to find the error. The sign read: No trucks on Kanen Road over 2 axles.
We decided the following: The person who ordered the sign was an idiot. The person who made the sign was an idiot. The person to received the sign was an idiot. The person who put it up was an idiot.
It was a great lesson for the kids. They learned that paying attention in school (or not) had real world consequences.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (381837)
• Rockingham, Australia
16 May 16
@ElizabethWallace Signs in vegie and fruit shops are often full of errors.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (381837)
• Rockingham, Australia
16 May 16
@MALUSE @ElizabethWallace I picked up a brochure once and counted at least 20 errors. Probably the worst was that this woman would 'help you concur your dreams' and 'concur problems with your horse'. I mean honestly - what is she thinking? There were capitals in the middle of sentences, incorrect spelling. I gather whoever printed the leaflet either didn't know better or didn't care. But it really bugs me.
1 person likes this
@ElizabethWallace (12069)
• United States
17 May 16
True, but there are simple ways to prevent such errors before they are put in print. It harms society for errors to be so prevalent.
2 people like this
@allen0187 (59654)
• Philippines
16 May 16
I usually encounter these 'disappointments' at work when dealing with 'experts' and 'experienced' colleagues! 
1 person likes this
@crazyhorseladycx (39503)
• United States
15 May 16
i'm lucky to get to watch those folks'n the local p.b.s. channel here, though've not seen where they've those back drops. wonder what the heck they were thinkin', usin' those poor ponies fer such? perhaps a hidden message's to their neglect?
i've a mare here who's 15.3 'n i'm purty sure i could no longer jump'n the saddle these days. that 16 hands + 's a mighty long ways to the ground, lol.
big hugs!
1 person likes this
@crazyhorseladycx (39503)
• United States
17 May 16
@JudyEv makes ya wonder who picked those pic's, don't't?
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (381837)
• Rockingham, Australia
17 May 16
@crazyhorseladycx It made a bit of a mockery of the macho man singing the song. The ponies would have nearly collapsed under him. And they could have a very inspiring video of 'proper' horses going full-tilt somewhere. :)
1 person likes this
@MarymargII (12422)
• Toronto, Ontario
14 May 16
Obviously the person in charge of the scenes was not in-tune with the song meanings- I love Celtic thunder though and wonder if the ones I see on TV here are the same as the ones you saw that time.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (381837)
• Rockingham, Australia
17 May 16
@MarymargII Yes, that's him. The program seemed to be all the same names but I guess they were printed 12 months ago.
1 person likes this
@MarymargII (12422)
• Toronto, Ontario
17 May 16
@JudyEv was it the blonde one with chin length hair- or at least he used to have chin length hair?
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43573)
• Denver, Colorado
14 May 16
That's too bad that they did that. You'd think whoever designed their stage set would have done some research.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (381837)
• Rockingham, Australia
16 May 16
@teamfreak16 They probably don't realise - just that the guy that sings the song sang it at the first ever concert (so he says) and he still doesn't seem to know much about what he's singing about.
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43573)
• Denver, Colorado
16 May 16
@JudyEv I bet the band had no idea. Unless they have 100% control of every aspect, like Tool does, they likely had nothing to do with it. I'd be upset if I found out. Unless they were doing it for comedy or something.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (381837)
• Rockingham, Australia
16 May 16
It was a turn off for me but perhaps I'm too fussy.
@JudyEv (381837)
• Rockingham, Australia
23 May 16
Most young horses of that age have some worms so it's not really animal cruelty but the video still doesn't fit well with the song.
@JudyEv (381837)
• Rockingham, Australia
19 May 16
He was in a paddock near where my son lives in Ireland. A typical Irish hunter.
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
14 May 16
perhaps they didnt know horses and simply thought they were cute tubby ponies, not ill horses
1 person likes this
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
16 May 16
@JudyEv I can agree with that!
1 person likes this
@Dragonairy1 (1722)
• Newcastle Upon Tyne, England
15 May 16
It would have been nice of the picture had matched.
1 person likes this
@AbbyGreenhill (45490)
• United States
14 May 16
Sure, who hasn't. LOL, but in a way I get the humor in the photo they displayed.
1 person likes this
@sueznewz2 (10409)
• Alicante, Spain
15 May 16
The horse in the photo looks sturdy.... yes I do sometimes see it...., it makes me smile or cross depending on the situation....
1 person likes this
