Much to my surprise, I even enjoy it, apart from some folk putting up boring shit, like I walked the dog this morning. Even if they are so dull or their lives are, can’t they use their imagination and come up with some interesting lies like “I just found a note in the loft of my house among some old papers from my great grand aunt which claims she secretly slept with her husband´s five brothers and one sister over her lifetime”!

Anyway, I have decided to use Facebook instead of this Blog page from now on as it’s more interactive and a bit of craic.

Adios to Murphy´s Blog – and if you have any interesting crap to be going on with, see you on Facebook!

http://www.facebook.com/charliesbarlanzarote

He would see a bunch of insects that call themselves human beings, who divide themselves, by colour, race, religion and politics. There are some who try to steer their minds away from reality by distracting themselves with different causes.  If we can’t find a common denominator to have peace between the species we should know best (fellow human beings), why would we try to solve the problems of animals first? Surely if we could get our own camp in order first as humans, we could then tackle so many other world problems together as one.

First of all, the arrogant people who have privilege in this world (and remember, even you who are on the dole in the western world are one of those) must stop fooling themselves. Forget about capitalism, communism or nationalism – the first thing we must do is to let the products that are produced and the people of this planet move freely. Globally. Let there be equality. Free movement of trade and humans is the most important ingredient to an equal opportunity for all humans. We must first achieve this in good faith, so that, collectively, we can concentrate on issues like global warming, animal rights and many more. We have no business trying to concentrate on these issues when, as human beings, we can’t resolve our own differences first. The cart before the horse.

Look at the powers that be who speak so high and mighty – the Americans, English, Germans and French, and even the Irish. They preach about democracy, but who would believe them when they instill, upon themselves, the right to tell people where they can and can’t move or live, on this planet, due to their race, colour or politics. This is the height of absolute f*cking bullshit. We need a Global Democracy, where everyone and their products are allowed to move freely, before we can start to think about issues that are outside of the human race, like global warming, animal rights etc.

Think of the man on the moon, the complete outsider, looking into the world of us insects. He can see a huge population of humans who can’t put their own house in order, killing each other, disrespecting each other and at the same time hiding from the truth by distracting themselves with very relevant issues – but not relevant compared to what humans are doing to others. If we could get all the humans in the world moving, accepting and tolerating each other´s beliefs in a loving way together with equality, we would solve all the other problems in weeks.

So sit in your armchair in your comfortable western home ranting and raving about globalisation, global warming or animal rights (not that there is anything wrong with these issues), knowing that there are your fellow humans dying of starvation, disease, abuse, wars and all because they are out of sight you don’t care or you don’t have the intelligence to see the big picture. Western world, don’t tell me about your f*cking democracy, until you give permission for the people and their produced goods to move freely, and until you accept their different cultures, religions, sexual orientations etc., and let every human being on this planet have equal rights.

Then and only then will the outsider on the moon and little old humble me start to listen to the next issues and not some false sense of democracy for the 5% of the world´s population. We must treat each other as humans with respect, dignity, equality, learn to work together and to love each other for who we are, before tackling the other important issues.

We have to change our values from materialism to the value of global equality and opportunity for all human beings, and until that happens we have no hope of sorting out the animals or climate change etc.  And nobody will take Obama, Cameron or anyone else seriously when they talk about democracy.  Drop your borders.  Let anyone who likes into your country.  Stop being so insecure and let the people and the goods they produce move freely and then we will take your vision of democracy seriously and learn to love and cherish each other regardless of race, colour or nationality and until you do that – which involves serious courage and foresight – shut the f*ck up with your shallow words, your lack of understanding, lack of tolerance and your insecurity.

From the Man on the Moon

The big problem now is who would you vote for? I would have been willing to support FF probably if Micheál Martin had brought in a new fresh young team, or if any party did, but it’s like changing the label on the tin, with the exact same contents. What a pity and an opportunity lost!

I am seriously worried about labour being in any government at a time like this, because, while I agree with sharing and caring as good and maybe even better than most, you must first have something to share, and a half left right government is going nowhere in times like this, but would be fine in good times.

The truth is between 1997 and around 2002 Ireland was making steady, very *real* progress, and then the banks and developers´ greed went bananas with nobody controlling them. It’s still true to say that since 1997 we have come a long way with people 70% better off than we were then. The problem is we have a drop in values of about 30% in the last 3 years, but a drop from a dizzy ficticious height, and back to 2002 levels. Don’t forget we were all happy in 2002, and happier than we ever were since the foundation of the state.

The other positive side to this is that it’s not easy to break the spirit of the Irish people, and we were always a creative and original race, regardless of who is in power. It is the Irish people with their creativity and entrepeneurial spirit that will get us out of this blip, not the politicians, and yes, it is only a blip, which time will prove, I’m sure. There are a group of people who bought property at the wrong time that are in the shit, and it’s very sad (home owners, not developers).  This group are by and large in their late 30s,  and they should be helped. The rest of the population are better off than they were 3 years ago. Salaries may have dropped 10%, but property has dropped about 50%, and the cost of living around 25% overall, which means that outside of this small but very important bracket in trouble, everyone else is better off. The person buying a house now is way better off and has much more of a disposable income.

Then you can talk about the unemployed folk because of the reccession. What % of the unemployed are between 20 and 28 years old? Most of them will head off to places like Australia for a while, and most that do will be back, like my own son, I hope. I am delighted they are gone as long as they come back because they come out of university with a degree, with no practical experience and pretty much commercially useless until they get it. The practical experience is the real education, and as long as Australia are willing to suffer this period of their education, let them at it, and say nothing for Christ’s sake!

I read somewhere that the required goverment bailout would have paid off the mortgage of every household in the country. That is incredible, but we should surely help those who bought first time homes during the “crazy period”, and if that doesn’t happen, they should simply throw the keys of the house at the bank, rent a property for a couple of years and don’t believe this rubbish that you will never again get a loan. You *will*, and you will own your own home again within a few short years.  Nobody wants to lose a home, but it is better to have a decent quality of life than to be fighting for bricks and mortar which never made a home anyway, only a house.

It’s also incredible to see that every radio and TV programme is focusing on money or left and right politics, and do you not think we should also be talking about how our culture and way of life has changed negatively in the last few years outside money at all? The headline in the Examiner the other day said that the rate of suicides among the elderly has seriously increased in the last few years. That’s because with the smoking bans and breath testing in the mornings we have killed the pub trade at home, and people’s whole way of life has been changed, which makes them isolated and lonely. I have heard a good few people from the UK saying they wouldn’t go to Ireland anymore because the craic and the music was gone, which was all we had from a tourist´s point of view. I never heard anyone saying they came for the weather!

Enough now. I must go to work!!!

For some fantastic photos CLICK HERE.

The chances of having a peaceful new year are very slim with the Irish after getting 85 Billion in drink vouchers from the EU, God bless them. If we have time to fill a free pint for any of the folk from the contributing contries, we certainly will. Your generosity knows no bounds, and if I get to Peter before you I will drop him a little brown envelope to guarantee your free passage into heaven.  And no, that’s not my wife’s name!!!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS.

Regards,
Barry Murphy

Ye fought hard through 2010, and until ye come back to Ireland ye have no idea how well ye have done. Anyone who can pay their bills and have a reasonable standard of living in these times is much more than just a success, and for all of you to be able to do just that and be singing off the same sheet is an absolute credit to each and everyone of ye.

This might sound arrogant, but I am very proud of myself for my achievements, not for making Charlie´s Bar & the Craic n´Ceol work every night, but for putting together such a fine bunch of well meaning, caring (and despite mad!) decent human beings, who happen to be reasonably talented as well!

We have dropped the type of customer we didn’t want over the years, despite the cost to us, and collected the best of society, whether they be street sweepers, solicitors or box players. I started out with a dream to have decent musicians and staff who were decent folk, and decent customers who knew the difference between mad and stupid, who had no airs and graces about themselves. I have achieved all that with the help of everyone associated with Charlie´s and the Craic. I thank the whole lot of you for fulfilling one of my dreams and wish all of you and your families health and happiness in the future.

Charlies is closed now from 29th October to 29th December, but the Craic n´Ceol is open, with many of our Charlies musicians playing there on and off over the holidays.

Happy Xmas to you and love you all to bits.

Murphy

Because of the way our politicians and political parties are set up, the real problem is that we don’t have a pup´s chance of getting the right people into politics to begin with. We need “new meat” with fresh ideas, who have not come up through some old tired political party system, and where the politician has to spend his time looking over his shoulder, licking backsides of some folk who haven’t a clue, just to get their vote.

Simple stuff – the first question that needs to be addressed is what level of salary are we worth to be competitve on the international stage? For example, what should an IT consultant be earning here, given that you can get IT consultants working from India for x Euro- but we are in Europe and have access to better systems, etc. etc.  We simply have to understand what is a competitive salary, so that we can get everyone working.

Then we need to know what taxes we will collect from these salaries or incomes, and whatever that amount is, we spend on education/health/pensions/promoting new export business etc., but only according to our income.  I don’t understand terms like “the long-term unemployed”. There should be zero. A person who is made redundant should get more benefit than they are getting now to give them a chance to find or create new employment without the immediate worry of having to pay bills, but knowing that if they haven’t created or found new employment in, say, 4 months, their dole will significantly decrease, and they will work for any cent they are given after that, at the minimum wage. People would make damn sure that they found or created some employment before the 4 month deadline, and if they don’t, tough luck!

Sorry, but the reality is that life is tough and you ain’t getting anything long-term from the State for nothing.  We are giving young people in their 20s 200 odd € a week long term for doing nothing, and at the expense of old age pensioners who can’t (and shouldn’t!) work, given their years. This has all got to do with politics and votes, and has nothing to do with common sense, and someone who is willing to take the tough decisions in the interest of the State without being afraid of being voted out.

What have we going for us in Ireland?

1. Tourism. We have become too expensive for tourists, but this is starting to rectify itself now, with accommodation prices falling to reasonable levels – but we need to get that message out there, because we have been known as a very expensive country to visit…
2. Agriculture. This is one sector that seems to be doing well. Our products are marketed very well abroad and we seem to achieve good prices for quality products. Maybe we can add more value to what we produce, which might lead to more employment, but it has to be competitive.  When I looked a few years ago a live lamb was making approx 12€ in New Zealand, and the same lamb in Ireland was making 90€.
3. Our educated youth. We are spending a fortune educating young folk to a very high standard and exporting them for nothing, because we can’t find work for them. As I write this now, my son is going to the airport in a few hours to fly to Australia to try and find work, after just finishing a degree and a Masters in college. I’m sure the experience will stand to him in the future if he comes back to Ireland, but can we afford this luxury just now? These are the very people we need, to pull the nation out of the shit. I would prefer that he stayed here and rolled up his sleeves to try to create jobs etc., but I’m sure if I, or someone, rang him after 6 months and offered him a decent job, he would be home in a shot. Many young people go travelling for a year or so (and nothing wrong with it), but they should be doing so because they want to and not because they have too.

And last but not least… what about our good friend Brian and his hangover on radio? You could say that the nation would be better off if he stayed drinking, and that his mistake was not drinking and singing until 3am, but stopping at that hour! In the interest of the nation, Brian, drink up, and you will do less damage!

Seriously, I think he is a very well meaning person who is entitled to a drink like anyone else, and his real mistake was agreeing to do an interview at that hour of the morning, knowing he was going to be out late the night before. If the country was flying on concrete foundations, and not on quicksand and a very false property market which in turn drove everything, including salaries, to a seriously uncompetitive level, nobody would be talking much about that radio interview – but sadly, that’s not the case.

Come on down to Charlie´s Brian, and we’ll put the train back on the track between us!

He breezed in, met everyone the following day for a sound check and to make out a plan for the week, and that was the last we saw of work for the week. As cool as you like, and I’m sure he would agree with me, that apart from his own easy going, but very professional manner and talent, it was also made simple because of the work that Skin & Hide had put in before his arrival. After one gig it looked as though they had all played together for years!

The atmosphere he created at Charlie´s Bar was electric, and for me personally, what surprised me apart from his talent, was not his songs that I had heard, but the ones that I had not heard before his arrival.

Thanks for a great week, Mundy, and hope to see you soon again – and don’t forget the sun cream!

.

.

It’s funny to watch this whole EU thing playing out.  The idea that we can all be buddy buddy, which I feel is like communism, is a great idea in theory – and that´s where it *stops*.

Why? Because we have one currency and sixteen different budgets in sixteen different countries. The only way to have one currency is to give *all* power to Brussels, and they have control over the whole EU budget. The problem is now that we have given them half the power, and a half of anything is the worst place you could be.  Ask a pilot or the captain of a ship!!  So we should either pull out of it or give them complete power.

There are advantages and disadvantages to giving them complete power.  One advantage is that we wouldn’t need that useless shower in Dáil Éirean and could get rid of them for good, as all decisions would be made in Brussels where, as I have said, half of them are anyway.  The dissadvantage is that they would lose us our identity, and God knows what stupid laws they would impose on us simple Paddies, without taking into consideration that we are only complex machines for recycling Guinness!

The way I see it, we (or any other nation outside of France and Germany) would never vote to give *total* control to Brussels and therefore, just like communism, this currency is doomed to fail in time.  The United States have one government controlling all, but to make this possible in Europe it would require the other fifteen nations to learn “The Banks of my own Lovely Lee“, “The Wild Rover” and “Oro se de bheath abhaile” in fifteen different languages, and get them all drinking Guinness by the gallon each day at Charlie´s Bar!

Maybe it’s possible, and the way forward.  Yes!  That is the answer for sure.  Control the total EU from Charlie´s in Lanzarote.

O´Sullivan’s John to the road you’ve gone, far away from your own native home…

1. Mistresses stranded in the wrong cities.
2. Husbands stranded with wives at home or abroad.
3. Priests and brothers who can’t make their court cases.
4. The % of the possibility of a bird strike has fallen through the floor.
5. Can’t get Fitzpatrick and Drum back to lock them up.
6. O´Leary has his wish again / no baggage.
7. Plenty of time to check the planes for small cracks and dip them for oil.
8. Time to repaint all Ryanair aircraft in the Aer Lingus colours before the imminent takeover.
9. Much higher mobile phone use and the ferries cleaning up.
10. Property prices and car sales rising due to too many foolish people having too much time on their hands in the wrong places, which could be home.
11. And last but not least, all of us at Charlie´s Bar having an unexpected week off, which will have a serious effect on the following:

• condom sales (easy Shaky and Pedro!)
• a significant rise in Lanzarote pregnancy levels
• a rise in alcohol consumption levels in Lanzarote
• a rise in mass attendances
• a slight darkening of the skin, due to getting up an hour earlier each day at 4pm
• more music and books written and an increase in the levels of very important bullshit spoken

HERE’S TO THE HOLIDAYS!!!

We have just had two weeks off before the mad season, and Charlie´s Bar re-opens tonight (Monday the 12th).  I am flying back myself on Tuesday because I have a day´s work to do here today.

It’s so funny, but the first thing that came up on my screen when I turned on my computer was some ad saying “PROTECT YOURSELF AGAINST ID FRAUD”.  I was just thinking, if you said that to someone 20 years ago, they would have you commited. Can you imagine walking through Skibereen 20 years ago, meeting a friend along the road and asking him “are you protected against id fraud?”

I read an article in a paper yesterday which said that the website Bebo.com was started in 2005, sold for, I can’t remember how, many billions around 2008, and now it’s falling away to Facebook etc., and is fast in decline. This world has been moving at a dizzy speed for the last 20 years, or if you look at the progress, if you can call it that, which I personally don’t. The world remained more or less the same for millions of years and in the last 100 or so we have had cars, planes etc., which is *some* transfrormation in 100 years – but when you look at what has happened in the last 20 years only, and even more so in the last 10, you just feel like lying down on the grass and holding onto the world before someone sends us off to space to try to grow spuds, and either educate or be educated by the little green men, or are they green and are they little?! If they are little,will we be racist towards them, and if they are large, will we call them sir and hope that they are not racist against blacks and whites??!!

If you lived for a thousand years and never slept, you still would probably only see maybe 1% of what’s on the internet and the more you realise you don’t know as you surf the web, the thicker you feel and the more frustrated you get, the less you mix with your fellow human beings, and the more time you spend on your own.  I was never much one for television because I saw it as a barrier to conversation with our fellow human beings, and I’m starting to think now after a few years that maybe the computer will have to vacate the home as well. Maybe I will have a farewell party for my computer and buy a statue of Obama and put it in the computer´s place.

Why Obama? You could ask, and justifiably so… but when the yanks voted recently to give health cover to 30 Million, which is 10% of their poulation, I couldn’t believe how close the vote was. I spent a lot of time in communist countries, and I know the faults with that system, then you have extrene capitalism in the States, where up to now 30 Million people had no access whatsoever to any medical requirements. It makes you think, even in these sh*t times, that we are lucky to be from Europe where at least the very basics of nearly all humans are looked after, and I know *badly* in a lot of cases, with people on trolleys in hospitals etc., but not all Europe is like that.

Having visited a Russian hospital 20 years ago, I turned to the person I was with and told them if I got sick there, do whatever you have to do, and charter a plane and get me back to Ireland. Now I think to myself in Ireland, if anything happens to me while I’m here, charter a plane and get me back to Lanzarote, where the local hospital is fantastic. Hopefully I won’t need one anywhere, which brings me to another point – for those of you who know the predicament our good friend Sergi found himself in a couple of months ago, I’m delighted to tell you that after 3 operations over the last few months he has got the all clear, and should hopefully be back playing in Charlies again in September, and again to thank Pedro for filling in for him in style…

Hey, I had a dream the other night after a few pints of Guinness, and the dream went something like this: the credit crunch and NAMA were the best thing that ever happened in Ireland since we got our independence, or most of it! You see I dreamt that in a few years´ time there will be no taxes in Ireland for a period of approx. 10 years because our government bought all the banks´ assets for 50% of their 2007 value, and ended up with the majority shares in all the banks, and even owning some of them completely, which they also got for a complete song in bad times. Then, when the world economy bounces back, they will make a ferocious, incredible, ludicrious amount of money on both the banks and their assets, and they will have so much money they won’t have to collect taxes for a decade, at which point I heard a noise downstairs, woke up, realised it was the postman, opened the post to find out that my mortgage has gone up 5%!  Jasus, that Guinness is great stuff for the head, and you don’t even have to leave the parish to get it (yet)!

I had the honour and the privilige of being at Rory’s and Cara’s wedding in Edinburgh on Saturday, and what a fantastic day it was! The sun was shining, not a cloud to be seen and about 20C degrees. Everyone was in great spirits and the day and evening went like a dream. Fair play to them both, they really made a huge effort with every detail, and hard work in the months leading up to it, and it well paid off. They looked completely at ease and so happy and all because of their planning and effort. I wish them all the best for the rest of their lives together, and I know they will have a great honeymoon for the next few weeks, and look forward to welcoming them back to that silly ould rock we all live on in the Atlantic Ocean.

Must go out now and get a tan before I go back to Lanza on Tuesday!!
Adios!
Barry Murphy

He said he has been in f**king therapy. For what? For getting caught? For making an ass of himself all over the World at every opportunity?  Let’s look at what he could have done, and made one statement along the following lines: “My personal life is my business only, and I’ll drive my car into anything I like as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else or their property, and I intend to continue to live my life as I see fit not you, so go and f**k yourselves”.

The media would have died down in a couple of days. His marriage may be a different story, depending on his wife and the rules they live by, but that was between his wife and himself only. What in the name of God was he apologising for to the World?  The World couldn’t give a sh*t who he slept with, and if there is any need to go to therapy or to apologise, he should be doing so for hurting himself and making a complete ass of himself. Can you imagine the mind of the therapist that’s treating him?  Holy sh*t. Who is going to offer therapy to the therapist?

Having watched him on the television, trying to a*se lick the World’s media, begging for forgiveness, I have lost all regard for him, and he hopes he will get his image back!  My good friend, you have lost the only image you had since you opened your mouth, not your trousers.

Clown!!!  Ah!  Sure God love him…

PS.: I was talking to a couple of buddies tonight about this, and one of them said that all his sponsors ran when this came out. All I said was “let them run” – turn the negative into a positive, create the image of the black Page 3 boy golfer, and get twice the money for sponsorship from the likes of Playboy and Durex, which would pay off the wife, if she was stupid enough to leave such a virile man!

I am writing this the day after the event, and with everyone´s help we raised €5,100 and had a great night as well.  We would all like to thank everyone that supported the event, and there are people in Haiti (who we will never meet) that will have a tent, food, clean water etc., because of all your generosity.

It was great to see all the musicians from both bars, and a few other bars as well, on the stage together for the last few songs, and the atmosphere was electric. After the bar closed there were 6 or 7 of us that stayed back for a quiet drink, and I was telling the story of the taxi driver that drove Anna and myself from Pattaya to Bangkok, a distance of 150km for €6.  The drive took 2 1/2 hours, and he had to return to Pattaya again as well.  He drove us in a brand new Toyota car, and if he got the car and the petrol for nothing, he would still have had only €1.20 per hour for his time.  Don’t worry, we gave him a tip bigger than the fare, but the point is that it shows how far €5,100 will go in countries like that, and Haiti is much poorer than Thailand, and the money we and you are sending over there is worth the equivalant of €1,000,000 approx. if you compare the price of a Western taxi for the same distance, and do the maths.

On a slightly different note,  I was lucky enough to have spent some of my early adult days with very little, and even no money at times, and I was also lucky enough to have spent some time living in countries which were as poor as Haiti.  The reason I say this, is because a gentleman walked in to the Craic the other night and started a conversation with me.  He told me that he was a Publican in Ireland and then told me he just got a text that day to say that a good friend of his had commited suicide.  I had just read that the rate of suicide had jumped something like 35% in the last year or two in Ireland.  He then went on to tell me that his friend was in his 60s, built up a good business, borrowed to build property, credit crunch, and was heading to go bust, like many… this is why I say I was lucky to be poor at one time in my life.  I know what it is to have nothing, and I’m not one bit afraid of it.  The worst that can happen in Ireland is that you get a coucil house, the dole, and despite the fact that you won’t be going on foreign holidays, there are thousands and millions fighting to stay alive in Haiti who would kill for the worst that can happen in Ireland.  The problem is people are putting this image, and believing themselves they are, who they portray themselves to be, by what car they drive or where they live, and when something goes wrong they are ashamed and embarassed.  Suicide is desperate sad, and believe me, I know, but depression I can understand, even if badly, but why could this man’s friend not see that he was the same man he was last year and for the last 40?  He lost his money, but not his ability, and he wasn’t going to be cold or hungry.  We know the answer is “status”, but that’s why I was so lucky, and it’s a pity that more people don’t realise the difference between who they are and what they have.

Anyway, enough ranting.  Must go to work – and a million thanks again to everyone for last night!

Now I was really awake and the first thought that came into my head, or maybe picture, was of watching you and “Papa Caros” (as I called him) playing together in Cork, and the way you bounced off each other. After putting on the kettle, I eventually got my brain to function and made the call, and the rest is…

A little like yourself, Papa Caros always shook hands sincerely,and always with his own unique kind of graceful smile. A man that would not know how to hurt anybody, who would make a bad soldier. His strengths were much deeper than anything physical. I met Vicente a good few times, and despite not being able to speak his language, I always communicated very well with him, as did the rest of the lads. We were always so happy to see him coming around our “nuthouse” with his positive but discreet humble energy.

Each and all of us are with you in the battle of all time battles that lies ahead in the future. You have an army that would have flattened hitler behind you, Serg,and yes, I spelled hitler with a small “h” on purpose. The days and the weeks and months will pass, Serg, and the tears will turn to laughs and smiles at the happy memories you are lucky enough to have. The length of time is not so important as you will find out, but the quality. You may not feel it right now, but you will understand later how lucky you are.

Our thoughts are also with your dear mother who has lost her best friend. May God give her strength and courage to fight on positively, and also your brother. Bless ye, and be sure the sun will shine again for all of you with purpose and energy. xxx

Barry

The question is, are all alcoholics hiding from something, whether they are on or off drink, and blaming drink for everything that happened in their lives and hiding behind it, joining the club AA and unknowingly supporting each other from facing whatever the *real* problem might have been from the start? Is it possible, like the two stories above, that if they had addressed the *real* problem, if they could face it and deal with it, that they would be able to drink normally? Or maybe there was no real problem, simply a chemical dependency?

I don’t know what the answer is but these two stories really got me thinking to what I always thought was at the very least a possibility. Maybe the truth is that they simply can’t face whatever the real problem is or was, and therefore they are quite happy to hide behind and blame alcoholism for everything, and even if that was the case, is there anything wrong with that, if it’s getting them through life?

I would love to hear other people´s thoughts and experiences of similar situations, but more from family members rather from those who have had or have a problem with drink, or the lack of it!!

I don’t mean in any way make a joke of what is a very serious problem for those who are affected by drink or an underlying problem, whether they are or were the drinkers or family members, as I am one of the above myself, and, like you all, I know many people in the same situation. But we have to keep a sense of humour, even if we´re laughing at ourselves, and maybe this is all bullshit and drink is simply a chemical addiction that affects some more than others?!