In the news...

A curious article in the Telegraph about the blossoming romance between Bill Clinton and his predecessor George Bush Snr.
There's also a report of a bizarre plan by the British to keep the Welsh (*snigger*) loyal during WWII.
The British would like to have Robbie Williams played at their funerals, whilst the tastes of the Italians and French are more traditional.
The Times has a curious story about a 'Reality Television' show which will involve a mass exodus of women from an English village. (On the 2nd page of the article a parallel is drawn with Lysistrata)
Another picture of that crocodile.
Arty Stuff
Here's more Gustave Dore than you can shake a stick at. Wonderful stuff!
Some interesting Irish images are found here - especially worth a look are the Ardagh Chalice, the eagle of St John from the Book of Kells and these 19th Century caricatures of the Irish.
Regarding Irish art, one of my favourite paintings is Aloysius O'Kelly's recently discovered Mass in a Connemara Cabin. The linked page includes the best reproduction of the painting I've been able to find on-line. It depicts the Irish custom of the 'Station Mass' - the custom of the Mass being celebrated in private houses on a scheduled basis. The practice is a carry-over from the times of persecution when Catholic churches were forbidden in Ireland. Even after churchbuilding was permitted, the practice facilitated those in the more rural parts of Ireland to attend Mass and confession who would otherwise have been impeded by hardship. It probably hasn't fulfilled that specific role for upwards of 130 years or so, but the practice persists in some of the rural parts of Ireland.