Brian's Blog

Star Trek Table, as seen on Etsy.

2012-01-26T20:18:00.001Z

You might know I've been on Etsy for a little bit. There's some really great stuff on there, people all over the world selling their craft, and if you're looking for an unusual gift for someone, it's a great site. Look at these lovely earrings I bought M recently!

Today I came across an amazing table, in the shape of a Star Trek starship......

Excellent.

I disagree with this sign

2012-01-26T14:21:00.001Z

C is an important part of life and language. Sure, things like beer, wine, bailouts would still be ok, but imagine going into an afé and asking for an offee? Or an appuino?

Photo taken by the Liffey in - I suspect it has something to do with a canoe race, but I just read it differently!

Book review: The Christmas club

2012-01-25T21:04:00.001Z

This book by Stephen Price is A decent read, well told. 6 people meet in Christmas 1989 in an abandoned house in Donegal, have a great time and prise to meet up every year. They don't of course, life gets in the way, but they do meet again in 2002.

Intervening years have brought change to them all, success in varying degrees - and stresses and strains in other ways. The events of their final meeting are perhaps a commentary on the way Irish society changed over those years.

Would recommend.

Perceptions...

2012-01-24T19:09:00.000Z

We interrupt this train of Galway-related photographs to bring you this video. I found it through a "video of the day" podcast which shows a youtube video reasonably regularly. It's called "Fishing Under Ice" and as well as being an excellent, clever video, it made me think about perception...

You see it took me a little while (once I saw the bubbles "falling") to realise what was going on, and to realise that I'd expected these guys to be fishing underwater, but the right way up - using harpoons or nets or something - and that something unusual was about to happen to them!

It goes to show that our perception and expectation is coloured by a video's title, and without context, our own experiences.

It's really clever. I like it a lot, hope you enjoyed it!

Galway Bay - or, the Atlantic Ocean...

2012-01-23T20:56:00.002Z

A view from Salthill. Further to my previous post, I have been hacking through the images I took from Salthill on Saturday. There was a nice wintry sun, and a pretty impressive breeze, but the sea was quite well behaved and calm! So here's a few I took and am reasonably happy with...

I thought I'd add the last one to Etsy for kicks...

More to come from Salthill, and a few in and around Galway city. It really is a very picturesque place, and you don't have to go far out of the lovely city to find the wilds of Connemara and the Atlantic Ocean.

Galway, instructions for a pleasing weekend.

2012-01-22T19:42:00.000Z

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I've just spent a lovely weekend in Galway, courtesy of some living social deals. We had a stay in the Forster Court hotel, which was most impressive - a very welcoming hotel, with comfortable rooms and pleasant and attentive staff. The hotel's just off Eyre Square so is merely minutes' walk from the main heart of Galway city.

Arriving on Friday night after work we had a tasty meal in the hotel. Saturday then we made our way to Kenny's Bookshop in the Liosbaun retail park, where the famous bookshop has moved to. In all the times I've been to Galway since they moved from the city centre I've never been to the new location so I had it in mind this time. It's in an almost industrial unit - but there's a lovely almost untidy (no offence!) clutter to the seats, couches and stacks of books in amongst the tall shelves that makes it very conducive to browse.

So that was an enjoyable hour or so - my wallet escaped almost unscathed, though I did purchase a book on a practice Martian landing in the Arctic which will I'm sure warrant a mention at a later time.

Out to Salthill then for a walk along the prom - we parked by the diving boards and walked back down towards the centre of Salthill. Stopped for a "Strange Brew" in the Oslo bar before heading back up to kick the wall. Oslo is a great bar, with a fantastic selection of beers (some brewed themselves) and a beer hall towards the back - well worth a visit if you're out that direction.

Back to town then for a freshen up before a tasty pizza in Fat Freddy's (pizza bianco - pesto, pepperoni, potatoes and cheese on a yummy base) - oh, and if they have a crostini with pear, honey and goats cheese when you're there, do order and enjoy. After that a couple more beers in the Salt House. This is a real cosy little place with an even better selection of beer (We went for the Bay Ale and a Metalman Alternator, both tasty) but perhaps not such a great selection of board games (as advertised on the website). Get in there early as it's quite small, not so many seats, and has a fantastic selection of beers and whiskeys.

After another tasty breakfast and checkout (with gift of cookies and bread!) from the hotel, we wandered along the canal which sort of parallels the river Corrib. This was a part we've never seen and is a lovely route for a walk.

Another lunch in the Front Door pub - a deceptively large pub, but with loads of nooks and crannies so it feels really snug. Great food in here too, and this place will be on our "must go again" list. I had a vegetarian quesadilla which was really tasty. I didn't miss the meat and there was lovely salsa on the nachos that came with it. M had a chicken caesar salad that had plenty of chicken and bacon and lots of flavour.

There will be photographs, once I get a chance to download them and upload them!

January skies

2012-01-18T21:12:00.000Z

There is a stretch in the evening... Heading towards 5pm this evening, I caught these beautiful colours as I left the office. Both Venus and Jupiter were visible, very bright objects in the early evening sky. I'm not sure they are visible in the pic above though.

X marks the spot - the bright spot just below and to the left of the intersecting contrails is Venus. The contrails were moving across the sky (as they are wont to do, being clouds) and I was hoping the centre might pass over Venus - unfortunately I couldn't get that angle!
Maybe next time.

Back to Black and White

2012-01-14T20:46:00.000Z

I had a bit of time with the photos this morning, and I picked one from the holiday in California last year to see how effective it would look in black and white. This was taken down a country road well off the highway (we were looking for horse-stables) and the United States Postal Service obviously don't go too far off the beaten track because all these mailboxes (post boxes?) were together at a junction!

I'm happy with it, think it worked quite well. I have it on my etsy shop for sale, wondering if it will attract much interest?

In other news, we went for a bite to eat in Kildare this evening, and the Silken Thomas is now serving Crean's lager - a very enjoyable (and Irish-brewed) and reasonably priced alternative to Big Lager. I highly recommend it!

Ballynafagh Lake, near Prosperous

2011-11-06T21:03:00.000Z

As it was a midsummer's day, the like of which we hadn't seen since 2010, a walk was taken. Adventurously we made our way to Ballynafagh Lake, near Prosperous (click for map) in north Kildare. The lake is an artificial one, built on a high point as a reservoir for the canal systems.

There's a nice, if boggy, trail running around the lake.

Beneath a ruined valve house is the tunnel which forms the outlet from the lake into the canal feeder system.

The lake was nice and peaceful, and you can see why it forms such an attractive wildfowl habitat - it's a Special Area of Conservation.

There's quite a bit to be read about this interesting place, on the Clane Community website, Kildare's ehistory website and some information on Birdwatch Kildare's website about the birds to be found there.

And lo, there was some nostalgic reading

2011-06-28T22:16:00.000+01:00

I'll have to get off this nostalgia kick, it's getting in the way of photography... Just as a "challenge" I re-read "Danny the Champion of the World" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" by Roald Dahl recently.....and thoroughly enjoyed them. Yes, it brought back memories, but also, they're great stories. You all know about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, maybe you've also seen the films, but Danny is a brilliant story.

A mechanic and his son live in a caravan next to the workshop, scratching out an honest living off local and passing trade. As the son grows up, he realises that his father loves poaching, and catches him sneaking off one night. So the tale goes, and they describe many ingenious and clever (and Dahl-esque) methods of catching the pheasants - you may recall if you've read it that some of them involve horsehair and raisins - and how pleasurable it is to take a pheasant out of the forest belonging to the local nasty rich chap.

The story climaxes as the rich chap prepares for the annual shoot, that hundreds of the pheasant have been reared for. Danny and his father want to scotch the shoot (having rightfully developed a dislike of this guy during the book) and so they set about plotting to sabotage the whole thing by poaching all of the pheasant! Needless to say it is a success, but it's brilliant the way it all works out in the end.

I commend them both (and all of Dahl's stuff, I suppose!) to you, even if you're a "grownup". Enjoy! And yes, they were the original copies I had as a child....even seeing the illustrations brought some of my childhood back with a jolt. Great stuff.

Less nostalgia, more local treasures....

2011-06-26T22:35:00.000+01:00

Weather was kinder to us today than has been of late. That might be the understatement of the year - the sun shone and I think the temperature might have hit 20 celsius... so somewhere outside for a wee walk was indicated. I know, Laois! Heywood gardens has been on the hitlist for a while since I saw it mentioned somewhere, so we struck out, as you do, in the car.

We hit Abbeyleix first, though, to see could we get a bit of lunch. A swift pie (I know, on a day like this?) in the Gallic Kitchen on Main St, which was delicious (one steak and guinness, one chicken and mushroom, both yummy) and in a lovely poky friendly café - highly recommended. Will hit this spot again on another day. Coffee and Brownie to finish!

On we went, heading in Ballinakill direction to Heywood Gardens. There's a school on the grounds, which is a bit strange and gives you that "did we take the right turn?" moment, but it was the right place. A lovely and unusual pair of gardens awaits the visitor, one set being very formal, set in circular form around a pond and a walled garden and the other more freeform and natural set around a much more natural pond with beautiful waterlilies and a woodland surround. The place was lovely for a walk on a warm day, and the trail takes you right into Ballinakill village, which we didn't quite go as far as - there was barbecuing to do!

Maybe some photos to come from the day - there's also a beer report (Beerdog Paradox, and Aecht Schenkerla) and some nostalgic reading to mention. And Vegas photos, don't forget those! Maybe it'll rain and I can get them typed up. Until then.....

Nostalgic for computer games?

2011-06-19T19:55:00.000+01:00

Well I was after talking about Speedball 2 on the iphone yesterday, and I wasn't feeling 100% today (thanks to M for the dodgy tummy, it's great fun...) so I was looking around on wikipedia and the web and came across "Cannon Fodder" - from the guys at Sensible Software. This was a great game, another one I was very fond of on the Amiga.

It's downloadable, and according to this link, it's freeware*. Great fun, really, as you lead a small squad of small-looking soldiers through a map, throwing grenades and dodging rockets - planning for one squad to cover while another moves. It's all very simple really, and that's what makes it such fun. Infuriating too, at times, as it can take many attempts to get a level finished off if you're impatient, or no good at driving jeeps full of your squad.

So take it for a download it's only 1 Mb and great fun. Nostalgia is free and enjoyable!

*(if it's not, I apologise and will remove the link).

App recommendation...Speedball 2.

2011-06-18T18:49:00.001+01:00

Those of you with smartphones might play games on them. This might be a useful recommendation!

I remember fondly the first computer Dad bought for the house. It was a Commodore Amiga 500, and I can even remember the cartoon packaging it came in, complete with a "Simpsons" game and a "Captain Planet" game. There was a lot of great games enjoyed on that machine, and to be honest, there was some worthwhile typing and printing of letters as well.

One of the games I remembered recently was Speedball 2. This was a game by the Bitmap Brothers (remember others, like cadaver, gods, and magic pockets?), and it was (is?) great fun. A team of 9 robots and 3 subs (you'll need them when your players are knocked out) chasing a steel ball around a closed court. The ball could be electrified for harming your opponents, you scored as many points for knocking out an opposing player as for a goal, and there was no such thing as a yellow card system. Brutally simple, and great fun.

After every game you win some money which you can use to upgrade your players in the gym, or save up for higher quality players on the transfer market. This will be needed after you graduate to the next division!

Now it's released on the iOS for iPhones and iPods and presumably iPads as well! You can download it from the appstore, and it plays really well on the iPhone - one thumb to move and another to throw/tackle (or you can use the accelerometer and tilt the phone) is a joyous way to play. Download it and enjoy racking up 300-10 scores against the baddies!

San Diego

2011-06-08T22:30:00.000+01:00

San Diego is a lovely city - we had 2 days here. We got in late, having spent the day in Universal Studios outside LA, and wonder of wonders the staff in the hotel had left a bottle of sparkling wine in our bedroom! A nice treat, and the only "honeymoon" treat we had during the trip.

San Diego was 2 things to us really, given that we only had 1 day there - USS Midway, an aircraft carrier museum similar to the USS Intrepid in New York; and Seaworld, one of the highlights of the trip. There was some walking about in between both of those, and the seafront was lovely, but I just for some reason didn't take many pictures. So you'll have to be happy with some pictures of airplanes;

The A6 Intruder;

The F4 Corsair;

And these mammals.;

A dolphin at the petting area of Seaword;

Orcas, mid back-flip.

After that we had a nice wander around town, in the Gaslamp district (possibly the most atmospheric and busy part of any of the cities we'd visited) before heading back to the hotel and preparing for the 6 hour journey to Las Vegas, Nevada....

DIT Graduate Photography Show 2011

2011-06-07T23:09:00.000+01:00

http://www.ditgraduatephotography.com/

Just in from the official opening of this exhibition in the National Photography Archive and the Gallery of Photography in Meeting House Square, Temple Bar, Dublin. It's the annual final year/graduate showcase of the photography students at DIT, and I happen to know one of the photographers in this years class.

So, vested interest mentioned, I just had to give these guys a wee plug - if you are in the city, and have a passing interest in photography, it's worth a view. The photos are amazing, if you're like me you mightn't like them all but they are all high quality and evidence of a huge amount of work. Some are documentary, some are constructed images, some projects use double exposures, others use slides - the variety and imagination alone are impressive!

To reiterate, it's well worth a view - it's on in Temple Bar till June 26th. More details here, on their facebook page, and on their twitter feed, @ditphoto2011. Enjoy! And best of luck to the 23 exhibitors.

Some generally random photos I also took recently.

2011-06-06T22:41:00.001+01:00

Trying to eke out the honeymoon pics a little bit, still have San Diego, Las Vegas to do and possibly some other transit pics - for another time!

This evening I was playing with some photos I took on a walk with friends in Monaghan - a Coillte property I think. We were on the Dartrey estate, and there seems to be plenty of scope for a return visit! The weather wasn't great so we just did an out and back walk, but I got a couple of interesting shots. Lovely bluebells too, but not as nice as in my local woods in Monasterevin of course!!

Kind of a grey day...

I loved this detail from a tree by the lake.

And the Rhododendrons were in bloom also, quite a few of them.

So that's a short post to round out the bank holiday weekend - a pretty busy one, with bloom on Saturday, entertaining family Sunday and doing some hardcore lazing today (though we did tidy up a little, honest) with the help of a Hitchcock movie as well as the movie Touching the Void.

This weekend has been finished off with some very tasty Dungarvan Black Rock Stout, very well put together. Tasting notes on the side (vanilla, aniseed) very helpful and seemed accurate to me. That'll go on the perennial list then too!

Oh, and busy Tuesday too - the talented students of the DIT photography school are opening their final year exhibition in Temple Bar, at the Gallery of Photography and the National Photography Archive - looking forward to seeing these! It's on now, and open for a couple of weeks - drop in and see and enjoy.

More info here! http://www.ditgraduatephotography.com/

Los Angeles, California

2011-06-05T10:57:00.000+01:00

Los Angeles was our 3rd last stop after Santa Barbara, and we spent 2 nights here near Rodeo Drive. It really is a sprawl, cars everywhere, and clogged up freeways running through the city. We drove in at about 3:30 pm or so and it was the first time I experienced stop-start traffic on the trip. Still, thanks to our satnav system we got to the hotel happy enough and got settled in. Hotel/valet parking, by the way, can be expensive ($20-$30 a night) so if you're planning a trip this might be something to keep in mind.

Of course we went for a walk around to get our bearings, up towards Rodeo Drive. Yes, my wallet was nervous but when we got there it relaxed as it didn't have anything to worry about :P

The full day in between we took a hoponhopoff bus tour, which took us around most of the sights and we were happy to see most of them from the bus. We did get off at a couple of locations including a car museum (which had some great exhibits including a supercar area and cars from film/tv)

Some thoughtful people had also put up a sign - but I think I'll report it as false advertising.

We also decamped from the bus at Hollywood Boulevard, where we saw all of the pavement stars you could see (that gets boring!)

and the Chinese Theatre, where I realised I have bigger feet than Bruce Willis. Oh, and this sign.

We then switched buses and got down to Santa Monica beach, where there's a nice pier and a sunset (every evening!).

On the way to San Diego we hit the flower market and Universal Studios (a great day out!)

Bloom in the Park 2011

2011-06-04T22:26:00.000+01:00

Today we took the train (early, 07:45!) to see Bloom in the Phoenix Park. Bloom's an annual festival/event organised by Bord Bia, to showcase (from what I saw today) the best of Irish food, drink, plants, wildlife and garden design. As well as the usual retail sales areas that you find at (and that probably pay for) these events everywhere, there's a garden show area with about 8-10 gardens competing for prizes; an Irish food area; an Irish micro/independent brewer/distillers area (yum); information on wildlife organisations and activities for kids - a well-rounded family day out I suppose, even if there's only yourself and herself.... :P

There was lots of relaxing things to do....

I took a few photos, needless to say. I should preface them by saying that either I was confused or the camera was, as many of these pics weren't exposed great....so what you see is a result of a harsher than usual cull.

My personal favourite was a garden on the theme of "Alice in Wonderland," which was built/formed/made from synthetic grass and some plants. Lovely and bright and colourful, perhaps I should have taken more photos here!

My next favourite was the Chinese Garden, which had dancing and music. We arrived just after the dancing though, and didn't hang around till the next one. Mostly because it didn't occur to us to.

And another very enjoyable area....

The Bloom Inn was great - half-pint glasses at €2.50 being very reasonable, and excellent beers from craft breweries around the country. I particularly enjoyed my first taste of Galway Hooker and also of Trouble Brewing's Ór (up Kildare!), both very very tasty beverages indeed. I must also beseech the guys in Dungarvan to brew more of their coffee and oatmeal stout for bottling! My first taste too of Metalman's beer (I had the Windjammer), White Gypsy's and of 8 Degrees, all very enjoyable.

May they all bottle and distribute widely. Or to Kildare at any rate.

There is of course plenty of food to peruse and purchase for soakage. Sorry, I mean, of course, enjoyment. Lots of nice meat providers (can think of 2 sausage stands, and one beef stand in particular), bakeries, jams, preserves, you name it, and many providing a sample or 2 to tempt you!

Not to mention you never know who you'll bump into (or see other people bumping into)

If you go, I hope you enjoy it and that the weather suits you. If you don't have time and remain curious, get thee to pix.ie and have a look at either my few pics, or the pictures of other photographers that have submitted their work!

More photowalk pictures from Boro valley farm in Wexford

2011-05-31T20:23:00.000+01:00

Well, now I have some connections from a couple of the other photographers at the photowalk last weekend, and I have to point you in their direction before I return to posting more of my Californian photos.

Firstly, and in no particular order, have a look at the Queen of Pots website, where you can see a selection of great shots, (in particular the food/cake slideshow, well worth going through twice and realising you didn't get to eat any of them....).

And on the other hand, there's the allseeingeye's fantastic shot of Lorcan - I just saw this one today and it blew me away!

I must say, being on this photowalk in the company of other photographers and seeing their perspective on exactly the same subject, same day, same weather, same conditions is a real eye-opener, and reminds me that I still have so much to learn about this picturising.

Thanks again all!

Boro Valley Strawberry farm photowalk, Wexford.

2011-05-29T19:19:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, I attended my first photowalk! It's an organised photographic expedition, or something like that. This event was held at the Boro Valley Strawberry farm near Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford. Murt welcomed us with open arms, and a cup of coffee, and a hope that they might get to use some of the images from the day on their new website.

Murt brought us up to the glasshouses - these are where the "Elsanta" berries grow, on suspended shelves at about waist height.

The temperature and humidity in the greenhouse are computer controlled, and it opens vents and water pipes as required. Pollination, though is a little more old-school. A hive is placed at about 5 or 6 locations throughout the greenhouse, and each hive's bees has it's own patch of about 10 000 plants to look after - this was something I hadn't thought about!

The berries are all picked and packaged by hand - in any event it's hard to imagine any machine being gentle enough to pick the fruit without damaging the beautiful skin and texture of the berries. These were some of the sweetest and most succulent strawberries I've ever had.

Just look at the colour!

After visiting another polytunnel with another variety of strawberries that were a couple of weeks from harvest (though some were ready to eat and were almost (almost, mind) nicer than the Elsanta), we took a couple of shots of the farmgate stand. Here, as well as punnets of strawberries, the Murphys sell a selection of potatoes, tomatoes and juices direct to the lucky punter that stops (and it'd be well worth it!) by on the Enniscorthy-New Ross road.

The other walkers will have better photos than I of this next portion of the morning, I am inexperienced (and ill-equipped!) at the use of flash but I was reasonably happy with the pics I got. The Murphys spent the morning baking and preparing some amazing gateaux and cakes with their strawberries - recipes will be on their website I'm assured! Others had brought lamps and a white background helped to isolate the samples.

After photographing them, it was a shame to have to destroy these beautiful cakes by eating. (er no, not really!)

So thanks to all at Boro Valley for having us down there, and I wish them all the best with their new website and hope it helps to bring business. The product is certainly right!

And thanks to the photowalk.ie gang, this was my first and hopefully not my last. It's great to have an impetus as well as an unusual subject or location.

More pics, as ever, at http://pix.ie/brianp/album/411480

Thanks for reading!

Yosemite National Park, California, Post 2...

2011-05-21T20:41:00.000+01:00

I hadn't uploaded all my pics when last I posted about Yosemite.

Half Dome:

This was our view during our picnic lunch:

And we saw more of the valley walls on the way back.

We went in on a second day, conditions on the (main) roads had improved and there'd been no snow overnight. Our plan was to hike (on-road) to the Mariposa grove of giant sequoias, then we'd see how it went.

Parked up just inside the entrance, and started the 3km or so hike up the windy mountain road to the grove. Nice views on the way, but we just wanted to get up there! When we got there, this was one of the first views we got.

As the caption says, those are not benches - they are the tops of mapboards!

The ponderosa pines are very elegant and tall throughout the park, and they are very tall compared to what trees I've seen, so I found myself wondering what the sequoias would be like..... once we got up close they felt big, definitely! And with their red bark, they really do stand out.

And the same trees, with people at their base for scale.....

But these were by no means the largest. The individual trees are well spread out in the grove, it's not an area exclusively populated by sequoias, the forest in between is the local mix of pine etc.

Then we met the Grizzly Giant:

After that we went to Wawona, a little settlement in the park, for a quick look around and a takeaway coffee.

More uploads recently from Santa Barbara and around, once I get those sorted you can have a look!

Yosemite National Park, California

2011-05-09T19:25:00.001+01:00

After San Francisco, we drove south toward Monterey for lunch, before heading east to Yosemite National Park.

View Larger Map

Monterey is a nice coastal town, in a similar way to Dun Laoghaire, with a Fisherman's Wharf (pier with shops on) and a yachting harbour. We only stayed long enough for a sandwich above the waves, before we were chased east by some serious looking weather.

We crossed big country on some small roads, passing nut and fruit plantations, and as we headed up into the hills, some meadow.

As we drew closer to our lodge (Tenaya Lodge, near Fish Camp, just outside the park) we stopped in Oakhurst for a quick hamburger - this was our first Carls Jr, and what a burger! Best fast food type burger I've had, hands down. Anyway, I was glad we had this snack. As the road snaked its way up towards Fish Camp, reasonably steep drop-offs protected only by trees on the downhill side, the amount of snow and ice still around markedly increased.

Was I nervous? Well, I was hoping we weren't driving into somewhere that we'd be unable to drive out of 3 days later because of snow, and there was more ice on the road than I expected, so it was a little tense. We got up without snow chains, thankfully!

And Tenaya lodge is a lovely spot to arrive at, with braziers burning outside the front door, and a huge lobby inside. We got our keys to our apartment, and made our way there. Some of the snow had stuck.

So that was nice - about 0 degrees in the evening, dropping as it got later. There was a nice electric fire in the room though, so it was pretty cosy. We had been following the news a little bit on our trip, and were wary that that US Federal Government were potentially closing down because of a stalemate over budget. With that in mind, and assured the Park would be open on Saturday anyway, we booked 2 seats on a bus tour.

Boy was I glad! I could enjoy the scenery, I wasn't driving, and there was plenty of snow and ice on the roads so the rangers were sticky on having snow chains fitted (we of course in a rental car, didn't have such things!). We had a nice day touring all the spots in the park, stopping for the occasional photo op,

El Capitan.

and picnic lunch in the valley floor (by Yosemite falls, but more on that later). A couple of snow showers fell just to upset the nerves (were we being snowed in!!!!!???) but other than that the sun shone all day.

The park is stunning. The scenery, the rocks, the mountains are just amazing, and really very imposing.

You could spend weeks in here photographing the place, it's hard to get a bad one (though I managed, I can assure you!) Sometimes disappointing because there is nothing to give you scale, but these are just a couple of the photographs. More to be shared later!

There are a few more images at my pix.ie album, here.

San Francisco, Parte the Seconde.

2011-05-01T23:54:00.000+01:00

I has returned, as you can see. I brung with me some more photos that you may or may not be interested in seeing. That said, if you've got this far, well done and I hope you enjoy them!

So the Golden Gate bridge we saw, well, we had to - I wanted to. It's brilliant, elegant in form and orange in colour. Well, International Orange, to be precise. We walked about halfway out, and then came back, had some nice views of SF and the bay too!

And it's worth noting that while the Golden Gate has it's own police, the California Highway Patrol (or CHiPs as I like to call them) still drop in from time to time. I love the gold and blue helmets! They're on BMW R-1200 (I think) bikes now, not the classic Kawasakis, but it's still great to see em.

I mentioned in my earlier post that the cables for the cable car system are all run from the same location. Credit to my disorganisation and poor blog post planning, I kept that photo for today! You can see the main power and gear units in the foreground, and the cables run over the big pulleys. In the background you might see the tension pulleys which move further away as the cable stretches, these keep the cables nice and tight for the grips on the cars.

That brings me to the end of today's few photos - there are more at the album on pix.ie if you're interested!

Next might be the transit to Yosemite....

Honeymoon - the pictures start here.

2011-04-30T13:02:00.002+01:00

So, everything's downloaded (all 1500 or so files.....) and I've started to go through them with a view to picking out the most shareable. I've put a few on my pix.ie account so far, feel free to browse and laugh at them.

San Francisco was our first stop, after quite a lengthy pair of flights (5.5 hours transatlantic, and another 5 hours or so transcontinental). Hilly spot! Time differences meant that we were waking up bright and early at about 6am, but getting tired by 8pm or 9pm. San Francisco is a lovely city with plenty to see and do. Highlights for me here were the Golden Gate bridge (another post), the cable cars (see above) the sourdough bread that is everywhere, and eating lunch in the Zoetrope café and realising at the end that it's owned by Francis Coppola!

It's a hilly city - this picture might help you. We walked the hills the first day, heading North from our hotel (The Hilton Union Square on O'Farrell St) without realising exactly what we were letting ourselves in for!

We were to wear ourselves out consistently every day, even with the public transport pass we bought on day 2. The Hilton is very well located, but we were a small bit disappointed with being able to hear not just that our neighbours were on the phone, but all of their travel plans and details through the hotel room wall. Also the in-hotel coffee shop and restaurant were expensive but we could have expected that.

Chinatown was part of our first day's exploration. I was puzzled by some of the signs, and not just those that were in Chinese:

And there was plenty of interesting street art too

Dominating the skyline from almost every viewpoint is the Transamerica Bank Building, or the Transamerica Building. Striking in it's height and form, it looms above everything. Very interesting.

Feminists and U2 fans (it's a line in the song "Trying to throw your arms around the world") will recognise the line "A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle" well, we saw this in SF which kinda puts a lie to the whole thing:

As I mentioned the sourdough above, these below will illuminate what I meant. SF is famous for its sourdough bread, which is risen using natural yeast rather than cultivated yeast. The bread has a sour taste and a lovely dense texture which is amazing toasted. Or, scooped out and filled with soup as these guys do:

So I'll finish the post with a couple of photos of the cable cars. They are powered by cables running beneath the tracks (where the museum is), and the cars/trams each have a clutch or grip which is used to grab onto the continuously moving cables when they want to move, and let go when they want to stop. There are of course independent brakes on the tram!

There are turntables at each end of the line (certainly on the Powell & Hyde Line), where the driver and brakeman turn the car manually to go back in the direction it came from

As the cable cars pass quite closely to each other, and passengers hang off the side, it is important not to lean out

So I hope you enjoyed the first rather long post. More to come!

Loving being back.....

2011-04-27T22:01:00.000+01:00

Not.

We're back (that's wife and I, now) from our holiday (read honeymoon). We were in California, which was lovely, and Nevada, which was also lovely, and Arizona (but just for a minute) as well as New Jersey (well, the airport....). So we're still tired and jetlagged!

I have downloaded my photos. Some culling needs to be done prior to presentation (probably in batches).

In brief - San Francisco, Yosemite National Park, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas. Highlights included Yosemite's natural (and snowy) beauty, the performing animals at Seaworld, the USS Midway aircraft carrier and Las Vegas' car hire desk. Who had a convertible Ford Mustang for rent for a brilliant day at Hoover Dam and Red Rock Canyon.

So I might have whetted your appetite for details and photos? Stay tuned for I hope to say more soon!

(As an aside, I am, having not taken photos since Thursday, considering deciding to stop my photo a day project. All I've learned from it is that I should have my camera with me as much as possible - there was some real rubbish being taken just for the sake of it. A theme is needed for a project like that.)

Some Monasterevin Photographs

2011-03-26T00:45:00.000Z

Last weekend (feels like it's a week ago!) I had a bit of time on Sunday afternoon. It was a nice day, so I took some photographs on the (round-about) way to the shops for bread and milk and stuff. These are the results - many were deleted, and this is kinda bridge heavy, but as I've said before, there are photographs everywhere, you just have to get out and about and go to them!

This road leads to Monasterevin - I love these old signs, lots of character and texture still in them. That's a mile there, by the way, not a kilometre....!

My travels took me to the train station. The bridge linking the platforms is (naturally) defended by fencing, so I couldn't take the photo I thought I wanted, so this would have to do...

Off I went to recursive infinity after that...

Then down by the Barrow I got a few photos of the Pass bridge, the viaduct and the aqueduct. In the picture below you'll see the rail viaduct and the aquaduct (Grand canal over the river Barrow). For more pictures, follow the link in the title, and enjoy!

Oh, by the way, does anyone know if blogger is broken on chrome?

Fionn, Bran, agus Sceolan.

2011-03-19T22:51:00.001Z

We really are blessed with the art, including public art, produced in this country. You only have to drive the motorways to see some beautiful work, including the ball at Naas, horse and rider at Sligo, some (recently stolen, shame) works on the M7 outside Monasterevin, and many many others the length and breadth of the country. A small percentage of public money from some projects is put aside to provide this art (I believe this was paid for as part of the proceeds from parking revenue in Newbridge), and it's a great thing - I hope art doesn't get too much more of a whittling in the near future.

Anyway, the most recent work I've seen is the work just off the Curragh (Ballymany) interchange south of Newbridge on the M7. By Lynn Kirkham, it's title is "Fionn Mac Cumhaill and his hounds" - more info here. It's a hugely impressive trio of steel, well, sculptures is the wrong word, but figures doesn't capture their majesty, and domination of the roundabout.

I love the styling on the figures, it's got a great martial feel to it, capturing the great legendary warrior and his transmuted nephews (Bran and Sceolan were once human nephews of Fionn) very well.

I hope the rest of my photos speak for themselves!

Some further photographs from the Parade in Newbridge

2011-03-18T21:08:00.000Z

Wow! I never had as many visitors as I did yesterday, with everyone googling for newbridge parade stuff! So, in case any of you are return visitors, I added a few more pictures today, 2 of the fire brigade and 3 of the Muscle cars at the back of the parade....

Fire Brigade (happy campers!)

More Fire Brigade, in dry suit and in Fire Kit.

V8 power - Camaro and Mustang (and noise!)

I hope you have enjoyed my pictures, I enjoyed taking them.

Parade, Newbridge, Co. Kildare - St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T17:33:00.002Z

Took a trip to Newbridge to see their parade today, and you might be expecting this - I took some photos. There was a fantastic selection of bands, dancers, clubs, and a variety of vehicles from fire engines to vintage cars, from muscle cars to tractors. Congratulations to all involved, it was a great show!

You can see my photos at http://pix.ie/brianp/album/404765! But if not, here are a few for your viewing pleasure.

Drummer - St Conleth's band.

Moorefield GFC's security detail on the trophy trailer...

St. Bathrick was there.....

As was St Patrick, banishing the snake - or was the snake banishing him?

Some pretty capable looking young boxers too...

And some bouncy castles....though this was a momentary loss of air, which was soon restored without any drama!

So again, well done to everyone involved, it was an impressive parade, about an hour and a half's worth. Hopefully it (and the other parades) will have lifted spirits a little. Certainly the cafés and pubs were flat out afterwards!

I may post some more photos later on, but the best are at pix.ie.

I should mention that if anyone wants to use any of the images, drop me a note in the comment box and I'll drop you an email back.

Tune in over the next few days for some pictures of Fionn and his hunting dogs!

St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-17T09:44:00.000Z

Beannachtaí na Feile Pádraig libh go léir!

We were woken up this morning with some music from the Inishturkbeg's Brilliant Irish Flute series of enlightened cover versions - first there was Muse's Uprising, then some Kings of Leon "Sex on Fire" (below)

So, you mightn't like "trad" but projects like this bring Irish instruments together with popular modern music and fuse them together in a great way! More of this please!

The weather is gorgeous today. Coffee and pancakes up first, then there's a parade due locally this afternoon, which might well be of interest.

Anyone curious about parades in Kildare, check the Leinster Leader website for a comprehensive list.

Happy St Patrick's Day to one and all. Come and visit Ireland this year, it's going to be a good one!

A beautiful day, a walk at lunch....

2011-03-16T21:49:00.000Z

Today was a beautiful spring day, once the fog burnt off. I felt a bit trapped, sitting in the office, blinds closed to reduce the glare of the sun on my screen, so once lunchtime came, I went for a walk down by the river. Of course I took the camerabox with me, and took some snaps.

The daffodils are just blooming now, they're not all up but some are. This pair were getting quite close:

On around the bend in the river, I just about got a picture of this pair, who were getting quite close but for different reasons. Should have been quicker with the camera, I might have got something better:

Later on, as the sun was setting over the Curragh, I tried to take a pic of Fionn and his hounds at the roundabout, and I caught this piece of bark - seems to me to have lots of colour and warm texture so, here it is!

The photo I took of the statue is a bit dull. I'll have to cross into the "island" to get any sort of dramatic photo.

Another day in Dublin...a lovely afternoon

2011-03-13T00:19:00.000Z

I had to snap this photo - "no right turn" sign with an election poster for a strong left alternative beneath it!

It's great, how simple a day can be so enjoyable. We ordered rings for the wedding last week. They rang us this week, to say that they'd arrived, so onward we went. (hoping that we could meet some friends to watch the unfortunate rugby game, but one's foot, having been injected recently, was not up to the walking that would have required).

So, yeah. Parked. (BTW, the car park near Jurys' Christchurch has a €10 parking deal between 11am and 6pm, if anyone's interested). A bit peckish, so we found ourselves in the Porterhouse, having seen a menu (and don't tell anyone, but they advertised the Dungarvan Brew Co. Copper Coast Ale......). Interesting soup and a phenomenal all-day breakfast were enjoyed in the company of that Ale and a Kriek (cherry beer - try it!). The breakfast in there comprises ginormous sausages, yummy pudding, great scrambled egg, and lovely rashers, served with tomato, mushrooms and toast, in a frying pan. On a plate. Can't be beaten.

We soon ran out of brackets (only joking) and went to collect our rings (via some shoe shops. That was unsuccessful) - unfortunately, only one was available due to a miscommunication. Anyway. It fits, and is shiny. That is all that's required. :P

A quick wander around adjoining shoe shops, an unexpected bumping into with an aunt, and some coffee later, as well as some photo opportunity in TCD, brought another couple of hours to a close, though my foot was getting tired at this stage.

And the weather wasn't even great! Still, it was a mucho enjoyable afternoon.

By the way, there are still some great sales on....

Oh, and the Copper Coast? Another lovely beer from Waterford, you'd almost say it was a chocolatey and malty ale. Yummy, and moreish, and a definite recommendation, though maybe a step or 2 down in this blogger's list from the Helvick.

As for the Kriek. Who'd have thought cherry flavoured beer would work? Yet it does, it's light, drinkable and refreshing. Reminiscent of Belgian holidays, which helps!

Some recent photographs, including one of the moon!

2011-03-08T23:18:00.000Z

New tripod has, I thought, opened up a world of possibility. It has. But I've realised that I may need some better long range glass. I took these on Monday evening, just after the amazing view of the ISS.

.

Part of me thinks they could be sharper and more defined, and wonders is it the lens or the photographer? Any help?

I also snapped a few today, none stood out, but this one, taken in a nearby wooded area, highlights the continuing (and probably worsening) problem of fly-tipping.

But one of my favourite photos taken recently is this one below. Doesn't she look happy?

NASA, Discovery's last flight

2011-03-08T18:12:00.000Z

I was privileged and lucky last night to catch an awesome sight - the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle Discovery passing overhead at the same time. They were separated by about a thumb's width (at arm's length) with the ISS chasing Discovery having just undocked. They only look like fast moving stars, even with 10x binoculars, but when you know what it is it's brilliant!

The only sight that beat this was when the shuttle (iirc it was Atlantis) passed over Ireland in 2009 - we could see it very very brightly, chased by the orange fuel tank - that was just slightly more impressive.

Anyway, I've been on a space/orbit/NASA "high" since, and I found this amazing video thanks to the guys at boards.ie - you might enjoy it!

Thanks NASA!

A return to Kilkea, Athy, and some beers.

2011-03-06T21:17:00.000Z

You may remember I was at Mullaghreelan woods, Kilkea, between Athy and Castledermot recently. Even if you don't, I do, because it wasn't that long ago. Anyway, I remember spotting a spot beside a river that I thought had potential.

Yesterday, with other halves being away on a chicken rouFndup weekend or something, A Friend and I took the opportunity to spend some hours making photographs - where better than this place, thought I. So he came to me, and we ventured on out, with our gear. Turned out to be quite interesting - there's a 5-arched bridge over the river, and quite a long weir - must investigate further, as there may be an old mill further downstream. So plenty of scope for photos - and this is what I got!

An overview of the bridge:

A view along the weir, a nice long exposure for some milky water effects

A picture of A Friend, scouting around for targets - his medium format camera doesn't quite have the portability or the clickability a digital camera has, but it's magnificent to hold and has an amazing viewfinder..

And another detail of the weir - whatever way the water was flowing, it turned out to me it looks like a watercolour - but I didn't paint it!

Following that, the light was fading, so we dropped into the shop to buy some (what I didn't realise was gone off) chicken, then we ordered chinese and fired into the beers:

Porterhouse Red - Excellent, very tasty, nicely drinkable, just the right amount of carbonation. The highlight and first beer down;

Porterhouse Hersbrucker pilsener - a very fine pilsener, again, nice and tasty but this one for me didn't stand out. Above mass market beers yes, but a kind of ordinary non-standard beer if you get my meaning. Quite hoppy, I think, though I'm never quite sure - need more training.

Wells Banana Bread Beer - well now, this was different. Everyone should try this once. You mightn't have another, but it's very very interesting. I was glad we'd split the bottle two ways, as it's quite an overpowering taste, but a very clever beer. I'll have another, but maybe not for a while! It tastes quite strongly of banana bread. Not sure I had to spell that out...

Sierra Nevada Kellerweis - a hefeweisen beer, nice colour, cloudy as you'd expect, and tasty - which you mightn't expect in this style from the US. Could have more, definitely, nice and fruity. A Friend suggested custard, and I'm inclined to agree, there was a sweet vanilla flavour from the beer, which is definitely reminiscent of custard. Mmmm.

This post should have been before the earlier post....

2011-03-06T15:06:00.000Z

On Friday I had some time off work, so I took myself to Dublin for a bit of shopping and moseying. There was jewellery to buy, and I got that done. I had some nice lunch too, in Bewleys, and I also took some pictures, as you do.

Once I got rid of the rubbish, I was left with these....

Light Rail (not light-trail, though there's a pun there waiting for a photo at night)

A busker - who had made (or bought, I suppose) a guitar from an oil-can - made a good noise!

On the other side of the city, sometimes motorbikes don't have anywhere to put your purchases, so you have to sit on them....

More at the album (here)

I am downloading and choosing some more photos that I took while on an anti-hen exhibition yesterday with a friend. May get them uploaded later on. No doubt you can wait.

Recent beer conquest.

2011-03-04T23:53:00.001Z

After an enjoyable day (aside good things come in paper products: This includes fish, chips, icecream) shopping for wedding bands, I arrived home in need of refreshment. I took some beer out of the cellar (possibly the only upstairs cellar in Ireland) and popped it in the fridge for 2.3 minutes whilst I emptied the car (of more beer, and some other stuff.)

One of these beers was a Dungarvan Brewing Company Helvick Gold (I called it blond in the twitter, but that's cos it's a blond ale, and I'm easily confused) which has been making its way up the "to drink" list for a couple of weeks now.

In short - beautiful. A very drinkable ale, with a lovely refreshing, moreish mouthfeel. It does, as it says on the packet, have a lively fizzy head, but this doesn't come through when drinking it, just the right amount of carbonation for this drinker. Flavour wise, it sits very well on the yummy side of the fence, nicely hoppy, and as above, very moreish. Label suggests citrus and pine overtones - I haven't got the most educated palette in the world, but yeah, on reflection I can see where they come from. I would suggest overtones of a most enjoyable beer. Would imagine that a few of these would go very well with a barbecue!

This is going on the "if you see it, buy it" list.

Pros: Irish, tasty, refreshing.
Cons: Still can't get quality beer like this in the local offy.....

I should post more about beer.

Edit: Just browsing briefly this morning I saw that the Dungarvan Brewing Company won the "Best New Producer" award at the 2010 Blas na hEireann awards for this very beer. Well-deserved!

I've been playing with my new Tripod, and enjoying comedy! Not in that order...

2011-03-04T00:06:00.000Z

Tonight, for a change, I took some photographs. But only after I saw some funny.

Thanks to the guys at Schnitzel, sorry, Schnitzel comedy club, there was a very enjoyable Diet of Worms show at the riverbank this evening. Preceded by Gearoid Farrelly, Alan Bennett (MC) and Mikey, who isn't 26, these guys made me laugh a lot. Again. Having seen them before (call of the puffincat) I was expectant of ribtickling, but this was a hilarious play (and well-acted, too) rather than a hilarious live sketch show.

Set in Strollinstown, the main character is a developer who's been hiding the Recession from his wife. Liberally sprinkled with hilarity, there's also a sense of satire in that maybe we've all been hiding from the recession a little bit.... all good comedy is intelligent too. And this was, and is, good comedy. Go and see it if you get the chance.

And now that I have a tripod, I've been able to take some of the photos I was aching to take for ages - St Conleth's church in Newbridge is very nicely lit up at night, as is the extended bridge in Liffey. Width-wise, that extension was, not lengthwise - the Liffey hasn't expanded. Much.

So, here they are, linked in all their photographical glory to my pix.ie account - enjoy, if you can! Comment if you like!

It really is well lit up. I'm sure that more can be done with this photographically, but I chose to stick with a 50mm prime and see how it worked. Lovely lights, you'll agree!

Interestingly, and I'd hoped I'd timed it properly, the red and green lights are simultaneously on in this image! Some nice light trails there, but they were a bit overpowering. More traffic would be needed for this, so maybe earlier than 2230 for the next shoot! Also it was cold. :(

Does this make sense? I like it!

Photographing the International Space Station

2011-03-02T19:43:00.001Z

From Earth, of course. My new tripod and I have been trying to photograph the ISS. My first image was a bit shaky looking and puzzled me.

I reckoned it was either camera shake from the mirror movement - but the camera's 2s timer is designed to move the mirror, then capture the image, so that probably wasnt it. Then I thought it's what the ISS does - that didn't last long. It was hardly atmospheric either, so I thought it must have been the deck - not the world's most secure surface, so as I walked on it, the tripod was moving.

The ground was to be the next surface so, and with a pass at 1830 I set up, pointed and took the following. Sorry about the poor crop.

Looks a lot better. Lesson learned. I may try again - there's another pass in about half an hour.

Thanks to http://iss.astroviewer.net for an excellent, easy to use website for timing the ISS passes for your location.

Later on, I got a pic of the ISS trail just as the station passed into Earth's shadow...

Pollardstown Fen, Kildare; Or somewhere I've been meaning to go for aaaaaaaages

2011-02-27T21:21:00.000Z

This morning, with the weather being so nice and all, I decided to scout out a local conservation area that's been at the back of my mind for some years now (it even came up as a suggestion for a Young Scientists Competition entry, but that's another story that I've forgotten....).

Pollardstown Fen, Co. Kildare, with car parking located just at the M in Morristownbiller in the map below:

View Larger Map

It's a large area, and boggy (Well, I suppose fenny, but it's hard to write that without laughing...) and the National Parks and Wildlife Service have installed a boardwalk about 2km or so in length so that you can easily see what the fen is all about. In brief, it's an area on the outskirts of the Curragh plains, where the limestone brings a lot of underground water to the surface in numerous springs (Father Moore's well, nearby, probably being another one of these). This water in turn creates a fen, or marshland, which is first and foremost an important habitat (you remember those snails that held up the Kildare bypass?) and secondly a source of water for the Grand Canal!

It was quiet today - I was alone (there were flowers to be chosen!) and only as I left did another car or 2 come into the car park. There were also very few birds, though had I spent longer there, or in another part of the year, I may have had more to look at - though I was too slow with my camera when I spotted a kestrel hovering!

It's overwhelmingly reedy, and the area of the fen is substantially larger than covered by the walkway, but I don't know how safe or wise or environmentally friendly it would be to try to explore off the boardwalk.

In other news this weekend there was a familial meeting which went well, and a fine view of the ISS (which seemed to interest all those in the familial meeting!) and the almost-docked Discovery space shuttle. I have my 10x50 Pentax binos to thank for being able to discern the 2 points of light, and although it's "just a moving star" there's added significance when you know what you're looking at. I've added a useful tracker to the right hand side you might have noticed.

Oh, and for further information on the fen, why not have a look at the sites below:
National Parks and Wildlife service factsheet
Bord na Mona info
Inland Waterways info

Enjoy!

Invitations for our wedding what is coming up in the soon.

2011-02-23T23:10:00.003Z

So we sent out the invitations last week for the wedding, to our closest friends and family, people we feel are amongst the most important to us (given the constraints of the venue we've chosen!) and best placed to help us celebrate our wedding.

That sentence doesn't actually say it all though. Behind our being able to send invitations was a lot of work done by my sister, who was willing and very able to bring to life a personalised invitation with the design that we wanted, reflecting some of the most important and precious time that M and I have spent together - our holidays, and some of our happiest memories so far.

Thank you Gill!

Anyone looking to have similar work done, I'm sure Gill won't mind you contacting her - try her blog here, catch her on facebook , or just go old fashioned and find her on twitter @shudderfinger

Some new pictures added tonight

2011-02-15T22:36:00.000Z

Had a small hour to think about some photos this evening, and I've added some for Feb (still missing a couple in the early part of the month, those to come!) at pix.ie/brianp - and here, for you guys!

The crocusses (sp?) have started to appear, and this one (blue?) was showing the signs of the days weather - raindrops! I hope I've done it justice....

Also taken over the weekend was this sunset, which had beautiful colours in it - this was a dramatic cloudy sky - there was more of that on Sunday too, if you remember.

We also booked our holiday/honeymoon......as you can tell from the happiness of this holding caller.

And prepared some invitations....sincere thanks to www.gillprenderville.com for these beautiful cards!

Of course they're all locked away in their envelopes, rather than ruin the surprise, but they should make it out soon!

M7 median - car on its side

2011-02-13T22:19:00.000Z

Just as we were travelling up the M7 for a spot of lunch, I spied in the median barrier a car on it's side, which must have been there for some hours. As we were going to Kildare anyway I drove to a nearby overbridge and took a couple of pics - they aren't in any way good photographs other than a record or illustration of what can happen on the roads... I don't know what happened or whether anybody was hurt (seriously or otherwise) and a google search brought up no results. Be careful out there.

January's just been closed out

2011-02-12T23:13:00.002Z

I've just been filling in the gaps I'd left in January's daily photographs. The album so far is located here.... Some highlights, should you not want to see 'em all, are below - these are 4 of my faves (and highliest rated!)

From the 7th, parked on the side of the road wondering was there anywhere I could go to take a picture before I arrived in home I took this photo of a rear view mirror...

Following a walk in Lough Boora, Offaly, this one was loaded for the 9th. I loved the texture and highlights on this sculpture.

Then on the 21st I saw these saucers, lined up in ranks, ready for a coffee rush. Loved the pattern of the saucers, offset by the random sugar sachets and biscuits.

Later that week I took my cheap flexible tripod down to the canal harbour, and spent a cold few minutes taking some images - this is the best one I got that night...

So in brief - I've taken an image every day (I still vouch for the first, as the time on the camera was set wrong) which is a good start. I've enjoyed it, and I've learned a lot about what I'm not doing by a) doing more photographing and b) interacting with the excellent talent on pix.ie

I hope this continues for the rest of the year, and I hope it's worth viewing!

Candles: Or how the lights used to work

2011-02-10T22:18:00.001Z

Was just tricking about this evening, didn't really have an idea in my head for the pic of the day, so having seen that a candle was lit, I took a few - this is the one I like best. Hope you do too.

The tree that is no more

2011-02-09T22:33:00.003Z

You remember I posted some pics of a tree that fell over on Monday? Of course you do, it was only 48 hours ago! I was passing by this afternoon, and took some pictures of the remnants. Well, I say remnants, there's not that much left.

And I say photo, but the light was difficult (honest, it was), and they're not great. But they give some impression of the size of the trunk!

It was this old!

The bridges of Monasterevin, or, how you cross the canal without getting your feet wet

2011-02-08T22:40:00.003Z

There are many bridges in Monasterevin, definitely scope for a project one day - It's got Engineering all over! Rail and road viaducts, a canal aqueduct, I've heard it said there are 12, and that you can see them all from one place - must be somewhere high, but maybe I'll find it someday. Gotta count em first!

Anyway, the lifting bridge on the Portarlington Road was recently replaced with a modern one (in the same style) and whilst waiting on a badminton game, I took this one evening.

Ent seriously injured during battle with wind

2011-02-07T23:34:00.003Z

I was passing through Naas this afternoon en-route to a meeting and I had to stop and take a picture of this tree. It had obviously been quite rotten and couldn't stand up to last night's barrage by the wind. Luckily, as far as I know, nobody was hurt except the Ent himself.

It's easy to look at an old tree and think how beautiful it is, and respect what must have happened in the time it's been alive (or treeing, or whatever it is you say a tree does), but at the back of it all, when this happens it's serious. This was a huge tree, which must have carried substantial weight...

*Ent: A fantastical inhabitant of middle-earth, best described as someone whose (thanks pete, it's late) bark was well, their skin. A tree-man, basically.

Disorganisation and possible project failure

2011-02-06T11:14:00.002Z

You may have read of my "one-a-day" project for 2011, where I had intended to take at least 1 photograph every day. Well, it's been one of those weeks, and I had hoped that life wouldn't get in the way, but I've been flat out at work for quite some time and while that's settling down now, I may have missed photographs on a couple of days in the last week or so.

Some review of the images I've taken will be required, so anyone waiting to keep up with the project will have to be patient! In the meantime, I also have some car-related issues to research so I'm kept busy. That being said, the holiday is nearly finalised and we just need to decide on someone to take some photos!

Saucers, clouds and upside-down egg boxes...

2011-01-28T20:38:00.002Z

The sum total of this week's contribution to amateur photographic "art" - 2 skyscapes, one picture of saucers, one of Monasterevin's lifting bridge, as well as fog and egg boxes.

This one, taken of saucers lined up ready for the morning coffee rush, is my favourite from the week since last Friday. I like the patterns created!

Then there was the foggy day at Dunamaise last Sunday, and some of the sky ones I showed you last weekend aswell.

During the week I tried to catch the local canal harbour in Monasterevin. Interesting light trail along the bridge!

It really can be quite picturesque down here! More experimentation possible there.

Rock of Dunamase, Portlaoise, Co. Laois

2011-01-23T18:31:00.003Z

Today a friend and I took a spin to the Rock of Dunamase, Portlaoise to see what we could see. The morning started off quite foggy all over, but it lifted a little...or so we thought! As we arrived the fog was still down throughout, but it did lift and thin a little during our visit.

This is the view that greets you as you come through the front gate. It's a very impressive fortress, and usually gives great views northwise across the flat Kildare/Laois landscape. The weather didn't allow that today, but as you might (or might not) agree, the fog did give some atmosphere (in combination with the black and white switch)

This is a typical photograph of (one of) us in action. This is what a real photographer looks like!

Unusual to see this tree without a background!

More photos available on my pix.ie account.

Some sunrise/early morning shots

2011-01-23T12:40:00.003Z

I saw some interesting light the other morning, I was in Naas and the sun was rising (it wasn't that early!), and I managed to catch a few pics as the mist was lit up. See what you think!

More photos, as ever, on pix.ie/brianp.

Full Moon

2011-01-19T23:22:00.002Z

Full moon tonight, awooooo! Took a small few photos - really I think I could have done more with a tripod this evening.

But they didn't come out too bad. I shot this one, handheld (well, at an awkward monopod angle) at ISO 800. Not too grainy, if a little unsharp.

ISO 400 not much different.

I really did like the initial unplanned photo I took with a smeared kit lens, of a contrail which is unusual (for me) to see at night. The flare (unintended) looks nice, in my opinion.

Good night now, I'm cold and need the leaba!

Mullaghreelan woods, Athy, Co. Kildare

2011-01-16T19:32:00.003Z

Today we went for a walk in the woods, just a short one in the Mullaghreelan woods in Kilkea - between Athy and Castledermot in Kildare. It was a lovely day for it with nice bright low sunshine.

The woods themselves are small enough in area, mostly deciduous but with some coniferous stands centred around an old Rath believed to have belonged to the O'Tooles in times past. There's a short walk around (though you can extend this by taking the leg towards the castle, sadly no longer a hotel), illustrated with some informative signs.

And of course, there is no woods complete without it's own abandoned cottage.

In other news, this weekend I finished Iain M Banks' "Surface Detail," his latest Culture sci-fi novel. Based around the idea of a war between pro- and anti-Hell (Hell being a constructed reality in this novel) forces. Brilliantly written with the usual mix of technology, and the wry personality of the Ship Minds. Highly recommended. It's quite long though, so you get a bittersweet feeling at the end, slightly relieved you've got the story finished, but wanting for more. Enjoyed occasionally with an Erdinger Cristal. Lovely beer. MMMMmmmm.

And thanks to Coillte for allowing us all onto their lands.

Playing with fire

2011-01-15T23:36:00.003Z

Today I was playing with a candle and some long exposures to yield some interesting results. I know there's probably some white balance issues maybe, but they're at least visually different!

Maybe I'll play some more with light over the coming week. Nobody can hold a candle to me....

Today's photo

2011-01-14T20:14:00.002Z

So, I couldn't really face the thoughts of finding a texture today, the end of the week, and I also took this sky scene which meant I felt a little bit lazy too...

I thought the blue was nice, silhouetting the pigeons and incredibly picturesque lamp.

My pix.ie account reached 10,000 views overnight, which I was a little chuffed with. And I also have a picture on page 2 of the weekly photos (which I'm sure won't last too long - either the week will end or many of the better pics will overtake me!). An interesting rear view!

So that's helping me keep going. I'm unsure about setting myself the "theme a week" thing too strictly, I know others have a "green" theme all the way through,which is tough, but I might need freedom (within a loose theme) to keep my options open.

Pic of the day project continues

2011-01-12T20:57:00.002Z

So, I've managed to keep up with the daily pictures project so far. Some I'm pleased with, others I'm not so pleased with - it must be said that some days it's hard to find time and inspiration, weekends are a little easier. But I hope not to let routine get in the way, though life might! :P

Here's today's effort.

Simple pic of a basket, but hopefully in keeping with the "texture" theme this week(ish). Simply taken too, the camera was just resting on the floor (raised a little) and the ol' 2second timer used to reduce shake on a reasonably long exposure. As ever, comments and feedback welcomed!

Oh, and beer - just some Miller tonight, getting through the last of the Christmas stock. It's fine, but I can think of better.

Young Scientists Exhibition - A Bright future.

2011-01-12T19:30:00.002Z

Just saw an article in the Irish Times today which mentioned some of the work done by entrants in the Young Scientist's Exhibition. Sounds brilliant, and very encouraging!

Link: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/bang/2011/0112/1224287317347.html

and http://www.btyoungscientist.com/

Lough Boora Offaly

2011-01-09T19:09:00.002Z

Decided to head to Lough Boora, Offaly, for a wander today. Been meaning to see what it was for a while, having heard about it about a year or so ago. It's basically a huge park in boglands about 20 minutes south of Tullamore (turn right at the Blue Ball) with walks, cycle routes, bird hides, and probably some fishing too. This morning wasn't ideal driving weather, it was a bit squirmy under-tyre, particularly in the shade, but that was unusual!

It's very well laid out, thanks to Bord na Móna's investment in the place, with lots of signs:

It's fairly flat trails throughout, so it's not the most challenging walking, but it's nice for an invigorating walk on a chilly, but bright, January day. I would imagine that plant life and indeed bird life would be more prevalent later in the year, though there were some geese there today!

There's also an interesting sculpture park section, which has about 20 interesting sculptures - something to work towards on a walk maybe?

It's definitely somewhere interesting, and we'll definitely consider a return trip later in the year.

More pictures at my album on pix.ie.

One week completed!

2011-01-08T18:48:00.003Z

I've now been taking daily photographs for a week, and the 8th photo is uploaded just now. I was taking pretty random things, mirror views, dead plants, and so on, but M suggested I go with a weekly (ish) theme. As I'm reading Iain M Banks' "Surface Detail" (and loving it, I might add) at the moment, I decided that this week or so I will try to make photographs with textures in. Today's is a tea towel. I know, odd. But start of a range!

Anyway, the brake drums on her car got the best of me today, despite another hour's banging and cursing at it I was unable to free the drum, let alone remove it. Time for an expert, methinks (and possible an angle grinder, but fingers crossed!).

And yes, "Surface Detail" is great, imaginative and expansive, like all good sci-fi. Thanks Iain!

Kildare Water update 5 January

2011-01-05T18:59:00.001Z

From the KCC website, not really news but an update. The supplies are recovering, hopefully it won't be too much longer. Link.

Water restrictions (reduced pressure) will be in place across the county tonight, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m.
While supplies are recovering, there is still a need to save as much water as possible – thanks to all the people who have helped in this way.

Photo of the day continues...

2011-01-03T16:12:00.003Z

Today's picture:

I was able to go for a little spin today, it being a Bank Holiday, and I found a bridge under the M7 where I saw this graffiti!

2011 Daily Picture project.

2011-01-02T20:42:00.003Z

So, as I mentioned below, this year I shall endeavour to take a photograph every day. It may not be very good, but we'll see how it goes. I suppose it'll probably reflect where I am or what I'm doing of a day/evening, and I'll try to make it not so boring. Though it probably will be.

On the off-chance you're interested in the photos, you can see them on pix.ie here. One is an evening view (fairly dark) of Templemore, Tipperary

And for today, 2nd, I was in Kilkenny for a few minutes and took a snap of the Brewery Gate.

2010 Photography!

2011-01-02T19:02:00.003Z

Wow, I've just been browsing through the pix.ie Picture of the Year for 2010, and I am amazed. The quality of all of these images is breathtaking! I hope to be inspired to take more and better photos this year, and aspire to approach that kind of quality during 2011.

For a side project, I've decided that in 2011 I will make a daily picture - one picture from every day of the year. I've already started, so as not to be incomplete, and will post details later! It's likely to be somewhere here...

So, I wish you all a Happy New Year. I'm looking forward to a happy, eventful year myself and am sure that it all works out. With any luck the weather will be kind to us - not too cold and not too wet (not much to ask!), and things will get better on the national scene aswell.

To 2011 let's raise a glass,

Hope all our wishes come to pass.

(Not too soppy, I hope!)

Water supply in Kildare, 1 Jan 2011

2011-01-01T15:34:00.001Z

Latest update from Kildare Co. Co. regarding water is copied below for your info.

Sat 1 Jan

Water Supplies

Water supplies returning in Naas today and there will be no restriction there tonight. A tanker is at the Fairgreen this afternoon and the standpipe at the rear of the council offices is being manned also.

The overall situation remains tight: please conserve water as much as you can.

Thanks for your co-operation.

Kildare Water Tankers updated for 1 January

2010-12-31T21:40:00.003Z

No tankers expected tomorrow due to the lifting of the restrictions, per Kildare Co. Co. website today.

Announcement reproduced below:

Water Tankers

It is not planned to deploy tankers within the County due to the lifting of restrictions. Tankers can be deployed however if the need arises.

Naas Town Council plan on erecting a standpipe at Aras Chill Dara from 2pm until 4pm 1st January 2011

Water Pressure Restrictions

Water pressure restrictions will not be reintroduced until 6pm Saturday 1st January 2011

The Council would continue to appeal to residents and businesses to conserve water during this time as restrictions may have to be reintroduced if reservoir levels reduce to critical levels.

Emergency Telephone Numbers

Additional emergency lines from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. :

(045) 431300, 431364, 486121, 486122

Out of hours emergency number 1890 500 333

Naas Town Council,

Telephone 045 - 980990

Athy Town Council

Telephone: 059- 8634534

Kildare Water Tankers updated 31 December

2010-12-31T11:15:00.001Z

As per yesterday, just in case you read this instead of the official website of KCC, here's the link to the locations for the tankers today 31 December 2010.

Water Tanker Update Friday 31st Dec.

Kildare County Council

Water Tanker Rota/Standpipe Locations for Friday 31st December

Location Time

Athy Coneyboro 8am-10am

3pm- 5pm

Ballyroe 3pm-5pm

Celbridge At Tesco 11.30am-2pm

Derrinturn 11am- 2pm

Leixlip Captains Hill 2.30pm-5pm

Sallins Entrance to Waterways Development 9am - 11am

Naas Rathasker & Carraig Oscair Standpipe 10am - 12noon

Millenium Roundabout/Sallins Road/Oldtown. Commencing at 10am

Monread Heights from 11am- 11.30am approx. (followed by Rathasker/Carraig Oscair finishing at Arconagh.

1) Tankers may be moved from time to time to meet the needs of areas not shown above.

2) A standpipe water supply will be available at the rear of the County Council Offices, Newbridge Road, Naas. 1pm - 6pm

Emergency Telephone Numbers

Additional emergency lines from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. :

(045) 431300, 431364, 486121, 486122

Out of hours emergency number 1890 500 333

Kildare Water Tankers updated 30 December

2010-12-30T13:05:00.002Z

Kildare Co. Co. has updated their water tanker location page for Athy, Celbridge, Derrinturn, Leixlip, and Naas for today, Thursday 30 December. You should be getting to the Council's own website before you get here, but just in case, this is my public service bit!

Kildare Water Tankers

2010-12-29T14:22:00.002Z

Further to my earlier email regarding Kildare Co. Co's water issues in the last few days, I post information from Kildare County Council's website in relation to where they have provided tankers. It's a bit late in the day but might be of help to somebody!

Water supply in Kildare

2010-12-28T17:13:00.003Z

Just a quick note to say that Kildare Co. Co. have announced, like many other counties, that water supply pressure throughout the county will be reduced overnight, from approx. 6pm Tuesday to 10am Wednesday. Further info here.

Free christmas recipes and some sciency news that caught my eye

2010-12-09T19:45:00.002Z

This morning I was listening to the radio , and heard an ad for a Christmas recipe booklet from Bord Bia. So, I went had a google, and found it, as you do. Thought I'd share it with you, see if there's anything interesting in it - here it is (it is a pdf, so might take a sec to load)I might try the orange and chocolate ice-cream... sounds yummy.

2 bits of sciency/techy news I came across today that were interesting. A private company, SpaceX launched a spacecraft to Low Earth Orbit yesterday, and retrieved it from the ocean after re-entry. So they're well on the way to providing private launch capability for NASA, to feed the ISS, and presumably for other satellite customers. I think it's hugely impressive that a private company, without NASA's resources can make such a vehicle so successfully. From what I read, it seems that they have developed a simple, modular vehicle that will bring down the cost of bringing material to orbit. This is, it seems from the press release, intended to allow NASA to concentrate on other projects than feeding the ISS, particularly with the retirement of Space Shuttle. I'm sure there's more to come!

The other was the use of a 3d printer to bring an idea for an iphone cradle to production, fascinating! The thoughts of 3d print shops on your street corner, where you can "print off" a design you've made up yourself, or bought over the internet. It's all explained on the BBC news website.

Budget 2011

2010-12-08T19:38:00.002Z

Well, yesterday was budget day here. Nobody likes budget days, and I think it's fair to say that this one was a toughie. Tax bands were dropped, social welfare payments cut, minimum wage cut, and a whole raft of other chops and changes were made to help shore up the state's coffers. I'm not an economist so I'm not gonna go into the whys and whats of it all, but I thought it might be useful to share with you a link to a calculator that might help you to understand how the changes will affect you. I had a look around and I found a few, but the one below was the most comprehensive. It deals with both private and public sector employees, while many of the other calculators only deal with private salaries.

http://www.taxcalc.eu

Room by Emma Donoghue, and some useful links

2010-12-07T20:20:00.005Z

I read Room, by Emma Donoghue, a couple of months ago. It's one of the books that stick in my mind, like the Life of Pi, or Sunday at the Pool in Kigali - well written, well driven and to reuse an oft-mentioned word, compelling. Room tells the story of a young boy who lives with his mother in a small room - this is (for most of the book) the entire realm that these 2 characters exist in.

The story is told from Jack's 5-year old viewpoint, so everything has a character and is anthropomorphised in the way that 5-year old boys do (well, as far as I can remember anyway) so well. But you can probably guess that Jack and Ma aren't in the room naturally, so to speak, though as usual I'm loathe to give away much of the plot as if you haven't read it I'll spoil it on you.

This book raises your heartbeat and is truly edge of your seat reading. I read it in one sitting, pretty much, only putting it down half way through to catch my breath. Definitely one for the must-read pile. Shouldawundabooker.

So, while you're reading that curled up next to a fire while the weather outside continues to freeze and snow and do unspeakably wintry things to us, you might be looking for some information on roads and stuff. These links below might be of use:

Kildare Co. Co. Emergency News webpage

Bus Éireann's travel information

Met Éireann's interactive 5-day forecast (winds, precipitation and temperature)

Irish Weather Online

Dept. of Transport Scary Weather Information Page with other links and stuff

AA Roadwatch (as if you didn't know this one already)

RTÉ's weather and transport feed

Free Music!

2010-12-06T10:35:00.006Z

Readers (both of you...), what better news could I have for you than I have found some (good) free music for you! Miracle Bell are an up and coming band from Co. Kildare, and as part of their promotional activities they are happy to let you download their track called "Future Kings" for free (in exchange for your email address..).

Future Kings comes off their album "Light Shape Sound," (as pointed out by anonymous, below [thanks!!]) and you'll have heard one of their feelgood tracks "Love Sounds" in the Jervis Shopping Centre Christmas ad on the radio and d'telly.

Really, it's a no-brainer. A free 3 minute and 40 seconds of happy music. You might even like it and consider buying the album afterwards (I think that's the point - do it!).

If you didn't click on the link on my title, here's another one: CLICK HERE FOR FREE MUSIC

Edit: I edited this post because I was wrong. Don't tell anyone. Nah, I mixed up the song title from the ad with the album title. Which is totally different. But it was in my mind as the next thing to type, and that's what happens when it's cold.

New pics announced, and a book finished

2010-12-05T21:33:00.006Z

Just added a couple more pictures onto my pix.ie profile, taken this evening - go have a look and laugh!

Also, today I finished Asne Seierstad's One Hundred and One Days. This book was written by a journalist corresponding for Scandinavian press and media from Baghdad during the US attacks in the early 2000's, and gives a very close view of life in a city under attack, as well as the other bureaucratic and propagandist trials and tribulations of being a journalist in Iraq. Well written and compelling, worth a read.

It highlights the frustration that journalists encounter, and the realities of life for reporters working in a warzone outside the 4 or 5 minute report that we watch at 6pm in our cosy sitting room world.

The Lost Booker prize

2010-12-04T22:21:00.005Z

Apparently, they didn't award a Booker Prize in 1970, for some reason, but recently they awarded one to fill the gap. The book that won was recently read by your correspondent -Troubles, by J.G. Farrell.

Set in a hotel in Ireland around the time of the War of Independence (early 1920s, methinks), it tells the story of the time through the metaphor of the hotel and it's occupants. Really, I didn't know what to expect, but I enjoyed it - it's well crafted, but I didn't find it as engaging as some other books I've read recently (e.g. Room). I don't know if I'd make it a recommendation, though you probably would enjoy it.

J.G. won another Booker Prize for his book "The siege of Krishnapur," so I must check the library catalogue for that one and put it on my list if I can!

Onwards and Upwards, Asne Seierstad's "A Hundred and one Days" is next on the list.

And tonight's posting was brought to you by a Deuchars IPA (mmmmmm, wonderfully moreish every time) and a Brewdog Pilsner. Not at the same time though.

Monasterevin in the Snow

2010-12-03T21:01:00.005Z

Well, I've been taking some pictures around town whilst the snow is all nice and white and fluffy, some can be seen here. It was cold today, but thanks to my layers I was able to stand it.

Now that I've been enjoying the library again for a couple of weeks, I've been thinking about a reading challenge for myself - I'm going to try and read as many of the Booker Prize winners as I can, though I've already found some aren't available in the library. At this stage I've gone through 1 or 2 so far (though that includes that blasted The Sea thing that won a couple of years ago), so maybe i can capture my thoughts here.

The list is taken from ye olde wikipedia, if you want to have a look. Where I can't find a year's winner, I'll read one of the others.

Bookses.

2010-12-01T23:05:00.005Z

So, yeah, where have I been? Doing the same old thing, mostly. Just not talking about it here!

I've become a more regular library user, though, since. Which is brilliant. Our local library service (www.kildare.ie/library) allows you to search the catalogue online and make requests online. IT's brilliant! And much less damaging to my book budget.... Though I still love books, giving them back is a little cheaper.

I've also been discovering some "unusual" board games - Carcassonne (town building) for one, Ticket to Ride (Train building) and a new arrival, Memoir '44 (World War II them) which we haven't really broken in yet. There might be more on those later. We'll see how

Brian 1, lawnmower 0.

2009-08-05T19:55:00.002+01:00

I think I mentioned we got a homelite petrol lawnmower (HLM140SP) recently from a big home/garden outlet? Anyway, I was trying to disconnect the sparkplug just to clean the deck, and didn't the HT lead boot come off and disconnect altogether? Unhappiness ensued. Outlet promised repair within 10 days. 10 days?

Anyway, if this happened to anyone else, here is what to do. You now have a lawnmower with a bare lead, a little metal connector widget to link the lead and the sparkplug, and a rubber elbow that goes over the widget. To do this fix, you need some washing up liquid, and maybe a pliers.

A tiny drop of the washing up liquid on the HT lead, then you need to straighten out the elbow as much as you can and push it back up the HT lead so that the bare wire comes right out the other end of the elbow. Then reconnect the connector widget by clamping it onto the rubber lead - make sure that the wire inner part of the lead touches the connector. Now slide the elbow/boot back down carefully so that the connector widget just sits in the corner of the elbow, with the open side facing out. Reconnect to spark plug and enjoy your mower!

Ah, comedy - refreshment for the soul!

2009-07-29T23:33:00.003+01:00

We're just back from the Riverbank Theatre, Newbridge, where we'd been to see a comedy show. It was a Schnitzel comedy club night, with the Diet of Worms headlining. Who are the Diet of Worms, you ask?

Well, it's not this, which I remember from Junior Cert history, rather it's a fairly hilarious group of 5 comedians, and a puffincat. Highlights include Bovbov the puppet, the puffincat, and many other sketches. See them when you can, because you will enjoy it - they're excruciatingly funny!

Also causing much mirth and merriment was this chap, Gearoid Farrelly. Great entertainment altogether.

Pizza n books.

2009-07-27T20:49:00.003+01:00

Barbecues with too many charcoal briquettes and pizza are not good friends, unless you want the pizza to be utterly nuked... It looked fine 2 minutes ago, honestly... Oh, I dunno. Not fun. I might try again, with less coals, but next pizza will be from the ordinary oven anyway.

So I've released 3 books today, trying to revive bookcrossing singlehandedly. Chat n chew coffee shop in Newbridge has a book swap shelf already, so that's the drop point of choice. It's kinda handy, though I had a look through some of the books and none of them had a bookcrossing ID, so maybe it's not caught on.

Belated Kinsale report

2009-07-26T18:33:00.003+01:00

We went to Kinsale for a couple of nights last weekend - a beautiful part of the world which we'd visited before but always vowed we'd come back to. We stayed in The Blue Haven, a nice small hotel in the centre of town. Rates quite reasonable, but Kinsale is (bear in mind) a popular tourist spot, both for the scenic nature of the town and it's reputation for good food. Ordinary rooms are quite small (they're upfront about this on the phone when you book), so if you like a bit of space on your ovenight stay, either go elsewhere or get an upgrade. But it is very nice and cosy. Any music from the pub next door is finished by midnight!

We had dinner there on the first night - we were hugely impressed by this, and particular mention goes to the vanilla and raspberry cheesecake, which converted me from a non-cheesecake fan to someone who really enjoys vanilla and raspberry cheesecake from the blue haven. It was absolutely yummy!

Dino's chipper did us for the next evening. Seems to get quite poor reviews, but we thought it was tasty.

Dead nice to get away for a couple of days of course, and weather was fantastic for the 2 days, we even got as far as Schull for a spot of lunch (where you never know who you might meet...) West Cork makes you wonder why every town doesn't have all their houses painted bright yellows, blues etc, it's good for the soul! And Charles Fort is a great attraction, only €4 in, and it's a bigger spot than Edinburgh Castle (£15) with a real person to give you a tour (not a booklet/silly hold-to-your-ear thingy) - this country isn't as expensive as people make out.

Another site to lose yourself on...

2009-07-24T23:09:00.003+01:00

Hey all, I discovered www.freesound.org today, it's a collection of sounds (as you might have thought) that people upload onto the site, and (I think) they're all free for users! Today I was listening to the bells of Santa Croce in Florence.

You might lose yourself there. You might not. Particularly if you don't look at it. But sure it might be of some use to you!

Browsers...

2009-07-24T19:57:00.002+01:00

I'd been finding the internet experience a bit slow recently, or rather, choppy - occational stalls where nothing would happen for a moment or two. Used as I am to a smooth internet connection, I was wondering what it could have be. I tried Internet Explorer (gasp!) and found that it actually was working better than the newly updated Firefox browser (3.0.12), so I downloaded Google Chrome to see how it works. And boy does it work, it's quick, smooth, uncomplicated and nice. I'm going to stick with this for a while, at least until I can figure out how to fix Firefox (I did have some nice extensions, you know...)

Other than that, I await reports from Croke Park this evening, as I am looking forward to seeing "the claw" myself soon!

Phenonenal video!

2009-07-24T10:12:00.002+01:00

I used to think that some motorsports are crazy. Now they are merely mad. Below is a 5 minute video from youtube showing the Pike's Peak hillclimb in the US. Enjoy!

Lawnmowers.

2009-07-21T19:50:00.002+01:00

Lawnmowers. A curious subject. We started off with a small electric hover mower - this made cutting the grass a chore because it just wouldn't hack it, particularly if the grass got anyway long. Which it sometimes does...

So we went with internal combustion. Don't tell the Greens. I've just done my first cut with the Homelite this evening, and all is well! It's fairly light, so it's easily pushable, and it's got 7 height settings as well as the grass collector (which is maybe a little small...). Initial impressions are good, it feels solid so far and well put together, but we'll see how that works out as time goes by. Also, it's red and shiny.

Anyone else who's looking to buy one, they're 160 in the diy stores at the moment, and you should factor in another 20 quid or so to buy some engine oil (10W30) and petrol and can.

Space Gazing

2009-07-20T19:27:00.003+01:00

Well, I saw the shuttle after take off last week as it flew over Ireland. That was some sight!

Anyway, now that the International Space Station is on the tip of everyone's tongue, my helpful hint is that you can find out when it's passing you by logging onto www.heavens-above.com and inputting your location - it will then spit out times for all the objects that pass over you! Enjoy.

Bargain Alert, and transformers

2009-07-05T18:54:00.002+01:00

Leann Follain, a nice stout from O'Haras, is available in Superquinn at the price of around €5.70 for 3 bottles. That's not bad for a nice beer!

I've been to see Transformers:Revenge of the Fallen today, thanks to those cloud droppings. I think those reviews are right, it is too long, and it is too fussy. There are too many unnecessary transformer characters - there are twins for example, that are just silly and superfluous. And how come Optimus can transform totally in a fraction of a second during battle, but when he has to talk to the NEST leader on the telephone (off-screen, of course....) it takes him (seems like) 10 minutes?

Ach of course, it's brainless, with beautiful and accomplished (if overdone) CGI. I suspect, however, that it could have been a lot better. If they'd just kept it simple, with the usual cast of characters (ok, replace Jazz, and maybe add one or 2 to freshen it up....) and a similar story I'm sure I'd have enjoyed it more. Roll on the threequel.

Also did anyone else notice that the carrier they blew up was number 74 in one shot, but 2 shots later became 71? Did I imagine that? (I know 74 was on view much later on in the film too.....). Yes, turns out I was right. More here, if you want to read about nerdy errors!

Rating? Average. And that's only cos I like transformers...

Feed the world!

2009-06-26T19:56:00.002+01:00

Generate self satisfied-smugness, and sending rice to the needy hungry people. Yay! Apparently, every correct answer sends 10 rice grains (by means of the site sponsors) to needy people. And, you can gloat that you got to level 45 of 60 in the vocabulary test!

It can hardly be A Bad Thing, can it?

Measuring the world, Or: A book review

2009-06-25T21:13:00.003+01:00

I have just this evening finished "Measuring the World", Daniel Kehlmann's book about von Humboldt and Gauss - translated from the German, of course. Let me say from the outset that I enjoyed this book thoroughly, and even translated, it's writing is succinct, eloquent and very readable. It's a novel, told semi-biographially about the German explorer and scientist Alexander von Humboldt, and his explorations, and the German mathematician and scientist Carl Gauss.

These are 2 very different stories, one story centres on the wide-ranging explorations to South America, and Asia, that von Humboldt undertakes, discovering, naming, climbing and generally exploring his way around, compared to a more homely and less glamorous life that Gauss had, working on astronomy and of course, mathematics. In the end, of course, von Humboldt reflects on these differences and asks which, if either, of them, had the greater journey of discovery.

To be honest, I don't know enough about either man to know whether the book is highly fictionalised, or biographically accurate - it doesn't really matter though, I think there's enough truth in the book to make it believable. It evokes a wonderful sense of being in an age of constant discovery in all fields - geography, botany, anthropology, astronomy, mathematics, physics....you get the picture, and even as a translation it's brilliantly written and very very readable - I highly recommend it!

IKEA Assembly complete.

2009-06-14T12:54:00.002+01:00

Not as easy as I expected. There was a rebate/groove shown on the assembly diagram at the edge of the top shelf and the side pieces which didn't exist in reality. This meant that I put the top on backwards, but overall I'd give 8/9 for clarity of assembly instructions. After that it was quite straightforward. And the chest of drawers looks very neat now, in the wardrobe. It might well contribute to tidyness.

Tools needed/recommended for assembly:
A power screwdriver (the small gun-type is very handy, thanks M), or a selection of flat and cross-head screwdrivers, and a hammer. IKEAThat's about it. I used a drill to screw the chest into the base of the wardrobe for stability, but I'd suggest that's optional, though the pack is designed to fit with the IKEA wardrobe system sizes etc (it's a little small in ours, but not overly so!)

IKEA?

2009-06-14T00:05:00.003+01:00

Dropped up to IKEA Belfast today. What a place, its ginormous! To find it, if going from Dublin, go around Belfast towards the George Best airport (that's Belfast city airport, not the International one....) and it's just beyond that. Huge though.

First of all, you park. Then you go into the shop. After that you pick a trolley, but you don't really need a trolley for a bit. So you follow the arrows on the ground, perusing their furniture, furnishings and generally clever products, storage-wise. You choose what you like, and what you want to buy, then you note the storage aisle and location for the flatpack box (though some smaller items, like breadboards, and small storage boxes, are laid out more like ordinary goods in a shop than the bigger flatpack stuff), and continue on your way, probably noting more product locations.

You then pass through a part of the shop selling the smaller stuff, then into the warehouse area. Most of the packs are there for you to lug onto the trolley, but I got the impression that some of the heavier pieces would need help from a co-worker (There are no staff members, or personnel, or assistants - they're called co-workers and responsibles in IKEA). Then through the magic laser scanner bay with you (it's not that magic, it's a lot like the supermarket) where you hand over some money (real or pretend, depending - they take Laser/Maestro "up there", for your information)

All the measurements are there for you on the item's ticket - both for the assembled item and for the flatpack package, so you can get an idea if it'll fit in the car. I recommend bringing a car with folding rear seats, at least. I also recommend putting aside a fair chunk of time for your visit, if you don't know exactly what you're buying. A browsy visit will take maybe 3 or 4 hours, it's huge. And there's a coffee shop, bargain corner, and a swedish food shop too. Crazy.

More on buildability later.

Oh, and Coldplay are offering some songs free on an album, here.

Did vote in the end.

2009-06-05T22:07:00.002+01:00

But that said, it was more down to my knowing that if I didn't, I'd feel guilty tomorrow. This was the first time in the what, 11 years I've been registered that I haven't been particularly interested in it. Yes, of course, it's "only" the local elections and european (whatever happens there) parliament elections, but I was very, very close to apathy this time.

I did vote though, and I'm glad I did, because voting's important. Didn't give everyone a preference this time either, as many of the candidates hadn't been to see me, nor sent their leaflet to the house, so they were automagically out.

It was busy down the polling station, but I suspect that that's an indication of the level of anger that the public feel towards the government parties (FF and Greens), and a desire to oust them - though local government doesn't take any power from the Dáil, it may allow the populace to make a strong statement. I suppose we'll see in a couple of days!

Handy web related hint!

2009-05-31T22:35:00.003+01:00

Anyone who's using Twitter will realise that it shortens big URLs (web addresses) to bit.ly/somecode addresses (cos it's only giving you 140 characters to spill your life story). Or, you might have seen tinyurl.com addresses around too, which do the same thing. Save you typing www.thisisareallylongdomainname.com/thisisthebitaftertheslash/gibberish.com and allows you to type tinyurl.com/sdfoll or something.

Anyhoo, these can be bad for you, in that you don't know where you're being sent on the interweb - you don't know what type of site you'll end up on. Internet Explorer users scroll to the bottom of the post....

So somebody clever has developed a Firefox extension at http://tinyurl.com/9hnqrz (same destination, just used as an example!) which allows you to hover over these shortened addresses before you click on them and find out where they're going to lead you. I've not been using it for long, but it seems helpful. Firefox users, scroll to the bottom of the post and nod sagely....

Internet Explorer users - Firefox is more customisable and nicerer. Switch soon. Then read the paragraph above this one.

A great song for a nice cold beer and a barbecue

2009-05-31T18:02:00.003+01:00

It's the "I Like Beer" song! Which I found embedded at this website, but thought I'd share with you myself! It's a nice day for a cold one, must be nearly time to light up the barbecue! No road trips today, just some weather-related moseying and reading and a few bits round the house - only a small few mind!

A great day out!

2009-05-30T23:41:00.005+01:00

Just back from Galway, had a fantastic day there at the Volvo Ocean Race festival. Unfortunately we arrived too late for the Red Arrows (who knows anything about protests?) who were rescheduled - in the wrong direction, but this was made up for by the Coast Guard who happily flew their Sikorsky beast over me whilst I was spectating. We saw some of the display from the road between Loughrea and Oranmore....

We bit the bullet and paid to take the Aran Islands' Ferry out to watch the racing, and that was absolutely worth it. I was afraid I'd regret it but we saw so much of these magnificently graceful yachts (70 feet long, no less) racing each other, jostling for position before the start and tacking against each other against the wind - superb.

Much praise is due to Galway City Council, the car parking company (Euro Parks I think) and the bus company for a great park and ride facility at the racecourse. It moved smoothly and efficiently, and (oddly for Ireland) systematically, and we parked all day there for 2 euro each without having to worry about traffic in Galway city. Kudos!

The village is great, centred around Galway harbour - plenty of food stalls (sausage inna bun, it's always good) and that kind of thing. And they even organised the weather!

If you're thinking about it Sunday or Monday, or even later on in the week, I'd highly recommend a visit to Galway - we may never see these boats here again!

2 useful websites - one for number junkies and one for knowledge junkies

2009-05-18T21:55:00.004+01:00

In ascending order of usefulness, though this depends on what you want or need.... I present to you these websites:

Say no to 1890.com
You know how you pay your mobile phone service provider money every month, for inclusive minutes to landlines? These 1890 and other lo-call numbers aren't included. The companies who provide them think they're saving you money by paying for them (subsidising the cost of a long-distance fixed line call for example), but they aren't included in your minutes bundle, so when you ring the customer service line, or the government department, you get charged! This website helps you by giving you standard fixed line (01, 076 or whatever) numbers for the companies you might need to call regularly.

You mightn't refer to it every day, but it's probably worth finding the numbers once every so often for the companies you call from your mobile, to save yourself some monies!

Now, I found out about Wolfram Alpha today. This thing, a "computational knowledge engine" is 2 steps ahead of wikipedia. You can ask it anything, and it will almost certainly have an answer. It's only new, so I'm sure it has a way to go, but it has incredible depth of information for your query. Try "what is the meaning of life, the universe and everything?" and see what you get. Ask "should I go to Monaghan" though, and it won't be very helpful.

Here's what it has to say about beer!

Mathematical queries throw up almost-impossibly detailed answers, and querying your birthdate will even tell you how many hours of daylight there were on that day, as well as the phase of the moon. Explore it - enjoy it, I know I will!

New Bridge

2009-05-11T23:03:00.002+01:00

Nah, not that Kildare place, but the new bridge in Dublin city has been finished, and has been tugged over from where they built it in Holland. Looks spectacular, pictures here!

Star Trek Preview Screening

2009-05-06T20:08:00.002+01:00

Thanks pigsback! Last night I got to see Star Trek, the 11th (!) film made about the Star Trek universe, in UCI Tallaght. I was a little apprehensive, I haven't seen anything Trekky in a long time, and was worried that it might not be that great....but I was very impressed.

The film is set before the original series (TOS), just as the crew (Kirk, Uhura, Bones et al) are graduating from Starfleet Academy - suddenly all the just-graduated cadets are pressed into service as the federation reacts to an immediate threat (turns out to be those dratted Romulans again). That's all you need to know, anything else might spoil it for you!

I was very impressed at how the actors reflected the characters we know better (Shatner's Kirk, Nimoy's Spock etc) from when they were older (yes, I did mean to say that), they must have spent a long time watching the original actors to pick up their characteristics.

Effects were great, and the film looked very slick. Technology, whilst looking better than technology from earlier films, didn't generally look any more futuristic than it should have done, and the same goes for uniforms. Everything was obviously carefully checked to make sure it looked more primitive than anything we'd seen before - though the bridge of the NCC-1701 is an exception. Only the Romulan vessel was any way out of "character" - even with disbelief firmly suspended - it looked great, but it didn't really look like a spaceship, let alone a Romulan one, nor did it look very believable as a mining vessel with all its tentacles. They also showed phaser fire as more "pulsing" than as the single beam of energy you'd be used to.

It's also got the dry humour that most of the earlier (and even some later) Trek films had, and there will be plenty of laughs from the seats. Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable film. I'd give it 15 out of 17, definitely one to see. I sincerely hope the same crew make the next film.

2 Tuesday lessons

2009-04-28T22:42:00.001+01:00

The google car thingy does exist (I saw it in Co. Kildare today!) and, whilst turkey sausage is at the right time, not the worst - tasting thing in the world, at 0800 in the morning it really shouldn't be tasted (because you definitely won't put it in your sandwiches then!).

Spaten, as the third lesson, is a very nice refreshing uncomplicated tasty lager, isn't it?