Quote of the Week

Laughter is inner jogging.

Norman Cousins
US editor & essayist (1915 - 1990)

Christmas is Really Coming...

Christmas Tree complete with Star!

Winter Sea

I drove to the beach after lunch today and the tide was in fully. I had intended on going for a walk on the beach but with the tide in there was no beach to walk on.
Instead of going to a walk I spent ages taking photographs of the sea and the magnificent waves that pummelled the rocks.
I kept taking photographs until my fingers went a bit numb and then I decided to get back into the car.
It was fantastic to take a break from the Christmas madness and inhale the freshest air that I have had in a long time.
If you ever need a bit of perspective or want to get your priorities in check then spend some time watching the sea at work. :-)

Compliments

I generally find compliments hard to take and its not that I don’t like to be complimented (within reason) it’s just that I find it hard to react to them without feeling embarrassed. My reaction to compliments tends to one of the following:
(a) I deny or dispute the compliment completely
(b) I ignore the compliment
(c) After receiving a compliment I tell a story that doesn’t have much relevance to the situation thus making me seem odder than usual
(d) I say thank you and try to change the subject quickly
I think option (d) is probably the best way to go but I normally only respond like that on a very good day. It doesn’t seem to really matter who is playing the compliment. On occasion I even get slightly embarrassed when my parents pay me a compliment. I wonder is it just an Irish thing because I know other Irish people that also seem less than adept at taking a compliment while other nationalities seem to have no problem with them.

Quote of the Week

Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.

Mark Twain
US humorist, novelist, short story author, & wit (1835 - 1910)

A Visit to the Dentist

It had been niggling away at the back of my mind for ages and I knew that I needed to make an appointment. The only problem was I can’t remember the last time I had been to the dentist. Although I did have a sneaking suspicion that it was possibly more than six years ago. It’s not that I had a toothache or anything like that; I just had a general uneasy feeling that this was something that I had neglected for far too long. Part of the reason that I hadn’t been to the dentist in ages is because I didn’t really like my previous dentist.
So a few weeks ago I nabbed the name of a dentist off my sister and rang for an appointment. Then I trotted along on the specified date and was pleasantly surprised by the experience. The staff were very nice and the dentist was lovely, although I did feel a little bit like a naughty schoolgirl because I couldn’t really remember the last time I had been to a dentist.
After the cute dentist gave the contents of my mouth a thorough once over, the dental hygienist took some photos of my teeth and gave me a few pointers. It was really interesting, in an ‘oh I never realised teeth could be in anyway interesting’ sort of a way. Needless to say after this positive experience I’m looking forward to going back for regular checkups. :-)

Strictly Come Dancing

Boo hoo, Gethin has been knocked out of Strictly Come Dancing. How am I going to survive the weekends without watching the Gorgeous Gethin taking the floor by storm? I watched all of Strictly Come Dancing last night, which was great because normally I miss the Saturday show end up just seeing the summary and results on Sunday night. The results show was a bit nerve wrecking tonight. I watched it with A&D, A is also a Gethin fan while D is a Flavia fan. Alesha was voted to go through to the final straight away, so it was Matt and Gethin in the dance off. I thought Gethin danced really well but I guessed that the judges would lean towards Matt because he made such a good come back after last week. Gethin is gutted that he isn’t in the final which is understandable. It must be hard to work your socks off for weeks and get so close to the final but not make it in the end. He really went from being a non-dancer to a good dancer during this series. Matt and Alesha are going to be in the final next week and it should be an interesting one to watch. I kind of hope that Alesha wins because she has been excellent all the way through and she looks like she really loves dancing.

Handel’s Messiah

I went to see a performance of Handel’s Messiah almost a month ago in the Cathedral of St. Mary and St. Anne in Cork. Handel’s Messiah had its first public performance in Dublin on the 13th of April in 1742. The performance that I went to see was in aid of the Cork CABAS School which is a school for children with autism. CABAS stands for the Comprehensive Application of Behaviour Analysis to Schooling, and uses Applied Behaviour Analysis and the principles of Positive Reinforcement as the main teaching methodology. The East Cork Orchestra with the East Cork Choral Society (with the Seafield Singers and Cantate) gave an excellent performance of Handel’s Messiah.

Quote of the Week

There is no feeling, except the extremes of fear and grief, that does not find relief in music.

George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss, 1860
English novelist (1819 - 1880)

Are You a Grinch?

Nope, You're Not a Grinch

Although you may feel Grinch-like at times, it's just because you're worn out from the holidays. You get into the holiday spirit more than most people - and you truly enjoy celebrating with your family and friends.

Are You a Grinch?

Neil Delamare in Cork

I went to see Neil Delamare in the Opera House last Wednesday night. I had seen him on a panel a fair bit so I was interested in seeing him doing some stand up. He was good and touched on lots of different topics, sometimes jumping around from one to the other. He seems to have quite a yen for history which added a good twist to his material. He had a funny bit about the questions that you have to answer when you go to give blood. He said he would ask a different set of questions such as ‘have you ever bought a westlife/boyzone CD’ or ‘are you one of those people that puts the sweet wrapper back in the quality street tin after you have eaten the sweet’. Personally I think its worse when people put the empty papers back in the after eight box… grr! It’s weird that it’s the everyday stuff that people often find the funniest.

American Gangster

I went to see ‘American Gangster’ recently and although it was pretty violent in places (cue me hiding behind my hands at various points during the film) I thought it was a good story well told. Denzel Washington is amazing in it. It's weird, even though he portrays a drug dealer I didn’t really think of him as the bad guy in the film. This could have been because there were plenty of other characters in the film that seemed worse than him! Russell Crowe is the other big name actor in ‘American Gangster’ and although I thought he put in a good performance he didn’t quite match Denzel’s standard on this occasion.

2fm 2moro 2our

The RTE 2fm 2moro 2our came to Cork on the 17th of November and the headline act was Dave Geraghty. I was really excited about it because I wanted to see Dave play and had missed his last gig in Cork while I was on holidays.

The first band on stage was ‘Hope is Noise’ and I really couldn’t tell what any of there songs were about because they were just really loud. The next band was ‘Ham Sandwich’ and they were quite good. They played an energetic set and interacted with the crowd. The third band was ‘Concerto for Constantine’ and they might have been good but it was really hard to tell because they were just too bloody loud. It was almost impossible to make out what the singer was singing about but I got the impression they if they lower the volume a bit they might have some half decent songs. Finally Dave Geraghty took to the stage with his band and they were really good. I had bought his album 'Kill Your Darlings' the previous week and really liked it. Unfortunately the crowd had gotten drunker and more spread out as the night went on and many talked loudly during his performance. There was also some gobshite in the audience randomly making a whistling noise by blowing into the top of a beer bottle. It was disappointing to see someone with talent and much more professionalism than the previous bands receiving such a half hearted response from most of the crowd. I think that 2fm messed up when they put the line up of bands together as ‘Hope is Noise’ and ‘Concerto for Constantine’ didn’t sit well with ‘Ham Sandwich’ or Dave Geraghty’. I really hope that Dave comes back to Cyprus Avenue for a solo gig sometime in the future. My abiding memory of the night is of my ears ringing for hours when I got home!

Quote of the Week

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.

Mahatma Gandhi
Indian ascetic & nationalist leader (1869 - 1948)

Dictionary Corner #7

Corrigendum – noun,

An error in a printed work discovered after printing and shown with its correction on a separate sheet

Latin, neuter of corrigendus, gerundive of corrigere to correct

Christmas is Coming...

Quote of the Week

When all is said and done, the weather and love are the two elements about which one can never be sure.

Alice Hoffman, 'Here on Earth'

‘Tis the Season

Yes it’s that time of year again, no not Christmas time but Cold and Flu season. The majority of people seem to be walking around with runny noses and every second person is either coughing or sneezing. I’m sporting a very glamorous cold at the moment.



It has manifested itself in the following ways i.e. I make a noise like a fog horn whenever I blow my nose and this occurs about every four to five minutes so that my nose now looks like it would beat Rudolph’s nose hands down any day. Then there is the darth vadar like breathing noises when I attempt to breath through my nose and the fact that my throat feels like it has been carpeted by some lovely sandpaper.



So to anyone out there enduring a cold may I recommend a nice generous hot toddy like the one I’m about to make myself!

YUMMY :-)

What’s Your Pirate Name?

Your Pirate Name Is...

Dirty Dagger Danielle

What's Your Pirate Name?

Table Quizzes

At the risk of sounding like a complete nerdous maximous, I like table quizzes.
I’ve been to a couple of charity ones recently and the following are some
of the things that I have learnt…


1. Angel Falls is in Venezuela
2. Bob Dylan’s first album is titled ‘Bob Dylan’
3. There is one time zone in China
4. There are thirteen countries that have ‘o’ as the last letter and they are – Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico, Borneo, Lesotho, Congo, Montenegro, Burkino Faso, Monaco, Morocco, San Marino, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Puerto Rico (Although I’m not sure that Borneo is a country in it’s own right, but it was given as an answer on the night)
5. The Spice Girls comeback single is called ‘Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)’ – I knew friendship was somewhere in the damn title but I couldn’t remember the whole thing
6. The Nile is the longest river in the world (the Amazon is the second longest river)
7. Polar Bears live at the North Pole and Penguins live at the South Pole
8. Leona Lewis’ current single is called ‘Bleeding Love’
9. In the Simpson’s Mr. Burn’s teddy bear is called ‘Bobo’ – unfortunately on the night of the quiz I had pretty much convinced myself that the teddy bear was called ‘Pukey’ (I have no rational explanation for this)
10. Brian Warner is Marilyn Manson’s real name
11. In the Olympic sport of boxing it is forbidden to have a beard
12. Walt Disney has won more Oscars than Alfred Hitchcock, Charlie Chaplin and Orson Wells

Quote of the Week

Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can: all of them make me laugh.

W. H. Auden
US (English-born) critic & poet (1907 - 1973)

Scarecrow Competition

I was in Canada at the end of September with some friends and while travelling around Prince Edward Island (PEI) we came across a scarecrow competition.

This is just a selection of some of the scarecrows that were on display, there was even a hay maze for kids to play in.

I’ve got to hand it to the PEI residents they know how to make some interesting scarecrows!

What Was I Doing… and Five Things…

This post has come about as a result of reading China Blue’s blog. I haven’t done one of these in ages and if anyone feels like doing the same let me know so I can compare answers. :-)

*What Was I Doing 10 Years Ago?

I was in college and generally having a good time.

* What Was I doing 1 Year Ago?

I was working my ass off on a long drawn out work project.

* What Was I Doing Yesterday?

I was at home fulfilling a Christmas present request, finishing reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, doing my sister’s make up and going to a gig.

* Five Snacks I enjoy:

Pretzels and Nutella
Soft cheese and crackers
Yogurt with toasted seeds
Toast covered in nutella and sliced banana
Hint of Lime Doritos and hummous

*Five things I Would Do If I Won £100 Million:

Give a lot of money away
Travel
Travel
Travel
Travel

*Five Locations I Would Like To Run Off To:

New Zealand
Italy
Peru
Canada
Alaska

*Five Bad Habits I Have:

Nope, not about to reveal my bad habits.

*Five Things I Like Doing:

Breathing in sea air while walking on an Irish beach
Eating chocolate
Seeing BellX1 play live
Taking Photographs
Playing board games

*Five TV Shows I Like

West Wing
Fraiser
Strictly Come Dancing
House
That 70’s Show

*Five Things I Hate

Sweetcorn
When people talk loudly during a gig
Cabbage
Big Brother
Dishonesty

*Five Biggest Joys Of The Moment

My Creative Zen MP3 player
Spending time with my family even when they drive me crazy
Preparing for Christmas
Being in contact with people I had sort of lost contact with
Watching the sixth West Wing box set

Quote of the Week

True luck consists not in holding the best of the cards at the table; luckiest is he who knows just when to rise and go home.

John Hay, Distichs, latter 19th century
US author & politician (1838 - 1905)

Vyvienne Long and The Flaws

On the Friday night of the Jazz festival Cyprus Avenue had a great line up of Vyvienne Long at 8pm followed by The Flaws at 11pm. We arrived at Cyprus Avenue to hear the last few songs being played by the support act for Vyvienne Long. The support was a guy called Declan de Barra who had a great voice and told some good stories. Vyvienne came on at around half eight-ish with the same line up of a band that had played in Cyprus Avenue before except for a new drummer. There was good atmosphere in the crowd and Vyvienne played a great set including a cover of the Beatles ‘Come Together’. The crowd participation part of the night involved Vyvienne teaching everyone ‘Happy Thoughts will Save Me’ and adding a new bit for the people that had sung it before. After Vyvienne and the band had left the crowd sort of dispersed but some stayed around in anticipation of the upcoming Flaws gig. This should have started at roughly 11pm but the band didn’t start playing until almost half twelve. At that stage I was wrecked and cold so I only stayed for a few of their songs. It was a shame that they came on so late because the crowd had diminished to little more than a dozen or so people. I enjoyed the songs that they played but the late start and the lack of atmosphere was very disappointing.

What Season Are you?

You Belong in Fall

Intelligent, introspective, and quite expressive at times... You appreciate the changes in colour, climate, and mood that fall brings Whether you're carving wacky pumpkins or taking long drives, autumn is a favourite time of year for you

What Season Are You?

Some Recent(-ish) Films

2 Days in Paris

Two Days in Paris was written and directed by Julie Delpy and is the story of the relationship between Marion, a French woman played by Delpy, and Jack, an American man played by Adam Goldberg. On their way back from their vacation in Venice they spend two days in Paris living in Marion’s apartment above her parents’ home before returning to New York. The story is about the differences between France and America, how he gets on with her parents and how he copes with meeting so many of her ex-boyfriends. There is a lot of humour in this film and Adam Goldberg gives a great performance as the somewhat bewildered boyfriend de jour. If you are looking for something a bit different, this is an enjoyable film.




The Savages

I saw this film during the Cork Film festival back in October. It’s about two siblings Jon and Wendy, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney who end up having to take on the responsibility of caring for their ailing father. The father is played by Philip Bosco and the film centres around how Jon and Wendy cope with caring for a father that they have had very little contact with in the previous twenty years. The siblings come face to face with the reality of placing their father in a nursing home. They each have different ideas about how he should be cared for and sibling rivalry also rears its ugly head during the film. This is an excellent film but not necessarily the easiest to watch as it reminds you of how life comes full circle and children end up taking care of their parents.




Stardust

This is a lovely easy film to watch and a very enjoyable story. The script was written by Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn and the main story is about a young man that promises the girl he is in love with that he will bring her back a fallen star for her birthday. He sets off on his quest and from then on we are introduced to a myriad of characters that range from Lamia, the youth obsessed witch played by Michelle Pfeiffer to the cross dressing Captain Shakespeare played by Robert De Niro. There are several different subplots in the film and lots of great characters played by well known faces to keep you entertained.

Liam O’Maonlai in The Bailey

Liam O’Maonlai played in the Bailey in Cork on the Saturday of the Jazz Festival. I’m not a massive fan of the Bailey but was pleasantly surprised by the nice atmosphere for this early gig. Liam played a number of different instruments (I’m not even sure of the names of one of them) and sang in about four different languages. He also treated us to a bit of his own dancing during his encore. I enjoyed this gig and there was a good mix of people at it, including some really cute kids that were dancing in front of the small stage.

Fionn Regan: A Short Gig

Fionn Regan was nominated for a Mercury Music Award back in July and I thought it was great that an Irish guy with a good album was nominated. Unfortunately he didn’t win and the prize went to the Klaxons. I had seen him play a gig in the Savoy a while back so when he was advertised to play in Cyprus Avenue I booked tickets straight away. Fast forward several months to the 10th of November, the night of the gig. The support was an American singer/songwriter that gave up the American dream when he turned thirty to come to Ireland and pursue a career in music. He played some really good songs and explained that he had stayed in Ireland for longer than he originally had intended because he had met and married an Irish girl. He also said that he liked Irish women because they were so straight forward. At the end of the gig he further endeared himself to the crowd by throwing out a couple of free CDs. This was a good start to the night and the crowd were in good form. Shortly after the support act (whose name I unfortunately can’t remember) left the stage, Fionn Regan arrived. He played a few songs and then encountered a technical glitch with the sound system, so he played one song completely acoustically and without a microphone. It didn’t seem to faze him and the crowd even managed to stay quiet for it. He had an excellent drummer with him but the guy seems to make involuntary faces while drumming. The weird thing was that when he played the piano he kept a completely straight face, anyway I think he was probably the best drummer that I’ve seen in a while. Fionn played some more good songs and then after about 45-50 minutes he left the stage and everyone duly applauded until he came back on for an encore. The encore consisted of one song ‘Be Good or Be Gone’ and then he literally was gone off the stage carrying a little suitcase!!! I won’t be rushing to see Fionn Regan again if he can’t be arsed playing for a decent length of time despite the fact that he is a good musician.

Cathy Davey

Cathy Davey played a series of gigs in Cyprus Avenue during October. I managed to go along to the second last gig on the 24th of October. Cyprus Avenue was pretty packed but with a little manoeuvring Ratgirl and I managed to got a reasonable view of the stage (well inbetween other people’s heads). Cathy Davey released her second album "Tales Of Silversleeve" last month on the 12th of October and according to her myspace page she will be back in Cyprus Avenue on the 10th of December. I really enjoyed the gig, which was nice and upbeat plus it never hurts to have Paul Noonan as your drummer!

Quote of the Week

The key to being a good manager is keeping the people who hate me away from those who are still undecided.

Casey Stengel
US baseball manager (1890 - 1975)

Junior Cert Answers

The following questions and answers were collected from Junior exam results a couple of years ago. There are some mad answers!

Geography
Q: Name the four seasons.
A: Salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar.

Q: Explain one of the processes by which water can be made safe
to drink.
A: Flirtation makes water safe to drink because it removes large
pollutant like grit, sand, dead sheep and canoeists.

Q: How is dew formed?
A: The sun shines down on the leaves and makes them perspire.

Sociology
Q: What guarantees may a mortgage company insist on?
A: If you are buying a house, they will insist you are well
endowed.

Q: In a democratic society, how important are elections?
A: Very important. Sex can only happen when a male gets an
election.

Q: What are steroids?
A: Things for keeping carpets still on the stairs.

Biology
Q: What happens to your body as you age?
A: When you get old, so do your bowels and you get
intercontinental.

Q: What happens to a boy when he reaches puberty?
A: He says goodbye to his boyhood and looks forward to his
adultery.

Q: Name a major disease associated with cigarettes.
A: Premature death.

Q: What is artificial insemination?
A: When the farmer does it to the bull instead of the cow.

Q: How can you delay milk turning sour?
A: Keep it in the cow. [He got an A]

Q: How are the main parts of the body categorised? (e.g.
abdomen)
A: The body is consisted into three parts - the brainium, the
borax the abdominal cavity. The branium contains the brain, the
borax contains the heart and lungs, and the abdominal cavity contains
the five bowels, A, E, I, O and U.

Q: What is the Fibula?
A: A small lie.

Q: What does "varicose" mean?
A: Nearby.

Q: What is the most common form of birth control?
A: Most people prevent contraception by wearing a condominium.

Q: Give the meaning of the term "Caesarean Section."
A: The caesarean section is a district in Rome .

Q: What is a seizure?
A: A Roman emperor.

Q: What is a terminal illness?
A: When you are sick at the airport

Q: Give an example of a fungus. What is a characteristic
feature?
A: Mushrooms. They always grow in damp places and they look like
umbrellas.

English
Q: Use the word "judicious" in a sentence to show you understand
its meaning.
A: Hands that judicious can be soft as your face.

Q: What does the word "benign" mean?
A: Benign is what you will be after you be eight.

Technology
Q: What is a turbine?
A: Something an Arab or Sheik wears on his head

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

When I get bored or something is driving me crazy at work I sometimes do a couple of blogthings quizzes to break things up. This one has a really soppy title but hey it was a nice long quiz (well by blogthings standards anyway). :-)

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to obedience and warmth. In love, you feel the most alive when your lover is creative and never lets you feel bored. You'd like to your lover to think you are stylish and alluring. You would be forced to break up with someone who was emotional, moody, and difficult to please. Your ideal relationship is lasting. You want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with. Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment. You think of marriage as something that will confine you. You are afraid of marriage. In this moment, you think of love as something you don't need. You just feel like flirting around and playing right now.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

Quote of the Week

I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.

Bill Cosby
US comedian & television actor (1937 - )

Is it Friday yet?

* A special thanks to Mag for this one!

Wispa is back!

I'm celebrating the fact that Cadbury's Wispa is back on the market. Cadbury's stopped producing this yummy chocolate treat back in 2003 after a twenty year stint on the market (yes, apparently it initally arrived in the shops way back in 1983!). I wonder if they'll bring back Wispa Mint too. :-)