Better by design............................................................................. Tuesday 31st December 2002There was a discussion on Photo.net recently on the extent of wildlife in Ireland that could be photographed. True, Ireland does not have large dangerous beasts roaming wild any more (unless you count lads from Tuam!) but there is still a great variety of both flora and fauna. And you'll be pushed to find a better collection of Irish wildlife photographs than Mike Brown's book Ireland's Wildlife, A Photographic essay, which was one of my better Xmas pressies. The photos are sumptuous, and also includes anecdotes on how the photographs were taken. There is a small selection of the photos on Mike Brown's website but, to be honest, the web versions don't do them justice. The BBC carry a survey of top sites accessed in the UK over the last year - Google, Amazon and the BBC itself were among the most popular.There was also a product review site listed, called Dooyoo.
Better by design............................................................................. Monday 30th December 2002An Post have apologised for the non-delivery of about 1 million pieces of mail (mainly Christmas cards) and promised that all outstanding mail would be delivered by the end of the week. Personally, I couldn't be happier since I only got around to posting my cards on Christmas Eve, and now I have an excuse.
It reminds me of the story about a farmer that wants to improve the milk yield of his cows. He goes to the local university and asks a psychologist, a geologist and a physicist for advice. The psychologist tells the farmer to play soft music in the milking parlour and to speak softly to the cows. "This will makes the cows feel happier and they will produce more milk".The farmer takes some notes, thanks the psychologist and goes to the office of the geologist. The geologist explains to the farmer how the soil composition affects the quality and quantity of the grass in the fields, and gives him a stack of books on how to improve the grass growth. "More grass, and better grass, will mean more milk". Weighed down by advice and books, the farmer finally goes to the physicist and explains that he wants his cows to give more milk, and mentions the advice that he had already received. The physicist furrows his brow, thinks for a few minutes before getting up to the blackboard in his office. "Assume a spherical cow..." The Western People reports that the Mayor of Ballina has lost the confidence of at least one town councillor because of his actions over what is known as "the Sophie story" in Ballina. Cllr Padraig Moore said the Mayor should have let the matter lie following the [initial] article in the Western People. I have no confidence in him for any future negotiations. I am sure the matter will be discussed further at the next Council meeting, he said. The mayor had originally objected to a picture of Sophie Dahl in the window of Wards, a local pharmacy. The poster was a provocative photograph of supermodel Sophie Dahl lying naked on a draped pedestal. In a light hearted response to the Mayors complaints, the proprietor of Wards, Mr Padraig Ward, put a strategically placed card over the poster which read By order of the Mayor over the poster. The national print media and national airwaves picked up on the story immediately and follow-up stories were accompanied by photographs of the Mayor in bed with the poster. Of course, the national, largely Dublin-based media just love these stories - another excuse to patronise the culchies. Mind you, the Sunday papers were pretty light on news yesterday - most of the stories were reviews of the year (and fairly uninsightful at that). The fluffiest piece of 'journalism' I found yesterday was a piece entitled "Literary Lady" in the Sunday Independent. The piece, which consisted of a photo plus caption, described how John McGahern had been awarded novel of the year by the Sunday Idependent and Hughes & Hughes booksellers (for "That They May Face the Rising Sun"). The photo was of Dr. Robin O'Reilly who was pictured, not with McGahern, but at a bash for a hairdressing salon! Did I mention that Dr. Robin is the daughter-in-law of the Independent's owner (Sir Anthony) and was recently 'elected' Party Person of the Year 2002, described in a pile of breathless gush here. Pulitzer Prize, here we come! Fin de siècle.......................................................................... Monday 23rd December 2002The European Union have called for the removal of 150,000 sheep from the west of Ireland (on environmental grounds), which will mean the nightlife in Mayo should quieten considerably. Seriously, there isn't a mountain in the west that hasn't been picked bare by the overgrazing of sheep, whose presence is wholly due to EU subsidy in the first place. It might make things easier for tourists cycling around the hills in Connacht - it's bad enough peddling against the wind without worrying if a dozy bundle of wool will wander out in front of you.
And finally, a happy Christmas to all of you...... Fowl Play .......................................................................... Thursday 19th December 2002Both ElectricNews and the Mayo News reports the finding of the Western Development Commission that the lack of broadband in the West of Ireland is a serious problem for industry. What broadband exists is far too scarce and expensive, compared to other European countries. In making its argument for cheap broadband, the report gives the example of ANU Internet Technologies, which moved to Galway City from Westport in County Mayo, when it realised that it would allow it to cut its communications bill from EUR33,000 to EUR22,000, while doubling its bandwidth. Stephan Wik, the managing director of ANU, said that a colleague in Germany pays just EUR16 a month for access to DSL, whereas Wik would have to pay EUR90 per month for the same service. These findings come as no surprise to anyone who actually lives in the West of Ireland. If the government had a little more backbone, there might actually be some competition for internet, cable TV, etc. Even Irish domain names are a rip off!. Instead, we get a lot of crap about being "closer to Boston than Berlin" in terms of business attitude. Government hogwash such as this ignores the fact that the Irish technology boom is based mostly on foreign technology companies taking advantage of an educated workforce and Ireland's low corporate tax rates - two advantages that are no longer peculiar to Ireland. The indigenous hi-tech industries (typically much smaller in scale and more sensitive to the effect of operational costs) are struggling against archaic infrastructure. I have a friend who lives in another European country where they have already tackled the communication infrastructure problem. He leaves his computer on all day streaming RTE's live radio feed over a cheap broadband connection - no different than using a radio - just as it should be. I've been doing some cooking recently. While stuck in Sweden, I decided to make full use of the kitchenette in my apartment by cooking a duck. Ye gods! It was pricey. It cost 10 euro a kilo, nearly 25 euro in total. For that sort of money, I'd expect to get a duck with a career in Disney. Throw in the cost of the other ingredients (including a half-bottle of port and a bottle of Beaujolais) and it might have been cheaper just to go to a good restaurant. To put it in perspective, the local Supervalue has frozen 2.5 kilo ducks for under a tenner. However, the results were rather good. I used the liver and kidneys to make the base of a good gravy (along with the juices) and scored the skin to ensure fat-free and deliciously crispy skin (a tip I got from Rick Stein's excellent cookery series, Food Heroes). I also imbued my apartment, and every single item of clothing within, with the scent of eau de campsite which attracted the odd glance from fellow passengers on thebus the next day. It also took me a while to shut the smoke alarm off (try a few hours). Undeterred, I bought a pheasant last weekend at the foodmarket in Temple Bar in Dublin. There are plenty of recipes on the web, but I went for a simple one. I stuffed the bird with a mixture of onion and apple (and a sprig of thyme) and but in a baking tin. I rubbed some brandy into the skin and covered it with maple-cured rashers (when you take the bird out after 40 minutes for a look, they make a very tasty snack). After an hour or so, it was done. I made a sauce from the stuffing, juices, cream and cranberry sauce (next time, I will use a mixture of apple, orange and sultanas in the stuffing). Delicious, slightly gamey taste and not a pick left on the carcass. For 6 euro, you've just got to try it. The kiss of the Blarney....................................................... Wednesday 18th December 2002The N17 will never be the same again ! Seamus Brennan opened 16km of new road (officially termed the Knock-Claremorris bypass) yesterday - perhaps the Sawdoctors will have to add another verse to their song. An article in the Wall Street Journal (via P45) about Irish accents in movies- it's written by a Corkman (do they ever stop complaining?) - and is pretty negative about the efforts of Hollywood's finest. Mickey
Rourke scorches an early trail as IRA bomber Martin
Fallon in "A Prayer for the Dying," a role he
waived his salary to play and then disowned upon
beholding the finished silliness. This film does for
Ireland what "Tarzan" did for Uganda. No quibble there. However, he is not impressed by Mr. Jennifer Aniston either. After slating Brad Pitt's accent in Devil's Own, he contiues Mr. Pitt takes a second bite of the forbidden fruit with his version of the rakish Celtic criminal in "Snatch." As Mickey O'Neil, Mr. Pitt reveals the wondrous scope of his acting range, moving from his earlier turn as a pugilistic Irish lawbreaker whose accent is unrecognizable to a pugilistic Irish lawbreaker whose speech is wholly unintelligible. That was the whole point, mate (sigh). Pitt's cameo in Snatch was the best thing in the movie, and his faux traveller accent was a lot better than some of the Irish cast in RTE's Glenroe. The article ignores the obvious example,The Quiet Man as well as the worst Irish-accented movie , Widow's Peak, which starred Mia Farrow. For maximum begorrah and shillelagh value, it's hard to beat Darby O'Gill and the Little People - starring that all-singing and all-dancing Celtic superstar (unfortunately) - Sean Connery. The BBC have run a newsmaker poll during the year (i.e. the names that have dominated the news). I wonder who would dominate an Irish poll - two frontrunners would be Roy Keane (another Corkman - enough said) and Frank Dunlop, who clearly believes that confession is good for the soul. Culture Vultures....................................................... Monday 16th December 2002Culture indeed. Jordan, erstwhile "page Three stunna" visited Ballinasloe over the weekend to open a nightclub - normally she's falling out of them, somewhat the worst for wear (if indeed she is wearing anything at all). Anyone who has driven through Ballinasloe when they are bulldozing the landfill site at Poolboy at the edge of town will know how the smell permeates the whole town. It puts this debate on slashdot into perspective (they are complaining about the smell of a coffee-roasting plant). Incidently, just typing "Poolboy dump" into Google returns some pretty unsavoury links... It's time for some recycling of my own - here is a music & movie quiz that was put together last year and has sat on my site for the last year. It's all audio clips (so headphones may be required) and some of the files are pretty big (so your employers' bandwidth may be required). Hey...it's the week before Christmas..time to relax. Bits and pieces........................... Friday 13th December 2002It's
Friday 13th and it's freezing here (-7 this morning). I
can't wait to get back to terra firma (and terra
warmer) tomorrow. Välkommen ombord........................... Wednesday 11th December 2002There's
an ode to Google (the search
engine) on MSNBC.com, while the Register carries news of two new Google
services. Thank you for calling........................... Sunday 8th December 2002Traditionally,
today is the day that country folk travel up to Dublin to
do their shopping. It's nice to think that the
capital gets a bit more civilised and smarter for
at least one day of the year. Ill Winds........................................... Monday 2nd December 2002I managed
to make it home to the Auld Sod for the weekend, and
spent it on the family farm. Alas, since my last vist,
one of the old ash trees had been felled, as it had begun
to rot. A quick count of the rings (followed by a few
recounts) revealed 140-160. Since the remaining stump is
about 6 foot from the roots, I guess the tree was about
200 years old. Imagine, it was a seedling as the Act of
Union was passed (which lead to the abolition of the
Irish parliament, and the creation of the United Kingdom
and the Union Jack flag) and the French revolution
was in full swing (of the guillotine, mainly).
|
|
|
|
(c) north atlantic skyline 2002 |
The blog is updated once a week, usually
at the weekend. More often if the cows are milked early.
|