But Before I Go…
31/07/08 23:52 Filed in: General
Nonsense
Giles Coren, restaurant
critic of The Sunday Times really needs to lighten
up. A sub-editor at the paper had the temerity to
remove an ‘a’ from one of his reviews, prompting The
Great Man to fire off an email
to all of the subs.
The subs reply.
Choice quotes below the fold.
Wait! There's More…
The subs reply.
Choice quotes below the fold.
Wait! There's More…
|
Holliers
31/07/08 23:18 Filed in: General
Nonsense
Off on me holliers
tomorrow (Friday). We’re stuffing everything into the
car and going to Brittany for two weeks, renting a
gite. First proper holiday in three years, and the
first ever with Aoife.
I’m going to turn comment moderation on, just in case any ne’er-do-wells stop by and decide to treat the comment facility as a toilet wall.
Many thanks to Brittany expert Treasa for her advice on where to stay and what to see.
Unlike my good friend Willie Joe, I will not be sending bloggy postcards while I’m away.
And for good measure, ‘tis my birthday tomorrow too.
See yiz in a fortnight.
I’m going to turn comment moderation on, just in case any ne’er-do-wells stop by and decide to treat the comment facility as a toilet wall.
Many thanks to Brittany expert Treasa for her advice on where to stay and what to see.
Unlike my good friend Willie Joe, I will not be sending bloggy postcards while I’m away.
And for good measure, ‘tis my birthday tomorrow too.
See yiz in a fortnight.
Abbeyleix
31/07/08 22:53 Filed in: General
Nonsense
Tomorrow is Bank
Holiday Friday in Ireland, which means that most of
the population of the country will be on the move. As
more and more of these new motorways open up (two
alone in the last fortnight - the N6 from Kilbeggan
to Athlone and the N8/M8 from Cashel to
Mitchelstown), the familiar old bottlenecks are being
bypassed.
Some remain, and the longer they remain un-bypassed, the more their notoriety grows. As time passes, the big bottleneck on the road from Dublin to Cork has moved through Kildare and now lives here in lovely Laois. Abbeyleix is a nightmare on a Friday and Sunday, as the traffic moves at snail’s pace through its long main street. On bank holiday weekends, it’s a disaster.
If you drive from Dublin to Cork on a Friday evening and are approaching Abbeyleix, you may notice a number of cars turning right about a kilometre before the town. These aren’t local cars, and few of them sport LS reg plates. No, these drivers have discovered the Unofficial Abbeyleix Bypass, and I’m going to tell you where it is.
Directions (going south):
About 1km before Abbeyleix, the road sweeps round to the left, and a ghost island allows a turn to the right. Go right here. Go over a bridge and take the first left. Follow this road until you reach a staggered crossroads, where you go straight through. Follow this road to the end and then turn left. After 300 metres or so, you will see the gates of a Georgian house on your right. Take the right just after these (warning: it’s a really shitty little road). Follow to the end and turn right, back onto the N8 south of Abbeyleix.
You might be asking yourself why I’m publishing this and letting people in on the secret. To be honest, the 50 or so readers I get here each day are hardly going to cause a tailback even if they all decided to use the route at the same time. It might be a different story if someone like Damien Mulley published it.
Adds 24 October: Northbound directions:
As you approach Abbeyleix from Durrow, you will see a place that sells garden ornaments and sheds and such like on your left. Take the next left turn after this (it’s signposted.) Follow that road to the end and turn left. After about 300 metres, you will come to junction with two roads leading off to the right in quick succession. Take the second one. Follow all the way to the end, when you will come to a staggered crossroads. Go through this and follow the road to the end. Turn right, follow the road to the end and turn left to rejoin the N8.
Some remain, and the longer they remain un-bypassed, the more their notoriety grows. As time passes, the big bottleneck on the road from Dublin to Cork has moved through Kildare and now lives here in lovely Laois. Abbeyleix is a nightmare on a Friday and Sunday, as the traffic moves at snail’s pace through its long main street. On bank holiday weekends, it’s a disaster.
If you drive from Dublin to Cork on a Friday evening and are approaching Abbeyleix, you may notice a number of cars turning right about a kilometre before the town. These aren’t local cars, and few of them sport LS reg plates. No, these drivers have discovered the Unofficial Abbeyleix Bypass, and I’m going to tell you where it is.
Directions (going south):
About 1km before Abbeyleix, the road sweeps round to the left, and a ghost island allows a turn to the right. Go right here. Go over a bridge and take the first left. Follow this road until you reach a staggered crossroads, where you go straight through. Follow this road to the end and then turn left. After 300 metres or so, you will see the gates of a Georgian house on your right. Take the right just after these (warning: it’s a really shitty little road). Follow to the end and turn right, back onto the N8 south of Abbeyleix.
You might be asking yourself why I’m publishing this and letting people in on the secret. To be honest, the 50 or so readers I get here each day are hardly going to cause a tailback even if they all decided to use the route at the same time. It might be a different story if someone like Damien Mulley published it.
Adds 24 October: Northbound directions:
As you approach Abbeyleix from Durrow, you will see a place that sells garden ornaments and sheds and such like on your left. Take the next left turn after this (it’s signposted.) Follow that road to the end and turn left. After about 300 metres, you will come to junction with two roads leading off to the right in quick succession. Take the second one. Follow all the way to the end, when you will come to a staggered crossroads. Go through this and follow the road to the end. Turn right, follow the road to the end and turn left to rejoin the N8.
Some B & W
25/07/08 22:17 Filed in: Photos
I have hardly ever
explored black and white photography. Any B&W
photos that I have are ones that I have converted
from colour in iPhoto. Up to yesterday, I had never
actually shot anything in black and white.
Yesterday evening, Aoife was playing with her watering can in the garden. I did a few shots in B&W, just to see how they would come out.
Results below the fold.
Wait! There's More…
Yesterday evening, Aoife was playing with her watering can in the garden. I did a few shots in B&W, just to see how they would come out.
Results below the fold.
Wait! There's More…
The Shame Of the Name
25/07/08 21:50 Filed in: General
Nonsense
I was sent a link
to this bizarre story
on the BBC the other
day. A nine-year-old girl was made ward of court
in the town of New Plymouth, New Zealand so that
she could have her name changed. What was the name
her parents gave her?
Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii.
I honestly can’t understand why any parent would burden their child with such a ridiculous name. It’s natural that parents might have nicknames for a small child, and I am one of the worst offenders in that regard. There must be a couple of dozen nicknames that I have used for my daughter since she was born, but none of them appear on her birth certificate.
This isn’t a new phenomenon, as we are well used to celebs giving their kids daft names. Frank Zappa famously called his son Dweezil and his daughter Moon Unit. Nicole Kidman has called her new baby Sunday Roast or something like that. There used to be joke about the late Paula Yates, whose three daughters all sport very silly names. The drugs squad call to her house and when she asks them what they want, they say they are looking for magic mushrooms. Paula replies that she’s not home from school yet.
Another one I don’t understand is when parents with the surname O’Brien call their newborn son Brian. Or Cormac McCormack. Or Patrick FitzPatrick. There must be a good reason for that, and as yet, I haven’t heard it.
Another joke regarding names
Johnny Cash performing A Boy Named Sue:
Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii.
I honestly can’t understand why any parent would burden their child with such a ridiculous name. It’s natural that parents might have nicknames for a small child, and I am one of the worst offenders in that regard. There must be a couple of dozen nicknames that I have used for my daughter since she was born, but none of them appear on her birth certificate.
This isn’t a new phenomenon, as we are well used to celebs giving their kids daft names. Frank Zappa famously called his son Dweezil and his daughter Moon Unit. Nicole Kidman has called her new baby Sunday Roast or something like that. There used to be joke about the late Paula Yates, whose three daughters all sport very silly names. The drugs squad call to her house and when she asks them what they want, they say they are looking for magic mushrooms. Paula replies that she’s not home from school yet.
Another one I don’t understand is when parents with the surname O’Brien call their newborn son Brian. Or Cormac McCormack. Or Patrick FitzPatrick. There must be a good reason for that, and as yet, I haven’t heard it.
Another joke regarding names
Johnny Cash performing A Boy Named Sue:
The Low Fares Airline?
21/07/08 22:32 Filed in: General
Nonsense
This popped up as I
booked a Ryanair flight for the family this evening:
None of these apply. The little one
will be past her second birthday by then and will be
classed as a child (2-16 years), as opposed to an
infant (0-2 years).
They must have forgotten to include the fifth
condition, so I have done it for them:
Deja Vu
15/07/08 23:21 Filed in: General
Nonsense | Lisbon
Treaty
It’s often said that
what happens in Britain will happen in Ireland some
years later. Could it be that Ireland is now becoming
Eurosceptic on a par with Britain? Could we see a
headline like the one below in one of the “Oirish”
tabloids in the coming days, echoing a famous front
page of The
Sun from
the 1980s?
(Click to enlarge)
(Click to enlarge)
3G iPhone At O2 (redux)
08/07/08 23:06 Filed in: Tech
The worldwide launch of
the 3G iPhone this Friday has given O2 Ireland
an opportunity to redeem themselves, which
predictably, they have failed to take. Once again
they propose charges and tariffs on potential
Irish iPhone customers which are way over the odds
compared to those being offered to iPhone buyers
in the UK.
Here’s the proposed Irish tariff (just in case the relevant page moves, here’s a screen grab, click to enlarge):
And here’s the UK one:
Ah yes, the Irish love to chat, don’t they? Highest ARPU of all the European mobile markets, the gift of the gab, kiss of the Blarney Stone and all the rest of the patronising, condescending shite.
I would love to get an iPhone, and I am sure that there are many like me. But there is no way on this earth that I would be prepared to pay those tarrifs to O2 Ireland, while consumers just across the water (and of course, just up the road in Northern Ireland) get such a better deal.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - Apple should take the iPhone away from O2 Ireland.
Here’s the proposed Irish tariff (just in case the relevant page moves, here’s a screen grab, click to enlarge):
And here’s the UK one:
Ah yes, the Irish love to chat, don’t they? Highest ARPU of all the European mobile markets, the gift of the gab, kiss of the Blarney Stone and all the rest of the patronising, condescending shite.
I would love to get an iPhone, and I am sure that there are many like me. But there is no way on this earth that I would be prepared to pay those tarrifs to O2 Ireland, while consumers just across the water (and of course, just up the road in Northern Ireland) get such a better deal.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - Apple should take the iPhone away from O2 Ireland.
Never, Ever, Trust Your Spellchecker...
08/07/08 22:29
