Around Ireland - Giant Causeway

I've push my road trip up to Nothern Ireland to see Belfast (I'll go back there, spend more time, and hopefully I'll have pics for this), and to see the Giant Causeway


And some Castle

Chain mail

I've just received one of these chains-email (you know you receive it and you must send it to 10 people), so that's an easy way to fill my blog (sorry that's in French... no time to translate), here's my answer.

Mode d'emploi:
Si on s'y met tous, c'est vraiment drôle. Copiez ce mail en entier et
collez-le dans un nouveau mail que vous enverrez. Changez toutes les
réponses pour qu'elles soient les vôtres. Ensuite, envoyez ce message à un
groupe de gens que vous connaissez, incluant la personne qui vous a envoyé
ce courrier.
En théorie vous allez apprendre plusieurs petites choses à propos de vos
amis.
N'oubliez pas d'envoyer vos réponses à l'expéditeur de ce message.

1. Heure de debut ? 8h07
2. Prénom : Christophe
3. Ton anniversaire : 20 Mars 1976
4. Signe zodiaque : Poissons ... mais je preferes mon signe chinois Dragon
5. Age : 30
6. Un tatouage ? Non pas encore
7. As-tu déjà été amoureux(se) ? : oui.
8. As-tu déjà aimé jusqu'au point de pleurer ? oui (sinon cela compte pas)
9. Pepsi ou Coca ? : coca
10. Café ou thé ? : Thé
11.Tasse ? Mug ? : Mug guinness (c'est psychologique)
16. Numéro préféré : Tiens oui il ya quelqu'un qui a vire les question 12 a 15 (je les rajoutes apres, histoire de confondre tout) sinon j'aimes tous les numero (specialement Zero, brillant concept)
12. Film prefere: "Requiem for a dream" et "Annie Hall"
13. Comique Prefere: Desproges (Le but de l’homme moderne sur cette terre est à l’évidence de s’agiter sans réfléchir dans tous les sens, afin de pouvoir dire fièrement, à l’heure de sa mort : « Je n’ai pas perdu mon temps. ») et Lee Evans (mais il y a aussi Father Ted)
14. Serie TV prefere: Oulalala... MacGyver, je crois.
15. Dessin Anime prefere: Albator (suivi de pres par Sponge Bob)
17. Type de musique préféré : Traditionnelle Irlandaise, Rock
18. Fleurs : Marguerite Blanche ("J'y songerais")
19. Sujet de conversation détesté : Aucun.... ah si tout ce qui concerne les "people" (britney, royal family...)
20. Disney ou Warner? : Plutot Ghibli et Pixar mais bon ils sont tous les deux diffuses par Disney!!
D'un autre cote Warner c'est Tex Avery....... J'adore de petit chaperon rouge (c'est peut etre de la que viens mon obsession pour les rousses...Youhououou)
21. Fast food préféré : .... un pub a CastleGregory, pas pour le fish&chips mais plutot cf question 7
22. Un problème : A funny one
Question: If you are to travel exactly 2 km and your speed over the
first kilometer is 30.1 kmph, what must your speed be over the second km
to average 60 kmph over the entire 2 kilometers?
You must prove your answer.
23. Couleur préférée : vert ... non bleu .........aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrggggghhhhh
24. Comment te vois-tu dans l'avenir ?
Avenir tres lointain: proprietaire d'un Pub/Auberge de Jeunesse a Dingle
D'ici la l'avenir est plein de possibilites, d'expectatives et autres opportunites.
25. Des animaux à la maison : snifff ... non je veux un chien aussi !!! Un chien berger pour aller avec des moutons. Ouaf ! Ouaf !
26. Lequel de tes amis vit le plus loin? : Yin a Shanghai (A priori elle va etre cite un paquet de fois, difficile de faire plus loin, Michelle repart en Australie, je veux gagner ce jeu ;-P ), apres plus pres: Juju en Iceland (60°N 21°55W) et un paquet de personnes en France
27. Qui sera le plus rapide à répondre à ton mail ? : J'aurais dis Brucie mais c'est lui qui m'a envoye le mail en premier ... pffff I don't know
28. Qui sera le plus long: LJ ( if he reply :-P )
29. Ami(s) spécial(aux) : Tous mes amis sont speciaux ( et tarés ou alcooliques ...)
30. Que changerais-tu dans ta vie : Rien pour le moment. Plus tard sans doute suivre une formation pour devenir berger.
31. Tu as un ordi à la maison? : Oui, c'est avec cela que je reponds a toutes sortes de questionnaires (mais je preferes ceux de Cosmo,... afin de determiner quel est mon homme/animal/ami ideal)
32. CD préféré? : Dionysos "Monsters in love" et "Daemon Days" de Gorillaz
33. La première chose à laquelle tu penses au réveil? bin elle est ou ma copine ?
34. Comment vois-tu l'Amour : a 2!
36.Qu'y a t il sur tes murs? des photos d'henri cartie-bresson, de devantures de pub, une reproduction d'un tableau de Hopper (pas NightHawk), une carte du monde (aka toutes les places que je n'ai jamais visites.... :( et ou est trace l'itineraire du tour du monde en 80 jours)
37. Qu'y a t-il sous ton lit : Rien merci a Henry l'aspi
38. Ecris quelque chose à la personne qui t'a envoyé ce mail : Merci, est ce que c'est une manoeuvre subversive pour me rappeller que j'ai oublie ton anniversaire :-P
39. Nomme la personne qui ne te répondra pas: LJ
40. Celui dont tu es sur qu'elle te répondra : ... Personne
41. Qui aimerais-tu voir répondre : Je sais pas, j'aimes pas les gens!
42. Que dirais-tu à quelqu'un en particulier mais que tu n'oses pas dire : Alors la rien n'existes que je n'oses dire.... a part je t'aimes. :-[
43: Sport favori : Hurling (mais uniquement parceque plongee sous-marine n'est pas un sport ... enfin)
44. Timide ou extraverti : timide pendant les 7 premieres pintes de Guinness, et aussi sur un bateau face aux irlandaise parlant francais... pour le reste....
45. Ton surnom : EUh ... Tof.... n'importe quel surnom excepte Cricri (PS: pour la petite histoire cricri etais le diminutif de Christian pas Christophe dans "Helene et les garcons"... voila qui devrais clore le debat une fois pour toute)
46. Langues parlées : Francais (de moins en moins), Anglais, Anglais de Pub, Espagnol (mais tres tres embrouille), Italien (pour les insultes: Va Fenculo...), et la j'essaies d'apprendre le gaelique irlandais.
47. Un mot que tu aimes dire : Sacrebleu !
48. Un coucou à quelqu'un en particulier : Salut Eva ! Bienvenue dans ce monde merveilleux !
49: une fraz ki te fai plaisir : "Suck my dick" traduis en francais par une irlandaise du nord (J'aurais du enregistrer cela et en faire un podcast).... sinon
ou alors "Can't you bestupid somewhere else?"... mais ma prefere reste: "agreuh"
50. Qu'est-ce que tu voudrais pour ton anniversaire : un an de moins .... quoi c'est pas possible!? .... bon une pinte de Murphy alors
51. Opel ou Seat : Nissan....
52. Sucré ou Salé : both
53. Lieu favori : Dingle, Galway, n'importe ou au bord de la mer (sauf Nice peut etre)
55 Lèche-vitrine ou lèche-écran : pffff.......ni l'un ni l'autre....
56. Citation prefere:
"Dumb people are always blissfully unaware of how dumb they really are..." Patrick Star
"Rien ne m'est sur, que la chose incertaine" F.Villon
57. Heure de fin : 9h34

Around Ireland - Desproges

Around Ireland
I've done a bot of travel around Ireland these days, and finally git a chance to take a look at the Hill of Tara (or Hill of King).



And going further in Irish history, I visited other sites (older than the Egyptian pyramids). First Newgrange:

Visit agreemented by a lovely guide :-P

Yes Newgrange ...that's big...

And finish the day by Knowth:



The site is protected by the OPW and the UNESCO.


DESPROGES
Re-discover some mp3 of Desproges on my hard drive. Fabulous, even if I've become a too optimistic person to fully appreciate it now :-P (Official website in French: http://www.desproges.fr/ ).

Quotations of the day:

• Tout dans la vie est une affaire de choix. Ca commence par la tétine ou le téton, ça se termine par le chêne ou le sapin.

*Everything in life is a matter of choice. It starts with "pacifier or breasts ?", it ends with "Oak or pine ?"

• Le but de l’homme moderne sur cette terre est à l’évidence de s’agiter sans réfléchir dans tous les sens, afin de pouvoir dire fièrement, à l’heure de sa mort : « Je n’ai pas perdu mon temps. »

*The goal of modern man on Earth is obviously to run around aimlessly and without a thought, just so he can proudly say, on his death bed : "I did not waste my time".

At the end of the day

At the end of the day things stay even, in France one death (some member of the family) today and last week one birth (some friend)....

Diving - Dingle

Activities: Pub(Murphy), Diving, Beach, seesighting

So diving saturday and sunday, hanging around dingle, finding few pubs... learning french from some lovely Diving Instructors (not enough...)

Diving
Like previous WE, we dived in Castlegregory (Dingle Peninsula, Co Kerry) in a gorgeous diving center (http://www.waterworld.ie/)

4 dives this times (lambster, dog-fish ...etc ) but no seal...

My diving buddy has found new friend:

Honestly I preferred the lovely girls on the boat of the diving center :-P ... ( and my reponse to any comment of the man in question .... LOL ) If you want more details go there ... I'll probably translate later part of his story about PADI (Put Another Dollar In or Pay Another Dive Instructor).


After a bit of driving around:




And after a while we finally discover the South Pole Inn, famous pub on the road to Dingle (Annascaul).

This is the pub of Tom Crean, an Irish antartic explorer.

Work
FYI, I've been able to rip off a nokia mobile phone, to try to see some chips I worked on:


Links
Irish Sailing Association
Scuba Diving Magazine

And about Wild Life in Ireland:
Encyclopedia of Marine Life in Ireland
Wild-Life in Ireland
About Seal preservation
About our friends the badger...Reminds me Redwall, but unfortunately, most of the badgers I've seen here are dead on the road :(((

Traduction
Sea Lion = "Otarie" in French and Seal = "Phoque", I am not a zoologist but you can recognize a sea-lion from a seal by the way he walks, the sea-lion "walks" on his fins and the seal just slide....

Cinema
I've just seen a brilliant movie: THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY
It's about IRA, the irish revolution, civil war... and it starts with an hurling game.

There is more than Guinness in Ireland

Holy Guinness

Pic stolen from Mikie....

Brewery
According to an article in the New-York Times, now in Ireland, you can find not only Guinness:
Journey Ireland New York Times

I've already spoken of the Murphys (Cork stout), Beamish and other irish beers.
I am looking forward to have a taste of these beers made in these micro-brewery (I'll just copy here the information from the New York times until I can give my own view):

• Biddy Early Brewery, Inagh, County Clare, www.beb.ie.
  Red Biddy ale is made with a locally grown wild herb, bog myrtle, in place of hops.
  Black Biddy stout is made with carrigeen moss, used to fine the beer, a process that causes solids to drop out.
  
• Porterhouse Brewing Company, 16-18 Parliament Street, Dublin, www.porterhousebrewco.com.
  The brewery offers the widest selection of beers among Ireland's microbrews. As many as 10 beers are on tap, including seasonal specialties like a rich chocolate stout.
  
• Messrs Maguire, 1-2 Burgh Quay, Dublin, 353-1-670-5777. On tap are a plain stout, a fruity ale, wheat beer and a Czech-style pilsner, along with a seasonal rotation.
  
• Carlow Brewing Company, the Goods Store, Station Road, Carlow, 353-59-913-4356. Carlow Brewing makes O'Hara's Stout, Curim Gold and Moling's Red.
  Curim is said to be a traditional Celtic-style beer once made in the region, and the red ale is named after the Book of Moling by sixth-century Celtic monks in South Carlow.
  
• Franciscan Well Brewery, 14 North Mall, Cork, 353-21-421-0130; www.franciscanwellbrewery.com.
  Franciscan Well serves a range of local favorites (Rebel Red, Shandon Stout, Blarney Blonde, Rebel Lager and Friar Weisse), complemented by seasonal specialties.
  
• Kinsale Brewing Company, the Glen, Kinsale, 353-21-470-2124, http://www.kinsalebrewing.com/. With a new brewer on board, Kinsale is trying to bring new beers to taps, but currently serves lager, stout, ale and wheat.

Basking Sharks

For a long time, I mis-translate the french word for these animal: "Requin Pelerin" (litteral translation Pilgrim Shark) ; but it turns out the english name is Basking Shark. And it's possible to see them on the irish coast (especially Dingle).

How, Where and When to Watch Basking Sharks

I want to see a basking shark !!!!! And some seals and a dolphin ( there is one in Dingle)....

Song of the week

My favourite song of the moment is: Justice vs Simian - 'Never Be Alone ' (Virgin) discovered in BBC Annie Mac show.

Until Radiohead launch it's new album... perhaps... I heard their first new song on BBC Radio1... this morning, nice and very experimental... we'll see.... (I'll see them in concert in Dublin at the end of August ... youpi...).. and Tom Yorke is supposed to launch a solo album next month (called The Eraser).

Watersports WeekEnd

Activity: Diving

DINGLE
Back to dingle for a sunday dive in the Dingle peninsula.
Very good diving center: http://www.waterworld.ie/

The windmill on the road from Tralee to Dingle:

Some horse...

And some Pub wall, and some results post-pub



Diving
Two very nice dives on Sunday, near Brandon Point, and I fell in love of some lovely diving instructor (or future)... unfortunately Mikie, who was me, play it unfair...
Anyway I'll be back.

WE conclusion
Ended the WE, in the Trinity Room, where they was some brazilain animations (due to the world cup match)... I think after seeing the french performance and the brazilian dancers what I might transfer my support to LA SELECAO...

Joke of the Day about France World Cup Football
It is just before the France v Brazil match. Ronaldinho goes into the Brazilian changing room to find all his teammates looking a bit glum.
"What's up?" he asks.
"Well, we're having trouble getting motivated for this game. We know it's important but it's only France. They're sh*te and we can't be bothered."
Ronaldinho looks at them and says, "Well, I reckon I can beat them by myself-you lads go down the pub."
So Ronaldinho goes out to play France by himself and the rest of the Brazilian team go off for a few jars.
After a few pints they wonder how the game is going, so they get the landlord to put the teletext on. A big cheer goes up as the screen reads "Brazil 1 - France 0 (Ronaldinho 10 minutes)". He is beating France all by himself!
Anyway, a few pints later and the game is forgotten until someone remembers, "It must be full time now, let's see how he got on." They put the teletext on.
"Result from the Stadium 'Brazil 1 (Ronaldinho 10 minutes) - France 1 (Henry 89 minutes)."
They can't believe it; he has single-handedly got a draw against France!!
They rush back to the Stadium to congratulate Ronaldinho. They find him in the dressing room, still in his gear, sitting with his head in his hands.
He refuses to look at them. "I've let you down, I've let you down."
"Don't be daft, you got a draw against France, all by yourself. And they only scored at the very, very end!"
"No, no, I have, I've let you down...I got sent off after 12 minutes."


CANTO REVIENS
"Quand les mouettes suivent le chalutier, c'est parce qu’elles pensent qu’on va leur jeter des sardines" (Cantonna a fleur de mots)

Watersports week

[Weekly summary] Pub: 6, Alcohol Units: 2, Activities: Sailing, Kayak, Salsa

Lough Gur
Back to Lough Gur (ear Limerick city) wednesday

To learn/practice some Kayak with the OPC (Outdoor Pursuit Club)

Very fun... in the water, and we were all so prettyly dressed

Summary perfect evening:


Sailer
Tuesday, I went sailing in Kilrush with Oisin and Ronan on Connor's boat: Double Trouble. I am looking forward to the next trip, we are going to do some training, in order to participate to a sailing race later during the year... No photos... I am so sorry... but here some links fro sailing:

• http://www.ukhalsey.com/RulesQuiz/index.asp …race rules learning tool

• http://www.sailnet.com/collections/learningtosail/ …..some beginner sail info (haven’t looked at this so don’t know how good it is)
• Les Glenans got a center in Ireland: Glenans Irish Sailing Club

World Cup
Aie... it started... no comment on the french team....

Movies

A small post about the (once again) wonderful BBC. On their website, they present some short movies animation ...etc... worth to check it out sometimes:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/filmnetwork/

My favourites movies are:

• Industrial love dwarf about a (dwarf) conspiracy to steal love.
• Safety procedure to watch if you have to take a plane one day.