Thursday, August 31, 2006

Cinematografic desert

Activites:Pub, Whitewater kayak

Back to work, after this nice break in Dublin, hopefully tuesday , we went on the river Shannon to do some whitewater kayaking.

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A nice evening on the river Shannon
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Movies
Two interesting movies are now in display in Ireland:
  • Volver by Pedro Almodovar

  • Scanner Darkly adapted from a Philip K.Dick novel

Unfortunately for me, this is only actually shown in Dublin... and not here in Limerick... I live in cinematografic desert... (if you except all american marketing super-production)... I want Kitano, S.Coppolla......

Radiohead Live
You can find some mp3 of Radiohead Live performance (and others) on this site:
http://finefinemusic.com/

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Saturday, August 26, 2006

The Rocky Road to Dublin (2)

I've just finished uploading the pics from my mobile phone, of the Marley Park gig, so it's time to post a bit more about this fantastic Radiohead concert.
Ok first, I am useless, I did not bring my camera for some stupid reason.

Absolutely gorgeous day in Dublin, look at this blue sky. Perfect day to lay on a grass in a park... but soon enough a massive crowd is going to invade the ground.


I arrive with 2 french lads (Guyguy et manu) at Marlay Park with the first bus around 5pm... so we could enjoy the 3 group. The first group was BeerHoof ( I am not sure of teh syntx ) interestting and strange, something i would call in french: "déjanté"

Then Beck came, with a great scenery, all what happened on the scene was duplicated with Marionette... the puppetmasters were fantasctic reproducing the perfomance of the band on stage... and so fun...



It took them a long time to install the set for Radiohead but then they come... and the magic begun...




I am so sorry, I had'nt my camera. The concert was fantastic !!!...
Thought I spent some time, wondering, about my morning vision... In fact in the morning, I was in Temple Bar Square, and I cross somebody who looked exactly like Thom Yorke, even though I thought at the moment he was really small... so I spend a long moment trying to estimate the height of TY, and if I had seen him earlier dring the day.

Radiohead fan website: http://www.ateaseweb.com/.And I encourage to take a look at the links page on the radiohead website.

Edit to add the set of the concert:
airbag
2+2=5
the national anthem
my iron lung
morning bell
videotape
nude
there there
the gloaming
paranoid android
all i need
pyramid song
climbing up the walls
how to dissapear completely
just
lucky
idioteque

like spinning plates
bangers n' mash
karma police
everything in it's right place (no intro)

creep

Other website of interests
http://www.cafebabel.com/fr/

The Rocky Road to Dublin

Activities: Radiohead concert, Pub, Dublin, Temple Bar....

radioheadticket022

Yeaaaahhh just came back from Dublin, where I've attended the Radiohead Concert in Marlay Park...
That was fantastic ! Beck was there just before, and the performance was great too ( specially the puppets ;-P )


So two days in Dublin, most of the time in Temple Bar Square:

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Wandering about the statues in the street of Dublin....
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Watching the lovely women in Dublin:

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Trinity College, (thought I did not manage to see teh Book of Kells yet):

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In Dublin Castle, I've found some sculpture done with compressed sand:
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I've spend a lot of time wandering about the Spire in O'Connell Street.... build to replace Nelson Pillar ( oh a famous english warrior on O'Connel street shock ) in 1999... but only achieved in 2003 [The Spire]!
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Especially questionning the way it had been erected:

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Some random pics:
Dublin busy place, full of tourist

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And Dubliners... or leprechaun ??

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Wednesday, August 23, 2006

10 mots pour une histoire... [FR]

Exercice de style pris sur le site des Papous dans la tete
:[Site de l'emission]
Je vous donne 10 mots, à vous de les faire vivre dans une histoire à
imaginer : conte de Noël, lettre de voeux ou scène de la vie
quotidienne.

- Idylle - blanche - autographe - couloir - perroquet - toute-puissance - mystère - trottiner - ravissement - ampoule

Ecrivez des textes de 10 ou 15 lignes, pas plus, cela fait aussi partie de la contrainte !


Sous l'aube d'une ampoule, je la vis trottiner a la poursuite d'un perroquet dans un couloir.
Elle voulais son autographe, et etais armee d'une feuille balnche symbole de sa toute-puissance.
La concierge, vint m'expliquer ce mystere, et ainsi j'appris avec ravissement l'histoire de cette idylle maudite.


Pfff dieu que que je suis mauvais :-P... il y a des textes bien meilleurs sur le site l'emission.

Other news: I am going to see Radiohead ... I am going to see Radiohead ... tomorrow Marlay Park, Dublin, under the rain....

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Tuesday, August 22, 2006

RADIO -- ou enfin un post en francais.... [FR]

First, sorry for my English readers, I am switching back to French for some posts, and I'll probably from now on switch from one language to another to make things more confusing.



Pourquoi un post en français ?
Voila une bonne question, je crois que c'est parce que ces derniers temps, j'ai beaucoup écouté avec ravissement des radios en langue française (Radio-Nova cf post précédents), et lu des blogs en langue française ( j'ai mis les liens des plus intéressants a mon goût dans les divers post). Résultat, l'envie d'écrire en français, cumule au fait que faire référence a des sites/blogs français en anglais est un peu bizarre. Donc voila.

Le masque et la plume
[site de l'emission, ou vous pouvez écouter la dernière diffusion]
Donc ce lundi, j'ai (re)-écouté pour la première fois depuis plus d'un an, cette fantastique émission de France-Inter, je crois que ce genre de débat futiles a la française me manquais, les querelles et les échanges de bons mots.
J'en profites pour recommander une lecture: Tangages et roulis, de David McNeil (Gallimard) ode au plaisir alocooliques... ce qui nous fais revenir a l'éternel Dimey.

" Ivrogne, c'est un mot qui nous vient de province
Et qui ne veut rien dire à Tulle ou Châteauroux,
Mais au coeur de Paris je connais quelques princes
Qui sont selon les heures, archange ou loup-garou
L'ivresse n'est jamais qu'un bonheur de rencontre,
Ça dure une heure ou deux, ça vaut ce que ça vaut,
Qu'il soit minuit passé ou cinq heure à ma montre,
Je ne sais plus monter que sur mes grands chevaux.

Ivrogne, ça veut dire un peu de ma jeunesse,
Un peu de mes trente ans pour une île aux trésors,
Et c'est entre Pigalle et la rue des Abesses
Que je ressuscitais quand j'étais ivre-mort...
J'avais dans le regard des feux inexplicables
Et je disais des mots cent fois plus grands que moi,
Je pouvais bien finir ma soirée sous la table,
Ce naufrage, après tout, ne concernait que moi.

Ivrogne, c'est un mot que ni les dictionnaires
Ni les intellectuels, ni les gens du gratin
Ne comprendront jamais... C'est un mot de misère
Qui ressemble à de l'or à cinq heure du matin.
Ivrogne... et pourquoi pas ? Je connais cent fois pire,
Ceux qui ne boivent pas, qui baisent par hasard,
Qui sont moches en troupeau et qui n'ont rien à dire.
Venez boire avec moi... On s'ennuiera plus tard."

Bernard Dimey


[Un site sur Dimey]
J'ai hate d'ecouter la prochaine emission sur les sorties cinema... et apres me desespere que ces films ne sortent pas en salles ici en Irlande.

A propos de cinema, si vous etes sur Limerick (Eire), il y a une sorte de cinema d'art et essai qui diffuse des films sympas (et different de la diffusion des omniplex) dans une salle un peu pourrie ( mais bon l'ambiance y est tres sympa ): BELLTABLE [website]
-----

Enfin une série de blogs intéressants, (re)-découverts récemment, je mets aussi
les liens rss:

  • Carnet d'un inspecteur de travail[RSS] un blog (comme son nom l'indique) d'un inspecteur du travail en France, parfois édifiant sur les conditions de travail de certaines personnes en France, bourre d'informations utiles sur le code du travail, et un contraceptif radical a toute pulsion ultralibéraliste.
  • Droit des enfants[RSS] un blog par un juge des enfant. Encore pris sur les blog du site du Monde.L
    La encore, parfais un peu déprimant, de lire toutes ces histoires sur le trafic d'enfants, mais d'un autre cote cela a un cote rassurant de voir que certaines personnes essaient de lutter contre cela.


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Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Not Glop Statistics

I've read in the latest National Geographic Magazine [August 2006], the following statistics:

Odds of dying by any cause : 1 in 1 ( 100% ) ... this is not "Glop" at all.

But here the funny things. This article is based on  a study from the National Safety Coucil (an US institute)  called What are the odds of dying ?

So if you're an US citizen, you're more likely to die by heart disease ( 1 in 5 , 20% ).
I did not think suicide was so common ( 1 in 119 ), it's even (twice) more common than dying by falling ( 1 in 218 ).
In a previous post, I was talking about road safety, and it happens that dying in a motor vehicle accident is the 4th greatest odds ( after heart disease, cancer and stroke.... with 1 in 84).

So if you're looking some more unconventional death, here some tricks, you're more likely to die by alcohol poisoning ( 1 in 10048 ) than because of hot weather ( 1 in 13729 ), and I wonder if the numbers would be the same in France.

In the USA, you're more likely to die by Death Penalty ( 1 in 62468 ) than strike by lightning ( 1 in 79746 ) or Flood ( 1 in 144156 ) or Earthquake ( 1 in 117127 ).

In 2003, in the USA, 332 persons die by drowning and submersi into bath-tub, in order to compare there has been 17732 deaths by assault the same year.
Odds of dying by firearm assault 1 in 314....

But I did not find anything about death by shark ....

But you can always check with a psychic to know how this is going to end : Death Psychic
In my case th way of my death has been foretold like this:
After haggling over the price of meat, an enraged butcher beats you to death with a frozen beef tongue.

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Monday, August 14, 2006

My Eye


My Eye
Originally uploaded by TOF2006.
Last Week Activities: Work
Last Week Pub: Nancy Blake (Wed) ; Daffy's (Thu) ; Old Quarter (Sat)

I've been quite busy with my work these last few weeks and unfortunately week-end... so not many things to tell, about place visited, funny stuff done... Sad...
Thus I managed to spend sometime in the Nancy Blake, this wednesday, and relax by enjoying some typical irish music. And like every thursday, I went to my salsa lesson (the last one of the summer, the lessons will resume the 31st of August). I am definitely bad at dancing salsa... I've tried the advanced class, after several (too repetitive) sessions of improver. but I can hardly manage to do the full routine... I might go back to improver in september, and I know that I need to practice more (particulary on the dance floor) to be able to improve myself. Anyway it was good fun.
Saturday GR, dragged me out, to the Old Quarter, to see some "talent" ... definitely this pub is not my cup of tea.

The photo here, is my first try to take a macro photo of my iris/eye.
I've been very impressed few years ago, by the work from Francis Giacobetti (published in GEO in 1996), it tooke photography of the iris of famous people (Cousteau, Dalai Lama...) with a specific material. I've never managed to find the pictures on the web....

Monday, August 07, 2006

Cameo Fernandel

Cameo Fernandel in PS2 game

Cameo Fernandel
Originally uploaded by TOF2006.

I've just finished "Destroy All Humans" on PS2, (between the few hours I spent at work this bank holiday week-end), while playing I've found this... the singer on the sign looks like Fernandel, a famous french actor... [see IMBD about Fernandel]... By the way fun game.


Radio Nova
Actually I listen a lost Radio Nova a french radio station, with loads of good music, few ad. I like their jingles made of sound from french movies.
And here's an audio blog about it Nova AudioBlog

Songs of the WE

Saturday, August 05, 2006

Irish Roads


stopandprayconnemarra002


I've just scan some photos, I've taken some time ago with my old argentic camera, so I can post them on Flickr... And just remember this one... It's in the middle of the Connemara (Ireland), on a lost road....
I had to stop to take the picture.


irishroad_achill010


And this one has been taken on the misty scenic road to Achill Island.

Irish roads are very often narrow (except for the very recent dual carriage way ... but it's rare), and unfortunately not very safe... probably first beacuse of the importatnt increase of the number of vehicules (car and trucks) travelling nowadays on irish roads, and then because of a lack of a decent learning (and testing) system for young drivers, and a slow process of law enforcement...
In his edition of the 4th of August 2006, the Irish Examiner announced that Ireland has been ranked fourth in the most dangerous road in Europe (in term of acidents and fatalities per kilometers... 1. Greece, 2. Portugal, 3. Spain ).
This ranking is quite surprising because the rods in Ireland has been gretaly improved in the last fez years.
The study highlight also that irish are the least agressive motorist in Europe, and french are the most (I won't oppose that).
On the other hand The National Road Authority declared irish roads are safest now than in th 70's, which is true if you divide the number of death by the number of cars.
Just some numbers to finish this post.

Year: 1980 Number of cars: 900000 Road Deaths: 564
Year: 2005 Number of cars: 2100000 Road Deaths: 396
In 2006, so far, 219 had died on irish road from the 1st January up to the 15th of July....

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Surfing Ireland

Fun, Fun, Fun
Activities:Surf ; Pub: 1 on the beach ; Alcohol Units: 0


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Finally, I went surfing in Ireland (first time on a surf ever), this tuesday. The Outdoor pursuit Club of my company, was organising a initiation session in Lahinch.
Simply brilliant, and I really enjoyed it. I even managed to stand on the board 4-5 times but then "ivre de joie", I simply fall...
That was a perfect way to finish a working day.


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Song of the day:PJ.Harvey - This Mess we're in.

Wouldn't It Be Nice
Activities:Pub ; Pub: 2 ; Alcohol Units: 4+
Decided to go to the Nancy Blake this wednesday, to enjoy some traditional irish music with the french lads (GP & NM). There I've seen Mel and a friend of her, a lovely irish girl, I've previously met, few months ago, during my salsa lessons in the Daffy's.The night finished, quite drunk, and singing...
Exactly the night out I needed.

For Information, every wednesday night, these traditional irish music takes plce in the Nancy Blake.

Song of the day:Dyonisos - Don Diego 2000

Whale watch
A very interesting site which keeps track of all whale sighting in Ireland:
http://www.iwdg.ie/
The map is particulary good, and it seems we miss some Basking Shark cruising in Kerry, the week end we spent in Mizen Head.

Blogs
I just link here, some interesting blogs, I read from time to time:

Brickmania

Lego Smurf castle ??   Eva.... massive build Swimming in bricks ?