Sunday, April 29, 2007

Forest Walk

Just walking in the forest near Lough Key...
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Saturday: No Wicked Chicken, replace by a very nice concert from Fionn Regan in Dolans.
See Fionn Regan in the RTE program Other Voices.

Friday, April 27, 2007

Irish spring ... hot hot

It has been the warmest April recorded in Ireland, according to Met Eireann. And the driest at Shannon airport... I would not more agree... No rain for 2 weeks, then 2 days of rain, and now great sun.
For example, maximum temperature yesterday at Shannon airport: 16.7.

In the house the garden has seen its first roses....
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A follow up, to the previous post, the good thing about food in ireland, is that you rediscover French food with an incredible pleasure, you might also rediscover the most simple pleasure ( french green beans just fired to be crunchy, with a nut of butter ).
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Thursday, April 26, 2007

Food in ireland

Seafood

Some thinking about food in Ireland. Even if Ireland is an island, surprisingly Irish people don't eat fish. I admit you can find the traditional fish and chip which consists of deep-fried fish (cod most of the time) in batter or breadcrumbs with deep-fried potatoes.

Sea Food is rare, even if there is an oyster festival near Galway ( to be consumed with Guinness), i've never seen people here eating blue mussel or other "fruits de mer".

The deep-fried approach seems the based of any cooking here, the specialty of one of my first Irish roommate was fried sausages at 3am when coming back from the pub ... lovely smell in the house.

There is a socking contrast between the brilliant TV program you can see here( mainly British: The F word, R Kitchen's Nightmare, ...etc... ) about food and the quality of the food you can find here. If I compare with France, we certainly don't have that many hours dedicated to food on television ( except Maiite and some lunch hours short programs ), but the education about food is done at school and home with much more variety and choice in your daily food.

Breakfast
Very symbolic the traditional Irish breakfast is composed of:
toasts, fried sausages, fried tomatoes, black pudding, baked beans, bacon eggs and coffee or tea.
And as you can see it's brilliantly fat ( and perhaps unhealthy ? ) !

Food is a common source of criticism for French expatriate here in Ireland as developed in an interesting point of view of French people ( in French ) about Food in Ireland (mfe.org).

Cheese
In one word, I am sorry, but cheddar is not real cheese ! Viva unpasteurized cheese !
The situation is slowly progressing, as you can now find some French cheese in supermarkets ( at prohibitive price )

On other milk product, I've never seen people eat so much butter with just a slice of wheaten bread ( at breakfast, during their tea break ), every restaurant will provide you with a couple of slices of bread and some butter.

The traditional cooking is simple (Irish stew, baked potatoes ), and only recently starting, with the country becoming economically healthier, to be a bit more varied and elaborated.
See History of Food in Ireland.

Nice restaurants in Limerick area:
- The Green Onion (Rutland St, Limerick) +++
- Copper & Spice (CornMarket St, Limerick) +++
- Brulées (corner of Henry Street and Mallow Street) ++++ (but expensive)


Some links:
- Italian Foodies (limerick)
- Marmiton (there is an english version but mainly in french)
- BBC Food (Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay, Bill Granger )
- Traditional simple Irish recipes

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Work, create, be interested....

A gardener has decided to retire... at the respectable age of 104... putting his longevity down to having "plenty to do and being interested in it". That's quite a fantastic example to follow.
Full story at BBC News.

It seems according to a recent study (BBC News again) Danish people, are the happiest people in Europe because of lower expectation or more realistic expectations. Danes (according to the study ) just take a more realistic view of life, and year after year are just simply happy that things didn't go as badly as they feared.

Is the secret of an happy life a simpler life (and avoid too high expectations) ?

That remind me of the truth told by buddhism, life is suffering because of desire (desire of renewed life)...

Also in the news the administrative court in Nice, has pronounced the expulsion of the homeless which were staying of the beach of the "Promenade".... just a question of prestige, it did not look good for the image of the city.... It's very hypocrite decision when you know that the promenade is full of working girls... but these ones are probably good for tourism.....


----

Finally a bit of media:
Happy Birthday Tracks, and its ten years on the German/French TV Channel.

And don't forget from April 23 to April 29, it's Turn Off TV week... so TV couch potatoes, switch it off, go out !


I know it's a bit paradoxical, to celebrate in one hand the 10 years of a TV show ( a brilliant one) and on the other hand to incite people to switch off their TV.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

NRA update

Finally an article in the NYT ask the question of gun controls.

Deomcrats mainly, and particulary J.Edwards, but for J.McCain (quoted yesterday): This brutal attack was not caused by nor should it lead to restrictions on the Second Amendment, which guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms.”

Seems the debate about gun control in usa is a real taboo.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

N R A .......aaaaaaaaa

Quotation of the day ( taken on the nra website a day after Virginia Tech Events )
"The National Rifle Association joins the entire country in expressing our deepest condolences to the families of Virginia Tech University and everyone else affected by this horrible tragedy.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the families.
We will not have further comment until all the facts are known.

Andrew Arulanandam Director of Public Affairs National Rifle Association"

Got a couple of questions: What facts do they need to know to do any further comment
? Is it the same statement they use for every school massacre ?

I think i am going to be sick..

As pointed out by Corine Lesnes in her blog (in French), the American media does not talk at all about gun control, even hours after the continuous coverage of the shooting. Nothing about gun control in the article from the NY-Times (yet), i have not heard any candidate talking about gun control after the event (yet ? )..... But the readers comment are full of angry message against NRA...

Update:
Apologizes i found a politician comment about Gun Control
"We have to look at what happened here, but... I do believe in the constitutional right that everyone has, in the Second Amendment to the Constitution, to carry a weapon. Obviously we have to keep guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens." John Mc Cain...

So the solutions, if I understand correctly is: more gun... maybe all students should have one to be able to protect themselves... for me its a nonsense.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

What do you miss from France ?

What i miss from France:

1. Food... in all his form, the market on Sunday morning full of vegetables, spices, mushroom, and fruits.... real cooked food, cheese ( real not chedar) , charcuterie, andouillettes, fish ( which is not deep fried cooked ), real mustard ( not the fluorescent English one ), real bread freshly bake ( a baker please).
2. Real market ( though there is an ersatz in limerick every Saturday morning ). The smell of it. Antiquities market too.
3. Cinema: movie theater who provide a large and varied choice of films ( not necessary French), i just want variety and not only the American blockbusters of the moment. "Art & Essais" movie theaters.
4. Comic Book: Library where i can find and discover vast choice of comic book ( French-Belgian school or not ).
5. Arte... funny one TV channel, i enjoy rediscovering every time i go back to France.
6. Vigne, the collect of grapes in autumn to make wine...
7. Cheek kiss when meet friends
8. Apero time...not quite the same as an evening in the pub.
9. "les terrasses", have a drink, on a table outside the bar... just after work... ireland not really the country for that.

10. my favourite cavist back in Grenoble: L'Echanson ( rue Lakanal, Grenoble, France )... and this lovely white vine: "Tariquet - Premieres Grives"
11. The nice bars of grenoble (..... ) and the outdoor concerts (Cabaret Frappe) in summer in the parc in the middle of the city...

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

France - Scuba Diving

Activities: Airplane, Scuba-diving, Restaurant (4), Pub (1), Apero (evryday), sea, sun and friends......


Back to France ( Nice - Marseille ) for easter week-end, to enjoy some sea, some scuba-diving, some food and some friends.

Taking Off from Dublin
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Landing in Nice, and straight heading direction Marseille (Massillia)
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Diving in La Vesse (Again)
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Apero....

And sunday, again diving, small "pelerinage" in "Le vieux Port" in Marseille.
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Listening a lovely percussion band in the sun:
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Apero....

Monday, back to Nice, diving, and walk in Nice Harbour....
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Tuesday Back to Ireland, nice reading...
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Thursday, April 05, 2007

Are people truly good at heart?

Interesting answer from Philip G. Zimbardo:
"That’s not true. Some people can be made into monsters. And the people who abused, and killed her , were."

Zimbardo conducted in 1971, an interesting experience: The Stanford Prison Experiment, were for 2 weeks he puts together 23 volunteers some as prisoners some as guards. After 2-3 days, the guard started to have sadistic behavior towards the prisonners.

Like the Milgram experiment (Yale, 1961, where people where asked to torture other on the pretext of science ), it seems good people can make bad things.

See the article in the New York Times:
A Conversation With Philip G. Zimbardo
Finding Hope in Knowing the Universal Capacity for Evil
By CLAUDIA DREIFUS
Published: April 3, 2007
Philip G. Zimbardo has made his reputation studying how people disguise the good and bad in themselves and under what conditions either is expressed.


Remind me, the Heist show from Derren Brown, where he suggested people to rob.

--
Finally the question of the day:
Couple what for : is it to light up or to make children ? Why do we break up ? Why do we stay together ?
Maybe an answer on the tv channel Arte.

Monday, April 02, 2007

L'homme.... [FR]

Derniere citation du candidat Sarkozy:
"l'homme n'est pas une marchandise comme les autres..."

Et bin, je crois que tout est dis, l'ideal liberal en action, l'homme considere comme une marchandise, pas tout a fais comme les autres ....

Vous pouvez ecouter l'extrait ici: Un mode de Sons, A droite toute

Sunday, April 01, 2007

Saturday Costello Fever

Pub: 4 (Friday: Wicked Chicken; Saturday: Collins, Flannerys, Costello)
Alcohol units: 4


Incredible news, they changed the floor in the costello upstairs, a new hardwood floor for the dance floor and new carpets (dark green, same colour as the hold one, i wonder if it was the same

Part of the legend of the place is changing, but don't worry it should not take too long before you can smell guinness on that new floor.

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I definitely need to take more pictures of the place (and with a camera, not my phone).

Note: a small precision, as unbelievable it can be for people knowing the Costello, this is not an april fool joke

Brickmania

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