Scenes from an Irish music shop

There is no doubt about it; the Irish love their music stores.  More importantly, they love to rock!  Check out the Homer Simpson wanna-be-Hendrix flaming guitar.  You know you want one.  (Matches not included.)  Or, for the Raffi and Ringo crowd, check out this yellow ukulele and Spongebob kid-sized guitar.  Be the most popular kid in your class!  Get invited to all the cool parties at Bikini Bottom!  Annoy your parents!  Now if that's all just kid stuff, and you really want to rock, check this bad boy out:   Cherry Bomb Red Garvey accordion with a Black Sabbath instructional DVD.  "I am Iron Man!"  Duh duh dun nun nuh....  For those of you who hung out by the back of the school and wore a lot of black in the 80's, we have a totally awesome Yamaha keyboard for you.  If you ever danced to Depeche Mode, wore a Cure t-shirt or (you are truly rad) you know who The Bubblemen are, this is the instrument for you.  How much MIDI can you handle?

Ha'penny at Night

We crossed the Ha'penny bridge one evening about 8:00 PM and stopped for a photo.  It's funny we never noticed how much the bridge vibrates.  It seems so solid when we walk over it.  However, placing your camera on the railing and trying to take a slow-exposure still shot when people are walking by tells another story.  That bridge is rather flexy!  Anyway here is a calm November night.  Usually there is a sad-sack beggar perched at the bridge's apex, where the wind scours the bridge coldly.  With barely a whisper they mumble a "please help Sir," as tourists tromp by.  I've only given money to the beggar with a bunny in his lap.  You see him around town sometimes.  He has that concentration-camp thinness and bony fingers.  He lovingly strokes a well-fed bunny and seems like a lost soul.  He will give you a wide-eyed startled look when you drop a euro in his cup.  Poor fellow.  He's the only one I really feel sorry for.

The other beggars in town are stumbling skangers looking for alcohol money.  Don't believe their bullshit; they are not looking for, "two euro so I can get home on the Luas."  Two euro will get them a can of cider with 50 cents to spare.  That's the dirty side of Ireland they never print in the glossy tour brochures.  The travel companies will sell you on thatched roofed cottages, tin whistle music and images of the burren.  The reality is Buckfast bottles laying next to the wall, and Dubliners from council housing with their ugly nasal accents.  It really is the worst accent in the world.

What does the Dublin accent sound like?  hmmm.  Imagine that Cockney accent you hear on East Enders, got it?  It's a little bit like Eliza Doolittle from Pygmalion.  Ok good, now imagine all the actors on East Enders have bad head colds and the director has told them to pronounce the letter 'i' like 'oy'.  Then imagine they have all been gene-spliced with Donald Duck.  THAT is the Dublin accent.  There is even a cartoon on RTÉ Two that pokes fun at it.  The cartoon is called Dotzy about a little twerp on social welfare, who lives in council housing and would rather play video games than get a job.  The sad thing is, when you walk down O'Connell Street you really see people like that.  Sigh.  They wear the latest Adidas track suits and brand new Puma trainers.  I always get a laugh when these asshats beg for change out in front of a Centra (like a 7-11) because you know they only want money for liquor.

Perhaps I am a heartless bastard, but when baggers in Dublin go, "spare some change?" I have been known to reply with, "Pay my student loan?"  They've got some balls asking me for money.  If anything, those bastards owe ME money.  My taxes pay for their wasted time, regular methadone doses and free emergency room visits.  You're welcome.  If I were king, people on the dole would be out there doing public service, earning their keep, not sitting around smoking and drinking soyder (aka. "cider").

Bing Crosby is Rolling Over In His Grave

Arnott's has outdone itself this year.  Their Christmas display is enough to make Elton John wet his pants and scream like a little girl.  Let me guess, this is supposed to be their interpretation of Would You Like To Swing On A Star?

The manikin in the suit sitting on the star looks like he's taking a dump.  The girl on the flying pegasus unicorn pony looks like she is having some kind of sexual experience, and ohmygod, is that horse sh*tting pink light out its ass?  What in the hell was their marketing department thinking?  Guys, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was not meant to be used as a handbook.  Lay off the mescaline and for God's sake put down that bottle of ether.

Bing Crosby must be rolling over in his grave right now.  I bet the geeks in Arnott's marketing department were wasted off their butts in the board room, singing:

Would you like to sh*t on a star
carry moonbeams home in a jar
and be better off than you are
or would you rather be a flying pegasus unicorn pony?

A flying pegasus unicorn pony is an animal with a girl on his back
he's got pink lightning shooting out his crack
His back is brawny but his brain is weak
he shops at Topman twice a week
and by the way if you hate to go to school
You may grow up to be a Topshop fool. 

(with apologies to Bing Crosby)

Galway Graveyard

This is the graveyard around St. Nicholas' Collegiate Church in Galway.  It is an Anglican / Episcopal church.  The names on the headstones are mostly English.  Some of the headstones were so old they could not be read anymore.  I'm guessing they were from the 1600's.  The earliest grave marker we could read was from 1743.  Some of them were quite sad; one child's grave said "aged 11 weeks," and another was only 14 days.  It seemed like many people died quite young.  There were many markers whose owners passed away in their 40's.  Only a lucky few got to their 70's.  Well, all I can say is:  Enjoy the time you've got.

Shop Street, Galway

Shop Street is is quite a busy place on a Saturday afternoon!  It is a pedestrian arcade of stores and restaurants.  We went into Easons book shop and discovered the church next door through an upstairs window.  It had an intriguing graveyard with very old looking headstones.  We left the book store and walked over to explore.  More on that tomorrow...

Scenes from a Train

We took the train from Heuston Station in Dublin to Galway on Friday after work.  I had to take two buses to get there, and the first one didn't come when it was scheduled (thank you Dublin Bus) but it finally worked out and I got there.  Woo hoo.  We had a cup of coffee in the train station before embarking.

The Irish train system is called Iarnród Éireann and they have a whole new fleet of quiet, well mannered trains.  They are nice and quiet.  They don't even go clickity-clack over the track like those old electric-diesel dinosaurs operated by CalTrans (in California for the non-Cali-folks reading this.)  We have a track by our house and when the train goes by it sounds more like a 20 ton washing machine on spin-cycle.  Wooooosh.

On the train, they have a tea cart where you can purchase snacks.  I like Lyon's tea a great deal, so I got a cup.  Later (on my way to the restroom) I noticed a few little things about the train.  The "Nappy Changing" sign was in the restroom, which I found amusing.  Americans know what Nappies are but we don't really use that word.  Also, on the rear wall of every train car there is a manufacturer's sign.  This car was made by Hyundai in 2008.

Yo! Sushi

The most awesome girlfriend in the world and I bought dinner in town this evening at Yo! Sushi.  They are down Clarendon Street, near the Tower Records store on Wicklow Street.  I love this neighbourhood, all the streets are cobblestone and while they allow cars, they are typically narrow in European fashion and are pedestrian friendly.

The other sushi restaurant we go to is across the Liffey near Jervis Street.  That restaurant is called Kokoro sushi.  I have to say the sushi at Kokoro tastes a little bit more authentic.  However, Yo! Sushi on the south side of the river does quite a nice job.  The ingredients are all fresh, and the food is generally good stuff.

The restaurant interior looks like it came out of a 1970's Japanese fashion magazine.  I love the chrome globe lights, the house plants and the groovy use of orange everywhere possible.  They have a line of tables set up with Sushi boats designed by the Jetsons going around them on a little conveyor belt.  They look like little UFOs.  Its all very Space Age.  We will come here some time and have a real sit-down meal.  Then I will post some photos.