The Life and Times in Carrigaline

Jon Lord - Exclusive!

2009-10-03T19:01:00.000-07:00

Money is tight - pennies on the floor.

Sept 24th, 2009

Broken Down Nissan Skyline

2009-10-03T18:44:00.000-07:00

Oh dear.

The Changeling

2009-01-25T11:34:00.000-08:00

It's only taken a year, but I've finally gotten around to putting up a review of the Mike Oldfield biography, The Changeling.

In one word, I suppose you could call label it as disappointing, for a number or reasons.

Firstly, without even reading a page of the book, it's clear that we wouldn't be getting a major exposé on his relationship with Richard Branson, as the book is published by Virgin Books. By dealing with Branson, he effectively gagged himself from discussing his long and highly publicised dispute with Virgin. If you read between the lines though, it's clear that the animosity between Oldfield and Branson has not been completely forgotten.

Another disappointment was the writing style that Oldfield engages in. Too often, when Oldfield is describing events of his past; they end up as rambling, stream of consciousness-type meanderings that often fall short in detailing the event itself. It's obviously not fair to expect him to compare with James Joyce, but I do think he could have done more research in backing up his sources.

While his childhood is covered reasonably well and his Tubular Bells piece is quite well done; everything after that feels rushed, fuzzy and written as an afterthought. It struck me that Oldfield had lost a bit of interest himself in the story at this stage, but was obliged to complete it for finality.

Overall, it's an interesting read for Oldfield fans; but completely avoidable otherwise.

Interesting fact I never knew: The name of his album Ommadown, is actually a bastardization of the Irish word for idiot, amadán.

ISEQ Stock Market Crash - Again

2009-01-19T12:16:00.000-08:00

It's at a time like this that I'm reminded of our great statesman, Patrick Bartholomew Ahern. He imparted this bit of wisdom on us last year.

"Bank of Ireland shares are €3.80 today. Now if I meet you here next year, or the year after, do you seriously think Bank of Ireland shares will be €3.80? I'd go out and buy Bank of Ireland shares . . . that's what I'd do,"

Bank of Ireland share price today - 40 cent.

I suppose he was half right.

Willie O' Dea at Dell HQ in Texas

2008-12-23T08:44:00.000-08:00

Willie O' Dea, snapped in Texas while trying to persuade Michael Dell to keep Dell jobs in Limerick.

Christmas Grinch Refuses Tickets for Late, Late Toy Show

2008-11-22T11:13:00.000-08:00

Budget Reaction

2008-10-15T11:24:00.000-07:00

Zeig Heil Motherfuckers!!

"Clap for Trap"

2008-10-14T00:23:00.000-07:00

So, Ireland are playing Cyprus at home tonight in what's an eagerly anticipated clash. I noticed that the FAI have initiated a campaign for supporters to get behind the new manager.

"The Football Association of Ireland today (Sunday) announced that EA Sports will give out 33,000 inflatable giant hands to Irish fans at Wednesday evening’s World Cup qualifier in Croke Park (7.45om). The hands call on fans to ‘Clap for Trap’ and will be distributed before the game.
Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni said: “The game against Cyprus is our first World Cup qualifier at home. It will be very important for all of our fans to get behind us on Wednesday night. Irish fans really will be our twelfth man and I hope everyone makes their voice heard on Wednesday night”. Tickets for the World Cup qualifier match are still available through www.ticketmaster.ie and from ticket booths at Dalymount Park (opening hours Mon & Tue 12.00 – 20.00, Wed 10.00 – 17.00)."

I personally wouldn't wish "The Clap" on my worst enemy.

Government Guaranteeing Irish Deposits

2008-10-07T02:50:00.000-07:00

Imagine a man walks into a VHI health insurance office. The man looks pale. almost sickly you'd say. His back is bent and he walks to the desk with a stoop. He then tells the clerk at the desk, he'd like to sign up for some health insurance and with that, he lets out a loud, rattling cough. The clerk at the desk asks him, "Ok, before we approve you, we need to know if you have any prior health conditions". The sickly looking man tells the clerk everything is fine, infact things couldn't be better. The clerk then happily rubber-stamps the application form and the man is now covered.

It sounds ridiculous, but this is exactly what the Irish government has done by acting as insurer for the Irish banks. Without even looking at the loan books of the banks, we have given an assurance that we will cover any potential liabilities that may arise from them.

Cork City Dole Queue

2008-09-19T05:27:00.000-07:00

Defrauding the Passport System is Easy

2008-09-12T11:54:00.000-07:00

After losing my passport a few months, I finally got around to getting the documentation together to make my new application.

So, off I head into the local Garda station, form, birth cert and photos in my sweaty little hands. After sitting next to a bare-footed hobo, half doused in pant, I was finally summoned to the desk. The conversation goes a little something like this . .

Me - "I'd like to get my passport and photos signed please"
Garda - "Ok, have you got your form, passport and photos?"
Me - (passes documents) "Yes, here they are"
Garda - "Ok, have you got a photo ID?"
Me - (frantically searching) "Umm, all I have on me is an old college ID"
Garda - "I'm sorry, I'll need to see a valid picture ID. Have you got your old passport, national age card or driving licence?"
Me - "I don't have an age card, I don't drive and as it says on the form, I've lost my old passport"
Garda - (passing a form) "You can apply for the national age card then"
Me - "Right, what do I need to apply for that?"
Garda - "Birth certificate, passport photograph and picture ID"
Me - "Oh, like a college ID?"
Garda - "Yes"
Me - "So what you're say is, my college ID isn't good enough to get a passport but it is good enough to get a national age card which in turn can get me a passport?"
Garda (a little confused) - "I'm sorry, but we're really clamping down at the moment"

I was then explaining this to a colleague at work. He thought it was pretty strange that I even needed to produce a form of ID, he offers to drive me to another Garda station where he got his application done without the need for photo id. We go, I walk in . . .

Me - "I'd like to get my passport and photos signed please"
Garda - (sitting at a computer on what looked like Bebo) "Wait a minute"
Garda - (a few minutes later, comes over, signs everything and without a word sits back down)
Me - (leaving, amazed) "Umm, cheers Garda"

I honestly thought that the days of the gombeen Garda were finished; evidently, they're not. I'm also amazed that in a world where identity fraud is so prevalent, that there doesn't seem to be any standards or defined process in obtaining a passport. Even with the first Garda, there was absolutely nothing to stop me from producing any sort of mickey mouse id to obtain a national age card fraudulantly. Is it any wonder the public has lost respect for the Gardai when they're so careless and negligent?

Bebo Fools Incriminating Themselves

2008-08-06T11:46:00.000-07:00

From RTÉ News

Students urged to start house hunt Wednesday, 6 August 2008 15:56

Third level students in Dublin are already being urged to find a place to live for the upcoming academic year as soon as possible.

Leaving Certificate results are not being released until next week.

However, the Union of Students in Ireland say 90% of rentable student properties in the city will be gone by the end of this month.

It is warning that students risk being forced into staying in B&Bs unless they start searching for accommodation soon.

21-year-old I****e M****n from Clonmel, Co Tipperary, who is studying at Trinity College, says every year it is a struggle to find accommodation for the college term.

'Last year I looked for eight weeks, couldn't find anything. I even contemplated getting a place with no windows - it was €550 a month,' she said.

Ms Moylan said that many people would pay €500-550 to rent in Dublin city centre, or around €450 for a shared room.

'This year a lot of my friends were rejected from campus accommodation, as was I, so that made it even more difficult, because in fourth year you're kind of banking on getting on campus.'

Students need to be 'on the ball' - USI

She urged students to start looking early. 'Once September hits, everyone gets back from America or wherever they were on holidays and everyone starts looking, it's so hard to find a place.

'And also a lot of places don't take students - they'll only accept professionals so if you find a place now you just take it, and you pay the extra couple of months' rent.'

USI President Shane Kelly said some problematic accommodation remains around the city. 'We hear from students who are trying to rent in places where they have an outside toilet or a toilet shared between 15 apartments.'

But he said that while such situations still existed, they were only experienced in a minority of cases.

He said students were already on the look for places for next year, and added that the search would intensify after the Leaving Certificate results are issued.

'So really people need to be on the ball now if they're trying to find a decent accommodation close to where they're thinking of studying,' he said.

Naoise McNally of property website Daft.ie says there is approximately double the amount of rented property on the market compared to last year.

She said that this should make it easier for students to find a property, and added that rents were falling.

'They're not dropping by huge amounts in nominal terms - we're talking about 2% across the board - but it does vary significantly from region to region and from area to area in the city.'
The USI said that while there were more properties on the market, demand for rental housing had also increased.

I've underlined the pertinent bit in bold. Googling the young Ms. I****e M****n reveals the young lady has a Bebo page! Lots of pictures of boozing and a nice little anecdote about having to get the firemen out because some of her friends decided it would make a super spot for a mosh pit.

All I can say is, little wonder she should have trouble finding a place to stay!

Her bebo.

The ActionScript 3.0 Documentation is Muck

2008-07-22T06:09:00.000-07:00

Imagine, you're relatively new to Flex. You try to create an array of objects. From your Java days, you remember the java.util library contains ArrayList, which fits the bill perfectly. Now, you go to the Flex documentation, mx.collections, expecting to find something similar. The LiveDocs contain nothing, so you try Google, which give the suggestion of using mx.collections.ArrayList.

Hold on, didn't you just read the ActionScript documentation and there was no mention of ArrayList? For fun, you try importing mx.collection.ArrayList, creating an ArrayList, populating it and then print the length of the array.

import mx.collections.ArrayList;
import mx.controls.Alert;

var theList : ArrayList = new ArrayList();
theList.addItem(new Object);
theList.addItem(new Object);
theList.addItem(new Object);

Alert.show(theList.length.toString());

Surprisingly, this compiles and outputs 3 as the expected result, despite the fact there is no documentation to suggest it would work.

Well Done Munster

2008-05-24T10:53:00.000-07:00

Legend.

Where Are They Now? Sean Thornton

2008-05-20T13:21:00.000-07:00

He's only just turned 24, but it seems like Sean Thornton has been around the football scene for years now.

He started his career at Tranmere Rovers but it wasn't long before the highly-talented youngster was quickly snapped up by Sunderland. In his debut season, he was regarded as one of the few positives in the dismal 02/03' season where Sunderland scored what was then a record low of 19 points for the season. The high point of the season for Thornton came when he scored this cracker against Chelesa while still only 18 years of age.

After an impressive first season, his form dipped badly and he was eventually off-loaded to League one side, Doncaster Rovers. It was clear that then manager, Mick McCarthy was tired of his off-field boozing. Here's a few choice quotes about Thornton from the Sunderland forum, readytogo.

"Loads of talent and potential but threw it away. He was spotted in the Hollymere, slumped over his pint with a baseball cap pulled over his face."

"He still owns the house next door to me. Our other neighbour looks after the gardens. Really nice lad, loved Sunderland AFC and the local people/area. He just couldn't keep off the drink."
"He once tried to nick a staff taxi off me when I worked at the Derry. He told the driver he'd pay him double to take him to Liquid, he was sound with me like)."

Despite putting in a Man of the Match performance to know Aston Villa out of the League Cup, he soon fell back into bad habits after a promising start at Doncaster. He's now at his present club, Leyton Orient where the now married Thornton was spotted on the razz in Ibiza.

(Didn't even take the ring off the finger!)

godhatesireland.com

2008-05-19T14:38:00.001-07:00

With the economy going down the shitter, maybe the Westboro Baptist Church were right after all!

Buying Stocks With Sharewatch

2008-05-19T13:04:00.000-07:00

Buying shares in companies listed on the ISEQ index is a pain.

First of all, not only do you have to deal with the 1% government stamp duty on all purchases, but you also have to pay some pretty hefty execution fees.

Secondly, you've got to decide whether you want your shares to be held electronically, or whether you want the actual paper certificates. To have the shares held electronically, then you'll have to pay an annual fee. By holding the shares yourself, you don't have to worry about paying the annual charges.

Finally, you've got to decide if you intend on regularly buying and selling stocks. If you intending on trading often, then you need to choose a broker who has low execution costs (each time you execute a buy or sell order, you will incurr a fee). With this in mind, the small-time Irish investor has two realistic broker options.

Sharewatch offer a small trades, execution-only service, that let's you purchase shares for a flat rate fee of €50 with no annual fee. If you're like me, and don't intend of trading regularly, then it makes sense to choose a broker with no annual fee. The shares are issued in paper form, so they can be stuffed in a drawer until you're ready to cash out. I've personally used Sharewatch and found them to be quite speedy and efficient. You simply transfer your cash to their bank, call them up, buy your shares and give them your details. A few days later, you get your sweaty little hands on your very own share certificates.
NIB on the otherhand will hold shares electronically and charge an annual fee of €40, regardless of what trading activity occurs on your account. The upside of using NIB though, is that each time you trade, you're only charged €20. If you're making several trades a year, an NIB share account makes a lot more sense than paying €50 a trade with Sharewatch.

In short, if you plan on trading often, then the NIB offer is about the best in the market at present. If you're like me though, and simply want to make a very occasional trade, then Sharewatch is your only man.

Galway in Sticky Sex Situation Shocker!

2008-05-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

Irish Independent 19th/May/2008

"Demands have been made for the immediate closure of a "lurid" sex cinema in Galway. Fine Gael Councillor Padraig Conneely said he was shocked to discover that such a cinema -- apparently the first of its kind in the country -- was operating in the city.

The 24-seater cinema is located behind a sex shop called Jade Winters at the Liosban Industrial Estate, on the Tuam Road on the outskirts of the city.

"There are 24 seats and patrons pay €12 admission. It is staffed by two men from eastern Europe and all efforts to contact the owners or manager have been unsuccessful," Mr Conneely said.

"Patrons are asked whether they wish to watch gay or straight porn films and there are a number of small cubicles in the cinema where customers can watch specific films. It all sounds quite lurid and it is not what we want for the image of Galway. We are a city of culture, not of sleaze."

He said that the premises was open from 2pm to 2am and he wanted Galway City Council to immediately investigate it and have the cinema closed down.

"We can have a liberal agenda but there are limits. There are adult shops in a lot of towns and cities but this is unacceptable and I want this cinema closed," he insisted.

A garda spokesman said he was not aware of any complaints to date about the Galway cinema.
If a complaint was received, all of the circumstances surrounding the operation of the cinema would have to be looked at and it could be a matter that might need to be referred to the film censor."

That's the only comment I feel this thread needs.

No One Subscribing to Ireland.com

2008-05-04T11:56:00.000-07:00

I was interested to hear Geraldine Kennedy remark that Ireland.com only has between 8,000 and 10,000 paying subscribers and that it was "struggling to break even". I must say I was rather surprised that such a long-running service was attracting such few numbers.

A Love Soupreme

2008-03-27T11:57:00.000-07:00

(from Aldi at 45 cent)

Interesting House Share on Offer

2008-03-24T10:27:00.000-07:00

After watching Eastern Promises last night (a movie about the Russian mafia and the prostitution of women), it was interesting that I came across this interesting little house share advert on daft.ie.

(I saved the image because I don't imagine it will be up for long).

Maybe I should pop an e-mail off to this cheeky chappie?

Tom Waits for Christmas No. 1!

2007-12-15T05:51:00.000-08:00

Tired of the usual boyband, Christmas-pop, Cliff Richard bile that usually gets to number 1 in the music charts for Christmas? Well, do something about it this year! Get Tom Waits' classic Christmas song, Christmas card from a hooker in Minneapolis to number 1. in the Irish charts!

See here, for more information! Give Ireland the gift of Tom Waits for Christmas, God knows, with all the recent redundancies, we'll need it!

RTÉ Cock-Up Katy French Report.

2007-12-07T13:31:00.000-08:00

Disgusting, and completely insensitive.

Sap Gets Fleeced at the Pumps

2007-11-09T12:01:00.000-08:00

Driver shocked at €95 cost of filling tank

By Aideen Sheehan
Friday November 09 2007
FILLING up has just got an awful lot dearer with one petrol station in the capital now charging a staggering €179.9 a litre.
The Statoil filling station on Dublin's Usher Quay (pictured above) -- long notorious for its high prices -- has now increased them to this jaw-dropping new rate.
One driver, Helen Donaghy, was staggered to be charged €95 to fill her Peugeot Convertible there, even though it normally costs her a maximum of €55 elsewhere.
"I simply could not believe it.
"I did not see a sign from the road with the price, or it may have been very small, but they should not be allowed charge prices like this," she said.
Consumers Association of Ireland Chief Dermott Jewell last night slated the price hike. "Nobody in their right mind should use this petrol station," said Mr Jewell.
However, the bad news for drivers is that petrol prices are rising across the board and are expected to hit €1.18 on
average this month.
Maxol is the first to raise prices by 3c a litre this week.
Topaz Energy which supplies Texaco, Fareplay and Statoil garages is also set to raise prices.
- Aideen Sheehan

You have to love the Indo's style of sensationalism here. I'm familiar with the petrol station on Usher's Quay and now full-well that the price of the petrol is displayed prominently on the sign fronting the garage; and on the petrol pumps themselves.

19th/May/2008 - Update : Apparently this gaff has been closed!

Richard Delevan, Fired For Citing a Blog.

2007-11-05T15:04:00.000-08:00

Newspaper journo, blogger and all-round nice guy, Richard Delevan was fired from his position in the Tribune today for discussing auctioneer Ken McDonald's inability to sell his house. The article is still online here.

In a previous interview, Richard was asked if he regrets anything that he writes, I bet he'll think long and hard about this one.