Bakker Bugle Blog Say it three times fast. In Luxembourgish.

9 May 2009

Dublin Politics = Face Posters

This week brought the return of Anita’s beloved “face posters,” the primary form of campaigning that we’ve noticed. These posters, of uniform size and a standard design, are attached to nearly every pole in the neighbourhood. Here are two examples near Baggot Street:

faceposters08may09`

The upcoming election (in Dublin) is for two levels of government: representatives to the local councils and to the European parliament. The newspapers lead me to believe that there is a close parallel between these elections and mid-term Congressional elections in the US. In both cases, the media and the parties take the results to indicate the popularity of the parties at the national level.

27 April 2009

Bakker Bugle B&B booked to the brim

Filed under: administrative,B&B,ireland,luxembourg — Tags: , , , — Will @ 20:23

We announce, with both pride and sadness, that the Bakker Bugle B&B is fully booked through the end of its presence in Ireland. We will begin taking bookings for our new location in mid-summer 2009.

Here are two photos of the new location:
(more…)

12 April 2009

Talking on the street in Dublin

The Irish government presented its emergency budget for 2009 on Wednesday, and I’d picked up a newspaper to learn about it, after finishing some frivolous shopping. I was sitting outside a cafe, with coffee, reading that the changes would be hard on lower income residents of Ireland.

A women approached me to beg for spare change. I’d seen her around the area quite a bit. She didn’t recognise me, but that was no surprise. (more…)

1 April 2009

Breaking News: Ireland and Italy tie

Filed under: ireland,sports — Tags: , , , , — Will @ 20:49

Italy played Ireland tonight, in Southern Italy, for the World Cup qualifying round. Italy had won every match in the round so far.

Robbie Keane scored in the 85th minute to tie the match, an incredible result against the reigning world champions.

This is not an April Fool!

24 March 2009

Last Dark Grill of the Year

In 2007, the United States extended daylight savings time by three weeks. Europe did not. We will change our clocks this coming weekend.

So tonight should be the last night that I must grill in the dark. (more…)

22 March 2009

Ireland win Grand Slam in Six Nations

The year was 1948 when Ireland last won the Grand Slam of the Six Nations Championship. At this time yesterday, the frustrating era of not fulfilling Ireland’s hopes was almost as long as the Chicago Cubs’s absence from the World Series (i.e. baseball’s Two-Nations championship).

Yesterday, we were privileged to witness Ireland’s moment of rugby glory in our local pub, which was full of Irish fans who lived and died with every change of possession. (more…)

17 March 2009

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

Filed under: culture,dublin,entertainment,ireland — Will @ 10:04

In just moments, we’ll have a fine Irish breakfast on our way to the big parade. We’ve been in the spirit of things since Sunday, when we went to Big Day Out. Merrion Square, about two blocks from our home, was transformed into a festival to celebrate the holiday. (more…)

16 March 2009

St Patrick’s Anticipation

Tomorrow is March 17th, 2009 — Saint Patrick’s Day! It’s a national holiday for the Republic of Ireland, and the city centres of Dublin and most other towns will be devoted to massive parades.

Crowd on Dame StOn last year’s Saint Patrick’s Day, we watched part of the parade. We were meant to fly to Venice that evening, so we could not spend the whole day in Dublin. It was a cold day that threatened rain, but the crowds along Dame Street were enormous nonetheless. (more…)

12 March 2009

White House Diplomacy and the American Idea

No, this isn’t a very late endorsement for Barack Obama. (Will and Anita made personal endorsements during the 2008 campaign. Like The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Bugle’s noble influence will not be tainted by political endorsements.) This is about Gordon Brown’s visit to the White House last week. (more…)

4 March 2009

Windscreen Frost: a demonstration

Filed under: culture,ireland — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Will @ 13:18

More than a month ago, Anita wrote about the shocking revelation that mere water would remove frost from her windscreen.

At least one person expressed skepticism, and we understand the incredulity that might come from the northern latitudes of other continents. So, today, we offer you a video demonstration of this distinctive method. (more…)

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