In June, Anita, Will and Will’s parents went to the village of Avoca during a trip around the mountains south of Dublin (in County Wicklow). We were looking for the famous shopping spot, Avoca Handweavers. (more…)
19 July 2008
16 July 2008
Links, 16 July 2008
Links to peruse at your leisure, presented in no particular order. (more…)
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15 July 2008
Books Report: Ireland and the Whole World
During a few rainy, cold days in June, I devoured two books: Jared Diamond’s Collapse, and John Waters’s Jiving at the Crossroads. It’s been years since I read an entire book in a day or two, so this was sheer joy for me. Plus, the fact that both of them were non-fiction makes the books themselves even more remarkable. (more…)
10 July 2008
The BBB&B No-Rain Pledge™
Since its founding, the Bakker Bugle Bed & Breakfast has provided a special experience for visitors to Ireland. This spring, the BBB&B started making that experience even more special, through the BBB&B No-Rain Pledge™. (See below for more details.)
We are proud to announce the preliminary results of our innovative Irish Precipitation Undermining Programme. (more…)
8 July 2008
Heat Wave!
The best time to get coffee in Dublin is 12:45. There are few people waiting in line, and you can get a seat at one of the few tables on the sidewalk. Just as you get comfortable in your seat in the sun, the office doors open like the spillways of the Hoover Dam, and the parade begins. (more…)
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6 July 2008
Visual Aids are neat!
The stories of the Bugle P.I. are getting complicated, and the long periods between posts do not help the situation of the poor reader of the blog. So I present the following Visual Aid in the spirit of penitence. (more…)
4 July 2008
Happy Fourth of July
Today is not a holiday in Ireland, of course. Still, there are plenty of celebrations of Independence Day here in Dublin. Anita will attend a party at one of A-Company’s offices, organised by Irish workers. Our local, The Pembroke, is decorated with a big poster of the Stars and Stripes, and red-white-and-blue bunting and balloons all over. The pub is advertising free hot dogs with the purchase of American beer. (Coors Light is all they have on tap; it’s embarrassing.) I’m curious to hear what the DJ plays during happy hour.
Dubliners, at least, always have a great interest in the US — more its politics than its economics. (more…)
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1 July 2008
P.I. in the comix
I hope you didn’t miss the last few weeks of Judge Parker in the funny papers. If you did read them, you must have thought, immediately: “That sounds like the meta-plot of the Bugle P.I.!”
30 June 2008
GAA football & Euro soccer: Sunday = Sport Day
We had a great day for sports on Sunday. By far the most thrilling event was our first GAA match in person — and better yet, at the national stadium, Croke Park! Here’s the link for a short slideshow of our day at Croker, with plenty of information in the descriptions:
Photos of Croke Park, 29 June 2008, on flickr
The match was County Dublin versus County Westmeath, in the semi-final of the Football Championship for the Irish province of Leinster. (more…)
27 June 2008
Double-Take of the Week, Cultural Edition
Today, the listeners of a nationwide pop radio station in Ireland, Today FM, voted for the following song as their Friday Favorite:
Lynryd Skynyrd, “Sweet Home Alabama”
An answer to your next question:
No, Today FM is not the kind of radio station that appeals to ironic hipsters.