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

20 June 2008

Bugle P.I. — More Legal Trouble

Filed under: administrative,private eye — Will @ 17:52

The Bugle would like to apologize for the delay in further episodes of Bugle P.I. due to circumstances beyond our control.

The Bugle was placed under a gag order pursuant to a libel suit filed in courts in both the United States and Ireland. These gag orders prevented Bugle staff from publishing episodes and from explaining the delay. That order expired as of June 15, and no further legal hindrances are anticipated.

The second reason for the delay is a happier one. The Bugle is currently under negotiations for a book deal arising from the Bugle P.I. series. Our legal advisors suggested that we halt progress on the story until some fundamental issues in the negotiations were resolved. The status of those negotiations must remain confidential for the time being, but we are now in a position to recommence the story.

You can look forward to several episodes in quick succession, so please review the story so far in the next week or so. Cheers!

23 May 2008

Temporary Staff Re-assignment

Filed under: administrative,B&B — Will @ 15:06

The Bugle B&B is currently enjoying unprecedented success. Bugle management accurately predicted a major increase in the B&B sector, but due to the overall business climate, it also opted for a conservative approach to headcount and staff overtime during the Early Summer period.

The delightful weather of the past few weeks (together with Bugle’s world-class service) proved a boon for B&B guests, but behind the scenes, the ballooning business became troublingly busy. So, Bugle brass bounced Blog labourers to Beds and to Breakfasts. The bountiful beams and balmy breezes were a mixed blessing, because they built a brand-new burden for our Blog staff.

The Bugle is happy to report the capable employees of our blog division are helping keep our B&B operations at a 100% level of satisfaction. Unfortunately, customers of our blog have experienced reduced posting frequency and a mitigation of post noteworthiness metrics. We appreciate your loyalty during this time.

Today’s expatraveltainment industry requires adaptability. The Blog division of the Bugle family is confident that this period will grow a versatile knowledgebase that will serve all our stakeholders very well in the near future.

6 February 2008

Crisis of Conscience

Filed under: administrative,mental state — Will @ 16:49

buckystrike.png

15 January 2008

Staff Hijinks

Filed under: administrative — Will @ 12:24

The BB staff are filled with the spirit of a new year and, also, they are bored due to the lack of recent content from myself. Their playful demeanor led them to adopt a less than respectful attitude toward their superiors — albeit with generally good intentions.

So it was that the latest poll proposed a course of self-improvements for Anita and myself. You may have noticed the new poll yesterday, which asked, “How should Anita & Will improve in the coming months?”

It’s a reasonable question and a good idea for a poll of our readers. Nevertheless, in the staff meeting today, I clarified the hierarchy of the Bakker operation. The result was a slight change to the poll.

As always, your suggestions are most welcome. Please add your own entries to the ballot of improvements, and remember that the poll is completely anonymous.

I think the Staff will find that they have plenty to do in the coming weeks: Winter Break is over.

13 December 2007

Christmas holidays

Filed under: administrative,entertainment,ireland,sports — Will @ 23:51

The Bugle staff might not be productive for the next few weeks. In Ireland, office Christmas parties are taken very seriously. From what we understand, it can take up to two weeks to recover. So the staff apologize, in advance, if they are not able to maintain the levels of Bugle excellence that you expect.

Relax, enjoy your own festivities, and look forward to lots of new stuff in the new year!

31 October 2007

Halloween in Ireland

Filed under: administrative,culture,ireland — Will @ 16:50

Are you wondering about the significance of Halloween in Ireland? Have you wondered why your co-worker Pádraig Ó Branagáin calls October 31st “Samhain“?

Look no further than the part of this blog’s sidebar entitled “My Web 2.0 Links”! The staff have free reign over this part of the blog, and you’ll find that they select timely links to satisfy your idle curiosity. If you need to catch up, just click on the title itself.

Just one of the many services provided by the Bakker Bugle. By the way, Keely, your comparison of Project Minutiae with The Week is apt! Due to financial regulations, however, I can’t discuss whether there are any plans to divest the Bugle’s Web Log, as a distinct product, in the future. For now, enjoy the free subscription.

30 October 2007

Commenter of the Fortnight & Poll of the Fortnight

Filed under: administrative,award — Will @ 20:46

First things first: The Commenter of the Fortnight is Jaime B, mostly due to her comment relating the “ominous and quite condemning description of hurling by Philip Stubbes in 1583.” hurley30oct2007.jpgThe staff of the Bakker Bugle are proud of their inquisitive minds and thorough approach to research, and they detect a kindred spirit in Jaime’s contribution. Jaime B is, therefore, the winner of the coveted Broken Hurley.

It’s worth revisiting the hurling post to appreciate Jaime’s find. It also recalls the question asked here in August, “Is Hurling Violent?” That discussion is currently on hiatus, but we may need to bring it back in the near future, given Mr Stubbes’s observations.

An honourable mention must go to Dave, for bringing a celebrity to the ranks of the Bugle’s commenters.

Second: A new poll for our faithful readers! The “Web Log” post, just prior to this one, is little more than a collection of links. Here’s the story:

The staff find interesting tidbits as they diligently research primary topics for the Bugle. And, once in a long while, they drift around the internet — only on break, of course. Day after day, the staff bring Will these links, eager to share them with the Bugle’s readers.

But the staff don’t work for free, and Will demands high quality writing for Bugle Blog posts. Some of the links are lost, and others become stale.

An enterprising member of the staff made a business case for posts like “Web Log” and Will and Anita were impressed. Phase One of Project Minutiae is market research. Hence, the current Poll of the Fortnight.

Web Log

Filed under: administrative — Will @ 20:33

A collection of links with just a little guidance for each one.

What’s News in Ireland? These links represent the stories that seem to dominate the newsmedia of Ireland.

Independent: Provisions of road safety laws delayed
Ireland has multiple licencing levels for driving ordinary vehicles. There are provisional licences, second provisional licences, and learner permits. Many adults did not obtain full licences, in part due to long waiting periods, and in part due to the difficulty of the exams. Ireland’s national government announced a harsh new policy last week, and flip-flopped several times since then.

Independent: Potential replacements for Steve Staunton
Steve Staunton was the coach of Ireland’s national soccer team. Ireland looked terrible and failed to qualify for the Euro Cup 2008. The FAI, the governing body for Irish soccer, are looking for his replacement.

Independent: Pharmacists in Ireland are well-compensated
Irish pharmacists began withholding methadone from recovering drug addicts, as a statement against decreasing reimbursements from the national government. This action is widely reviled as punishing the most vulnerable members of society.

Independent: Ordinary investors may be caught in Lynn scandal
Michael Lynn is a lawyer and property developer (thus combining the two most despised professions). He took multiple mortgages on properties by exploiting banks’ apparent willingness to overlook the previous mortgages and the fact that he was bankrupt. It looked like he fled Ireland, but he appeared in court today.

Random Interesting Links: There are things that I want to share, but I can’t take the time to “write up.” For example…

Irish Post: Dublin musician affected by Litvinenko’s Polonium 210 poisoning

Irish Independent: “I admit it, I’m a bigot about gingers”
A must for fans of South Park. The term “ginger” is fairly common here!

The Comics Curmudgeon
A blog consisting of hilarious analyses of comic strips. Anita and I are big fans.

BoingBoing: Irish Bureaucrats raid the national identity database
Shouldn’t this be a big news item in Ireland?

Irish Independent: EU reviews wire rope crash barriers
This type of barrier became very common in the US over the past few years. The EU discovers a disadvantage.

28 October 2007

Housekeeping

Filed under: administrative — Will @ 19:25

Tomorrow (Monday) is a Bank Holiday here in Ireland, so this is a three-day weekend for us. It would be an ideal weekend to travel — except that we spent most of the last week in Westport. So we’re glad that we didn’t plan ahead and that we find ourselves at home.

Tomorrow morning, the Dublin Marathon begins on our doorstep. The start is on the corner of our street, so this will be the biggest and the closest sporting event since we moved here. We walked around the neighborhood today, to see the hardware of the event gradually come together.

We’re looking forward to peeking our heads above ground tomorrow and seeing how the marathon is using our sidewalk. The weather should be ideal for the runners (unlike the Chicago marathon, from what we hear.) That’s the big excitement for our weekend, folks!

We’re still trying to figure out how Dubliners celebrate Halloween. It’s important — we can see that — but we don’t know whether children trick-or-treat. We do know that some women celebrated Slut-o-ween this past Friday night!

Next weekend, we’ll go to an Andrew Bird concert at a venue that’s a short walk from our home. And I’ll cook up something else during the week.

Thanks to those who voted in the poll. The lone “No” vote was my own second vote, so we had a total of 10 votes with varying degrees of positivity. Dave’s objections are moot and that’s all I have to say about that.

We will try for a high standard of interestingness in future polls, so that you’re compelled to participate. And yes, Sharon, you’re welcome to vote more than once … if you can fool the Bugle’s ultra-sophisticated VotrTrackr 3000!

Watch Monday morning for the Commenter of the Fortnight and a new poll. Enjoy your Sunday!

19 October 2007

Polls?

Filed under: administrative — Will @ 12:51

Have you noticed the poll on the right side of this blog? Our intention is to find out what you think about various ideas for blog entries and changes to our photos on flickr or the main Bakker Bugle website.

Each poll will be open for about a week. It’s true that the internet is rife with foolish little polls, but we’ll give it a try anyway. So vote! It’s totally anonymous and really easy to do.

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