Tuesday is Luxembourg’s National Day, the official birthday of the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and a very important holiday (official program in French). We arrived just in time! This past Friday, I strolled around the city center and saw some of the preparations. (more…)
21 June 2009
8 June 2009
I am a Dublin voter!
I almost missed the deadline to apply for the Register of Electors for Friday’s election. You can imagine my delight when I found my reminder card in the mail last week. It said that I should vote at the primary school on Lower Baggot Street. (more…)
1 June 2009
Face Posters: Trading Cards #1
For a very limited time
Download and print out your very own trading cards of the best Face Posters of Ireland 2009! Each PDF will be available for just a day or two, so be sure to check in frequently, so that you can…
COLLECT THE WHOLE SET!
Set One: Download the PDF today!
24 May 2009
Busy, busy — but time for art
Anita and I so busy that we’re just now watching the Eurovision 2009 broadcasts from last week. (Fantastacular! Glorilicious!) Mostly, we’re preparing for the big move to Luxembourg in three weeks.
Today, we completed a task 18 months in the making: we bought a lovely painting from one of the regular exhibitors on Sundays at Merrion Square. We’ve strolled around the park at midday on dozens of Sundays, knowing that we would leave Ireland with a souvenir someday. (more…)
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19 May 2009
Dracula in Dublin
I am all in a sea of wonders. I doubt; I fear; I think strange things, which I dare not confess to my own soul. God keep me, if only for the sake of those dear to me! …
Safety and the assurance of safety are things of the past. Whilst I live on here there is but one thing to hope for, that I may not go mad, if, indeed, I be not mad already. … For now, feeling as though my own brain were unhinged or as if the shock had come which must end in its undoing, I turn to my diary for repose. The habit of entering accurately must help to soothe me.
Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula, begins with a series of diary entries from the journal of one Jonathan Harker, who travelled to the Carpathian mountains to provide legal services for a certain Count Dracula. I humbly suggest that we follow him. (more…)
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:
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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.
10 April 2009
Egg-cellent
No matter where you fall in the religious spectrum, you can get behind the Rabbit of Easter. He bring of the chocolate — and that, quite frankly, is a bunny miracle that none of us want to examine too closely. 
We are in Ireland for our second Easter, so some of the subtleties of the season have become more apparent. (more…)
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17 March 2009
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!
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.
On 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…)
4 March 2009
Windscreen Frost: a demonstration
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…)