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29 August 2007

Ah, the Dubs

Filed under: dublin,ireland,sports — Will @ 21:09

Sunday, County Dublin’s gaelic football team lost to County Kerry. So Kerry will play Cork for the All-Ireland title on September 16th.

In the spirit of self-deprecation, here are a few jokes that require a basic understanding of Irish culture to understand. In the spirit of sadness at the Dub’s loss, I’ll give bonus points towards Commenter of the Week to commenters who kill the comedy by explaining the jokes. (Jokes courtesy the culchies at askaboutmoney.com.)

What’s the difference between a Dublin jersey and a school uniform??
You can see school uniforms in September.

Paul Caffrey, Dubs manager, was arrested last night after vandalising a cigarette machine. He replied by saying he was in a bad way for 20 players!!

What is blue and navy and goes beep, beep, beep?
The Dubs’ bus reversing back into the garage.

What do you call a Dublin man with an all Ireland medal?
An antique dealer!

What I find remarkable is that County Dublin comprises almost 20% of the population of the island. Many of the 32 counties have less than a tenth of that population. Croke Park, the site for the All-Ireland contests, is in Dublin (although it is not Dublin’s home stadium). Yet Dublin is relatively unsuccessful in both football and hurling.

The Bakker Bugle staff are engaged in a long-term research project to determine the cause for this anomaly. We hope it will bring insights to similar oddities in American sport.

25 August 2007

Do You Hate the British Too?

Filed under: culture,ireland,travel — Anita @ 12:55

I’ve had the following conversation on three separate occasions with three different Irish co-workers:

Man: Hiya, Anita. What did you do on your holiday?

Me: We spent the weekend in Dublin, and spent some time at museums and especially at Kilmainham jail. We heard a lot about the Easter Rising in 1916. During the week, we traveled to the West, around Galway and Connemara.

Man: And you liked it?

Me: We did, it was beautiful. But we joke that it could have been depressing because it was like a “Famine Tour.” We saw famine monuments, and we even finished the trip with a visit to the Famine Museum in Strokestown.

Man: So now you hate the British too!

22 August 2007

First Visitor, Departed

Filed under: entertainment,ireland,travel — Will @ 19:57

Good-bye, Cindy — We’ll miss you!

1150972490_3e2e4a10bc_m.jpgThe B.B. B&B said, “Farewell,” to its first customer today. Despite the threat of a pilots’ strike, Cindy was able to fly to Chicago today. With her help, the staff are now even better able to serve future customers of our B&B.

Although the staff haven’t finished putting together the book for this visit, we like to keep our friends informed. So, for an overview of her visit, and tantalizing information about the staff’s retreat, follow the link…

(more…)

14 August 2007

Vacation, all I ever wanted

Filed under: dublin,ireland,travel — Will @ 20:41

Cindy’s been here for six days, and we’ve seen a tremendous number of new things. Thursday and Friday, Cindy and I biked all over Dublin. Each time, I planned to visit place that was familiar to me. Each time, Cindy asked that we explore more — mostly because she knew that we needed to take advantage of the sunny weather. And so, I went lots of new places, too.

We were especially surprised by our adventure along the Great South Wall. We could see that there was a trail leading toward the Poolbeg power station, whose two smokestacks are the tallest Dublin landmarks. The trail was part of the Irishtown Nature Park and went much further out into the Bay than we expected. But the real surprise was the road that led even further. We’d found the Great South Wall, and it looked inviting.

It was bumpy. Very bumpy. The informational sign said that it was built without mortar, and my bouncing bike seat — not to mention bruised buttocks — confirmed that fact. But the view was spectacular, and although the wall was man-made, we felt like we were venturing into little-known territory. Cindy seemed exhilarated, and I hope it helped her feel like she has a special link to Dublin.

10 August 2007

Where to see new photos, for the next week

Filed under: entertainment,ireland,travel — Will @ 17:40

dangerroadunsafe.jpgCindy Smith will be the Primary Documenter during her visit, so take a look at her Flickr site for the latest photos from Dublin and beyond.

She and I biked all over Dublin today and yesterday, so there’s lots to see.

9 August 2007

B.B. B&B open for business

Filed under: dublin,ireland,travel — Anita @ 13:16

The Bakker Bugle Bed and Breakfast is officially open for business! We checked in our first guest today: Cindy Smith, my wonderful mother. She braved her first international flight with no issues or concerns. She flew out of O’Hare on Aer Lingus (motto: you’ve never seen green quite like our uniforms) and landed here in Dublin at 5:40 this morning, with two large suitcases full of love (and products) from the States.

Cindy is going to be here with us for two weeks, until 22 August. You can look forward to more stories about the American tourist in Dublin and the adventures the three of us have.

1 August 2007

Happy Lughnasadh!

Filed under: culture,ireland — Will @ 18:04

May your harvest be plentiful this year!

Lughnasadh is a traditional Irish festival for the beginning of the harvest season. (My best approximation of the pronunciation is “Loo-nas-ah”.) Despite the fact that I haven’t heard a single person mention the festival, I find it a fascinating point of access to ancient Irish culture.

Two more caveats: First, neo-pagans have adopted Lughnasadh to widely varying degrees of accuracy, and I won’t say anything more about that. Second, I’m terribly underqualified to write on this subject, and I haven’t done research beyond what I can reach from my couch (via the internet). But publicly flaunting one’s ignorance — that’s what blogs are for!

Community festivals, family reunions, and other celebrations are traditionally linked to Lughnasadh. Some of today’s Irish festivals associate themselves with Lughnasadh. It’s been celebrated by Irish communities for all of known history, especially when you count the Christian feast of Lammas as a derivative tradition.

Some experts consider Lughnasadh to be the traditional occasion for “handfasting” — a practice of trial marriages that last a year and a day. Primarily, though, Lughnasadh is a petition to the divine for a successful harvest, and it marks the first day of autumn (and thus the harvest).

The North American holiday associated with the harvest is Thanksgiving. But Lughnasadh is a prayer for a successful harvest to come, rather than a thanks-giving for the harvest past. In legend, Lughnasadh was instituted by the god Lugh. Lugh was a legendary High King of ancient Ireland, an epic hero, and, at last, a divine being. One author commented that Lugh was not the type of guy that would wait for sacrifices to come after the people saw how good the harvest would be.

Until today, I thought that John Barleycorn was just the name of a bar near Wrigley Field. Apparently, John Barleycorn is the personification of the barley harvest (and the fermented drinks that followed) — and he’s associated with Lughnasadh.

The August bank holiday in today’s Ireland is sometimes called the Lughnasadh holiday; this year, it’s next Monday, August 6th. On the other hand, I asked a practical Irish businessman about the June and August bank holidays — he said, “The English and French had two holidays in the summer, so we wanted them too. I don’t think they even bothered making up reasons.”

Some links, if you want to spend some time clicking about:

24 July 2007

First Trip to Galway (of 2007)

Filed under: ireland,travel — Will @ 21:29

We visited Galway last year, because our friends Chris and Katie are working for the Big A there. We took a long weekend (half-day Friday) to visit this year. It was the perfect opportunity to talk with good friends and fellow Americans-in-Ireland.

And it was the perfect time to see them. By the time we got on the train to come home, Anita and I realized that a few days away from Dublin was the medicine we needed. We got some of the annoyances with Irish customs off our chests and we told better stories about what we were discovering in Dublin. So we returned to Dublin refreshed.

Naturally, there are photos of Galway on Flickr.

We’re going back next month, to see the sights with Anita’s mom. I’m looking forward to it very much. Connemara was my favorite part of our trip to Ireland last year. And, we’ll get to take another shot at the Cliffs of Moher.

8 July 2007

A Cold Afternoon at the Seashore

Filed under: entertainment,ireland,mental state — Will @ 20:22

The sun was streaming in the windows of our home Saturday midday. After a week of poor weather and busy schedules, we had to seize the sunshine while it lasted.

I wanted to go to the seashore, to see a beach that was mentioned in Ulysses: Forty Foot at Sandycove. Plus, it was high tide, and I hadn’t seen saltwater up close yet!

We packed food, reading, and our folding chairs. As usual, Anita took a coat and wore several layers of clothes. I went outside and decided that the sun was strong and the temperature was warm. I was going to the beach — I was supposed to wear shorts and sandals.

At Sandycove, near the Joyce Tower, we found the famously rocky Forty Foot and a sheltered cove of shallow water. Children were playing where the water met the sand, and jumping into deeper water from a series of rock walls.sandycoveswim.png We fetched our chairs from the car and set up on a grassy patch overlooking the cove.

Several kids were wearing wetsuits, which seems to be the norm. The seawater isn’t dangerously cold, but it’s also not LA or the Gulf.

For me, the problem wasn’t the water. It was the cold air. There was a steady breeze of moist sea air, which was bracing. When the sun shone on us, it was even pleasant. And the idea of an afternoon at the beach is supposed to be about sunbathing.

The sun was shining on many parts of Dublin: on the island of Howth, on sailboats in the distance, and on the townhouses along the Dun Laoghaire Harbor. It was beautiful — as scenery.

Sitting on our chairs, just south of Dun Laoghaire, we didn’t feel much sun. seatsandycove.pngAnita read her book, satisfied with the temp in her black fleece zip-up. I tried to read a local political magazine …but I spent most of my time watching the clouds and hoping that the next patch of blue sky would bring me some warmth.

The wind shifted time and again, as if the clouds were conspiring to keep my patch of the world in the shade. The one time we saw the sun in all its glory, it rained. I felt like a cartoon character with a perpetual cloud over my head.

I was cold, and miserable. Eventually, I stopped toughing it out, and I convinced Anita to go home. cloudssandycove.png Here it is, mid-July, and I can’t get warm outdoors! We sleep under two blankets and a comforter. We run the furnace from time to time. This is absurd.

To be fair, the cool weather is worth it, overall. I’m sure those of you in 90°F aren’t sympathetic to my tale of woe. It’s comfortable to wear ordinary, nice clothes. Today, we went biking in the sun and didn’t break a sweat. Also, Dubliners tell us that this weather is unusual this late in the year.

PS – “Dun Laoghaire” is pronounced approximately like “Done Leery”.

29 June 2007

Is Hurling Violent? Part 1 of 2

Filed under: ireland,sports — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Will @ 11:11

From the first impressions that I posted, you may think my answer is “yes.” I’d like to correct those first impressions. Hurling is not a violent sport, or at least, it is no less violent than other contact sports.

Tackling in hurling is highly regulated. There’s a reason why the participants wear little protective equipment — the referees strictly enforce the rules, and the way that fouls are penalized allows the referee to call a tackling foul without badly interrupting the pace of the game. My impression, from watching three matches, is that called fouls are much less disruptive than in soccer. And let’s not even talk about the persistent problems with foul-calling in American football and NBA basketball.

So don’t take the apparently-wild swinging of a wicked-looking stick (or “hurley”) as a sign of violence. Unlike lacrosse, there are few legal tackles that involve using one’s hurley against another’s body. And injuries are remarkably rare, especially when one considers that almost nobody plays hurling as a full-time job.

Yet it does look like a pre-historic battle. And it look maniacal, with its incredible speed and how often the best players lose the ball (or “sliotar”) and then sprint after the loose ball.

One point of clarification: I’m talking about the rules and the practices of the sport. One could argue that the way the game is played in the All-Ireland Championship leads to fistfights among players too often. One could draw a comparison with American ice hockey and say that the violence is integral to the sport. I admit that I sidestep that point entirely — in part because I’m hardly qualified to argue it.

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