Wild Card Wednesdays - Hammershoi

Nothing very wild today.

Here's a photo for you to ponder. It's proving the centrepiece of our visual approach to 'Pains of Youth'. It'll be beautiful!

Tuesday Tunes - ADELE

...she gets capital letters a) because Wikipedia says that it's the 'alternate styling' of her name, and b) because I'm shouting her name.

Just. Brilliant.

At dinner last night with the lovelies, Cian Kate and Simon, she came up in conversation and this led to several screenings and playings and YouTube clips. All enhanced by copious amounts of wine, Earl Grey tea and Milk Tray. (See? No point in doing the no-chocolate thing until I get out of Dublin. Srsly.)

Anyway - Adele is marvellous. Put Dusty Springfield, Nina Simone, Billie Holliday and a pinch of KT Tunstall in a blender, serve chilled and raw, and you have some idea of how great she is. Admittedly I really didn't care for 'Chasing Pavements', but anyone who sees and isn't moved by this video - of her singing her heart-squeezing ballad 'Someone Like You' at the Brit Awards, and then breaking down, gently, at the end - likely shouldn't be reading this blog.

Movie Monday - Cyrano Agency

I'm on a Korean movie buzz at the moment, and must confess that I LOVED this silly caper from last year. Yay for Netflix and its brood, making such random and hard-to-find items accessible for people like me!

Quirky, cute fun, with a clever concept and very cool actors. Go see!

Sunday Spices - Juniper

Ok so the main reason this spice is showing up this week is because I've been painting the town red (no, not green) this week partying every night! Well, not partying. But not NOT partying either. I think the earliest I got home was about 1am. Woot!

Juniper is used to make gin. And sauerkraut. I consume healthy quantities of only one of these.

;)

Seasonal Saturdays - Grandparents

Last weekend we had a service in memory of my grandparents, followed by lunch at the house for those who were free to come. I really love family gatherings, usually the bigger the better (since there's more room for rolling eyebrows and whispered conferences!)

Here's a photo, from lunch, in the dining room ;)

Foodie Friday - The Rustic Stone

I seem to love any restaurant with the word 'Rustic' in the title. The latest resident of the corner of George's St and Exchequer St in Dublin 2 is The Rustic Stone, a venture into hearty and heart-healthy cooking by Dylan McGrath.

I had the minestrone to start, which was magnificent, bolstered by really delicious chorizo and some filigree cheese around the wooden bowl in which it came. Then I had the pasta pesto, which came with MORE cheese, but was also delicious - the black olives were a great touch. Deciding to be decadent, I had the chocolate soup for dessert - literally on the very brink of being 'too much' - but not quite ;)

Good wine, nice ambience, great service, excellent food. A replacement for Gruel? Not quite. Or, at least, not yet. But definitely worth a visit.

30 Mad Thursdays - Buy a Suit

So, my plan was that by the time I'm 30 I should own at least one stonking good suit. This will likely be the result of various other 30 before 30 challenges and projects (not least saving the money to buy one!) - but in the meantime I had a fun time this week getting suits for my brother and me for his wedding in September.

He and his bride-to-be are extremely well-organised, and in keeping with this I had the whole thing organised in about 90 minutes. Including trips to several shops and department stores! But the suits that we found are lovely, and will look great on the big day.

Now, back to saving to buy THIS - or something comparable. Why are Boss suits so outrageously expensive?!

Wild Card Wednesdays - Gerry Haugh RIP

Of course, sometimes in life the wild cards that come our way are bad rather than good. This week's was a particularly tough deal - Gerry Haugh, much beloved teacher at my Alma Mater, Belvedere College SJ, passed away very suddenly. His contribution to the lives of students, and his enormous charitable and philanthropic work, are pretty much immeasurable. May he rest in peace.

Tuesday Tunes - Kylie/Folie/Aphrodite!

Wow.

(And not just because that's one of her songs!)

Kylie's Aphrodite concert is just astonishing - from beginning to end. Wisely aware that she cannot get by on vocal production alone, Miss M has put together a vast spectacle - purportedly costing about $25 million - that features lifts, wheels, boys, girls, acrobats, golden horses, flying angels, videos, a temple, Venus' shell - oh, and a water show comparable to the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Not even kidding.

THIS WILL BE A DVD TO OWN!!!

Here's the setlist...


"The Carnival of the Animals" (Instrumental Introduction)
"Aphrodite"
"The One"
"Wow"
"Illusion"
"I Believe in You"
"Cupid Boy"
"Spinning Around"
"Get Outta My Way"
"What Do I Have to Do?"
"Everything Is Beautiful"
"Slow"
"Confide in Me"
"Can't Get You Out of My Head"
"In My Arms"
"Looking for an Angel"
"Closer"
"There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)"
"Love at First Sight" / "Can't Beat the Feeling"
"If You Don't Love Me"
"Better the Devil You Know"
"Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love)"
Encore
"On a Night Like This"
"All the Lovers"

And a little bootleg video to whet your appetite and whip up your jealousy ;)

Movie Monday - Norwegian Wood

I am a big fan of Murakami Haruki. (Who isn't?)

Very excited about the pending release of his three volume novel 1Q84, which is due, in English translation, in October of this year.

Tiding us over until then, this month saw the release of a new film version of one of his most popular novels, Norwegian Wood, by the Vietnamese director Anh Hung Tran.

Obviously any transfer between media insists on compromises and changes to the source material, and I think this adaptation is commendable for its depiction of a mood, a moment, a memory. The acting is all superb, as is the soundtrack, provided by the impossibly cool Jonny Greenwood - as well as an appearance by the eponymous Beatles song.

I think what I loved the most were the subtle references to life in Tokyo at the time - several scenes featured the protagonist walking through and around Waseda University during the enormous student revolts in Tokyo in the late 1960s. This ex-Waseda student can happily report, too, that scenes really were filmed in the drama department of Waseda!!!

Pleasing accuracies aside, however, the film is rather hard work. Its rhythms are hypnotic and disruptive in equal measure, and its emphasis is substantially different from the book, as are some of the characters. But I didn't go to the cinema to 'see' the book, so that's alright.

Seasonal Saturdays - St. Patrick's Day

So, St. Patrick's Day - and likely its concomitant hangover - has been and gone, and the parades have passed by, and the green clothes are all in the laundry.

But I do want to share one extremely cute video that I saw marking the day. Well, screw it, why not two. The first is the Muppet homage to the day, and the second comes from the ever-popular 'Give Up Yer Aul Sins', an animated film which gave visual life to stories told by Dublin children in the 1960s. Here, for the week that's in it, is the tale of St. Patrick. I hope you enjoy it.

Foodie Friday - Il Caffe di Napoli

We took my dad out for a nice dinner last night (after his team was beaten in rugby) - at Caffe di Napoli on Westland Row in Dublin.

I had the most indulgent thing I think I've eaten in a very long time - a steak served with a delicious sauce (its base was balsamic vinegar) and then topped - get this - with pate! Waaay too luxurious to be even remotely healthy. But delicious.

And so filling that I don't think any of us had any room for dessert! (Although I sent Aidan and Orla home with a box each of chocolate pretzels ;)

30 Mad Thursdays - Tutankhamun

First of all, Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Now, a confession. I have been utterly obsessed with ancient Egypt since I was in Miss Caffrey's 2nd class and had to do a project on the pyramids. I was mad about it all - am still fascinated, admittedly, but so many other great things have captivated my impressionable imagination in the last 22 years that the ancients have had to move to the back of the mental filing cabinet!

Over dinner in Santa Monica recently, Orla mentioned that a big Tutankhamun exhibition was coming to Dublin, and I suggested that we should go - despite the fact that everything in it is a fake. Well, meticulous reconstruction is probably more approrpriate - you wouldn't believe how good these 'fakes' are!

My mother trekked across to London in 1972 when King Tut's treasure trove toured the world in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of its being discovered, and she was always very indulgent of my fascination with Egypt. So, it was quite bittersweet to 'see' them all - certainly as close-up as I will for a good while before they are viewable again in Cairo - without her.

And no, I didn't buy any tat while I was there. I sold more than a lifetime's worth of King Tut Tat in Past Times all those years ago, TYVM.

http://www.kingtutdublin.ie/home/

Wild Card Wednesday - MANGINA JONES

So, I managed to get to the Olympia Theatre on Sunday night, where one MISS MANGINA JONES was crowned Alternative Miss Ireland 2011. Truly the most extravagant, exciting, enthusiastic and electric night I've had in years! (And despite all of those adjective

s, no, I was not off my face on E.)

Miss Jones' rendition of River Deep Mountain High was quite the most fabulous thing Dublin can have seen in aeons - and the crowd duly went bananas for her after it was done. BANANAS.

Doubtless you'll be hearing a lot more from her in the not-too-distant future. Long live the Queen ;)

Tuesday Tunes - 30 Day Song Challenge

This has been a fun Facebook meme of late. Over-achiever that I am, however, I did the whole thing in about a week. And then, weirdo that I am, I deactivated my Facebook account. I'm curious to see if all my posts are still there when I get back - if not, worry not, the list will now be preserved here, but not, alas, with all of the pithy fun comments that came with...!

01 - Your favourite song

Moon River - Henry Mancini's Orchestra

02 - Your Least favourite song

Eiffel 65 - Blue Da Ba Dee

03 - A Song that Makes You Happy

Spitz - 君と暮らせたら

04 - A Song that Makes you Sad

Laura Branigan - Over You

05 - A song that Reminds you of someone

J Lo - Do You Know

06 - A song that reminds you of somewhere

Madonna - Jump

07 - A song that reminds you of a certain event

Stevie B - The Postman Song

08 - A song that you know all the words to

Madonna - Like a Prayer

09 - A song that you can dance to

Devdas - Morey Piya

10 - A song that makes you fall asleep

Chopin - Nocturne

11 - A song from your favourite band

Faithless - Bombs

12 - A song from a band you hate

Radiohead - Paranoid Android

13 - A song that is a guilty pleasure

Lady Gaga - Born this Way

14 - A song that no one would expect you to love

Dubliners - Rare Old Times

15 - A song you liked in high school

Aqua - Turn Back Time / Cornflake Girl - Tori Amos

16 - The first song in your mp3 folder

Kylie - Aphrodite

17 - A song you hear often on the radio

Rihanna - Only Girl in the World

18 - A song you wish you heard on the radio

Nina Hagen - Personal Jesus

19 - A song from your favourite album

Xavier Cugat - Perfidia

20 - A song you listen to when you're angry

Allegri - Miserere

21 - A song you listen to when you're happy

Roisin Murphy - Ramalama

22 - A song you listen to when you're sad

Cyndi - I'm gonna be strong

23 - A song you want to play at your wedding

Tracy Chapman - The Promise

24 - A song you want to play at your funeral

Mozart - Lacrimosa

25 - A song that makes you laugh

Tom Lehrer - The Elements

26 - A song that you can play on an instrument

Chopin - Raindrop Prelude

27 - A song you wish you could play

Rachmaninov - Paganini Rhapsody

28 - A song that makes you feel guilty

Triantafyllos - Mia Zoi

29 - A song from your childhood

London Palladium Cast - Joseph Megamix

30 - Your favourite song at this time last year

Nervous - Melissa Etheridge

Movie Monday - Downton Abbey (Skit)

Ok, so this isn't quite a movie. But it' s brilliant! After the tremendous - and thoroughly deserved - success of Downton Abbey this winter, it's probably no surprise that Comic Relief set their twinkling eyes on it for a big skit this year. With a cast even more stellar than the original it lampoons, it is one of the funniest things I've seen in ages.

Joanna Lumley is beyond brilliant. And Victoria Wood's 'gaffe' will have you giggling for days :)

If by any chance you haven't managed to see the original yet, it's really worth a look - the best costume drama that has emerged in several years.

Sunday Spices - Masticha

Masticha is a Greek herb/spice/flavour. It's most often used to make liqueur, but also features heavily as a flavour of chewing gum and in ice-cream. It's almost impossible to describe, but for me it is the ne-plus-ultra of summer flavours! (Probably because it's just about the only one that one CANNOT get outside of Greece. It's invariably grown on the island of Chios - hence it being known as Μαστίχα Χίου)

I was reminded of it yesterday while I was on the plane - an elderly woman flying to Chicago was chewing on it. I would have asked her for some, but for the fact that I actually saw her empty the entire yellow packet of gum into her bejowelled gob and munch on them all the way through the flight.

Thank god for the noise-cancelling headphones...!

Seasonal Saturdays - March

Yesterday I had the honour of attending the Themed Entertainment Association summit in Universal City - it is basically an event where all the year's winners of THEAs (the awards given by the association for special achievement in various categories within the industry) present their works and achievements.

The Expo in China dominated the morning, and Harry Potter did the afternoon - all fascinating presentations and brilliant achievements. Perhaps the most interesting to me, however, was the presentation by Martello Media of the new museum at Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin. Certainly I think I must have been the only person in the room who could claim to have an immediate family member buried in the cemetery!

The beginning of March also marks the birthday/anniversary of said family member, my brother Kevin. He died before I was born, but somehow he has always figured in my consciousness, as I wonder what it might have been like to have an older brother, blazing a trail here or there for me. Oh well. Hopefully I've done a good job of doing so :)

Foodie Friday - Butler's Hot Chocolate

After my pontificating yesterday about giving up Chocolate, I was thinking about all the kinds of chocolate that I love, and would therefore miss. I'm no particular fan of chocolate soup, or any chocolate involvement in savoury items - although the mole negro at Monte Alban in Santa Monica is tremendous.

I was pretty much raised on drinking chocolate, mind you. It was a ritual in our house that at least two of us would have a cup of drinking chocolate (NOT cocoa) every night before bed. In France, on our camping holidays, my parents would often adjourn to the bar after putting us to sleep, where my mother would always have 'un chocolat chaud'. Last summer, in Samos, I had a very lovely cup of it, in the little dining area of a lovely cheapo hotel, much to the bemusement of the smiling Greek lady who prepared it for me.

I am looking forward to visiting Butler's Chocolate cafe in Dublin while I'm home - they make it quite beautifully. Somehow, though, I always associate their plush styrofoam cups with travel - probably because the two outlets of their franchise that I frequent the most are the ones in Heuston Station and Dublin Airport!

UPDATE (March 17th) - Orla and I had a delicious pair of hot chocolates, and a pear muffin, of all things, on our day of fun meandering around the city centre. Mission accomplished!

30 Mad Thursdays - Give Up Chocolate

As part of my whole 30 Before 30 growing up self fulfillment project, I have been seriously considering giving up Chocolate. Clearly not forever, but for a specific length of time. Not because I feel I am addicted, or because necessarily I eat too much of it, but mainly because I've been reading a lot about the effect it has on people - serotonin and all that - and I'm very curious to see if I could at least go without it long enough to cleanse myself completely of its influence. And then see how I feel.

But CLEARLY I won't be doing any such thing until after my trip to Dublin. A fortnight without even a taste of some lovely Cadbury's would be a fortnight wasted. If you don't know what I mean, you're missing out.

More on the chocolate-free lifestyle in April - provided of course that it doesn't kill me. Or anyone else, for that matter ;)