Paran

You'll find an excellent clip at the bottom of this link - 3 of the musicians from the Crash Ensemble playing Paran by John Zorn:

Zazzle Zazzle

It's that time of the year again:



View more personalized gifts from Zazzle.

Christmas cards - Take 3-4-5

Another few done with Masquepen masking fluid (I should have used a bigger brush to paint it more evenly):

Knife Skills

For anybody out there who loves cooking (not me, obviously)

Christmas cards - Take 2

Here is another one that I like, though the colours are not as strong - the green is a mix of phthalo blue and vanadium yellow. It might work better if I did an ultramarine background - it would give a nice purple where it mixes with the red. Decisions Decisions.

Airfield

Here is a photo of Airfield's mini lake. I know it doesn't really give you an idea of what it looks like, but it's a nice photo all the same!

Airfield

This afternoon turned out better than forecast - instead of the advance of cloud and drizzle, we had glorious sunshine. So, around 4 o'clock, I declared that we should go to Airfield for a potter.

The piglets are getting big and have been moved to a field with their mammy. Plenty of excitement, grunting and running around when the farmer arrived with food.

The pond is looking well - the water is a lot clearer than in the summer, and the aquatic plants are thriving. Still no ducks, though - the white plastic duck hasn't attracted any live ones yet.

People had been busy making scarecrows today, and you will find some good-looking ones in 2 of the fields (in the allotment area and in the old meadow at the bottom of the estate).

Christmas cards

It's that time of the year again - I'm starting to think about the design of 2010's Christmas cards. Well, my theme this year is going to be the Christmas Rose, but I haven't found the perfect design yet, and, believe me, I have been busy experimenting already.

Here is one possible contender. Let me know what you think of it.

Why I love Boden

I'm not a shopper - I have no interest in going through the shops and trying things on. But I love Boden. I get nearly all my clothes online on their website, even jeans - the sizes are so consistent that it's rare now that I buy something that doesn't fit (and if it doesn't, I send it back - OK - I lose in the postage, as the free return deals don't apply outside of the UK, but it's better than keeping something that doesn't work).

What I love most about Boden is their quirky finishing touches, in particular their linings. I know nobody else sees the lining, but I know it's there, and it makes me feel special!

Exhibit A: my lovely conservative beige coat with mad big flower lining. Oh, I so wish it was reversible!

Dramatic sky

Another view from the Ring of Kerry, between Waterville and Caherdaniel:

Only in Ireland

You have to see it to believe it - on the last leg of our drive around the ring of Kerry 2 weeks ago, we stopped at a dramatic sightseeing viewpoint overlooking the sea before the road sweeps down to Caherdaniel. There were a few tourists there, and also a man with his van, 2 sheep, a little dog in a basket, and a CAT. The sheep, a bit spooked, kept running toward the road, and the man kept gathering them beside him. The dog wasn't budging. And the cat seemed to be quite happy there - there were no houses nearby, just a car park, a cliff and a road. How could it be comfortable in that environment? Would it not want to be sitting by a fire instead? Maybe it's got a cosy corner in the van. I can't believe that this man brings his ménagerie there every day - as  photo opportunity for tourists. We didn't take any pictures - or we would have had to pay him, I'm sure. All this very tidy - I even saw the man sweeping sheep droppings from the car park before a coach pulled in!

Just in case you're wondering

In my previous post, I may have made it sound like I knew all these musicians and composers so well. I don't. I'm a fan of Dawn Upshaw, and I know Osvaldo Golijov because Upshaw is his muse and I've got a few CDs of his music sung by her.

But I had never heard of the Crash Ensemble, Donnacha Dennehy, Iarla O'Lionaird or any of the others until I checked out the Crash Ensemble website, which is full of good information. It's amazing what you can learn from the web and regurgitate in five minutes!

Dawn Upshaw and the Crash Ensemble

It's hard to keep up with my busy life. I've been in catch-up mode since we got back from Kerry. This weekend just flew - we were working on Saturday morning, and then we went into town on Sunday for a quick errand, and I did a bit of painting, and then the weekend was gone - in a flash - disappeared.

So, bear with me while I tell you about events in my life that happened weeks ago. OK. This one isn't that bad - it was the weekend before last, on the Saturday evening, a dirty dark wet night. We drove into Kilmainham for a concert by Dawn Upshaw and the Crash Ensemble.

The great hall is not the best in terms of acoustics - I found that, when she was belting out the high notes, Dawn Upshaw's voice bounced between the walls, with a strange echo effect. But that aside, it was a lovely evening. We got good seats - not too close, with plenty of leg room for Brendan. Upshaw sang some Osvaldo Golijov songs first, and was followed by Iarla O'Lionaird, a sean-nos singer, who performed Gra agus Bas, a Donnacha Dennehy piece. After the interval, the string section treated us to John Zorn's Paran, a piece that will remind you of Fiddler on the Roof. And then, the beautiful That the Night Come, a piece composed by Donnacha Dennehy, based on some of Yeats poems.

I'm a fan of Golijov, so of course I'm going to say that it was good.

While I found Gra Agus Bas (Love and Death) discordant (I think there were too many instruments competing for my attention), Iarla O'Lionaird's voice was beautiful and carried the piece through.

Paran was really enjoyable - based on Jewish tunes with a modern twist - the double-bass and the cello were absolutely fabulous - foot-tapping stuff. I must find out who the cello player is - she was in one of the bands that played at one of the JK Ensemble sessions.

I don't know much about Yeats poetry. The only line I can quote is "Are changed, changed utterly. A terrible beauty is born" (I think this line accompanied some Bord Failte advertising in the 80s), and I didn't even know what poem it comes from until I looked it up just now (Easter 1916). I really enjoyed the soft music and the beautiful words of That the Night Come. The overall effect was perfect. The piece was commissioned by Dawn Upshaw and this was its World Premiere. Looking forward to the CD.

If you want a more erudite review of the concert, you'll find one here.

And don't forget to check out the Crash Ensemble website's media page. One of my favourites is "Loops for Ancient-Giant-Nude-Hairy Warriors Racing Down the Slopes of Battle".

Anyway, I'm delighted that Dawn Upshaw was back in Ireland. I hope she enjoyed her musical collaboration with Donnacha Dennehy and the Crash Ensemble and that she'll be back again soon.

Jean Byrne - white leather?, black leather, red dress

8, 9 & 10 October.
The red dress is still a favourite of mine.
I'm not so sure about the white outfit - is it leather?
And the black leather tunic is quite flattering, but I don't like the asymmetric bit at the front (but that's just me - I don't like anything one-shouldered or hanging more on one side than the other)

Rossbeigh beach

One of the finds of our visit to Kerry was Rossbeigh beach, near Glenbeigh. It's on the Ring of Kerry, and it looks just like a flip image of Inch beach on the Dingle peninsula, and when you look at the satellite picture, you understand why!



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We had a bright blustery day and it was perfect for our walk on the beach, until we turned back, into the wind. At that stage, I was so glad of Brendan's woolly hat!

And be warned - out of season, the public toilets at the start of the beach are locked - only in Ireland! And Bord Failte wonder why tourists are not coming back! Just as well I have a strong bladder.

We had lunch in the Towers Hotel in Glenbeigh (check out the History section for Ryan's Daughter connections and reference to De Gaulle, who my mother told me visited Sneem on a number of occasions). Old-fashioned pub, but the food was pretty good - I had a ham and cheddar ciabatta - tasty big portion, french fries and a nice salad, and Brendan had a bowl of very good nachos - all for €14.

The picture on the left is one I found through Google, advertising a hotel in the area, but I thought it gives a good idea of the beauty of the beach! I'd say it's busy in the summer, though. If you enlarge the picture, you can almost see all the cars parked along the road.

Parknasilla Hotel

Sorry for the silence over the last few days. We decided to avail of hotel special offers (and my G Club Card, which I won at a Discover Ireland competition/lottery last summer) and headed down to Kerry on Sunday for a 3-night break in Parknasilla Hotel. Padraig had recommended it to Brendan, after he and his family spent a few days there in the summer, and we were curious to try it out.

We were not disappointed. While the room we were given was not great, everything else was perfect. It took us all of 10 minutes to get over the room bit.

Let me talk about the room first and get that out of the way: the bed was excellent - big and soft and cosy with good pillows; the lounger chairs at the window were very good, and we did have a view (partially obstructed, but a view all the same - much better than the rooms at the back of the hotel, that face onto a path and a dark wooded area). But the bathroom was very old - clean, but old and tired-looking (and the door to the bathroom had seen better days). The round table at the window looked made of cheap wood, and the floor was very creaky. And our final gripe is that there were no sockets that could be used at the little desk (only lamp sockets there - not much use to us). That's it. As I said, we got over that very quickly. Apparently, some of the rooms in the main house were upgraded 2 years ago, so it may be worth requesting one of these at time of booking.

Service was excellent - porter, reception, restaurant, spa - even the young man who hoovers the stairs in the morning had a smile on his face when saying hello to us.

Food was great - good breakfast buffet, and gorgeous menu at dinnertime. My favourites were the scallops with beetroot sauce, the pan-fried halibut with potatoes & leeks and a tomato concasse, and of course the banoffee. Brendan's highlights were the steak  - cooked to perfection, and the duck - the best duck he's ever had, he says!

Lovely lounges all around, with open fires in the evening, and candles everywhere (I suppress my safety officer instinct here!). Perfect for reading a book in the afternoon or for a drink after dinner. And there are some very nice paintings dotted all around the corridors and lounges.

Lots of walks around the coast in the hotel grounds - we saw seals basking in the sun in the shallows across the bay. And what a view across the water - the Beara peninsula in all its glory, no matter what the weather. Benches dotted everywhere to rest your legs while you're taking in the views. There were plenty more paths that we didn't get around to exploring - looking forward to checking them out next time around.

And of course, the spa - big square pool, which we had to ourselves most of the time (avoid school holidays, though, if you don't want to share the pool with hordes of Irish children!). It has the best view across the bay, water temperature is perfect, the showers are very nice (big powerful shower head, nice shampoo and shower gel). And the Thermal spa is clean and warm and relaxing. I recommend the aromatherapy steam room and the warm loungers (just like in the pictures on their website!). And there is a small but perfectly equipped gym (which they don't seem to advertise on their website).

Overall, a wonderful stay there. We'll be back.

Siobhan Ryan - 5 October - Ultramarine Dress & Mole belt

Actually, I don't know the name for the colour of her belt, but let's call it "mole" for now. It's a very popular hue for accessories this autumn. I saw a lot of bags in that colour in Belgium when I was there a couple of weeks ago. And it works well with the ultramarine dress.

Busy Busy Run Run

Too busy to post this week, but a few minutes of Stumbling has provided a few items for me to regurgitate:

Acoustic Kitty

Cuban Tree Frog, Florida

11:14

We're trying to make room on our UPC hard disk (I'm sure there is a proper name for it, but I don't know what it is - it's the box from the cable company on which we can record movies), so we're watching a good few movies these days.

11:14 was a good surprise - never heard of it before, but it had an interesting story line - all circling around the same few roads going across a small town in the middle of nowhere in America, before, after and at 11:14 PM. A few people's lives are criss-crossing, with tragic consequences and ironic twists. Some scenes were quite bloody, actually completely gross, but in a sort-of-funny way (I still couldn't look at them directly - I had to watch those bits in the reflection in the window - somehow it makes it more bearable).

A couple of big names - Patrick Swayze, Hillary Swank, Barbara Hershey. And if the guy driving the car at the start of the movie looks familiar, it's because he is Henry Thomas, who played Elliott, the little boy who befriends E.T. in E.T!!  These are the wonderful pieces of information you'll find on Wikipedia! Just do a search for Henry Thomas in Google images, and you'll see how he hasn't changed all that much!

Siobhan Ryan - black skirt & red top

Nice red top on Siobhan Ryan this evening. I like it that she is already wearing brighter colours!

Abstract Exercise #3 - Variation 1 - Take 2

I was so happy with my Abstract Exercise #3 - Variation 1 that I decided to paint a bigger version. The original was 12x16". This one is 20x24" (51x61cm) - a different proportion altogether, so I had to redesign it from scratch, but I kept the same colour scheme (dark background made up of ultramarine + process magenta + black, and blues and greens made up of process cyan + lemon yellow + white).

There was a band of sunlight falling over it when I took one of the photos, and I chose to show you this one as it reveals the colours much better, though nothing as vibrant as the original. Colour corrections go too blue or too yellow.

Food Porn

Scrumptious photo of a burger (I'm told it's a M&S gourmet burger, on a ciabatta, with tomato, red onion, gherkins and ketchup) taken 2 weeks ago (while I was in Belgium). This is what Brendan gets up to when I'm away:

Autumn Day

We've had some lovely weather in the last couple of days (it certainly makes up for the rain last weekend and earlier this week). After a quick trip to town to buy supplies in Asia Market, we went for a walk in Bushy Park.

And, after shopping in Lidl and a bit of abstract painting, here I am. Day gone in a flash. I'm definitely getting old.

I've got a bit of tidy-up to do now, and then it will be time for dinner - Marks & Spencers noodles (special offers - 3 for €7) - I love M&S special offers - the salads are gorgeous - Crayfish and Quinoa, Edamame & greans beans are my current favourites. I also like the Quiche, olives and parma ham (3 for €7), and of course the meal deal for 2 specials - main course, veggie, dessert (have you ever tried the profiteroles? or the Belgian chocolate soufflé? No? You haven't lived!) and a bottle of wine for €12.50. Though, I think that there are not as many specials as during the summer. I guess we're getting into the eat-eat-eat season and they don't need to have specials to attract customers. On Friday, I had to resist the lure of the giant Belgian biscuit tins. And they already have mince pies on the shelves - way too early. No wonder the Irish nation is heading for obesity. But no Belgian chocolate truffles, yet, thankfully, as I'm not sure my self-control would resist that temptation.

Jean Byrne vs Siobhan Ryan

Jean Byrne was sporting one of her old reliables on Thursday, her mid-brown polka-dot velvet jacket. It suits her nicely, but it's not very exciting any more. I would like to see new clothes on her - perhaps some nice autumn colours - dark orange I'd say would look well on her. I wonder how Met Eireann's wardrobe budget is allocated? Now that they have a new weather girl, Siobhan Ryan, does that mean that each of them is getting a smaller budget? Or is the allowance decided based on the number of TV appearances per year?

Siobhan Ryan chose a fairly conservative outfit for Friday night, a Chanel-look skirt and top that will please the older audiences.

Tonight on the other hand, she went for a sharp modern line, with a zippered grey dress. I find the sleeve detail a bit fussy, however. Maybe not as adventurous as some of Jean's dresses, and certainly less controversial than her silver Christmas dress, but I'm looking forward to seeing what Siobhan's wardrobe will reveal over the coming months.

Big Wheel

I mentioned a while back that we went on the big wheel at The Point Village when Amy was over with us in August. It was really enjoyable. We had a lovely clear morning, and the views of the city and the sea from the wheel are gorgeous. Maybe because it wasn't too busy (we were amongst the first there at opening time), the wheel turned fairly quickly, and we had 3 or 4 turns on it. I'm not great with heights, and I certainly  felt it there more than at the London Eye, although it is not as tall. I was glad of the air conditioning in our capsule, but I was still fairly sweaty at the end of our spin!

Photographing Fairies

Another week gone by - in a flash. Scary how quickly time goes as you get older.

Last weekend, we watched another movie Brendan recorded - Photographing Fairies. It's a quirky movie - we thought it would be all peaches and cream and lovely. It's not. Several people die violent deaths in their pursuit of fairies, and the fairies themselves are not even pretty (one of them is an ugly fat man!). The photography (not of the fairies -of the movie) though is excellent - surreal light takes us through Charles Castle's journey, from getting married, losing his wife a day later, photographing the dead in World War I, and then discovering a convincing photograph of a fairy that shakes all his rational certainties.

There are 2 cute kids in the story, but they are not sickly cute in the American movie kind of way. They have their little world - it is strange and dangerous, but they seem oblivious to real life - and death - going on around them.

It's a good movie - and the ending is happy - if you're into life after death, that is.

La tourneuse de pages

I'm not in the humour for work this afternoon - it doesn't happen too often, but right now, I feel I need a short break.

So let me tell you about a movie Brendan recorded for me a while back. It's a French movie - very low key, not much said, but plenty of atmosphere, looks and tension. La Tourneuse de pages is the story of a gifted little girl who fails her entrance exam to the conservatoire because she gets distracted by one of the jurors (who allows a fan to come in during the audition and signs an autograph). Ten years later, she is hired as an assistant PA in a lawyer's firm. A while later, the lawyer is looking for somebody to help watch over his son while his wife is rehearsing for a concert....That's as much as I'm going to tell you. Except that there is a hilarious (and painful) scene involving a cello.

I just love French movies - they don't go for the obvious endings like their American counterparts. It's all very subtle, but it stays with you well after the credits are over.

The Food Pornographer

One for Brendan & Mary: http://www.thefoodpornographer.com/

Happy Inside - IKEA cats advert

And here is the ad itself - purrr bliss

Herding Cats

Strictly for Cat Lovers (Padraig & Mary - don't click on play - you will never be able to shop at Ikea ever again!)