Friday, February 24, 2006
As I Work In The Shadow Of The Valley of Bread
It's been a busy week for jobs this week, with a variety of success and annoyance's.
First I there where the open interviews at Alma de Cuba / Korova, and it was a downright farce and a waste of extravagant bus fare. Some people go up and it's all smiles, full length photo shots and ten minutes talk, then the next group. They aren't even offered a hand shake, they're there about five mins and the interviewer generally makes them feel as welcome as a genital wart. Of course, I'm in the second group, and while the first group is the pretty perky bar maids, the second group is the visual rejects. I was half-heartedly asked how to make a Cosmopolitan, one of the few cocktails I know from the top of my head, and was told they'd be calling successful applicants the next day, and suffice to say.... I knew to expect this kind of thing in the field, but most other places opt for the more subtle approach of a smiley face on the back of the application form.
Next was a new Greek club / restaurant, Athena. Seemed well, phoned, asked me to come in that night, said they'd call me about starting. Now I've had this a few times since I got back, think it might be a Liverpool thing, and maybe it was the lack of enthusiasm, or maybe the long hair, but I never head from them. Besides, the boss didn't seem a very fun guy and the place seemed helluva dodgy...
However, third time the charm, I get a cover shift in Greens Health & Fitness, arranged by the good people at Search Recruitment, so for 285 glorious minutes I was employed once again! Was great to be working and it was delightful to find my skills, when applied, still have the ability to pay the bills. Not only was it good to be working again, but it was an honour to work as close as one can possibly work to, the Stone Henge of Scouce culture, the streets where Bread was filmed! It was an honour to work in the shadow it cast o'er me as I learnt to make cappuccino and other poncey coffees, and along with the view of the River Mersey it greatly restored my faith in job hunting.
First I there where the open interviews at Alma de Cuba / Korova, and it was a downright farce and a waste of extravagant bus fare. Some people go up and it's all smiles, full length photo shots and ten minutes talk, then the next group. They aren't even offered a hand shake, they're there about five mins and the interviewer generally makes them feel as welcome as a genital wart. Of course, I'm in the second group, and while the first group is the pretty perky bar maids, the second group is the visual rejects. I was half-heartedly asked how to make a Cosmopolitan, one of the few cocktails I know from the top of my head, and was told they'd be calling successful applicants the next day, and suffice to say.... I knew to expect this kind of thing in the field, but most other places opt for the more subtle approach of a smiley face on the back of the application form.
Next was a new Greek club / restaurant, Athena. Seemed well, phoned, asked me to come in that night, said they'd call me about starting. Now I've had this a few times since I got back, think it might be a Liverpool thing, and maybe it was the lack of enthusiasm, or maybe the long hair, but I never head from them. Besides, the boss didn't seem a very fun guy and the place seemed helluva dodgy...
However, third time the charm, I get a cover shift in Greens Health & Fitness, arranged by the good people at Search Recruitment, so for 285 glorious minutes I was employed once again! Was great to be working and it was delightful to find my skills, when applied, still have the ability to pay the bills. Not only was it good to be working again, but it was an honour to work as close as one can possibly work to, the Stone Henge of Scouce culture, the streets where Bread was filmed! It was an honour to work in the shadow it cast o'er me as I learnt to make cappuccino and other poncey coffees, and along with the view of the River Mersey it greatly restored my faith in job hunting.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
It's The End of English Smoking As We Know It
Last night Parliament decided on a total smoking ban in pubs and clubs, coming into effect in mid-2007.
Although I enjoyed the smoke free environment in Dublin I think to general public should have had more of a say in matters here, but hey, Labour have made it pretty clear they can call the shots for us.
To lighten the blow however, my morning got of to a good start today when I came across this article in The Guardian about the social significance of smoking. My favorite point is number three, that banning candy cigarettes (Ah, I remember them) failed to stop kids smoking and now they're all addicted to smack. It's fun, because, it's true.
And remember, smoking certainly doesn't make traditionally ugly people look cool...
Although I enjoyed the smoke free environment in Dublin I think to general public should have had more of a say in matters here, but hey, Labour have made it pretty clear they can call the shots for us.
To lighten the blow however, my morning got of to a good start today when I came across this article in The Guardian about the social significance of smoking. My favorite point is number three, that banning candy cigarettes (Ah, I remember them) failed to stop kids smoking and now they're all addicted to smack. It's fun, because, it's true.
And remember, smoking certainly doesn't make traditionally ugly people look cool...
Monday, February 13, 2006
I'm Back From The Land Of The Ice And Snow
I'm back from Norway, plan was, cheap flights and cheap accomodation makes a cheap holiday, well, it didn't quite work. The fact that two shots of Jägermeister set me back 148 NOK (£12.50, for the benifit of British listeners) made this sink in quickly, and the cheapest beer we found was a mere 59 NOK (£5), and even then is wasn't that nice (Ringnes, the traditional Oslo beer).
My travel companions expensive tastes didn't help me either, he decided we should spend the last night in the Radisson SAS Plaza Hotel. Now five star hotels really aren't my thing, instead prefarring smaller places where you can talk with other travellers, but man, I loved the sauna, had a great view of the sunrise.
One of my missions for the weekend was to eat something cute, posibly reindeer, or even whale or seal since Norway is one of the few places it is avaliable. But going back to Mr. Expensive Tastes, we had lobster, perhaps the most over-rated, posh crap food in the world. It's like big expensive shrimp. A saving grace was that I got to have a bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale with it, but in that strange land of Norway, it came in tiny 330ml bottles...
Also on the booze front I discovered Norway has a good stock of Tuborg, the Danish classic, enjoyed by many at the Roskilde Festival, and by me in Ireland. Drink is impossible to obtain on Sundays, and the only state spirit / wine store (The Vinmonopolet) we could find, in central station, never seemed to be open. Duty Free coming back however, is amazing, the only down side being the limit of one litre. A litre of Jagermiester was a mere 100 NOK, less than the cost of two shots, and I got some Finlandia Vodka chocolates, a most enjoyable of snacks, and the sure made the flight back memorable.
Of course, not everything about Norway was drink related, I mean, I had my first go at skiing and discovered that it is a cheap and enjoyable way to pass a day, costing about £20 for ski and boot hire. If you take the T1 line West out to Voksenkollen you can hire skis, toboggans, snowboards and clothing for really low rices, and they're yours until 6 PM. I took a weekend of from descion making, so it was decided that we'd attempt cross country skiing, which I enjoyed although I found it neer impossible to manage the up hill sections. Downhill was still bloody fun, and even though I nearly broke my leg, I'll try it again some time, only while travelling with insurance. It's also cheap to get out there, a 24 hour ticket only cost 60 NOK, you can use it on the bus, train and tram system and you need to stamp it yourself in order to start it. However, I never noticed a single ticket inspector all weekend, and I'm sure the ignorant touist defense would help it making one ticket last all weekend if you claim you didn't know about the stamping orange box (Very trusting people those Norweignes), although it makes you a liar as I just told you about it.
The Lonely Planet Guide gave us a few good pointers, leading us out the the cheaper area of town, Grunerlokka where we enjoyed very authentic tandoori chicken at Punjab Tandoori and perhaps teh best kebab I have ever tasted at the Oslo Kebab and Pizzahus. The meat was first rate, the sauce brought everything to a whole new level, and we also got good pizza, which was cut into squares for some reason. While roaming the area we also found the Stargate bar, cheap beer and a wicker jukebox, I Am The Ressurection got the mandatory play, and for reasons beyond me, it also had the Adam & Joe football song. The pub also had an atmosphere slightly friendlier than the weather, the local aren't as friendly as other places in Europe and we ended up talking to / being talked at by some Afghani guy who felt he had to keep spelling out words for us.
In terms of culture it's worth going to Norway jsut to see the Vigeland Park, filled with countless lifesize granite sculptures and an immense 46 foot monolith. A massive bonus for out visit was thw two foot of snow, it was bloody brilliant! The whole city of Oslo is covered with sculptures and an art fan would be in paridise. Also worth a look is the Nasjonalgalleriet, from where Munch's "The Scream" was famously stolen by someone who jumped in through the window (Very trusting people those Norweignens). After visting Norwway I think I understand the picture somewhat better, and I believe the panic and dread the picture depicts is connected to the extortionate drink prices.
All in all, I defintly recommend Norway for a relaxing break away. The tourist infomation office outside the main station can get fantastic ratees for even luxary hotels, and days can be filled cheaply with skiing, and as for drink, just fill up on duty free and Finlandia vodka sweets.
One of my missions for the weekend was to eat something cute, posibly reindeer, or even whale or seal since Norway is one of the few places it is avaliable. But going back to Mr. Expensive Tastes, we had lobster, perhaps the most over-rated, posh crap food in the world. It's like big expensive shrimp. A saving grace was that I got to have a bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale with it, but in that strange land of Norway, it came in tiny 330ml bottles...
Also on the booze front I discovered Norway has a good stock of Tuborg, the Danish classic, enjoyed by many at the Roskilde Festival, and by me in Ireland. Drink is impossible to obtain on Sundays, and the only state spirit / wine store (The Vinmonopolet) we could find, in central station, never seemed to be open. Duty Free coming back however, is amazing, the only down side being the limit of one litre. A litre of Jagermiester was a mere 100 NOK, less than the cost of two shots, and I got some Finlandia Vodka chocolates, a most enjoyable of snacks, and the sure made the flight back memorable.
Of course, not everything about Norway was drink related, I mean, I had my first go at skiing and discovered that it is a cheap and enjoyable way to pass a day, costing about £20 for ski and boot hire. If you take the T1 line West out to Voksenkollen you can hire skis, toboggans, snowboards and clothing for really low rices, and they're yours until 6 PM. I took a weekend of from descion making, so it was decided that we'd attempt cross country skiing, which I enjoyed although I found it neer impossible to manage the up hill sections. Downhill was still bloody fun, and even though I nearly broke my leg, I'll try it again some time, only while travelling with insurance. It's also cheap to get out there, a 24 hour ticket only cost 60 NOK, you can use it on the bus, train and tram system and you need to stamp it yourself in order to start it. However, I never noticed a single ticket inspector all weekend, and I'm sure the ignorant touist defense would help it making one ticket last all weekend if you claim you didn't know about the stamping orange box (Very trusting people those Norweignes), although it makes you a liar as I just told you about it.The Lonely Planet Guide gave us a few good pointers, leading us out the the cheaper area of town, Grunerlokka where we enjoyed very authentic tandoori chicken at Punjab Tandoori and perhaps teh best kebab I have ever tasted at the Oslo Kebab and Pizzahus. The meat was first rate, the sauce brought everything to a whole new level, and we also got good pizza, which was cut into squares for some reason. While roaming the area we also found the Stargate bar, cheap beer and a wicker jukebox, I Am The Ressurection got the mandatory play, and for reasons beyond me, it also had the Adam & Joe football song. The pub also had an atmosphere slightly friendlier than the weather, the local aren't as friendly as other places in Europe and we ended up talking to / being talked at by some Afghani guy who felt he had to keep spelling out words for us.
In terms of culture it's worth going to Norway jsut to see the Vigeland Park, filled with countless lifesize granite sculptures and an immense 46 foot monolith. A massive bonus for out visit was thw two foot of snow, it was bloody brilliant! The whole city of Oslo is covered with sculptures and an art fan would be in paridise. Also worth a look is the Nasjonalgalleriet, from where Munch's "The Scream" was famously stolen by someone who jumped in through the window (Very trusting people those Norweignens). After visting Norwway I think I understand the picture somewhat better, and I believe the panic and dread the picture depicts is connected to the extortionate drink prices.All in all, I defintly recommend Norway for a relaxing break away. The tourist infomation office outside the main station can get fantastic ratees for even luxary hotels, and days can be filled cheaply with skiing, and as for drink, just fill up on duty free and Finlandia vodka sweets.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
I'm Off To The Land of The Ice And Snow
Thursday I'm off to Oslo, decided just before it was declared the most expensive city in the world. The reasoning is, that since the flight is only £30 return, and the bed and breakfast is only £21 a night, it would leave more money for activities such as skiing and eating cute animals, such as reindeer.
At £5 a pint it might be a tight money trip, especially as I'm going with a friend with expensive tastes. However, I think I can distract him with a day on the slopes, cheap cartons of wine and maybe a spot of seal clubbing (I imagine it's like golf, but more fun).
Another issue involves bank mix up, the £80 I stuck in self-depsoit last week has gone walk about and i'ev lost the recipt... The only money avliable in my credit card is the purcahse only, so I hope I can purchase foriegn country with that (Although I'm sure it provide far too exploitable a loophole).
Anyway, it'll either go really well, or...
Monday, February 06, 2006
Black Eye Like Robert Smith's Thumb Blues
Man, on Saturday night I had the misfortune to be set upon by about seven scallies who managed to take a clump of my hair, my MP3 player and gave me a mighty black eye. I've never had a black eye before, but I don't think I'll go rushing out to recommend them.
Being very poor at giving descriptions it isn't too likely that the swines will be caught, but there are two things in my favour. First, that MP3 player has a tracklisting that is one in a million, with Bobby Darin, Kylie Minouge, Brain Donor and Rolf Harris all playing an important part. Second, looking at the site afterwards we found a mobile phone, a picture one at that, and I really hope they did that video crime spree thing.
The worst part of it all is the loss of hair, for which I have suffered so much, and the black eye which will helluva impeed my job hunting opportunities. However, I do feel I handles it pretty well, I knew the worst thing to do is end up on the floor getting kicked in the head (Which did happen), and now that it has happened I have less fear of being attacked (Although I'll be looking over my shoulder more often).
It was eye opening to be in an A & E room again, the shameful places they are. On every trip of the past few years I found them to be full of people looking for somewhere to sleep, empty tins of cider, people who just seem to want someone to chat to and floors covered with dried blood. The toilets also contain more drugs than the hospitals themselves, people go in there for ninety minutes at a time, then leave when they come out (Might sus'). In the five hours I waited in the A & E I also found that hospitals are nowhere near as fun as they look on Scrubs.
Anyway, I think I dealt with it and the aftermath and look forward to weeks of questions about the black eye and the oppertunity to make up crazy tales.
Being very poor at giving descriptions it isn't too likely that the swines will be caught, but there are two things in my favour. First, that MP3 player has a tracklisting that is one in a million, with Bobby Darin, Kylie Minouge, Brain Donor and Rolf Harris all playing an important part. Second, looking at the site afterwards we found a mobile phone, a picture one at that, and I really hope they did that video crime spree thing.
The worst part of it all is the loss of hair, for which I have suffered so much, and the black eye which will helluva impeed my job hunting opportunities. However, I do feel I handles it pretty well, I knew the worst thing to do is end up on the floor getting kicked in the head (Which did happen), and now that it has happened I have less fear of being attacked (Although I'll be looking over my shoulder more often).
It was eye opening to be in an A & E room again, the shameful places they are. On every trip of the past few years I found them to be full of people looking for somewhere to sleep, empty tins of cider, people who just seem to want someone to chat to and floors covered with dried blood. The toilets also contain more drugs than the hospitals themselves, people go in there for ninety minutes at a time, then leave when they come out (Might sus'). In the five hours I waited in the A & E I also found that hospitals are nowhere near as fun as they look on Scrubs.
Anyway, I think I dealt with it and the aftermath and look forward to weeks of questions about the black eye and the oppertunity to make up crazy tales.
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Feeback
After I first put up that bit about Islam cartoons I had a spate of feedback e-mailed to me, and I was expecting some criticism / death thereats, but in amongst the offers to make my blog a scource of income was a first genuine reply!
Fun Blog! Hope you don't mind me leaving a comment or two.
6: In Swift's defence the babies thing was satire.
17: Try again you might be pleasantly surprised!
37 & 47: I eschewed the temptation to support U2 when I was a 1970's teenager in favour of a rival Dublin band called the Lookalikes - I've always known how to pick a winner! I was so besotted by Phil Lynott when I was a teenager that I pretended for years that I had met him when in fact it was my friend who had.(By sad coincidence she had a conversation with him almost exactly where the memorial statue is erected)
44: Although I'm not besotted by him I do quite like Will Self and did find myself drinking whiskey with him in Cambridge one cold winter evening.
46: I'm Irish but people continually think I'm Canadian, or South African or New Zelandish - they can't quite decide.
49: When I was a child I went to Bunratty Castle with my parents for a Medieval banquet - I didn't like the mead - but I was only 10.
54: Temple Bar was a bit of a shithole when I lived in Ireland.
Re 10 Dec post, there is somewhere in the world a movie of the Leonard Cohen book "The favourite game". It was made in 2003 probably in Canada, I think it's French language and I can't find a region 2 DVD anywhere and that's making me a bit cross - but it has prompted me to re-read the book so something good has come out of me finding out that tantalising bit of information.
82: Slainte!
x Angela
Well, almost exactly 13 months after I started the blog I reached someone! Rather happy with this I am.
Fun Blog! Hope you don't mind me leaving a comment or two.
6: In Swift's defence the babies thing was satire.
17: Try again you might be pleasantly surprised!
37 & 47: I eschewed the temptation to support U2 when I was a 1970's teenager in favour of a rival Dublin band called the Lookalikes - I've always known how to pick a winner! I was so besotted by Phil Lynott when I was a teenager that I pretended for years that I had met him when in fact it was my friend who had.(By sad coincidence she had a conversation with him almost exactly where the memorial statue is erected)
44: Although I'm not besotted by him I do quite like Will Self and did find myself drinking whiskey with him in Cambridge one cold winter evening.
46: I'm Irish but people continually think I'm Canadian, or South African or New Zelandish - they can't quite decide.
49: When I was a child I went to Bunratty Castle with my parents for a Medieval banquet - I didn't like the mead - but I was only 10.
54: Temple Bar was a bit of a shithole when I lived in Ireland.
Re 10 Dec post, there is somewhere in the world a movie of the Leonard Cohen book "The favourite game". It was made in 2003 probably in Canada, I think it's French language and I can't find a region 2 DVD anywhere and that's making me a bit cross - but it has prompted me to re-read the book so something good has come out of me finding out that tantalising bit of information.
82: Slainte!
x Angela
Well, almost exactly 13 months after I started the blog I reached someone! Rather happy with this I am.
Debate Rages On
A joke has been this misunderstood since I worse a Bryan Adams t-shirt 
to the NME Roadshow in 2001, those Islam cartoons. The editor of the French newspaper that reprinted the cartoons, Jacques Lefranc, has been fired. The papers owner is French-Egyptian and I wonder if he is a Muslim himself. In the Gaza Strip armed men stormed the EU offices in t, the Danish Embassy has been fired upon, and a group kidnapped a German citizen (Then let him go again). Elsewhere, Libia is closing its Danish Embassy. Rencet news has reported that Norweigien and Danish embassies have been set alight in Damascus.
In England, Jack Straw has said it was wrong for the cartoon to be published as they where"gratuitously inflammitory" and he praised the UK press for not reprinting them. Reprinting them was an issue for The Guardian, so they instead decided to simply link to other papers who had printed the cartoons (Like I did).
Despite the extreme reaction to the cartoons it is fair to say that the Denmark initially ignored complaints about the cartoons which has only fanned the flames of this intense situation. Why this seems such a new issue however confuses me, as if you do a Google image search search for Islam Cartoons the results show cartoons clearly aimed to offend, insult and discriminate with no respect fo the nodel art of satire.
Here are some of my favorite quotes concerning the cartoons:
"Hang the culprit"
"Blood to redeem the Prophet"
"Death to France"
"Death to Denmark"
Maybe it wasn't so wise of me to e-mail the cartoons around...
Finally, Oh My News contains a good article on satire, religion and freedom of speech, "Caricarues, Cartoon and thje Clash of Cultures" which uses Nazi Germany and Monty Pythons Life of Brain as good examples.
In my own opinion I don't understand how people can say there should be limits to freedom of speech while they carry placards asking for people to be beheaded, pretty extremist and offfensive opinion. We don't live in a Muslim state, not yet, so secular laws shouldn't be inflicted upon the masses, that's jsut crap.
Didn't Bill Hicks say the problem of fundamentalism was that it all mentalists and the fun never starts?
to the NME Roadshow in 2001, those Islam cartoons. The editor of the French newspaper that reprinted the cartoons, Jacques Lefranc, has been fired. The papers owner is French-Egyptian and I wonder if he is a Muslim himself. In the Gaza Strip armed men stormed the EU offices in t, the Danish Embassy has been fired upon, and a group kidnapped a German citizen (Then let him go again). Elsewhere, Libia is closing its Danish Embassy. Rencet news has reported that Norweigien and Danish embassies have been set alight in Damascus.
In England, Jack Straw has said it was wrong for the cartoon to be published as they where"gratuitously inflammitory" and he praised the UK press for not reprinting them. Reprinting them was an issue for The Guardian, so they instead decided to simply link to other papers who had printed the cartoons (Like I did).Despite the extreme reaction to the cartoons it is fair to say that the Denmark initially ignored complaints about the cartoons which has only fanned the flames of this intense situation. Why this seems such a new issue however confuses me, as if you do a Google image search search for Islam Cartoons the results show cartoons clearly aimed to offend, insult and discriminate with no respect fo the nodel art of satire.
Here are some of my favorite quotes concerning the cartoons:
"Hang the culprit"
"Blood to redeem the Prophet"
"Death to France"
"Death to Denmark"
Maybe it wasn't so wise of me to e-mail the cartoons around...
Finally, Oh My News contains a good article on satire, religion and freedom of speech, "Caricarues, Cartoon and thje Clash of Cultures" which uses Nazi Germany and Monty Pythons Life of Brain as good examples.
In my own opinion I don't understand how people can say there should be limits to freedom of speech while they carry placards asking for people to be beheaded, pretty extremist and offfensive opinion. We don't live in a Muslim state, not yet, so secular laws shouldn't be inflicted upon the masses, that's jsut crap.
Didn't Bill Hicks say the problem of fundamentalism was that it all mentalists and the fun never starts?
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Islam Cartoon No Laughing Matter
Danish paper Jyllands-Posten seems to have upset a few folk by printing twelve cartoons which some feel are an insult to Islam, which as well as hardly having a light-hearted image, forbids the human representation of The Prophet.
While this is receiving ample coverage on BBC News. few seem willing to reprint the articles over here, unless it's in some pissy tabloid, which I haven't checked. I've only found one proper image in Die Welt (Left, no, right), which accused Islam of being unable to deal with satire.
Below is the article as it originally appeared in Jyllands-Posten, but how are we going to get a full picture of events until we can see the thing properly? It's like the people who criticized the pedophile episode of Brass Eye without watching it.
This is a strange situation where the French seem to be speaking the most sense. Newspaper France-Soir printed a cartoon featuring all the big deities with God saying to Muhammad "Don't be angry, we have all been charcutered" in order to support their argument that the press has a right to charicature Gods.
