Weather Gods Fighting?

Walking home yesterday, listening to Cara Dillon, it started to snow. Lovely big flakes coming down from the dark sky. Then I heard some rumbling noise, and realised it was thunder. Utterly surreal! There was no lightning and the snow had stopped by the time I got home, but this has to be the freakiest 10 minutes of weather I have yet to experience in Ireland.....

Mezzotono - Christmas Carols in Dublin

Over the last 3 months I have been part of a wee choir (very informal) rehearsing Christmas Carols in 4 voices, to sing them in Dublin city centre among other places. We're called Mezzotono, which means 'half note' in Italian (most of the members are from Italy, and Italian is the language of music anyway).

Last year we rehearsed for this purpose as well, but never got to sing in town, because we left it too late, and people were then going home for Christmas etc. There's only a handful of us, so we don't have a lot of volume to draw on, but it's easier to organise and do impromptu things than with a truckload of people.

So, this year we began in September, with a plan. We had the same songs we did last year, plus some new ones, in exciting arrangements that came up during the course of autumn. Our repertoire is as follows, all arranged for soprano, alto, tenor and bass. (Just in case you're curious - I sing the soprano bits).

Adeste Fideles (sung in Latin, also widely known in English as Come All Ye Faithful)
Hark The Herald Angels Sing
Joy To The World
Deck The Halls
We Wish You A Merry Christmas
Silent Night (a verse sung in each of the languages German, Irish and English)
The First Noel
Jingle Bells
Winter Wonderland
O Tannenbaum (sung in German)
On Christmas Night
God Rest You Merry Gentlemen

I will never forget the first moment we all sang together last year, after everyone learning their various voices for Adeste Fideles. The harmonies and beauty of the thing were so amazing - I had completely forgotten the power of singing together in a group like that! How soothing it is to create something together like that - perfect antidote to stress! Now, I don't think Adeste Fideles is the most beautiful arrangement in our canon (it is pretty darn good, although On Christmas Night is better), but there's something special about it to me anyway, because it was the first one we sang.

Unfortunately, not all the singers made it out to sing in town, due to various reasons (weather being one of them), but 5 of us did go. We have now learned important lessons about wind, and about how noisy Grafton Street is, and how busy. How cold it can get when you're just standing still, and the importance of shelter. Lots of people noticed us, but only a few stopped to listen. One time a couple of people actually came over to join in, which was fun, and they sang along with us for a couple of tunes (melody voice only, mind you. Hehe). At least this year we did get to do what we set out to do and sing in town. :)

This is us, after a wonderful afternoon spent singing around Temple Bar and Grafton Street:

Phoenix Park Ramble

I was staying over at BethAnne's on Friday, in Chapelizod, and decided to walk back into Dublin city centre through Phoenix Park on Saturday morning. It was dry, not too cold, and the autumn colours were pretty darn mesmerising. Phoenix Park is a good 2 km from city centre, but I had nowhere to be, and besides, town would only lure me into spending money, even if practising resistance of temptation does tend to build character....

Anyway, I had myself a good ramble, got to see some things I'd never seen before (Phoenix Park is BIG), and made it into town just in time for the rain to start. How's that for timing!!

This is a picture of the Papal Cross, which marks the site where the Pope held a mass mass (I meant to write it twice) during his visit to Ireland in September 1979. Apparently over a million people attended the mass! It has lights installed along the width and breadth and you can see it from miles around at night. Very nice.

This is the Wellington Memorial, which I have visited before as it's very accessible, near the main entrance to the park on Parkgate Street. It's the second tallest memorial in the world, after Washington Memorial in D.C., but unlike that one, Wellington Memorial is not hollow, so there's no climbing it to enjoy the view. Would be cool though. This has always looked a lot smaller to me than it actually is - it's pretty huge. It's a landmark visible from a long way off, just like the Papal Cross at night.

This is just a lovely autumn scene from Phoenix Park, complete with lamppost. Everybody sigh....now!

Blue Moon....in more ways than one...

First: what is it with Irish men and mooning?

Saturday evening just past, I'm lounging on the couch, watching telly and possibly doing some form of needlework, when the doorbell rings. Hmmm, I think to myself, I'm not expecting anyone, so who could this be? Probably someone wanting to sell me poxy pictures or something. Anyway, I trundle upstairs to get my keys. When I open the door, this is what I see: a 10-12 year old boy standing on the footpath outside our wee front garden, with his back to me. Dotted along the street are other members of his posse, happily displaying their backsides to me (ie. mooning). When they see me, they start screeching and running off. I shake my head (or maybe I just do that internally, not being as exhibitionist as my gentleman callers), and close the door.

To be perfectly honest, I found the whole incident slightly creepy. I have absolutely no idea why they picked our house, or why they even came up with this idea, although truth be told, this is not the first instance on record (either personal or public).

A few years ago, we were walking down Grafton Street around midnight on a Friday, when 3 guys decide to moon us, completely without provocation. These guys may have had the excuse of drink to resort to, but I sure hope the same does not apply to the kids in my estate! Anyway, I sincerely hope that's the last I see that much of them......

Second: I finally got a guitar!

This has been on the list since April, when I got 'guitar funds' for my birthday. It's an Essex SX handmade acoustic, for those of you in the know (doesn't include me yet), and I think it looks pretty darn good. I got a book on how to learn the guitar so I'll get started on that the first chance I get. Yay!

Lazy Weekend

This is just a wee post to say that I did absolutely nothing over the weekend.

Except watching DVD's and knitting that is. And a bit of eating every once in a while.

The DVD's were 'Pirates Of The Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest', and the 3rd series of 'Robin Of Sherwood' (with Jason Connery as Robin. Michael Praed left after the first two series, because he got a role on 'Dynasty'.)

'Robin Of Sherwood' is just the best adaptation of the Robin Hood legend, like, EVER, in my humble opinion. I remember watching this on German telly (ZDF, if I recall correctly), when I was little, and I love it as much now as I did then. Like 'Pirates' it's got all the ingredients for a fantastic tale - action, romance, comedy, beautiful landscapes, and mystery. Also like 'Pirates', it's got great actors in it (the majority of whom are very easy on the eye - that is always a good thing). Hehe.

Apart from that, it's also responsible for turning me onto Irish music, seeing as the Irish group Clannad wrote and performed the entire score for all 3 series. The result was the album 'Legend' released in 1983. For the third series they wrote some additional pieces, and changed others a bit (like the theme tune for example), but these pieces were never formally released. Anyway, 'Legend' is a pretty cool album and it fits the show itself like a glove, evoking the majesty of Sherwood and Herne the Hunter, the magic of Albion (one of the Seven Swords of Wayland) and the poignancy of the tale of Will Scarlet, and of Robin & Marion.

As for 'Pirates' it just rules - simple as that. Can't wait for the third instalment, so roll on 24 May when it releases in Irish cinemas. I hope they will do something similar to what was done with the 'Lord Of The Rings' movies, when 'Return Of The King' was released, and play all of the movies in sequence in the cinema. Stay tuned.....

Dansk + English - Sidste kapitel i Beton-Sagaen (Last Chapter of Concrete Chronicle)

English - What Not To Wear.....On The Bike

I have a long brown, somewhat narrow skirt, with a walking slit up the back. This morning I decided to try cycling to work wearing it. Everything went okay, until I had to get off the bike. A very familiar ripping sound could be heard, as I swung my leg over the saddle, and the walking slit is now a good bit longer than originally intended by its maker.

Fortunately, decency is still observed, which means I did not have to take a stapler to it, when I got into the office.

English - Four Seasons in a day

It started out as a lovely, sunny and quite warm day. It stayed that way until an hour ago. Now there's a massive thunderstorm breaking loose over our heads.

We probably jinxed it, because we were just talking about this yesterday - that there are never thunderstorms in Ireland. Oh well. It's Irish weather, what can you do.... Going to the pub now, getting a pint....everyone have a nice weekend

English - Concrete Chronicle

As some of you might know, my bike got stolen in April. I depend on the bike for my independence in getting to work and stuff, so this was extremely annoying. I have nowhere to lock it to at my house, which is normally a criteria for bikes in Ireland - lock it to the world and you'll be fine. Otherwise...

Anyways, I now have a lovely new bike (thanks Yvonne!) that I really really love and will do my best to keep safe. So how do I go about that? Hmmmm....

Stephanie had a marvelous idea: fill a bucket with concrete, put a hook or something in it, and chain the bike to that. Brilliant!

So, without further ado, may I proudly present to you:

The Concrete Chronicle!

Part I - How Do You Make Concrete?
My sister is an engineer, but she has never made concrete, and was kinda jealous that she couldn't be here to help me do this (which is why I'm even writing all this stuff down). I looked up some stuff on the web, and tried to calculate how much I'd need and how heavy it would be and what kind of tools I'd need. It was kinda fun. Concrete is made by mixing cement with sand/gravel and water, and then leaving it to dry out and harden. Sounds easy, huh? It actually was!

Part II - Getting Materials
I had scouted out the local hardware store to see what they had to offer. I decided to buy two sacks of concrete mix - consisting of a lot of sand and a wee bag of cement wrapped separately within the big bag. I bought 1 x 25 kg and 1 x 5 kg, thinking that would fill up the pot, especially as I would also be adding water.

I also bought a big grey flower pot, a heavy duty chain that would be immersed in the concrete, and to which I'd chain the bike. The flower pot is supposed to be frostproof and shatterproof as well (that is, if I've interpreted the icons on the label correctly). To mix the concrete, I got the smallest and cheapest wee garden shovel thingy. Oh and lovely pink rubber gloves.

Getting the stuff home took 2 trips, the first one in a taxi. I was kinda reluctant to try carrying a 25 kg sack on my new gorgeous bike, and also, the flower pot would have been hard to transport that way too. Anyway, the second trip was much easier and done on the bike.

Part III - The Making of Concrete
I wanted the chain to be in the middle of the pot, but I couldn't figure out a way to hold it in place, while the concrete hardened that did not involve me actually holding the thing. So it ended up hanging over one side of the pot, but I think it'll be okay anyway. It's definitely stuck.

The mixing went fine - you have to mix sand and cement first, and then add water. I put a LOT of water in it, so it has taken nearly two weeks to dry out completely, but it sure made the mixing easier. Hehe.

The pot has been covered with plastic until now, as it sometimes rains in Ireland, and it sure didn't need more water to be added.

*The End*