Craic Computing is pleased to announce that our SQIP Patent Sequence Database is officially open for business.

You can find out more information and sign up for a Free Account by going to http://sqipdb.com.

SQIP (pronounced ’skip’) consists of a carefully curated database of DNA, RNA and Protein sequences derived from patents and a sophisticated web interface that makes the task of patent sequence searching much more efficient and cost effective than is currently possible.

SQIP includes a project management system that helps you organize and keep track of your sequence assessments. It lets you run several types of search against the sequence database and provides a rich interface for viewing the voluminous and detailed search results. By carefully managing duplication in the database SQIP can help you avoid frustration and save you lots of time in assessing search results, while still allowing you see all the available data.

Having selected relevant sequence matches, you can view all the linked patents organized in a timeline, with extensive links to external resources.

SQIP is updated every two weeks and users can choose to resubmit existing searches whenever new data is added. New matches, relative to the previous search, are highlighted in the search results and users can opt to be notified by email whenever new relevant matches are found. This helps you keep your projects up to date with no extra effort.

SQIP is extremely cost-effective compared to the competition. There is no large annual commitment, you simply pay for the searches that you use and the cost per search ($150/BLAST search) extremely competitive. This straightforward approach to pricing makes SQIP ideal for companies that have occasional needs for patent sequence searching and that don’t want to commit tens of thousands of dollars per year.

There is no charge to create new accounts and you can evaluate all the features of SQIP, at no charge, using a preloaded example project.

Please consider SQIP for your patent sequence search needs and sign up for your free account at http://sqipdb.com.

The worst is over! Forget the Recession for one night at least!

Laois Astro League Awards Night will take place on Thurs. Dec. 10th in The Upstairs Bar @ Killeshin Hotel. Free Overnight Parking in the Hotel’s Underground Car Park . Night kicks off at 9.30pm! Come along and park the recession outside!

Legendary Irish Band BLACK 47 Celebrates “20 Years on the Road”

Brings Back 1989 prices for Four Consecutive Saturday Shows

$10 Admission: Nov. 21/28; Dec. 5/12 at 10:30pm at Connolly’s KLUB 45, 121 W 45^th St., NYC

Black 47’s NYC shows have been described as “a rite of passage for all New Yorkers.” For the last nine months they have been touring the country, along with recording 13 new songs for Bankers and Gangsters, which will be released in February 2010. But for four nights they will celebrate their New York City beginnings with 1989 prices of $10.  Along with the new material they will highlight songs from all stages of their controversial career.

Black 47 formed in the Bronx in late 1989 and burst onto the American scene in 1993 with their hit single, Funky Céilí.  With a controversial eclectic sound as well as provocative lyrics, Black 47 fuses Reggae, Rock, Traditional Irish, Hip-Hop, Folk, New Orleans & Modern Jazz into a New York City gumbo. Their lyrics reflect the drama and black humor of a changing world as they see it, from Belfast to Baghdad, The Bronx to Kabul.

They have appeared on all major TV shows including The Tonight Show, The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O’Brien and have been profiled by most national magazines and newspapers. They have released twelve CDs including last year’s IRAQ, hailed by Rolling Stone as “an important document, more a prayer than a protest.”

They have appeared in movies such as The Saint of Fort Washington with Matt Dillon and Danny Glover, and their music has been featured in Stephen Rea’s The Break, Jim Sheridan’s Into the West, and Timothy Dalton’s Deterrence amongst others. They composed the music for and performed in the ITV film Victim 0001, a documentary about their friend, Fr. Mychal Judge.

Taking their name from the blackest year of the Irish Potato Famine, Black 47’s signature eclectic sound, socio-political lyrics and off-the-wall live shows paved the way for other Irish influenced bands such as Flogging Molly and The Dropkick Murphys. Their songs have long been used in political science and history courses in many high schools and colleges throughout the US.

Black 47 is led by Larry Kirwan (guitar/vocals) who has written ten plays published under the title Mad Angels, along with a novel, Liverpool Fantasy, an alternate history of the Beatles, and a memoir Green Suede Shoes. He is host of “Celtic Crush” on SiriusXM Satellite Radio and writes a weekly column for the Irish Echo newspaper. His new novel, Rockin’ The Bronx, will be published in March 2010.

Geoffrey Blythe (saxophones) was a founder member of Dexy’s Midnight Runners.  Fred Parcells (trombone) has worked extensively in Latin/Jazz and big bands.  Thomas Hamlin (drums) is a veteran of the Max’s/CBGB’s scene.  Joseph Mulvanerty is recognized as one of the great innovators of the Irish uilleann pipes bringing a rare jazz and blues flare to this most traditional of instruments. The newest member, Joseph Bearclaw brings a wealth of funk/R&B experience as well as a dynamic stage presence.

For its 20^th Anniversary shows, Black 47 plans to take the throng gathered at Connolly’s KLUB 45 on a thrilling journey through history and political struggle that will not only entertain but open up audiences to a new cultural experience.   Doors open at 9pm. Band onstage at 10:30pm sharp. Advance tickets can be purchased online at www.black47.com.

You have to love the pure madness and wildness of it all. La Prosperitat, the edge city barrio (neighbourhood) in Barcelona is where, starting from midnight on friday, you will hear lots of roaring in the streets: ECO ECO ECO – VIVA SAN XIBECO. This is the opening night of the local festival this weekend, but for this night you will find the presence of a saint, San Xibeco, but he is no ordinary saint.

Take the yellow line metro up to Via Julia this friday and find out why…

ECO ECO ECO …. VIVA SAN XIBECO

An integral part of the culture in Barcelona is to meet up with friends and share drinks outside in the streets, they even have a proper word for it, which we dont have in English; botellon. Barcelonas local Beer group DAMM produce many excellent beers; estrella, voll, AK, bok… BUT their most loved creation has to be their litre bottle called XIBECA. Most of the time while having a botellon people sit on the ground in a square, or on the steps of a building passing around this bottle. It even has written on its label; Cerveza para compartir, which translates as Beer to Share (in fact i learned the verb compartir, while having a botellon in the Rambla Raval)

Here is the source of the madness:

And here is what it leads to:

Festival posters from recent years…

san xibeco VII (#7 – 2008)

San Xibeco VI (#6 – 2007)

San Xibeco V (#5 – 2006)

San Xibeco IV (#4 – 2005)

See yez this friday in the streets, where we will all be drinking, dancing, celebrating, participating, having the craic and most importantly roaring allegiance to our Saint:

ECO ECO ECO …. VIVA SAN XIBECO

SAN XIBECO 2009

8es Festes d’Hivern de Prosperitat

Del 20 al 22 de novembre

DIVENDRES 20
23:30h Pregó de Festes
(Lloc: Casal de Joves de Prosperitat)
24h Baixada del Sant
24:05h Passabars
1.30h Arribada al Casal de Barri + DJ.

DISSABTE 21
13h Vermut amb concert Es molt Band
(espai per concretar)
22:30h Concert al Casal de Barri.
Rumborrachera, Stoy ke Trino i Herederos del Taxi
Entrada: 2€

DIUMENGE 22
12:30h Actes infantils
a la Plaça Àngel Pestanya
14h Dinar popular Casal de Barri
16h Café + sorteig del mocador
18h Fi de festa amb traca final

Are we fantastic flirts or dating disasters

The Irish should have a natural advantage over other nations when it comes to flirting. Granted we don’t have the raw sex appeal of the Italians, the suave sophisticated attitude of the French or the ability to ask for a date in broad day light like the Americans but playful flirting is what we do best. We’ll flirt with the taxi-driver, the waitress, the barman or the girl in front of us in the queue for the toilet…“Oh My God….I love your dress!” Even your best mate’s mother isn’t immune from the odd bit of innuendo filled banter. “Ah sure I’m always a good boy Mrs O’Neill” *wink wink, nudge nudge*

Flirting comes so naturally to us that half the time we don’t even realise we’re doing it and just laugh it off with the national catchphrase “Ah sure I’m only having the craic.”

The thing is we’ve become so comfortable with flirting in our daily lives that we’ve had to come up with some more advanced and, dare I say, obvious mating rituals of our own. Innocent, good-humored chitchat is all well and good when it’s just for fun but when it comes time to let someone know that you’re interested it’s time to get serious. There is precious window of opportunity on a night out that every single student is well aware of. If you want to score you’re going to have to do it between the hours of 12 and 2. From 12 o’clock people have had about the right amount of drinks to be open to advances but after 2 the beer goggles are well and truly on and there’s no telling who you might settle for. There’s no such thing as a seductive wink or an alluring glance. We don’t have time for polite conversation or, God forbid, getting to know each other. When you see someone you fancy in a nightclub you want to shove your tongue in their mouth or your hands down their pants and words become a mere formality. Once they’ve got their eye on a target how does the single student score?

Irish guys live by the rule that there is no such thing as being too friendly. And when you read friendly think the ass groping, breast leering, crude comment making kind of friendly. Yes, when presented with a girl they want to get naked with, Irish lads seem to revert back to children and do the playground equivalent of pulling her hair and insulting her Barbie lunchbox. It didn’t get you anywhere when you were five and it is not going to get you anywhere now. It might sound strange but girls usually don’t like getting pinched and poked as they make their way from bar to dance floor so keep your paws to yourself and try starting with a simple hello next time.

Not that all the blame can be put on the lads. Sometimes guys can’t help being ruled by their basic instincts. (See boobies. Like boobies. Want boobies. Touch boobies.)  But as that random 90’s song said “The female of the species is more deadly than the male.” Girls know exactly what they’re doing when they throw on their favorite greyhound skirt – you know that one where you can see the hair – and hit the town. Nothing is left to the imagination and it’s hardly surprising that conversations go from nought to sex in under five minutes.

Flirting is defined as “playful behaviour intended to arouse sexual interest.” It works best when it’s understated, when the thrill of the chase and the allure of the catch are allowed to become part of the foreplay.

Hmmm, foreplay not a bad topic for my next article…

Published in SIN: 2/11/09

]]> http://johnleemedia.wordpress.com/2009/09/28/literary-tradition-celebrated-on-an-historic-day/ Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:46:32 +0000 johnleemedia http://johnleemedia.wordpress.com/2009/09/28/literary-tradition-celebrated-on-an-historic-day/

Literary Latte?

LITERARY TRADITION CELEBRATED ON AN HISTORIC DAY

IAW&A Bestows First Eugene O’Neill Lifetime Achievement Award on O’Neill’s Birthday

Since most Times Square Starbucks customers don’t read the bronze plaque at the entrance, they’re unaware their coffee is being brewed at an historic site. Over a century ago, in a hotel that stood there at 43^rd and Broadway, Eugene O’Neill, “America’s Greatest Playwright” as the plaque proclaims, known for such masterworks as Mourning Becomes Electra, Strange Interludes, A Long Day’s Journey Into Night, The Iceman Cometh and A Moon for the Misbegotten, was born on October 16, 1908.

This October 16, 2009, just a few blocks north of O’Neill’s birthplace, Irish American Writers & Artists, Inc. (IAW&A) will commemorate the 101^st anniversary of O’Neill’s birth with its inaugural Eugene O’Neill Lifetime Achievement Award Celebration, an informal, festive cocktail reception at The Manhattan Club, the private rooms above Rosie O’Grady’s, at 800 7th Ave, at 52^nd St, beginning at 6:00 PM.

The first O’Neill Award will go to Pulitzer Prize winning author William Kennedy, best known for his masterful Albany Cycle of novels focused on the Irish-American Phelan family: Legs, Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game, and Ironweed.

Writer/director John Patrick Shanley, actors Matt Dillon and Michael O’Keefe, actor/writer Malachy McCourt and other special guests will read from both O’Neill and Kennedy.  Noted New York Times journalist Dan Barry will present Kennedy with the Tiffany crystal O’Neill Award. The music of Celtic singer/songwriter Ashley Davis will add to the celebration. Also on hand, mingling with the celebrants will be writers T.J. English, Mary Pat Kelly, Michael Patrick MacDonald, Peter Quinn and other notables.

T.J. English, co-founder of IAW&A, said, “O’Neill’s work is filled with joy, poignancy, music, drunkenness and exaltation — we hope to partake in all of the above on October 16th, as we honor the memory of O’Neill and also celebrate the achievements of one of his literary offspring, the great William Kennedy.”

For a lively night of literary libation, featuring an open bar, a full range of hot and cold hors d’oeuvres, register now online atwww.oneillaward.org. All attendees will receive Irish American Writers & Artists, Inc membership for a year, and the first 250 online registrants will also receive a free one-year subscription to Irish American Magazine.

Founded and operated as a non-profit organization, Irish American Writers & Artists, Inc. celebrates the achievements of Irish American writers, artists, actors, filmmakers and musicians, past and present, and works to highlight, energize and encourage Irish Americans working in the arts.

The IAW&A will give the Eugene O’Neill Lifetime Achievement Award annually to an Irish American who has created a body of work that places them among the great artists and entertainers of all time.  With four Pulitzers and a Nobel Prize, playwright Eugene O’Neill embodied the highest level of artistic achievement. Born in a Times Square hotel, O’Neill died on November 27, 1953, in a Boston hotel.  Allegedly, his last words were, “Born in a hotel room, and goddammit! Died in one!”

So began our first day in Boston MA (I can’t spell massachewsets properly). Having no idea where to get food we did the cliché American movie thing and set off for the mall. Arriving at the Prudential centre, we found the food court, before us lay food vendors from all over the world (ok they were all American selling funny foods). With this bewildering choice, we set about deciding, about 15 mins later ending up with two mexican wraps things, and a huge turkey sandwich !

Epic breakfast

Being suitably full, we departed to the freedom trail. We planned to visit Bunker hill first, and then make our way back in to Boston, and it was at this point we met our first crazy of the holiday. Standing at the subway map, we were asked by a granny where we were going, I told her we were going to community college, she then with all her wisdom told us “You’ve gotta go to Copley”, Copley being a station 4 blocks away. However she failed to notice we were standing right outside the prudential centre station and we could take the tram then transfer to the orange line…

phailograph

Anyway, ignoring her shocking advice we made our way to Charlestown. At Bunker Hill, we took some photos, many total fail, due to John Henry’s n00b camera skills. We didn’t know this but you can climb the monument, 294 steps up, it was a some point near the top we all started to die, and John Henry revealed his fear of heights ! So some fancy shots of Downtown taken by shortround, we set off to the Naval Yard. Also a side note that the American’s lost at Bunker Hill to us the evil Brits, yet there is a Union Jack flying there, like a Swastika in Tel Aviv….

Downtown

The naval, yard well I could write about it but the following pictures will summarise what was a short, but highly amusing visit to the first naval yard in America.

We saw invaders !

so we blew them up !

We hijacked this boat

recreated that movie about that boat and the iceberg

turned a map in to a hat

and shot some Yankee's for king and country !

So after all that we left, and set off in to downtown proper, the freedom trail was quite interesting, however it was mainly “old” churches, gravestones and white American tourists. So we ended at the frog pond in Boston Common. Now they seem to drain this everyday, I have no idea why but we did see gangsta wellies, the most badass hose pulling water draining welly wearing dude, in America if not the world.

big yellow wellies but he don't walk with no limp

Anyway, fast forward a few ours, we decided to splash our dollars and get rock lobster. Now as we didn’t really know where to go, we headed for Legal seafoods. We arrived and were greeted by Ian S (more on him later). Anyway, we got some beers, and the monster dish. Big ass lobster, mussels and these other things that are like mussels just not. All went well, the lobster was devoured, along with the other helpless sea creatures. As we were about to explode Ian S reappeared, asking if we wanted desert. Now I know Americans eat a lot but there was no way I could eat anything more, upon us refraining from his request to part with more cash, he turned.

Time to die !

He cleared our plates, took our money, sharpish. Then I asked for a souvenir bib, as my only was covered in lobster juices. After ten minutes Ian S had vanished. No bib, in sight Shortround flagged down a passing waiter, Ian S appeared. Luckily for him he got me a bib, and we didn’t have to boil his head. So beware, if you go to Legal seafoods next to the aquarium in Boston, and you get Ian S, get out while you can !

Yes, I am muckle late in writing this but, I was still on post trip high I didn’t want to jeopardise my blogging skills, until I had calmed down.

Anyways, let us begin. It all started 7.15 am (BST), Newcastle Airport Sunday 26th July 2k+2³+1. All of us being tired, at waking at such a ludacris hour, set off to schiphol. Now when we planned this I was sure we had a bit of time in schiphol, but we ended up legging it, and on a side not that guy in the bulmers advert is wrong, travelators are faster if you walk on, stupid idiot.

So having got to the gate, going through security again (they must sell explosives in airports or something), we got on our Delta flight to Detroit. All was going well 3 reasonable sized seats, then a woman sits next to be with a baby, great. Props to the baby, though he didnt cry or chunder once, a special mention has to be made to the multiplayer quiz, which we destroyed. So we landed in Detroit (with our hands up ofc), however we didnt see Freddy Le Grand and following some tacos and Mountainjew, we got our flight to Bawstawn (apologies about our carbon footprint).

Tacoooooooooooo

Now when you think of Boston you don’t expect it to be more Humid than the rainforest, yet after being outside for about 3 seconds my jeans were glued to my legs. Getting the subway, then this crazy street tram thing we arrived at the YMCA. One of the staff looked at my T-shirt with a huge union jack on it then asked where we were from, I should of said Sweden, might of worked. So we got to the room that was just as hot as outside, dumped our bags and set off in search of food.

YMCA

After a bit of wandering, we ended up at the pizza place across the road from, two large pizza and a 2l bottle of pop for $22 bargin. What we didn’t factor in was that a large in America, its a HUGE in UK sizes.

24" of epic

Well we got some funny looks off some students, who were obviously jealous of our impending obesity, so stuff, sticky and tired we went to bed ! Tune in next time for tales of Freedom, baseball and Copley !

Text and photos by Gypsygal Nina

Dublin – the city of a thousand pubs and a thousand bards, the historically hip capital of Ireland. In this city full of Craic (ah..that’s the Old Irish for a dose of fun!), sightseeing means an itinerary filled with something old, new and wonderfully brewed.

If you only have 48 hours to explore Dublin, you best bet is to stay in the center where the following must-see sights are just a few blocks away from each other:

1. Kilmainhaim Gaol- a.k.a “the old jail” – the place is an important part of Ireland’s struggle for independence. Many leaders of Irish rebellions were imprisoned (and some were executed) in this jail. It is now a museum and managed by the Office of Public Works.

Kilmainhaim Gaol

Contact Details:

Address: Inchicore Road, Kilmainham, Dublin 8.
Telephone No: +3531-453 5984
E-mail: kilmainhamgaol@opw.ie

Website: www.heritageireland.ie/en/Dublin/KilmainhamGaol

Opening Hours:

April to September: Daily: 9:30 am to 6:00 pm
October to March: Mon –Sat: 9:30 am to 5:30 pm

Admission Fees:

Adult: €6.00/each

Child/Student: €2.00/each

Facilities: Toilets (some are wheelchair-accessible); baby changing station; tearoom

2. Guiness Storehouse – what’s the use of going to Ireland without knowing more about it’s “beer history”? Dublin, after all, is the birthplace of the world-famous Guinness beer. If you like your lager, you must drop by the brewery that produces over 10 million pints a day and don’t forget to have a drink at the Gravity Bar.

High Drinker

99 Barrel of Beers on the Wall

Contact Details:

Address: St James’s Gate, Dublin 8
Telephone: + 3531- 408 4800

Email: guinness-storehouse@guinness.com

Website: www.guinness-storehouse.com

You can download a map here for directions.

Opening Hours:

September to June: Daily: 9.30 am to 5:00 pm
July to August: Daily: 9.30 am to 7:00 pm

Admission Fees:

Adult: €15.00/each

Children: €5.00/each

Maps and Podcast:

Guinness provides maps with information and available in the following languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Chinese and Japanese. You can also download a podcast here to help you in your self-guided tour.

The podcast is available in five languages (English, French, German, Spanish and Italian).

Facilities: wheelchair accessible-lifts; car park, café and bar

3. The National Cathedral and Collegiate Church of Saint Patrick (St.Patrick’s Cathedral) - the Gothic- style Anglican church was built in the fifth century and stands in a site reputed to be among the oldest Christian sites in Europe: a place where the country’s patron saint – Saint Patrick-baptized converts.

The cathedral has been part of Ireland’s glorious history. During his stay in Dublin, Oliver Cromwell (first Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland) stabled his horses in the nave of the cathedral. Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver’s Travels, was Dean of the cathedral from 1713 to 1745. The Choir School was founded in 1432 and many of its members took part in the first performance of Handel’s Messiah in 1742.

Contact details:

Address: 21-50 Patrick’s Close, Patrick St., Dublin 8
Telephone: +3351-4754817
Website: www.stpatrickscathedral.ie

Opening Hours:

March to October: Daily 9:00 am to 6:00 pm

November to February: Saturday: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm; Sunday: 9:00 am to 3:00 pm

No visits during Sunday services.

Admission Fees:

Adults : €5.50/each
Family (2 adults + 2 kids): €15/group

4. Dublin Castle - the centuries old castle served as the headquarters for the British colonial regime until it was handed over in 1922. Rebel military commander Michael Collins, arrived in Dublin Castle on January 1922. Acting on behalf of the new Irish Government, Collins received the handover of the Castle, from the last Lord Lieutenant FitzAlan. Today, aside from being a major tourist attraction, the castle hosts heads of states and numerous government and industry leaders who visdit Dublin.

Parlor

Exterior of the Dublin Castle

Contact Details:

Address: Dublin 2, Ireland (please click here for directions)

Tour Guide Services: +3531-6458813
E-mail: tours@dublincastle.ie

Website: www.dublincastle.ie

Guided Tours:

Monday-Friday: 100:00 am to 4:45 pm

Saturday, Sunday Public Holidays: 2:00 pm to 4:45 pm

.Fees: Adults: €4.50

Students / Senior Citizens: €3.50

Children Under 12 years: €2.00

5. Powerscourt Shopping Centre/ Grafton Street - the perfect street to shop tull you drop –filled with cafes and quaint shops that are sure sources of curios and collectibles. But more than a just another shopping mall, the Powerscourt Centre is a fine example of Dublin’s Georgian architecture and part of Irish history – it was built in the 18^th century to serve as a town house and office for Lord Powerscourt, Richard Wingfield third Viscount.

Website: www.powerscourtcentre.com

Facilities: ATM; baby-changing stations; internet kiosks; wheelchair accessible entrance; wi-fi hotspot; parking area

6. Temple Bar – Always end your tour day by unwinding at the Temple Bar – Dublin’s cultural quarter. Just within walking distance from Grafton Street, Temple Bar is the street with the buzz…the entertainment district. The cobbled street is filled with restaurant, cafes and of course pubs. This is the perfect place to go to listen to live music, enjoy a good pint and good craic

Map: You can download a map here to get to Temple Bar

Website: www.visit-templebar.com

i feel the need to say that the following ramblings are my opinions and maybe not everyone elses!so apologies to all my friends/neighbours and irish family-YES i said irish cos we are indeed from celt stock!so here it is;
firstly i hate the weather-now this is probably a far reaaching statement and not really fair afterall ireland can’t help its geography however a tad closer to europe would have been good..afterall if we are in europe,why can’t we actually be IN europe if you see what i mean!Sunshine,ie lots of it preferably guaranteed EVERYsummer-is it too much to ask or even pray for?wHICH leads me (nicely)onto my next musing,whats with the religous devotion,we all need to believe in something its what gets us through,i believe in something,just to make sense of this crazy mixed up world but to such great extent?i have watched religous processions being held in little less than a monsoon,people blessing themselves at every shrine whilst driving at breakneck(and everything else!)speed,and i am talking both hands OFF the wheel and eyes left/right everywhere but forward…it must work i suppose otherwise they would be meeting the maker a tad earlier than expected!They have great respect for the dead and dying yet turn out in anoraks and wellies for a funeral,casual to say the least.However there is no mercy/compassion for any of gods creatures if they do not make the grade-ferral cats/kittens-drown em!runt dogs-drown em,and the oddest one;to deter birds-string up dead ones as a warning(usually crows) This may not be an irish thing as strange things occur in most rural areas all around the world i am sure.It also seems to me that most people are related in some way,the saying is “move on”it should be in these cases”move out”go seek other people in other areas other than the village.expand the gene pool;)i get frustrated when somethings are about 20yrs behind or “put on the long finger”??? spain is reknowned for taking its time/slowly,slowly and we laugh about it-not ireland it does it literally!-unless you have been a bit naughty with your bank account and then boy do they let you know pronto!mind you i do love getting a reminder from sky-ireland,even though i always pay on time,sometimes the statement gets to me before the payment gets to the right dept-it says;”oops!have you forgotten us?how polite and nice-its almost worth not paying on time just to get this bit of nicety in these recessionary times!!unlike my bank who despite recieving from me over the first 5 years thousands of euros and never asking for a loan or otherwise,told me to close my account at once,because i had overspent by 200 euros-hardly going to leave the country because of it was i?maybe i was lucky as it seems to be a common thing to gladly”name and shame”ordinary people and shield the real thieves-have they stopped calling out the names and amounts of the collections in churches?i know they reveal who didn’t pay their vat or income tax but not the reasons-not everyone does this intentionally i am sure.I also hate the pressure put on leaving cert students,we all want our children to do well but at what cost,worry/stress/depression should not be heaped on anyone,let alone an 18/19 yr old student,they will have enough of that when they get out in this world-to find that all thier efforts come to nothing when there is a huge application just for one macdonalds job and they are fighting lawyers etc just to get it!SCHOOLBAGS or at least the weight of them to be exact is another bugbear-5yr olds bearing the weight of a small horse-you wouldn’t be allowed to carry that as handluggage on an airline-so why do it to schoolkids??my kids will have or have already back problems way before their time-KEEP THEM AT SCHOOL,TAKE HOME ONLY WHAT YOU NEED!school uniforms-everyones needle,why do the majority feel the need to brand their pupils with usually morose colours/old fashioned/overly embroidered,overly priced dreary militarian uniforms-my childs school SCOIL FFIONBARRA-BALLINGEARY(YUP I SAID IT!)are a prime example,in the middle of a deep and dark recession some bright spark(not!)decided to improve the school by changing the uniform-you read right,not improving the school by say increasing teachers,expanding a library or similar-by changing from a simple get up in blue,widely available everywhere to a fanciful,thoughtless,design disaster(art obviously not your forte or buisness studies or even pr)that cost at least 5 times the price of the replacement egged on by 22 mindless idiots who were too afraid to “rock the boat”-but thats another post!cross border transactions or anything cross border seems to go waay over anyones head-this goes for gb too,i have life insurance with aviva,i have a credit card,head offices in both countries,i am in the eurozone,i have to pay in sterling-why??why can,t i pay aviva here,in euros instead of paying there in sterling-same company,same visa(except eire charges you to have a visa card,stealth tax-who said that??)
so enough said-except i am a little tired of being called a BLOW-IN,I DID NOT,I AM HERE TO STAY.i am also a little tired of people presuming i am on the dole-true alot of the english came here on the cadge and 15yrs later they still are,some have been here a little less,have land etc,can work but won,t,plead poverty and claim everything,even disability-and get it!i have always paid my way and will only ask for help if i ever genuinely need it-pray to god,allah,jedi leader whoever i won’t have to
GOOD THINGS;warm friendly faces,willing to welcome you into thier homes/lives-my neighbours treat me like a daughter,my kids are treated like kings.a watchful eye,never nosey just wanting to help.good fresh air and good fresh homegrown food,farmers markets,weekly markets and cattle fairs/fayres.roaring fires and a good craic.tractors(bane of my husbands life-always stuck behind one-whats the hurry??)chemists selling sheep wormer alongside loreal hair products-brings you down to earth!!genuine quaint pubs where a cup of coffee is no bother alongside a pint-where you can sip your pint and taste it and then pass over your money which is taken not grabbed!where your welcome,no bother/worries are meant not reeled off parrot fashion like”have a nice day”a place where you are invited in for a cuppa and a cake or sandwich is offered as the norm,mist over the mountains and brightly coloured houses-some verging on lurid but somehow it works,ireland love her or hate her,i do both in equal measures,she gets under your skin.

Lads,

Moved the blog to my own server so we can do more with it, its available on the original domain name.

You’ll need to re-register at the new site, which is available here: http://walkerssensations.com

Give us a shout if you need any help.

Please don’t post anymore here.