The Irish are hipper with recycling than we are in most places in the States. The Dublin Institute of Technology, for instance, provides some bins that are clearly labelled and located in sensible places.
Recycle bins at the train station “guarantee to recycle 70% of the contents” deposited into them. That beats us by leaps and bounds!
Recycling at DIT’s headquarters on Aungier Street.
Recycling at Heuston Station.
A fascinating discussion at the Embassy tonight.
An action-packed evening here in Dublin. After a fascinating discussion from an editor of Politico, I dashed across town in time to snag a seat at the Gate Theater for the play My Cousin Rachel.
It’s a stirring tale of that reminds us of the tragedy of assuming the worst in others when they’ve given no real reason for skepticism. It’s so beautifully written that you struggle along with the protagonist until the very end.
Fortunately for me, it’s easy to find one unclaimed seat even in a full theater house. On Monday nights at the Gate, all seats are bargain priced at €25. More than I usually pay for a seat in Dublin, but an opportunity to visit another famous play house and experience theatrical delight. Oh, and tragedy. Plenty of tragedy.
The highlight of my evening was meeting the folks from London who sat next to me–Diane and Lawrence Hanlon. Their family is Irish, dropped the O’ in front of Hanlon at some point, and must be related to Tom Mulligan. And thus me! 🙂
Gotta love the three degrees of separation in the isles!
Please take a moment to admire Lawrence’s beautiful tractor tie, which evidentially references Hertfordshire, an agricultural county, in some way. What it references for me is Dave’s dad, the late Gordon Chance, tractor mechanic extraordinary, who loved tractor memorabilia and travelled the world with his photographer son. Good memories.
A tragic play, showing at Dublin’s Gate theater.
My theater mates, Diane and Lawrence Hanlon. What a fabulous tie!!!!
Scene design for the second half.
Hunching over my laptop has been killing me! I was glued to this screen 16/7 during my four years of PhD work. In those years I was also teaching full-time and had plenty of course prep and record-keeping to do on top of research and writing.
Now that I’m transcribing, writing, and blogging everyday, the laptop is taking it’s revenge once again.
Starting in February, I had random pains shooting up the back of my neck. I looked for an osteopath in Hampton Roads, but found I would have to commute a long distance to obtain such service.
Skeleton model for demonstrating correct alignment.
Dr. Jonathan Wills, osteopath.
An osteopath has more training than a chiropractor and typically uses a more holistic, long-term approach.
Here in Dublin, an awesome osteopath was just two blocks away, at the Elbowroom Clinic. Jonathan Wills is a Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine (ND) as well as a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO).
The Elbowroom website explains that Jonathan “studied at the world renowned British College of Osteopathic Medicine which takes a naturopathic, whole-body approach to osteopathy.”
I’ve visited him a number of times to treat the issues he identified on my first visit: (1) poor posture that resulted in part from hunching over my laptop to view a tiny screen way down at finger-tip level, (2) tightened muscles on one side of my body that effectively made one leg shorter than the other, (3) slightly low blood pressure that is one culprit in keeping my fingers and toes freezing cold (there’s not much we can do here short of insulating the right places with warm fabric), and (4) shallow breathing (that I’ve been correcting through yoga).
Unfortunately, I’d also been clenching my teeth in my sleep and that lead to all kinds of horrific problems that I’m still sorting my way through. I put an immediate end to much of the teeth gnashing because I realized that it generally happens when I sleep face-down. So I stopped sleeping face down — cold turkey — and voila, 95% less gnashing. A great deal of damage has already been done, though, and I’ll try to resolve some of those problems while I’m home for Christmas.
A peer of mine in the States cracked a tooth as a direct result of gnashing her teeth while under stress from her PhD work. As personally embarrassing as all this might be, I decided to post a blog on the topic to help others who might be suffering from similar conditions.
I told Jonathan when I asked to take his photo that I wanted to “extol the virtues of osteopathy.” Well-executed osteopathy has helped me a great deal and I know that the benefits will follow me far into the future. I’ll have better health when I’m old because of the investment I’m making today.
The neck pain is gone and I’ve come a long way toward developing good posture.
And so my laptop hasn’t quite beaten me yet! We’re still trying to resolve our relationship problems and learn to play well together….
Musicians Jerry Crilly, Frank Cullen, and Pat Goode playing in the back room of the Cobblestone.
Tom Mulligan said I was witnessing history last night.
I’m not aware of all the subtleties of the situation but, essentially, a group of folks from Northern Ireland was in Dublin for the unveiling of a monument. A friend of the group — a regular at the Cobblestone who hails from Dublin — invited the group over to Tom’s pub after the formal event to hear traditional Irish music. [Note: I’ve posted more on this topic since. See Making History with Fergus and Francis.]
Quite by chance, Jerry Crilly, Frank Cullen, and I happened to be there. We were celebrating Kevin Donleavy’s radio program that happened earlier in the day. It had featured quite a few songs from Jerry’s CD. Jerry rang us up (as in, called us on the phone) because he wanted to give us copies of the CD.
And while we were at the Cobblestone my musical friends / drinking buddies got invited to the back to sing.
Because I was there with these musical stars, I got to enjoy an evening full of song! I actually had a seat front and center and felt completely, 100% included.
As much as I love instrumentals, it’s the singing that moves me most. So this was an incredible find for me — I really lucked out last night!
I sat cozily in a room full of people who, not so long ago, took up arms against each other.
Here, in the shelter of a unified Ireland and the warm embrace of the Mulligans’ pub, men from north and south sang together and reveled in the island’s newly found peace.
When Dave and I visited Ireland in 2003, the tone was much different from today. Political tensions still ran deep and pub songs recounted strife.
I feel honored to have been part of this event that helped promote peace among nations. I am proud that an American president helped negotiate the peace accord that paved the way for this evening’s events. (In The Journal of Conflict Studies, Rodger MacGinty noted “that the American influence on the peace process, both from influential Irish-Americans and the Clinton administration, has been profound.”)
I will remain eternally grateful that our nation supports Fulbright programs designed to promote cultural understanding and celebrate — and grow — human knowledge. We do many things that don’t make sense. And we fight all too often. But in the name of Senator Fulbright, we do have programs designed to help us do better.
I take the cultural understanding part of my Fulbright very seriously. I thank you for sharing in the effort by reading along.
It was amazing to be part of a cultural healing process last night and watch stale old tensions dissolve into the night air. As an added bonus, I also got to meet Jerry’s and Tom’s significant others for the first time. This place feels more and more like home every day.
Incidentally, Tom has taken to introducing me as a long-lost cousin, and that term’s growing on me. It’s much nicer than wee-distant relation, or third cousin twice removed….
Graphic Studio Dublin & Graphic Studio Gallery — image from invitation to the art show that starts Thursday.
Susan Early, the architect friend of Joan Cahalin’s who I met at the Cobblestone, sent a message in response to the blog about missing Glen’s art party. I’m not letting myself out of the apartment today until I’ve made major progress on this paper. I’ll have to attend the show at a later date. But perhaps you’d like to go?
Location of the show that starts Thursday.
An impressive canyon-like space within a mix-use complex that was built during the economic boom (known as the Celtic Tiger).
Smithfield is home to some dramatic public spaces. Most notably, there’s Europe’s largest cobblestone-paved plaza. Bordering this are circular spaces that make Swiss cheese of the Jameson Distillery (where the courtyards are even painted yellow) and the dramatic canyon opposite the plaza from it (see photo).
A lot of development happened in Smithfield during the economic boom known as the Celtic Tiger. Today the apartments of Smithfield appear t be filled with residents — but many of the cultural, retail, and office spaces of Smithfield are vacant or under used.
Nevertheless, there are enough restaurants, attractions, businesses, and services here to keep the place feeling alive enough.
I haven’t yet been to many of the highlights (such as the Lighthouse Cinema, the Smithfield Art Tunnel, the Generator Hostel, or the Maldron Hotel). But I have enjoyed my time at a number of the eateries as well as the Jameson Distillery, the Cobblestone, the Elbowroom (which is one of Smithfield’s many guys), and the Fresh Market.
Smithfield really doesn’t deserve the bad wrap it gets. But as long as people have the perception that there might be something scary here, the rents will stay reasonable. And that part is fine by me!
The old smokestack of the Jameson Distillery.
Kevin Donleavy. (Photo by Josh Meltzer, The Roanoke Times)
I noticed this cubist-inspired building facade this morning, while walking down Liffey Street in Dublin.
After the dazzling sunrise Thursday morning, a covering of clouds had rolled in. This cover suspended the melting process, extending the pre-dawn frost into the morning.
I was scurrying along en route to an all-day seminar. The topics being covered (leadership and change) are central to the paper I’m writing at the moment. So I’d signed up to attend this event hosted by DIT’s Learning, Teaching, and Technology Centre to see how Irish folks talk about the topic and frame the issues.
On this particular morning the sidewalks — which the Irish refer to as footpaths — were still slick. A thin layer of frozen mist remained.
This distracted me from capturing images for the first few blocks of my walk.
It wasn’t too long, however, before a facade that I’d never-before noticed captured my gaze. I dug around for my camera and started to compose. I was eager to show you this built example of cubism.
The Cublist Museum in Prague, a built example of cubist. The building is known as the House of the Black Madonna. Photo downloaded from Radio Prague website.
Unlike most styles of art, cubism never really flourished in architecture. It’s rare to find built expressions of cubism most anywhere but Prague. Portal of Prague explains, “Prague is the Mecca of Cubism lovers. This is not only because some of the Prague pre war art collectors were in favour of this style but mainly due to the fact that Prague is the only city with so many cubist buildings. The worlds unique buildings were build within four years from 1911 until the beginning of the First World War.”
I speak from experience when I say that the sky in Prague is often chilly. I visited with a group of Hampton University students one chilly week in March several years ago.
Here in Dublin on this particular morning, the lights on this facade brought the building to life. The cubist facade glowed warmly against the steel-grey sky.
The chilly sky actually helped me to see something I’d overlooked many times before.
Juxtaposed buildings.
Reflection of skyline in the Liffey River.
Here’s a photo of this morning’s amazing Dublin sky.
The best part?
The sky is this beautiful nearly every day!
Dublin sunrise reflection
Meeting with Brian Bowe and Gavin Duffy at the Beatty Library’s cafe.
The cafe at the Chester Beatty Library serves up a fine selection of Middle Eastern, North African, Mediterranean, and vegetarian entrees and gluten-free desserts. We met there for lunch Tuesday since it’s halfway between Gavin’s base on Kevin Street and ours on Bolton Street.
Mom and her neighbors (Tim and Mary) spoke highly of this “Silk Road Cafe.” The Dean had heard its praises sung as well. Unfortunately, he was called to a more urgent meeting and couldn’t join us after all.
The Beatty Library’s sun-filled, glass-covered courtyard was a lovely setting for our discussion of student-centered learning, research, and publication strategy.
Shockingly, neither of my colleague had ever been to this incredible museum before! Yet it houses one of the world’s most astounding collections of religious artifacts. It represents all the world’s major religions and was donated by the American collector Chester Beatty. And, amazingly, admission is completely free! (Lunch, however, is not.)
Although I didn’t get Gavin and Brian into the actual exhibit halls, at least they got to experience the covered courtyard and the stunning “Castle garden.” It’s surrounded by a high wall and feels very much like a secret garden. During my childhood, I dearly loved the book The Secret Garden.
Castel Garden, behind Dublin Castle. (Photo borrowed from W&L travel log.)
A few hours after our lunch, I had another brush with great museums when Seán Rainbird lectured at the DIT School of Architecture. He’s the new director of the National Gallery of Ireland. He has also worked at the Tate in London and the Stattsgallerie in Stuttgart (designed by James Stirling’s office).
Seán Rainbird talked about Joseph Beuys’ fascination with all things Celtic when he spoke at the DIT School of Architecture.
Can you imaging that I delivered a lecture in the same “Schools of Thought” lecture series with such an accomplished person? Wow!
Seán talked about Joseph Beuys and the Celtic World, the topic of a book he wrote. He said he had just three weeks to write it! Can you imagine being so knowledgeable about a topic that you could produce a press-worthy document in just three weeks? Truly amazing.
They say everyone wants to “be like Mike.” I’d rather “be like Seán” myself!
Ireland by Chance 