Serious piece of kit! @Bose QuietComfort Acoustic Noise Cancelling headphones even work on a @HarleyDavidson #wow #ToughTest

I don't think I have ever tried to listen to my iPhone while riding my Harley-Davidson with its Screaming Eagle exhaust pipes. It is far too loud to hear a radio or MP3 Player, which would have to have the volume turned up very high to have any chance of hearing anything. There is also the safety aspect as well as the awkwardness of trying to use any controls with thick gloves on. So I never really bothered, though I often thought that it would be great to listen to a Beatles playlist while riding on a motorway.

Today I tested a (borrowed) Bose QuietComfort 20i Acoustic Noise Cancelling set of headphones and I am both fascinated about how they work and how good they are. On my way to work I just used the headphones without any music, switched them on (it has its own power supply), and rode to work. They reduced the noise of the Harley-Davidson engine rather like wearing ear plugs, only much more comfortably. It's important to note that the headphones did not completely "cancel" the noise, but they did a pretty good job of reducing it effectively.

On my way home I decided to try the headphones with some music on. I decided to go for some easy listening (AC/DC would not be quite the right sound to try on a first test!), and I settled on "Raising Sand" by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. 

The verdict? 

Top class!

While the background noise from the bike could still just about be heard, it in no way interfered with the music and I enjoyed very comfortable high-quality listening without having the volume up high. I felt safe as the headphones have an Aware Mode that let you hear sounds while still reducing background noise. I'm wondering if the Bose engineers tested this system on a Harley-Davidson, which I reckon would really put it through the toughest of tests. For me it passed with flying colours!

There are two problems: First - my bike no longer sounds like a Harley-Davidson, I risk being expelled from the Biker's Union! Secondly - the price, €299.95! It is expensive for me to buy this for an occasional ride on a motorway, but it would be nice to have. No doubt this technology will get cheaper, but Bose have created a fantastic high-quality product that lovers of music who do things like travel a lot on a bus or train would love.

Christy Moore at Vicar Street

Last evening Roma and I went to see Christy Moore in the intimate setting of Vicar Street - he was accompanied as usual by his old Moving Hearts buddy Declan Synnott. It was my second time seeing Moore in concert, two years ago I saw him in the Grand Canal Theatre.

Image Source: Entertainment.ie.

You will always know what you get with Christy - he sings songs about diverse subjects such as the Spanish Civil War, Dunnes Stores strikers, Steve Beko, Euro 88, trade unions, persecution, Arthur's Day, Ruby Walsh, and the DTs. For many it was disappointing not to hear Lisdoonvarna or Don't Forget your Shovel. You also know that you will get passion for songs with Christy and he certainly lived up to that reputation last evening.

We were also treated to a song by Declan Synnott who had seven guitars with him, including a ukulele. I think he used them all! Moore had a bodhrán at his side, but he never used it, he used just two guitars. Both musicians sent the crowd of over 1,000 home happy. We stopped in the Brazen Head for a pint afterwards - it had been many years since I visited this pub, reputedly the oldest one in Ireland.

Book Review: "The Rocky Road" by Eamon Dunphy

I have always liked Eamon Dunphy as a TV pundit. I don't always agree with what he says, but I find him a passionate and fascinating character when it comes to football. Watching football on TV over the past 20 years would have been much duller without his participation in TVs best trio of football pundits - John Giles, Liam Brady, and Dunphy. You can always be sure that even if the football is poor, the chat before, at half-time, and after would be exciting. He always called it as he saw it - so when I saw his new autobiography I just had to purchase it straight away. I once said "hello" to him in a shop in Donnybrook when he was buying cigarettes (Sweet Afton), and I think I once saw him play for Shamrock Rovers against Limerick in the late 1970s.

Image source: Amazon.

The Rocky Road deals with Dunphy and his life up to the World Cup in 1990. For football fans of English and Irish football it is a fascinating account of a self-confessed journey man who signed for Manchester United as a boy, but played all his football in the lower English leagues, finishing up in the League of Ireland. His account of life as a footballer playing for York City, Reading, and Millwall is by far the best part of the book for a football fan. His time at Shamrock Rovers was brief and not as interesting, but it does offer an insight into the attempt by him, John Giles, and Ray Treacy to instil some life into the League of Ireland.

His time as an international footballer was far from the glory days of Euro 1988, Italia 1990, USA 1994, and Japan-Korea 2002. His hard hitting accounts of how Irish football was run by "suits", while bitter, show that his passion was football and that he hated seeing it taking a back seat to the junkets and goodies that surrounded the international game.

The controversies with Jack Charlton are well known, and are well aired by Dunphy in the book. He does admit that he was not always right and that his major regret was the effect that it all had on his family. The last paragraph of the book must have been difficult for him to write. There is very little personal material in the book - no account of dating, getting married, birth of his kids - in fact they are barely mentioned at all. What does get a mention is some serious name dropping by Dunphy at every opportunity, for example on page 331 Ruari Quinn is mentioned once for no reason at all. 

Overall - and I can't resist this: It's a good book, not a great book!

Book Review - Ireland's Arctic Siege: The Big Freeze of 1947

During the summer I read Kevin Kearns' excellent account of one of the worst winters on record ever endured in Ireland. It was called "The Big Freeze" which lasted two months, and brought the country to a standstill. I had meant to write a short review when I finished reading the book, but it has been sitting on my desk now for months and it is finally time to review and put it away.

Image Source: Amazon.

Kearns writes about the hardships suffered by everyone, most notably the poor living in tenements in Dublin. Bad freezing weather meant that ordinary things like fuel and food were running out fast, and as always, it was the poorest that suffered most. Since Ireland did not possess any equipment to clear roads and railway lines, there was hardly any traffic for two months meaning that aid could not be delivered to those that needed it. One thing that comes in for particular criticism was the de Valera government's inaction throughout what was a national crisis. Kearns tells of tales of bravery and of tragedy in the east and west of the country. The lack of leadership stands out, and it was the ordinary citizen that won out in the end.

My Dad was in school in Roscrea in the mid-lands at the time and remembers very little bad weather. Areas like Cork were not affected too much in what was a long spell of cold right across Western Europe. I remember the harsh winters of 1981/1982 and 2010/2011, but they were nothing like the misery our parents and grandparents endured in 1947.

I really enjoyed the book, but did think it was a bit long - I wondered which would come first, the end of the snow or the end of the book. 

Book Review: "Farewell to Famine" by Jim Rees

A couple of week ago I heard an interview on the RTÉ Radio 1 "The History Show" with Wicklow historian Jim Rees, who talked about The Fitzwilliam Clearances in South Co Wicklow and North Co Wexford (where I grew up). The interview can be listened to here. In the interview he refers to his book "Surplus People: The Fitzwilliam Clearances 1847-1856" which is unfortunately out of print. In the mean time my Dad lent me his copy of another one of  Rees's books "A Farewell to Famine".

Image source: Amazon.

This book tells the incredible story of Fr Thomas Hore from South Wexford who brought hundreds of survivors of the Great Famine from Wicklow and Wexford to America - mostly to Arkansas and Iowa. Along the way he kept his group together until they reached New Orleans, where the groups started to fragment. Rees describes the sense opportunity and the salvation of theses people - as he put it, they were not so much as going to America, but were leaving Ireland.

What it must have been like to leave everything behind is hard to contemplate. As Rees describes it - it was like a death in the family when someone left Ireland as they were very unlikely to be seen again. The real hero of the story is Fr Hore, who despite many setbacks, managed to get a least some of his flock to the land he bought for them (at $1.25/acre) in both Arkansas and Iowa. For all of them there was possible death and certain hardship if they remained in Ireland - in effect he was a priest who saved hundreds of people from poverty and death at a time in Ireland when the population was uprooting in hundreds of thousands for a new life in America. A list of those families who travelled shows surnames that will be very familiar to locals.

I highly recommend this short book, it will be of particular interest to people from the South Wicklow and North Wexford areas. 

The Lion King at The Bord Gáis Theatre - Brilliant!

Yesterday afternoon I saw the Lion King on stage for the first time. I had seen the movie when the girls were small and I'm sure that we still have the video somewhere. Lots of the songs are familiar to me, but despite this the stag show was breathtakingly refreshing and original. One of the best shows I have ever seen - no exaggeration! The singing and dancing were fantastic and I can't think of anything (other than noisy kids in the audience) to fault the show. Don't miss it!

Lincoln

Last evening we went to see the new "Lincoln" movie starring Daniel Day-Lewis in the Odeon in Stillorgan. We were not out of place in the (mostly) middle-aged audience - this screening was sold-out. The movie is 2.5 hours long and it is an effort to concentrate all the way through - as you must. However, it is well worth the effort, with Daniel Day-Lewis putting in a master class though I thought Tommie Lee Jones was also outstanding (there should be a preservation order put on his face).

Despite the fact that we all know the outcome of the American Civil War, what happened to Lincoln, and the result of the vote on the 13th Amendment (which outlawed slavery) - the tension is kept up throughout in what surely must be one of Steven Spielberg's finest ever movies. It is hard to nowadays believe that members of the Democratic Party in the US voted against the amendment to abolish slavery, especially since the first African-American President is a Democrat. The arguments on both sides were well put forward, and behind it all was a lot of lobbying and pressure being put on Congressmen to vote either way (just like today!). The Amendment is really what the movie is about, with Lincoln's role a central theme - but the war taking a secondary role. 

Lincoln is portrayed in the movie as a great leader, politician, and emancipator of slaves - he was not always thus. It is worth noting that in 1858 Lincoln stated, in a debate with his rival for the presidency Stephen Douglas, in Charleston "I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races, that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people" (quoted from "A. Lincoln" by Ronald C. White). Nevertheless, his attitude changed somewhat during the war. 

I absolutely recommend this movie to everyone, and I will make it part of my film library when it comes out on Blu-ray. Here's the trailer...

Review: Les Misérables

It's is not since I was a kid that I read the story of Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, and I have not seen any movie or stage versions since. Last evening Roma and I went to see the latest movie starring Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe. Of course many of the songs are very familiar, and the music is the best part of the movie. However, overall I found it very boring.

I found "Les Mis" to be quite a depressing movie in parts, and a lot of the sung dialogue felt forced to me. There are some super performances from Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham-Carter, with Hugh Jackman being by far the star of the show. Russell Crowe tried hard, but was not quite convincing to me - his sung dialogue seemed the most forced of all. As for Anne Hathaway? While she does misery very well, all I wanted was to hear Susan Boyle sing "I Dreamed a Dream" instead.

At 2 hours and 38 minutes it is far too long, and there were times I would happily have left the cinema. I'm glad I didn't because the most iconic song of the lot, "Bring Him Home" sung by Jackman, was worth waiting for, not to mention a bit of action at last at the barricades. I'll not be too bothered to see the movie again, but if it comes to Dublin on stage I think I'll still check it out. Good to see our own Colm Wilkinson get in on the act with his role as the Bishop of Digne.

Oliver!

Scan of Show Programme Cover.

I attended the musical "Oliver!" at the Bord Gáis Theatre last evening for a fantastic show. Many people of my generation were kids when the film version was released in 1968 (I did not know until today that Mark Lester who starred in the title role did not sing in the film!). On stage this is a spectacular production - this one was produced by Cameron Mackintosh.

All the familiar songs are there - "Consider Yourself", "Who Will Buy", "I'd Do Anything", and "Food Glorious Food". The many kids did on show did a super job, but Oliver Twist himself is underplayed a bit. The real star of the show was Neil Morrissey as Fagan, he really seemed to be enjoying his role and he delivered a funny, slightly dark, but masterful performance.

There were many kids in the audience who might have been bewildered by some of the sexual overtones, particularly in the "OOM-PAH-PAH" scene.

Overall - a great show and I'd recommend that the producers tone down the smutty bits to make it into the really brilliant family show that I think this is.

Review of 2012

It's the last day of 2012 and before I look forward to 2013, here's a quick look back at 2012 and what it meant to me.

Image source: www.123newyear.com.

The Good

YouTube
Undoubtedly the biggest thing for me in 2012 was my YouTube Channel passing the 1,000,000 views mark on 30th April last. As I write there are 1,089,630 for the year 2012 and it should pass the 2,000,000 views mark during March next year if current trends continue. The views fell during the Christmas holidays, as they do every year, but should pick up again in January. As there is a release of a new version of Microsoft Office next year, I should be able to add updated versions of my most popular videos.

AdSense

Closely associated with above, I switched on monetization on my videos to allow Google to display ads. While these are probably annoying for my viewers, it makes a little extra cash for me. Since the switch-on in June the channel has earned over $7,000, averaging just over $1,000 per month. I'll put more effort to getting more and better content onto the channel to try and improve this.

100 Corners

I had a great time during the summer riding around the coast of Ireland on my Harley-Davidson from Dublin to Sligo. Since then I have been re-living the trip by writing it up into a book. One of my hopes for 2013 is that I get this book published. Despite a lot of bad weather, I got to see so much of Ireland that I had never seen before. This project is not yet finished.

My Blog

I enjoyed writing on this blog during the year - this will be the 243rd post of the year, a little down on 2011. As my 100 Corners project takes up a lot of my spare time, blogging is one of my activities that I have devoted less time to this year. I will blog in 2013, but the book project will be prioritized. I want to get back to writing a bit more about educational matters - this I can do at work. Finally, I got a new title for my blog "Careful with that axe, Eugene", it sounds a bit cooler than before.

Awards

During the year I received two awards: The first was the Irish Blood Transfusion Service's Gold Drop Award for reaching 50 donations. The second was the National College of Ireland President's Award for Innovation in Assessment. While these are modest achievements, it's nice to get recognition like this from time-to-time.

The Not So Good

Sport

We had the highs and lows of sport this year with Katie Taylor giving the whole country a boost when she won the gold medal in London, but the let down of the year was the Irish soccer team at the Euro finals. I felt before hand that there was a very strong chance that we would lose all three games, but that the Croatia match offered a chance of getting something. It was not to be and I, along with most of the country, felt a big let down.

Our Country

Ireland is still in a bad way and there seems to be no end in sight, despite what the economists and politicians tell us. I am one of the lucky ones who still has a job, but the College is not immune to the financial difficulties of Government funding for Higher Education. The HEA's response to HE Institutions' own assessments carried out this year uses very tough language about savings that need to be made and the need for more clustering and mergers between institutions. I think 2012 was the beginning of the end of Higher Education as it is in Ireland, and that 2013 could be an even tougher year for us all. This is clearly a major worry for my colleagues and I at NCI.

Emigration

According to the Irish Independent today, 200 people a day left Ireland during 2012, a level not seen since the Great Famine of the 19th century. One of the emigrants this year was my daughter Claire who now lives in New York. We miss her and of course wish she was here, but opportunities for her, and many of her generation, lie elsewhere. 

Resigning

I don't think I ever officially resigned from anything before, but in October this year I resigned from the Governing Body of NCI. It, and the aftermath, was not a pleasant experience - but I had over-stepped my role and felt I had to "go".

100 Corners

It was a pity that I did not get to finish this trip in one go. Looking back I feel that I let the rain beat me and I guess I was also a little homesick. I abandoned the trip in Sligo on a very wet day and with very bad weather forecast for the next two days I didn't have the stomach to continue. 2013 will put this right.

Johnstown Castle - Wexford

Today Roma and I visited one of those locations that I have passed many times over the years with a "I must check that out sometime..." thought without actually doing so. So Johnstown Castle, just outside Wexford town, was the venue with the Agricultural Museum also on the agenda. The ticket for both was €8 - so not cheap. However, it is well worth the cost as the Castle and grounds are wonderful and a pleasure to walk around. Today there was an exhibition of ancient activities such as archery and falconry, as well as a Famine display that was very interesting. 

The Agricultural Museum was fantastic - lots of interesting machinery like Ferguson tractors that I remember well, and old style farm equipment that in many cases involved back-breaking work to operate. There was ingenuity in their creation that nowadays seems to be easy. The machinery is restored in almost perfect condition, and if you are interested in how agriculture was operated a hundred years ago - go to this museum.

But one of the best bits for Roma and me was to find a Renault 4L car like the ones that we both learned to drive in during the late 1970s - we both did our driving tests in one of these. The O'Loughlin version was a van, but the Bourke one was like the one in the photo below (except it as red). We both had good fun looking at the quirky gear lever coming out of the middle of the dashboard, and the funny method for opening the windows. Nostalgia.......you know you are getting old when the car you learned to drive in appears in a museum!

Book Review: "The Last of the Mohicans" by James Fenimore Cooper

One of my favourite movies of all time is the 1992 version of The Last of the Mohicans directed by Michael Mann and staring Daniel Day-Lewis. It is full of action and the heroics of the American Frontier during the French and Indian Wars in 1757. The film is partly based on the book of the same name written in 1826 by James Fenimore Cooper, but there are huge differences between the book an the movie - Cooper would have been horrified at the extent of the editing of characters and scenes carried out by Hollywood.

Image source:
American Literature.

The book (free from the Kindle store) is a difficult read as the language is very verbose, or what Mark Twain referred to as "excessive verbiage" and has been called "unreadable". There is no doubting this as many passages are written without the reader in mind. Nevertheless, it was a great success as a book in the 19th century and is still regarded as an American classic. For me the book was a terrible read - even from a historic point of view I learned very little. But the real interest to keep me going through it was how different my favourite movie was from the book. I was astounded that there was so much difference between the two - here's how Wikipedia describes it:

Image source: Wikipedia.

Many of the scenes from the 1992 movie did not follow the book; in particular, some characters who survive the events of the novel die in the film, and vice versa. For example, Colonel Munro, killed in the film by Magua during the evacuation of Fort William Henry, lives on in the novel and helps search for his daughters. Chingachgook kills Magua in the film, whereas in the novel, Hawkeye kills him. The usual deletions from cinematic versions of The Last of the Mohicans are the extensive sections about the Indians themselves, thus confounding Cooper's purpose. Further, romantic relationships, non-existent or minimal in the novel, are generated between the principal characters, and the roles of some characters are reversed or altered, as are the events

Even the romances were different, there is the strong sexual tension between Hawkeye and Cora (who dies in the book but survives in the movie) - there is no such thing in the book. Script writers clearly could do whatever they wanted - and they did. The movie is more interesting, and thankfully there are no more books written in the prose of Cooper.

Book Review: "At Home - A Short History of Private Life" by Bill Bryson

It's sometimes amazing what people write about and how a book can be generated from the most simple things. Bill Bryson writes about our homes - he takes us room-by-room though the family home and the fascinating history of some common household objects.

Image source:
Random House.

"At Home" is a good read - I read the Kindle version while on holiday and it is certainly an easy and enjoyable account of the many things we take for granted (eg, why we have salt and pepper on our tables instead of any of the other multitudes of spices available). Bryson's book might be more accurately described as "A Book if Interesting Facts" - it is full of curious people and their inventions. Bryson has a particular interest in the year 1851 when his own house was built.

Every page has something new and Bryson's style is witty and factual - no high brow scientific explanations of how things work or where they came from, there's just enough for the layman to understand. This book has something for everyone, though I read it from start to finish in a couple of days, it would also be a suitable book to dip in and out of when ever the moods takes you. It might even be a good reading book for the toilet - there's a very good chapter about toilets and how they came about!

Overall - very much recommended.

Restaurant Review - Baan Thai in Sandyford

Because our kitchen currently looks like this...

...we decided to go out to dinner last evening to Baan Thai in Sandyford. I have been there before on at least two occasions and found the food to be excellent. While we had a very enjoyable meal, the evening was spoilt by some minor irritations. First is parking - at 7.00pm I had to pay for parking in an empty car park or risk clamping and a fine for not paying before 9.00pm. Not having any change I had to go into the restaurant to get some before heading back to the car - two hours cost a cheap €1.50, why do they bother?

I find it difficult to hear conversation in restaurants at the best of times, but being placed under a speaker with loud music was too much for me. I asked for the music to be turned down or for us to be moved to another table (yes - I am a grumpy auld bollix). Our irritable waiter told us another table had asked for the music to be turned up and he moved us to another table. But he got his revenge on us for making him work as our new table was under the air-conditioning which was set at Antarctic temperature. Twice I asked for the fan to be turned down, but no noticeable difference was observed. It's unusual for me to feel cold, but I did so this evening under this breeze. 

I had delicious breaded jumbo prawns for main course - except I had to send them back immediately because they were cold. A few seconds in the microwave sorted that out.

The food is delicious in Baan Thai, and was very good value for us as we also had a Living Social deal. But a message to the Baan Thai folks is to listen to customers who want music and air-conditioning turned down. Clearly they do not know how to handle warm days and need to work on his. 

Book Review: "Thomas Jefferson" by R.B. Bernstein

This book (Kindle edition) about the third President of the United States, and author of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 is an excellent and enjoyable read about one of America's favourite icons - Thomas Jefferson. R.B. Bernstein has written a short (214 pages) account of Jefferson's long life that is an enjoyable read, though it does leave you wanting more.

Image link to Wikipedia.

Thomas Jefferson was many things - a patriot, planter, politician, ambassador, President, and slave owner. But he was also an interesting character who was a brilliant writer - not of books, but legislation and letters. He famously wrote in the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

This from a guy who owned over 200 slaves!

Nevertheless, he was a man of his time - a Southerner who struggled with the slavery issue (he believed that it should be abolished and that free slaves should be deported). This bordered on hypocrisy, especially since there is compelling evidence (supported by Bernstein) that he fathered several children with his slave Sally Hemmings.

The book is short on detail - I'm sure that other books will have dissected his live in far more detail. But it is an excellent read that does not tax the mind too much (great for me). It is written in a popular history style and is just perfect for anyone wanting to read about Jefferson and get the key details of his life.

Recommended.

Kindle vs iPad eBook Reader - my view

I have just finished reading my second book ever on an eBook reader. Last Christmas I was given the Amazon Kindle as a gift and I read Dava Sobel's "Galileo's Daughter" (see my review here). Despite a lot of errors in the Kindle version of the book, I found the reading experience a very good one. Yesterday I finished reading Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" on the Apple iPad - which I had downloaded for free from the Kindle store. 

Image link to DigitalTrends.

There is no doubt that as a tablet computer, the iPad exceeds almost everything that the Kindle does. The one thing that it does not do better is the Kindle eBook reader App. While I found that Dava Sobel's "Galileo's Daughter" was formatted a bit better on the iPad, the Kindle is a far better reading experience for me. It is lighter and easier to hold while reading - but crucially the text is far clearer and the background softer to make it very comfortable and easy on the eyes. Yesterday I tried reading the iPad in the Conservatory, but the alternating rain and sunshine made it difficult to see because of the glare during bright sunshine. Now that I am about to get my Kindle back (my daughter has had it for weeks) I expect that it will be my preferred choice for reading from now on. The good thing is that when you buy a book from Amazon, you can get it on both the Kindle and iPad at no extra charge.

"Pride and Prejudice" is, to my almost certain knowledge, the only book I have ever read twice. The other book was George Orwell's "1984" which I had read in school during the 1970s, and read again in the year 1984. P&P was the main English text for the Intermediate (Junior) Certificate exam in 1975. It's an excellent story that I have also seen many times on TV and film. The English prose is difficult to follow sometimes - I wonder if people really spoke like the dialogue in the book all the time in the early 1800s? Nevertheless, it was very enjoyable to read the book again and feel the presences of two of  English literature's strongest and most favourite characters - Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy. In 2003, P&P came second in the BBC's The Big Read, a national poll to find Britain's best-loved book" (Lord of the Rings was 1st).

Book Review: "Just Joe" by Joe Duffy

In my time in Trinity as an undergraduate student from 1978 to 1983, one fellow student stood out from all others in this period - Joe Duffy. An abiding memory of that time was first of all the Duffy/White/Hayes student union election - I did not vote for them. I firmly recall Duffy, in his green duffle coat, speaking in Front Square many times and alluding to the fact that he was one of only three students in Trinity from Ballyfermot. He was a fantastic speaker, and rallied hundreds of students to the various causes of the time. 

Image link to RTÉ.ie.

I remember his protest march out the front gates of Trinity and back in again very well - I followed him. I studied hard the photo in the book of the occupation of the Junior Common Room to see if I was there - I wasn't, though I do remember occupying the Dining Hall (and helping myself to a lot of Guinness). I was on several of Joe Duffy's student union protests at that time. I met him just once in my time in Trinity - I was on a picket at The Buttery and he came along to show his support. I recall being mildly embarrassed as I mentioned my motorbike, trying hard not to look like I had any money. Years later I met him when he launched Dr Paul Mooney's book - "Accidental Leadership". We chatted and I reminded him of that last time we had met.

"Just Joe" is an easy to read book. His years spent in Trinity were the most interesting for me 'cos I was there. His drive to educate himself is an inspiration to all - the book describes a relatively happy childhood and school/college days, The last part of the book is about Liveline - a show that I don't get to listen to very much, so I wasn't too interested in that. There is no doubt that Joe Duffy has made a difference to many people's lives - far more than he could possibly have hoped to achieve as a social worker/probation officer. He is proud of his roots and rightly so.

Good stuff Joe.

Ideal Home Exhibition

Today we headed into the Ideal Homes Exhibition. We are looking to do some redecorating in our house and were looking for some ideas. The first shock was the €14 charge each - on top of the €6 parking fee we had spent €34 before we set foot inside the RDS. It is only later that I discovered that I could have attended free yesterday, or got a 2 for 1 deal today if I had registered on-line.

Image copied from idealhomes.ie.

Another shock for me was the lack of electronics - no TV or technology exhibitors. This made for a very uninteresting tour around the exhibition. Insulation was big, with several exhibitors with interesting ideas for "saving" money by insulating your home. Recently we had a quote of nearly €20,000 to insulate our house with outside insulation - the salesman estimated that it will have paid for itself in 15 years! There were also lots of make up stands and food exhibitors. While the exhibition was very busy, it took us just over one hour to see everything. We did ask the Styra Attic stairs man to call to our house - I think it's definitely time that we replaced my home-made attic door with something better.

Overall - the exhibition was a dreadful bore, and a complete waste of €34. Stopping for a pint on the way home saved the day.

Book review - "The Reluctant Taoiseach" by David McCullagh

I have to confess I knew very little about former Taoiseach John A. Costello before I read this new biography by David McCullagh (he of RTÉ fame). The book was a birthday present last October and it has taken me several months to read. Since starting it I interrupted it by reading three other books (including biographies of Steve Jobs and Galileo) - this will tell you a little bit about this book.

Image link to Gill & Macmillan.

"The Reluctant Taoiseach" is well written, but heavy going in places - it is a book that you can put down. It is perhaps aimed at more serious scholars of Irish history than me? It is meticulously researched - 84 pages of references, plus a detailed index (31 pages). However, it does give a detailed account of Costello's life - particularly his time as Taoiseach in two governments, 1948-1951 and 1954-1957. Costello appears to have been an honest man who was not only a "reluctant" Taoiseach, but an accidental one too. 

What strikes me most about the book is it also describes a time in Ireland in the 40s and 50s where real economic hardship dominated Irish life and politics. The country was being bled dry by emigration - indeed my own maternal grandparents and most of their family left Ireland for Canada while Costello served his second term as Taoiseach. The book also assumes that the reader already knows a lot about two of the central events during Costello's term in office - the Declaration of the Republic, and the Mother and Child scheme. Neither is described in detail and I had to look up these events on Wikipedia to understand what was going on. 

Costello was an unapologetic daily mass-going Catholic who bowed to the Church and Archbishop John Charles McQuaid. It's hard to imagine now a Taoiseach opposing a moderate social scheme like the Mother and Child one, that led to his own health Minister (Noël Browne) resigning. He also lived and worked in the shadow of Éamon de Valera - the dominant force in Irish politics during the 20th century, but not much is made of this in the book.

I'd recommend this book as a fair account of John A. Costello. Be prepared for a long read, but it is worth it in the end to find out more about an almost forgotten leader of Ireland.

Singing in the Rain - Palace Theatre

Yesterday we brought my sister Kayo to the Palace Theatre in London to see the musical "Singing in the Rain" for her 50th, 40th, 30th, 21st birthday. This was of course made famous by Gene Kelly in the 1952 movie of the same name.

What a show! Fantastic dancing and singing throughout. Highlights were the wonderful ends to both the first act and the show. Real water falling onto the stage made for a wet dancing sequence - the first few rows got splashed. Great performances all around - especially from Adam Cooper as Don Lockwood (the role made famous by Gene Kelly). Kayo loved the evening and it was great for me to see her enjoying the show so much. 

As a flavour for what we saw - check out the following official trailer on YouTube: