Pigs

Bookclub on Saturday was down in Timoleague, we'd a fab day sitting outside in the sun. For me though the highlight was being shown their new composter, the "Big Pig". It's an insulated composting system that achieves very high temps quickly and composts in a matter of weeks. Another huge positive is, because it's sealed, cooked leftovers can be added too.

I understand it's pricey, circa 700 euro. I'm going to check out the "Little Pig" - I want one!

Bee deaths - pesticides

Very good article in Salon.

New technology*

Announcing a new device called, "BOOK," an acronym for "Built-in Orderly Organized Knowledge."
 
The BOOK is a revolutionary breakthrough in technology: No wires, no electric circuits, no batteries, nothing to be connected or switched on. It's so easy to use even a child can operate it. Just lift its cover!
 
Compact and portable, it can be used anywhere - even sitting in an armchair by the fire - yet it is powerful enough to hold as much information as a CD-ROM disc. Here's how it works...
 
Each BOOK is constructed of sequentially numbered sheets of paper (recyclable), each capable of holding thousands of bits of information. These pages are locked together with a custom-fit device called a binder, which keeps the sheets in their correct sequence. Opaque Paper Technology (OPT) allows manufacturers to use both sides of the sheet, doubling the information density and cutting costs in half.
 
Experts are divided on the prospects for further increases in information density; for now BOOKs with more information simply use more pages. This makes them thicker and harder to carry, and has drawn some criticism from the mobile computing crowd.
 
Each sheet is scanned optically, registering information directly into your brain. A flick of the finger takes you to the next sheet. The BOOK maybe taken up at any time and used by merely opening it. The BOOK never crashes and never needs rebooting, though like other display devices it can become unusable if dropped overboard. The "browse" feature allows you to move instantly to any sheet, and move forward or backward as you wish.
 
Many come with an "index" feature, which pinpoints the exact location of any selected information for instant retrieval. An optional "BOOKmark" accessory allows you to open the BOOK to the exact place you left it in a previous session - even if the BOOK has been closed. BOOKmarks fit universal design standards; thus, a single BOOKmark can be used in BOOKs by various manufacturers. Conversely, numerous bookmarkers can be used in a single BOOK if the user wants to store numerous views at once. The number is limited only by the number of pages in the BOOK.
 
You can also make personal notes next to BOOK text entries with an optional programming tool, the Portable Erasable Nib Cryptic Intercommunication Language Stylus (PENCILS).
 
Portable, durable, and affordable, the BOOK is being hailed as the entertainment wave of the future. The BOOK's appeal seems so certain that thousands of content creators have committed to the platform. Look for a flood of new titles soon.


* SOURCE: from a pubs editor in work

The perfect stick

I may have mentioned that I have a dog. Have had her for 3 years now. She’s a greyhound / red setter cross, so while she loves a walk and a run, she’s also happy to balm out* in the sun for ages. She’s handsome, with a coat that gleams with reds and oranges in the sunshine. She also demands attention, not unusual for a rescue dog. Because she was originally bred for hunting it’s unlikely she was played with as a pup and so, at the beginning she didn’t quite know what to do when a ball was thrown for her. She’s come a long way (not up to the sister’s dog, who’s totally OCD wrt ball throwing) - it’s great to see her catch a ball on the bounce. One snag, she’s not so hot at bringing it back.

One of our favourite things to do (she hasn’t exactly said so) is to go to the nearest beach, about 12 miles away. She can run around like a loon, down to the estuary to chase curlews, among the dunes, and along the sea shore. We’ve a routine now, as soon as we come back from the estuary and along by the water, she circles expectantly. I usually bring two or three sticks from my stash in the boot and fling the first into the water, not too far cos she’s not comfortable out of her depth, in she bounds, like a deer over the waves. Grabs the stick and bounds back, not quite on to the beach though, so unless I’m wearing wellies the stick floats out of reach – the reason I bring more than one.

On the way back to the car I keep a lookout for new sticks. It was tricky when I first started because the local seaweed consists of long stems with a frondy head, which at a distance look like sticks. Now I’ve developed a better eye, and pounce on a new stick with delight. A foot and a half is a good length, of the right weight. If it’s too thin and light then it won’t travel very far when thrown, or the wind’ll catch it. If it’s too heavy and damp, it might sink. If it’s too long she mightn’t carry it from the sea very easily. So, ideally 45 inches, heavyish in the hand, perhaps even slightly heavier at one end, to help with the throw, and not too brittle, so she can have a decent chew.




* Cork-speak for sun-bathing

Electric Picnic 2009 lineup

Announced yesterday, the lineup so far looks like this. For a start want to catch Lykke Li, Fleet Foxes, MGMT.

Madness
Orbital
Flaming Lips
Basement Jaxx
Vagabonds
MGMT
Fleet Foxes
The Klaxons
Bell X1
Rodrigo Y Gabriela
Chic
Seasick Steve
2 Many DJs
Lisa Hannigan
Explosions in the Sky
Damien Dempsey
Alabama 3
Bat for Lashes
Zero 7
Erol Alkan
Roots Manuva
The Sugarhill Gang
Billy Bragg
Lykke Li
Imelda May
Echo and the Bunnymen
Magazine
ESG
Moderat
Simian Mobile Disco
Four Tet
Skream and Benga - Magnetic Man
Noze
Heartbreak
Halfset
Chris Cunningham
Okkervil River
Magnolia Electric Company
Low Anthem
Villagers
Tunng
Jape
Whitest Boy Alive
Michachu and the Shapes
The Walkmen

The musical

Here's what's been keeping me busy for the last couple of months (not bad for someone who can't really sing or dance) - lovin' it.

The Farmer's Daughter: A Rockabilly Musical
Bailenagee is getting ready for the 'Farmer of the Year' competition... but is Bailenagee ready for the farmer's daughter?
Love knows no boundries in this tongue-in-cheek musical about a girl dressing up as a man and winning the cash-prize... and the girl!
Recently written by Cork's own choir Mná Mná, and directed by Evelyn Quinlan, The Farmer's Daughter: A Rockabilly Musical is one of a kind and guarantees to get you swingin' and singin' Alleluia in the aisles.

8pm, 1st May
Firkin Crane, Shandon, Cork

Review of Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Woody Allen is back on form. Two of his familiar New York types - the uptight brunette contrasted with the free-spirited artistic blonde - are transplanted to Barcelona (which looks beautiful and eccentric). Over the summer among passionate Spanish artists their lives are changed, briefly. All of this is done with the usual Allen-style narration, emotional distance, and wit.

Rebecca Hall (Vicky) and Scarlett Johansson (Cristina) both give authentic performances. Hall as the wound-up masters-student who's engaged to be married and faces challenges to her mapped-out life. Johansson embraces the mediterranean lifestyle but ultimately her core remains unshaken. They both become involved with the same artist, Juan Antonio (Xavier Bardem), whose ex-wife, María Elena (Penelope Cruz) soon re-appears. Cruz is a stunning life force, who leaves no one unaffected by her influence.

When the film finished, after watching all the loving, eating, and drinking, we had to go across the road from the Kino for a glass of red and share a plate of antipasto in Cafe de la Paix - perfect

Rated 4/5 on Mar 02 2009

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Review Tags: film, movie, humour