Blog Of Good Cheer

Throwing A Party For Liam MacCarthy

felix — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 07:58:19 +0000

Against all the odds Tipperary came through and are Senior All-Ireland Hurling Champions for 2010 beating Kilkenny by 4-17 to 1-18.

It was a fantastic game of hurling for a neutral and I certainly loved every minute of it.

Afterwards the Kilkenny manager Brian Cody said “The best team won the All-Ireland. That was comprehensive. Tipperary were excellent.”

The night before the final I saw JohnnyB perform The Premier Rap on RTE’s Up For The Match. There was a lot of belief in Tipp that they’d win this year even if the bookies didn’t see it their way.

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Throwing A Party For Liam MacCarthy

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Panning For A Change

felix — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 07:18:52 +0000

Although all the photographs in this post were taken in Italy, the post isn’t about Italy. Looking at the pictures you’ll see they all have cyclists, but the post isn’t really about cycling either.

It’s really about trying something new and breaking out of the comfort zone of tried and trusted approaches. Well maybe it’s not really that lofty and is only about my attempt at panning.

I came across a cycling race in a small hill-top Italian town. The race was going to start at 16:00 and the preparations started well before that. Although this wasn’t a professional race it was being taken seriously by the organisers, spectators and competitors. Locals were out marking the route, setting up the start and finish line and checking the competitors bicycles were within tolerance. As the starting time drew nearer the traffic police were out to ensure the cyclists route was well protected. It looked to me that they left nothing to chance.

I asked around and found out the race was about 80km long consisting of 5 laps on the roads skirting the town. I wanted to take photographs of the race and getting some at the start and finish were obvious choices. Taking some of the cyclists struggling a little would be good too, as would pictures of the cyclists with the town in the background. There’s nothing earth-shattering going on here. All I did before the race was have a think about the type of photographs that might have impact, that is, if I could get them.

Since the race was 5 laps around a circuit I decided that after taking some pictures at the start, I’d position myself a little outside the town allowing me to take photos as the cyclists pushed up hill with a nice town backdrop.

That all went reasonably well until I had an idea! Panning – I’d never really tried panning before. If I got it right I’d get a photo of a cyclist or cyclists completely sharp with the background blurred giving a feeling of speed.

I had no idea where to start and with a lot of trial and error (digital cameras and a my subject coming back again and again helped a lot here) I hit on a formula that seemed to work.

I tried various shutter speeds and found 1/60 and 1/40 seemed best. Anything faster and the background wasn’t blurry enough, anything slower and I didn’t get close to getting the cyclist sharp enough. I tried to pan as smoothly as I could and I guess that will just improve with more practice.

I didn’t get the perfect shot. I got a few that I was pleased with as a first attempt. I read somewhere that you have to treat panning like a golf swing, as smooth as possible without neglecting the follow-through. If I have to rely on golf techniques to get this right I’m in big trouble.

After the 4^th lap I headed back to the finish to catch the final sprint. There wasn’t one. Cycling around a hilly circuit in temperatures above 30 degrees takes its toll and the field was strung out in the end.

I got a photo of the winner, but although they’re not perfect, I really like the attempts at panning.

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Panning For A Change

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No mean feat – trying to wear flip-flops or sandals.

felix — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 14:26:32 +0000

Usually I can’t wear flip-flops or sandals for long periods. Not necessarily a problem in Ireland as the opportunities for wearing them are few. But I’m on holiday in Italy and I’m experiencing some very hot weather and the cooling effect of having my feet exposed to the elements would be welcome. When I’m on holiday I like to explore on foot and to do that while wearing normal shoes or trainers can be a bit uncomfortable in very hot weather.

Flip-flops and sandals have never been the answer for me. The main reason is support or lack of support to be more accurate. I’ve never been able to find a pair of flip-flops or sandals that I could wear for hours walking around towns and villages and not suffer for it the next day. Other people can wear them, but after an hour or two my feet get tired and start to ache. How can you explore on foot if your feet hurt?

The other reason is smell. My feet don’t normally smell badly but once I put them into a pair of flip-flops or sandals there is an instant chemical reaction and my feet and the footwear really should be quarantined. If there was a medical term describing the experience it would be something like Foot-odour Holiday Syndrome.

But flip-flops and sandals are the best footwear for a sun-holiday. You just can’t avoid perspiring if the temperature is a good 10 degrees higher than you’re used to. Footwear that lets your feet breath is a tried and trusted way to stay cool.

This holiday I’ve been lucky with the weather. Apart from the odd thunder storm the sky has been blue and the sun has been shining and with a little more luck it will continue that way.

So why am I bothering to write a post at all? Surely I should be sitting under an umbrella outside a nice bar sipping a cool drink, chatting to the locals or reading a good book. You’d probably be right if you said I’ve no business typing on a keyboard while the sun is shining.

But something happened on the way out in Dublin airport that has made this holiday a bit special. I popped into the fat face shop and bought a pair of flip-flops in their sale. It was an impulse buy (what else could it be at 6 am) before boarding the flight to Rome.

I’ve long reconciled myself to the fact that I cannot wear flip-flops. Well perhaps I can walk around a flat surface for a little while but once the ground gets uneven (not much, just a little uneven) I can’t walk in them. I look ridiculous walking in a way that has me trying desperately to keep them on by scrunching up my toes.

I find it impossible and before long my feet are sore and I’m fed up.

But in fat face in Dublin airport I found the perfect flip-flop – the perfect flip-flop for me that is. It may not be everyone’s ideal shape but with a significant rise supporting my arches I feel I could walk around in them all day long.

Oh and they don’t smell. I’ve stress tested them several times now and I’m completely satisfied that neither the flip-flops nor my feet smell badly after a day’s extensive use.

Finally I can wear flip-flops, woo-hoo!

So that got me thinking. In the past I’ve bought relatively expensive sandals that are supposed to be as comfortable as walking shoes and are made from specially designed foot-odour killing material. After taking them home, trying to break them in, it quickly became clear that their designers still have a way to go to get the technology right.

But spurred on by my successful flip-flop purchase I decided to chance getting a cheap pair of sandals in the sales in a local shoe shop. This shop sold its most expensive pair of sandals for €40 and it’s cheapest for €30. I didn’t recognise any brand they sold. Not a Columbia, North Face or Salomon in sight. I tried the range and settled for cheapest pair.

Again I’m delighted. They are comfortable and I can walk in them for hours and despite the fact that the manufacturer (Lotto) does not claim that they are ergonomically designed to fit my feet or that they have been manufactured from odour killing material they are the most comfortable, odour-free sandals I’ve ever owned.

I can now walk about on cobbled streets, sandy beaches and forest paths without any discomfort. Trust me, in temperatures that range from 24 to 34 degrees having your toes exposed is the only way to travel.

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No mean feat – trying to wear flip-flops or sandals.

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Museum of Modern Art 10 April 2010

felix — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 07:25:51 +0000

A photo of every painting on display from the painting galleries in the MoMA on April 10, 2010, set to some very nice music.

Thank you Chris Peck

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Museum of Modern Art 10 April 2010

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I Shot a Goldfinch Last Weekend!

felix — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 08:38:31 +0000

If last weekend was a colour it was grey! It may have been various shades of grey going from light to dark, but no matter how you looked at it, it was grey.

But if you were lucky there was colour to be found.

I took this photograph of a goldfinch on a headstone in the graveyard of St. Mary’s (Church of Ireland) in Dungarvan.

It was last Saturday afternoon and I was in Dungarvan, Co. Waterford for the first time in about six or seven years.

I was glad to be back.

Having just arrived, I went for a walk around the town, reacquainting myself with streets, squares and landmarks I was familiar with when I used to visit regularly.

The weather last weekend was pretty dismal down in Waterford and Saturday was no exception. The Waterford landscape seemed to lose its colour as wave after wave of misty grey drizzle swept in off the sea. It was as if Wimbledon grounds men had used a grey cover to protect Waterford from the sun.

But the shock of black and yellow wings and the scarlet red face of the goldfinch as it landed on the headstone was wonderful to see. It stood out more than it would on a typical summer’s day. It didn’t have blue skies or summer sun to compete with.

I haven’t seen too many goldfinches. They’re common enough around Ireland but I’ve seen them rarely. It’s rarer still for me to have a camera with me when they appear. So this was a special moment. The bird landed and kindly waited just long enough for me to get my camera out of its bag, point and take the photo. Then it took off.

Seeing the goldfinch stand out so dramatically against all of the greys around it (the grey stone of the graveyard, the rain-filled grey clouds and the grey misting sea of Dungarvan Bay) made me think that no matter how bad the weather gets there will still be something exciting and colourful to do or see.

And sure enough despite the weather we had a great time in and around Dungarvan, Co. Waterford for the next couple of days.

Fingal Postcard Series: Baldoyle

felix — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:31:59 +0000

Back in February I was at the book launch of Fingal Through Old Picture Postcards, researched, compiled and written by Jacinta Judge, the senior librarian in charge of Fingal Local Studies.

The launch was at the Fingal Local Studies Department, Clonmel House, Swords and walking around the display room it became clear that the book contains only a sample of a large postcard collection of the Fingal area dating from the early twentieth century.

I bought a copy of the book and it planted a seed of an idea. It was to try and recreate the images depicted in the postcards by taking photographs of the locations as they are now. The postcards show Fingal in a time when it was less built up and it would be interesting to be able to see the comparison between then and now.

The first thing I needed was permission to use the postcard images, so I contacted Jacinta Judge and she kindly agreed to allow me to scan and use them for my posts.

So now all I have to do is take the photographs.

I’ve started with Baldoyle and I’ve already learned that it isn’t going to be easy.

Here is Baldoyle (and Sutton) as shown in a postcard in Jacinta’s book.

(The image is courtesy of the Fingal Local Studies Collection.)

The view is from above the houses and you can see clearly across to Howth Head.

To have a chance of reproducing that shot I’d need a very tall ladder or a small crane. Neither were available on the day!

So I’m going to show you three pictures, the scanned postcard, a photo looking from the Coast Road to Main Street Baldoyle and a photo looking at Howth from the promenade at Baldoyle.

Although the area has built up the church at Baldoyle is still a prominent feature and the views across to Howth, Ireland’s Eye and Lambay are wonderful.

I intend continuing the series slowly and irregularly over time, and although I won’t be able to photograph every scene in Jacinta’s book (some landmarks don’t exist anymore) I’ll try to get most of them.

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Fingal Postcard Series: Baldoyle

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Near the Samuel Beckett Bridge, Dublin

felix — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 19:17:16 +0000

Near Connolly Station, I realised that although I’d seen the new Samuel Beckett Bridge from a distance, I hadn’t crossed it, nor had I looked at it up close.

The bridge is easily recognisable, looking like a harp on its side; a national icon. I like that; it makes sense that a landmark should be easily picked out from the crowd.

For a long time the most significant landmarks along the Liffey were probably Liberty Hall, the Custom House, the Ha’penny Bridge, the Four Courts, Heuston Station and the Guinness Brewery.

Then along came the Spire (2002-2003) and the Seán O’Casey Bridge (2005). I didn’t warm to the Spire, or the Monument of Light as it is officially called, when it arrived first but it’s growing on me. I know it’s more than a stone’s throw from the Liffey but you have to try hard to miss seeing it as you walk along the quays.

I like the Seán O’Casey Bridge. Why not have another pedestrian bridge across the river? I used it today going from Custom House Quay to Merrion Square via Lombard Street East and as I looked along the Liffey towards the sea I saw cormorants below the bridge. I thought cormorants only liked rocky coasts, I guess not.

But it was the Samuel Becket Bridge that had my attention today. Opened for traffic in December 2009 it joins Sir John Rogerson’s Quay on the south side to North Wall Quay in the Docklands area. It may not be open a year but it has fast become one of my favourite Dublin City landmarks.

I took a few photos and tried to get that strange mixture of rain clouds and clear skies to play their part in the images. I really like how they turned out and I think black and white makes sense.

Right beside the bridge a market with a French twist was opening up. There was plenty of food on offer and it was really hard to resist the wonderful aromas from the huge pans of paella.

The bridge itself was my main interest. A cable-stayed bridge designed by Santiago Calatrava who also designed the James Joyce Bridge near Blackhall Place. No matter what angle I looked at it I couldn’t help feeling that it was a thing of beauty.

Facing upstream through a hole in its body you can clearly see Liberty Hall, the Custom House and the Spire as if this new upstart is showing respect to its older brothers.

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Near the Samuel Beckett Bridge, Dublin

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South Africa’s Other World Cup

felix — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 15:02:46 +0000

I’m looking forward to tonight’s World Cup Final between The Netherlands and Spain. It promises to be a great contest.

Based on the football I’ve seen so far I would like Spain to win. To my eyes they have played the most exciting and most consistently attractive football of all of the teams competing.

But I’m really an interested neutral. If the Dutch play well and win I won’t be disappointed. The fact that they have lost two World Cup finals before in 1974 and 1978 must drive them to go one better then the teams of Johan Cruyff (1974), Arie Hann, Ruud Krol, Johan Neeskens and Johnny Rep.

I got my prediction very, very wrong when I thought that North Korea would give Portugal a stiff test. But I do think this final could go either way. Spain may be playing the better football but Holland are a team that seem unpleasantly difficult to beat.

Usually for a sporting event as significant as a World Cup Final I would place a bet with a friend on the outcome. This time I’ve deliberately stayed firmly on the fence.

Back in 1995 South Africa hosted a very different World Cup – the Rugby World Cup. I was so convinced that the All Blacks were going to win I had a bet with a good friend who foolishly thought South Africa had a chance. I felt nothing but confidence as I could see no possibility that New Zealand, and the towering Jonah Lomu, could be stopped. South Africa would need a miracle.

After the match, and after the miracle, I handed over the grand prize of IR£2. Not a lot to lose on a bet, but G has had bragging rights ever since!

I was reminded of all of this when I read Invictus: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation by John Carlin. It’s a book set around the build-up to that World Cup final.

Rugby does play a part, and the relationship between Nelson Mandela and the Springbok’s captain Francois Pienaar is explored, but the book is more about Nelson Mandela’s vision and ability to win over opponents to his way of thinking.

The book covers a very difficult time for South Africa. It seemed permanently on the brink of civil war. Mandela had been elected President on the foot of the ANC winning a majority of the vote in the first multi-racial elections. But although he and the ANC held office, the country was split. The old ruling white party did not want to give up power and those whites who may have had sympathy for the plight of those oppressed during apartheid feared retribution from the new government.

The book, goes into the various factions that existed and probably still exist in South Africa. But what it does best is give an insight into Nelson Mandela, a man who realised that in order to stabilise a volatile country, he needed to reach out to the hearts of those who feared him most.

The film starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon is entertaining, but it gives far more time to the rugby element than Carlin does in his book. Carlin paints a portrait of Mandela and how from as early as 1985 he set out to gain the trust of the white government. He started this process of reconciliation by talking to those that imprisoned him when he was 21 years into a life sentence for conspiracy to overthrow the existing regime. The book takes us on a journey that introduces us to various characters, some sympathetic, but many fervently opposed to sharing power with the ANC.

Mandela used rugby as a focal point to bring whites who loved the sport with passion, and blacks who despised it as a symbol of their hated oppressor, to a point where they all desired a much coveted symbolic goal – victory in the 1995 Rugby World Cup Final.

As I said earlier I lost a bet on that match, but in 1999 I had an opportunity to win my money back and regain bragging rights when Manchester United played Bayern Munich in the Champions League Final. Although I was less convinced than I was with the All Blacks in 1995, I placed my money on Bayern, and G, being a Man U fan was quite happy to pick the Red Devils.

It all went well for 90 minutes and then disaster in the form of Sheringham and Solskjær struck. Two goals in extra time and once again I was on the losing side.

There are some people you should never bet against!

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South Africa’s Other World Cup

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You want to be a nicer person? Then stop being a jerk!

felix — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 13:21:28 +0000

I’m reading What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How successful people become even more successful by Marshal Goldsmith.

Why am I reading it? It was recommended by a source I respect and it’s part of a process of self-discovery and self-improvement I started a few months ago. During this process I’ve read several books and as usual they ranged from the useless (in my opinion) to the excellent (again in my opinion).

What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How successful people become even more successful is one of the excellent ones.

I’m not going to give a full book review; you can easily find one online. What I will do is give you an excerpt from one of the early sections entitled Shifting into Neutral. It was while reading this relatively short but most impactful section that I realised this book was for me.

Much of the book is targeted at helping executives and senior managers recognise that the habits that brought them success may in fact be holding them back from achieving greatness.

But this book is not only for executives. I think the fundamental principles of the book are so sound that they would benefit people in all walks of life, and would assist relationships in many forms, with loved-ones, with friends and with colleagues.

The chapters on Apologising, Listening and Thanking were my personal favourites.

The following except is reproduced with the kind permission of Marshall Goldsmith.

We have to stop couching all our behavior in terms of positive or negative. Not all behavior is good or bad. Some of it is simply neutral. Neither good nor bad.

For example, let’s say you’re not regarded as a nice person. You wan’t to change that perception. You decide, “I need to be nicer.”

What do you do?

For many people, that’s a daunting assignment, requiring a long list of positive actions. You have to start complimenting people, saying “please” and “thank you,” listening to people more patiently, treating them with a verbal respect, etc., etc., etc. In effect, you have to convert all of the negative things you do at work into positive actions. That’s asking a lot of most people, requiring a complete personality makeover that is closer to religious conversion than on-the-job improvement. In my experience very few if any people can institute that many positive changes in their interpersonal actions all at once. They can handle one at a time. But a half dozen or more changes? I don’t think so.

Fortunately, there’s a simpler way to achieve the goal of “being nicer.” All you have to do is “stop being a jerk.” It doesn’t require much. You don’t have to think of new ways to be nicer to people. You don’t have to design daily tasks to make over your personality. You don’t have to remember to say nice things and hand out compliments and tell the little white lies that lubricate the gears of the workplace. All you have to do is . . . nothing.

When someone offers a less-than-brilliant idea in a meeting, don’t criticize it. Say nothing.

When someone challenges one of your decisions, don’t argue with them or make excuses. Quietly consider it and say nothing.

When someone makes a helpful suggestion, don’t remind them that you already knew that. Thank them and say nothing.

This is not a semantic game. The beauty of knowing what to stop – of achieving this state of inspired neutrality – is that it is so easy to do.

Given the choice between becoming a nicer person and ceasing to be a jerk, which do you think is easier to do? The former requires a concerted series of positive acts of commission. The latter is nothing more than an act of omission.

Think of it in terms of a box. Being a nicer person requires you to fill up the box with all the small positive acts you perform every day to establish the new you. It takes a long time to fill up the box, and even longer for people to pay attention and notice that your box is full.

On the other hand, ceasing to be a jerk does not require learning new behavior. You don’t have to fill up the box with all your positive achievements; you simply have to leave it empty of any negatives.

Keep that in mind as you go through the list of interpersonal issues in this section and determine if any apply to you. Correcting the behavior, you’ll discover, does not require polished skills, elaborate training, arduous practice, or supernatural creativity. All that’s required is the faint imagination to stop doing what you’ve done in the past – in effect, to do nothing at all.

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You want to be a nicer person? Then stop being a jerk!

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Walking in a Cobweb-Free Zone

felix — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 15:55:22 +0000

I was sopping wet, soaked through, my shoes squelched and I felt great. We’d just returned from a walk along the sea front that stretches from Sutton to Clontarf and I’d misjudged the weather. I knew it was going to rain but when I left the house I thought the worst of the downpours had passed. I got it wrong.

I don’t mind walking in the rain. In fact I quite like it; especially by the sea. If the tide is in and the wind blows and rain falls there can be a great feeling of energy. The only other time I felt that raw power was when I was on a walking trip in Italy a few years ago. A group of us were on a guided hike in the Dolomites. On one of the days the good weather turned nasty and we got caught in a lightning storm that cracked and electrified the air all around us. It was scary, exciting and fun.

Although yesterday was tame compared to that storm in Italy there was one big difference. In Italy I had waterproofs at the ready, yesterday I had summer gear and that was it. Usually I follow that often quoted phrase by Rannulph Fiennes, “There is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing”. Well yesterday we certainly had bad weather and I definitely had the wrong clothes.

The rain was light enough when we set out, but it didn’t take long for it to really get going. Throw in a strong wind blowing in from the coast and the recipe for a good soaking was set. At one stage I had to cover my right eye as the angle of the rain stung it over and over again. When I got home I realised that on one side I’d started to dry out a little (just a little) and on the other I was dripping – that’s the sea breeze for you.

We weren’t the only intrepid walkers out there. There was a merry band out “enjoying” the experience. The word of the day was “mad”. Practically every exchange we had with our fellow walkers was “Are we mad?”, “We must be mad!”, or “This is madness”. But it was fun too. There was a certain camaraderie in our drenched sloshing that ensured that although we were being pounded, although none of us had worn appropriate clothing and here’s the kicker, although we could have turned back!; we all kept going to reach whatever distance or destination we set out to achieve.

When we finally arrived home, a hot shower later, I think it was P who said “that was great to do”. She was right, being outside in the wind and driven rain, cleared away the cobwebs, and left us feeling alert, lively and full of energy for the rest of the day.

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Walking in a Cobweb-Free Zone

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