Posts from — May 2007

…I’d probably run the Donegal Mooathon.  That’s right, mooathon.

From the event website:

 Race Rules:
All entrants MUST wear black and white clothing on race day. Anyone at the starting line who is not wearing black and white may be disqualified at the discretion of the Race Director. Other acceptable apparel includes horns, bells, black & white body paint and cow suits of any colour. Mooooo.

Ever daydreamed of Firefox as an actual fire-breathing fox? If so, you need to take time away from the computer (a la Una – bwt Una your first Tribune link is kaput).

Unless you’re Alan the Animator, that is. Via Weebl’s stuff comes one of the most creative animations you’re likely to see on the interweb. And it comes with a flame-breathing firefox, too. Youtube posted below, but for the high-quality version (worth the wait) head to the home of Weebl and Bob, here.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1LoHdKR3Kk&mode=related&search=]

€350 to share a single room with 2 gay Brazilian guys in a 5-bed house sleeping 19?

€300 to rent half a double bed in Dublin 8?

Ireland is so behind the times. Chinese development sharks are looking to the future.

Investors there are digging holes for themselves – investing in valuable grave sites.

The plots are simply to die for.

via: Irish-born Chinese blog

Via Metroblogging Melbourne, an interesing tidbit on how we Irish brought our vote-scamming ways to Australia, along with a penchant for petty crime, potatoes and a host of diseases.

The man in question? Patrick Costello, great-great-grandfather of the Australian treasurer, Peter Costello. The resemblence is uncanny.

Quoting Neil:

‘To gain more votes for the seat of Mornington, he “organized a steamer trip during which a number of men were asked to personate deceased or absent Mornington electors.” Patrick became the first Australian politician thrown out of parliament.

Pillars of the community, we Irish.

The invisible election, via Currychips

[Read more →]

Japanese student gets done for upskirting – and now it’s to be a specific offence.

They’re trying to hem the criminals in, a-dressing the problem directly rather than skirting the issue as has been done thus far. Seamless puns, seamless.

It’s backpacker work in bikinis or less. Drivers in Brisbane are popping their bonnets for Bubbles ‘n’ Babes, a strip-show car wash.

Isabelle and Eva are German backpackers financing trips home and further travel.

“From three months of fruit-picking I got the same amount of money I can earn in three days here,” Isabelle said.

“Last weekend we had a bucks’ party and a whole lot of Chinese tourists in a bus and we just had a big water fight, it was really fun,” she said.

“They’re all really nice people – they’re just perverts as well. A lot of them just come here to wank,” Isabelle says.

I’ve already moaned about the Irish government’s failure to provide overseas constituents with a vote, but how about their failure on home turf?

Irish voters outside of the country are kept at arms length from democracy, but that’s not all. If you’re outside your own constituency voting could cost you an arm and a leg.

RTE’s Tom Grealish on his €100 journey to the polling-box.

Initial reports, good weather, and possibly a desire for change all point towards a high voter turnout in polling yesterday.

PA are saying ‘up to two thirds’ may have cast their vote. Looking forward to seeing how many new young voters got rocked by the controversial youth campaign, Rock the Vote. and the geriatric Rocking Chair the Vote campaign (Older and Bolder).

As we await the results, here’s something to chew on. Australia’s turnout figures:

Now that’s what I call participatory democracy.

(Ireland’s turnout figures roughly correspond to the situation in Australia in 1910)

Source

It’s official. I’ve entered for the Sydney marathon. There’s just 120 days left until it kicks off, so it’s time to get into training.

To start with, I’m joining the Irish madness team in the MS Sydney 16km walk next Sunday, to ease myself into it. Funds raised from the event go to Australia’s Multiple Sclerosis society, a hugely worthwhile cause.

For those of you unsure about MS, it’s a disease of the nervous system that gradually degrades your synapses, causing paralysis, dementia, loss of motor function and cognition, and ending pretty badly. My mum, God bless her, died from MS a few years back, and the Irish MS Society were fantastic, they couldn’t do enough to help her, and us, while she was ill.

Even a $10 donation helps (and if you’re donating in Euro, that’s around the same price as a city centre pint). My donation page is up and running – click the pic of me running for MS in the Dublin marathon to donate.