NDBT

I forgot to mention – in Belfast, the inside of Benedicts was oddly castle-like (dark wood and stone pillars) and I was asked smoking or non – which totally took me aback (The smoking ban starts April 30th). I did end up going to Blood Diamond – lots of gorgeous African scenery – including some shots of Cape Town! Leo does give a great performance – which serves to cancel out the GOD-AWFULNESS of Jennifer Connolly. Granted she was given some crap dialogue (where Leo’s character was nuanced, hers was mostly a cliche), but a better actress could’ve done more with it.

From Belfast I went to Donegal (long bus ride, pretty scenery – lots of green fields, sheep and a couple of lakes). Donegal is a very cute, quaint town. No hostels are open in winter, so I had to splurge on a b&b (the atlantic guest house -very charming, almost a full fry for breakfast, which meant I could take the toast and egg and call it a sandwich for lunch). Anyways, walking out of town, you pass lots of small cute shops and then suddenly – giant castle. Very old church. moat. And then you’re back to post office, newsagents. Very odd.

I decided to hike out to Lough Eske, just over 5km out of town. Most of the walk was very green. I had some sheep and cows come up to fences; one puppy tried to follow me for awhile, and one horse tried to eat my fingers (I had eaten an apple earlier). After a while I passed out of agricultural land into a more forested area. The whole walk was very lovely (in spite of getting lost early on). And then – I got to Lough Eske and found it was closed due to construction! And the foreman was SO RUDE about it! I saw the castle turret from a distance, but I didn’t get to see the lake at all. Ah well- the walk was really nice. I got some good pictures of scenery.

Went to Donegal’s famous chippers for dinner – had absolutely delicious haddock. Came back and crashed (meaning I curled up in bed with friends, scrubs, and desperate housewives). I was so knackered. Did not get up very early, and so I got into Sligo a bit later than I originally intended.

I am currently in Yeats country. The co. sligo motto is land of the heart’s desire. Ummm – isn’t Yeats the symbol of all things unrequited? Is that really the image you want? (I could be wrong here – the only Yeats poems I know are the ones recited in Chieftains and Cranberries songs.) The bus trip down from Donegal was nice. I chatted with an older man named Paddy (go figure), and about halfway through I realized he was half crazy – he asked me some questions 3 times in a row. Anyways – he got off early, and I could watch the scenery – lots of lovely coastline and one castle off in the distance overlooking the sea, surrounded only by brown grass and mist – it was completely otherworldly (I couldn’t get a photo, though). I guess we passed Ben Bulben,but I could only see the lower slopes due to the fog. Today I wandered around Sligo (some pretty buildings, but the town is in the process of turning into a city and is kind of at an awkward stage). Bought some thin novels from the literature section for the long waits involved with travel (looked for the 4th E. Georgoe, but haven’t found it). I made another photo CD, but since the computer I’m currently on is OLDER THAN DIRT (seriously – I can barely type) – I’ll wait on uploading them. Maybe in Wesport tomorrow.

I was originally going to go to the Strandhill penninsula today, but since I got into town so late, I’ll be going first thing tomorrow. Also – I was going to hike up Knocknarea mtn, but since the weather has been overcast, I’m going to go to Carrowmore monolithic cemetery instead (the largest site of monolithic tombs in Ireland, supposedly with one 3,000 years older than the pyramids. I assume they mean the oldest pyramid?). (ah travel – its nice I can change plans whenever I want. The lady in the tourist office asked me long I’d be here, and I could say, “I don’t know.”

I’ve been trying to get a good picture of a pied wagtail, without success. They are very cute little black and white speckled birds, and apparently very shy.

Also – I am currently the REI poster child. No one trying could look more like a tourist. Then again, its working well so far – so I don’t really care how I look (there’s a first).

Fun stuff – I’m reading the Oct. ’06 issue of Nat. Geographic (in the hostel) and its a special issue on World parks at risk (discussing in part what my parks and politics class at Columbia was about). ANyways, it had these lovely quotes from articles:

“A national park is, in more cases than not, a wildly ambivalent act of collective purpose: dreamy yet provident, selfish yet sacrificial, local yet global in significance. Unlike a national anthem or national flag, a national park exists in the concrete dimensions of geography, biology, and economics – and in the dimension of symbolism as well… [no other form of protection] does what a national park does. None embodies the idea of a national citizenry standing in special relationship – as enjoyers for the present, as guarantors into the future – of some treasured parcel of the natural world… [National parks] speak more loudly and more proudly of a country’s special gifts, and of its ideals.”

“That we should find nature rejuvenating is hardly surprising. After all, our tribe arose not in cinderbelt but in wild forests and grasslands. Our ears are made not for the stinging scream of sirens but for the sly scratch of a predator’s paws and the whistle of wind that warns of impending weather. Our eyes evolved to tease apart not the monotonous grays of cityscapes but the subtle gold, olive, and burgandy hues that signaled ripe fruit and tender leaves, and our brains to reward our sensory efforts with feelings of deep pleasure.”

And – fun stuff from backstage at the Sag Awards (from ew):

Most Sarcastic, Off-the Cuff Moment:
The Office Cast, Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series

Reporter: As an ensemble, do you guys love each other?
Leslie David Baker (Stanley): Can’t stand the people. Fight all of the
time. It’s terrible.
Rainn Wilson (Dwight): BJ, why don’t you take this one?
BJ Novak (Ryan): I think you will have to describe in your verbiage
the look Rainn just gave me and the rest of the cast, and that should
explain how close we are.
Paul Lieberstein (Toby): I’d answer the question this way: We’re
locked, literally locked, inside an office for 60 hours a week; we
have to get along.

Reporter: What was it like to have the Mary Tyler Moore cast introduce you?
Lieberstein: It was great. They tell us they love our show, and we
love their show. And they were like, ”Come on over later. We’ll all
hang out at the pool party.” We said, ”Yeah, but we don’t have our
swimsuits.” They said, ”It’s fine, it’s not like that kind of thing.
It’s not a suit thing.” I’m real excited.

Reporter: Can you describe what you thought when they handed the statue to you?
Wilson: There’s a nub where the genitals should be. He has no mouth. I
actually posed for this several years ago — I was the buttocks model
for the SAG’s actor. It’s like looking in a mirror.

TV’s best quotes (EW):

”I anxiously await the release of your first film, Bend It Like Beckham 2: Bend It Exactly Like Beckham, Because You Are Him.”
STEPHEN COLBERT, ON DAVID BECKHAM’S RUMORED INTEREST IN PURSUING ACTING, ON THE COLBERT REPORT

”During an interview with 60 Minutes on Sunday, President Bush defended the invasion of Iraq, saying, ‘We liberated that country from a tyrant. I think the Iraqi people owe the American people a huge debt of gratitude.’ Said the Iraqi people, ‘We’ve been meaning to send a card, but our Hallmark store keeps blowing up.’ ”
AMY POEHLER, ON SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE

”O.J. Simpson’s agent says that O.J. has at least three offers from publishers who want O.J. to write his memoirs. O.J.’s book will be called Tuesdays with Stabby.”
CONAN O’BRIEN, ON LATE NIGHT

Furturama/ the simpsons – in the hostel sitting room (The harbour hostel – it seems to be closer to an industrial park than the harbour – but whatever. I was looking for the eden hill holiday hostel, got lost and got tired of walking)

Ok – so more stuff on what I saw on the Giant’s Causeway tour. Belfast castle (the newer one, up on a hil, far away), Bailey’s factory, the Glens of Antrim (there are 9 – if I had another day, I’d go to Glenarriff, which has walking tours and waterfalls and stuff. It was pretty from the road – it was dubbed mini-Switzerland by some writer). Most of the glens were quite pretty, lots of fields and sheep. LOTS of sheep. Just think what it’ll be like when I get to NZ. The Lorne port, which has artifacts of a 9000 y.o. settlement. The coastline was lovely – the Irish sea and then the Atlantic. Had it been clear, we would have been able to see Scotland, but it was overcast. A few islands, including Rathlin (the bird sanctuary one without any puffins this time of year. I want to see puffins…. hmmm – maybe in Scotland?) The beaches were mostly rocky – limestone, black ash, and basalt. Ballygally castle, which has a ghost (the lady was imprisoned in the tower for not producing an heir and in trying to escape fell to her death). I saw an eiderduck, a merlin (I think), cormorants, and some fulmars. Glenarm – the oldest town in Ireland. A moat around a castle, I think in Glenarm – my notes here are a bit rough. It was a very cool mote though – that’s where I saw the merlin. the Londonderry hotel, inherited and owned (briefly) by Winston Churchill. Hermit caves – real hermit caves! One that held a school, one was a home, and one was a distillery (keep the smoke from rising, barney…). A big white stone in the shape of a victorian lady. Part of the old Irish highway (an old stone bridge). A big red sandstone curfew tower, a sheep market. Lots of bushes called Gorsebush – which were blooming with yellow flowers all over them. Its the second time this year they’ve bloomed – that’s how mild the winter has been (it was 13C out, but still). Hello global warming. The disappearing lake of something orother. (I didn’t catch the name – anyways, it disappears within 24 hours and then reappears over the next few weeks). Ballypatrick forest park, which had lots of pine trees. (Bally means “place of”). Dunluce castle – which is a pretty ruins site out on the coast. Apparently 1 night there was a really bad storm and the dinner was delayed, so the earl (lord?) went to see what was going on, and found that the kitchen had fallen into the sea. The place where the Jerona (a ship in the Spanish Armada) was sunk and a bunch of treasure later recovered.

And then the causeway itself. It is all of these hexagonal stones, which are very cool looking (it was formed by lava flows cooling evenly and shrinking – or by the Irish giant Finbar, depending upon your beliefs). The main part of the causeway heads out to the sea and you can scramble around the rocks. There is also a formation called the organ, one big stone in the shape of a giant’s boot. Mostly it was a really lovely area around the Irish coast. I hiked around the area for a couple of hours. It was overcast and the sea was really intensely green when we first got there. It was windy and cool and just an absolutely gorgeous day. It was just so nice to be out of doors and hiking around on the coast. I have tons of really great photos (I am oh so humble) but it obviously more the scenery than my skills as a photographer. I can’t wait to upload them all.

Today I got up, had bfast in the Causeway cafe, that is in the hostel (which is lovely – Hayden said they just renovated it). I wandered down to the Botanical gardens, past the university. It was a nice open green area, lots of pretty trees (I have a fondness for bare trees on overcast days – there is something so picturesque about the contrast). The rose garden was not around at the moment (winter) but there was an old fashioned palm house/ conservatory that was really lovely. Lots of big Australian trees and a flower wing that smelled so good. Perfumed, but not cloyingly sweet. Then I went on a bus tour. I had originally wanted to black cab tour, but there weren’t enough people around. The guide was very good, stressing the economic development occuring around belfast (the 2nd safest city to visit in the world, btw), pointing out all the new features that had just popped up and where things would be in 5-6 years (the titanic museum – which does sound very cool – a scale model, and a ghost version made out of lights in the harbour). 1 billion already in the Lagan (?) area and 1 billion in the titanic/port area to come. Anyways, saw the leaning Albert clock, the Europa hotel (holds the guiness record for most bombed hotel – 43 times – it used to house the world press that came to Dublin – hence…), the grand opera house (very pretty), the building where the Titanic was designed, the place where it was launched, Samson and Goliath the 2nd and 3rd largest cranes in the world (at the Belfast docks), St. Georges’ market (a covered market – closed, but houses a couple of hundred stalls on the weekend), St. Anne’s cathedral, the Crumlin Road jail and courthouse (the statue of justice was missing her scales – apparently they were stolen 3 days after the courthouse closed and sold on ebay for 115£.). Then we went into Shankhill (Loyalist) and the Falls (Nationalist). The guide alternated between joking (those of you brave, or daft, enough to get off here – its a 15 minute walk, or a 5 minute run. Don’t worry there hasn’t been any violence here in the last 7 or 8 hours – I mean years!) and discussing the problems (the gates that seperate the neighborhoods still close every night and weekend, and fences topped with barbed wire run through people’s backyards). The murals were very cool, and I wish the bus had slowed down more for them. Not only was it sometimes hard to see them all, but I didn’t quite catch all of the factions of the movements the guide was rattling through (btw – a lot of my photos from this trip are less than brilliant, as they were taken from a moving bus – but they won’t be up for a bit, anyway). I particularly enjoyed the international murals condemning Bush. The guide was reluctant to talk about parts of the troubles. And it was weird to suddenly come upon a former British soldier’s base, or the most heavily guarded police station I have ever seen (although the guide was quick to point out that the gates were open, which would not have been the case 16 years ago). In town he pointed out a new building (the youth court), made entirely of glass on the front next to the old (adult) court which was not only stone, but had a large stone wall around it for bombings (to protect pedestrians).

All in all an interesting day. Belfast has many more brick and red stone buildings, so the architecture is a bit prettier than Dublin, which can be a bit grey. I took lots of photos of buildings that I didn’t even know what they were, and missed a whole bunch more that were really lovely. Then I went back to the hostel for a bit, read some of my book, and went to Benedict’s for dinner (they have a beat the clock speacial, so by ordering at 5:30, my dinner cast 5.50£. Which was a splurge, but I got the veggie curry, as I’ve been a bit vegetable deficient lately. I’m going to wash some clothes tonight and head out to Donegal early tomorrow.

Ooh – I also found a very cool store called “No Alibis” – the Murder Ink of Belfast. I doubt it’ll be open before I leave, but I think I might check, now that I’m almost done with my book. I wonder if I can visit libraries around Ireland with my Dublin card – I doubt it.

Oh – you do not need a passport for going to the North – who knew? (If someone said three years from now… da da da)

Added a few photos (I burned a CD at Boots – its a kodak CD, and I don’t know if some of the pictures are grainy because of the burning or that’s the way they took… I guess I won’t erase them from the memory card for a bit). I have about 50 causeway photos, so the rest will have to be added in Dublin from Kristl’s. But I put a couple up – AND maybe my favorite photo ever! 2 fulmars up on a cliff. Check it out.

Sorry if there are typos here – I seem to be having lots of trouble typing today. I’m pretty knackered.

YEAH! LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE AND THE OFFICE TOOK HOME THE BEST ENSEMBLE SAG AWARDS! ROCK! Although there is no way they are going to get a good showing for the oscars – it’s going to be fairly predictable. Maybe the SAGs will help LMS’ best picture chances. Ooh! Timothy Hutton is starring with Rainn Wilson in a film that premiered at sundance. Huh.

Ruby – Kaiser Chiefs (Pop music station on in the internet cafe – which is a proper cafe! I have a giant mocha next to me and everything). I’m torn – I’m thinking about heading to see blood diamond at the movie house (students are 3.25£, which is pretty good). But I don’t NEED to see it… and I should probably save the money for later. I’m doing okay on budget, but I am a tiny bit over (mostly from staying so long at the pub on Saturday). I can wait for it on DVD…

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Or at least I should be. I have so much to do... and I leave tomorrow. I'll be up in Belfast for the next 3 nights. And then Donegal. And after that... ??? Wow - just think - this blog ... [Continue reading this entry]

from cleolinda: omgwtfbabybear! EEEEEE. Komodo dragon proud mum (and dad) of five: "Flora, a Komodo dragon who has never mated or even mixed with a male, is the proud mother and father of ... [Continue reading this entry]

Today is errand day/oscar day (I rented children of men which is the big best pic snub, and I'm thinking of seeing either the queen/ last king of scotland later if I get everything else done). Which is a lot, ... [Continue reading this entry]

From MTV's coverage (I haven't heard of snow angels getting picked up yet, though, like Joshua. Ran errands yesterday (still so much to do!). Watched talladega nights (ah - making fun of middle america) and a scanner darkly (Robert Downey ... [Continue reading this entry]

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