A Print Purchase on Etsy

One of my favourite blogs, A Dress A Day, caused me to make an impulse purchase just now. Erin, the blog author, has a bit of a fetish (?) for interesting fabric prints, and robots are a recurring theme in her posts.

Today, she posted a whole series of links to robot-themed items on Etsy, one of which caught my eye and I simply had to buy it. Isn't it fantastic? Total cost, including shipping to Ireland, was $14.50, so it's not going to break the bank either - not that it matters since it's payday tomorrow anyhow.

The artist is Tim Boyd, who trades as waterbears on Etsy and his other prints are well worth checking out. BTW, Etsy is an auction side for craft items and is a great alternative to eBay for unusual and alternative items.

Daughters of the Doge - Edward Charles

Daughters of the Doge is one of my charity shop purchases. There are days when you go into a charity shop and you end up leaving with 10 books, simply because they seem to have interesting book after interesting book. It's a historical novel set in the mid 1550's, mainly in Venice. In fact, it was the sleek cover with its dusky image of a gondola which caught my eye.

Richard Stocker is a young English protestant. Unfortunately for him though, Catholic Queen Mary sits on the English throne and tensions are high between the religions. Richard's position is more precarious than most given the fact that he had been a companion to Lady Jane Gray, who had been executed by Queen Mary. All this is recounted in the first Richard Stocker novel, In the Shadow of Lady Jane, but rest assured, you do not have to have read the first novel to understand the events in this second novel.

Richard is unsure of his path in life, but fate offers him a chance to travel to Italy, more specifically Venice. He has a strong interest in medicine and being accepted to study at Padua University is a possibility. But while in Venice, he discovers a talent for art and drawing in the studio of the great artist Tintoretto. He also meets three remarkable, and beautiful women who all play their part in the development of his life. There is the stunning and calculating courtesan Veronica Franco who teaches him about the subtle undercurrents of Venetian life, the demure and intelligent Yasmeen, a Muslim who captures his heart and finally, captive nun Faustina. Together, these women represent the diversity of Venice and are the Daughters of the Doge.

It's a weird coincidence that I've just finished Sarah Dunant's amazing novel Sacred Hearts, also set in the world of Renaissance convents. Unfortunately though, this novel fails to reach the same heights as Dunant's book. It is somewhat repetitive and predictable with rather flat characters. The author does take the rather 21st century concept of not knowing your path in life and applies it to a character in the 16th century, but ultimately Charles fails to bring the main character to life.

Bar Italia IFSC

We grabbed a quick bite to eat last Thursday in Bar Italia in the IFSC. We were on our way to see Leonard Cohen play in the o2 and our first option, Il Fornaio, was full up. However, Bar Italia, just across the Custom House Square, had some free tables. I like the other instances of Bar Italia that are dotted around Dublin, so I thought that it would be a good bet.

It was a meal of minor, irritating things, none of which were very bad on their own, but when added up mean that I probably won't be in a hurry back. Firstly was the musician playing the piano just inside the door. He was good, but the volume of his playing was just too much. Secondly, the tables are located far too close together. I really do have a fear of intimacy when dining. Thirdly, it took ages for the waitress to come and take our order.

When the food arrived (pizza Bar Italia for me, pizza Antica for him), it looked quite good. Fresh rocket leaves covered my pizza (something that I've loved ever since a trip to Pisa) while there were generous parmesan shavings on his. But something was lacking from the pizzas - no real tomato bite and mine quickly became soggy and dripped everywhere.

Ultimately, no real incentive to return - although I did notice a seemingly good value deal for a pizza and glass of wine during daytime hours.

Bar Italia IFSC, Custom House Square Lower, Mayor Street, Dublin 1. 01 - 670 2887

Pizzas at PantiBar

I like PantiBar, a gay and lesbian pub on Dublin's Capel Street. It's got a really, nice chilled vibe going on, great bar staff and cool decor. Best of all, they now serve pizza. I've yet to try it out for myself, but it's definitely on the menu (no pun intended) for my next visit. The pizza names are homages to famous Irish women from Countess Markievicz to Ann Doyle.

Caffe Parigi, Sir John Rogerson's Quay.

My other half is quite pleased with himself recently - a new Italian cafe, Caffe Parigi, has opened up near his work place on Sir John Rogerson's Quay. And it's a proper Italian too - overstaffed with hip, dark-haired, seriously smooth waiters. But that's not the best part - the food is great too and the prices are better.


I joined him there one day for lunch and I was immediately impresed by the smooth, sleek decor. It's more than clear that there has been a lot of effort and thought put into this enterprise. Opening the menu, I was pleased with the choice available and went for the mixed meat and cheese plate (€7.o0) while he chose the tagliatelle alla bosciaola (€7.00). Both dishes were impressive, especially the antipasto misto, which was more than generous (compared to the €14 spent in Meade's Bar, Cork later the same day).


The pasta portion was just the right size (Italian restaurants have a hard time in Ireland trying to convince us that a small portion of pasta is the right amount) and came with cream, mushrooms, ham and peas.


Add two dark intense espressos (at a brilliant €1.50 each), a small bottle of sparkling water and a glass of coke and the bill came to a total of €22. La dolce vita indeed.

Caffe Parigi, 17-19 Sir John Rogerson's Quay, Dublin 2 . 01 - 679 0022

U2 at Croke Park

I wouldn't have paid €130 to see U2 in Croke Park - frankly, nothing is worth that kind of money, but seats in the Davin stand for €33.60 was too good to refuse - especially as we didn't have to queue to buy them ourselves. It turns out our seats were slap bang in the middle towards the front of the Upper Tier, giving us a superb view of the stage and stadium, albeit at a distance.


As the evening darkened, the fantastic "crab" stage and video screen became the star of the show. The colours changed throughout the night, and the screen moved up and down without us even noticing. Overall, it was a good concert, but not terribly enjoyable. Bono seems to build the crowd up, and then flattens it. The encore was a real let-down with no enjoyable tunes ringing in our ears as we went home.

Experimenting in GIMP

I've been taking photos with my DSLR for a while now and I feel that I'm beginning to get decent shots on a regular basis - though I still have a long way to go. As I'm too stingy to pay for Photshop, I've been using GIMP to do any post-processing that my shots need.

So today I learned how how to combine colour and black&white images using layers and masks. (Tutorial here). Here are two of my first efforts.