Underwater - Elizabeth Diamond

Underwater is the second novel from Elizabeth Diamond, who displays a high level of accomplishment in this tale. Jane is recovering from the trauma of breast cancer and trying to deal with resurgent memories from her past. She dreams of her missing brother Paul and experiences sensations of being underwater.

As the story progresses, the multiple tragedies of Jane's life begin to reveal themselves, both to her and to the reader. She has suppressed them all her life, lied about her past, but not they are coming back, demanding to be recognised. Ex-wife to Adam, and mother to Dominic, Jane has lived a separate life from them following a horrible accident. But it was events in her teenage years which truly shaped her.

Initially, I didn't find the book engaging and I wondered if I should continue to read. However, I am glad that I did. Diamond has a way of gradually revealing the intricacies and details of the story and skillfully builds layer upon layer. Don't let the slow and vague start deter you.

The Rounds, Ballyvourney

I was at home today, and took a spin back to the Rounds in Ballyvourney. This is a site devoted to St. Gobnait, one of the local saints and it was a real nostalgia trip.

My grandmother used to love coming to the Rounds, and when I got my first provisional licence, she often enlisted me to drive her there. She no longer left the car, but would sit there saying her prayers. To be honest, I was already well in the stages of religious disbelief at that time, but I always found something peaceful and serene about that place.

St. Gobnait's grave is located there, and it is covered in cr*p that people have left behind. It's a popular belief that illnesses and so on can be cured by praying at St. Gobnait's grave and there is a layer of statuettes, scapulars, rosary beads and other religious tack on the grave.

Barbie at BT2

I've been doing a little cleaning up tonight in my photos folder and I found these photos taken on camera phone in BT2 back in May. Barbie celebrated her 50th birthday this year, and BT2 had a display of life-sized Barbie mannequins and all a whole host of things pink and Barbie-themed to celebrate.

The store was in pink overload, but pride of place had to go to these Paul & Joe handbags. The scary thing... I saw a woman about a month later with one of these bags.

Inglourious Basterds

I've been reading very mixed reviews of Quentin Tarantino's latest film "Inglourious Basterds" in the Irish press, yet over on Rottentomatoes.com, it's scoring a solid 88% approval rating. Hmm. The only thing to do in such a situation is to watch it for yourself.

Tarantino has always had a grá for the spaghetti westerns of Sergio Leone and the like, and the opening "chapter" of the film clearly demonstrates this influence. Hans Lada of the SS (known throughout Nazi-occupied France as the "Jew-hunter" and played brilliantly by Cristoph Waltz) has located the Jewish Dreyfuss family. Only one member escapes - Shoshanna. In Chapter 2, we learn that Shoshanna is now the proprietress of a cinema in Paris (under an assumed identity). A chain of fortuitious events leads to Goebbels choosing her cinema as the location for spectacular premiere of a new Nazi propaganda film.

On a parallet plot, we have Lt Aldo Raine (a southern-talking Brad Pitt) and his band of merry men (the Basterds) who are wreaking havoc and terror throughout the Nazi ranks in France. A british agent is dropped to meet them with a plot to blow up the German high command at the fim premiere. Little do they know that Shoshanna also has her own plans for the night.

This is a classic Tarantino film. There's no doubting that - it's got the usual pop culture, music and look. Tarantino has a gift for getting fine performances from his actors and while Brad Pitt is truly excellent, it is Cristoph Waltz who steals the show.

Despite being a little too long, and a little too smug, I really enjoyed the film. It is very funny and Tarantino delivers without being over the top. It's surely got to be one of his better films.

Harvey Nichols Cafe, Dundrum

I've been meaning to write this review of the Harvey Nichols cafe for quite a while now, but I just kept forgetting. That is, until I cleaned out my wallet of all the useless and dated crap that acumulates and I found the receipt from our visit.

The cafe is located on the ground floor and features a bright, colourful decor with glass walls. I've been there several times in the past, both for coffee and for food and I have mixed feeling about the place. I like the space and I occasionally like the food. I'll never forget the day I ordered the eggs florentine and got a massive lump of rocket instead of spinach (note - it doesn't work as a substitute).

We visited on a Wednesday evening before going to the cinema. All the other restaurants appeared to be packed to the brim, so we went to Harvey Nicks. I went for the fish and chips (€11.50) while he chose the Quessadilla (sic) (€9.50). I got a small enough portion of dry fish and a few chips, all of which had been oven-baked. Very dry and unappetising, despite the nice portion of tartare sauce. His Quessadilla was better, served with little pots of accompaniments, but was still a very under-whelming portion. You could buy bigger and better sandwiches for half the price.

One diet coke (€3.00), one small bottle of sparkling water (€2.75) and an espresso (€2.25) bought the bill to a total of €31.90. Expensive enough for what we got.

Ireland's Economic Woes Exaggerated, Believes Canadian Research Team

BCA Research, a Canadian-based investment research company who provide advice to international investors on investing in Europe, believe that coverage of Ireland's economic bother has been overly-pessimistic and that the economy may begin to rebound in 2011.

Good news eh? We have been digging ourselves into a bit of a bottomless trough. However, this piece of news does come with caveats attached. They comment that "policymakers must rein in government spending and get the banking system working again". Furthermore, while they welcome the creation of a "bad bank", they believe that the current crisis in the Irish banking system is much worse than the oft-compared early 1990s crisis in Sweden.

They warn the government not to rely on revenue but instead that "The biggest gains would be made by further cutting public-sector pay and employment."

This is not the first time that international agencies have stated the obvious about what is needed in Ireland. The McCarthy report also stated this. The whole public (bar the public sector trade unions) know that cuts in public sector pay and employment, along with social welfare cuts, are what is sorely needed.

But did our glorious leaders ever listen to common sense?

Blatant scams on Carzone

A poster over on boards.ie is selling his BMW Z4 coupe for €28,500. It's a bautiful car, although he is finding it hard to shift it in the current climate.

However though, someone has lifted the photos from his ad and is using them on carzone (and subsequent channels) for the paltry sum of €9,000. Funnily enough, he can't answer his phone at the moment and asks potential buyers to contact him via e-mail.

Why can't Carzone monitor ads in a better manner?