A new exhibition has just been launched at the Science Gallery called Visceral, so I nipped in quickly to have a look at what’s touted as “the living art experiment”.
Conceptualising and visualising science as art is a challenge that few can meet, but once again Science Gallery has came up with a winner. Each exhibit incorporates living cells (mini books with cover made from explant skin tissue, beautiful calve-derived installation in a bioreactor dome, allegory of Alzheimer’s disease etc) and each display prompted me to think of the inspirations for each experiment in a different light.
Visceral is open until 25 February, daily except Monday, from noon until 8pm weekdays, until 6pm weekends. If you are confounded by certain exhibits, there are assistants throughout the gallery who can walk you through the creative minds behind the projects. And like all living things, we die eventually. A Visceral funeral is due to be held on 24 February.
I’ve found a sister graffiti to Kindness!
A stroll along the Grand Canal has always been lovely, from spotting swans and mallards further inland (towards the direction of Ranelagh/Portobello and beyond), to studying the gates system that controls the water level (near Leeson Street), to pondering food options (lunchtime market on Thursdays, the docked La Peniche, restaurants flanking the sides) and now, with a bit of philosophy thrown into the mix.
Reading this reminds me of an unkind remark that I uttered a couple of years back. I lashed out in a moment of frustration and anger. As soon as the words flew out my mouth, I berated myself over it. This behaviour was (and still is) inexcusable and that one sentence caused much hurt and damage. My apologies haven’t quite yet mend the bridge as I’d hope for. If only I’ve held my fraying temper tighter…
When a friend visited Dublin about a year ago, the very first thing he noticed and pointed out to me was the number of taxis in the city. They are absolutely everywhere. Reports at that time had it peg at 25,000 of them servicing Dublin, but as you can see from the taxi identifier number, it wouldn’t be too far off the mark to say there are a lot more of them on the road today.
I am not one who hail taxis on a regular basis, but I have observed something odd recently – there have been a number of taxis of which the driver doesn’t look anything like the person on the displayed licence (a case of bad ID photo?) and at times, I doubt the name is even the driver’s (e.g. very Irish name on display but the driver speaks with a foreign accent). I am quite sure driving taxi with someone else’s licence is not legal.
There have been reports of illegal drivers operating in the city, with a few of them sharing a single taxi/licence by working in shifts. This is dangerous, considering these drivers would most likely be uninsured, have not been vetted by the Garda, and may even be living here illegally and/or owning false driving licences. The crackdown process have been slow, much to the consternation and annoyance of genuine taxi drivers in their city, as their livelihood and their trade are under threat.
Saturday night: my friends and I have a surprise party to pull out of the bag. And I think we did rather well on that front. Mim was certainly surprised (“you guys are very bold to do this to me”) and we were all further taken aback (and roaring with laughter) when she couldn’t put the candles out. I did not realise that I have bought the inextinguishable variety… ops!
A delicious and perhaps overindulged dinner party later, it was rightly followed with a good dancing night out. Well, we need to burn the calories off the chocolate fudge cake, you know. ;) We headed over to Café en Seine which was busy and packed with the DJ spinning a good series of tunes to dance to. It was a lot of fun, reminding me how much I enjoy dancing. Certainly on my list, once settled in Paris, I’ll be looking for something like salsa clubs to go to. Woo!
The streets of Dublin are not only populated by musicians, but also of street performers and mime artists. Certainly, no one can say there’s a lack of entertainers in the city. Come weekend, there can easily be an act every 50-60m down Grafton Street.
For some reason, the junction where Grafton Street meets St Stephen’s Green often has fire-related action going on. Usually, this is the spot of a couple of guys dancing to Jamaican tunes and doing fire limbo in some funny leopard prints – one of them would even limbo as low as the height of a beer bottle. Today though, it’s a jongleur that plays with fire. He’s not bad in getting the crowd going, but I didn’t have time to assess the show in entirety since I was heading to an appointment.
Moore Street is a lively street between Henry Street and Parnell Street in the northside of the city. There’s a market that runs here daily, except Sunday, with carts selling from vegetables and fruits to meat to fish to household products, at a cheap cheap price (15 plums for €1 anyone?). Mind though, the produce boughts here should be consumed as soon as possible.
Various shops, including FX Buckleys which is a renowned family-run butchers for quality meat, also line both sides of the street and immigration in recent years brought in a cosmopolitan feel to the street. Asian, African, low cost supermarkets (such is the nature of competition nowadays), quite a variation. I may be a bit cautious about setting in to that one shop selling wigs (I think) that was pitched dark when I passed by (hence why I can’t see what else are in it), and the trade was carried out by the door…
The Irish are renowned musicians; think U2, The Cranberries, Thin Lizzy, Sinéad O’Connor, The Corrs, Boyzone, Westlife, Damien Rice, Snow Patrol, The Script, Cathy Davey etc. Even those who are not famous, are musical at heart. I don’t know a single Irishman/Irishwoman who doesn’t like music and quite a few of them play musical instrument of some sort, if not several instruments per person. (It really is very impressive.)
It is not surprising then, on any day, walking down the main thoroughfares of the city, there are a number of musicians busking and entertaining the crowd. It makes the streets gay and merry and melodic. At night, the sultry sound of saxophone and violin often invokes the urge in me to dance to the songs. If only I am less self conscious about the whole dancing solo on the street thing… :p
There are plenty of venues in Dublin where new acts perform each day. Some are free, some charges nominal ticket prices. For you and I, this is the perfect opportunity to discover more new music by local talents while socialising with friends on any night out. Chances are, someone you know (or you!) are friends/relatives to the performers of the night. Yes, Ireland is that small, and that’s what makes it great in this instance!
It may be wintry cold but when it is sunny and the sky is blue, walking about Dublin is always so pleasant. There are coffee kiosks peppered along the boardwalk for the good ol’ outdoor cuppa and in the summer months, a river boat tour along River Liffey is also possible.
One of the best walking tours available in the city are those led by Pat Liddy, a charming historian who is an absolute fountain of knowledge when it comes to the stories about Dublin. Dublin City Council, together with Pat Liddy, also offers free walking tours under the Let’s Walk and Talk initiative for anyone who are interested in getting to know Dublin outside of the city centre areas. Also available are Sandemans’ free walking tours where participants are encouraged to tip their guides at the end of the tour.
For visitors keen on self-guided tour, apart from using recommended itinerary suggested by guidebooks, check out the podcasts available via Guinness Storehouse website. There, you should be set now to know more about the city.
I had wanted to visit the Chapel Royal, adjacent to Dublin Castle, since learning about its architectural beauty in an evening class I sat in but the previous time I tried, it was close for restorative works. However, when chatting to a friend following my detour to photograph Lady Justice, I was informed that it has since reopened.
For a relatively cosy chapel, its Neo-Gothic interior is very impressive. Beautiful stained glass panels, opulent Rococo stucco adorning the ribbed vaults to the sides, handsome oaked upper galleries; definitely worth visiting. What caught my eyes among the splendour this afternoon though, was the bounce of sunlight into the chapel against the pews. It gave the chapel a feel that is almost ethereal, serene. Until the next tour group arrives.
Question: How can one have an enjoyable evening when the day has been extremely windy and quite wet on top of it?
Answer: Attend an Indian-themed dinner party; eat, drink and be merry, and meeting a lot of new people. Once one decides to brave the weather of course. ;)
Mo and Kathleen hosted this dinner party over in Ranelagh but when I arrived, I was quite the lone soldier. Nary a familiar face except those of my hosts and a few friends I know would not arrive till much later. Fret not. Through the course of the evening, over tasty and well-spiced Indian food, luscious desserts and mango lassi, I’ve met and spoke to some very interesting people. (It also felt like a preview of what’s to come in my upcoming big move, where I’ll play the new girl and try to build a whole new social circle.)
During the first hour though, I found comfort to be near the kitchen, observing the cooking (and be one of the first to get something to my plate when they were cooked) and learning a few things about Indian food. I love Indian food, but for some reason, have never really added them to my repertoir of dishes to cook. It must be remedied.
