Sunday, 31 January 2010
Saturday, 23 January 2010
Friday, 22 January 2010
Postcard Friendship Friday
I have a confession to make ...shhh...I Collect Toy Cars!
"OK, nobody's perfect!" (I patented this saying same as Paris Hilton patented "It's hot!")
I just saw those models in the latest issue of DIECAST COLLECTOR and as it's Friday again they are just ideal for PFF. For those who do not know PFF stands for Postcard Friendship Friday, it's a fun event hosted every Friday by the one and only Marie - The French Factrice. It's easy to join the fun - as easy as licking a stamp, so why not scoot over to her place where you will meet postal bloggers from around the globe.
"OK, nobody's perfect!" (I patented this saying same as Paris Hilton patented "It's hot!")
I just saw those models in the latest issue of DIECAST COLLECTOR and as it's Friday again they are just ideal for PFF. For those who do not know PFF stands for Postcard Friendship Friday, it's a fun event hosted every Friday by the one and only Marie - The French Factrice. It's easy to join the fun - as easy as licking a stamp, so why not scoot over to her place where you will meet postal bloggers from around the globe.
Thursday, 21 January 2010
Francis Bacon 1909 - 1992
Untitled (Figure with Raised Arm), c. 1949 by Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon: A Terrible Beauty celebrates the centenary of Francis Bacon's birth at 63 Lower Baggot Street, Dublin on 28 October 1909. His father, a former captain in the British army, moved to County Kildare to breed and train racehorses. Following a disagreement with his father, Francis left home at the age of 16 and after a stay in London he travelled to Berlin, but it was in Paris that he found a new sense of purpose. An exhibition of drawings by Picasso at the Galerie Paul Rosenberg inspired Bacon to become an artist. On his return to London he achieved some success as a furniture designer, but soon rejected this path and turned to painting. He first gained recognition as a painter with Crucifixion in 1933, but it was not until the mid- 1940's that his artistic career took off. The critical success of his Three Studies for Figures at the base of a Crucifixion, c. 1944, established Bacon as a new force in post-war art. Apart from periods spent in Monte Carlo, Tangier and Paris he spent the rest of his life in London. His high spirits, ready wit and exceptional generosity attracted people from a wide variety of backgrounds including artists, writers and Soho eccentrics. Many of these individuals feature in his portraits.
The artist himself was nothing if not eccentric and the Hugh Lane exhibition include some of the work that he destroyed after exhibiting or if he was not happy with it, by cutting pieces out of the canvas with a knife.
Francis Bacon died in Madrid in April, 1992.
Francis Bacon: A Terrible Beauty celebrates the centenary of Francis Bacon's birth at 63 Lower Baggot Street, Dublin on 28 October 1909. His father, a former captain in the British army, moved to County Kildare to breed and train racehorses. Following a disagreement with his father, Francis left home at the age of 16 and after a stay in London he travelled to Berlin, but it was in Paris that he found a new sense of purpose. An exhibition of drawings by Picasso at the Galerie Paul Rosenberg inspired Bacon to become an artist. On his return to London he achieved some success as a furniture designer, but soon rejected this path and turned to painting. He first gained recognition as a painter with Crucifixion in 1933, but it was not until the mid- 1940's that his artistic career took off. The critical success of his Three Studies for Figures at the base of a Crucifixion, c. 1944, established Bacon as a new force in post-war art. Apart from periods spent in Monte Carlo, Tangier and Paris he spent the rest of his life in London. His high spirits, ready wit and exceptional generosity attracted people from a wide variety of backgrounds including artists, writers and Soho eccentrics. Many of these individuals feature in his portraits.
The artist himself was nothing if not eccentric and the Hugh Lane exhibition include some of the work that he destroyed after exhibiting or if he was not happy with it, by cutting pieces out of the canvas with a knife.
Francis Bacon died in Madrid in April, 1992.
Tuesday, 19 January 2010
Monday, 18 January 2010
Sunday, 17 January 2010
The Jeanie Johnston
The Jeanie Johnston is a replica sailing ship which was built to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the GreatFamine which devastated Ireland in the 1840's.
This stunning ship was built in Blennerville, County Kerry and is a replica of a 19th century sailing ship. The Jeanie Johnston is moored in Dublin's docklands and operates as a Sail Training vessel, a Famine History museum and a venue for corporate entertainment.
In this photo you can see the new Samuel Beckett bridge and the Poolbeg generation station chimneys in the background.
In this photo you can see the new Samuel Beckett bridge and the Poolbeg generation station chimneys in the background.
Friday, 15 January 2010
Postcard Friendship Friday
Postcard Friendship Friday is the brainwave of the lovely Marie, otherwise known as the French Factrice. It's easy to join the fun - just post something - anything, with a postal theme on your blog every Friday, link it to Marie's site and meet lots and lots of other postal minded bloggers from around the world. Easy isn't it?
For my PFF this Friday I have unearthed this postcard of some well known Dublin Pubs. Very appropriate really as I spent half this week in Molloy's of Talbot Street. All in the name of research of course!
For my PFF this Friday I have unearthed this postcard of some well known Dublin Pubs. Very appropriate really as I spent half this week in Molloy's of Talbot Street. All in the name of research of course!
Steps 2,3,4,5 and 6
Clockwise
2. Write card
3. post it in green pillar postbox
4. An Post van collects
5. Postman on old reliable bike begins his rounds
6. Mr Postman delivers.
From a series of stamps issued by An Post (Irish Post Office) in 2009 to commemorate 25 years of An Post.
(The quaint bicycle belongs to the postman in Arklow)
2. Write card
3. post it in green pillar postbox
4. An Post van collects
5. Postman on old reliable bike begins his rounds
6. Mr Postman delivers.
From a series of stamps issued by An Post (Irish Post Office) in 2009 to commemorate 25 years of An Post.
(The quaint bicycle belongs to the postman in Arklow)
Thursday, 14 January 2010
Molloy's Pub Revisited
I featured Molloy's Pub in Talbot Street onTuesday's blog and my good blog friend Stephanie over at A Little Birdie Told Me So enquired about the sculpted heads above the windows outside. My initial enquiries were unsucessful so I went back to Molloy's today (for another Cappucino) and the helpful Barmaid was able to throw a little bit of light on who were the mystery figures. Apparently Molloy's was originally a tea merchants and not a pub at all. And the clue was in the figure that I actually missed on Tuesday and is that of a Chinese man (pictured in todays collage). The story goes that the Sculptor created his figures from some of the tea merchants who frequented the shop which is now Molloy's Pub. However we may never know their exact identity!
A pint of plain is your only man
And I wouldn't change it for all the tea in China!
Guinness, also called porter or stout was sometimes referred to in Ireland as "plain porter". A pint of plain is your only man is a well known line from Flann O'Brien's poem "The Workman's Friend"
Guinness, also called porter or stout was sometimes referred to in Ireland as "plain porter". A pint of plain is your only man is a well known line from Flann O'Brien's poem "The Workman's Friend"
Wednesday, 13 January 2010
Irish Life Building, Lower Abbey Street
The Irish Life building on Lower Abbey Street (actually it stretches right through to Talbot Street) is an office block with a shopping mall on the ground level.
It was built in the 1970's by the pensions, life insurance and investment company Irish Life (founded in 1939 and now part of the Irish Life & Permanent group). In a discussion forum on Archiseek it gets mentioned as one of Dublin's ten ugliest buildings, but personally I don't think it's that bad. Certainly on a dull and overcast January day it's brown tinted glass façade adds just a hint of colour(color) to an otherwise grey(gray) cityscape.
It was built in the 1970's by the pensions, life insurance and investment company Irish Life (founded in 1939 and now part of the Irish Life & Permanent group). In a discussion forum on Archiseek it gets mentioned as one of Dublin's ten ugliest buildings, but personally I don't think it's that bad. Certainly on a dull and overcast January day it's brown tinted glass façade adds just a hint of colour(color) to an otherwise grey(gray) cityscape.
Chariots of Life
Whatever about the merits or otherwise of the Irish Life building the sculpture in front of the main entrance is certainly impressive. "Chariots of Life" is a piece by Oisín Kelly (who died in 1981). I also featured two other pieces by the same sculptor in earlier blogs - "Jim Larkin" in O'Connell Street (June 5, 2009) and "Two Working Men", in front of County Hall, Cork (August 30, 2008).
Incidentally, all Dublin sculptures and statues have local colloquial names - "Chariots of Life" is known as "The Mad Milkman of Abbey Street".
Incidentally, all Dublin sculptures and statues have local colloquial names - "Chariots of Life" is known as "The Mad Milkman of Abbey Street".
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
Molloy's Pub, 59 Talbot Street
Dublin is famous for it's pubs and many of them are architectural gems dating back to Victorian times. There is a strong connection between Dublin pubs and many of our famous authors - perhaps because many of them like Brendan Behan and Patrick Kavanagh were fond of the "black stuff"(Guinness). In fact there are organized "pub crawls" that take in some of the more famous pubs, especially those visited by Leopold Bloom on his walk around Dublin in Ulysses. Some (like The Irish House on Wood Quay) were sadly destroyed during the destruction of parts of old Dublin in the 1960's and 70's to be replaced by ugly office blocks.
I have my own particular favourites and I will hopefully feature some of them over the next few months, but I will start with this lovely corner pub - Molloy's, a listed building on the corner of Talbot Street and Talbot Place. It is usually busy and attracts a mixture of locals and commuters because of it's proximity to Connolly train station and Busarus, Dublin's main bus station.
I have my own particular favourites and I will hopefully feature some of them over the next few months, but I will start with this lovely corner pub - Molloy's, a listed building on the corner of Talbot Street and Talbot Place. It is usually busy and attracts a mixture of locals and commuters because of it's proximity to Connolly train station and Busarus, Dublin's main bus station.
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
Monday, 4 January 2010
Sunday, 3 January 2010
Saturday, 2 January 2010
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