Cycle Lane or Footpath?

I cycle to work via the docklands in Dublin. If I'm on the path at around 8:50 it's a nightmare - pedestrians walking on the clearly-marked and well-used cycle path.
Why?!I think I discovered one of the possible reasons the other day. The dustbins!
I was walking along that route and had an apple core in my hand. I spotted the bins and started walking towards them - lo and behold, I'm walking on the cycle path. The bins are located adjacent to the cycle path.What a stupid location! They should be accessible to pedestrians, or to pedestrians and cyclists but surely pedestrians as a priority... I throw my hands up in despair!

Kilkenny Design & Jerpoint Glass

Another trip to Kilkenny. This time I had more time to spend in the Design Centre opp the castle and thankfully I wandered in the back, beyond the commercial shop and the exhibition spaces (more on this in another post if I get around to it) and nosed around until I found the workshops of some jewellers or silversmiths. I spoke to a man in the silversmiths (had just got exclusive text from politics.ie about the resignation of Bertie Aherne which served as a conversation opener). It turned out he was Desmond Byrne. We spoke about when KK design started out, 1974 I think it was - Des has been there since 78. I ordered a charm bracelet from him as a christening present for my god-daughter. I hope to add to it with charms from various other silversmiths I will come across over the years.
Also had a little wander around the garden of the house.

Then on to Jerpoint glass where we watched the men make square vases. The work is most rhythmic. My friend bought a wedding present.

Drove past the ruine of Jerpoint Abbey on the way to Thomastown for lunch and intended to go back but instead drove to Graiguenamanagh, saw the Abbey there though didn't think the town had much to offer. Great old pub in it with groceries for sale in the front part, didn't go in though; smelt like an old pub!

Cars

I'm not usually into cars but I saw this beautiful model in a showroom window a while ago. The Mercedes Benz CL600 V12. Just look at the glass in the windows of the front and back seats - there's no mullion. I'd love to see them being opened.
Also, recently, I got a lift in another high spec car, didn't check the model. The window was frameless and moved automatically into a more closed position after you pulled the door shut. Nice.

Designing a Game

Dunno entirely if this post qualifies to be in this blog.
It's the rules for a family quiz game we invented last night. When we started off we were joking that we were having more fun creating the game than the game was going to be but that did not turn out to be the case. It worked well!
We started throwing out ideas like: "a topic should be named" and we'd run with that idea and sometimes dismiss suggestions or sometimes run further with them. My brother became disillusioned at one stage when we asked for his approval of an idea: "sure, you're no longer going with my idea..." So I suppose there was issues about chairing the discussion, managing people's involvement etc: team leadership!
In the end, the idea for the game grew from everybody's input.

1. Everyone gets a pen & paper
2. The youngest person names a topic
3. Everyone writes a question and answer for that topic; a question of general knowledge
4. The person to the left of the 'topic-namer' asks their question first and everyone else writes their answer to it. And so on around the group until all the questions have been asked
5. Now, depending how much the group trust each other, the answer sheets can be swapped for correction
6. Go around the group again - each person posing their question and hearing people's answers and giving the correct answer
7. Points are given:

• 2 points for a correct answer
• the questioner receives 1 point for every wrong answer provided the question has been answered correctly by at least one person

The game is quite strategic in terms of topics that might be chosen and choosing a question that the questioner is confident can be answered by one of the other people present.
That's it - it's not boxable and manufacturable unfortunately! But it is a good way to pass an evening.

Shape follows function

I read about the health benefits of eating baked potatoes recently and so decided I should invest in a potato scourer to scrub the potatoes well before cooking and eating. A problem often encountered with brushes etc at a kitchen sink is how to distinguish the functions or uses of the different brushes from each other - which brush is for scrubbing dirty saucepans, which to clean fingernails and which to scrub vegetables.
In a kitchen shop, I spotted this hideous little brush whose 'handle' was shaped like a potato. Usually I run a mile from this kind of 'pop' design. I remember lectures in college on the topic where pictures of buildings (mostly in America!) were shown: an American fried chicken diner in a building shaped like a large chicken. I think the disney buildings are examples of this style. And an architect who enjoyed the unashamed madness was Charles Moore, if I remember correctly. I'm sure I could dig out my lecture notes and look into this more.
At any rate, the idea that an object or building is easy to read or interpret because it is shaped like the thing it represents is daft. Just because this brush is shaped like a potato does not mean that someone will not scrub their fingernails with it. I can't vouch for that particular incident but definitely, I have had to stop myself picking up this brush when cleaning saucepans when no other brush is available.
Though I will admit the plastic half potato is very comfortable to hold.

Office Desk

I moved office desks before Christmas. I realised that my desk could have been better designed!Each time I tried to open the drawers, my chair was in the way and I had to move backwards. And the drawers are quite deep, unnecessarily so. By pushing the drawers unit back so the front was no longer in line with the main desk, I was able to open the drawers and access most things very comfortably. Because the space the drawers were set back was now available as space in which the drawers could open.Luckily, the room the desk is in can accommodate the drawer unit being pushed backwards but I think it would make much more sense if the drawer unit were not as deep as the desk.

Postcards

I love postcards. I always send some from abroad, or even from museums or funny places I go to - I might send a friend a greeting and a picture.

When I was inter-railing I brought a stack of blank postcards with me and sketched what I saw and sent messages on the back of my drawings.
And so this new An Post (yes, them again, see previous less-favourable post!) venture has got me really excited.
It's a collective art exhibition, backed by a website. Anyone can and everyone should take part. Check out:

http://www.anpostcbothsides.ie/

It's a good website and includes a piece on the history of the postcard.

I'll make sure and post my entry/ies when I submit them.