What's the best direction for sleep?

I did a search for the above sentence a few week's ago and came up with the most nonsensical answers; an array of reasons and justifications and dismissals for sleeping N-S, E-W or not. The explanations ranged from sleeping in the direction of the rising sun, magnetic energies and much more besides.

But there was no conclusive argument that I could find.

The reason I'm bothered recalling any of this, is that I'm in a very contented, relaxed, happy mood at the moment. And I'm putting it down to sleep. And the biggest change in my life regarding sleep is the position of my bed. Because - I will confess - I did experiment with positioning my bed different ways.Now the problem I had to contend with was that the house isn't facing due anywhich way!!!

I chose E-W after consulting Spiro Kostof's History of Architecture. Churches are constructed on an East-West axis.

A busstop on a wall

picture taken in Moone, Co. Kildare of this old bus-stop mounted on a wall.

Table Legs

My brother once made a bird table.
And another time, he made a table - I can't remember what it was to be used for - something light like wallpapering possibly!

But neither stood up.

It's a tricky business: table legs. A flat surface with four legs - and how are those legs joined to the table. A lazy nail through the top and into the leg won't work.

And maybe that's why this lovely table leg in a lovely pub (alehouse??) in London caught my eye:Or maybe it's just because it's so beautiful and clever that it caught my eye. I'm a sucker for beauty and cleverness.

The Bridge in Ireland inspired by a Harp

I've always been quite cynical about the idea that the Calatrava bridge at Macken Street was inspired by a harp. How fitting?! How handy! The harp is a native symbol of Ireland. Strings are cables. And curved steel can imitate curved carved wood.
Santiago Calatrava has designed other bridges in similar style:

• Serreria Bridge in Valenica, Spain
• Footbridge Puerto Mujer, Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Light Rail Train Bridge, Jerusalem, Israel
• Katehaki Bridge, Athens, Greece
• Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay, California, USA
• an early design for the Alamillo Bridge, Seville, Spain

But today, listening to Morning Ireland on Radio One, I was alerted to Love:Live Music day. One of the many free performances involved 12 harpists, strewn across the bridge playing music.
When I arrived at lunchtime today (thankfully) there was no strew-ing. On the south-side, there was a cluster of harpists strumming Carolan tunes harmoniously. And I thought (I love Carolan's music) that perhaps this connection might not be a bad thing... and might possibly, I conceded, be intentional. Because the Beckett bridge does join the mast and the flat bridge at a particularly graceful angle and the steel given a particular design treatment at this point.
However, I am far from convinced - mostly because a harp on its side is a daft symbol!
Similarly, the bridge in Greece claims to be inspired by Athenian sailboats - perhaps part of the designer's charm is making these tenuous links between a generic, international bridge design and the native culture.I've tried rotating an image of the bridge and comparing it to a harp - the most noticeable difference/mismatch is that the strings on a harp run from the flat towards the top which is concave. If we are to look at the cables on the bridge running from the flat - they go towards a convex curve.
Too much analysis always spoils the fun so I'll finish by admiring the heavy steel at the base of the mast again - that shape and angle and mould and curve does bring a harp to mind.

Designing a game #2: Metagambling

The Strategic Quiz is not as good as it could be.
It's a little nasty; becomes about bringing someone down.
So here's an untested suggestion for improvement:

• place bets on the person likely to give the correct answer (points added if you were right; points deducted if not)
• more points for correct answer
  
• one point against everyone who answers incorrectly

(these notes were scribbled by my father last night and I can't make them out...)

Plastic brickwork

Isn't it horrible?? A little shed (public toilet?) being constructed in Howth I think.
I remember in India, the men sitting on the roadside shaping bricks and firing them.
And I remember learning about "specials" and "special-specials" in college.
Progress = plastic sheets with bricks drawn on. Sigh.