Great Irish bar in San Francisco - The Irish Bank

Always loved this bar, which is a short walk from Union Square. The story about how they originally registered the domain bankofireland.com is an interesting backstory also. If you look closely at the bar you can see the old faded "Bank of Ireland" name there. Fitting because it's close to the financial district.

A nice Irish gift - screenprint of Dublin with added drop of Guinness

I love this screenprint of Dublin from MeAndHimAndYou.com . It is "Printed with solvent free, water based ink and a small drop of Guinness using traditional screenprinting techniques". Usually when I drop Guinness into something I'm printing, it's a bad thing :-) But here the results are great:

Effin in County Limerick deemed "Offensive" by Facebook

I'll withhold any Limerick jokes :-)

www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/1203/breaking19.html

#danarumours LOL

As people outside of Ireland may not know, Dana (who won the Eurovision for Ireland with "All kinds of everything") is running for president of Ireland. In the Irish presidential debate last night, she mysteriously said that a "vile rumour" about her was about to surface. This has led to much Twitter speculation about what the rumour is....

My favourites are:

• she stole her eurovision song off Norwegian band Nin Huguen and the Huguenotes
• (also on that note) she kicked Bishop Brennan up the arse
  
• (one for the Irish speakers) A Porn Video Of Dana Was Leaked Called Arse In Uactaharain
• she secretly had potatoes during the famine

Or what about "She drove to Canada with a dog strapped to the roof of her car". No wait, that was Mitt Romney: I'm thinking of the wrong election there.

Glenilen Yoghurt - a delicious find in Ireland

While in Dublin this week, I found some really great yoghurt. It's Glenilen Farm yoghurt, and comes with jam ready to mix in. Highly recommended. I bought it in the Morton's the Luas station on Harcourt Street. Wish it was possible to get this in the US.

Roslindale Open Studios coming up

Roslindale Open Studios is coming up: It is the first weekend of November: Nov 5&6 from 11am-5pm.

Looks like they have more artists this year than ever before. It always makes me think "Wow, Roslindale has a *lot* of artists".

Tolls are bad enough without a border fence with New Hampshire too

Good to see that the presidential candidate Perry has let New Hampshire know that it can't build a border fence. Though I'm sure some people in NH would like to see Massachusetts residents fenced out, it would not be very convenient for commuters each day...

Staying where Michael Jackson (and family) stayed in Ireland

It is a little known fact that, before he died, Michael Jackson spent a lot of time with his kids in Ireland. Now you can rent the same house in County Wicklow where Michael Jackson, and family, stayed: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/property/2011/0901/1224303280437.html

Michael Jackson also spent time in 2006 in County Westmeath, and you can rent the same houses stayed there too. It is amazing to read about it now:

Jackson fell in love with County Westmeath and, after a month in the converted cowshed, moved to the equally secluded neighbouring estate of Coolatore, also owned by the Dunnings. Because Jackson didn't have his own driver in Ireland, Paddy enlisted local taxi driver Ray O'Hara to drive Michael and the kids around in a borrowed people carrier with blacked-out windows.

The Dunnings somehow managed to keep the fact that the King of Pop was in residence a secret for several months. Even when Jackson began to venture out and there were rumoured sightings of him in the nearby villages of Moate or Kilbeggan, the Dunnings would deny all knowledge. "If someone said to me I've heard Michael Jackson is there, I would tell them: 'Yeah, so is Elvis Presley!' says Paddy

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2010/aug/15/michael-jackson-ireland-secret-retreat

Ireland to ban smoking in cars with kids present?

As someone who spent a lot of time in a smoky car as a kid, this is an interesting topic. I tend to agree with Conor Faughnan's views:

AA Roadwatch spokesman Conor Faughnan said there would be mixed views from motorists on the issue and that there was also an ideological issue involved. He said motorists tended to regard their cars as their own personal space.

“Is the logical extension of that is that we should ban smoking in homes too or ban it altogether?” he asked.

Mr Faughnan said it would be a “profound mistake” if smoking in cars was made a road traffic offence as it was not a road traffic, but a health issue.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0728/1224301502295.html

A black pudding burger - Irish heaven in Sydney

Durty Nelly's pub in Paddington, Sydney, serves a black pudding burger. So, I had to check it out. The burger tasted great, though I was slightly disappointed to see that it contains many normal-sized black pudding slices, not a big burger-sized disc of black pudding. Good atmosphere in the pub too, which is just off Oxford Street not far from the junction with Victoria street. There is a great Indian take-away around the corner, on Oxford Street, too. All highly recommended.

Queen arrives in Bus Eireann bus

I know times are hard in the UK and Ireland right now, and I know that Bus Eireann runs a bus route from London to Dublin, but this Irish Times report seems to imply that Queen Elizabeth bussed it over from London:

McDonalds "Boston Deli Bagel" - seen down under

I am in Sydney at the moment, and I was surprised to find a "Boston Deli Bagel" on the breakfast menu at MacDonalds here. It's actually quite tasty, but baffling to me why it's a Boston Deli Bagel. Is Boston known for its delis? Something more true to Boston would be a copy of the Dunkin Donuts breakfast sandwich.

A good deal on a snow hat on Amazon - only $1795

I know it's very cold in Boston now, but I think that almost $1800 for a snow hat might be pushing it a bit...

http://www.amazon.com/Winter-Earflap-Trapper-Hat-Multiple/dp/B00439MY2Q

Pete Postlethwaite

The Irish Times has a moving tribute to Peter Postlethwaite today, though I remember The Town being more about Charlestown than Norn Iron:

" In Ben Affleck’s admired picture, the actor plays the owner of a florist in Northern Ireland who moonlights as a criminal mastermind."

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2011/0104/1224286698358.html