STOP THE TRAFFIC: Joby Hickey's paintings are full of action. His favourite subjects are cars, trucks and busy city streets. Despite all the movement, there is a stillness, too, which brings to mind the cityscapes of Edward Hopper. The son of artist Patrick Hickey, he has a studio in Leeson Street, Dublin, and his work, in mixed media on board, goes on show at Dalkey Arts Gallery on Railway Road, on November 16th, running until December 1st
WHAT I WEILY WEILY WANT
The Swiss watch company Raymond Weil, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, is one of the few big watch-making firms that is still family owned. To celebrate its birthday, the company has issued a limited-edition Shine watch, which must be the ultimate in extravagance.
Set with 43 diamonds, the crown is embellished with a full-cut diamond, and the watch jewel displays 100 diamonds of the highest quality and purity. The 18-carat pink-gold case houses a mother-of-pearl dial with four flamboyant Arabic numerals, also in 18-carat pink gold. The price is, needless to say, scary, at €8,200, but only 99 of these watches have been made. Each one is numbered and bears the signature of the brand's founder. A few are in Ireland. Number 90, for example, is at Weir & Sons, in Dublin; number 31 is at Paul Sheeran jewellers, also in Dublin; and number seven is at A Hartmann & Son, in Galway. Deirdre McQuillan
A BAD CASE OF WRITERS' BLOG
Many blogs (and be warned, there are thousands of them) are written by self-indulgent "aspiring" writers who can neither write nor spell. But these online diaries are becoming increasingly significant in the literary arena, as signalled by publishing deals for bloggers such as Belle de Jour (http://belledejour-uk.blogspot.com), La Petite Anglaise (www.petiteanglaise.com) and the no-longer-aptly-named Struggling Author (http://strugglingauthor.blogspot.com).
Teen-fiction author Frances O'Brien, whose Sheer Bliss: Confessions of a (Reluctant) Celebrity Spawn will be published on December 1st, is jumping on the blogging bandwagon as a way of promoting her book. Interestingly, though, she's writing her blog in character - check it out at www.blogmybook.com/bliss. Not only this, but she's tapping into other internet trends popular among her target audience, with a video on YouTube and a MySpace website.
Fictional blogging is not without precedent. Before the Canadian sci-fi author Jim Munroe's An Opening Act of Unspeakable Evil went to print, the novel was published online as if it were a series of blog instalments. You can still read it at www.roommatefromhell.com.
Some published authors write personal blogs, although many so-called blogs on writers' websites are either rarely updated or just blatant PR. The prolific US novelist and screenwriter Neil Gaiman has one of the most interesting and regularly maintained blogs (www.neilgaiman.com/journal); the bestselling Brazilian author Paulo Coelho has embarked on a reflective blogging project (www.paulocoelhoblog.com).
Fantasy, sci-fi, crime and chick-lit writers loom large: Robert Jordan, of the Wheel of Time series, is popular (www.dragonmount. com/RobertJordan/); Princess Diaries author Meg Cabot writes, as you might expect, a rather fluffy online diary (www.megcabot. com/diary); and the blogs of 15 debut suspense novelists can be read at www.killeryear.com.
Despite being known for dark, macabre tales, Poppy Z Brite writes a surprisingly down-to-earth blog (http://docbrite. livejournal.com/). One of the most engaging online diaries I've come across is Irish Times contributor John Connolly's candid insight into a writer's life, on www.johnconnolly books.com/blogger.html.
Perhaps the best author blog on the internet, however, was actually written more than 300 years ago - a daily dose of the diaries of Samuel Pepys on www.pepysdiary.com. Eimear McKeith
JUST LIKE A ROLL-ON STONE
Some weeks back I abandoned conventional deodorant for my "Giving Up" column, inside the back page of this magazine. Instead, I followed a deodorant recipe I found on the internet. Having merrily blended a range of oils and beeswax on the stove, I applied the potion to my armpits and waited. It didn't work.
Exasperated, I went to my local health store and asked the assistant if she stocked organic deodorants. She did, but she said she had something better, called a deodorant stone, which she uses herself.
The stone is made of crystals of natural mineral salts that inhibit the growth of odour-forming bacteria on your body. It's about the size of a golf ball and looks completely clear.
It's made from potassium alum (mineral salts) and purified water. It doesn't contain any chemicals, perfumes, oils, emulsifiers, alcohol or propellants. It also contains no aluminium chlorohydrate, the most maligned ingredient of big-brand deodorants.
To use it, you wet the stone and rub under your arm, as you would a roll-on. It is not a cover-up, nor does it clog your pores. The stone, which costs about €6, should last for six to nine months. Best of all, it works. I have been using it since, and I am a complete convert. Mick Kelly 1. Cosmetics conglomerates 0. www.deodorant- stone.co.uk. Michael Kelly
CARTOON KIDS
Children can be trying on shopping trips, but they might be more amenable if they knew they were going to get their picture drawn. At BTKids over the next three weeks, cartoonist Niall O'Loughlin - known for his paintings of Roy Keane, Arnold Schwarzenegger and others -will sketch a four-minute "kiddie caricature" for any child who buys something (or has it bought for them) in the shop. Blanchardstown, today, 12-5pm; Brown Thomas, Cork, November 18th, 12-5pm; and Grafton Street, November 25th, 12-5pm.
CELEBS ON TOAST ELECELECBSBOAST
ELECELECBSBOAST
Dermot Flynn recently created a series of celebrity portraits - in the unconventional medium of Marmite on toast - for a UK exhibition sponsored by the makers of the love-it-or-hate-it yeast extract. The portraits are of Charlotte Church, David Cameron, Gordon Ramsay, James Blunt, Jude Law, Margaret Thatcher, Big Brother "star" Nikki Grahame, Pete Doherty, Simon Cowell and Victoria Beckham. No prizes for guessing who's who, but have a go anyway.
recently created a series of celebrity portraits - in the unconventional medium of Marmite on toast - for a UK exhibition sponsored by the makers of the love-it-or-hate-it yeast extract. The portraits are of Charlotte Church, David Cameron, Gordon Ramsay, James Blunt, Jude Law, Margaret Thatcher,
Big Brother
"star" Nikki Grahame, Pete Doherty, Simon Cowell and Victoria Beckham. No prizes for guessing who's who, but have a go anyway.
C02 EMISSIONS
Dublin Transportation Office now has a CO2 emissions calculator at www.dto.ie/web2006/jp.htm. It generates a map between any two addresses in the city, tells you how long it would take to walk or cycle the route, tots up the calories you would burn, and shows you the CO2 emissions you would generate if you drove a car, SUV or hybrid vehicle