A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Get into your zen zone at Monart
The Shaolin masters from Henan Province in China are returning to Monart Spa. The monks (above) are experts in stress relief, t’ai chi and kung fu, not to mention meditation and helping people find balance in their lives. Between now and December 4th, Master Zheng and Master Shi Deshu will be giving complimentary classes to guests, as well as performing a Shaolin show every Saturday evening. A two-night stay with breakfast, one dinner and a treatment, as well as classes in meditation, costs €235 per person sharing midweek, and €255 at weekends. See monart.ie.
Basket cases
We’re very taken with these amoeba-shaped wild willow baskets by Joe Hogan, and today is the last chance to see an entire collection of them on display at Dunamaise Arts Centre in Portlaoise. An exhibition of his work has been running there for some weeks as part of Laois Year of Craft and to coincide with the end of the show today local basket maker Martin Sinnott will give a workshop at the arts centre.
Hogan has been crafting baskets for more than 30 years from willow and ash, holly wood, bog pine and bark. They’re not the kind of item to have hearthside, crammed with briquettes. The woven and moulded forms are embellished with unexpected details – such as pebbles, bone and catkins. Priced as art rather that home accessories, the baskets range from €500 for a fairly simple pod-shaped model, up to €1,680 for one entitled Birth made from willow rods and ash. Handily, the Dunamaise Arts Centre allows customers to buy in instalments. See laoiscrafts.com.
Index
WHAT’S HOT
Matchstick artOnce reviled as the preserve of sad blokes in jumpers, its day has definitely come now that Martin McGuinness's model of a Round Tower (made while he was in prison in the 1970s) sold for €5,200 last week
Sonatas drifting from the baby grand beside Clery's first-floor tearoomsSo soothing, and any pianist who happens to be passing can tinkle the ivories
PlaitsThe easiest way to make yesterday's hair last well into tomorrow. See Nicola Roberts (right), for extreme plaits
'The pearls, however are absolutely non-negotiable'Meryl Streep is already giving us goosebumps as Maggie Thatcher in the trailer for the forthcoming film. We can't wait
World Cup choirsAll national anthems sound 100 per cent better when they're sung by them
English weatherSupposed to be hotter than Hawaii right now
Electronic timetables at bustopsTakes the Waiting For Godot aspect out of commuting
Great ideas of our time: the chef aid rubber jar gripperAvailable in Dunnes, for those infuriating jars that are impossible to open. We'll let you know if it actually works
WHAT’S NOT
Don't give me another macaron. . . We want Florentines
Charity leaflets pushed through the letter boxWe want clothes, but not bedclothes . . . batteries but not books, etc etc
Dying for the snow to comeJust because you've bought the shoe grips
Simon Cowell considering doing a TV cooking show MasterChef Australiabeat Australias Got Talentin the Aussie ratings, so . . .
Menu touts hawking their restaurants on the pavements of Temple BarWe know times are tough, but isn't this a bit . . . seaside resort circa 1980?
Gift boxes in the supermarkets, the fill-your-stockings offers online, the decorations on displayNo, we don't think Christmas shopping early is a good idea. Go away
Julian AssangeNow more leaked against than leaking; he doesn't like the biography he initially agreed to
Polo necksThey look good on nobody; don't let Gary Barlow convince you otherwise
South Korean educationChildren are studying so hard government officials now patrol homes after 10pm to make them stop. It wouldn't catch on here
Parallel parking
A few weeks ago, Dublin residents might have noticed temporary gardens popping up in unusual places around the city. This was the work of a team of green-fingered enthusiasts who were transforming little sections of the city as part of the Park(ing) Day event. One of the people involved was landscape architect David Andrews, who after working on large commercial projects is now concentrating on more local tasks, such as community spaces, reclaiming urban wasteland and private gardens. Andrews is also running a range of workshops to help people transform their own environments, big or small, and is in the process of securing funding for an educational garden in Ballymun. Andrews’s next workshop focuses on designing your own garden, with lectures, design work and one-on-one consultations included in the four-week course. It costs €250 per person or household, starts on October 10th and takes places in Cultivate, St Andrews Street, Dublin 2. For more information, see facebook.com/GardenDesignWorkshop or call: 085-1126686.
Laurence Mackin
Go retro in Belfast
Take a day trip to Belfast tomorrow for Retro Rooms, an mid-century design event showcasing everything for the home, from British, Scandinavian, European and American furniture, to smaller and more portable textiles, ceramics, lighting, kitchen wear, original movie posters and collectables. The show takes place at the Holiday Inn on Ormeau Avenue, in the city’s Queen’s Quarter, from 11.30am to 4.30pm. Tickets cost £5 and include musical performances from Buskers’ Den. You can even dress up and play the part. See decadencevintagefairs.com.
Feel the fear: and read it anyway
Ireland may have a literary reputation, but some of its work scares people – with Joyce's Ulyssestaking the prize for the most feared book. Yet if you know something about the context in which a book was written, and the ideas behind it, it makes it much easier, says
Dr Eibhlín Evans, who runs courses called Feel the Fear and Read it Anyway. She illustrated that point on a recent course on Ulysses, the apparent obscurity of which puts people off. When Joyce wrote the book over seven years at the beginning of the 20th century, says Evans, the world was undergoing a fundamental change and the novel reflects that.
In Ireland there was the uprising and civil war, bringing nationalism and the quest for a new identity, while Europe was reconfigured after the first World War. This change in the way people felt about themselves and the world was compounded by Darwinism, feminism, the growth of psychology (and away from our perception of ourselves as rational beings and exploring inner selves), and the rise of non-realist forms of art such as Cubism. The truths we had always believed in were crumbling. Formerly authoritative texts and voices – such as the Bible – were questioned. And it is all in Ulysses,obliquely. The novel is not a single story told by one reliable narrator but many tales of people's outer and inner selves.
On Thursdays, October 6th and 13th, the Feel the Fear sessions will mark the centenary of Flann O'Brien's birth by delving into At Swim-Two-Birds."It is a crazy book but absolutely delightful – full of comic characters, great wit and verbal dexterity – and once you get the key, you can see what is going on," says Evans.
The October 6th meeting is at 6pm in the Stag's Head pub, Dame Court, Dublin (which O'Brien used to frequent until being banned), and theOctober 13th meeting is at 7pm in the Central Hotel, Wicklow Street, Dublin. "A pint of plain will be available at both locations," says Evans. It costs €12. You can book by telephoning 083-4288286 or by e-mailing info@flyingbookclub.ie.
Emma Cullinan
WORD ON THE STREET Mancession
What it means: You'd have thought the recession would respect no gender, hitting women's purses and men's pockets with equal force. But men have come out the worst in the economic downturn, which is why many analysts refer to it as the "mancession". When the pillars of finance came crashing down, it seems the male bastions were the first to fall: in the US, more jobs were lost in traditionally male-dominated industries such as construction and manufacturing. Meanwhile, industries in which women dominate, such as education, health and other public-funded sectors, have held steady through the downturn. At home, almost 300,000 men are signing on, compared to around 170,000 women.
Where it comes from:During the boom, men never had it so good: there were plenty of jobs and the future was bright. In a recent article, David McWilliams identified the rise of Breakfast Roll Man, pulling in the spons and spending it on girls, cars, stereos and designer clothes. When it all went bust, he was left eating humble pie, while his better-qualified female counterpart was poised to take the bigger slice of the cake. The mancession has left many men unemployed, and unloved.
How to say it: "I know there's a mancession on, but when he gave me earrings made out of beer-can pull-tops, that was the last straw."
Kevin Courtney
Could you be king of the conkers?
The Irish Conker Championships take place in Freshford, Co Kilkenny on Sunday, October 30th, so you have four weeks to perfect your technique and aim to walk away with a prize of €500, a trophy and a crown that is, of course, decorated with chestnuts. Play takes place on Freshford's village green, which is surrounded by 52 horse-chestnut trees. Each contestant gets three strikes to break their opponent's nut and there are eight heats. The reigning champion is Peter Pheloka. There are under-12, under-14, under-17, and adult and team categories. Entry costs €3 for children and €7 for adults. Conkers already laced with leather straps are supplied to contestants. If you'd prefer not to get competitive then head to the practice arena where adults and kids can play against each other. See irishconkerchampionship.com. Olga Cantwell from Kilkenny shows how it should be done.
Alanna Galagher
