Month: May 2004

Saturday, May 15, 2004

‘God, isn’t it terrible they might be closing Bewleys down?’

It’s become a standard conversational gambit in Dublin to say the following:’God, isn’t it terrible they might be closing Bewleys down?’

Which is most often met with, ‘Yes, but the food and drink aren’t the best, and they haven’t kept up with all the other new cafes’.

I was in Bewleys in Grafton St yesterday, and it was a very pleasant experience. The cappucino was no worse than many I’ve had in town, and a lot better than some, and the atmosphere was as good as I remembered. The warm red space is great, and there were people lingering over their coffees and reading books – just like the old days.

So much better than most splash and dash places. If you don’t like it Bewleys, then you shouldn’t lament its passing. If you’ll be sorry to see it go, then maybe you should vote with your wallet, and actually start using the place again. It might surprise you.

Monday, May 10, 2004

it was abundantly clear that I’d be much happier there than in D7

Galway is like Santa Fe, New Mexico (shown left, or is that Galway?). Which is handy, as I like Galway, and I’m moving to Santa Fe.

Wandering around the city of the tribes on Saturday morning, the people looked not just like the sort of people who live in Santa Fe (liberal, not very fashionable, relaxed and a bit outdoorsy), but they looked like me. This also happens in the city different. A good arts scene, lots of great scenery and a better quality of life are other characteristics shared by Galway and Santa Fe.

The Galway cafes were less trendy and cheaper than Dublin, there was room to breathe (even on a busy Saturday), and it was abundantly clear that I’d be much happier there than in D7.

Which isn’t a complete surprise, as I’d been told this by Galwegian friends years ago, and have long since come to the conclusion that Dublin doesn’t really fit me any more. There are people like me in the city, but there are a lot more of all sorts of other different types of folks that I don’t enjoy being around so much.

So if I’d be better off in Galway, how does that leave me now I’m off to Santa Fe? In good shape, actually, as now I see that the reasons Galway would be right for me are also largely the reasons that Santa Fe will work too.

Even if there weren’t more pressing family matters bringing me to Santa Fe (a wife, a cat, a house . . . ) it would be a good place for me to consider moving to anyway.

Sunday, May 09, 2004

armed with only a 50 yoyo voucher from last chrismas, I stalked the aisles in search of brilliance and bargains

Last weekend I went on a media frenzy in Tower Records. Armed with only a 50 yoyo voucher from last chrismas, I stalked the aisles in search of brilliance and bargains, and came away very pleased with myself.

First up, Black Books series 1 on DVD – I somehow managed to miss most of this when it was on, so now we’re armed when there’s something crap on TV – which is almost always these days.

Then came Original Pirate Material by The Streets – I’d ripped someone’s copy of this a while ago, and it was so good I was happy to buy the original (put that in your pipe and smoke it, you DRM fascists).

But surely, you must be thinking, that can’t leave much money left over for anything else.

Well, you’d think so, wouldn’t you. But by dint of a cool promotion with lots of CDs you’d actually like to buy all being priced ?10, I still had some cash left.

Enough for De La Soul’s greatest hits. Talk about kicking it old school. I hadn’t heard ‘Three is the Magic Number’ and ‘Me Myself and I’ for a very long time, but I’m happy to report they’ve aged well. ‘Oh,’ said Buendia, ‘that sounds a lot like Fat Boy Slim.’ Ain’t that the truth.

And there was still money left for Ron Sexsmith’s album ‘Whereabouts’. He’s one of those guys who’s always being compared to people I like (just as I was always being told that I’d like ‘A Walk Across the Rooftops’ by the Blue Nile, back in the day. And yes, I was that predictible – it’s fantastic). So it was well worth a punt with the remains of my Christmas voucher. And he’s good.

I felt like I was 16 again – rushing out of a record shop with stuff I really wanted to listen to right away. Amazon and Play and all those internet people are fine, but walking around town with some new discs still in their plastic feels great.