Ole-oh Trinidad Tobago

Yes, World Cup fever has hit Ireland too. Even though the boys in green will not be competing. A reason to drink however, is still a reason to drink. In lack of a team to support, the breakfast radio show Strawberry Alarmclock has decided to adopt a team. The criteria:
Underdog
Will have to play England (anyone who has to play England are friends of the Irish)

of course the obvious choice was Trinidad and Tobago. Complete with a song and a big party on the night they play England (wear your Trinidad and Tobago jerseys!), trinidad and Tobago are the latest cause of support.

unfortunately they were beaten by Wales in a friendly this weekend, but hey all they have to do in the tournament is beat England.

Another radio station decided to adopt Poland. The logic behind this is that because there are so many Poles working in Ireland, the Poland matches are bound to be good craic.

The Strawberry Alarmclock is definitely my new favourite radio show ever. They trail 'Colin Farrell' (I'm Colin Farrell from Phonebox, ya know) around the place to see what he's up to (Getting a fake tan on his bum for a love scene, for example). And then there's 'Gavin', South Sider, who frequently quotes his old Latin teacher, hates all things North of the Liffey and especially all the boggers (people from outside Dublin).

Anyway, that's what I wake up to in the mornings.

Don't you just love the smell of arsenic in the morning...

Today I got to be a scientist. It has been a while since I wore a lab coat and latex gloves(I can vaguely remember something with secondary school chemistry experiments), but today I had to protect myself from the bugs, dirt and arsenic that have taken possession of the animal skins in the storage drawers in the gallery.
Because of the bad condition the roof is in and the dead pigeon that has been lying on it for a year now, there is a large scale bug infestation in the Museum. To battle this, all the specimens have to be frozen in order to kill whatever it is that's eating them.
At first it was a bit eerie. Opening a drawer and finding the skin of a soul-less Timon (from the Lion King) I had to put in a bag, seal and store in a crate for transportation. Koala's, platypus, armadillos and various rodents all passed through my hands today. But in the end I got used to it.
Because these skins were prepared in the 19th Century, Arsenic would be the chemical of choice. Being extra careful was a necessity. Don't want to end up like Napoleon....

Working in a museum can be a lot more adventurous than you'd think....

Oh yeah, the floor is crumbling away too. There are many speculations about secret basements. Since nobody has the architectural plan of the building., nobody knows if there is one and what could be in it. Excitement, excitement. It's getting more Indiana Jones every day...

Getting to work is a job in itself

No, this is not about me not being able to get up in th emorning, because that has never really been a problem for me. It's about travelling though Dublin during rush hour.
Being used to small towns and smaller-than-than-medium-sized cities. I have always lived close to anywhere I needed to go. I know I have been spoilt rotten, because my bike at home died from the loneliness and agony of never being used. Why cycle if you can walk has been my motto over the last years.
Enter work placement on the south-side of Dublin city centre.
I have always wondered why there are so many people walking around in Dublin in their nice suits with shiny white runners on their feet. I now know the reason.
Although the busses can take you everywhere in the city, this is, unfortunately, just hypothetical. Usually, you take whatever bus stops close to your home and that will probably bring you to the city centre. Probably, in the sense that it is likely to either get completely stuck in traffic or break down. From the city centre, you'll probably have to get another bus that will bring you to your workplace.
In the end, you'll probably get stuck somewhere along the way, for whatever reason, and find yourself walking the rest of the distance. Hence the runners (and the little backpack that contains their real work shoes).
Lucky for me, I have so far actually made it in to town, even though I usually don't reach the south-side by bus because the streets turn into parkinglots. the museum is a 15 minute walk from there, so I'm not doing too bad really.
My way home is a different story all together. If I finish even half an hour later than usual, I might as well walk all the way home (which takes approx. 1.5 hr altogether) since the bus will be stuck in traffic even before it gets to my stop.
Good thing they are planning a lightrail and metro system now. SO in 10 years or so, the problem will be a lot smaller. Hopefully for the Dubs.

We have a lift-off!

Horray! Rachel and I have started our improvers 1 course in pole-dancing. There have already been chairs involves and next week we'll move on to hoops. Great stuff. No bruised knees so far...

Meanwhile I am working on my last assignments, which ofcourse take more time than I actually have. Ah well, one way or another they will all be done Monday week and then it's dissertation time again.

I guess Bertie's working this week...

While passing the Taoiseach's Department, the neighbours, on my way to the Museum, I saw a peculiar sign posted at the public entrance:

All tours of the Government Buildings are cancelled because of Government business.
We apologize for any inconvenience caused.

Well at least while apologising for cancelling the tourse, they also apologise in advance for doing 'Government Business'. Very considerate I must say....

The gems you find while hidden away in the attic of a 19th century building...

This week I started my work-placement in the Natural History Museum. So far, I have been editing a very boring book about the History of the Museum - which in itself is not boring, but just written in an extremely dull way.
Throughout the thing, however, I have come across a number of very amusing details, I must say. For instance, here was a group called 'the Slugs of Ireland'. And on the very last page, we found a sentence that just made the whole thing worth while: "...In that year the Patten collection of birds killed by striking Irish lighthouses was donated to the museum." ehh, right, so
Imagine someone waking up one morning, trying to figure out what to do with his life and then deciding to start a collection of birds that met their maker by flying into and Irish lighthouse.
This conversation must have occurred at some point. No doubt about it:
'Can I interest you in this dead bird for your collection?'
-'Only if it flew into a lighthouse though'
'It did'
-'Was it an Irish lighthouse?'
'Ehh no'
-'Then I don't want it.'

Headlights, white lines & black tar rivers...

There's another one I could have used for my thesis last year...

Anyway, I went to a Levellers gig on Saturday. Only decided to go on Friday, so it was another case of last-minute-fun-management.
The Levellers always make me happy and I knew they would get me right in to the Cambridge mood. So off to Temple Bar Music Centre I went. Turned out the place wasn't much bigger than our old local youth club-thingie 'balloon' so it was pretty nice to see them in such a small venue.
Since the opening act was basically what we call a 'bak takkeherrie' at home (extremely noisy, loud and unstructured) I decided to hang around the bar until they were done. It had been a while since I saw the Levellers last and even longer since I saw them in a non-festival setting. I kind of forgot what kind of crowd they draw (besides me and the people I know). So mariekschen was happily dancing the night away with a bunch of smelly hippies who think dreads are for white people.
It was great to see that the bass player was still as crazy (or high) as always, although he cut his dreads off to his bum instead of his knees and Mark and Simon, although getting a bit gray around the edges, still have those distinct voices that add so much to the music. O yeah and Jon the Fiddle player can still jump and play at the same time.

Quote of the night:
Mark: So did anyone do anything bad last night?
crowd: yeah!
Mark (pointing at somebody in the crowd): So, young man, tell us what it was. Share it with the group.
Man: Silence
Mark: Ah first time eh. Guess we've all had to do that at some point.

After ringing the bleedin' boxoffice for two days straight since Sunday, I now finally have my Cambridge ticket. Thanks to Brian in Scotland who eventually did get through....