November 2005 Archives

For those of you with iPods, you may create a Podcast. Those of us without an iPod in our life, who do have a Nokia 7610 mobile with good recording capacity, have just turned in our first MoCast to the CultureSluts.

On Fri. Oct. 28, 2005, I went to the Darklight Symposium at Digital Hub Dublin. I met Steve of the CultureSluts that day and Jessie that evening. They recruited me to a do a guest MoCast for them as Ms. Jen the Unordinary American.

I recorded small interviews with Kaptain Trouble and Stu, the bassist for the Damned, at the Damned's recent Dublin show. It was good fun. I also meant to record Jason Thompson and Tony Nealon who were both out from SoCal (specifically Huntington Beach) for the Damned show, but did not get around to it.

I will post the link to my first MoCast when Steve and Jessie put up their next Podcast.

For those of you with iPods, you may create a Podcast. Those of us without an iPod in our life who do have a Nokia 7610 with good recording capacity, have just turned in our first MoCast to the CultureSluts.

On Fri. Oct. 28, 2005, I went to the Darklight Symposium at Digital Hub Dublin. I met Steve of the CultureSluts that day and Jessie that evening. They recruited me to a do a guest MoCast for them as Ms. Jen the Unordinary American.

I recorded small interviews with Kaptain Trouble and Stu, the bassist for the Damned, at the Damned's recent Dublin show. It was good fun. I also meant to record Jason Thompson and Tony Nealon who were both out from SoCal (specifically Huntington Beach) for the Damned show, but did not get around to it.

I will post the link to my first MoCast when Steve and Jessie put up their next Podcast.

Tues 11.29.05 - The work continues on my laptop.

I am now living in Dublin, Ireland, and am attending Trinity College for a one year Masters in Computer Science in Multimedia Systems. The program is an combination of multimedia, web design, programming and art practice.

I am writing to you because I have decided to do my thesis on artists and mobility ("Moleskine to Mobile"). More specifically, how has smartphones/ high end mobile devices increased the creative / artistic productivity of professional artists / musicians / designers / etc? For my research portion, I would like to do email interviews and am asking around to see if people in the field could recommend artists/designers that they may know who are pushing the envelope with their mobile devices and would be willing to be interviewed.

Any recommendations or pointers in the right direction would be highly appreciated. I hope to conduct the interviews in Dec. & Jan., as the thesis is due in March (due to the 12 month course, everything is very compacted in time).

Thank you in advance for any recommendations or pointers.

Sun. 11.27.05 - The chandelier and ceiling of the Powerscourt center courtyard.

Sun 11.27.05 - Walking a new way to the Luas made for new discoveries.

I just got off an amusing Skype phone call with Erika, where Thomas in the background inquired, "Where is the cold dead poultry?"

This became very amusing. Was he speaking of the turkey in the ziplock bag or of the frittata in the frig?

Fri 11.25.05 - I have been wondering for seven weeks now where the local Dublin punks, crusties and activists are. I have seen one or two here or there, but not to the level that you see out and about in other major cities, esp. in a city with as many college kids as Dublin has.

Today after class, Jasper, a classmate, and I got into a discussion about why the average Dubliner is a litterbug and not active in local politics. Jasper, a native Dubliner, theorized that due to the structure of the Irish Republic's government - almost all government is at the federal level and not at the county or local level - and due to the corruption of the government, that the average Irish citizen does not see anyway to plug in and make a difference. So they don't, at all.

As I was walking to the Luas, I saw a bunch of crusties / activitists outside a government building with large banners. I walked up to check it out, mostly happy to see more than 10 punks congregating in one place at one time and to see what they were activating for.

I had a nice chat with one of the young ladies who gave me a flyer for the "Irish Friends of Ungdomshuset". They are activating for the right to have public spaces for all, like the Seomra Spraoi autonomous social space in Dublin 1 and the Dolphin Barn and Philosboro community gardens. Good for them.

I told her about Jasper and I's conversation a mere hour before and she told me that she and her friends were out to break the silence and they did believe that one Irish young person could make a difference.

Thank God for the young and the angry.

Fri. 11.25.05 - I got out of the Luas this morning to find large white snowflakes falling. I had hoped to catch them fallign in this picture, but my lovely little cameraphone did not get the big white bits falling out of the sky.

It was lovely, I tell you. Yeah! Snow! Yeah!

Unfortunately, it is too warm to stick. Dang.

Thurs. 11.24.05 - ... that will become the giblet gravy.

Thurs. Nov. 24, 2005 - It seems to be popular amongst the Dublin City utility trucks to have stuffed animals strapped to the grill or another part of the vehicle. This is the second Barney I have seen in two days.

Tues 11.22.05 - Not only has it been sunny for the last seven days, but it has also been cold. While that lovely H (meterological "high") has hovered over Wales for nearly a week, blessing Dublin with sun, it has also been cold.

With the barometric high and cold air, I, the woman with an unnatural affinity for barometric lows, started getting an "ice cream" headache in the middle of my face every time I went out last week. By the time Friday rolled around, I had a sinus headache that took up a painful, multiple day residency. I left Captain Sensible's DJ night at the Voodoo Lounge early last friday due to my headache, much to the shock of my fellow(ess) SoCal-ers.

By Sunday, I had a full fledged sinus/head cold with sore throat. I have missed classes, slept lots, drank lots of tea, taken my Advil Sinus / Cold tablets, etc. Every time I have to go out, I am very thankful for the extra long, extra wide leopard print fleece scarf that Stacey Hess gave to me as my going away present.

Thanks, Stace!

A Must Read from Jelly:

i know you are supposed to drink red wine with beef and white wine with fish. having never heard the etiquette regarding what kind of wine to drink with gator...

Mon 11.21.05 - We are now in our sixth full day of all day sun and starry nights here in Dublin, Ireland. I am not counting last Wed, as it was cloudy in the morning and did not get sunny until noon or so. The Irish Times' weatherman is forecasting a return to partly cloudy tomorrow, but maybe the sun will beat those clouds down...

Mon 11.21.05 - Walking to the Luas this morning, one of the last trees to put on it's fall colors is enshrouded in misty sunlight and frosty grass.

Turtles older than Harriet, by some.

Sun 11.20.05 - Miracle upon Miracle. We are now on our fourth day, possibly fifth, straight of sunshine during the day and stars at night. Crisp, verging on downright chilly (see frost photo), but sunny. Will the wonders of Ireland not cease?

Also, last night I got a meet a delightful little rescued puppy named Keno. I miss the Scruff.

Sat 11.19.05 - At lunch with roommates Angie & Vanessa, plus Vanessa's brother Simon.

Fri. 11.18.05 - The Damned at Temple Bar Music Center, Dublin, Ireland.

Fri. 11.18.05 - The Damned at Temple Bar Music Center, Dublin, Ireland.

Fri. 11.18.05 - Captain Sensible.

Fri. 11.18.05 - Miranda P., aka Mimi Le Meaux, was in Dublin for the Damned show. It was very good to see so many SoCal folk (5 in total) who were in Dublin. Yeah!

Fri. 11.18.05 - Catherine and Arthur, part of the Dublin / Trinity College set, at the Damned show.

Fri. 11.18.05 - Ms. Jen's "I am going to out to a gig" hairdo and coat. Yes, I brought the famed circle coat with me, but the lining is fragile, so I am only wearing it out to speacial occasions.

Thurs 11.17.05 - Ever tried to tell someone in Ireland, "No, really, I don't want another drink."? It does not work. Really it doesn't. Dave next seat neighbor at the pub kept wanting to buy drinks for Kat & I. I kept saying no. He kept buying more, by the time we got up to leave and find some dinner, I had 2 and a half drinks lined up in front of me and Kat had 2. As we left, Dave and the bartender were astounded that we weren't going to drink it all before leaving. Sorry folks, when I mean no, I mean no.

Thurs 11.17.05 - Kat (aka Kaptain Trouble) is in town for The Damned show on Friday. She and I met up and went for drinks at the Foggy Dew in Temple Bar. The gentleman next to us became more friendly the more pints he consumed. His name was Dave.

Wed 11.16.05 - Steve McCormack of WildWave came to speak at our course today.

Happy Birthday to Harriet! She is celebrating 175 years! Go tortoise Go!

Wed 11.16.05 - Someone recently told me, "Here in Ireland, we don't have a climate, we have Weather."

I have been entranced with the ever changing sky. In SoCal the sky comes in three varieties: sunny & clear, sunny & smoggy/smokey, and cloudy. Here there is the most amazing range of sunny and cloudy and everything in between. I am finding myself photographing the in between.

No, not the title to my zombie movie due in March 2006, but Lauren's new Virtual Gallery of Hot Brains, riffing off of Mena's Wall O' Brains. So, far Lauren has blogged about Ira Glass and Jon Stewart.

Now, I would love to join this blog thread, but the two hot brains that come to mind quickly are my two fave hot web/computer crushes. And since I know both men in person, one in Calif and one in Dublin, I am not going to out myself here. All my other fave hot computer/creative brains are married men.

Lauren, are we allowed to cite hot married brains?

Update: Ok, Mena is right. This is one hot brain. I did love Plastic.com....

JW would tell me to go check if Mercury is in Retrograde... but...

It has been six weeks now. And I am hitting the wall. Not only is there the adjustment of moving to a new country and culture. The adjustment of graduate school. The adjustment of a new housing situation. Of missing family and friends and Scruffy. The difficulty in making new good friends, as this takes Time... Etc. Etc. Etc.

But for five of the six weeks that I have been here, I have had communication problems. First there was the lack of internet access, then there was the Dell Computer Spa weeks, and as of last friday, I have no Skype. It is not working to save its life, I have reinstalled it, set the proxies, etc. No go. Last friday was a bad day in the world.

It just wasn't the near loss of the purse, nor the setting off the Whole Apartment Building's fire alarm at 8am (only 20 mins after the Official Fire Drill, let me tell you, I was not popular) with my attempt to toast rice cakes (don't ask, just don't do it at home), nor Skype going down and not coming back. It was also finding out that besides having a 40 plus page thesis due in March, I also have a 5 min. student film due. Wha......

I spent Saturday holed up in my room out of self-protection from the greater world. I even tried to send out an email to my nearest and dearest to tell them of my lack of Skype or any other way to call out or for them to call it, but guess ... the email wouldn't send. Not Sat., not Sun., not today. Bastard.

So, if you are a strict materialist and don't believe in anything that you can't touch, go talk to JW. Mercury Retrograde? Bad Tech Juju? Who knows? Who cares...

So, out of self-defense and near hatred for Trinity's network restrictions, I ordered an outside wireless sevice over the weekend, so that I can with without firewall proxy restrictions to access FTP, Skype, GoogleTalk, etc etc etc. The wifi device should arrive within the week and it will connect with a 512k (wahoo) signal somewhere in the neighborhood.

In the meantime, communicate with me via email, 'cause if you call my 213 SkypeIn #, I won't get your voicemail until late next week. And throw out a comment or two here, while you are at it... ;o)