Guinness: It's What's for Dinner

As my astute readers have already noticed, the picture now gracing the homepage is one of Phil and me on our recent trip to the land of leprechauns and shamrocks: Ireland!

It was a special treat for my deserving husband to celebrate his 30th birthday. We don't know of Irish ancestry in either of our families, but the price was right and the sights (for Phil to photograph) were just what I was hoping they'd be. You really do drive along a country road there and suddenly come upon gorgeous ruins, most of which are at least 1,000 years old.


One spot we visited was the Rock of Cashel. Just to show you how true the "happening upon ruins" is, the picture above isn't actually of the Rock of Cashel, but it's taken from the Rock of Cashel out into a field where other random ruins lay. The contrast of the lush green with the grey stone and blue sky was simple and beautiful.



We also spent a day driving the Dingle Peninsula, in the area where Far and Away was filmed. Although overcast, this drive was still beautiful. In general, the western coast (which we were near when we took this picture) of Ireland reminded us of Northern California, only Ireland was greener, blue-er and maybe a bit cozier.

On the last day, we decided to go out of our way and drive up to the Cliffs of Maher ...


... and MAN, was it worth it! You can't tell really from this dinky picture, but those cliffs are 650-foot drop-offs. I've never seen anything like it.

To sum up, I'd highly recommend a trip to Ireland for anyone. Although I admittedly favor simply beautiful things like ruins on a green countryside, I think you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who wouldn't be captivated by the endless supply of gorgeous scenery and some of the friendliest people I've ever met. The local pubs are primarily social hang-outs and neighborhood gathering places and secondarily places where you can have the beverage of your choice. But, if you choose anything other than Guinness in Ireland, you're crazy -- it's no good here in The States, but a tasty treat that must be consumed at least once a day in its homeland.

Tried and Trump

If The Donald says it, it must be true:

"If you want to improve morale around the office, start cursing.

According to a study by British researchers, regular swearing at work can help boost team spirit among staff members. It’ll help them express their feelings and it’ll help develop better social relationships."

See, I called it months ago!

More Than Meets the Ears

My avid readers (or, at least those who stuck with me through my six-month hiatus) might have noticed the list of movies I've seen in the theater this year has lengthened considerably since the last time I did a movie review post. Many, many of those movies are not worth mentioning. But, I thought I'd start with my favorite of the summer and work my way down the list, as time allows.

So, my favorite movie of the year so far is:


Transformers was the surprise gem of this summer's movies for me. I wasn't a huge fan of the original Transformers show as a kid, but I do remember watching it at the bowling alley with all of the other teachers' kids while Mom and Dad were doing their teachers' bowling league after school (they each had their own balls and shoes and everything). Just the mention of Transformers brings back fond memories of piles of junk food, the bowling alley arcade which included my favorite as a kid -- the Donkey Kong arcade game, and, of course, the unavoidable stench of stale cigarette smoke that permeated that ghetto bowling alley (they have a website? What the heck?!). Actually, come to think of it, all of these things remind me of my childhood, and not just on teachers' bowling night, but I'll save those details for other posts on other days.

SO, as I was saying, I really liked this movie. Shia LaBeouf was the perfect star for this intense film. Matt said something to the effect of him being extremely good at acting uncomfortable, and that's why he was perfect in Transformers. I definitely agree. I've been a fan of his since he was in Even Stevens (yes, I do know this show was made for 8- to 10-year-olds and was on when I was 18-24 ... what of it?). But, I also thought the story was good and the visuals were amazing. It was just an energetic and fun summer movie.

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn't mention what probably was one of the biggest contributors to putting this movie at the top of my list: the soundtrack. I'm not talking the score, I mean the collection of songs by various artists that were played in part or in whole during the movie. My iPod (which is actually my iPhone, on which I actually purchased said soundtrack) has been stuck on it ever since. Predictably, the first song is "What I've Done" from my favorite (as you all know by now), Linkin Park. Then they throw in some Smashing Pumpkins, Disturbed, Goo Goo Dolls, Taking Back Sunday, an updated version of the "Transformers Theme" by Mute Math, and various other great songs from bands I didn't know before. If I start feeling recovered well enough from the gross stomach virus I've had for a month to start running again, this will be my new running music. Check it out!

Eaglez: America's Sentinels

A little over a year ago, Phil's new friend Toby was out from California to work on a project with him for a week. We were heading out to dinner and ended up behind a Jeep with the above spare tire cover on the back. It was totally silent in the car for about a minute, then all of a sudden, Toby pipes up from the back seat: "Dude ... that eagle's kickin' ass!"

Priceless.

Come to find out, this comment from Toby wasn't completely an off-hand comment. He had been noticing for a while how over-used eagles are in American society. After this conversation, Phil and I immediately started noticing eagles in all sorts of inappropriate places. Don't get me wrong -- we are all in favor of our National Bird being used in the traditional patriotic sense. But there are certain situations where the use of an eagle kicking ass is just plain ridiculous!

Since this time, Phil and Toby and a few other guys have started capturing eagle kitch where they find it. They make a point of NOT going out to find eagle crap, but just encountering weirdness as it pops up in front of them and posting it. The results of their efforts are chronicled on www.eaglez.info.

And now because I've mentioned it, you, too will be blessed with the uncanny ability to find weird uses of eagles in your everyday journey! Enjoy it -- it's a very special gift from me to you.