Carrie's Cogitations

Extremes in Oxford

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Today was a beautiful day in Oxford, the sun shone, and temperatures must be over the 20's. I had a lovely day in the centre of town visiting Oxford Castle, Malmaison and I rounded the day off with tapas at La Tasca. Luckily I decided to call it a day and go back to base before the sky opened.

An Inspector Calls @ The Oxford Playhouse

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The wealthy Birling family are at home enjoying a civilised dinner party when Inspector Goole unexpectedly arrives and literally brings their world crashing down around them as he investigates the death of a young working class woman. JB Priestly's classic thriller is brought to life in a visually stunning stage performance directed by Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Hours).

Blind Faith, skip it and stick with 1984

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I picked up Ben Elton's "Blind Faith" on Sunday on my way through the Airport. I was looking for a little light relief, nothing that required concentration and perhaps a bit funny. Given that Ben Elton is the creator of "The Young Ones" and "The Black Adder", I lived in hope that this simple wish would be fulfilled.

New Year Resolutions

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

New Year Resolutions - I don't do!

More on Good Deeds

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I've decided it's the pleasure I get when a simple thing I do makes such a difference to another person's life. A lady phoned me this morning to say that she was so upset last night when she realised she'd walked away from the ATM machine without taking the cash. She only realised she had no money when paying for her purchases she realised she had no cash and had to put the lot on her credit card.

Good Deeds and other musings

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Today, I had the opportunity to perform two goods deeds.

The first good deed was really simple and took hardly any time, so I'm not sure if it actually qualifies as a good deed. I was in Superquinn Shopping Centre having my glasses adjusted and when I came out of the Opticians office a gentleman, with a lovely Cork accent, approached me and asked if there was a taxi rank in the centre. I told him he hadn't a chance in hell of getting a taxi and that the nearest rank was about 20 minutes walk away in the village. He told me he had been in a meeting in the centre and didn't think to organise a taxi.

Digital Photography course @ The Gallery of Photography Temple Bar

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I love taking photo's, mostly at gigs. I always want to capture the vibe. All my photography efforts are gut instinct or trial and error. This is quite frustrating because I can see the image in my head but can't always get it on the camera. I suppose I could just read the camera manual. Never. I decided as it's a long time since I went on a course that didn't have anything to do with work I thought that I'd try one of the photography courses at the Gallery of Photography in Temple Bar.

Everything That Happens Will Happen Today

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

When David Byrne announced via his email newsletter on August 4th that he had just completed a new record with Brian Eno then I sit up, take notice and want to listen to the songs as soon as possible. Why?

Flooding and utter chaos on the M50

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 16:28:01 GMT

The M50 is a Motorway (yeah right) and partial ring road around Dublin. It feels like shortly after we finished building the dreaded thing, it became a construction site again and that we will never see the end of the upgrades. That alone causes chaos on an average working day, now add rain, not ordinary rain but relentless Irish rain.

Tom Waits live @ The Ratcellar, The Phoenix Park, Dublin

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 02:45:05 GMT

Tom Waits live @ The Ratcellar, The Phoenix Park, Dublin Wednesday 30th, Thursday 31st and Friday 1st August. ok, ok, I went to all three concerts. I know I was in Paris too, but it was preordained, a higher authority than me decreed that I would go. I'm not going to make any excuses, I love his music and I'm obsessed ... what more can I say. The first album I ever bought with my hard earned cash (picking up bottles and generally cleaning out the local cinema as a child) was "Closing Time". I still have the album, on vinyl, a little scratchy, but a treasured possession nonetheless.