A miscellany of different stories
Design your weekend
Ireland is overflowing with creative types this week, what with the sold out Offset conference in Dublins Liberty Hall Theatre (www.iloveoffset.com) and Design Week drawing to a close on Monday, across the country. Today you can choose from the Lewis Glucksman Gallery Craft Fair or the Cycle Chic Fashion Show in Cork, the Public Furnication furniture design exhibition and family day at the National Print Museum in Dublin, and an avalanche of other events around the country. Pictured left is a piece by Justyna Trcuh, which you can see at the Generation: New Work from Future Makers show at the National Craft Gallery in Kilkenny. This is a short, sharp shock of the most exciting design and creative work taking shape in studios around the country. See www.designweek.ie for something in your locality. Laurence Mackin
Next weekend, we will remind you of two especially fine crafts fairs in Dublin: Woods at Work at the Ranelagh Multi-denominational School on Nov 14th-15th, and the International Charity Bazaar organised by 40 embassies at D4 Hotel on Nov 15th
Print pandemic
Any book promising 10, a hundred or a thousand facts you didn’t know on a given topic can usually be relied upon to trot out at least a couple of titbits the casual reader was already well aware of. Not so with 100 Facts About Pandas. In fact, this book could come with a money-back guarantee to that effect.
Because, let’s face it, you didn’t already know that the otherwise slow-moving panda can outrun a cheetah when running backwards. Neither were you aware that panda fur, when woven into fabric, is bulletproof. Or that pandas were frequently used as extras in classic black and white films.
These and 97 other facts like them are brought to us by the fertile imaginations of comedians David O’Doherty (2008 If.Comedy award winner) and Claudia O’Doherty (no relation). And, if you happen to doubt whether, say, a panda really did briefly fill in for Ringo Starr in the Beatles, then Mike Ahern’s skilfully executed illustrations should clear up any confusion.
100 Facts About Pandas by David O'Doherty, Claudia O'Doherty and Mike Ahern is published by Square Peg. And no, you don't have to be a naturalist to keep a copy for reference. Eoin Butler
How do you like them apples?
Liam and Pat McDonnell, who run Springfield Nurseries in Dungarvan, Co Waterford, developed an ingenious miniature apple tree called the Coronet. This year, they have produced a miniature apple tree for Christmas, which could be just the pressie for the tree-hugger in your life. They fruit in the first year, producing tiny Red Sentinel crab apples, which look truly festive in the Christmas home. In the New Year you can make some preserves with the fruit, and plant the tree in the garden or a large pot. It will produce lovely white flowers in the summer and fruit again next Christmas. Available in selected garden centres and Dunnes Stores, or from www.coronet.ie. Michael Kelly
Georgian getaway
No 1 Pery Square is going a long way to change perceptions of Limerick city. One of a terrace of six Georgian houses built in 1830, the hotel has been lovingly restored in precise detail with a calming and understated colour palette. Awarded a place on the coveted Condé Nast Hot List 2009, the hotel also boasts a spa set into the vaulted cellar, where it has introduced a special day package in collaboration with Action Breast Cancer. Salon Sunday is the perfect excuse for a bit of pampering with the girls – the cost is €114, with 20 per cent donated to the cancer cause. www.oneperysquare.com, tel: 061-402402.
Phyl Clarke
Garlic on the go
It’s not often we take advice from the Minister for Finance – but we agree on the benefits of garlic. It’s good for the heart, and will work wonders for the brass neck. One way to cheer yourself up amid the winter gloom, particularly if you are struggling with some stringent budgets, is to get to work on the November veggie patch, and planting some garlic in particular (traditionally, it is planted before the shortest day of the year and harvested before the longest). You could also sow some broad beans (varieties such as Express or Aquadulce, for example), which will give you an early crop next May. Order your seed catalogues now from the Organic Centre (071-9854338), Fruithill Farm (027-50710), Brown Envelope Seeds (028-38184) or Seed Savers (061-921866).
Michael Kelly
Coffee house blues
Attention all beatniks. Next Friday at the Mansion House in Dublin, a small ad hoc campaigning group will gather from 10-11am to see that traditional coffee-house culture will be honoured by the Dublin Development Plan. Think of cosy institutions that often include poetry readings, art shows, theatre, music and good conversation.If you run a café or drink in one and have ideas about how you'd like the coffee scene to develop, go and have your say. Victoria White, former arts editor of this newspaper, will chair the gathering which will include many who fought to save Bewleys on Grafton Street four years ago. Sign up at cafecultureproject@gmail.com.
Ch'ing or Ming?
For your favourite collector, the gorgeously illustrated Star Pieces, just published by Thames Hudson, is a fine compendium of international furniture design throughout the ages. But it’s more than a descriptive history: it’s full of intriguing contemporary adaptations, too. The finer examples of lacquer and Chinoiserie, Baroque, Indian Ivory, Regency and Biedermeier are there in all their elegance, but you’ll also find playful examples of modernism, too. Something more humble for the times we’re living in? Perhaps this sofa upholstered in a patchwork of fabrics might suit. “I like to think of furniture as an old friend with whom you share your life in a very intimate way. It brings so much pleasure in the way it looks, the way it feels . . . Furniture is a living thing in that sense. It is time to give it the respect and appreciation it deserves,” says Charles Cator, co-author, along with David Linley and Helen Chislett. It’s a classic for anyone interested in interiors and design.
Index
'Bright Star' We're loving Jane Campion's beautiful film (above) on the doomed love affair of John Keats and Fanny Brawne. Sob, sob
Love soup It's that time of year for someone in every household to leave a pot of broth on the cooker for all comers
€10 notes in ATMs Are banks filling their machines with more, eh, appropriate denominations?
Mussels Cheap comfort food. Cooked in coconut milk, the Asian way. Yum, yum
'Talking History' Newstalk on Sundays. Intelligent broadcasting
Wunderkammer, Cabinet of Curiosities Exhibition of Irish craft designers in that beautiful new building you've always wondered about. The Waterways Visitors Centre, on Grand Canal Dock, Dublin 2. Until next Sunday
Strikes This winter of discontent thing is getting scary
Portmarnock Golf Club Still trying to stop women from becoming full members, and the Supreme Court agrees. Shame on both of you
Podge and Rodge Boorish and so not funny anymore
Knock 'pilgrims' Have as many 'visions' as you want, but at least clean up after yourselves
Rural pubs With 2,000 set to close in the next 10 years, will there be anywhere left for a country pint? Good food vital for survival
