-
here comes the sun
It’s a goregeous summer day and I’ll be spending a chunk of it travelling up to the 2-D Comic Book Festival in Derry. I’m looking forward to showing the first issue of Róisín Dubh to a new audience, and meeting old friends and new. It’s a bank holiday weekend in Ireland so I hope the sunshine lasts to warm up our bones over the next three days. Enjoy it while we have it!
-
be part of the solution
It’s no surprise to any of my regular readers that I’ve considered myself a feminist from the moment I understood what it meant. Most importantly, I have always stated that fact without embarrassment or the need for a self-deprecating modifier (‘but I like men!’, ‘but I never burned a bra!’, etc. etc.). Yet, for me it comes with a responsibility. I always remember that it’s due to the legacy of action by past feminists that I enjoy the right to vote, as well as a raft of anti-discrimination legislation. It’s up to succeeding generations of women to continue their mission for equality and fair treatment for everyone (irrespective of gender,…
-
off with her head
My trip to Mallorca earlier in the year provided me with opportunities to capture a number of cool or odd images. Some of you might remember my blog post called Gothic Sacraments, which had photographs from the astounding Chapel of the Holy Sacrament in the Catedral de Mallorca. One of the most impressive Gothic cathedrals I’ve ever visited. Another section of the Cathedral that fascinated me was the Chapel of Saint Jerome, which contained several paintings. A set of two were particularly striking. Here’s the bottom image: This is Saint Catherine of Alexandria, a famous Catholic martyr. In typical fashion she refused to recant her faith and was eventually decapitated…
-
fuzzy
Martin spotted this hairy little fellow the other day while we were walking our dog. I hunkered down and got a few snaps of this impressive caterpillar using my mobile phone camera. I was really happy with the detail it captured. You’d expect to discover a caterpillar like this in a warner country, but it seems surprisingly exotic for Ireland.
-
going up north
This weekend I’m heading up north to Derry’s 2-D Comic Book Festival. It’s my first time attending, but I’ve heard really positive things about the event, so I’m looking forward it to (but not the 5 1/2 hour bus journey!). It’s taking place from the Thursday, 2nd June – Saturday, 4th of June, and is completely free. The Guests of Honour are Mark Chiarello, Mick McMahon and Glen Fabry. The guest list includes both Irish and International comic book writers and artists, including Stephen Downey who is the artist on the other Atomic Diner title I’m writing, Jennifer Wilde. I’ll be attending from Friday evening just in time to catch the panels that…
-
in the spotlight
The image on the right happened the night after I returned to my hotel room after the ZeBBie Awards in Dublin. Perhaps there was a version of “I feel pretty” playing in my head, as I don’t get the opportunity to dress up often. This started as a blurry picture of me without my glasses (rather appropriate), and as I do sometimes I began mucking around with the image. Of course I should have gone to bed, but after the buzz of a party I wasn’t in the humour to sleep. I ended up looking a bit like a comic book character, which dovetails nicely with what I’m writing at…
-
take a deep breath
I like to play around with images in Paint Shop Pro: change their colours, deform them, reverse them, etc. and see what happens. A lot of the time I have no objective other than to see what arises. It’s an enjoyable exercise for me. This started out as a photo I took of a children’s ride outside a café in Santa Ponsa, Mallorca last February. It was late at night and the town was deserted. This gnome and his crazy, wild-eyed horse companion had that weird, startling life of the neglected toy. Perhaps I was inspired by tonight’s fun episode of Fringe, with its homage to Inception, A Scanner Darkly…
-
geek bust
This is another image from my visit to the new Google building in Dublin. Some wag in the office put a Slash Dot baseball cap on top of one of the busts in their library. To me this captures something essential about the spirit of the company.
-
time to stop drinking
A rather Dalí-esque clock on the side of a pub in Dublin, snapped during my last visit. I’ve seen this before, but I took the time to stop and take a picture of it on this occasion. Often, the landscape/cityscape that surrounds us becomes so familiar we don’t really see it any more. Then, during temporary sunshine in between downpours, an old element becomes new again.
-
cú chulainn mural
Last week I was lucky to get a tour of the new Google building in Dublin. I was blown away by the interior design. I don’t believe I’ve encountered another company that has invested so much thought and consideration into designing functional and fun environments for their employees. Each floor is themed in a particular way, and as a mythology nut and a fan of comics I was delighted with the Emain Macha floor. Here’s most of the full-wall mural in the games room/café on that floor: Here’s a close-up: I’ve more images from this on my Flickr account. That’s the Irish hero Cú Cuhlainn, no doubt doing his famous…