Mountain biking with Track and Trail

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I hadn’t been on a bike in twelve years, let alone one built for mountain trails. It started with a tweet from Martin, a keen mountain biker, who suggested we head out for a half day experience in the Wicklow Mountains. Our small group (myself, Christian, Ben, Amy and Ciaran) met up on a Sunday morning outside Roundwood in Wicklow at the regular base of Track and Trail. Paul and Aine run the company and provide outdoor adventure experiences including mountain biking, canoeing, hill walking etc. After brief intros we got down to a basic skills course on the bikes. There’s a good bit to take in so it was great to be able to spend the time going through gears, brakes, how to position yourself on the bike etc. After we’d got comfortable, Martin was good enough to show us a couple of trails. The initial uphill was damn … There’s more

Spirit Of Folk 2013 Feastival

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This in from the loverly Natasha of Spirit of Folk writes: Spirit of Folk announces folk awards at magical Autumn ‘Feastival’. Shortlisted for ‘Best New Festival’ by the European Festival Awards in 2011, Spirit of Folk returns with The ‘Spirit of Folk Awards’ this Autumn. Originally a three day camping festival, 2013 will see the birth of an exciting new initiative, held over two events. The Awards will see top Irish folk acts battle it out in a Semi Final on August 31st, held in Whelan’s on Camden St. The winner will be chosen by a panel of high profile judges at a magical one day ‘Feastival’ in Dunderry Park, Co. Meath on September 21st. Judges will include Carl Corcroan from RTE Lyric’s ‘Blue of the Night’, Conor Byrne from ‘The Liffey Bank Sessions’, Julie Cooper from ‘Doolittle presents’ with more to be confirmed. Festival Coordinator, Emily Duffy says ‘While … There’s more

Movie Review: Man of Steel, AKA Superdull

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It should have worked. But it didn’t. It should have been the best Summer actioner. Directed by Zack Snyder, who drove the excellent 300 and The Watchmen, this movie had the full package on paper - Russell Crowe playing Jor-El (taking over the reigns from Marlon Brando); Kevin Costner and Diane Lane playing the very human Jonathan and Martha Kent, Clark’s earthbound parents; the lovely Amy Adams taking on the hardened Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane; and the genius Michael Shannon playing the big-bad, General Zod. And that’s before we even look at the reliable presence of Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer. And yet, there wasn’t an ounce of the innovation we saw in the relatively recent The Dark Knights or Inception. I’m not going to give much of the story away, but there’s very little I could spoil anyway. It’s the usual Superman tale - in order to save him, Jor-El sends his … There’s more

Buskers Required for the Laya Healthcare SPWC 2013 Buskers Stage

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This in from Rob of The Laya Healthcare 2013 Street Performers World Championships:   This year we have added a busker’s stage to the bill at the 7th annual Street Performance World Championships in Merrion Square and we are looking for YOUR participation. Are you a musician, comedian, circus act, can you engage a crowd through spoken word or burn up a dance floor with your moves? We want to know what tricks you’ve got up your sleeve and we’re open to suggestions, maybe what you do is so out-there that nobody’s put a word on it yet! There’s just one thing this is a family friendly event so keep it PG folks. The Street Performance World Championship (SPWC) is Ireland’s 2nd highest attended annual free family event. Every year it brings the best jugglers, acrobats, contortionists and magicians in world to Ireland and now is your chance to … There’s more

Spark and Line Exhibition @ Gallery Zozimus

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Spark and Line, says sculptor Michael Budd is a joint exhibitionism with the illustrator Heidi Wickham that opened at Gallery Zozimus, Frances Street, Dublin, on the 23rd of May at 6pm and runs to the 7th of June. Heidi has based her work around images of the forge and my work in a response to how I feel working as an artist in Ireland today. This is the first time Heidi and I have worked together on a project and it has been extremely enjoyable. I love Heidi’s evocative, playful work. Attached are photos of Heidi and myself at the opening and one piece of Heidi’s work and acrylic painting called Blacksmith’s block. Also a photo of one of my sculptures, The Gift that keeps on oppressing, which is 500mm square and has over 30 meters of forged steel in it. 30 metres. Three. Zero. That’s wider than your house. … There’s more