Despod's photo and comment blog.

Silhouette of the L.E. Emer in Cobh.

2012-01-01T19:24:00.003Z

Silhouette of the L.E. Emer in Cobh., a photo by despod on Flickr.

Look at the flares Ma !

2012-01-01T19:24:00.001Z

Look at the flares Ma !, a photo by despod on Flickr.

Flares commemorating Titanic in Cobh.

Flares over Spike Island to commemorate the Titanic.

2012-01-01T18:09:00.001Z

Flares over Spike Island to commemorate the Titanic., a photo by despod on Flickr.

Santa arriving on Courtmacsherry lifeboat

2011-12-04T15:48:00.001Z

Santa arriving on Courtmacsherry lifeboat, a photo by despod on Flickr.

Courtmacsherry lifeboat heading for the pot of gold.

2011-12-04T15:46:00.001Z

Courtmacsherry lifeboat heading for the pot of gold., a photo by despod on Flickr.

Cork on a mild November day.

2011-11-19T16:41:00.001Z

Cork on a mild November day., a photo by despod on Flickr.

The Julia steaming past Blackrock Castle Cork.

2011-11-04T18:41:00.005Z

The Julia steaming past Blackrock Castle Cork., a photo by despod on Flickr.

This is possibly her last trip in Fastnet Line ownership.

Julia steaming towards Cork City.

2011-11-04T18:41:00.003Z

Julia steaming towards Cork City., a photo by despod on Flickr.

Evening view looking east in Cork City.

2011-11-04T18:41:00.001Z

Evening view looking east in Cork City., a photo by despod on Flickr.

Aer Lingus A320 - in retro livery in Cork fog.

2011-09-30T12:18:00.001+01:00

Aer Lingus A320 - in retro livery in Cork fog., a photo by despod on Flickr.

Former fertiliser factoryj, Marino Point, Cork

2011-09-12T11:46:00.001+01:00

Former fertiliser factoryj, Marino Point, Cork, a photo by despod on Flickr.

Survival training pool - National Maritime College , Ringaskiddy, Cork

2011-09-12T11:44:00.001+01:00

Survival training pool - National Maritime College , Ringaskiddy, Cork, a photo by despod on Flickr.

Firefighting training at National Maritime College, Ringaskiddy, Cork.

2011-09-12T11:43:00.001+01:00

Firefighting training at National Maritime College, Ringaskiddy, Cork., a photo by despod on Flickr.

The old and the new in London.

2011-07-11T23:47:00.001+01:00

The old and the new in London., a photo by despod on Flickr.

Work on Blackfriars Bridge, London

2011-06-17T20:32:00.001+01:00

Work on Blackfriars Bridge, London, a photo by despod on Flickr.

Not a great ad for the Mercy Hospital.

2011-06-17T20:30:00.001+01:00

Not a great ad for the Mercy Hospital., a photo by despod on Flickr.

Celebrity Eclipse in Cobh

2011-04-30T19:13:00.001+01:00

Celebrity Eclipse in Cobh, a photo by despod on Flickr.

Cobh, Co. Cork, Ireland.

Norman Voyager arriving into Rosslare

2011-04-30T19:12:00.001+01:00

Norman Voyager arriving into Rosslare, a photo by despod on Flickr.

Arriving from Cherbourg

Pont Aven passing Cobh

2011-04-30T19:08:00.001+01:00

Pont Aven passing Cobh, a photo by despod on Flickr.

Brittany Ferries Pont Aven passing Cobh.

When the Ferry met the Cruise Ship

2011-04-30T19:04:00.001+01:00

When the Ferry met the Cruise Ship, a photo by despod on Flickr.

Pont-Aven passing Celbrity Eclipse in Cobh

Rosslare bound train on Wexford Quay

2011-04-25T22:23:00.001+01:00

Rosslare bound train on Wexford Quay, a photo by despod on Flickr.

Anyone for the last few buses ?

2011-04-25T22:21:00.001+01:00

Anyone for the last few buses ?, a photo by despod on Flickr.

Norman Voyager in Rosslare.

2011-04-23T12:51:00.001+01:00

Norman Voyager in Rosslare., a photo by despod on Flickr.

Secret Steps.

2011-04-19T21:43:00.001+01:00

Secret Steps., a photo by despod on Flickr.

View of the Lee from Beales' Hill.

2011-04-19T21:41:00.001+01:00

View of the Lee from Beales' Hill., a photo by despod on Flickr.

Death of a taxpayer

2011-04-18T22:53:00.001+01:00

Death of a taxpayer, a photo by despod on Flickr.

On de banks

2011-04-18T19:10:00.001+01:00

On de banks, a photo by despod on Flickr.

Pont Aven sticking her Tongue out at Ringaskiddy.

2011-04-16T13:11:00.001+01:00

Pont Aven sticking her Tongue out at Ringaskiddy., a photo by despod on Flickr.

The secret behind Irish Rail's timekeeping.

2011-04-14T23:01:00.001+01:00

The secret behind Irish Rail's timekeeping., a photo by despod on Flickr.

Taken in Mallow, Co. Cork

Time for the GAA, the City Council and the Gardai to get their act together.

2011-04-07T17:03:00.004+01:00

Last night Cork trounced Kerry in the U21 football. People traveled from hills and farms all over the two counties to the match at Pairc Ui Rinn. Such was the volume of spectators that they were streaming in well after the starting time.

I don't follow football so how did I know ?

I live in the locality and had occasion to go up Churchyard Lane and witness the appalling parking. Cars strewn across the green areas, cars wrapping around the bend on the double-yellows, cars parked in the junction, cars parked along the lane effectively bringing it down to 1-lane.

In my own estate we had cars parked on our green (which we pay to maintain), cars parked on the footpaths and one looder who parked the car full on the path - all four wheels.

Residents of Cherrington had it bad as well .

A number of calls were made to Blackrock and Angelsea St Garda Stations pointing out the danger and the chaos. I didn't see any tickets being issued by the Traffic Corps motorcyclist who seemed to be going back and forth but not actually resolving the issue. Anecdotal evidence has it that there were tailbacks to the South Ring.

Amusingly the GAA had a section cordoned off in front of Pairc Ui Rinn - probably for the articulated lorry needed to carry Frank Murphy and his ego.

My questions are:

- why is the GAA allowed to wreak such havoc ?

- why doesn't the GAA open up the pitch in Ballinlough for parking ?

- why don't the Gardai or the City Council tow-away offenders ?

- why are GAA fans allowed to break the Rules of the Road with impunity ?

- why did our dear councillors vote in favour of allowing the GAA to redevelop Pairc Ui Caoimh to cater for even more fans without any improvement in local facilities ?

The Atlantic Pond - Cork

2010-12-18T17:48:00.001Z

The Atlantic Pond - Cork
Originally uploaded by despod

The Marina in the snow - Cork

2010-12-18T17:46:00.003Z

The Marina in the snow - Cork
Originally uploaded by despod

Sent from my .....

The Atlantic Pond in Cork.

2010-12-18T17:46:00.001Z

The Atlantic Pond in Cork.
Originally uploaded by despod

Sent from my .....

And I'm back

2010-12-15T10:44:00.000Z

For some reason google had detected suspicious activity and the blog was de-activated..

Karneval group at Brandenburger Tor - 11/11/10

2010-11-11T20:01:00.001Z

Karneval group at Brandenburger Tor - 11/11/10
Originally uploaded by despod

Good sound out of them. A visit also from the Berliner Prinzenpaar.

Olympia Stadion Berlin - view from the bell tower.

2010-11-10T14:11:00.001Z

Olympia Stadion Berlin - view from the bell tower.
Originally uploaded by despod

Is this the smallest car ferry in Europe ?

2010-10-22T12:38:00.001+01:00

Is this the smallest car ferry in Europe ?
Originally uploaded by despod

This is an interesting looking vessel - like a catamaran

2010-10-22T12:36:00.001+01:00

This is an interesting looking vessel - like a catamaran
Originally uploaded by despod

The Navy is in town - HMS Penzance (UK) & Crocus (Be)

2010-10-22T12:34:00.001+01:00

The Navy is in town - HMS Penzance (UK) & Crocus (Be)
Originally uploaded by despod

Wasserbillig in the evening sun - taken from Germany.

2010-10-22T12:33:00.001+01:00

Wasserbillig in the evening sun - taken from Germany.
Originally uploaded by despod

Interesting Mural on building in Paris - near Gare du Nord

2010-10-22T12:31:00.001+01:00

Interesting Mural on building in Paris - near Gare du Nord
Originally uploaded by despod

Sam's Cookies parks in disabled spot.

2010-10-19T22:30:00.004+01:00

Hah.

Pont Aven approaching Roscoff on a summer's evening.

2010-09-01T17:19:00.001+01:00

Pont Aven approaching Roscoff on a summer's evening.
Originally uploaded by despod

Frederik Chopin in St Malo

2010-09-01T17:16:00.001+01:00

Frederik Chopin in St Malo
Originally uploaded by despod

Sunset over Plage de Longchamps - Saint Lunaire.

2010-09-01T17:13:00.001+01:00

Sunset over Plage de Longchamps - Saint Lunaire.
Originally uploaded by despod

Fish boxes travel far and wide..

2010-08-23T00:39:00.001+01:00

Fish boxes travel far and wide..
Originally uploaded by despod

Danish, Irish and French fish boxes in Dinard.

A tale of two stores - how customer service can vary.

2010-07-25T13:20:00.003+01:00

Having recently purchased an iPad I decided to see if my existing mobile broadband (payg) SIMs on Vodafone could be changed to microsims.

The Vodafone forum on boards.ie had a few postings from Vodafone representatives which confirmed that SIMs could be swapped without problem.

So off I went to Vodafone's Mahon Point shop this morning . I went in and asked could I swap my SIM. The three lads there looked at me as if I'd 14 heads. They said no. I said that it was stated on Boards that this wasn't the case. One of them hit a few keys on their computer and came back with "microsims are on contract only". That was that. No attempt to discuss the issue.

I decided I'd wander into town and called into Vodafone on Patrick St (the former Cudmore's). I told my story. Had a chat about the iPad. The initial reaction was "I don't think so" but was followed up by "I'll check". Plenty of checking was done , the iPad plans were explained and Customer Care was contacted and the deed was done.

At no stage did I feel like I was imposing on them. I got the overall feeling that the staff wanted to find out the exact situation in order to be able to provide customer service. Whilst I was there a number of other people were dealt with efficiently and with good humour.

I also dropped into O2 to change a SIM and it was done immediately.

The lesson for me is that in one store they were willing to do that bit extra to resolve (or at least confirm) the situation whereas in Mahon Point they couldn't be bothered.

Ocean to City 2010 - view towards Cork from Blackrock Castle.

2010-06-12T17:38:00.001+01:00

Ocean to City 2010 - view towards Cork from Blackrock Castle.
Originally uploaded by despod

Cork Airport's Dodgy Advertising

2010-05-18T09:03:00.001+01:00

Cork Airport's Dodgy Advertising
Originally uploaded by despod

What the picture giveth, the small print taketh away and suddenly it looks less like a bargain.

Emergency Services at Kennedy Quay Cork - now.

2010-05-17T18:11:00.001+01:00

Emergency Services at Kennedy Quay Cork - now.
Originally uploaded by despod

Haulbowline Bridge

2010-05-09T13:01:00.003+01:00

Haulbowline Bridge
Originally uploaded by despod

Steel is long gone now.

Careful now - a lethal combo.

2010-05-09T13:01:00.001+01:00

Careful now - a lethal combo.
Originally uploaded by despod

Bagad Lann Bihoue in Cork St Patrick's Day parade 2010

2010-03-17T16:48:00.003Z

Amongst the many nations who participated in the 2010 St Patrick's Day parade in Cork was France. A crew from a French naval vessel marched along with a few members of that great navy pipeband - the Bagad Lann Bihoue

Paris Gare de l'Est - roof

2010-03-15T14:34:00.001Z

Paris Gare de l'Est - roof
Originally uploaded by despod

Hmm. Is the Julia's flag upside down ?

2010-03-11T11:08:00.001Z

Hmm. Is the Julia's flag upside down ?
Originally uploaded by despod

DSC_5232

Lock Hard ! The Julia turns and reverses

2010-03-11T11:07:00.001Z

Lock Hard ! The Julia turns and reverses
Originally uploaded by despod

DSC_5211

The Julia reverses into her berth in Ringaskiddy

2010-03-11T11:05:00.001Z

The Julia reverses into her berth in Ringaskiddy
Originally uploaded by despod

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The Julia meets Cork Pilot

2010-03-11T11:03:00.001Z

The Julia meets Cork Pilot
Originally uploaded by despod

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The Julia passes Haulbowline on first revenue earning trip to Cork.

2010-03-11T11:01:00.001Z

The Julia passes Haulbowline on first revenue earning trip to Cork.
Originally uploaded by despod

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Brighton in the spring sun

2010-03-06T13:22:00.001Z

Brighton in the spring sun
Originally uploaded by despod

Silent Tracks

2010-02-14T13:22:00.002Z

Silent Tracks..

The Mills of Cork Corporation grind slowly.

2010-02-07T18:12:00.001Z

On December 7 2009 I posted a picture showing litter outside the Boardwalk restaurant in town.

On December 10 I emailed the Environment Section of Cork City Council complaining about the litter - after all the Council tells us that they take littering seriously.

However a reply didn't seem to be forthcoming so on January 7 I resent the email to Environment but also copied in the Corporate Affairs section as they are the guardians of the Customer Charter.

No response from them either.

Judge my surprise when I received an email from the Council on January 20 - a good six weeks after my initial contact. In it I was told that they examined the area on January 4 and it was found to be clean. I did wonder if they would have taken action sooner if it was a small shop owned by a nobody rather than a restaurant fronted by Cork's Loudest & Most-Opinionated mouth ?

So folks, let it be known - the City Council's Rapid Reaction Force is out there and keeping an eye on our city.

Dirty rotten Douglas

2010-01-23T15:30:00.001Z

Dirty rotten Douglas
Originally uploaded by despod

Reminds me of Pink Floyd

2010-01-09T17:09:00.001Z

Reminds me of Pink Floyd
Originally uploaded by despod

A question to Councillors

2010-01-06T11:47:00.002Z

Councillors:

Prior to the bad weather what did ye do to ascertain if your Local Authority was ready for bad winter weather ?

Did you contact your Roads manager and establish if there were sufficient stocks of material on hand ?

Did you contact your Finance officer to see if there was overtime budget available ?

When you saw the forecasts for bad weather did you ring the relevant people in your authority and ask if they were going to be going out gritting ?

Did you keep your constituents up to date with what was happening ?

Or did you wait until you awoke out of your post-Christmas slumber and caught up with the events as noted in the indo ?

More Atlantic Pond

2009-12-26T13:57:00.001Z

More Atlantic Pond
Originally uploaded by despod

Icy Atlantic Pond

2009-12-26T13:54:00.001Z

Icy Atlantic Pond
Originally uploaded by despod

Is this the right attitude ?

2009-12-20T00:41:00.001Z

From Boards.ie : ". In my books the lad is not innocent. He has not been found innocent by a jury of his peers. They failed to make a decision in this case. (O and Innocent until proven guilty me arse.......he shouldnt be allowed to walk free)" Written by a serving member of An Garda Siochana.

Shame on you Boardwalk.

2009-12-07T17:40:00.001Z

Yesterday morning I was walking past the Boardwalk (owned/ fronted by that great Cork mouthpiece Neill Blenderville) and I was dismayed and disgusted to see the large number of cigarette butts outside.

I don't know whether this litter is a damning indictment of the clientele or the management but surely Mr Blenderville could take some time off from his beal bocht bleatings and do something constructive.

Go fetch a brush and dustpan Neill.

Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivee

2009-11-25T13:33:00.001Z

Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivee
Originally uploaded by despod

Christmas Market in Trier

2009-11-25T13:30:00.001Z

Christmas Market in Trier
Originally uploaded by despod

My fall of the Berlin Wall video

2009-11-16T19:21:00.000Z

Baum Haus de Kulturen der Welt - Berlin

2009-11-15T18:39:00.001Z

Baum Haus de Kulturen der Welt - Berlin
Originally uploaded by despod

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Berlin Funkturm in the mist

2009-11-11T12:39:00.001Z

Berlin Funkturm in the mist
Originally uploaded by despod

Fall of the Wall - Berlin 2009

2009-11-09T21:18:00.001Z

Fall of the Wall - Berlin 2009
Originally uploaded by despod

20jmf

Dinner

2009-11-09T11:54:00.001Z

Dinner
Originally uploaded by despod

Dinner

2009-11-09T10:18:00.001Z

Dinner
Originally uploaded by despod

Domino wall in Berlin

2009-11-09T10:15:00.001Z

Domino wall in Berlin
Originally uploaded by despod

Brandenburger Tor

2009-11-09T10:14:00.001Z

Brandenburger Tor
Originally uploaded by despod

Berlin Scene

2009-11-09T10:11:00.001Z

Berlin Scene
Originally uploaded by despod

Cirque Maximum en Saint-Lunaire - August 2009

2009-11-03T00:47:00.001Z

Cirque Maximum en Saint-Lunaire - August 2009
Originally uploaded by despod

Cimg2081.Jpg

Port de Plaisance in Brest

2009-11-03T00:42:00.001Z

Port de Plaisance in Brest
Originally uploaded by despod

Cimg2092.Jpg

Brest (Pont de l'iroise) - taken on a summer's morning

2009-11-03T00:37:00.001Z

Brest (Pont de l'iroise) - taken on a summer's morning
Originally uploaded by despod

Cimg2085.Jpg

Apple - I'm disappointed.

2009-10-31T13:46:00.003Z

Last night I was downloading podcasts on my iPod Touch.

The downloads all stalled with the error "download error - tap to retry".

Tapping didn't work, tipping didn't work, under-breath mumbling didn't work.

After googling for the error and seeing much disinformation I discovered that this error is often a code for "there's no space on your iPod to download this podcast".

Yes, dear readers , my iPod was full so after deleting some rubbish all went swimmingly.

I'm a bit browned-off that Mr Jobs and Co. couldn't just put up an error message along the lines of "device full" instead of a stupid message which can cover a multitude of ills and woes.

Ringaskiddy

2009-10-25T18:16:00.001Z

Ringaskiddy
Originally uploaded by despod

The light caught my eye

2009-10-25T18:14:00.001Z

The light caught my eye
Originally uploaded by despod

Taken at Pairc Ui Rinn , Cork

Cork Street Art.

2009-10-25T18:11:00.001Z

Cork Street Art.
Originally uploaded by despod

Seen around the side of the South Infirmary.

The Julia in Cork

2009-10-10T16:49:00.001+01:00

The Julia in Cork
Originally uploaded by despod

When you're the Mayor of Cork double yellows mean nothing.

2009-09-29T20:53:00.003+01:00

When you're the Mayor yellow lines don't apply to you. But yet they hassle disabled drivers...

My imac has a little brother..

2009-09-26T17:04:00.001+01:00

My imac has a little brother..
Originally uploaded by despod

Snow Leopard on my Dell Insipron 10v

Cork Harbour on a lovely evening

2009-09-11T19:26:00.001+01:00

Cork Harbour on a lovely evening
Originally uploaded by despod

France and the recession.

2009-09-10T09:51:00.003+01:00

Whilst on our holidays I used purchase Ouest-France every morning and read it whilst having my pain, cafe , jus, fromage et jambon. The Ouest-France is a Brittany-centric paper much like the Examiner (but with better proof-reading, less hysteria and no JBM).

One of its themes deals with the lower numbers of tourists around, reduced spending, the failure of restaurants to pass on the VAT reduction (sounds familiar ??) etc.

I read an article about tourism in Saint Malo and one hotelier was interviewed and he bemoaned the reduction in turnover, the reduction in footfall and the poor weather.

That hotel was "Hotel France Chateaubriand". It's a nice hotel, just inside Porte St Vincent and in front of the town hall. Quite old fashioned (in the best sense) and lunch is silver service (they did lovely grilled sardines). We've eaten there a few times over the years.

This year when in St Malo we were looking for a restaurant. It was 2.20 and as we walked along we passed many which were thriving and full of happy customers. We wandered up to the Hotel France and asked about lunch. They grudgingly agreed to serve but only from the "a la carte". Lunch was pedestrian, service was frazzled (even though there were few customers) , the staff seemed to be arguing amongst themselves, the toilets were midge-ridden and all told the experience was not as good as previous years. Whats worse the lovely outdoor area was in the process of being festooned with Coke banners....

So what's the lesson here ?

To me it seems that not all the reduction in turnover is necessarily due to a recession. Maybe as in the case of the Hotel France businesses need to examine their offerings and see if they are in some way falling short.

We won't be back to the Hotel France next year - we'll try out one of the other restaurants.