Bubbles – French Style, originally uploaded by Susan Cloonan.

One of my favourite photos from when we were in Paris last November. There are just so many funny things about this pic – the altered road signs, the faces on the people. I love it!

I was saddened yesterday morning to hear of the death of Whitney Houston.

Whitney in the News

Whitney had featured a lot in celeb news over the last couple of weeks, mostly with regard to her finances, and her appearance and behaviour in public.

Last week TMZ carried a video of Whitney leaving a restaurant in West Hollywood with Ray J with whom she is rumoured to have had an on/off relationship with since 2007.
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From the footage captured she looked well.  Nothing to worry about there, surely?

Reports from other sources, including The Sun and The Daily Mail,  last Friday, suggested otherwise.

On reading the reports, I took the view that:-

Of course she looked the ‘worse for wear’.  She’d just come out of a club in the early hours of the morning.
Rumours are that she’d had a run in with former X-Factor … Read More »

Vodafone and Dublin GAA  announced a unique initiative for the first games of the Allianz National Football and Hurling Leagues on January 23rd this year that would deliver a timely boost for promotion of mental health issues in Ireland.

The country’s largest total telecoms provider committed to vacate its jersey sponsorship for the much anticipated opening Croke Park Spring Series football league clash with Kerry and hurling league meeting with Galway for the Suicide or Survive Charity (SOS) www.suicideorsurvive.ie.

The undertaking was initiated by and is being promoted through the Vodafone Ireland Foundation, which provides funding annually to a number of Irish charities.  SOS – an Irish charity focussed on breaking down the stigma associated with mental health and supporting those affected in getting access to quality recovery services – is one of Vodafone Ireland Foundation’s existing charity partners.

Read More »

I’ve come to realise that I am a procrastinator.  I don’t necessarily put things off because they’re difficult or because I don’t like them.  Sometimes I delay doing things that I enjoy and that I want to do.

For example, I fully intended to start a project today that I’ve been looking forward to.  This is what I did instead:-

I got up late.

I went for a walk.

I took photographs while out walking.

I came home, cooked dinner, went to the hospital to fill in for another presenter at the station, came home (again),  and took more photos.

It was actually interesting to take these and to experiment with different shutter speeds and lighting methods.

In all of these photographs I used extra light from a torch.  The one below probably got a bit too much torch light. It shows up the plastic leaves on … Read More »

I’m always making New Year’s Resolutions and not sticking to them, so this year I’ve saved myself the bother of thinking them up,  and I’m using last year’s lot.  They’re always the same old thing anyway:

1. Lose weight

Nothing’s changed about this one, only that instead of having to lose one stone I now need to lose two….at the very least.

I am committed this year though.  (I am also starving.)

2. Stop procrastinating

I’ve broken this one already because there was something I was meant to do today, but I started to write this blog post and now I can’t remember what it was.

3. Walk more

I usually manage this one for about a week before I start making excuses not to go for a walk.

I walked just over three miles today though – it took me an hour.  In fairness it was an … Read More »

Looking back – the not so good.

I can’t believe it’s New Year’s Eve again!  The year has flown!

This time last year we were wondering how we were going to get through the year.  New Year’s Eve 2011 brought with it the news that John was to be made redundant at the end of January. Obviously it was a shock, although with him working in the building industry it’s safe to say that we could see that business was slowing, and the worry of what might come had been at the back of our minds for some time.

Our initial reaction was to immediately knuckle down and see where we could cut corners with regard to outgoings and bills.  For the first time in years I found myself penny pinching at the supermarket and doing my shopping in three or four different … Read More »

Hi Folks

         Susan’s younger, smarter, better looking, honest and modest brother here…. (ya know the drill).  Today I wanted to talk about something very very important to my friends and I.  Something that matters a lot to them and makes them frustrated and angry sometimes.  However, I realized I needed to do a lot more research on this one and wouldn’t have anything ready until the weekend.  So instead, I’m going to completely geek out and talk about…

3D Televisions!!!!  (yes, non nerds can tune out now….)

I’m writing this to help educate anyone who wants to know and clear up some questions that they may have.  Hopefully it helps at least SOMEONE….. 

We were led to believe that the next big step in home entertainment was going to be 3D televisions.  Now I admit, when people think about 3D, the memory of those … Read More »

Hi Folks

Susan’s younger, taller, better looking, smarter and more modest brother here.  I’ve been working a lot with the meat industry lately and I’m surprised by the amount of stuff that I’m actually learning.

I think it’s a great idea that people should be educated and that they have the resources to educate themselves.  As a result, I wish to make my own contribution to YOU, the Consumer!  So I proudly present to you, 12 Meat Facts!

Meat Facts!

1:  You should always keep your meat cool.  If possible, dress it up in sunglasses and a fedora hat.

2:  Meat that smokes cigarettes will keep longer because it looks cooler.

3:  Vegetarians are responsible for eating millions of lbs of crops every year, crops which could be used to feed tasty tasty cattle!

4:  If you piss of a Vegetarian, they will … Read More »

Ode to the one I love
By Ian H. Moore

I love how you look
I love how you smell
Life without you
Would indeed be hell

I love how you feel
I love how you taste
I would never ever let you
Go to waste

I can love you alone
Or enjoy you with friends
I hope this feeling
Will never come to an end

I want you, I need you
I desire you right now
Every time you are near
I just think “Wow”

I love everything about you
I think that’s plain to see
Oh Bacon you are certainly
The meat for me!

Haunted (mp3)

What you’re hearing is a bunch of keys, the zip on my laptop bag,  the rustling of a few leaves on a tree in LIT Clonmel, a cough, and a bit of laughter thrown in for good measure.

Bung them all into Reaper, add a few effects and, hey presto, something that sounds nothing like the sounds described.

This was only a rough compilation of sounds but I’m looking forward to getting to know the programme better and producing something really interesting.

Note: Reaper is free to download at www.reaper.fm