Birdman & Theory of Everything

Last night we went to see The Theory of Everything in the Rathmines Omniplex.  On Tuesdays, they have a €5 ticket special. I booked tickets at about 5pm for the 8.30 show.  It was just about booked out!!  We got two tickets right in the front row (we had to strain our necks back to see the screen - literally a pain!)

The Theory of Everything is excellent.  I really think that Eddie Redmayne deserves the Oscar for his portrayal of Hawking.  Ciaran disagrees and thinks it should go to Michael Keaton for Birdman.  I don't think so but I do think Birdman should get best film......we will have to wait and see!

My Shi Tzu enjoying his jellies!

Here's Bones having a little snack in this short video

Christmas Life Hack

I packed away the Christmas Tree yesterday.  It's tradition to leave it up til the 6th of Jan in Ireland but honestly if I didn't get it down on Sunday it could have been up until next weekend and that is bordering on ridiculous!!

Sadly the place where the tree was now looks all bare - it's the same every year!

So I have a life hack that I think is so useful when packing away the Christmas Stuff.

For storage convenience and ease of use next year, wrap your lights around a tube from wrapping paper.

The lights stay tangle free - you will be so happy you did this when you take them out next Christmas.

Whitefriar Place

Today we went to Pitt Bros on Georges Street.  We parked on Whitefriar place which has a few interesting old shops.

The furrier (est. 1892)  and Maison des Chapeaux (house of hats?) are now part of the hostel which takes up the whole corner of the street.  I think it is nice the way they left the shop fronts.

The Silver Swan is a hair stylist (what a naff pink colour!) but looks to be closed up now.

Art Framing and who knows what else?!!

The view from Avalon House back down the street.

And here is the large hostel Avalon House that seems to own half the buildings on the street behind it.

Flight Films

Here's what I watched on the flight home from Abu Dhabi

1.  "Tracks" - based on the true story of Robyn Davidson who walked for months through the Australian desert with 3 camels in the 1970's

2.  "If I stay" based on the book by Gayle Forman

3. "Love punch"  which was a silly slapstick comedy starring Pierce Brosnan. 

Looking on IMDB I found out that Pierce Brosnan adopted his first wife's children.  His wife was Cassandra Harris and she died of Ovarian Cancer in the 1990's.  Her daughter who was adopted by Brosnan was Charlotte and sadly she died in 2013 of the same disease that had killed her mother.  I knew Pierce Brosnan's wife had died but I missed hearing about his adopted daughter.  Very sad.

Dead Mall Dublin

My sister and I are obsessed with Dead Malls  - we particularly get a kick out of the long closed Latham Circle Mall's Facebook page.

Wikipedia says that a Dead Mall is a shopping mall with a high vacancy rate of a low consumer traffic level, or that is dated or deteriorating in some manner. 

I noticed that SWALK has closed down in the Swan Centre.  If you have a Dead Mall in your locality, make sure you continue to support it or else you may find it coming to it's end like poor Latham Circle Mall!  

New Year's Day 2015

We were up early today because of jet lag.  We set off for Starbucks in Leeson Street but it was still closed at 8am.  We then headed on to the 24hrs one in Stephens Green.  I went on the Yik Yak and mentioned something about it.  Later I noticed someone else had also Yik Yakked about being there too.  What are the odds of two Yik Yakkers being there at the same time?......possibly quite high as Dublin is very small and also I don't think there are many people on Yik Yak in Dublin at this time!  

After Starbucks we went to Brown Thomas to pick up some Nespresso Capsules and then made our way home.

I booked tickets for the cinema later that day and at 4pm we went to see "Big Eyes" in Rathmines Omniplex.  What an incredible story and a brilliant film.  It is directed by Tim Burton but is not his usual fantastical over the top theatrical make believe productions.  I highly recommend it - Christoph Waltz is quite the scene stealer in most of the movie.

After the film Ciaran played squash and once again we were in bed asleep early due to jet lag.  

It's back to work for me on Saturday so this is my last day off for the Christmas break.  In some ways I am looking forward to going back to the normality of work but in other ways I want to continue with my holidays!