All posts by Steph

Reviews

Street Performance World Championships – experience of a newbie

1 Comment
Alakazham, a toilet seat & tennis racket
Alakazham, a toilet seat & tennis racket

Confession: up until a few weeks ago, I had never even heard of the SPWC. Next thing I know I’m an SPWC volunteer & heading for the new Cork leg of the event with little idea of what to expect. I returned home hooked & I can’t wait to do it all again this coming weekend in Merrion Square!

So what’s it all about? Essentially, it’s the cream of the world’s street performers gathered in Ireland doing their thing for those who come see them in Cork & Dublin hoping to get their vote to be crowned SPWC champ. There’s a bunch of stages and the acts rotate around those stages throughout the day.

What are you going to see? Words certainly don’t do it justice so I suggest you take a look at the photos over in Pix.ie (where there’s a competition for SPWC photo-uploaders to win some tasty Canon gear).

When is it on, where do I go & how much does it cost? Thursday to Sunday at Merrion Square (Dublin 2) and it’s all completely free! Everything you could ever need to know about it is on the fabulous festival blog right here which also includes interviews with the stars of the festival!

It’s going to be a busy, brilliant weekend full of smiles & fun and who knows, maybe even some sunshine. There’s something for kids of all ages, from ages 3 right through to 93. I’ll be there all Saturday & Sunday, hopefully see you there!

Events

What’s goin’ on?

Leave a comment
Swingin sisters
Swingin' sisters

Wondering what to do with yourself for the next few days? Here’s some ideas & heads ups on what’s going on out n about:

TEDx is in the Science Gallery, Dublin this evening. Live streaming will be here.

SPWC hits Cork on Saturday and Sunday – see you down there (holding a giant pig apparently…)

Taste of Dublin is on until June 14th.

Bloomsday is this coming Tuesday & there’s a bunch of various bits n bobs on in Dublin to mark it.

Get winning some tickets to the Transformers 2 premiere thanks to Rick.

And a little further down the road, on Friday next the 19th there will be 3 choirs totalling 100 voices singing the Messiah at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin 2 – ticketless event so get there early!

Bon weekend, maybe see you at SPWC or Sabrina’s tweetup in Cork!

Thoughts

Bad head day

Leave a comment
Grumpy morning face
Grumpy morning face. Nice!

Today is just one of those “not going my way” days thus far. Being on a downer is often contagious so I always try to contain the thing within the confines of my head by sticking the headphones on and keep human contact to a minimum until the worst of it has passed. You have to limit the spread of the thing or your downer will only multiply if it sees it has company. And the last thing you want is a bigger one.

Everyone has their own remedies for such days – chocolate, cigarettes, over-dosing on LOLcats, happy tunes on the iPod, a spot of unplanned retail therapy on your lunchbreak. My cure is a good chat in good company – so hallelujah for BTW later on! Best thing to get the cloud moving is get out and surround yourself with some good folk (& maybe even some beers), let the chat flow and all will be well again. See y’all at Howl later *sans* grumpy face :)

Web

FOWD Tour 09 hits Belfast

2 Comments
FOWD Tour 09
FOWD Tour 09

Carsonified’s FOWD Tour 2009 is taking in Belfast this September the 2nd. I just grabbed one of the last remaining early bird tickets for £45 so if you want similar I suggest you hot foot it to the booking page pronto.

The day is split in two – a morning of tutorials and an afternoon of presentations & speed networking. Topics to be covered over the day:

  • The Importance of Beauty in Absolutely Everything
  • The Future of HTML5
  • Top 50 Rookie Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
  • Bauhaus Ideology and the Future of Web Design
  • The Battlefield of Design – Designers vs Clients

Speakers and teachers on the day will include Andy Clarke, Brendan Dawes, Drew McLellan, Elliot Jay Stocks, Paul Boag, Simon Collison and more. Further info is on the FOWD Tour website.

See you there!