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Lunchtime linkage

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No.1 the day I was born
No.1 the day I was born
Oldie but goodie: what was #1 the day you were born? For me it’s ‘Band Aid: Do They Know It’s Christmas’. Can you top that? Leave yours in a comment & we’ll see :)

Stu’s ‘Songs Reimagined As Alert Boxes’ is currently at #3 in the Infectious chart & closing in on the #2 spot.

Cork boy Mark Hayes (brother to colleague Darren) is cracking me up with his blogging from L.A.

Tickets are on sale for the fabulous Gardiner Street Gospel Choir gig at The Helix, DCU on June 6th. Highly recommend going along, amazing bunch of singers & musicians – you’ll leave grinning ear to ear with a smile in your heart :)

And finally, I’m handing in my iPhone to be sent off to some foreign land to be hopefully fixed. In the meantime, Stu has kindly allowed me to borrow & unlock an N95 he had spare. I can’t get texts sending from it, everything else working fine so if you can shed any light on it I’ll buy you a pint or something suitably rewarding!

Thoughts

I carry an Organ Donor Card – why don’t you?

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Donor Card
Donor Card

Don’t ask me why or when it hit me but some time over the past few weeks I finally got myself a Donor Card. It’s been something on the long to-do list for an age & something very easy yet worthwhile to do. Why get one?

  • You are 3 times more likely to need an organ transplant than be a donor.
  • Transplant operations are becoming more & more successful thanks to advances in medicine yet the number of patients in need outnumbers the number of donors available
  • You could give someone an incredible gift
  • Putting your wish to be a donor in your will is simply too late

So how can you get one? It’s very easy – there’s several different ways you can get your card, all listed in the Irish Kidney Association website. Once you get your card it’s very important that you do the following:

  • Sign the back of the card yourself
  • Get your next of kin to sign the back of the card
  • Carry the card with you at all times
  • Tell people that you carry the card (and maybe even convince one or two of them to do the same!)

There’s plenty more information available on organ donation and transplantation at the Irish Kideny Associaton website at www.ika.ie.

News

Dublin Bus service cut-backs kick in

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via breakingnews.ie
via breakingnews.ie

According to BreakingNews.ie there will be 120 less buses on the roads of Dublin and the surrounding commuter belt from tomorrow Monday April 26th. The cut-backs at Dublin Bus are in response to the downturn in the economy and the need to cut their losses this year.

29 routes have had schedule changes while some ‘low frequency services’ have been withdrawn but it appears that they’ve forgotten to list them on the website, or maybe I’m reading it wrong:

Screengrab of Dublin Bus web page
Screengrab of Dublin Bus web page

Routes with new timetables include the following: 

14, 14a, 18, 27, 27x, 37, 37x, 38/a, 39/a/c, 39x, 41/a, 46c, 46d, 47, 48a, 51, 51d, 51x, 77, 77a, 77x, 84x, 84x*, 116, 118, 128, 150, 161, 210

New timetables are online at www.dublinbus.ie. According to news reports on TodayFM this morning, there’s a dispute over some of the proposed changes at the Harristown garage and some bus services from that garage are affected this morning.

Events

Cork International Choral Festival hits the real capital

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Warm-up time for the 55th Cork International Choral Festival
Warm-up time for the 55th Cork International Choral Festival

“4,600 voices, 85 performances, from 22 countries for 5 days in Cork.”

That’s the 55th Cork International Choral Festival which kicks of this coming Wednesday and runs until Sunday May 3rd. There’s a lovely variety of performances on offer from chamber groups to children’s choirs and numerous competitive events in between including the prestigious Fleischmann International Trophy Competition which takes places on Saturday.

Some performances that grabbed my attention on browsing over the brochure that may tickle your choral fancy:

  • Opening Gala Concert with Cork Symphony Orchestra: A Sea Symphony
  • Shandon Sunrise with Cathal O’Baoill & Gothenburg Youth Choir
  • The National Chamber Choir of Ireland: From the Sublime to the Ridiculous
  • Fleischmann International Trophy Competition
  • Closing Gala Concert

Most if not all ticketed events are on sale via the online booking system, over the phone on + 353 (21) 4501673 or in person at the Everyman Palace Theatre box office. Family rates, group rates and season rates are also available. Check out the website at www.corkchoral.ie.

Across from City Hall on Lapp’s Quay there will be a Festival Food Fair on the boardwalk from 10am to 4pm on Saturday while The Clarion Hotel will be satisfying your afternoon & late night choral needs with performances in the Atrium on Saturday & Sunday afternoons from 2.30pm – 6pm and again from 10pm – 2am. 

Looking forward to it!

Events, Web

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BTW
BTW

Jason is taking the BTW event to Cork today at the Boardwalk Bar & Grill at 6pm. I was at the last one in Dublin and it was a fantastic informal meetup of a great mix of people from various walks of the online world most of whom I probably wouldn’t have met ‘offline’ otherwise.

There’s some tasty badges on offer too if you need further reason to attend :) Would love to have been there but Cork will have its’ claim over me next weekend instead for the International Choral Festival which I will be posting about later on. Directions for how to get there. Have a great evening all!