Hurling, a rough Irish sport!

Hurling Minor league Finals at Parnell Park on the 18th of may, a sunny sunday morning: Na Fianna (Irish for "The Warriors") almost wins the 2010 Féile na' nGael Division 1 title. The Kilmacud Crokes, however, managed to withstand a spirited second half comeback from Na Fianna and took the price right from under their noses. With a final score of 2-6 for the Kilmacud Crokes and a 0-7 for Na Fianna, Parnell Park went loose.

Na Fianna ruled the first half, with their first goal just after three minutes, thanks to Alex Considine, who had already scored four goals in the semi-finals. The second goal came just two minutes later. However, the first half was ensured with a 2-4 for the Crokes to 0-2 for Fianna.

The second half was ruled by the Crokes, La Fianna tried to fight back in to victory, but were denied by inspired defending by the winners. With only 5 minutes left Na Fianna did manage to reduce the arrears to four points as they picked off three unanswered scores. In the final minute the game was ensured by the Crokes and they won their third title in six years. The Kilmacud Crokes will represent Dublin at the All-Ireland Féile in Clare on the third weekend in June.

http://www.herald.ie/sport/the-dubs/crokes-kill-off-fianna-revival-2183940.html

Me and my classmates (Marijn, Sandra, Sanae and Lianne) went to this game in Parnell Park in Dublin. The sun was shining and young boys were beating each other up on the field below. Wonderfull. No, just joking. It was our first Hurling game ever and at first we were a bit shocked by the speed of the game. The ball was going every where and those sticks (called: Hurls) are terrifying. During the game two boys were injured, after for example being hit by a Hurl, but kept on playing (very though boys!) and a couple of sticks (sorry, I mean Hurls) were broken. It was hard to keep up with the game, since we did not know the rules or score counting. Afterwards we talked to a coach and an ex-hurling player. They explained us the rules of Hurling and suddenly it became more clear. But I still think the sport is too rough for such young boys! What do you think? Is it good or bad to let boys from the age of 14/15 play such a rough sport? Will it make them stronger or do they need to play other games were agression and violence is not an issue?

I will tell you all about Hurling during my presentation for UKOK! So, be prepared for some action ;)

The one who lived

A ten-year-old Australian girl, Rachael Shardlow, survived after being stung by the most deadly jellyfish on earth – the Box Jellyfish. Rachael’s 13-year-old brother pulled her out of Calliope River, near the town of Gladstone, with the tentacles of the jellyfish still wrapped around her leg. Rachael told him she could not see or breathe right before she passed out. The body of this jellyfish is only the size of a fingernail but has very long tentacles which are lethal. Its venom causes overpowering pain, vomiting, muscle pain and attacks the heart, nervous system and skin. Victims often go into shock and drown. It is the first time in history someone survived after being stung by the Box Jellyfish; Rachael Shardlow will go into history as “the one who lived”.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2950948/Girl-10-survives-killer-jellyfish.html

One of the reasons I do not go to the beach often, is jellyfish. They are scary and often everywhere. And sometimes lethal. It depends on where you are of course, Dutch jellyfish will not kill you, but do give you a nasty sting. It truly is a miracle this young girl survived, especially since it is the most deadly jellyfish on the planet! I think it is a pity that I keep away from the beach because of such small animals that are not aware of the impact they have on me – or other humans for that matter. Do you like the beach and/or keep away if there are jellyfish? Are you someone who pokes them with sticks when they drift ashore (guilty!) or throw sand over them so people will not step on them? Or are you a jellyfish-loving-person?

The Twitter insanity continues...

A new idea: Food and Twitter! They go together like steak and chips. Or so claims Daniel Young, former restaurant critic for the New York Daily News, now based in Britain, and the man behind foodie website youngandfoodish.com. The idea is to put several how-to-cook video’s online. Then discuss in a virtual room which way of preparing for example a steak, is the best. This leads to heated discussions on which steak wins. Sitting behind a screen, looking at someone else preparing a steak and asking your opinion about which way is best, isn’t that the antithesis to social dining?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/recipes/7610944/Twitter-delivers-a-rare-debate.html

I will not continue my “let’s go back to -” elucidation. I like watching cooking programs on television, so why not on the internet? And why not discuss the way of preparing food? It might help improve your cooking skills by watching a professional baking and cooking. This professional cook will take you on a cooking adventure and you can follow him step by step through the most incredible cookeries, even pause and make notes! Just like watching Dora/Diego on Nickelodeon and learn English by going on adventure. Or is that not the same thing?

Woman accused of sexual activity with student

A 25 year old trainee teacher has been found not guilty for having sex with a 16-year-old pupil. The boy claimed that his teacher, Miss McIntyre, had allowed him and his friend in to her home and gave them cider while watching television. He then followed her into the bedroom and had sex with her. The boy, however, was suspended for the third time in six months for being disrespectful to female teachers. Instead of being the offender, Miss McIntyre turns out to be the victim. The boys had been taunting her for several weeks, locking her up in a cupboard, even mishandled her lizard. She felt very intimidated when they didn’t leave after asking them for several times to do so.
Miss McIntyre’s reaction on the false allegations: “Anger is not first among my thoughts right now. But he has, with no accountability, made an accusation and I would like to see him have to realise the effect he has had on me.” “I had wanted to be a descent teacher who wasn’t heavy handed but I think, to them, I became a joke teacher.”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/merseyside/8622544.stm

You can never be too careful with these things. One of the things I came across while teaching, is the difference between (physical) contact with boys and girls. As a woman, you can easily put a hand on a girls shoulder, telling her to go back to her seat and she probably will not be offended. For men, I think, it is easier to ‘touch’ and have physical contact with male students. Have you ever thought about this? Do you think about the consequences of hanging around in a classroom with only one girl/boy left and how easily he or she could come up with a story? And how hard it will be to defend yourself? Your career will be damaged, you will always be that teacher “who’s been accused of having sex with a student”. How many schools do you think will throw away your application, once they have recognized your name? I am not trying to frighten you or warn you, I just want you to be aware of these imaginable situations…

Change for Britain?

The British elections transformed during the first live campaign debate, on the 16th of April, between party leaders Nick Clegg (democrates), David Cameron (conservatives) and Gordon Brown (prime minister).
By playing the outsider - reffering to his fellow contenders as “these two”- Mr Clegg tried to present himself as an alternative to the other two parties. He said, “the more they attack each other, the more they sound the same”, putting himself above the other two. The Prime Minister noticed Mr Clegg’s strategy and saught to strike common cause over a range of issues. This also made Mr Cameron look isolated. But to avoid a Labour bear hug Mr Clegg rejected the Prime Ministers’ attempts and said: “There is nothing to support.”

Politics in other countries has never had my attention.
I think it is a step in the right direction for Britain to show the debate live on television. And also if the Liberal Democrates win this elections, which seems to be a great possibility looking at this debate. The way Nick Clegg handled the debate really appeals to me, he did not try to defeat the other two. Just stand his ground and hold on to what he believes in, this way he will certainly win the elections. What would you choose? Someone who squabbles with his contenders or someone who stays cool and still defend his grounds?

I Twitter, you Twitter, everybody Twitter?

The Libabry of Congress - the worlds largest library - will digitally store every public tweet (when you send a message to Twitter, it is called a tweet) since the foundation of the site. This means you can find the entire archive of every public tweet ever posted on Twitter. From disasters to elections to other global events. Personal and direct messages will not be included. By searching on date, subject or even country, you can find anything ever posted on Twitter. Please note that Twitter processes more than 50 million tweets everyday, so that's a lot of tweets to archive!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/richard-adams-blog/2010/apr/14/twitter-library-of-congress

I really do not understand why people want to archive tweets. What's the use of putting millions and millions of announcements or message in one big digital archive? With Google, Yahoo and other big digital searching machines, is it really necessary to create another one with information you can also find somewhere else. Is a tweet about the election of Obama more interesting and/or important than a news item found with Google? I want to go back to the time where you could walk into a library and search in books (you know, those things made of paper, with text in them. You can even turn pages!) or old newspapers to find information. Who really needs Iphones or Ipads, away with them! Let’s use our hands, not to scroll down, but to turn pages!

Welcome!

Hi there,

Welcome on my blog. I will keep you updated on my preparations for my Dublin trip, and post messages about subjects in English newspapers. Hope you will enjoy reading my blog and post a comment if you want! I will return the favour ;)

xx Kimberly