Owner: thesraid.com - I get it! URL:http://www.thesraid.com Join Date: Thu, 28 Jun 2007 19:01:53 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: John Ó'Ríordán. Blog about life in Cork, photos from Cork & elsewhere, my opinions, Linux, hurling and other sports and some funny stuff thrown in because life shouldn't be so serious. This is the blog of John O'Riordan. I get it! Site statistics:Click here
Google Earth Flight Simulator 2007-09-04 12:18:16 Downloaded the latest version of GoogleEarth
today (version 4.2) and it turns out it has a hidden FlightSimulator
! Cool or what. Just press Ctrl + Alt + A and off you go. You get to pick from two different planes.
You can find a list of commands on the Google Earth
help page
Anyway I took it for a test flight over Cork and it was pretty cool. Takes a little getting used to though. But the “Start from current position” option is very useful.
Limerick gangs order hit on Spaniel 2007-08-28 07:15:05 Read this in the Irish Independent today
“SOME of the country’s most dangerous criminal gangs have put out a contract on a specially trained sniffer dog that has almost cleared a prison of illegal drugs.
Rocky, a two-year-old black-and-white spaniel, began his crime fighting career in Limerick
Prison a fortnight ago and is proving to be a knockout success in the detection of drugs smuggled into the jail.
Such is the canine’s success rate that convicted criminals inside the jail frustrated with the drugs drought have ordered their associates in Limerick’s crime gangs to have the dog killed.
Last Thursday, some of the city’s most notorious criminals in the D2 wing of the jail staged a riot and smashed all their TVs in protest at the new recruit.
Convicted criminals have even attempted to take pictures of Rocky on their mobile phones and send it to gangs outside the jail so that contracted hitmen will recognise the drug- busting dog.”
Full story here. Read more:Spaniel
Eddie Moroney 2007-08-28 03:17:53 This is classic! It is an excerpt from an actual commentary from a guy called Eddie
Moroney during a Tipp U21 County Final in ‘92. You can get the whole match live (not animated) on YouTube if you’re interested.
Have you seen this man? 2007-09-28 14:50:45 Saw these pictures on thatsireland.com. Very funny and a pretty good website as well.
My Favourite Ad of all Time 2007-09-26 16:42:21 This is an ad for an learning English in Germany. Berlitz Junior. And people tell me Germans have no sense of humour! I lived there long enough to tell you some of them are the funniest people I have ever met.
Read more:Favourite
Why GAA is better than soccer 2007-09-26 16:23:45 1) The GAA player who played in front of 80,000 at the weekend will be teaching your children, selling you meat or fixing your drains on Monday morning. The soccer player who plays in front of 80,000 will be moaning about playing too many games and will be trying to sell you his personalised brand of leisure wear
2) GAA nicknames are better
(The Bull, The Bomber, etc.) Soccer players just add a Y to their surnames
3) Dublin vs Meath is a real derby. What does Utd. Vs City mean to Ronaldo or Sibierski
4) How many soccer players does it take to screw in a light bulb? Answer eleven. One to stick it in and ten to surround and kiss him after he does it
5) Soccer players go to the papers after a game. GAA players go to the pub
6) John Terry would run a mile if he came up against Francie Bellew
7) GAA teams are numbered 1-15. A soccer team reads like the lottery results
8) All soccer players wear shin pads. Some hurlers wear helmets
9) Television runs soccer. Schoolteachers run the G
Iarnród Éireann Passenger Charter 2007-09-26 08:58:53 I hate travelling on the train in Ireland. The rail system is expensive, has a very limited number of destinations, is slow and often late and the carraiges are a disgrace. Although to be fare the carriage running the Cork Dublin line is quite nice. Rail travel to Hurling and Football matches is a real pain and the website has cuased me to miss more than one train as the timetable was wrong.
So you should know your rights when you travel especially if the train is late, which is by far the most annoying part of rail travel.
Below you’ll find what you are entitled to in the event of a delay.
Discounts in the Event of Delays
If your service is seriously delayed for any reason within our control, you may be entitled to a discount voucher.
If, because of circumstances within the control of Iarnród Éireann, you are more than one hour late in arriving at your destination, we will normally offer you discount vouchers for use against future ticket purchases. The value of discount vouc Read more:Passenger
, Charter
Limerick Players Boycott Munster Inter Pro Team 2007-10-11 06:47:08 Read in the Irish Examiner today that some of the Limerick
players are refusing to play for Munster
because of the changes to the munster Championship which makes it very difficult for the weaker teams to break through to a Munster Final. Fair play to them I say! First Antrim get shafted now this. What is Brennan doing? I really have no faith in that fella. But sure what do you expect from an Insurance Salesman? Isn’t it funny that Kilkenny still have a nice run into the finals after the Hurling Championship reshuffle?
Mickey Ned O’Sullivan (Limerick Coach) says
“They all felt that they would not have the heart to play for a province that has treated them the way it has and that has no interest in the development of football in the weaker counties. So they decided against playing — which is a big decision. The players felt that they are being left out on a limb.
“I agree with them totally and to the best of my knowledge, there is a similar feeling in the other counti Read more:Players
, Boycott
, Inter
How Not to look like a Tourist 2007-10-11 02:57:26 Saw a great post here on how not to look like a tourist in Ireland. Some of my favourite lines
“[Irish People] do not wear coats, unless it’s p*ssing out of the heavens”
“Irish people do not wear shorts, unless on the beach. ”
“Never stop to read a road sign. All Irish people know that Irish road signs point in the wrong direction anyway, and ignore them.”
“Learn to drive like the Irish. Never indicate. Always hog the overtaking lane. Always drive too fast. ”
For the full post see here.
Why is Cork Airport so Expensive? 2007-10-11 01:57:41 I was trying to book a flight from Cork to Rome yesterday as I plan on taking my Mother to the Vatican for her birthday. I was booking a flight in April for 3 people from Cork and it would cost €1,700. The same flight from Dublin only cost €180!
What a huge difference! Why is this? I mean Cork and Dublin are not that far apart, the fuel costs must be the same. The only reason I can think of is because Cork has higher charges than Dublin. Probably because of the debt (€100,000,000) they have been left in by the Government who promised to leave them debt free after they broke away from Aer Rianta.
If I am correct then I feel that is a pretty insane state of affairs. I would love to support Cork airport (as I live in Cork) but it is cheaper for me to travel by train to Dublin, stay the night and then fly out from Dublin airport the next day. Are the government trying to totally kill tourism in Cork? It probably has an effect on business deciding to hold conferences, and maybe even s
Cork County Champions no longer select Captain 2007-10-10 01:40:24 Well Cork have finally got rid of that outdated model where the CountyChampions
pick the Captain
. You have seen through the years guys who are not perhaps the most natural Captains in the team, or even guys who struggle to make the first team, being Captain. This way the best man for the job should get it.
From what I have heard down the years Donal Óg would seem to be the natural leader of the team. So it is only right he gets the job of leading them. But regardless of who gets it now we can be confident the best man for the job will get it.
The Gardaí are useless 2007-10-10 01:28:05 A friend of mine had her car damaged in Cork recently. We all saw the guy who did it. He was drunk and was annoyed because we were playing ball on a public green area (Kennedy Park) and wouldn’t leave him join. So he kicked the wing mirror off her car.
Anyway we ran after him and he hopped on his bike and sped of, so we hopped in the car and went after him. In the car I rang the Gardaí to ask them to send someone down. Now first let me make it clear I rang Anglesea Garda station in Cork. In fact the station is only a few hundred metres down the road from where the incident happened.
A girl without a Cork accent answers.
Garda: “Hello Gardaí”
Me: [I explain what happened]
Garda: “Ok, where did this happen and where is he now?”
Me: “It happened in Kennedy Park”
Garda: “Where exactly is that”
Me: “Down Kennedy Road on the way to Pairc Uí Caoimh ”
Garda: “Um, where is that?”
Me: “Down Centrepark RoadR Read more:useless
Technorati Profile 2007-10-03 10:45:18 I set up my Technorati
Profile today. For those who don’t know it is a site that notifies you when someone links to your blog and other such useful services. It also allows you to create alist of your favourite blogs and updates others when your site is updated. Plus much more useful blog related stuff.
My Alternative Hurling Championship 2007-10-03 02:22:42 This is my suggestion for an alternative Championship which should be much easier to understand than the current one. And also hopefully fairer to the existing teams.
I propose dropping the Leinster, “Connacht” and “Ulster” Championships.
Instead we would have a “3 Provinces” Championship consisting of
Kilkenny
Offaly
Galway
Antrim
Wexford
Each team would play every other team once a year. The first year away and the next at home. This would introduce home games in the Championship which I think would really increase the crowd sizes in the matches as you wouldn’t have to travel long distances.
In Munster you would have the same format with each of the Munster Teams.
Cork
Limerick
Waterford
Tipperary
Clare
You would get 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw and nothing for a loss.
The top two teams from each championship would go through and play each other in the Munster Final and the 3 Provinces Final. The winner of one plays the loser of the other Read more:Alternative
New Hurling Championship Format 2007-10-01 09:25:55 This is the most confusing one yet.
The 12 counties eligible to participate are Dublin, Kilkenny, Laois, Offaly, Wexford, Clare, Cork, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford, Galway and Antrim.
All Ireland hurling qualifier phase 1: comprised of two teams, Antrim and Galway.
All Ireland hurling qualifier phase 2: shall comprise of the winners and losers of phase 1 and the teams defeated in the first round of the Leinster and Munster championships.
The winner of phase 1 will play the team from Leinster and the loser of phase 1 will play the Munster side. The winner of phase 2 will then move on to phase 4.
All Ireland hurling qualifier phase 3: shall be comprised of four teams i.e. the beaten provincial semi-finalist in Leinster and Munster, who will play off in a knock-out format. A Munster team will play a Leinsetr team and an open draw will be made to determine the pairings.
All Ireland hurling qualifier phase 4: The winners of phase 2 will play the winners of phase 3 in a knock-out format.
A
The betrayal of Antrim 2007-10-03 01:34:19 Got this from the IrishIndependent.ie. Very true. I think the new format is a joke. Makes things very easy for Kilkenny as there is no opposition in Leinster and does nothing to help the weaker teams. They are going to kill the popular hurling support in these counties.
“Saturday was one of the darkest and starkest days in the history of hurling, dark in that those charged with nurturing the game betrayed one of their own, stark in the brutal manner it extinguished a light across Antrim.
Draw a line from Dublin to Galway and you will find south of which, it appears, nobody gives a damn about Antrim or their likes. That’s the only conclusion to be reached from the disgraceful way Antrim are being treated by the latest changes to the championship format.
Antrim are quoted at 1,000/1 to win next year’s All-Ireland title but, in reality, it’s more like 100,000/1. In fact, Antrim have little chance of ever winning another game in the All-Ireland series under the new
Cadburys Advert 2007-10-16 16:00:35 As a follow up to my post about the funniest ad I have ever seen here is another ad doing the rounds at the moment. It is for Cadburys Chocolate, it has a Gorilla and it’s very funny!
Read more:Advert
Taras Location in relation to the New Motorway 2007-10-15 06:45:35 I am sure that I am not the only person from outside Meath that is not familiar with the layout of Tara in relation to the new Motorway. However Steve has a nice and simple Google Map that shows exactly where the Motorway is being built. I was often confused by the pro Motorway people saying it was not near the Hill of Tara whereas the anti motorway people said it was going directly through the Tara complex. Well this clears it up pretty quickly for me. It seems that the Motorway does not go through the hill but does dissect the surrounding area which was heavily populated when Tara was at it’s height as, obviously, there would have been a lot of opportunities for people living near the Árd Rí (High King).
Click here to check out Steves post in full. Read more:Location
Plans to increase Páirc Uí Caoimh capacity to 60,000 2007-10-17 07:31:27
Read in the Examiner today that the GAA are trying to get planning to increase the capacity of Páirc Uí Caoimh to 60,000. That is badly needed in Cork becuase the nearest place for good size concerts would be Millstreet. I am not sure how many games they could hope to play there though. I don’t think anyone wants the Munster Finals to leave Thurles. Just becuase you have a shiny new stadium doesn’t means games are going to be moved there (look at limerick). But from an infrastructure point of view (Concerts, events etc.) I think it is great! And any money made can go to the local GAA community. Result!A few quotes from the article.
“The extra seating will put the venue on a par with Glasgow Celtic FC’s Parkhead ground, Liverpool FC’s proposed new stadium and Arsenal’s Emirates base in London.”
“Outside Ireland, only grounds such as Manchester United’s Old Trafford (76,212 seats), London’s Wembley (90,000) and Paris’s Stade de France (80,000
EU to take legal action over Tara 2007-10-17 05:15:27 This made the front page of the Irish Times today
“The Government could face fines imposed by the European Union over its handling of the M3 motorway project in the Tara-Skryne valley following legal
action which gets underway today.
The European Commission is expected to begin legal action against the Government today over the manner in which it has proceeded to build the M3 motorway near the Hill of Tara.
The decision will provide a boost to campaigners who are trying to force Minister for the Environment John Gormley to consider re-routing the motorway.
The legal move is not expected to halt the construction of the road, but it will force the Government to defend its position at Europe’s highest court, a process that could eventually lead to the imposition of fines if it loses the case.
Environment commissioner Stavros Dimas will tell his commissioner colleagues at a meeting in Brussels today that the National Monuments Act in the Republic does not offer enough protectio
Ireland is ranked friendliest place in the world 2007-10-17 01:43:39 Ireland has been voted the friendliest place in the World in the new Lonely Planet Blue List. We beat off competition from such friendly countries as Thailand and Fiji. I know people often complain about Ireland and prices, increased pace of life etc. But we often lose sight of what truly makes Ireland a great place and why so many people from other countries enjoy living here, namely you and me, the people of Ireland.
Here are some quotes from the recently published book
“Centuries of turmoil, conquest, famine and subsequent immigration have certainly taken their toll on the Irish. It has left them with a deliciously dark sense of humour and a welcoming attitude towards strangers.”
“That famous ability of the Irish – to find craic (fun times with convivial company) in boom or bust times – means you’re always in for a treat.”
[On Guinness]”The syrupy black nectar is so good the Guinness executives are almost forgiven for touting a brewery tour t Read more:Ireland
Back Playing Hurling 2007-10-23 04:58:01
Started back hurling training again last week. Really enjoyed it. Not a bad as I used to be I think, perhaps it’s because I have contact lenses now. Playing hurling with glasses underneath the helmet is definitely a drawback.
Not sure what position I’d like to play yet. Probably Right Corner Forward.
Yu Ming is ainm dom 2007-10-23 04:11:27 I went to to see some Irish Short films made by a company called Filmbase in the Cork Film Fest on Friday.. Some of them were very good. I particularly enjoyed one called Yu Ming is ainm dom. It’s about a Chinese guy who learns Irelands national language (Irish) and then can’t understand why no one has a clue what he is saying when he arrives here. Very true and very funny. But don’t take my word for, watch it for your self below.
AtomFilms.com: Funny Videos | Funny Cartoons | Comedy Central
Another one I enjoyed was called Buskers about a young Dublin Kid who goes Busking for money. But he has to rethink his locations when an Eastern European kid moves in on his territory. Of course after initial strife they learn to work together. A very smart way of commenting on how Ireland is changing and how we deal with it.
There were also some other films which were quite good but for some reason all of the films seemed to be based in Dublin which was disappointing as it de
Interprovincial Finals 2007-10-27 11:25:24 Watching the Inter-Pro matches on the TV now. No-one at Croke Park to watch it! What are the GAA doing putting it on during the Bank Holiday weekend? Not only is there no-one at the match I’d say no-one is watching it on TV. It wasn’t very well advertised.
I reckon they should put it on St. Patricks Day instead of the Club Finals. I mean it’s great and all to have the Clubs playing on St. Patricks Day but to be fair very few people outside of the clubs themselves would have an interest in it. Whereas with the Interpros your literally have half the country interested in it. I don’t think the Club Finals need to be played on Paddys Day as any day your play in a All-Ireland Club Final is a big day.
But at least the Interpros are back on the TV and in Croke Park.
Halloween 2007 2007-11-01 10:50:17 Went out last night for Halloween
. Thought there would be hardly anyone out because it was a Wednesday and everyone has work but I forgot about the students. Oh the students, I don’t think I have ever seen so many people out in the City Centre. There were huge queues outside every nightclub. We didn’t expect it so had no tickets as most places were ticket only. Still enjoyed ourselves though. Some of the fancy dresses were really good. Lot of work put into them. Sorry I didn’t take more photos of peoples costumes.
Anyway I have uploaded the pictures to the Gallery.
Sonys Gaelic Games hurling Screen Shots 2007-11-07 03:25:42 The stadia look really well done. Obviously these are probably not gameplay shots but it’s a start. I’ll be buying my copy Friday when it’s released so I’ll write a quick review then.
My favourite line from the advertising is “to reflect the unpredictable nature of the Irish weather - conditions can now change during a match, and influence the outcome of the game”.
Pity there are no ads on the TV for it though. Very little media coverage. I remember the one from last year of commentary over some lad moving stuff into his new house. It was very funny. Read more:Gaelic
, Games
, hurling
Gaelic Games: Hurling 2007-11-05 03:23:35 Well it’s finally happening. Someone is releasing a computer game where you can play hurling. A few months ago a pretty good hurling manager game was released but now you can play the game itself. Unfortunately it is being developed by the same people who made the first Gaelic
games Football Game (they are releasing a Gaelic Games
Football 2 Game as well) however it can only be better than that game, which was a pretty poor rebadged version of an Aussie Rules Game they had developed previously.
Still though I would urge anyone out there to buy it. The more people that buy it the more resources computer games manufacturers will but into developing these games as they will see there is a market for it.
It is being developed for the Playstation 2 and is due to be released on the 9th of November. It also comes in a pack with both the Football and Hurling game included.
Also in an intelligent move it includes a DVD which teaches you the skills of Hurling and Football. So it may enco
Gaelic Games: Hurling Review 2007-11-20 12:15:37 Paul left his a link to his review of the game and I agree with everything he says about the game so in the interest of laziness here is what he has to say.
“The first Gaelic
Game was a big let down to all GAA fans. It’s lack of names and bad gameplay got some bad reviews from alot people, including myself. So how good would the first Hurling Game be? Well suprisingly it’s not bad. Making the fast’s game in the world was never going to be easy, but I think IR GURUS have done an excellent job. The gameplay is very good, although the graphic’s are not much better than Gaelic Games
Football. The commentary is much the same with Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh giving his expert views. A good addition was the introduction of club teams, although they don’t have the real kit or badges and some of the clubs that are in it don’t even have a Hurling club,but this can quickly be resolved in the new edting section. Just like Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer
Recommend Site To A Friend
