Owner: Life and Stuff URL:http://homepage.mac.com/ciaranbrewster Join Date: Mon, 03 Sep 2007 16:13:25 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: A blog by an Irish guy living in Spain with topics that range from travel, photography, language, the internet, science, culture, stereotypes, software, tips,life hacks, Ireland and all things Irish. Site statistics:Click here
Franco speaks in English 2007-01-19 06:22:48 If ever one needed to justify the need for English
teachers in Spain, heres a good reason.
Switzerland 2006-12-17 13:44:25 Switzerland is a country with an identity crisis. The country is landlocked; it is hemmed in on all sides by Germany, Italy, France, Austria and Liechtenstein. Culturally speaking, the country is a Frankenstein's monster of all its neighbours. To further confound the situation there are no less than four official languages, none of which is English although most people seem to speak it (get your head around that one my monolingual friends). Furthermore, if like me you learned German many moons ago don't fool yourself into thinking that you'll understand anything because Swiss German is more Swiss than it is German. One of the first things I noticed upon arriving was the copious amount of Czech cars on the roads. To the chagrin of my unwitting self-delusion I discovered that CH in fact stan Read more:Switzerland
The latest Brewster family member 2006-11-24 05:26:02 Congrats to Michelle and Fintan on the birth of Adam and a big thank you for giving me a nephew! Read more:Brewster
The latest 2006-09-14 02:48:54 Howya all!I'm back in Burgos once again...and this time indefinintely. Since I've talked to ye last, I've found a job teaching at a language academy called Metropolitan and also managed to get myself an apartment; it just happens to be just across the street from my academy. Happy days! Besides that, I'm trying to find time to work in the human evolution lab. All going well I'll be officially starting my doctorate next month. I've been spending the last few months filling out endless documents, forms, applications, making translations of academic material and generally pulling my hair out, but I'm sure it's worth all the effort! Take care!
Atapuerca 2006 2006-08-04 07:11:49 After over a month of dormancy I've got around to updating the website with photos from Atapuerca. Over the next few weeks I'm gonna try and keep the Atapuerca section updated with new photos. What can I say about the field season this year; a long, exhausting, but thoroughly enjoyable month of work hard, play hard!
Leeds, Leeds, Leeds! 2006-05-11 12:00:45 Leeds United have put themselves within a hairs-breadth of making it back into the Premiership after their impressive 2-0 win over Preston earlier in the week. While the last few games of the seasons were somewhat of an anti-climax, this season has seen some incredibly spirited performances; a credit to manager Kevin Blackwell. The play-off finals takes place on May 21 against Watford in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. Fingers crossed! Read more:Leeds
Cuenca 2006-05-06 06:18:31 During the bank holiday weekend I took a trip to Cuenca
. The old part of the city was built on the cliffs of a gorge, and it is famous for its casas colgadas (hanging houses), which are precariously suspended off the edge of a precipice. The city's gothic Cathedral with its deceptively incomplete facade is among the most impressive in Spain. As usual, photos can be seen in the España section of the website.
Congratulations! 2006-04-28 19:23:59 What an eventful last few weeks. Congrats to Ash and Kevin on their wedding day. By all accounts Britain is a very happy camper! Kudos to Megan and Andrew on the birth of their bouncing (WARNING: last adjective not to be interpreted literally!) baby boy. Follow the link to Megan's webpage for lots more photos of Grant. Read more:Congratulations
Ávila 2006-04-28 19:05:11 On Easter Sunday myself and a mate Loïc took a daytrip to Ávila; an impressive walled city in the mountains on the outskirts of Madrid. I've posted pictures under the photos tab.
Salamanca 2006-04-17 14:14:35 Last week I was on holidays for Easter Week, so I decided to go to Salamanca
for a few days. The city is a sightseers dream with a heap of places of interest to visit. The buildings of the city are built from sandstone with intricate designs adorning their facades. If you can find the frog amongst the mind-boggling university building motif it's supposed to bring good luck. I'd describe the experience of searching for the frog as somewhere between trying to figure out one of those 3-D pictures and trying to find Wally (or Waldo depending where you come from)! The entire time that I was in the city there were Easter Week processions through the nights. This experience I'd describe as a St. Patrick's Day parade meets a KKK rally! I'll post some video when I've some more free time. In the mea
Flook! 2006-04-17 14:05:10 On the 5th of April I finally got to see Flook play in concert, in Sala Sol here in Madrid. As expected it was a rocking concert, with a ton of improvisation and a lot of tunes from their new CD "Haven." I met a bunch of other Irish banjo players who are living in Benidorm and came up for the concert. Us banjo players are like magnets for each other (and I'm not quite sure if it is such a good thing!).
Weekenders in Madrid 2006-03-13 14:30:03 A typical weekend in Madrid
begins around ten o'clock when you meet up with your mates to go for dinner (yes, this is the normal dinner time here!). At around midnight you head to the bars for some scoops. At around 1 or 2 a.m. things begin to really get started, which leaves you in a bit of a dilema since the metro shuts down between 1:30 and 6:30. So, you usually end up doing what most Madrid folk do; partying until the madrugada (wee hours). At around 4 a.m. the clubs begin to fill up. Clubs here, on the whole tend to be a trendy affair, so it helps to have connections that can get you free passes for the night. Once the metro opens back up in the morning people start streaming back to their homes, but not before first stopping for an overpriced snack from the Asian vendors on the stree
Palacio Real 2006-03-03 10:33:23 On Wednesday I went to the the Royal Palace here in Madrid after classes. Wednesday has the added benefit of being free entry for all E.U. citizens (if you happen to be Swiss, American, or Icelandic your s.o.l.). The palace itself is impressive but can be a bit of a pain trying to dodge the guided tours that tend to crowd the narrow hallways, but all the same worth the money! I have posted some pics in the España section. I've once again changed the theme of the website. Boredom will make you do such things. This weekend I am gonna see what other free activities I can seek out in Madrid. Later! Read more:Palacio
Prado 2006-02-19 15:00:17 Today, I checked out the Prado
Museum, upon the strong recommendation of one of my students. I was not disappointed. Both quality and quantity are two words that come to mind. The collection is massive, and it'll take a number of visits to truly appreciate the vastness of paintings. I don't claim to be an expert by any stretch of the imagination but I know what I like and don't like when it comes to art. For me, the standout exhibition has to be Goya's Pinturas Negras (Black Paintings), so called for both his portrayal of the underbelly of society and for the sparse use of light. I included some of my favourites in the "España" section of the website. I've hopefully fixed the links for the personal webpages. If anyone wants me to add their sites to the links pages just drop me an em
Spain Again! 2006-02-13 13:49:18 After much procrastination (and nagging...you know who you are) this site has finally been updated. Some of the most notable changes are the change in the appearance of the site, the removal of the (extremely) out-of-date Eircom League table, and the removal of the contact page which never worked anyhow. For those of who don't know, I'm working in Madrid as an English teacher. I'm enjoying teaching the subtleties of the English language such as the meaning of the word "craic", the difference between the words "beach" and "bitch", and the typical idiomatic Irish phrase "does be"! I am living a 10 minute bus ride from the Atletico Madrid stadium. And while I'm on the subject, did anyone see the 6-1 trashing Real Madrid got at the hands of Zaragoza last week. Specatular to say the least. I'm Read more:Spain
, Again
Fintan 2008-03-20 12:54:34 Fintan is a common name for a boy in Ireland. It is pronounced ['fIntən] and is the anglicised version of Fionntán. The first part of the name is related to another Irish name Fionn. This word is the Irish word for "fair" or "white." The word also has the older Gaelic meaning of "discover" or "find"; a meaning that can be traced to the Gaulish root *vindo-. Interestingly, the word fionn is also etymologically related to fios, the Gaelic word for "knowledge." The etymology of the word fios can be traced back to a Proto Indo-European root *weid- which gave rise to such words as vision in English and wissen (to know) in German. The final part of Fintan may have two possible etymologies. It may come from the Irish word for bull táin, much like other totemic names like Tadhg. Alt
Origin of Brewster and Brewer 2008-03-23 06:05:24 The "brew" part of the names Brewster
(pronounced /bruːstər/) and Brewer
(pronounced /bruːər/) allude to their relationship to the brewing trade. The "-er" suffix of Brewer is similar to that found in many professions in English, such as baker, painter and runner. By combining a verb and the suffix "-er" we can convert them into a noun that describes what a person does. Many of the etymologies of the name Brewster point to "-ster" being a suffix denoting a female profession. However, this is not completely true. Indeed, "-ster" (also found in other surnames such as Baxter and Webster) was first used to donate female professions. Some sources suggest that -ster eventually came to be used to denote a full-time profession, while -er was often used to describe an occasional participation i Read more:Origin
Memorise text: tips and tricks 2008-04-08 05:02:15 At some stage or another you will probably have to memorise some piece of writing. This could be poetry, famous quotations, scripture verses, a script or arguments for a debate. The following is a list of ways that you can help you learn short passages of text.Use note cards or flash cards. Write the passage you want to learn on the card and carry the card with you everywhere throughout the day. If you read a lot, you can even use the card as your bookmark.Say it out loud. We are more liable to remember text that we have heard rather than read; so it is better to say the text out loud while you are reading it.Be interested. It natural to remember the things that you enjoy and forget the things you don't. Try and learn excerpts that interest you.Rhymes, songs and raps. In poetry rhyme can h Read more:tricks
Origin of the name Enda 2008-04-20 05:13:08 Enda (pronounced ['enda]) is an Irish boy's name, that is the anglicised form of Éanna. Éanna is probably related to the Irish word for bird éan. Thus, the meaning is bird-like. While many people associate the name with a 6th century Irish saint (Éanna, Éinne or Endeus, died c. 530) who built a monastery in Killeany, County Clare, the name had existed in some form or another for many year previously. Saint Enda who is considered to be one of the founders of monasticism in IrelandThere were at least three Irish kings with the name Enda, beginning around 1409 B.C. with Enna Airgtheach (Eanna Airgthach, Éanna I Airgtheach, Eorn Airgtheach, Enna Airgthioch, Enna Argthech, Enda the Despoiler or Plunderer, Nuadu [Nuaghat] Declam MacEchach, Enna [Eunius] Read more:Origin
A brief history of violence 2008-05-01 04:46:20 In this twenty minute presentation Harvard evolutionary psychologist Steven Pinker smashes some of our preconceptions about violence. He argues that we are in fact living in one the least violent times in history. He reproves the ever-persistent myth that humans by nature are peaceful creatures. However, history, social anthropology and archaeology paint quite a different picture. While violent trends have been interrupted by peaks and valleys, the overall picture looks promising for the future.
Richard Feynman 2008-05-21 17:45:18 This interview with Richard
Feynman is a charm to watch. Feynman has been lauded, along with Einstein and Hawking, as one of the great minds of the last century. One of the greatest things about Feynman was his ability to break through the barrier which separates many great minds from the general public - effective communication. This man was the epitome of what it means to be a scientist and teac
Ignorance is nice 2008-05-31 09:43:27 ... or at least etymologically speaking. The word "nice" has one of the most interesting etymologies in the English language, as its meaning has completely changed over the centuries.The word "nice", like many words in the English language, came to us through Old French and ultimately from Latin. The Latin word nescius means "unaware," "not knowing," or "ignorant." We can see this more clearly whe
Eliminate shadows in photos 2008-06-01 11:55:59 One of the most vexing problems for any photographer are shadows. There are many circumstances where we would like to get rid of the them. The most common ways to minimise shadows are through diffusing the intense lighting from sunlight and flash. A popular technique used in indoor photography is to bounce the flash. This means, rather than pointing the flash directly at our subject, we reflect i Read more:photos
English words evolve 2008-06-03 17:03:10 In an earlier post I discussed how the meaning of the word “nice” has come to have a completely different meaning than its original sense. I thought it would interesting to track down some other words in the English
language that have changed radically over the years.BuxomThis word is etymologically related to the word “bow.” The original meaning of the word buhsum was "hum Read more:evolve
Scientific literacy 2008-06-14 05:40:20 Conspiracy theoryOne way to win the sympathies of the people is to invoke a conspiracy theory; it’s them against us! Conspiracy theories very often tend to be more complicated (and therefore less improbable) than the real story.Be open mindedWeigh up the claims of both sides of the argument. You should not approach a topic by looking for arguments that bolster your side of the argument and d Read more:Scientific
, literacy
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