• This week, running from Monday 9th November to Saturday 14th November, Take Your Seat is bringing arts and theatres back into your life. Book for tickets to shows of your preference, and you’ll be offered some promotional tickets (if not free!) to other shows at a later date, therefore doubling up your fun evening out. They also run daily competitions so sign up for it today and who knows, you could win them and be heading out to a play or a musical next.
• Fancy a little bit of a geeky event? Look no further, head out the door tonight to the Mercantile for The Alchemist Café event at 7.30pm, where a discussion of “memory traces” and the role they play in shaping our sense of self and form the instint for survival. My former lecturer, Prof Ciaran Regan, will be taking on the hot seat for this discussion.
• There’s a relatively new gourmet food market every Thursday, from 11.00am to 2.30pm, at the banks of the Grand Canal next to Mespil Road (just off Upper Baggot Street). Pretty good timing and location really, considering there are quite a number of offices around the area, and the workers sure could do with a bit of a change for their lunch goodies from the usual sandwich and coffee from the shops nearby.
• Given the grip of recession, it is never pleasant to read about the bleak economic outlook faced by Irish youths of today, where unemployment for those under 25’s is about 1 in 4. If Ireland is as perceived – no country for young men – how long will it be, before they leave the country in search for a better future? A drain of human resources is not desirable for a country that is trying to pull itself out of this financial hardship.
• It has been claimed, that the internet brings people closer and forges intimacy. But how close can become too close? So much so that it’s not only a ground for stalking, it’s bringing cyberbullying to a whole new level. Scary.
• Love cooking and interested in cooking demonstrations? Arnott’s is organising a few demo sessions, while promoting the cookware/kitchenware from Siemens Home (Saturday 14th November) and Judge and Stellar (Wednesday 18th November and Thursday 19th November). And there will be reductions in some of these gears too.
• Since when does Christmas come round so quickly? I’ve barely dragged my winter clothes out, and already I’m seeing light fittings being put up all over the city, and this Sunday (15th November) the festive lightings at Henry Street and its environs will officially be switched on at 4.00pm. There are also other family fun events organised throughout the day, and check this link for further details.

I’m sure plenty of people are looking forward to the first World Cup qualifier match between Ireland and France this Saturday (14th November). Can we pull it off in this home game? Fingers crossed. Goooo Ireland!

Who are they, you ask? Here’s the information from Science Gallery’s TEDx page:

Kate Coleman, Founder of Right to Sight

Kate Coleman is the founder of Right to Sight – a unique collection of world experts from corporate, eye care and government sectors with the specific goal to eliminate preventable blindness in the world. The next phase of this project is to roll out a training simulator built on Microsoft games software and using two Wiimotes, that will help student surgeons practice the surgical techniques used during cataract operations by performing virtual surgery on a computer-generated eye.

Mark Leslie, Managing Director of Martello Media

You’re probably more familiar with the work of Mark Leslie and his team at Martello Media than you might think. This team of architects, writers, museum experts, exhibition designers, graphic artists, filmmakers and computer programmers, work together to design unique interactive experiences are most recently responsible for the award winning designs at Guinness Storehouse, Cliffs of Moher Centre and the WB Yeats Exhibition at the National Library.

Tom Hadfield, Creator of Soccer.net and heading up the Le Whif Project

Tom Hadfield created Soccernet, a sports Internet company that was sold to ESPN for $40 million when he was 17 years old. Two years later, he and his father were able to raise millions of dollars to launch the education website Schoolsnet.com. Tom is currently working for The Labo Group in Paris where he heads up Le Whif. Le Whif is a revolutionary new way of eating chocolate – by breathing it! Imagine, chocolate without the calories.

Simon Dennehy from Perch.ie, Ergonomic Furniture for Primary Schools

Simon Dennehy’s work on ergonomic furniture for primary schools is aimed at rectifying the fundamental problems associated with the current selection of school furniture being used in primary schools in both Ireland, and globally. Currently, very few credible design solutions exist.

The number of tickets available to the event is very limited and they’re available exclusively to members of Science Gallery. They will go on sale today (5th November) from 12noon (Irish time) at this link – you’ll need to be signed in as member to access the page, and ticket costs €7.50 each (a departure from the previous and inaugural TEDxDublin which was free of charge).

If you’re not already a member of Science Gallery, it’s not too late to sign up for it and it’s free, so why not? Besides, do you know that with this free membership, you can get a discount when you drop by the Flux Cafe for some food and coffee? Not to mention free wifi connection when you’re at the Science Gallery as well. They’re perks you should take advantage of!

I am in agreement with Terry Moore. Anyone who knows me, knows of my love for chocolate. Mind, I’m not a choco-junkie per se, because even I am not living such decadent life to be eating them every single day.

But I have a deep appreciation for chocolate. I am willing to try new flavours and concoctions in a heartbeat (chocolate with chilli and peppercorn, anyone?). I have travelled just to attend chocolate fairs (EuroChocolate in Rome, Salon du Chocolat in Paris – twice!). I pay some crazy amount of money for small nuggets of chocolatey goody when I think it’s worth it (and I’m afraid it happens a tad too often).

Last year, a colleague who was out of idea what to get me for Kris Kindle ended up giving me – no prize for guessing correctly – voucher to Butlers Chocolate.

Chocolate (picture taken at Salon du Chocolat in Paris)

So I’m excited. I’m excited that Temple Bar Chocolate Festival is back. There are free demonstrations (but ticketed, so ring up to book your place), truffles making and chocolate tasting workshops, chocolate beauty treatment (also free and booking essential), and I could go on and on. Just have a look at the full programme here.

The Temple Bar Chocolate Festival runs from Friday 30th October to Sunday 1st November. In conjunction with the festivities, No Grant Gallery is presenting an exhibition entitled “Come with me and you’ll see a world of pure imagination”. It opens ahead of the festival, on Thursday 22nd October and will close on Tuesday 3rd November. The exhibition is free and no booking is required.

Ah, chocolate… yes, I’m eating some right now. Lindt Ecuador 75%. Smooth and delicately sweet for a dark chocolate. Nyom nyom.

An email from a friend though provided me with a little pick-me-up – the Dine In Dublin Restaurant Week is back on Monday week! So from Monday 12 October to Sunday 18 October, there’ll be much to be indulged on the gastronomy front. Wheee!

Similar to the concept of Dining by DART just a few weeks ago, a list of participating restaurants have set out 3-course menus with tea and coffee for either €25 or €30. All you need to do now is look for the place(s) that catch your fancy and book a table. (I do wonder if l’Gueuleton will take reservation seeing they normally don’t.)

Something new for Dine In Dublin this time round is participating hotels that gives 10% discount on the lowest quoted accommodation rates. That’s pretty sweet, especially if you have visitors coming to see you during the event period.

Now, where shall I go? I have eaten in a fair few of them, and would like to try something new. Is there any restaurants on the list that you’ll highly recommend?

Open House Dublin.

Organised by the Irish Architecture Foundation, Open House Dublin is back, and this year will run from 8-11 October 2009. Still some time to come, I know, but as some buildings/events require pre-booking, to get some heads up about it and to have some time to plan things over is good, right? And what’s nice is, they’re all free of charge!

Here’s how it works. Have a look at this complete programme – and you should see the day(s) when particular buildings would be open for visit. Click on the name to get further information. The colour code will tell you what type of building that is, i.e. if residential, or cultural, or commercial etc.

You will also see right away which are those which pre-booking is required. Pre-booking starts today (28th September), and operates on a first come first serve basis. They may be done online.

By the way, have you guys notice the “portrait” of Uncle Arthur in bars/clubs all over the country? The one whose eyes seem to follow you everywhere, and suddenly start to plug an iPod on to listen to music, before looking all bored and back to the portrait mode again? Such a cool marketing tool!

Ps: good luck getting a pint at your favourite local, especially if your local is one of the participating celebration venue, and you haven’t got a ticket. It’s madness in the city of the black stuff! ;)

First up, Daft.ie in conjunction with the Theatre Festival are bringing Playhouse Animation to the Liberty Hall. The animations will run daily from dusk till dawn, 24th September to 11th October, and you can also design an animation yourself to go on the building! You can watch the behind the scene video here, or the following video taken during a test run last month to get a sense of what’s going on.

(It reminds me of the interactive Crown Fountain at Millenium Park in Chicago, minus the fountain.) ;-)

Now, onto Friday and Culture Night. As previously mentioned, some events require a reservation ahead, and the Irish Baroque Orchestra Chamber Soloists will be performing using 18th century musical instruments (oh yes, they don’t just play Baroque music, they’re trying to keep the sound as authentic as possible!) pieces by some of the greatest composers of the era including Handel, Tartini, Vivaldi and Schmelzer.

It will be held at Walton’s Music Store, 69 South Great George’s Street, Dublin 2. The event starts at 6.30pm and the performance time is 1 hour. Places are limited. To reserve your place for this special intimate performance, please send your name and address with Baroque Tickets in the subject line to info@dublincitybid.ie and don’t forget to specify the number of attendees as well.

Have fun!

Main time frame – between 6pm and 11pm. But of course, there are exceptions with some early opening (e.g. Science Gallery, from 12pm), early closing (e.g. Mansion House, last tour 8pm), late closing (e.g. Gallery Zozimus, 12am), and limited hours (e.g. Dublinia, 6pm – 9.30pm).

Next, it’s time to put your organising skill in use. Download the programme (PDF file) and have a look at what you’re interested in. Some events require reservations, others simply turn up and you’re good to participate. Definitely no harm in listing out all that you want to do, plan your route and get in the booking(s) if applicable.

Look out for places that are normally ticket-paying or not open to the public – this is the perfect time to visit them without costing a pretty penny.

There will be 3 free bus routes, departing every 20 minutes from Bachelor’s Walk, Aston Quay and Trinity College, that brings you from one spot to another within the route.

There are also 50 free Luas tickets (adult 1-day all zone) available for travel on 25 September, so that culture hunters can head out to Airfield in Dundrum, or to Ranelagh, where some of the events will be held. The tickets are allocated on a first come, first serve basis, at the Temple Bar Cultural Information Centre, 12 East Essex Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2 from Thursday 24th September at 9am.

A few more things that caught our attention:

• There are arts and photography competitions that you can take part in.
• Not all events are indoor. Check out the list of outdoor events, including MaSamba and World Dance in Temple Bar, and the joust at Dublin Castle.
• You can cruise the River Liffey.
• Send a free, postage paid, limited edition postcard at the GPO to anywhere in the world.
• If you fancy attending one of the 2 free events at Abbey Theatre, here’s the instruction on how to get them.

Now, seeing that this is the 4th year the Culture Night is being organised (hence there’s a bit of experience there now), we wonder if in the next year or two, the Culture Night will extend beyond 11pm/12pm closing time and extend the hours till the next morning? You know, like Nuit Blanche or Lange Nacht der Museen, effectively giving everyone a chance to go to more than just a couple of places and not having to rush like crazy in order to cram in more.

Fingers crossed.

Find your local pub

You can find the full details and how does it work? HERE.

One of the central hang-out locations that the festival goers shouldn’t miss is the Absolut Fringe Factory @ Smock Alley Theatre on Lower Exchange St (off Essex Quay). An unique venue, for the duration of the festival, it plays host to 16 original contemporary Irish artworks.

Absolut Art @ Fringe Festival

Absolut Art pieces were created with this sole decree – “Be inspired by the Absolut bottle”. Within a short period of time, The Small Print curated the fabulous collection by Irish artists, from illustrators to graffiti artists to photographers. Among them are Maser, Asbestos, Chris Judge, Steve Simpson, Cliona O’Flaherty, Aisling Farinella and BrenB.

Richard Brickley, Absolut Marketing Manager, was very pleased with these highly creative works created from the very same brief that was given to Andy Warhol back in 1985, resulting in Absolut Warhol. Emma Donnellan, Brands Director for Irish Distiller Pernod Ricard, was in complete agreement and was excited that these pieces will be added to the international Absolut Art collection in Stockholm, Sweden.

The pieces currently on exhibit should be admired in person.

Absolut BrenB is vibrant and colourful, inspired by the text from the bottle label. Absolut Farinella is deceptively simple with the model styled in an iconic Absolut logo printed t-shirt, but referencing works of Karlheinz Weinberger. Absolut Asbestos retains graffiti quality within abstract space. Absolut Simpson has a retro feel with its colour scheme of blue, beige and red, and is a marvelous (somewhat) 3D piece. Absolut Judge features a robot (rather like Bender from Futuram) walking through a tunnel of electrifying light – if only the piece has been shown with UV light, you’d see glowing colours from the special colour markers that he had used in this creation. Absolut O’Flaherty is vintage candy at its most elegant, celebrating the occasion with a ginormous cake.

Don’t just take my words for it. Go and see them for yourself. All 16 pieces. The Absolut Fringe Factory opens 5pm-10pm daily, from 5 September to 20 September. If you’re catching any of the fringe events, why not take a small detour to visit this exhibit and enjoy a drink at the bar of this one of a kind venue before your show? The admission is free.