Guest Blogger: Rodolfo on Beer, Music and Art

Here’s the first in a new occasional series of guest blogs.  Rodolfo Cesar de Sousa lets us in on one of Dublin’s least well kept secrets: the pub that has everything.  Part one is up today with part two on Thursday.  Enjoy.

Beer, music and art in the same place

by Rodolfo César

With Beer in Mind

When the idea of drinking a beer comes to mind, what would be the perfect place to have it? Probably everybody has more than one suggestion; if you are in Dublin, go to The Bernard Shaw. What most people desire when they are having a relaxing beer is a comfortable spot, where they can chat with their friends, listening perfect music for that moment, maybe dance or eat something and, for sure, flirt. I am sure you will find all these things there.

Ancient and Modern

This pub is a sort of traditional place, (it was founded in 1895), with a modern feel. There are six spaces, each one different from the other. Also, the place is a small art gallery and it organizes exhibitions of new and reputed artists, photographers, illustrators, painters and writers from Ireland. With this kind of activity, the place honours its name since it remembers George Bernard Shaw, an Irish playwright who was awarded both a Nobel Prize for Literature (1925) and an Oscar (1939) for Pygmalion.

My Favourite

My favourite spot is the Big Blue Bus. Yes, that is what I said; it’s a bus-pub. The double-decker vehicle retired from the streets of London is in the back yard of the pub. The lower deck is a pizza kitchen (I would say that sounds yummy) and the top deck has tables for sitting out. Also in the back yard you have the smoking area and you can play pool there. Although the Big Blue Bus is located near to the smoking area, if you are on the bus you won’t smell like a cigar, don’t worry.

What to Do in Dublin

Over the coming weeks we’ll be running a series of blogs about things to do in Dublin, taking a peek at the lesser-known delights, those places that don’t quite make it into the guide books or onto school itineraries.

There’ll be contributions from some of Atlas’s greatest student writers – Shakespeare better watch out – these guys are doing things to the language he could never have dreamed of!

On Thursday we’ll have Rodolfo’s top boozer and all round culture spot.

But first up is one of my most loved Dublin institutions (which may actually be in some guide books but so what, it’s great).

Begun during the boom years with overpriced organic veg and a few cooked food stalls the Temple Bar Market, on Saturdays til about 5pm, has become an essential part of my admittedly very tame (I’m old and don’t get out much) week.  The prices have come down, the variety increased and they’ve got healthy eats of all kinds, and a few not so healthy ones too – but they taste good.

They’ve even got covers now in case it rains.

And anyone interested in a good second-hand read, can pop round the corner to the nearby book market.  All you could want from a weekend?

 

Are you a screenager?

There was an interview recently on RTE radio with a linguist from University College Dublin discussing words newly added to the Oxford English Dictionary.

The podcast is available here:

http://www.rte.ie/podcasts/2012/pc/pod-v-03011215m20stjmsoxforddictionary-pid0-920232.mp3

Most of them are what we call portmanteau words, which have been made by putting two or more words together.

Try to guess the meaning of the words below – for some I’ve given a few pictures to help out.

Post your answers as a comment.

screenager

(Think about what the teenager is doing)

frenemy

e-quaintance

staycation

And if you have any more share them round.

Til next week

P.S.  On the radio show the linguist said his favourite “mistake” ever was from a Thai student who said: “Don’t sarcastic me!”

Unfortunately “sarcastic” is not a verb, but it is a way of life.

 

 

 

Happy New Year

The Atlas Blogger is back, sluggish from too much sipping and sleeping, with a fuller figure and a slimmer wallet, teary-eyed in the wind.

Happy New Year!

As I’m getting a bit old for going out I “celebrated” the new year on my sofa.

But Atlas students know how to have a good time, in Ireland and abroad.  Let us know where you spent your New Year’s Eve.  And send some pics in if you have ‘em.

Resolutions

“You have got to change your life” Doctor Phil tells us on his TV show, echoing the great Prague-born poet Rilke.

Sarcastic David is of course perfect, so needs no improving, but most of you have ways you wish to mend.

So what new year’s resolutions have you made this year?

Post a comment and let us know.

PS: On second thoughts, I resolve to be a tad more modest and a touch more self-critical in 2012.

All the best for the year to come.

Lighten Up

Not yet 5 o’clock and it’s already dark outside – I can just about see the leafless trees through the tightly closed windows.  Pink noses peeking out of scarfs and collars, or glowing under hoods and hats.  Yes, it’s that time of year.  Cold, short, dark days.

But before you slip off into hibernation for the next three months …

The city’s lit up.

If you have any photos of Dublin, or any other city, and you’d like to share send ‘em in.  We’d love to have a look.

All the best for now

Book it Up!

I’m sitting here in the Atlas library adding titles to our ever-expanding online catalogue:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/atlaslanguageschool

As you can see we have titles for next year’s Cambridge exams so anyone interested can get stuck in early.

Students around me have their heads buried in other worlds – with occasional trips to trusty (monolingual) dictionaries for supplies.  I can see Harry Potter in the corner, and Dracula a bit behind me, dangerously close in fact.

Everyone knows that reading can help improve our vocabulary and grammar, but most of all, it can interest and entertain us.

Our library caters to all levels and tastes from sports fans to horror freaks or those devoted to the divine Ms Jane Austen.

There are some good websites too, like Penguin’s, which offers sample extracts with audio recordings to read along to.  This month features Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn.  As Ernest Hemingway said, all American fiction comes from Huckleberry Finn, so not a bad place to start:

http://www.penguinreaders.com/par/students/featured-reader.html

Have a look and let us know what you think.

Hit the Streets

Even the quickest glance at a newspaper or news website today makes it clear that people all around the world are taking to the streets to protest against what they see as wrongdoing.  From the students in Dublin last week to the terrible scenes in Cairo, some people are refusing to stay at home and keep quiet.

Read this article by a student leader and try to find out what they were protesting about.  Don’t worry about all of the difficult vocabulary, just look for key information.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/education/2011/1122/1224307943567.htmlH

How good is your protest vocabulary?

What do we call the pieces of card or cloth they hold up?

Or the people involved?

Or the group walks they go on?

Or the often very long talks the leaders give?  (You have these at weddings too.)

There’s another very very peaceful protest in Dublin at the moment, outside the central bank at the edge of Temple Bar.  The bank security guard said the people involved are extremely friendly and always offer him a cup of tea when they’re making one!