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The end of the Circus …as we know/knew it!

Written by Joerg Steegmueller
The end of the Circus …as we know/knew it!

I don’t know when I was at a circus the last time. It must have been when I was 10 years of age or younger and I don’t know either if it was once or twice that I was at a circus, but it was definitely not more often.

So, I am clearly not a mad Circus fan and no Circus could build their business on people like me. But it did make a big impression on me. I remember clowns, and jugglers and a round sandy arena, but I also remember tigers and lions and elephants and possibly monkeys.

Thinking back, it was the animals and the clowns that impressed me most. I didn’t know if the animals were treated appropriately, but I was 10 and it wasn’t the first time that I had seen animals in cages or on leashes, so it didn’t concern me hugely.  Since my circus visit back then, I have heard about mistreated animals, but I also have heard about circuses making huge efforts to look after the animals well.

Now it has been announced that from January 2018 the use of wild animals in circuses in Ireland will be banned and I am in two minds about it.

Obviously I am not supporting or condoning the abuse or bad treatment of animals (“wild” or non-wild!), but at the same time I remember the visit to a circus as a hugely positive and educational experience. I also wonder why only “wild” animals will be banned and if these “wild” animals are still that wild? What about a tiger whose parents and grand-parents and great-grand parents all were part of a circus. Is that still a “wild” animal? Or is it a “domesticated” animal. And why are ponies and dogs seen as different type of animals. They once were wild as well, I guess. And mistreating them is also not acceptable. We are training dogs with no hesitation to do tricks for us, but there is objection to train formerly wild animals.

Would it no have been an option to work on ensuring that no circus mistreats animals? I am clearly no expert in this area, but I am wondering.

Dublin, Dublin City Council, Events, Society,

Catalonia Mess Spills Over to Dublin

Written by Joerg Steegmueller
Catalonia Mess Spills Over to Dublin

Many years ago I met an elderly man from Catalonia who regularly left his home to spray political graffiti in favour of Catalan Independence on house walls in the town he lived. He was a nice man, but a nutcase at the same time. He did a good few other rebellious things as well. Nothing too big, but still his own bit of civil disobedience.

At the time I read some information about Catalan Independence and it just didn’t make sense to me. In an age where working together is 100 times better than working against each other, it doesn’t make sense to declare independence in one small part of a big country even if that part at the time is relatively wealthy. It doesn’t make sense in Belgium, not in Germany (Bavaria would love to be independent) or in Catalonia and it certainly also extends to the nonsensical Brexit. We don’t have to agree with the status quo, the current rules of engagement and we should improve these rules, but the only future the internationally extremely small countries in Europe have is if they will work together.

So, Catalan independence doesn’t make sense, BUT I think their current rules of engagement with the rest of Spain has to be looked at and should be improved. They called the referendum some weeks ago and it would have been really interesting to see a democratic result of that referendum not the skewed result that it had. But I was SHOCKED when I saw some of the pictures and videos about how the Spanish police acted against their own PEACEFUL Spanish neighbours. An absolutely unacceptable case of unjustifiable brutality. The Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has proven that he is a totally incompetent politician and suddenly I had some sympathy for the Catalan fight for independence. I still think it is ludicrous, but if that is the treatment you get from the central government, then you just HAVE to rebel to a degree.

It is nonsense to jail Catalan politicians and to accuse them of rebellion. A dialogue and a compromise has to happen! It can’t be that the rest of Spain will milk Catalonia, but it also doesn’t make sense for Catalonia to split from the rest. Madness on both sides!!!

But now the madness has reached us in Dublin!

John Lyons and Tina McVeigh from People Before Profit have put a motion forward in Dublin City Council to raise the Catalan flag on top of City Hall for a month to show Dublin’s solidarity with Catalonia. And a protocol meeting of Dublin City Councillors voted in favour of this suggestion with 7:5 votes. On Monday 04 December the whole council will now vote about the Catalan flag in City Hall.

Without a doubt the Spanish government is shivering in their boots with fear. Imagine if Dublin raises the Catalan flag, it might mean that Spain will have to give Catalonia the independence they want, because Dublin says so!! TOTAL nonsense!

But if councillors will vote for it, we will have to ask WHY only one month?! Maybe we could replace the Dublin flag with the Catalan flag for good? And why only the Catalan flag, I am sure there are other parts of the world where people are oppressed. The Palestinian flag was already flying over City Hall. But there are more countries or parts of countries that should get our support. Next John Lyons will suggest to fly the Cork flag over City Hall to support Cork’s quest for independence? Odd people in the City Council! :-O

Dublin, Dublin City Council, Elsewhere, Politics, , , , , , , , , , ,

Bewley’s Cafe has re-opened…but will it work?

Written by Joerg Steegmueller
Bewley’s Cafe has re-opened…but will it work?

It only took close to 3 years and 12 mio, but since last Wednesday, Bewley’s Cafe in Grafton Street is open again. Only the ground floor opened for now. The first floor will follow in January and in March the Theatre will open as well.

It is good that it is back and didn’t become a Starbucks like too many other places in Dublin, but it remains to be seen if it will still have the old Bewley’s Charm or if it will become another “coffee factory”. Instead of the original 180 seats, the new cafe will have 500 (!!) seats and will need to make a HUGE amount of money to a) pay the rent and b) get the massive renovation cost back.

Campbell Catering is running Bewley’s after it bought the Cafe business from the Bewley family in 1986. The Cafe in Grafton Street was originally owned by the Bewley’s family but was then sold and leased back to get cash into the company. The cash is most likely gone and the accountants/advisors that suggested that mad strategy are also probably long gone, but a rent of close to 1.5 mio per year is still there and is crippling the company. So just to pay the rent, the business needs to make a profit of EUR 4,000 per day. Profit! Not turnover! :-O Add running costs and staff costs and “raw material” cost and a proportion of the renovation cost and you can see that these 500 seats need to make a LOT of money.

Let’s hope that it will work out, otherwise it might be another Starbucks. :-(

Dublin, ,

Security Screened Wallets? – Totally unnecessary, if…

Written by Joerg Steegmueller
Security Screened Wallets? – Totally unnecessary, if…

The latest security recommendation is to use a Security Screened Wallet that will prevent access to your Credit Card through Near Field Communication (NFC) or RFID while it is in your pocket. Why is this a thing? Well, if you only need to tap your card on a Credit Card reader to pay (Contactless Payment), then a criminal only needs to have a portable Credit Card Reader and needs to get close enough to your card in a packed Luas or train to also be able to take money from you.

Credit Card companies say that this is not a risk and the limit to EUR 30 protects you further, but read the TINY print, i.e. the Terms & Conditions and you will see that they are well aware that there are risks and they have a lot of responsibilities put in your court.

Tapping your card is convenient, but I never found it a huge challenge to type in my code when I use a credit card. The time you save might be 30 seconds all in and that is really not a convenience game changer.

So I never would need to “tap” my credit card and therefore I made sure that it will not even have that functionality. The consequence is that I do NOT need a security screened wallet because no criminal could “tap” my card either against a will.

Some say that credit card companies/banks don’t give you cards that do NOT have the NFC or RFID functionality. But I would have to ask you if you are really certain and if you have not just asked, but insisted.

I have cards from 2 banks and a credit card company and none of them has the NFC/RFID functionality. All I needed to do was ask for cards without it!

If your bank refused to give you a card without it, tell the bank that you will then disconnect the RFID antenna within the card and familiarise yourself about the disconnection trick via YouTube clips. Example: www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9vTvbHgi2M You will “damage” the card and the credit card company/bank might tell you that you are not allowed to do that. Then openly tell them that you will damage the card UNLESS they send you one without the “Tapping” or contactless payment option.

Society, , , , ,

A Time House in Dublin? What is that?

Written by Joerg Steegmueller
A Time House in Dublin? What is that?

I seem to be one of the last people to find out about this or are you maybe also new to that concept? A Time House is a venue where you pay for the time you spend there and already for just about a year :-O there is a Time House in Dublin. My excuse is that it is not free, therefore I didn’t find about it earlier, but it is a really interesting concept and therefore I want to tell you about it today.

The Clockwork Door is Dublin’s first and only (as far as I know!) Time House. It is located at 51 Wellington Quay, which is very near to Ha’Penny Bridge, next to EaTokyo and they run lots of different events.

But how does it work? Well, it is intriguingly simple. You pay for every minute you are in the Time House (8 cent per minute in the first 2 hours, 6 cent per minute in the next 2 hours and 5 cent for the rest of the day). So if you stay there for 3 hours, it would cost you 9.60+3.60=13.20. For that you will get unlimited tea, coffee, biscuits, wi-fi, board games, video games and the use of 5 different rooms + kitchen. The max cost per day is EUR 20 but you can also go for the membership option where you pay EUR 60 for the whole month and you have unlimited access for that price.

Events don’t cost extra and – because the people running the place would love you to stay there for a looong time ;-) – there are always interesting events happening. (You can bring your own food, but alcohol is not allowed.)

The rooms are kitted out for working/studying, or for lounging or for playing (board and video games) etc. The website has pictures of the rooms and lots more information. Oddly the website doesn’t specify the opening hours, but I found elsewhere that the Time House is open from 10:00-22:00. I really like the idea and for a price of between EUR 3 and EUR 4.80 per hour with tea and biscuits and wi-fi included, it could be an interesting drop-in place for some, even during the day. Beats Starbucks any day! ;-) Find out more details here www.clockworkdoor.ie/the-clockwork-door/ the Facebook Page is here www.facebook.com/theclockworkdoor/

[They also have a separate “Escape Room” where you play games to find the key to get out again. It is called The Clockwork Key but is not included in the “Time House” concept, it is a separate operation and priced differently.]

Dublin, Events, Tourism,
 
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