Conor's Bandon Blog

Running, Food and Local stuff from a blow-in

More on Cork Car Sharing

Mike Newham has updated us on Car Sharing in Cork: We’re pushing out the introduction in Cork till July the 4th because of the massive VRT changes that occur on that date. We’ll start off with eight cars on the road - 3 Ford Focuses (Foci?), 4 Ford Fiestas and 1 Transit Connect for delivery’s and the like. All will be low emission diesels with extra safety options and lots of helpful gizmos like bluetooth and sat-nav.

Ooh, very cool competition

John Prendergast from Aonach just let me know about a competition a friend of his is running. It’s pretty damned impressive: Glengarriff Lodge near Bantry in West Cork is giving away a Luxury Self Catering weekend worth €1175 to one lucky blogger who mentions it! The location looks gorgeous and the Lodge is interesting because the aim was to be both luxurious and eco-friendly/sustainable. The concept might be of interest to Irish Bloggers who have a deep interest in sustainability like Tom Atkins or Rebecca Hillman.

Review of The Artful Eater

This is an unusual book made up of a collection of 18 discourses on individual ingredients which were originally distributed as a newsletter. It was first published in 1992 and I was given this 2004 edition by my sister. Initial impressions of the book are extremely positive; the writing is of very high quality and the opening treatise on salt catches the imagination. From then on however it seems to alternate between wonderfully interesting chapters and workmanlike almost Wikipedia-style dry listing of facts about certain foods.

Can you review a wine in 7 words?

I know a lot of the readers here are foodies and I’m sure some of you may even like the odd glass of wine. We’ve decided to take part in a regular event called Wine Blogging Wednesday. Event #42 happens this coming Wednesday and the challenge is to review an Italian Red in 7 words. I love a challenge and this is a tough one. You don’t have to be a blogger to take part.

Review of The Old Post Inn

We got a voucher from my mother-in-law for The Old Post over a year ago and finally made use of it last weekend. It consisted of one night’s stay plus dinner. I’ve previously given it top marks in a review last year and had eaten there several times before, all good. We arrived up about 4pm and they weren’t fully open yet but some hand waving got us in and up to the room.

Review of The Pressure Cooker (RTE)

The advertising for this programme had me hating its subject before it had even started. It depicted Dylan McGrath, who runs Mint restaurant in Dublin, as an obnoxious Ramsay-knockoff desperate to win a Michelin star. Two minutes into the show I wanted to turn it off. I had no interest in seeing this pompous, arrogant jumped-up little asshole. Then the rent-a-critics and old men were put to one side and Dylan was allowed to speak.

Review of Guerrilla Gourmet (Ep 02)

After the first travesty of an episode I swore I’d never watch another but the lure of Denis Cotter in Bandon was too much. This is Gimmicky Garbage TV with a half decent programme buried somewhere far far underneath. In the first episode they send Kevin Dundon to cook a gourmet meal in a boxing club in poor area of Waterford. If you thought that was crass, in this one Denis Cotter set up a vegetarian restaurant in the middle of cattle pens in Bandon Mart!

Know anyone in the Whiskey Industry here?

Kate Hopkins from the legendary food blog Accidental Hedonist is visiting Ireland from Feb 15th to the 22nd and is looking for contact names. Head on over to her blog and let her know.

Two Tits and a Vote

Sabrina Dent, a wonderful web designer based here in Cork, has launched an important web-site and initiative called “Two Tits and a Vote”. Women’s voices count in politics. Two Tits and a Vote is an online Irish Women’s Health Campaign empowering you to advocate for better women’s healthcare in Ireland. You can be part of improving Irish women’s health care from the comfort of your very own chair. Learn how to take part now!

Top Google with the LouderVoice Reviews Competition

We kicked off a competition recently over on LouderVoice for the most popular review each week. Your reviews can be via SMS, blog or microblog and it looks like the winner in the first week is a two line SMS review. Not only that, but it is the number one result on Google for its subject! In fact, we are seeing more and more LouderVoice reviews manage this trick. Here is one I did recently: