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Archive for February, 2007

WhereInTheWorldWednesday #14

Wednesday, February 28th, 2007

An feidir leat buille faoi thuarim a thabhairt maidir le cÃ¡r dtogadh an fÃseÃ¡n thÃos? BÃ chomh cruinn agus is fÃ©idir leat le do tomhais. [youtube]KqAo3WwKXbY[/youtube]A WhereInTheWorldWednesday with a difference this week. See if you can figure out where this video was taken. Be as specific as possible to avoid confusion.
Freagra / Answer: DÃºn Chaoin nÃº Com UÃ Ghineoil (Coumineole)

The WWW Leaderboard
El Ultimo – 3
anpuca – 3
UnmontÃ³ndemierda – 2
Madrarua – 1
Bilbo – 1
blacach – 1
Gerry – 1
Langerdan – 1

The Rest – 0

The Admin – 2
(Number of WWW’s that were not guessed correctly by YOU within the week allowed)

Posted in Ach go háirithe | 6 Comments »

Mí-ádh ag na Oscars

Tuesday, February 27th, 2007

Commiserations to the Irish hopeful who just got pipped to the best supporting actress award by Jennifer Hudson at this years Oscars, for her role in Dreamgirls. [youtube]uq2jKzBDH78[/youtube]Irish hopeful Dolores Mary Eileen O’Riordan was a surprise nomination at this years awards for her role in Jim Sheridan’s new film “Help ive been in an Accidentâ€?, to be released in Europe later this year.

Ni raibh an t-adh len cailin Ã‰ireannach, Dolores Mary Eileen O’Riordan, ag Oscars na bliana seo. Ba mhaith linn comhghairdeas a ghabhÃ¡il lei ar son a bheith ainmnithe in aon chor agus bi cinte go mbeidh si ar an scailean mor airis go luatha.

Posted in Scannáin / Movies | 6 Comments »

Possibly the greatest performance by any team wearing green in any sport ever?

Monday, February 26th, 2007

Sport AGH
“Possibly the greatest performance by any team wearing green in any sport ever?â€? was the text I got off a friend at the weekend.

At first I thought he was talking about Macroom’s great win over Muskerry in the 1962 Cork Senior Football Championship final (Macroom’s 10th and last senior county football title incidentally) but of course that was just me being silly, because there was only one performance he could have been referring to…and that performance was that of that great Macroom team who trashed Avondhu 3-7 to 0-3, four years earlier in the 1958 Cork Senior Football Championship decider. A great performance indeed, especially when you take into account how dominant the Avondhu side of the late fifties early sixties were. In the eight finals from 1955 to 1962, Macroom or Avondhu competed in six, with Macroom just shading it with two titles to Avondhu’s one.

1955: Lees 3 – 4 Macroom 0 – 9
1956: St.Finbarrs 3 – 5 Midleton 0 – 4
1957: St.Finbarrs 2 – 4 Lees 2 – 4
- R: St.Finbarrs 0 – 8 Lees 0 – 5
1958: Macroom 3 – 7 Avondhu 0 – 3
1959: St.Finbarrs 1 – 5 Macroom 0 – 6
1960: U.C.C. 1 – 7 Avondhu 0 – 9
1961: Avondhu 1 – 7 Clonakilty 1 – 5
1962: Macroom 3 – 4 Muskerry 1 – 4

This raises another question, why was a Sligo man texting me about the glory days of Macroom football, 50+ years after the fact? Hmmmmmmm….i must ask him.

Posted in Spórt / Sport | 3 Comments »

Friday Caption Comp #40

Friday, February 23rd, 2007

FCC#40 who would have thunk it!! So as promised in earlier FCC’s, this week there is a special prize going for the best FCC caption. Yes a digital camera could be yours if you come up with the best caption or slogan for the above picture. I know it’s not exactly a caption I’m looking for this week but see what slogan you can come up with for the placard in the above picture.

The winner will be announced next Friday. Good luck.

FCC speisialta againn an seachtain seo. Ta duais do camera digiteach don duine a chuireann an ceannteideal nÃº mana is fear leis an pictiÃºr thuas.

Go n-eiri an t-adh libh!

Last weeks winner was Fence with her caption : All the lads totally agreed with the rule that “you should never get IN a car when the driver has been drinkingâ€? for this picture.

Posted in Ach go háirithe | 11 Comments »

Her Majesty’s Government’s Objective

Thursday, February 22nd, 2007

Much is being made of the recent announcement that British Prime Minister Tony Blair intends to begin withdrawing British troops from Iraq, paring the troop numbers down from 7,100 to 5,500 and possibly even down another 500 to 5,000 by the end of the summer.

Little is being made of the fact that we haven’t seen anything like a similar troop withdrawal from Northern Ireland even though such a withdrawal was promised long before the Iraqi one. There are currently 8,500 British troops still stationed in Northern Ireland. While there has been some progress in terms of dismantling armoured watch towers etc the British MoD is quite obviously dragging its heels on its long promised troop withdrawal from NI.

According to the British MoD: “The mission of the armed forces in Northern Ireland is to support the Police Service of Northern Ireland in the defeat of terrorism and the maintenance of Public Order in order to assist Her Majesty’s government’s objective of returning Northern Ireland to normality.”

The lack of significant troop withdrawals from Northern Ireland is testimony to British Military/Foreign Policy hypocrisy. No one can say that the situation in Northern Ireland is anywhere near as bad as is currently in Iraq but still the hypocrisy goes on. With Northern Assembly elections fast approaching nothing short of complete troop withdrawal should be accepted; one of the many steps in the transition to fair elections and a peaceful society.

Facts and Figures:

NI: 1.6 British Soldiers per square mile.
Iraq: 1 British Soldier per 23 square miles.

NI: 1 British Soldier per 200 head of population.
Iraq: 1 British Soldier per 3772 head of population.

Related Links:
Troops Out

Posted in Cúrsaí Reatha / Topical | 3 Comments »

WhereInTheWorldWednesday #13

Wednesday, February 21st, 2007

PictiÃºr NÃos MÃ³/ Larger Version

RÃ©asÃºnta fuirist an seachtain seo. Bain trial as, is feidir buille faoi thuarim a thabhairt thÃos ag usaid an “Comment” nasc.

Relatively easy this week; should be got straight off the bat! Submit your guesses using the comment link below.
Freagra / Answer: Venice

The WWW Leaderboard
anpuca - 3
UnmontÃ³ndemierda – 2
El Ultimo – 2
Bilbo – 1
blacach – 1
Gerry – 1
Langerdan – 1

The Rest – 0

The Admin – 2
(Number of WWW’s that were not guessed correctly by YOU within the week allowed)

Posted in Ach go háirithe | 9 Comments »

Rialú na Cruine : World domination

Tuesday, February 20th, 2007

RialÃº na Cruine : CÃ©im 1 (Feachtas Na GÃ©anna FiÃ¡ine)
World domination : Phase 1 (Operation Wild Geese)

Some may have missed it, but last month saw an announcement made by Cumann na Gaeltachta of their intentions to set up the first Gaeltacht in the world outside of Ireland.

What country could or would facilitate such a pipedream? Well the country in question is Canada. Of course Canada historically has very strong ties with Ireland, with many regarding Newfoundland as being the most Irish place outside of Ireland. However, it is in South East Ontario near the US border where this ambitious group of gaelgoirs hope to set up this unique Gaelatacht.

Cumann na Gaeltachta founded by Belfast man SÃ©amus Mac Com Charraite have already purchased 60 acres of land near Erinsville (Tamworth) with a view of developing this into a fully functioning Gaeltacht.

Uterus na Gaeltachta are said to be in the advance stages of setting up their new regional offices in Ontario, in preparation for this the first Gaeltacht expansion since 1935! (or 1967 depending on how you look at it). UnaG’s expenses bill is set to soar with many employees scrambling for the opportunity to clock up mileage in what would be a 5869 mile (9446 KM) round trip.

Canada’s favourite descendant and renowned language hater (especially Irish), Ristard O’ Wankhorne, when asked to comment had this to say: [audio:fudd4.MP3]

NHL – Round 1 : Toradh

Monday, February 19th, 2007

Sport AGH
Corcaigh 1-21 UÃbh FhailÃ 1-14 (RÃ©amh-caint)
TÃºs Maith Leath na hOibre? Dala an sceal Ã©, nÃ raibh ach tÃºs handy againn i gcoinne UÃbh FhailÃ ag an deire seachtain agus murach Cusack bheith in ard form b’fhÃ©idir nach beadh an mÃ©id sin againn fiÃº!

K Murphy 0-5 (0-1 free 0-1 65);
E. Murphy 1-1;
N. Ronan 0-4 (0-3 frees);
J. Deane 0-3 (0-1 free);
N. McCarthy 0-3;
T. Kenny 0-3;
T. McCarthy 0-1;
D. O’Sullivan 0-1.

Fir-Ionaid :
K. Hartnett (Callanan 41);
N. Ronan 0-4 (0-3 frees);
P. O’Sullivan (Deane 57);
K. Canty (N. McCarthy 70).

Ionaid-Sealadach:
C. Naughton (D. O’Sullivan 58/65).

As going to see Cork play this weekend was not an option, I decided to go see the second best hurling team in the country, and while Kilkenny looked impressive at times they only managed a draw against newly promoted Dublin.

Dublin looked to be dead and buried at various times, and had Sheff and Cha been on the field I’m sure they would stayed dead and buried, but Dublin showed great resilience and spirit to come back in the second half to force a draw with a late penalty and long range free from Kevin O’Reilly. Why O’Reilly wasn’t on from the start I don’t know but I’m sure his tally of 1-3 will have him on the starting 15 the next time out.

Kevin Flynn Score

Posted in Spórt / Sport | 2 Comments »

IBA ‘07 Gearrliosta / Short List

Monday, February 19th, 2007

Bhuel is baolach go bhfuil doine amugh ansan gur maith leo mo chÃºinne beag don Blogsphere. Baineadh siar dom nuair a fuaireas ainmniÃºchÃ¡in an cead lÃ¡ agus is mÃ³r an onÃ³ir dom bheith ar an gearrliosta deiridh. Go raibh mile maith agaibh go leir as bhur tacaÃocht, cabhair agus gan amhras bhur vÃ³taÃ.

It seems ive made the final short list for this years Irish Blog awards. Believe me I’m as dumfounded by this as you are! To all that voted for AGH, all I can say is WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!!! Naaaa, thanks to all that voted for AGH and a special thanks to all AGH readers.

Best Use of the Irish Language in a Blog – Sponsored by Edgecast Media

Posted in Ach go háirithe | 3 Comments »

ROT Update #3

Friday, February 16th, 2007

It’s been a while since I posted any ROT letters on AGH, so here are some of my own personal favourites. The ROT and its origins are explained here. The archived list of ROT letters can be found here.

Micro Undies
To: Various Electrical companies / Ireland

Hi,

Just a quick question for you . I’m hoping someone there can sort this out for me once and for all.
Are there any dangers/health risks I should be aware of as a result of wearing underpants which I have dried in one of your Microwaves?
Your ‘*****’ model to be more specific.

My brother keeps laughing at me and calling me Chernobyl-Anus! I only did it twice but he said ‘once is all it takes!’.

I really just want to put my mind at ease and have something concrete to defend against my brother and his mocking.

Sincerely Yours
Martina ******

The two best replies i got for this were from Daewoo Electronics and SANYO Ireland. These are shown below, as ar my re-replies to each reply.

Reply 1 > From: Daewoo Electronics Sales UK Ltd

Dear Martina,

I have never received such a strange e-mail question concerning our microwave ovens before.

I can confirm that your health is not at risk BUT I would not advise you to dry your “underpantsâ€? in the microwave in future, as the microwave oven is not designed for this purpose. Only use the microwave oven for the purpose it has been designed for i.e. cooking and defrosting of food/beverages.

Yours sincerely,
…

For and on behalf of
Daewoo Electronics Sales UK Ltd

P.S. On a light-hearted note you may be interested to read the reply I received from our Senior Engineer regarding your query: “May I suggest that he obtains a Giga-counter and checks the amount of radiation in his underpants because anything above a reading of 5, could damage his balls!!!â€?

(This would be quite funny BUT he has not realised that you are a lady!!)

My re-reply went as follows: (more…)

Posted in Ach go háirithe | 1 Comment »

Friday Caption Comp #39

Friday, February 16th, 2007

The FCC took a break last week but the winner for FCC#38 was Mo dhuine.

See how you get on with this one, leave your captions by clicking on the comment link below.

1 week and counting until the great FCC#40 camera giveaway. More details during the week.

Posted in Ach go háirithe | 9 Comments »

NHL – Round 1 Vs Uíbh Fhailí

Thursday, February 15th, 2007

Sport AGH
The Allianz National Hurling League kicks off, or pucks off, this weekend with Cork hosting UÃbh FhailÃ down the PÃ¡irc. A few fresh faces have been included in the line-up which is good to see and it should be interesting to see if this reshuffle breaths fresh life into the team. O’Sullivan starts at full forward where they can pelt high balls in to him all day, with Deano sure to pounce on the breaks; makes a change from opposition forwards picking up Sully’s breaks.

PÃ¡irc UÃ Chaoimh
Corcaigh v UÃbh FhailÃ
RÃ©iteoir : Michael Wadding, Port LÃ¡irge
CI: @ 2.30pm

Posted in Spórt / Sport | 6 Comments »

WhereInTheWorldWednesday #12

Wednesday, February 14th, 2007

Right-e-o peeps. Have a go at this weeks WWW. Its not as obscure as last weeks one but might be slightly tougher than usual. One clue I can give is that it’s not in west Clare!!!

Use the comment function below to add your guess.

Answer: Toulouse , Co. France

The WWW Leaderboard
anpuca - 2
UnmontÃ³ndemierda – 2
El Ultimo – 2
Bilbo – 1
blacach – 1
Gerry – 1
Langerdan – 1

The Rest – 0

The Admin – 2
(Number of WWW’s that were not guessed correctly by YOU within the week allowed)

(more…)

Posted in Ach go háirithe | 20 Comments »

Irish Blog Awards

Monday, February 12th, 2007

Well, not having time over the weekend to keep up with interweb stuff (too much sport to be watched and drink to be drank) it was a nice surprise for me today when I saw that AGH got several nomination in this years Irish Blog Awards.

My nominations may be a result of my Ba’ath party type campaigning but irregardless of this I’m chuffed with the nominations.

The categories I got nominated under are:

Best Blog Post : We love Irish we do, but if we want our signs in English we’ll have our signs in English.
Most Humorous Post : Reasons Behind Australian Rough-House Tactics In International Rules Series (Exclusive)
Best Use of the Irish Language in a Blog
Best Designed Blog

I don’t really know what my chances are of making the final cut of nominees on award night but if you want to see me there you can vote for AGH here.

I was surprised with the nomination for best use of the Irish language in a Blog as my Irish content, or lack there of, has been poor of late. I hope to remedy this over the coming year with more Irish language post.

The rest of the nominees for best use of Irish language in a blog are:
An Saol
An Spailpin Fanach
Arm Runda na Gaeilge
Blag Shomhairle
Chetwynde Downs
Hilary NY
Leigh ar mo T-leine e!
MH Wombat
nobyegarawn
Roinnt Smaointe
Seo Panu ag labhairt
Smaointe Fanacha Aonghusa
Most if not all of these are far more deserving of a nomination and ultimately the award itself.

The full List of nominations can be found here.

Posted in Ach go háirithe | 4 Comments »

No FCC This Week.

Friday, February 9th, 2007

No FCC this week I’m afraid. Technical problems! AGH should be back up and running smoothly next week.

Posted in Ach go háirithe | No Comments »

Comments Turned Off

Wednesday, February 7th, 2007

The comment feature on AGH has been turned off temporarily, due to excessive SPAM. Normal service will resume shortly.

Posted in Ach go háirithe | No Comments »

WhereInTheWorldWednesday #11

Wednesday, February 7th, 2007

Last weeks WWW was much too easy. I’ve gone for a more obscure location this week, see if you can figure it out. Submit your guesses using the comment function below.

Answer: Feakle, Co. Clare

The WWW Leaderboard
UnmontÃ³ndemierda – 2
El Ultimo – 2
Madrarua – 1
Bilbo – 1
anpuca – 1
blacach – 1
Gerry – 1
Langerdan – 1

The Rest – 0

The Admin – 2
(Number of WWW’s that were not guessed correctly by YOU within the week allowed)

(more…)

Posted in Ach go háirithe | 29 Comments »

Are You Going To The Thugball?

Friday, February 2nd, 2007

Well it seems that the world and its mother will be squeezing into Croker tomorrow night to see Dublin take on Tyrone in their National Thugball League clash, the first such match to be played under light at headquarters.

I will not be attending and let me make this quite clear from the outset, if I wanted to see a bunch of Gardai fight a bunch of Nordies on a Saturday night under lights id simply go to Copper Faced Jacks. The admission would be much cheaper, id be allowed to bring my drink back to my seat and of course I wouldn’t have to sit through 70 minutes of thuggery dressed up as football!

I’m sorry but I think ill wait for summer days in Thurles where I can bask in the afternoon sun, drinking ice-cold cider outside Sarsfield’s before watching the far more superior sport of Hurling. And, before I’m branded a sunshine supporter, id be just as happy with a wet January night in Cork, once the sport im watching is hurling.

Posted in Ach go háirithe | 3 Comments »