On the first Sunday of the month a horse fair takes place in Smithfield square.
Now it is one of the oldest fairs in the world, tradition is a hard thing to change and the council have been trying to move it to a different location or even stop it altogether.
Well when travellers gather together feuds come to the boil. In the packed square a fight broke out and a pistol, slash hook and sawn off shotgun were used. The area was packed and people fled, horses panicked, women with babys in buggies tried to flee for safety. Two men were wounded and a third was cut with a slash hook.
It is a total miracle that no one was killed with bullets and horses flying around.
God knows what the foreign visitors who went down there thought of the affair.
I went in to see the Russian family day, nice to see so many different people, bought a tee shirt.
I think it belonged to Abramavich
Well worth the visit.
Here is a little bit of magic from Kate Medvedeva who gave me her card in Blackpool last week.
In Dublin at present there is an exhibition of photos from the Magnum photographer Steve McCurry.Try to go and take a look. It is in meeting house square at the side of the Irish Film Center. He seems to be able to capture the soul of some of his subjects.
The color and lighting are something else to behold. There is one photo which brought tears to the eyes of everyone who saw it.
But here is a bonus, this is Steve McCurry.
Do you know this guy? Well on his album "the freewheelin Bob Dylan" he is seen linking a young lady called Suze Rotolo she died aged 67 RIP
Wow here I am and I forgot to do the Euromillions. But I still have my money and the chances of scooping the millions are only slightly better if you do buy the ticket. Are you coming for Paddys day look here And on Sunday on Cows lane Temple bar we will have a Russian cultural festival family day between 11am to 5 pm.
No free vodka.
Fridays are slow and this morning was very bad. Loads of people are on a four day week. I couldn't get on to any rank so I decided to go home. Then I got a shortie to Dolphin house. (Its a court complex) The lady in question had slipped in a posh restaurant and had torn 2 tendons in her hand. She had to call over the waiter to show him the wet patch on the floor, he just said " No its not wet" Well 2 solicitors and 3 barristers at her table did not agree with the waiter! The manager never came over to ask how she was. They asked for an ice pack and it came without a cloth to soak up the drips of water. A very bad show all round.
My laptop vanished and after 2 weeks it still has not come back, so I am doing this on my new Acer note book.
So in the morning she woke in agony and spent the day in hospital getting it seen to.
She is back at work now and was going to defend her client.
Today the letter was sent to the restaurant informing them that they were being sued!
She told me,and I believe her that had they acted in any caring way and if the injury was less severe she would have not sued. But the damage to her hand is quite bad and after all they do need the work!
When I came home from work the cat had been sick on the carpet and it stank. So after breakfast I had to steam clean the whole carpet to get rid of the smell. We bought our own carpet shampooer a few years ago, no more hireing, a great thing.
So as I headed back out I got a run up to the Northside shopping center.
So I did the shopping for the weekend, I only just had enough as I had not planned to go shopping just then you get a lot more for little at Aldi. So to cut long story short I didn't get back out to work, or get a sleep to work all thought the night.So I will pop off to my cot and have sweet dreams.
Still perhaps I will head down to the boat tomorrow.
Did you hear about John Gilliano? It is said he went on an anti Jewish rant praising Hitler. Now Banking, Fashion, theatre and film are all areas where the Jewish people excel.
He has been sacked!
These people get to be so puffed up with their own importance that when they tumble they have a bad landing.
Dior has a vacancy.
Mabel my friend who is 101 years old says that these fashion people must hate women,why else would they make them stand the way they do? Or why are they so thin? When you get older you do get wiser.
So just for you John, here you have a Jewish sermon.
When March comes in like a lamb. It goes out like a Lion !
We are really having super clear spring weather. frosty weather which is killing all the bacteria that hung in the air during the winter.
Now for the good news.
Ireland have beaten England at their own game,cricket. 3 of the guys on the team are called "Johnston Mooney and O'Brien"(A famous bakery)
So the headline reads "Johnston Mooney and O'Brien make toast of Britain."
An exhibition is opening to Phil Lynott in the Stephens green shopping center tomorrow and "hot press have a special issue all about him.
Tonight I am going to Stomp 11 its like riverdance in clogs, at least I hope it will be loud.
I knew you wanted to see that again.
I had a woman in the car a while back who was very wise. She spoke about the human mind and how we only use less than 10% of it at any one time. If we used more than that the body would just burn out.
Perhaps when I reflect on the latest murder suicide it helps me to understand how a husband could strangle his wife in front of their 2 year old child and then commit suicide by jumping into the sea.
God bless them all.
There is too much drugs going around, people watching crap on TV and having no direction in their lives.
I was talking to a taxi driver the other day in his 30s with a young family. He has had to put his house on the market,which even if he could sell it he would be left homeless and still in negative equity. Boys and girls go to MABS Talk to your lender, they know your Desirable Residence is worthless too.
Do not on any account go to loan sharks,that is the worst thing you could do believe me.
St Patrick,s day is coming and the visitors are starting to arrive. There is a concert on it should be good. www.nch.ie I must find the festival website for you. In the meantime here is THAT video again.
Take a look at this. a Greek language course on a device smaller than a pack of fags. 8GB of memory enough to store 3 movies.
Well here we are, after the smoke has cleared after the elections there are only 2 or 3 politicians from the old guard left standing.
A walkover.
The "Greens" are gone as well.
Well we can hope for a new dawn and a new beginning.
The sarcastic move by the minister to defer the 9 year rule did not wash with taxi drivers either.
I was heading home around 9.30 pm when a Garda stopped me at the O2. "I have a very sober girl and a very drunk girl, would you bring them to their homes for us?"
Both girls were hairdressers and they looked great, almost like film star fantastic. A bad night out for both girls though.
Her sober pal said that she had eaten nothing since breakfast and had worked all day before drinking vodkas on an empty stomach.
So we loaded up and headed off. The sober one kept the window open and the door locked in case she fell out. Sure enough the retching started at O'Connell bridge and continued down as far as Heuston station. Then the dry retching started and carried on for most of the journey. Sharon keep your head out the window, we don't want to have to have pay to get the taxi cleaned. It was a e40 fare, her pal was busy getting the sick girls boyfriend to meet us when we arrived in the far off suburbs. He was not one bit happy to stop his nights drinking and come out. But he was shocked to see his girl friend blubbering like a baby,then she passed out.
So he got in and we set off the mile or so to her house. It was a fine 4/5 bed double fronted house, detached.
When we stopped he opened the back door and she fell out on to the road. No matter how he tried he couldn't manage. The fireman's lift over the shoulder, or one arm over the shoulder of 2 people. But this limp girl was a problem. The more he tried to lift her the more he pulled off her clothes. If he had gone on the way he was going she would have been stripped naked.
To make things worse he would not take the help offered, I hope he didn't break her teeth or give her a black eye from dropping her.
When I came back into town I drove straight into the car wash and had the outside cleaned before the puke dried off. Then clean the little splashes away with baby wipes. Last but not least Fabreze spray to kill the Oder in the car. I remember before the smoking ban using this every night before going to bed and the car would be as fresh as a new mown meadow in the morning.
Mr.computer tells me that I have posted 602 times. This is 603.
A guy at the rank told me today that "There's a guy who writes a taxi blog and there is an awful load of crap on it".
Well, like television my lad, there is an OFF button!
I was tired after my travels and today is my first real day back at work. The morning was slow enough, then I diverted from my usual route and picked up one of my regular customers. A Polish girl working in finance, she has things of interest to tell me all the time. She is looking for Gidaffis money as it joins the financial system.
I shot around until noon when I went home for breakfast.
My oldest son has found a job in London and he came home for a few days before he starts work, he has been looking for a long time too. So I spent some time with him and brought him to the ferry.
We arrived just as the Swift pulled in and I joined the taxi rank. After a few minutes he checked in.
Shortly after that I got a fare from the ferry to Ballsbridge. A very interesting guy (and if you are giving any talks in Dublin call me)he is an ex policeman. Welsh by race, worked in London and now works freelance as a private detective. His last big success was solving "That murder in Hong Kong where the British girl was murdered and dismembered. I had to ask how such a case could be solved? "Its a jigsaw puzzle, you find a few pieces, then you find a few more, then the pieces start to fit together, and you get the whole picture, there is a method."
After I dropped him off I picked up a doctor just back from Melbourne going for a job interview, a happy bright girl, not so full of doom and gloom as the native Irish are at present.
Then loads of doctors and medics going to the conference center.
A nurse from Manchester, a nurse from Edinburgh married to a doctor, 3 nurses from Denmark, a doctor from Slovenia. A mother and daughter from the O2 to Bewleys Ballsbridge, then to Heuston, heading for Waterford. The X factor was taking place in the O2 as well.
Then a girl just after getting a spray on tan.She has a big wedding on at the weekend. She was still a very light color, but it darkens overnight,so she said. You know the old song, "I have often heard it said ,from my father and my mother. That going to a wedding is the makings of another"
Then I got a fare to American soil. The daughter of the American ambassador got in with her own daughter. I have never been in the grounds of the residence, a beautiful house with stunning views of the Wicklow hills and the Dublin mountains, its right in the middle of the Pheonix park. As you turn to leave the house Abraham Lincon's bust is facing you. I couldn't take any photos as I didn't want to be arrested as a spy! Here is a link to an old post which shows the entrance and the story about the famous Pheonix Park murders.
Once upon a time the American ambassador and his wife were driving home, they had an old battered car, one that would not be noticed as it passed through town. An over zealous garda pulled them over. "Your tax disc is out of date, so I will be giving you a ticket" "You don't understand I am the US ambassador" "Well if you are the American ambassador, then I must be John Wane, give me your papers" So after looking at his documents the garda says, "I am sorry Mr.Ambassador I have made a mistake" "That's quite all right Mr Wane, have a good night" said the ambassador as he drove away.
I don't know how true it is, but it is a too good a story to let the truth spoil it.
Well I arrived back in Dublin and I hope to hit the mean streets in the morning.
The good news for owners of older taxis is that the 9 year rule has been suspended.
As of yet I will not use the word abolished.
So this beautiful Jag can still ply the city streets, all leather seats Air Con. all the bells and whistles.
Why should you not ride in this car when a car 4 years old being driven 24/7 by 4 different drivers is somehow more desirable, just because of its age?
By the time most of you read this I will be in Blackpool England at the worlds biggest magicians convention. I as much as anyone need a little bit of magic in my life, even if it has to come from a packet. The only magic convention that is bigger is FISM which will be in Blackpool next year. Put "FISM winners" into youtube to see the standard of magic that comes up.
Yes indeed travel slims the wallet and broadens the mind.
beach volleyball in Blackpool? Why not? but I never saw it played in thermal suits before.
Well my favourate movie was made there.
Bernard Bilis is coming, so for you French speakers.
Yes you can see by his moves that he works all the time
Here is one guy who will be there, A bit of magic from Lennart Green
