31/03/2009

27/03/2009

HALF THREE IN THE DAMN MORNING!


It’s half three in the damn morning and I’m going for a walk. Not too far, just down the street. I need to clear my head and my usual rhythm wasn’t working. I thought about having a couple of fingers of Jack to help me sleep and decided that it wasn’t a funny diet or the lack of morals in today’s society. Damn room was the problem. I’d been here what felt like years working this damn soul-sucking job for this damn broad.


So I bottled my courage like a good fellow, grabbed my lid and stepped out into the damn world. It was chilly but I knew it wasn’t just the weather, this city has a way of getting under your skin and it had gotten through to my damn bones.

I figured I’d walk to the park round the block, figured maybe some green grass and trees might clear my head. The streetlights cast a glow like everything was covered in yellow grease. Maybe it was, by this stage I’d drunk three mouthfuls of fire and I was breathing heavy. I couldn’t stop thinking about that damn dame. Not that fire breathing number that hired me for the job that I was ducking, nah it was my old twist who I had seen during the week with her new squeeze. That damn dame.

Maybe that’s why I didn’t notice him or maybe its cause when you’re on your fourth bullet in as many minutes you don’t see too clearly. “Gotta light pal?” he asked. “Yeah, gotta smoke?” I replied, in no mood to be talking to some bum when I was trying so hard to drink myself unconscious. “As a matter of fact I does” he said and pulled out a pack of Gitanes offering me one. I shrugged and took one. I lit up drawing the hot smoke down in one deep breath. I lit his and he sucked it hard like a lollypop, he took it out of his mouth and looked at it like it was a piece of damn art. “I always appreciate the finer things in life.” I nodded taking a drag. This whale sure looked like he did. Good shoes, sharp suit and the rings on his fingers weren’t from no colleges I know, that’s for damn sure.

“Nice night for a stroll” he said looking out down the quiet road, like he was waiting for something. “Yeah sure, I guess.” I said wanting to take my smoke and get away from this lonely old rummy. “You uh, havin’ trouble with your lady friend?” he asked grinning. “I mean why does a feller go for a walk at half three in the darn morning” he spread his fat fingers out and smiled showing teeth too white. This chuck don’t have chompers bad enough to be trusted. “I got ninety-nine problems and a damn dame ain’t one.” I said taking a shot from my buddy Jack. He laughed a wheezy laugh. “You ain’t a bad kid, here gimme that bottle.” He pointed a fat finger at me. “Lets me guess, you got problems with you job amiright?” I took my flask back and wiped the neck. “Yeah” He put his arm around my shoulder and we started walking. “Ya gotta unnerstand the financial mess our economy is in at the moment, ya see your too young to remember but when I got inta this game the streets was paved with gold” he made a sweeping gesture staring grandly down the sleeve of his white suit. “We had the world for the taking, they called it a revolution, for the first time in our history we was on toppa the world! Oh we had it all; Booze, Broads, the best smokes, the finest food. But recently we been muscled out. Oh don’t get me wrong other crews got it bad too, but we were so close to bein’ on da top, real contenders!”

I nodded not knowing what this kook was gabbing about but I kept mum figuring I’d at least get another damn smoke out of this daffy bird. “We had da world on a platter and the big guy, the number one boss in town blew it, I mean it was so sweet and he ruined it for everyone!” He shook his head. “And who’s called in to clean up his mess?!” He pounded his chest “ME!”

Somewhere a dog started barking and some schmuck shouted to shut up. “Do you know who y’er talkin’ to? I’m the boss of this town!” For a second I thought this fat guy was gonna pull a Rosco on the guy, luckily the guy shut up. “Yeah I know what your thinkin’ kid, things are sore all over. But you see I know something you don’t. You see I was waiting for a guy like you. Lost, hopeless, whatever you wanna call it. But you see I been waiting for you kid. Cos you’re the guy gonna make it right. I’m a good judge of people kid. I’m gonna give you a chance to help me fix this mess we’re in, cos I ain’t ashamed to say I can’t do this alone. So’s are you with me”

What could I damn well say? This guy was crazy, convinced he could fix the world’s problems at a snap. But hey, I been in deep water before and if the guy is talking about making some green then I’d be a schnook to turn him down. Besides he didn’t seem too bad. A little dumb sure, but what option did I have? “Sure thing mister, I’ll give you a shot but I don’t come cheap!” He smiled when I said this, his chops stretching till I thought his face would bust. “I knew you was the right kid for the job. You got the right attitude.”

He put his arm around me and offered me another smoke “So what do I call you?” I said putting in my mouth. “People call me Mr. C” We walked down the damn street to a bright sunrise. Welcome to the wonderful world a politics kid!”

by Paul Power

23/03/2009

SHUFFLE UP AND DEAL AWAY

Having to write this first article about poker I was wondering what I should start with; there are so many things to talk about in this game so I asked people around me which are not players what they want to know concerning this popular game. How to play? How to win? How much does it cost? Where to play?

So, I should start with the fundamental question: What is poker?


The basic ingredients making this card game so attractive are luck, mathematics and money. Fame, fortune and last but not least fun, these are the motivations of all poker players. A great way to be introduced to the game is having some friends over for a poker evening, spending ridiculous amount of money while socializing; a great way to break the routine.

So I have to start with the basics; although there are as many types of games - Texas Hold’em being the most popular - as there are players, the winning hands are usually the same:


HIGH CARD is a poker hand in which no two cards have the same rank, the five cards are not in sequence, and the five cards are not all the same suit. High card ranks below all other poker hands; two such hands are ranked by comparing the highest ranking card. If those are equal, then the next highest ranking card from each hand is compared, and so on until a difference is found. EX: K J 8 7 3

ONE PAIR contains two cards of the same rank, plus three other unmatched cards. Higher ranking pairs defeat lower ranking pairs; if two hands have the same pair, the non-paired cards, "the kickers", are compared in descending order to determine the winner. EX:A A K 10 5

TWO PAIR contains two cards of the same rank, plus two cards of another rank (that match each other but not the first pair), plus one unmatched card. To rank two hands both containing two pairs, the higher ranking pair of each is first compared, then the highest pair wins. If both hands have the same "top pair", then the second pair of each is compared. Finally, if both hands have the same two pairs, the kicker determines the winner. EX: 8 83 3 A

THREE OF A KIND, also called TRIPS or SET, contains three cards of the same rank, plus two unmatched cards. Higher-valued three of a kind defeats lower-valued three of a kind. If two hands contain three of a kind of the same value, the kickers are compared to break the tie. EX: 8 8 8 10 A

STRAIGHT contains five cards of sequential rank but in more than one suit. Two straights are ranked by comparing the highest card of each. Two straights with the same high card are of equal value. EX: 10 9 8 7 6

FLUSH contains five cards of the same suit, not in sequential order. Between two flushes, the highest ranking card of each is compared to determine the winner. If both hands have the same highest card, then the second-highest ranking card is compared, and so on. EX:Q 10 7 6 4

FULL HOUSE contains three matching cards of one rank, and two matching cards of another rank. Between two full houses, the one with the highest ranking set of three wins otherwise if two hands have the same set of three, the hand with the higher pair wins. EX:3 3 3 6 6

FOUR OF A KIND, also known as QUADS or POKER, contains four cards of one rank, and an unmatched card of another rank. Higher ranking quads defeat lower ranking ones. EX:K K K K 9


STRAIGHT FLUSH contains five cards in sequence, all of the same suit. An ace-high straight flush such as A K Q J 10 is known as a ROYAL FLUSH and is the highest ranking standard poker hand. Two such hands are compared by their highest card; since suits have no relative value. EX:Q J 10 9 8

The last word would be: gamble responsibly…

FD

Pictures from Flickr:

Todd Klassy and Kevin Labianco.

18/03/2009

My Czech stage



WHEN YOU LEAVE
I’ll start hating this country when you leave.
I’ll hate people, alcohol and trams.
But I will love streets and squares,
Those places that were engraved with your name
And already drowned under the snow.



TODAY I PROMISE TO YOU
Today I promise to you
(you and I know that I will not fulfill it),
that you won’t find again my eyes
seized between the smoke,
zigzagging between people,
hoping that you watch to me,
watching you.



THE SKY DIES WHILE I WAIT
The sky dies while I wait
for the end of your hangover and I drag
mine and its corpse.
And I aspire to push the needles
in thousand different ways,
everyone but useless.
And the insipid flavor of your lack
shakes my lips like a cable
in my wet feet.
Cause you are warmth and my days
Are a telephone made frost.
There’s nothing else lately.
Just a heavy sphere in the wall
and a pebble soup in the plate.



IT DAWNS
I love your clothes
When it dress the ground of my room,
And my feet get cold and my bed
Gets smaller.
And when almost felt sleep I don’t want to sleep
But just to look at the starred sky
that is brighting in my pillow.
And with my belly turning round and my hungry eyes,
To have breakfast with the rest of your yesterday make up.
While morning pass envying my good luck.







IT'S LIKE WHEN I WALK
It’s like when I walk and cross
A space that smells like you:
My life turns 180 degrees in my shoes
But air is cruel and you are not there.
And there I stand in front of someone’s back
That you are not and looking the emptiness
That my illusion of seeing you lets.



LAST NIGHT
Last night I spent with you
The sun was shining and it was the noon
And my hand’s eyes looked at your body
in the nocturnal light of that mistaken time.
Drunk but all yours.
By Jacobo Polledo

13/03/2009


WHO WATCHES THE WATCHMEN!

I did, yesterday, and although this film had me salivating increasingly, like a fat kid at Mickey D`s, since I heard of its conception, it did not disappoint. It's a fantastic movie completely true to the graphic novel except for a few minor details, I even heard the actors were chosen for their likeness to the characters, and pure eye candy. Cool soundtrack, interesting selection and used really well. The director kind of has a hard on for slow motion (he did 300), but he manages to reign it in so it doesn't feel like you've suddenly developed preternatural awareness. Yes this is a bad thing when you try to demonstrate these new found powers once you leave the theater.

But this film was subject to the increasingly common, double edged sword of hype. It was built upon the acclaim of its parent graphic novel, which is an amazing piece of literature everyone should read, but is still a giant of a small under appreciated medium. As such a lot of people will see this that wouldn’t have otherwise, and won’t enjoy it.


I got a sense of this during the film, there was an air of restlessness about. Some people just weren’t connecting with it. The vast complicated plot spans several decades, two generations and interweaves between very differing and complex characters. Without having read the novel it would be very hard to follow and the style of the movie is not that of the ordinary superhero movie that most people will expect. The action is far less frequent and more bluntly violent when it occurs. What makes up the rest of the nearly three hours is dialogue, which is dark gritty and smothering. You have to allow yourself to be immersed in it.

I think it’s interesting to note that the cert which is 16's here in Ireland was originally 18's but reduced on appeal. It highlights that although it is darkly violent it’s not simply for violence sake. This movie claims more depth than the average hero movie, not like Dark Knight which I think just used darker lighting as far as I could tell.


I can’t end without mentioning the nudity. It’s full frontal, it’s blue and it glows. If you’ve every had a thing for smurfs this is the closest you’ll get to porn. Big Popa Smurf aka Dr. Manhattan rarely wears clothes, try not to childishly giggle.


Go see it. And buy the graphic novel, preferably before seeing the movie if you think you've got time. In fact buy everything by Alan Moore. He’s a genius. Peace out.

by Ronan O'Neill

11/03/2009

FUTURE ART COLLECTORS HANDBOOK



Investing in emotions

We all have the collectors’ gene inside us. Right from when we are very young we are taught to collect, classify and order. It doesn’t matter whether it’s marbles, stamps or stickers. It’s the same with art – it’s just another way of accumulating and ordering objects. What makes it different to cars, houses or clothes is that investing in art is investing in emotions. Once you’re hooked there’s no leaving this club, of which there are very many members all over the world.Not only are there few collectors in Ireland – most of the ones there are collect acclaimed Irish artists such as James Coleman (actually exhibited in IMMA) and foreign ones like Bacon, Christo, Wesselmann and Warhol. Few of them take risks and try to invest in up-and-coming, cutting-edge artists. So with a small budget the best strategy is simple: do the opposite.

For relatively small amounts one can opt for photographs, drawings and print editions, which are more accessible formats (video has become quite expensive). If, on the contrary, you don’t want to risk yourself with young artists, it is also possible to build up an interesting collection of big names at very economic prices. Although in Ireland this is not common practice, in many countries, and in particular in the UK, multiple editions are published with sets of 300 or 400 copies by very well-known artists. In the Serpentine Gallery, London, you can find Collector Editions with 5 works of Ilya & Emilia Kabakov, Tadashi Kawamata, Oliver Payne & Nick Relph, Álvaro Siza and Sarah Sze for £386.60 incl. VAT. In Dublin, the IMMA has limited edition prints from Franz Ackerman, Dorothy Cross, Juan Uslé and other artists in a range from 300-3,500 euro.

As for storage space, there’s really nothing to worry about as photographs, drawings and print editions can be kept perfectly well in a portfolio folder, scrapbook or in a simple box in any dry corner of the house., assuming you´ve run out of wall space. If you intend to make a large investment in order to improve the corporate image of a company or create a foundation, you should take a look at the list of the top artists on Artfacts.net. These are consolidated artists, whose value increases constantly.

USEFUL HINTS
  1. Only buy what you like (even if it is an investment) as you are going to have to live with it.
  2. Educate your eye by visiting galleries, museums, and travelling. You have to keep up on what is going on. It only takes two hours a week. On Thursdays there are openings in galleries. Here you can meet the artists and enjoy a cocktail with people who have the same interests as yourself.
  3. Take the plunge and buy works by unknown artists (even though they are not yet linked to an important gallery. This is where real surprises can be had in the future and it is the true test of the collector).
  4. Establish a maximum price per work (if it is a series of works, you can increase the price a little).
  5. Be patient, do some research. Keep up to date by reading specialist magazines such as Art Forum, Tema Celeste, Art in America, Circa or Frieze. If you are interested in knowing what is on offer in the Secondary Market browse through auction house catalogues (the most important ones take place in London and New York at Christie’s and Sotheby’s, respectively).
  6. Don’t buy a single work (it is preferable to buy several works as a single one says nothing of its author. And in the case of a series of photos it is also better to buy the whole series, even though they are smaller, than to buy just 2 in a larger size).
  7. Become international (you can do this by travelling to young art fairs such as Volta Show and Liste in Basel, art forum in Berlin or the Zoo and Frieze Art Fair in London where there are possibilities for everyone’s budget).
  8. Consult experts (not just gallery owners, you can also work with young curators or art critics who are up-to-date and can inform you on what is going on).
  9. Specialize and collect by genre (portraits, still life, landscape…) or based on other themes such as fashion, consumerism, speed, anxiety or whatever interests you most.
  10. Don’t worry about space. You’ll find a way to store the art works.

By M.Mínguez
Photo: F.Otero Perandones

10/03/2009

CARLOS NUÑEZ TALKS TO GLAZZ! MAGAZINE


“Playing with The Chieftains has been like being in the Paradise”


Carlos Nuñez, born in Galicia, one of the Celtic places in Spain apart from Asturias, is a charismatic piper who plays the tradicional “gaita” (bagpipes) from this Spanish place.

He started playing when he was a child, and by that time he already was a remarkable master player always influenced by “the traditional, classic and medieval music”.

He represented Galicia in the Lorient Festival in the French Britanny. This festival is the biggest cultural manifestation of the Celtic Countries. Every year, there is a contest between pipers which is the equivalent of the Nobel Prizes of the bagpipes, “the Mcallan Contest”. Carlos won it three times in a row: “For me it was something like the Olimpic Games of the bagpipes. I was the whole year preparing the contest, the music, the technique, practicing some sports, but nothing of girls! I never opened all the whisky bottles I got as a prize, ha ha…”

After that, he started his internacional career meeting the Chieftains: “Playing with the Chieftains since I was eighteen years old has been like being in the paradise too soon. I think I have never felt nothing like playing and recording with them”. But this was only the beggining, because he continued playing with hundred of musicians from all over the world like Alan Stivel, Sharon Shannon, Dulce Pontes, Roger Hodgson, Altan… When we asked him which of those masters have marked him more, he says that “It is true that I have predilection for the mature artists, the Picassos of the music. Compay Segundo, Ry Cooder, Montserrat Caballé, some of the flamenco, jazz and tradicional music masters have been the highlights of my colaborations”.

He is one the most known “ambassadors” from his place, showing its culture and roots to all the world: “I feel like very beloved by my fans, and it is true that in Galicia they are a lot. In the live concert DVD we recorded in Vigo, 30,000 people came to the venue. This would not seem very normal for this kind music, the Celtic music, but it is true that it is a sort of reward to all the hard work of showing this music to everyone and expand its language thanks to its natural connections with the different musics from all the world”.

Something he have experienced during all his trips is that “in many countries, different people and different bands are thinking and playing with the same ideas without knowing each other. But it is true that the place where I have noticed a bigger enthusiasm for the birth of a new synthesis is Latin America. There are a lot of bagpipes bands and bands from Buenos Aires to La Habana or Mexico which are aware of the treasure they have in their hands, and all the excitement they have for the life”.

When Carlos is not playing his “gaita”, he likes listening to some music, the last album he got is the reedition of “Sketches of Spain”, for Miles Davis; and he says that “in my MP3 player I have thousands of musics from Brazil. From old recordings of 1904 to nowadays music, as I have been travelling Brazil during almost two years. I am ending my new album, which is the result of those Brasilian musical explorations, where I have found a kind of future Celtic music, because the hability of how this country has mixed the European Medieval heritage with the African and the Indigenuos”.

This year, Carlos is playing in Saint Patrick´s Festival in Dublin: “Some years ago I used to celebrate Saint Patrick with The Chieftains in the Carnegie Hall of New York, but lately it seems that the shock wave has come back to its origins, and now we celebrate it in Dublin. Here is different, it is not as spectacular as in New York, but it is deeper. I feel like at home. Even the Irish Prime Minister attends to my concerts! That is something that never happened to me in Spain”.

The concert will be next Sunday the 15th in the Nacional Concert Hall: “We are going to mix the simphony orchestra with the tradicional Celtic music instruments. It will be a musical trip through worlds so different as the music of the contemporary Ireland, Galicia, Cuba, flamenco… We will listen, also, some original film soundtracks in which I have collaborated , such as the Spanish movie “The Sea Inside” (Oscar winner in 2004) and the Japanesse “Gedo Senki” of the master Miyasaki. Some collaborations with Ruichi Sakamoto, with the Chieftains, and of course classic music inspired in the traditional one, as the very difficult “Muineira de Sarasate” which I have been maturing and working during the last twenty years till we are going to play it live. Moreover, along with the orchestra, my whole band will be playing, including the new revelation of the Irish Music Niamh ni Charra who has been playing with us all around the world during the last two years”.

15 March 2009 08:00 PM - Main Auditorium
Carlos Nuñez Orchestra of the National Concert Hall

http://www.nch.ie/


By Xandru Fernández
Photos : Alexandre Moulard

09/03/2009

REDUNDANCY

Due to the current economic downturn some people are facing a redundancy situation; but do you know exactly what your rights are? Under the Redundancy Payments Scheme all eligible employees are entitled to a statutory redundancy lump sum payment on being made redundant.

What is a Redundancy?

A redundancy situation occurs when an employer requires fewer employees to do work in his company, when a company goes into liquidation or receivership, when it is decided to rationalise or reorganise a company or when a company simply closes down. A redundancy situation arises in general where an employee’s job no longer exists and he/she is not replaced.

Are you eligible for a statutory redundancy lump sum?

Under the Redundancy Payments Scheme all eligible employees are entitled to a statutory redundancy lump sum payment on being made redundant. An employee is entitled to two weeks pay for every year of service, with a bonus week added on, subject to the prevailing maximum ceiling on gross weekly pay (€600 with respect to redundancies notified after 1st January 2005)

What are the requirements you need to cover to be entitled to a statutory redundancy lump?

You must have at least two years continuous service in the company.
You must be in employment which is insurable under the Social Welfare Acts. If you are a full-time employee you must be in employment which is fully insurable for all benefits under the Social Welfare Acts; this does not apply if you are a part-time employee.
You must be between the age of 16 and Old Age Pension age, which at present is 66 years of age except for employees whose Date of Termination is on or after 8th May 2007 there is no upper age cap.
You must have been made redundant as a result of a genuine redundancy situation – in general this means that the job no longer exists and the person is not replaced.

Be aware that under the Redundancy Payments Act 2003 an eligible employee is entitled to two weeks statutory redundancy payment for every year of service, plus a bonus week. All statutory redundancy payments are tax-free.

By Zuriñe Álvarez

HOW TO GET YOUR DREAMT JOB? FIRST STEP-MAKE YOUR CV THE BEST

Are you looking for a new job? Have you just arrived to Ireland? Do you need a change on your career? The first step to get your dreamt job is to prepare a good CV! Take a competitive advantange to the rest of the candidates!

You need to have very clear that a CV is an advert to sell yourself; it is a marketing tool and you need to show the best of you. You should never write anything that it is not true or exaggerate the reality, just look at it from your employer point of view, this will make the difference.

Before you start writing it you MUST know what kind of profile the company is looking for, research about the organization and read carefully the job spec. The next step is to match your CV with the job requirements. Remark the previous experience you have that can be useful for that job, you will have a better chance to be called for an interview.

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO WRITE ON YOUR CV:

Personal details: Name, address, telephone number and email address. If you have just arrived to Ireland remember that your Irish mobile and address must appeared.

Education: Divide it in two different parts: studies (degrees, diplomas, etc.) and trainings (all the short-term courses you have carried out). Start with the most recent studies and continue in chronological order!!!

Work experience: List your most recent experience first! You need to mention the name of your employer and a short explanation about the company. Furthermore, explain your main responsabilities, targets and achievements in that position.

Skills: include in this section the languages you speak and your level of fluency; computer experience and any other information you consider relevant (for example driving license, publications, etc.)

Interests: Remark in this section those activities you are interested in. Have you ever been the captain of your football team? Mention it! The companies are looking for people with leadership skills.

References: don't forget to provide the name, telephone number and email address of two of your previous employers. If a company wants to offer you a job probably they would like to check your performance in previos employments.

Now you have the tools on your hands! As you can read it is easy to have a good CV; take your time to prepare it and ask somebody else to read it to be sure that you have explained everything clearly. Nothing is impossible and you are now on the right way. GOOD LUCK!

By Zuriñe Álvarez

08/03/2009

PLANETS, PLANETS EVERYWHERE. BUT NOT A DROP TO DRINK!

The search for extra solar planets has boomed in the last decade with over 340 confirmed exoplanets discovered to date. The vast majority of these are gas giants and ice giants with several hot super earths also having been found. These are mostly large Jupiter sized planets somewhat similar to the outer planets of our solar system. They are unlikely to be able to support life. They are also missing one very important factor for supporting life, water. More specifically liquid water, in order for a planet to contain a substantial amount of liquid water it needs to orbit a relatively thin band of space around a star, often called the goldilocks zone for some obscure scientific reason that I could explain but you probably wouldn´t understand anyway. Within this “zone” it´s cold enough so all water isn´t lost to space during formation and hot enough its not frozen.

The search for planets has focused on these larger varieties due to the limitations of earth based astronomy such as atmospheric turbulence and thermal noise. In order to detect terrestrial planets, similar to our inner planets, rocky, metallic cores and earth sized, greater accuracy is required. Which is why NASA´s Kepler space telescope was successfully launched at 10.49pm EST or 03.49am GMT on March 6/7 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. It specifically aims to find earth sized, terrestrial exoplanets with possible liquid surface water, i.e. habitable.

Kepler will take up residence at a point in space for the next 3.5 years facing away from the sun allowing a continuous view of its target area of space in the Cygnus and Lyra constellations. Keplers large field of View(FOV) plus the large number of Sun like stars, roughly 100,000, in this area increases the likely hood of observing earth-like planetary transits.

Planetary transits is the method Kepler will use to detect new planets. When a planet moves between its star and the observer, its said to transit it, and a dip in the brightness can be measured. From this and the stars data the characteristics of the planet can be deduced such as mass, orbital period and approximate temperature. Appropriately the orbital period is calculated using Keplers third law of planetary motion. Johannes Kepler being the famous 17th century astronomer who defined the three laws of planetary motion and for which the telescope is named. This information can then tell us if surface water is possible and thus if life is possible. A long step from knowing but a step in the right direction considering the existence of extra solar planets was still debatable in recent history.

The telescope is a Schmidt design with a 0.95 meter aperture and a 109 square degree FOV, this is roughly your hand held at arms length (assuming you don´t have freakishly large hands). This feeds the photometer which is composed of an array of 42 CCD´s(Charged Coupled Devices, like in your digital camera). Each one being 50x25mm and 2200x1024 pixels. The satellite then stores the data and transmits to earth once a month.
The mission is very optimistic, hoping to discover over 800 gas giants with small periods and over 600 hundred terrestrial planets depending on characteristics of planets. Either way the vast amount of data obtained will go along way to increasing our knowledge of planetary systems throughout our galaxy. The characteristics they exhibit and the properties of stars harboring planetary systems. This is the real value of the mission, knowing how common place or unique our solar system is. I like feeling special but I really like ET so the more the merrier. Peace out

By Ronan O'Neill

07/03/2009

DISCOVERING DUBLIN


By F. Otero Perandones.

MARIE


MARIE:


I remember when I was 16 years old and my first boyfriend just vanished off the face of the heart, I thought that I never could feel so lonely and desperate, but my mother was there.

I remember the day before my wedding with all the typical doubts,

My mother sat me on a chair and she started to explain how was her day before the wedding and later she gave me her bless.

I remember when I got pregnant of my first child, I felt scare, insure, nervous…I didn’t know how to answer all the questions that my mind was asking for second, and my mother just took my hand and with all patience she made me feel that I would be the best mother ever.

And now I am desperate, alone, scare... every day is a day of fighting against me. She was always my world, my support my whole life I owe her the person who I am.

I have to take care of a child who is 65 years old. The day that the doctor told me that she had Alzheimer I thought that would be easier to handle it and I decided to take care of her alone and now that loneliness is killing me softly and deeply.



A NORMAL DAY


-What are you doing! Don’t disturb me now I have to prepare lunch! Your dad is coming from the office in half an hour and nothing is ready!

-Mum please, it is 3 am it is time for sleep…

-Do you think I am crazy of course it is 3 am. Why did you wake me? Are you crazy? Go to your bed and let me sleep! You don’t know how to do anything! You are useless!

-Ok mum, you are right, but please go back to bed…

Suddenly her old mum just decided to go to bed, so angry because she thought that she was right and her sad, tired and haggard daughter was wrong about everything.

But her mum doesn’t remember that she was once a pleasant woman, always happy and with very good sense of humour.

She doesn’t remember the day that she changed the life of her fantastic family.

She doesn’t remember the morning that she forgot where the toilet was and she thought that the toilet was a shoe in the middle of the room.

However she remembers the words that one morning her daughter Marie was saying to her husband last night:

-Shane, I am scared, for one second in my life I wished the death of my mother.

I can’t go on any more like this please I am going insane; I don’t know what to do…

Her mother couldn’t understand what happened to Marie,

She is only 7 years old, who taught her to talk in this way?

Who was she speaking to? We don’t have any neighbors and if it was Monday why she wasn’t in the school? Was she sick?

-Marie!!!!- She starts to scream

-Are you ok mum?


-Why are you not in the school? Are you sick?

Marie with all the patience of the world tried to explain to her mum that she finished school a long time ago.

-Of course you did! What are you doing here?

Marie was so tired, all the rage inside her cannot be stopped for any tender word that in the past would be enough to go on.

She just left the room and started to walk alone in the personal asylum that used to be her adorable house.

She sat in her sofa and opened her bottle of wine that was hiding for emergency moments of madness.

She served herself and tried to do a toast:

- For my perfect life…-said with ironicy to herself, she drank a sip and started to look around how everything could change in this way.

- My house, my job, my family…My whole life I don’t have anything, just an older mum who forgets her past every 5 minutes- and a desire for her mum’s death began to occupy her mind more often.

-What kind of daughter am I?! Enough tears, it is time to be strong…-she told her conscious before leaving the glass of wine on the table and going to sleep a few hours.

Next day, she started with her routine trying to forget the last thoughts in her mind which every day had become so painful like bloody knives in her deep and fragile soul.

She got breakfast ready for two and after showering her mum and then herself, they started the day with the exercises that the doctor had recommend her for her mum.

Some photos and a little music- few minutes of peace.

-Marie, looks at this photo! This was from your first day at school; do you remember how long you were crying for? I thought that you would never forgive me for that…

Oh look at this, your wedding!! Your father was crying throughout the ceremony and I think that he has never forgiven your husband because in his eyes you were always a child.

By the way where is your father? It is late and I have to cook lunch for him…

-Mum, listen, it is time for music- She ignores the question, her father died 5 years ago in an accident at the onset of her mother’s illness.

She decided that it was better for her own sanity to just follow her mum’s tales and not argue to explain the truth


THE AWAKE


The days go on and the situation didn’t get better.

Her husband was working very hard in the other side of the country to try to maintain his own family but he didn’t know about the real stress in Marie’s life.

He didn’t know about Marie’s wine glass in midnight

He didn’t know about Marie’s Valium to get sleep properly

And the worst, he didn’t know that Marie forgot about love a husband, love her big children…

She only was taking care of her poor and ill mum and for her this was the universal love.

The last night her husband was at home, and he decided to do special dinner for her sacrifice wife, thinking that it would be a small break for her.

She was spending all dinner waking up to make sure that her mum was alright.

At the 5 time that she did her husband just stand up and throw all the plates on the floor and started to scream to her:

-It is enough!!! Sit on the chair right now! I’ m tired, so tired of this situation! Only I ask you 1 hour in our house together!

-But…

-Shut up! You cannot live any second without your mother?!

-You are so cruel!

-Cruel? Me? You wanted to handle this alone, you did me look for a better pay job to maintain the new situation- He stood up and started to walk to sit and took his wife’s hand

-Listen Marie, you are getting insane, and …-He started to tremble

-I cannot forgive me that the only solution of this is be far away from you…I love you, and I want to help you, but close to you, I don’t want to lose you…Let me help you in a real good way for you not only with money…-The silence got in the room for a few minutes with no answers, no regrets, no question…just silence; Suddenly her cuirass disappeared and she started to cry all the tears that all this years were saved in her heart. She just woke up from her nightmare and she realized that she wasn’t alone for one time.

-I’m sorry Shane you are right, help me and teach me how to love again my husband, my children…

-Don’t worry Marie, I am here…-and he embraced her wife while she finished the last tears


SHANE


28 Years ago I fell in love in the brave and savage Marie. She was the one since I saw her that summer day and she came across me and she threw away my glass.

I was so angry and I started to scream to her, she just argued with me I shouted to her useless and She shouted at me asshole, my heart started to beat so quick and suddenly I just took her face and I kissed her until she slap me…I couldn’t believe what I did.

After a few months she just came to me and said me that she couldn’t forget my kiss that she didn’t know why she was there talking with me but she knew in her deeply soul that she had to do it.

I love her, but this last years were so hard for her, and the worst thing was I didn’t know how to help her.

Her mother is real sick and she decided to handle alone. She left her job, her friends, her children, her husband and the worst, she allow herself go.

I cannot stay without my Marie so I decided to ask for a change in my job.

Now I will work at home, and I will take care of her mum, and I will make sure that my Marie will be alright.



THE REST


She was exhausted and Shane just picked her up in his arms and put her on bed. He took off all her clothes and after a warm bath he put her to sleep.

He was checking that his mother in law was alright and he just went to bed and embraced his wife.

When she felt the body of Shane close to her she just turned her face and started to kiss him as the first time that they did it.

-I love you, thanks to be here

He embraced her and for first time in a long he saw her wife alive again


THE LIGHT DAYS

.

The next day Marie woke up

-Oh my god! It is too late; I have to bath and dress my mum! And the breakfast!

Suddenly her mum appeared in front of her dressed and cleaned:

-Hey, there is a man at home, he woke me up he is waiting for us for breakfast, come on lazy get up!!!

And she went back to the kitchen; she was in shock she didn’t understand what happened until her husband went for her

-Good morning lazy…-and kissed her- Come on breakfast is ready and we have a sunny day outside…-She realized what has happened the night before, and a little smile start a draw in her face.

She got up and saw in the washer machine her mum’s sheets; her husband came to her and whispered softly to her

-Don’t worry, we are two now, Do you remember? - She kissed her husband and decided to let her life going back.

No more nightmares alone

No more glass of wine at midnight

No more Valium

….

Just Life


By Maggie Rodríguez