The Little Museum of Dublin

When I first got here, I walked around, had a look at all the details, and took a seat, waiting for the tour to start. A guy in his twenties walked over to me, and asked, "Why did you break my heart and leave me? I couldn't sleep last night." 

At first, I thought he was crazy. I had no idea who he was. A couple of people my age, and older, stared at me, probably thinking, really lady? He's just a kid. I smiled, and jokingly replied, "I don't know. Because you snore." 

By then, people realized it was a joke, and everyone laughed. It turned out that he was our tour guide, and had a PhD in history. He was funny, entertaining, and quizzed us to make sure that we were listening.

At first glance, this museum seemed tiny compared to most museums, but this place was packed with many details. The eclectic collection of artifacts was donated by the Irish people. The museum has since moved from Pembroke to a larger space in St. Steven's Green with added collections. For anyone visiting Dublin, this is a worthwhile place to check out.

Queen Victoria lands in Ireland, south of Dublin (1900). Even with the restrained relationship between Ireland and England, she received the welcome mat.

From the museum: "Countess Constance Markievicz (1868-1927) was stationed across the road from here during the Easter Rising of 1916. When the British decided not to execute the countess at the end of the Rising, she complained, 'I do wish you lot had the decency to shoot me.'"

Poverty was high in Ireland, and still is. People lived in buildings with no running water or electricity. One famous building turned museum was 14 Henrietta Street. One hundred people lived in that house in 1911.

I wanted to make sure that the above quote was an accurate description of what the Irish people thought. So, I asked someone who worked there. He said it means that the Irish are not impressed by those with titles, heads of states, politicians, and authorities. They question everything.

There is a U2 section with a figure of MacPhisto. During the European ZooTV tour in the 90s, Bono made a devil statue of himself with white makeup, wearing a gold suit. The figure represents a rock star who has sold his soul. The word MacPhisto comes from the German word Mephisto, a shortened form of Mephistophele which means the devil.

The above photo is a cardboard cutout of Brendan O'Carroll who plays an Irish Mammy in Mrs. Brown's sitcom. When the show came out, the critics didn't like it, but the public favored it which proves that it is possible for actors, and shows, to be successful regardless of what the critics say.

 

Happy Book Lovers Day

Today, August 9,  is the National Book Lovers Day. It's not an official holiday, but it's recognized by those who love to read. So, I'm posting some trivia about the book world. No one really knows who was the first author, who wrote the first novel, and etc., Yet, it's fun to ponder over things as such...

It's believed that the first author was Enheduanna. She was a poet, priestess, and a politician from Mesopotamia who lived 4200 years ago.

Apparently, the first novel was written more than 1000 years ago by Murasaki Shikibu. It depicted the aristocratic life during the Heian period. Few years ago, I visited the museum dedicated to her work. More here...

The first book printed in English was Recuyell of the Histoire of Troye. It's a book about country romance, written by Raoul Lefèvre, and translated from French to English by William Caxton 550 years ago. Caxton was the founder of the printing press in England. The book sold for £1 million in 2014.

Robert Carlton Brown, a successful writer, came up with the concept of E-Reader in 1930. He believed that print books would become obsolete, and wanted books to keep up with film when he said that we have talkies (meaning, we changed the radio to cinema), but what we need are readies (meaning, we are behind in times and print books should be changed to E-Books). He invented, and produced about 150 electronic book reading machines.

In 1932, the American Foundation for the Blind created the first audio book in the form of a record, yes record—you know, those things that make a popping, and khhh sound when playing on the record player. Later records changed into cassettes and then to CDs. Finally, when Amazon came about, portable audio recorders were created.

Searching for France in L.A

I've been thinking a lot about France lately. Not sure why. I lived there many years ago as a student, and although I had a great time, I kind of moved on. I don't know. Perhaps life just got busy, I got older, and my interests changed.

What I've been missing most about France is their lifestyle, culture, and a sense of community. Most of the time, you don't need a car, and can get anywhere by metro, subway, bus, or train. Although we have a little bit of that here; it's not the same. Cities are not spread out like Los Angeles. You don't have to drive in traffic for hours to visit family and friends.  

There's something about France that makes you want to sit at a café, read, journal, write a poem, a short story, or a novel. It's such a different vibe than L.A and people hangout in smoky cafes for hours, chatting, and enjoying life.

Long ago, there was a lot of French culture in L.A. We had events, French markets, neighborhoods, restaurants, and cafés with French employees. Now we just have replicas of things. I miss the authenticity. I guess for now, my hanging out at Le Pain Quotidian will have to do.

France has many beautiful parks and gardens, and you can get lost walking for hours. Out in L.A, everything is concrete, walls, and fences. Take the above walking path, for example, that was reached through a shortcut at Ralph's parking lot in Marina Del Rey. It has been shut down by walls and fences. To get there now, you have to walk for a longtime through traffic, cars honking, and the unpleasant smell of gasoline. It gets frustrating at times, and makes you want to live elsewhere.

The artist garden at Argenteuil, Claude Monet, 1873

Dance in the city, Pierre Auguste Renoir, 1883

Woman bathing her feet in a brook, Camille Pissarro, 1894 

I use to love doing cultural things, be it attending the theater, an art exhibit, or watching a French film with subtitles.

And it didn't end there. Afterwards, my friends and I would discuss and analyze what we saw over a glass of wine. The above film, Joueuse (Player)—Queen to Play is really good if you can find it on Netflix or Prime. 

And yes, you may be able to do these things in L.A, but to do so, you have to drive to many different places. So, there it is. My search for France in L.A.

And I guess nothing is complete without a French song 💙. I'm not sure if this is still the case, but when I lived there, everything was about love, sex, and betrayal, even their commercials. The above song is by a Canadian artist Dian Tell, Si J'étais un homme.