January Sales The Christmas rush is over. Sales have been bad for retailers as people suddenly realised, “Oh! The mortgage has to be paid!” Anyway, I’m half-hoping I’ll be able to pick up a Nintendo Wii somewhere. I don’t suppose they’ll be on sale will they? I celebrate 10 years online this year! Go me!…

Irish rugby was rubbish in 2007 Irish rugby player Ronan O’Gara was the face of Samsung and many other brands this year. Apparently Samsung announced that their sales dropped because of their association with the hapless team. 😉 “We had no idea how poorly he would play,” continued the Samsung spokesperson. “Not just Ronan, but…

Stolichnaya Russian Vodka A huge advertisement for Stolichnaya Russian Vodka on the side of a building near Union Square in San Francisco. It proudly stats, “Choose Authenticity”. This is the sight that greeted me on my first night in the city!

How to buy jewellery gifts for Christmas When shopping for jewellery gifts it’s important to note the following steps to make your life easier. Make sure you start early. It’s already too late. Better luck next year. This lady started her shopping on November 10th! Examine the shop window in meticulous detail. Bring a magnifying…

Special K Diet “Shape up your day” with the Special K diet according to Kelloggs. Your shape. Your way. With Kelloggs Special K of course. That stuff is full of salt isn’t it? Having said that, I do love a bowl of Frosties. Never lasts long in the house. Good thing I haven’t bought a…

Chemtrails Conspiracy Look up. The trails of cloud or “chemtrails” left by planes could be poisoning you! Really! It’s all on the Internet! The Chemtrail conspiracy theory claims that some trails left behind jet aircraft are different in appearance and quality from those of normal contrails, may be composed of harmful chemicals, and are being…

Debenhams’ confused identity Debenhams bought Irish department store chain, "Roches Stores", back in 2006, and rebranded their Cork store on Patrick Street shortly afterwards. Unfortunately nobody has yet replaced the big "Roches Stores" logo at the top of the building. It’s still there, more than a year later! 🙂

Irish Post Office The post box outside a post office in Fermoy, Co. Cork.

For sale at Sherry FitzGerald These are the swanky new offices of estate agent Sherry FitzGerald in Cork. I find it intriguing that the owners decided to bring in other agents to sell the other floor space in the building. There are signs for Savills/Hamilton Osborn King and Lisney on the top floor directly above…

Marlboro Clothes pegs in a textured cloth bag, Marlboro branded plastic bag, 1993 calendar. Shot at my parents-in-law house. I love the texture of the clothes bag, but that wasn’t what attracted my attention at first. It was the calendar and the Marlboro bag. Since cigarette advertising is now banned it’s unusual to see any…

Montague Burton the Tailor of Taste Like the stone laid by Barbara Jessie Burton in 1927, this doorway probably goes unnoticed by most people on Prince’s Street. It’s right next to the stone linked above, but the door is usually closed. I spotted this colourful mosaic out of the corner of my eye and recognised…

Cork Film Festival Cork Film Festival starts on the 14th of October this year and will run until the 21st. They’ve obviously spent quite a bit on advertising as these banners are visible all the way up Patrick Street. Still, I’ve never been to a film during the festival. Others take time off work and…