The Dossing Times » blogging

A Break

ck — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 11:29:08 +0000

So I haven’t been writing consistently or creatively lately, neither have I been cooking, neither have I seen my dog, neither have I

2001

ck — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:35:44 +0000

I’m going to use our 2001st post to show this clip from a recent episode of ‘Natures Great Events’ showing on the BBC at the moment.

Up until last summer I had only snorkelled once previously and it was a disaster. My non-complaint nose demanded its supply of air so that the mass part of the snorkel compressed over my face. Added to this the sensation of the breathing piece in my mouth was incredibly uncomfortable. I flailed about and ultimately gave up after repeated attempts and just used the visor to get a clear view of the dolphins swimming around me in Akaroa on the south coast of New Zealand. So come 2008 and a trip to Cuba, I’ve mentioned before, snorkelling would be a must. There is some coral nestled off the south coast and on two occasions we snorkelled. The first time was only midly awful; I was extremely hungover, dehydrated and dry heaving (yes, I have almost puked on coral reef – how classy are my?!) and my decision to put on a life jacket probably saved my life. I was so discombobulated that at one point I got caught in rocks of the coral which broke the surface of the water and I am pretty certain that between this and my poorly co-ordinated flipper kicking I did structural damage to the reef. The view below the water was wonderful, the balmly water lapping over my head as a shoals of fish swam amongst various spires and banks of rock covered with multicoloured plants.

The second snorkel was awe inspiring however, plodding through the shallow water in our flippers I didn’t know what to expect and for a while it seemed to be more of the same, however past a ridge the sea bed plunged into the darkness below and our view was one of deep valleys and I honestly questioned what I was seeing. I was bowled over by the impact, an image we might have seen countless times on nature shows but to be swallowed into such a setting and be hit by the epic scale was something I will never forget. The clip I’ve chosen below from what is a wonderful show, even from the BBC who excel with such programmes, ties together creatures of the sea and air and hundreds of dynamics in a mad drive to survive. Enjoy.

Quiet week, with good reason

ck — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:59:38 +0000

So my week begins on Thursday; not too shabby. You may be wondering about the lack of activity on the blog this week. The reasons are as follows:

Last November, bleary eyed and tired, the evil cretins at Stanstead airport took my Canterbury Cathedral snow globe from me with little ceremony but left me very upset. I am now happy to report a snowglobe of this sort is now sitting on my bedside locker courtesy of thoughtful visitors to Dublin, in the form of Simon and his good woman Lucy. They came to Dublin

Frugal Food Blogs

ck — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:57:06 +0000

Cheapeats.ie is now part of my daily browsing routine. The sorry state of affairs is that I don’t even have the budget to fill a frugal storecupboard at the moment but the recipes and price watches they offer are excellent. They have been included amongst a list of the top 100 frugal food blogs. Read the remainder of the entries here. The list is not just confined to Ireland.

When to post to get Blog Post of the year Nomination

simon — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 12:37:55 +0000

The list of blog Posts of the year are out. Below is a graph of when people posted them. If you are after a nod and have a dynamite topic. Leave it till the end of the year.

Phone Giveaway

simon — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 19:42:21 +0000

Pat Phelan is giving a phone away on his blog. Not just any phone but a

State of the blogosphere.

simon — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:50:38 +0000

Some people seem to be going all philosophical of the twenty major departure. Now I never read twenty it didn’t appeal to me, never found it funny maybe that is just me. But overall his departure does not bother me that much. Anyway the above poster mentioned that Twenty said the blogosphere had changed in his time. It has indeed even in my time. When I started over 3 years ago it was a lot smaller and in some ways closer the way that only small communities can be. But with its growth the same closeness can not be re-created. When I started I probably knew most of the bloggers in Ireland as in knew their blogs. Now there is so many you just can’t keep track. Us here on the Dossing Times do occupy a small part of the blogosphere. Although I have got a bit of exposure and some blog awards that has a bit to do with

Dossing Times Comic

simon — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 23:02:23 +0000

As you may have noticed. We now have a comic on the site. We hope this will now be a weekly feature that you the readers will enjoy. We are still learning about this so any tips or suggestions you have about them please added them. And drop us a comment.

Thank you Ph.D Bird

ck — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 13:31:24 +0000

Last week I offered some insight into the workings of my head, or maybe I asked for some insight as to the workings of my head, posting a list of random stuff I have saved to my phone. One such entry was ‘the reaper blue oyster’. Thankfully Ph. D. Bird, a regular commenter offered some enlightenment. The entry made reference to the song below.

Blogs

ck — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:21:00 +0000

Roaming Rebels stag brought me to Berlin this weekend and a great time was had by all. Two of his work colleagues Tim and Gaz, are also bloggers.