Blog Archives - Reading the Signs

Search the site

The Pope In Ireland

22/8/2018

In 2014, we spotted the vinyl record of the visit of Pope John Paul II on the walls of Ard Bia restaurant in Galway. It led to a discussion among friends and colleagues as to 1979 being a very different time.

As a teenager then, I was brought to Limerick. I remember walking back to my uncle’s house afterwards and it was as if everyone in Limerick had been at the racecourse – the roads were so quiet on way back.

My cousin went to Dublin and Galway. A neighbour of similar vintage was on a coach to Galway with a sing-song the whole way up.

I am contemplating travelling to the vigil at Tuam this Sunday. The Dublin vigil looks like it will be very well supported.

I do not know of any one person attending Knock or Phoenix Park this weekend – definitely different times.

I was very surprised to recently see reference to the visit of Pope John Paul II on a headstone at Kilbannivane Cemetery, Castleisland. I will be so much more surprised if a see in the future a reference on a headstone to the visit of Pope Francis – these are very different times.

Ard Bia, Galway - 2014

Kilbannivane Cemetery, Castleisland

Eventbrite – Not Very

21/8/2018

The photograph above was taken on 12th June from my car stuck in traffic on the bridge.

I was absolutely amazed at the branding applied to the limestone columns of such a historic and prominent building.

The photograph below was taken less than 24 hours later.

I don’t know whether someone from Cork City Council had a word; or, if Eventbrite themselves decided that it probably wasn’t the brightest of ideas; or, even if someone removed without Eventbrite knowledge.

I do know that, to me, the building looks must better with limestone columns rather than orange columns.

Everybody Hurts Sometimes

21/8/2018

I spotted some street art on Reed’s Square a short while back.

It definitely brought a smile to this reader – and a quick visit to YouTube to listen to the entire once again.

The web revealed that it was voted saddest song of all times – lies, damned lies and statistics methinks.

Everybody Hurts

When is Money Not Real Money?

19/8/2018

When it is Brown Thomas money, of course

Once again, the Marketing gurus get to me. They fall even further in my opinion.

The purchaser would not actually have received money as interpreted as legal tender that could be used anywhere.

A Voucher may be in the bag – but not what most people interpret as money

Van Excellence – Oxymoron

18/8/2018

Accreditation of Driver might only apply to the time when assessment is carried out – maybe not into the future.

Or maybe the Van is excellent – not the driver.

The tracking of the driver must be just for speed levels – not parking locations.

I spotted this earlier in the week and did wonder as to what was excellent as to the parking location.

Victims of the War – But Which War?

15/8/2018

Quite a few blog posts hereabouts have been accompanied by the expression that ‘it is a bad day when one does not learn something new’.

Last week, I learned something completely new. Upto then, I would have thought that it could not have been true. It was so ‘not a bad day’.

Private A. George died 21st March, 1921

Serjeant F. Boxold died 11th February, 1921

Those of you who regularly pass by these pages are probably aware of my interest in Commonwealth War Graves – the inscriptions; the dates; the distances travelled; the alias; the location; and, the neighbours in the graveyard.

I had understood that such headstones were erected to those who had died in the World Wars or slightly after as a consequence of action in a World War.

Non-Judgemental in Dingle

14/8/2018

I spotted a tweet this morning from YouHadOneJob with a photograph of a bowl of water for dogs, or short people.

It was reason enough to share the chalkboard messages we saw outside My Boy Blue in Dingle last Friday.

We were far away yesterday but….

13/8/2018

I spotted this message a few weeks back.

With the door open, it was obvious that some building work was being carried out. Having been in the shop a few times, I knew that English was not the first language of all. I fully understood the message that was intended to be conveyed, but that did not stop me smiling at the actual message.

Maybe I have been looking at signs for too long or in too much detail…..

An Elite Loser

12/8/2018

I stopped this morning to ponder how one becomes an ‘Elite Loser’ – not an ordinary loser, but a quality top of the range variety.

The local coffee shop has a display tree of business cards and this one was in prime position. It immediately attracted my eyes.

I have spotted a number of tweets highlighting the importance of font selection. This morning, a lot of them came flooding back.

Maybe the intent was to tempt one from outside the target market to consider the company name, and possibly remember it for a long long time. If so, it worked.