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Last week was the first time that I encountered Art Of Asbestos. Twitter suggests that the artwork has been in Dublin for at least the past year and had been around years ago. I don’t know when the sticker campaign started in Cork but they have had me smiling since the weekend. There are probably more that I have not yet seen. Art of Asbestos is on Instagram, with even more. If the humour is not to your liking, you could try the Bonnie Tyler ‘Lost’ version. The longer I reside on this planet, the more I become convinced that my mind will never become in tune with the mind of those involved in Marketing and Branding. They have provided many items that have provoked blog posts hereabouts. Sunday morning in Dunshaughlin, I spotted this van and stopped for a while to consider how many ways there might be to pronounce it. No matter how I tried, I could not get past ‘HOW. SEX.’  For those of a certain vintage raised on movies of Cowboys and Indians, ‘HOW’ was a greeting repeated during streetgames and elsewhere. Raise one’s hand, palm facing away, say ‘HOW’ – was as good as ‘HELLO’ for most to whom it was addressed.
Today, I learned that ‘HAU’ was a term of greeting used by some American Indian tribes only. The movies did not distinguish and it was used by all – Sioux, Choctaw, Apache, and many more. The pronunciation has rolled around my brain since Sunday morning and the best I can come up with is a speed dating type scenario – ‘HOW! SEX?’ I am not sure that is what SHOMERA or HOUSX intended. I suspect that would like their garden rooms to have many possible functions. The website address on the van does not exist and is available to buy. The CIRI Register has a different website to the van. Maybe the branding is a devious ploy for pedantic bloggers to spread the name – if so, it worked. 
  I suspect that most people who go to Disneyland Paris get the biggest smile from one of the rides; the parade; or, even the fireworks display.
Maybe the display of amazement or excitement on the faces of others is the source. For me, on a cold and slightly wet November Monday, none of the above was the cause. It was something that I have never seen before and do not expect to see anywhere else. It was something that recognised the worker. I expect that it will bring a smile to many.  Thanks to Tadhg who took this photograph on his holidays – at Sandy Bay in The Maharees.
The modification to the message is very well done.  I smiled when I spotted this in Tralee a while back. I got to thinking that the pub was happy to advertise its food (bia) and music (ceol) but definitely wanted a bit of emphasis on its prime activity, drink (ól). I thought the capitalising of such a short word was a much understated marketing strategy – but it worked on this reader. All this assumes that it was a marketing strategy and not a typesetting oversight……
 If you are looking for any expertise in what defines Art, modern or otherwise, the screen in front of you now is definitely not the correct place. I am no expert in what defines Modern Art but I did understand it to be work that went beyond what had become the norm; work of a style that challenged the viewer as to interpretation and meaning; work that went beyond the limits of acceptability. A quick web trawl gave me comfort that I was not very wrong with my understanding as to Modern Art. Terms that come to mind include ‘stepping outside a comfort zone’; ‘challenging the norm’; and, ‘pushing boundaries’. On Tuesday, I smiled when at the Tate in Liverpool. Of all the places to discourage ‘crossing the line’, the Tate was not top of the list in my mind. I watched many others pass the art installation. Not one smiled. No one appeared to see any humour in the message on the floor. I did mention that I was far from an art expert.
Having spotted quite a references today recognising it as Star Wars Day, ‘May the 4th be with you’, I thought it a good day to mention the advertising campaign of the ItMustBeDingle Art Gallery. It brought a definite smile to this face when I came across them a while back with the site of the new film being set up in the background. Enjoy.
 There I was heading over town for lunch earlier. Looking up, an unusual looking Micheál Martin was smiling down on me. For a few years now, my eyes have been open to many forms of Street-Art – painting; stencil art; mosaic; poetry and even full installations. This is a definite first for me. I have also seen some election poster graffiti – in person and online. Again another first. This mind is unsure as to the intent of the artist - a suggestion to Micheál Martin as to a possible hair colour; deference to his magnetism; a reference to loose screws,;or maybe something else entirely….
 ‘Dead Funny’ was one of my purchases on my most recent visit to An Café Liteartha when west of Dingle for the Bank Holiday. I smiled on page 2 at ‘I told you’s I was sick’. I definitely did not expect to see something similar only a week later – in Curraghkippane. But I did.
 Luas Station, Beechwood
OPTION 2 The typesetter decided that:
‘Féach i dhá treoanna’ - (my best effort at translation) would not fit – and hoped that many would not care or even notice.  Mark's Lane, Dublin 2
And to think that Hugh Jordan remains in big painted letters. It should really be a protected structure to bring a smile to those of us wishing to be brought back to teenage years.
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