Raiméis

I thought this was worth passing on … for any U.S. based folk interested in the Irish language:

New Irish Gaelic Classes For Aall Begin 9/15/05
The Gerry Tobin Irish Language School’s new semester of free, weekly Irish language classes for all begins Thursday 9/15/05, in the AOH Hall at 27 Locust Avenue in Babylon, 100 yards west of the Babylon LIRR Station. The Mommy, Daddy & Me program for young children and their parents begins at 7:15PM. Classes for adults begin at 7:45PM. All are welcome, including additional teachers.
For details call Jerry Kelly at 516-679-0465.

JERRY KELLY
Rúnaí Fógraíochta / Publicity Secretary
Scoil Ghaeilge Ghearóid Tóibín
516-679-0465
www.scoilgaeilge.org

You know what get’s up my nose in Finland? Cyclists. Over here they cycle on the footpaths and not the roads. That’s not the problem as such, though I’d prefer them on the roads.
No, the problem is their attitude. Finnish cyclists seem to believe that they own the footpaths and pedestrians don’t exist. Maybe the same attitude exists in other countries, but it’s only here that I have noticed it.
Among the most annoying habits of the Finnish cyclist is cycling up behind you tinkling their fucking bell. It’s like a red rag to a bull, I’ve so often been tempted to turn around, rip the bell off the bike and shove it up the bell ringers ass!
I mean, fair enough the cyclist is going faster and wants to get by, but if you are walking behind someone and going faster do you stand behind them shouting “brrring brrring”? No you don’t, cos it’s fucking rude. So what gives cyclists the right to force you out of the way, can’t they be polite and just ask you to let them by rather than ringing their annoying bell and scoffing as they go by?
And that’s just if you are a pedestrian, god help you if you’re in a car and block the path of a cyclist … especially Helsinki cyclists. I was coming out of an apartment buildings car park one day, the exit was a gap between two high walls and required that I cross a footpath. Of course I had to stop on the footpath because there were cars coming both directions, which meant an unfortunate cyclist had to cycle around my car rather than on his chosen path and as he did so he started shouting obscenities at me. Then there’s this other case when we were in Helsinki, there was a car pulling in to a restaurant (Sipuli, the one beside Uspenski Cathedral) who needed to cross the footpath, a cyclist who was cycling by turned his bike around and blocked the path of the car to stop him from driving over the footpath! I mean, what the fuck is the problem!?! Why freak out about such little things? I just don’t understand why they make a big deal of such tiny things which can hardly even be called an inconvenience.
So listen Finnish cyclists, you don’t own the footpaths and please learn to take life a little less seriously.

Via Something Interesting Happens Everyday I discovered this Irish Proficiency Test from Transparent Language. These sort of tests are excellent for showing you just how crap you are at a language. I got about a quarter of the way down when I got depressed and gave up. Give it a go though, it’s a good test.

A Ecuadorian ship sank yesterday killing more than 100 people. Now, I get most of my news from BBC World, excellent site in my opinion, and it just seemed to me that this story didn’t get half the attention that the plane crash in Greece did. Is it the fact that the people who drowned were illegal immigrants? Or non-whites? Or am I just being a cynical fucker.
p.s. you’ll notice the same level of attention (or lack off) the next time a boat sinks in India, which appears to happen quite often.

Pope Benedict is setting out on the first foreign visit of his 4 month old pontificate. He is travelling to Cologne in Germany for the Catholic Youth festival.
The Pope was spotted yesterday, pictured below, on his way to Cologne. He has ditched his usual form of transport, the Pope mobile, and chose instead to be carried by Hans Struudlemöller, nicknamed The Struudlemöllermobile, which the Pope claims is more environmentally friendly than the 2.4TD Pope mobile.

Lesson 5 of Progress in Irish.

Resources at end of lesson…

Freagair (Answer)

1. Cad tá ag Nóra? What does Nora have? – Tá peann ag Nóra, agus tá duch aici. Nora has a pen, and she has ink.

2. Cad tá ag Brian? What does Brian have? – Tá cailc ag Brian, ach níl peann luaidhe aige. Brian has chalk, but he doesn’t have a pencil.

3. Cad tá ag Máire? What does Mary have? – Tá rothar ag Máire, ach níl carr aici. Mary has a bicycle, but she does not have a car.

4. Cad tá ag Seán agus ag Pól? What do Sean and Paul have? – Tá airgead ag Seán agus ag Pól, ach níl punt acu. Sean and Paul have money, but they do not have a pound.

Cuir Gaeilge ar seo (Translate into Irish)

1. I have a pen. – Tá peann agam.

2. You have chalk. – Tá cailc agat.

3. He has a car. – Tá carr aige.

4. She has a bicycle but she has not a car. – Tá rothar aici ach níl carr aici.

5. We have money but we have not a pound. – Tá airgead againn ach níl punt againn.

6. They have a pound. – Tá punt acu.

7. The teacher has chalk. – Tá cailc ag an múinteoir.

8. What have you got? I have a penny. – Cad tá agat? Tá pingin agam.

Resources:

PII Answer sheets, html format.
PII Answer sheets, downloadable PDF format.
Irish Dictionary Online.

Bookshops:

Cúpla Focal, Litríocht, Cló Iar-Chonnachta.

Progress in Irish (Máiréad Ní Ghráda ) is published by The Educational Company (ISBN 0-86167-159-7).

Some very troubling information has come to light regarding the shooting of Brazilian man Jean Charles de Menezes in London the day after the recent bombings. It is alleged that many of the initial reports of his movements were false. According to ITV De Menezes entered the train station at a normal walking pace, not jumping the barrier as was initially claimed. It is also claimed that he was wearing a light denim jacket and not a bulky padded jacket. One police officer is quoted as saying that he was able to grab De Menezes and pin his arms to the side before the shooting even started. Eleven shots were fired at him, 8 hitting him and 3 missing. According to a witness a man boarded the train and fired his first shot from a handgun at the head of De Menezes from 12 inches away!! Very fucking disturbing I have to say (if true).
Update: De Menezes lawyers meet with IPCC investigators.

Via Slashdot, 1000 used iBooks went on sale at $50 each in Virginia USofA resulting in absolute iChaos. As soon as the doors opened there was an iStampede for the laptops as screaming people dove in to the iShop. People were thrown to the iFloor, others beaten with a folding iChairs and one fucker even tried to drive his iCar through the crowd! Raiméis is hoping to hear from local Mac expert Gerry O’Sullivan on the crisis, who should be able to offer some insight into the mind of Mac users and what drives them to such extremes.

Shit, another plane crash, this time in Venezuela where a plane carrying holidaymakers went out of control and crashed after reporting engine trouble. All 160 passengers were killed. Shocking.

Two mobile phone articles for you, and both via “techdirt“.
How many people answer a phone each & every time it rings? Well, you don’t HAVE to answer it ya know! Seemingly there is a difference between how young people, who have grown up in the mobile age, operate phones and adults who still remember the pre-mobile age.
And in China a man was hit by lightning on the Great Wall and authorities, not for the first time, say using a mobile phone makes you a target for lightning!! Hmm …