If you have a blog and are reading this take a look at the man above. That’s Andrii Nikitin with his son Ivan. Andrii is a MySQL support engineer in the Ukraine.

Ivan needs a bone marrow transplant operation. The cost is huge and donations are needed to help pay for a transplant.

This appeal for help is extremely relevant to us bloggers (especially Wordpress based ones), as MySql is the database used to store all the words, images and videos on our blogs.

Without MySql and the people like Andrii that work to support it, blogging probably wouldn’t have taken off the way it has.

I know there are so many calls for donations to various charities and money is tight for everyone, but even €1 will help.

Hundreds of thousands of blogs, billions of words – one child. Make a difference now to Ivan and donate what you can.

Thanks.

AJ

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Always interesting to read what visitors to our shores think about us. Ellen Creager from the Detroit Free Press recently published a couple of articles about her visit (here and here).

Not surprisingly, rain and prices featured quite a bit. Also, the Ford Focus is apparantly “tiny”. It’s pretty normal sized as far as I’m concerned, but I guess if compared to the gas guzzling monstrosities in the USA ….

I really love the “10 amazing Ireland facts” though, especially

If you are driving, bring CDs. The radio stations outside of Dublin are not, to put it kindly, up to standard; it seems to be all B sides.

and

Ask an Irishman for directions, and he’ll help you — if you can follow him. An actual example: “Go to the small roundabout, then a large roundabout. Take the first left. Then go through another small roundabout and then at the next roundabout, take the second left, then the third left, then you’ll be on the dual carriageway, then follow the signs to Tralee.” He was right.

Cheek. Those directions are perfect.

Men’s bathrooms are called the “Gents” room — and most of them have urinal troughs like at the old Tiger Stadium.

How quaint that Americans still call them bathrooms.

She is dead on about prices though.

Photo owned by ironmanixs and used under the terms of a CC License

The big photo story of the week is the one that first appeared in the Evening Herald showing ‘Scissor Sister’ killer, Charlotte Hall with knife in hand inside a prison kitchen.

When I saw it first, I had an impression that there was something “odd” about the photograph itself. Didn’t really give it much more thought than that though.

I took a closer look today and it still looks odd. Zooming in on the hand and the handle of the knife makes me think this is a photoshop job. It just looks wrong. The reflection in the blade of the knife is something I can’t figure out either. Again, it just looks wrong…

I’d love to get my hands on the original image to have a look in more detail and ask for some other expert opinions.

Right now, I’m of the opinion that the image is faked. The hand was just resting there and someone thought it would be funny to photoshop a knife in. I’m sure Independent News and Media would have forensically examined the image to ensure they weren’t fooled, wouldn’t they?

From the Ógra Sinn Féin blog comes news of a campaign to paint postboxes in the North green.

“This is a practical manifestation of the All Ireland agenda, a novel way in which young nationally minded people can promote their Irishness and highlight the folly of partition. The young people involved in these actions are simply providing a public service and should be applauded for saving ‘An Post’ a job of work when we achieve Irish unity.”

Wouldn’t it be more productive to work more on healing the divide, rather than continuing the war mentality. I’m nationally minded, but I’d prefer Irishness to mean inclusion, respect and tolerance.

What difference does colour make on a postbox? It means nothing in the bigger scheme of things.

I’d love to see a United Ireland, but I don’t think this sort of stuff helps in any way.

Bit of a kerfuffle in Bray, Co. Wicklow about the above billboard ad that went up to advertise a Leaving Cert results party in a local night club.

One mother said :

“It’s absolutely disgusting and wildly inappropriate.. It wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t so big, but you just can’t avoid it when you drive or walk past. It’s one of the most sexually explicit images they could have possibly chosen without it actually being pornographic.”

Don’t see anything sexually explicit about Ray Shah’s bald head, but there’s probably some weird bald fetishist out there will have got a kick from the whole thing. 

They took it down because of the complaints anyway. The bebo page is there to have a look at Ray’s head – and the titillating picture of a naughty school girl with the “Sex Ed” written on the blackboard behind her. Advertisers - they never learn do they?

The Bebo page of the biggest Leaving Cert party on the southside. Bray is now considered the southside of Dublin?

Loving their ‘Best fucks of all time’ blog entry though – very un-pc.