not beige

So I checked out the Lughnasa Bottled Beer Festival in Dublin…

notbeige — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 21:44:36 +0000

I won myself a pair of tickets to the Lughnasa Bottled Beer Festival on Friday at the Pod Complex, on Dublin’s Harcourt Street – many thanks again to Joerg at the Dublin Event Guide for running the competition. The festival was run by Deveney’s of Dundrum, (follow @RuthDeveney on Twitter!), and while I’m not a big drinker, I do like a decent bottled beer so this event was right up my alley :).

So on our arrival, we were given five ‘beer punts’ apiece (each being worth one 140ml sample of beer), a tasting glass and a map. Additional beer punts were available to buy at the beer bank outside for 1.50 each. After a quick mosy around to get our bearings, I opted to kick off the sampling with some Helvick Gold Blonde Ale, a bottle conditioned vegan friendly beer from Dungarvan Brewing Co. I like the idea of the bottle conditioning process – as their website explains, ‘conditioning in the bottle means we have a naturally carbonated, unfiltered and unpasteurised beer that doesn’t need any further enhancers or additives to stabilise or improve them’, so thumbs up from me on that count. It was a lovely light ale with a definite hoppy taste which went down very easy and put me in the mood for more Joe, my partner in beer for the day chose Affligem, a Flemish beer brewed from the same recipe since 1935, at the Affligem Abbey Brewery. I had a little taste and found it really smooth and slightly sweet – nice

My next choice was orange and coriander infused Blue Moon from the Colorado Blue Moon Brewing Company . I loved this, just the right amount of orange without losing the beer taste or being too sweet, my favourite of the day I think. Extra brownie points to the girls at the Blue Moon stand for being so nice and smiley and helpful, and their guy outside with the paint by numbers, which we were all encouraged to take part in – cool idea (Check out their website btw and see the Blue Moon Art Project). Joe opted for O’ Hara’s Irish Pale Ale from the Carlow Brewing Company , which he thought was quite bitter and crisp with a real kick.

Next, we both sampled Crabbie’s Ginger Beer which was situated outside in the yard/beer garden part – this stuff is addictive, quite sweet and very gingery, served with ice and lemon… I’ll definitely be getting this again, perfect sunny weather drink and perfect for the setting outside yesterday – gorgeous evening sun, lots of smiling faces and live music by Dublin bluegrass band Prison Love (these guys are brilliant, I kept expecting them to launch into Man Of Constant Sorrow – I’d go see them again for sure).

We stuck around outside in the sun for our next samples, which we chose purely because we liked the names of them hehe – I went for Trashy Blonde from BrewDog Brewery, which was light but strong with quite a kick – the blurb on the website says, ‘a titillating, neurotic, peroxide, punk of a pale ale. Combining attitude, style substance and a little bit of low self esteem for good measure; what would your mother say?’ – can’t argue with that I guess! Joe went for the somewhat more manly Speakeasy Prohibition Ale from Speakeasy brewers which he informed me would put hairs on your chest. Last sample of the day for me was Floris strawberry beer from the Huyghe family brewers in Belgium, very sweet and very strawberry flavoured, another great one for a BBQ or a picnic in the sun. His nibs tried some Svyturys Raw from the Lithuanian Svyturys Brewery (a nice proper grown up beer I thought, despite being a total lightweight, I could probably down a few of these quite easily).

By this time we were both getting a little tired and a little tipsy, and the place had really filled up, so we decided to make tracks… I must say I had a great time – it was very well run and the atmosphere was great, everyone manning the stands was really friendly and helpful and the samples were fairly generous. It’s a shame it only went on for the one evening as I would have recommended it to some friends had it been a weekend long event… but hey, there’s always next year

(Pics by my beer buddy Joe :P)

Amazing Street Art In Dublin By El Mac

notbeige — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 22:45:56 +0000

I love it when El Mac‘s blog posts land in my reader, and I was delighted to see that he’s been working his magic right here in Dublin as part of the Kings Of Concrete festival a few weeks ago. Check it out here and here.

Double Exposure World War II Images by Sergey Larenkov

notbeige — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 14:03:22 +0000

Amazing, thought provoking superimposed WW2 photography by Sergey Larenkov… a great use of Photoshop for good instead of evil

via Bit Rebels

Giant Kitty Couch

notbeige — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 13:37:10 +0000

I just spotted this over on CRAFT…. hilarious, I love it

Rubicone – It’s A Pantone Rubik’s Cube

notbeige — Thu, 27 May 2010 16:22:51 +0000

Industrial designer Ignacio Pilotto has designed this concept Rubik Cube using Pantone colours. Very cool, I’m surprised nobody has done this before…

via Monster Munch

More Repurposed & Upcycled Homewares On Etsy

notbeige — Tue, 25 May 2010 05:21:16 +0000

This is a sequel to my previous post, Repurposed & Upcycled Homewares On Etsy, which has had lots of positive feedback so without further ado here’s more of the same. I love putting posts like this together, the only drawback is trying to narrow down my choices from all the creative awesomeness

Vintage Map Art Print by Little Bluebird Studios

White Gold Paper Bowl by etco

Recycled Sail Pillow Black no.5 by reiter8

Set Of 2 Gypsy Forest Fabric Bins by SewingMomma

3 Dryer Pillow Sheets Sachets by zJayne

Braided Red Heart Rug by Green At Heart

Coastal Seahorse Print With Salvaged Frame by Recycled Relics

Handmade Barnwood Clock by Inspired By Nature

Button Monogrammed Pillow by Letter Perfect Designs

4 Recycled 45’s Coasters – The Beatles by Rock And Roll Coasters

‘It Wasn’t Me’ Recycled Applique Felt Pillow by Alexandra Ferguson

Recycled Reusable Beverage Sleeve by Viola Studios

Plastic bag Holder by Rosey Corner Creations

‘Let’s Make Out’ Recycled Felt Pillow by Alexandra Ferguson

Recycled Magazine Palm Tree Shadow Box by Colorstory Designs

Reclaimed Wood Chopping Board by BP Custom Woodworks

3D Letter S From Repurposed Book by Little White Dog

Vintage Zipper Magnets by Amalia Versaci

Recycled Vinyl LP Valet Tray by Brinda Kay Design

‘In The Pantry’ Set of 16 Magnets by Button Empire

Photorealistic Minimalism – Paintings by Nigel Cox

notbeige — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:38:12 +0000

Nigel Cox is an Irish born, London based artist whose oil on canvas paintings, in his own words – ‘Focus on the individual, removing them from usually crowded urban scenes and placing them in centre stage. Surprising how much confidence they have when removed from the crowd.’ I think I understand exactly what he means – the figures in each painting seem to come to life and shine more brightly with the absence of a backdrop, almost as if they were performing…

He describes his work, which he refers to as photorealistic minimalism, and his background (including his travels around the world with the Transglobe Expedition) in more detail here, and his blog is here.

An Urban Solitude

The Kuni Inversion

Seer

Autumn Morning

The Black Basque

The Calling

At The Sea Of Cortez

Would anyone like a Google Wave invite?

notbeige — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 21:16:36 +0000

Answers on a postcard…

(Or a comment :P)

Twenty Ten

notbeige — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 15:52:35 +0000

Happy, Happy, Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had lots of fun ringing in the new year… I couldn’t have had a nicer one – good music, good company, it snowed, and I even got a kiss at midnight

It’s been a hell of a decade hasn’t it? I hope it’s been mostly good for you, and I hope you’re all as excited to be heading into a new one as I am. A big thank you to you all for reading my blog, and for your feedback and comments

So, to start Twenty Ten on a positive note, here’s a little help with your New Years’ resolutions in the form of the 2010 resolution generator over at Monina Velarde’s site ….

Here’s what it told me… ahem

And to get you in the mood, here’s a little tune for the New Year – enjoy

Driving In The Rain… Photorealistic Paintings by Gregory Thielker

notbeige — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:23:11 +0000

I think everybody has one genre of art that calls to them more than others, and for me it’s photorealism because it makes me nostalgic in a way that actual photographs can’t. These paintings by Gregory Thielker transported me straight away back to Sunday family drives in the country and Christmas shopping trips into town as a small child, and in more recent years, comfortable silences on the long drives toward and away from lost weekends.

Low Road

Cash Only

Above And Below

Coming To A Complete Stop

Dash

Division

Trace

Junction

Whisper

Under The Unminding Sky

Mass Pike Toll

via Alice @ My Modern Met