bahern7

Inspired by an article I read in the Sunday Times, I snapped these seven random shots from Google Street View and created this collage. The cities involved are: Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Belfast, Galway, Kilkenny and Waterford. I do hope you'll take a moment to enjoy the view. Thine humble shutterbug, Brian PS I intend to make many more of these collages. PPS The Sunday Times article concerned photographers Michael Wolf and Doug Rickard who are - and I quote - "turning images from this massive global archive into cutting-edge art."

I'm headin' down to Finglas. How many folk, I wonder, begin a blog with the best of intentions only for their enthusiasm to wane and the whole thing end in a whimper several weeks later? I'm sure the answer to that question is zillions. Not I, though, the old writer who lives in a boxcar by the river. With the help of William Burroughs, I would actually describe it as fill land that had once been a dump heap - now unused; five acres along the river which I inherited from my father, who was a wrecker and a scrap metal dealer. Anyway, as I said, with the aid of Leonard Cohen, I was heading down to Finglas. I had this old address of someone that I knew; we were high, fine and free; you shoulda seen us! That's when I spotted heaven's vault up ahead: blazing, burning, brilliantly, brightly! A Saturday sky above the M50, Dublin. As I've often said before, it's at times like this that the iPhone camera proves invaluable. Without further ado, I whip...

Okay, I've really got to say: If you don't like this picture, there's something wrong with you on a spiritual level. It was taken on the night of the full moon - 10th November, 2011 - looking downriver from O'Donovan Rossa Bridge, Dublin. How did I come to take the photograph? Allow me to lurch momentarily into the present tense: I'm scampering across the bridge, fretting about the many lunatics abroad this evening, when I see in all its majesty that great white orb of night suspended above the river. The handiness of the iPhone camera is perfect at such moments. I take the device out and shoot. As they say in the finest dining establishments: Enjoy! With a feeling of intense humility, Brian

A surprisingly people-free Henry Street here. I couldn't help but think of the Patrick Kavanagh lines from Raglan Road: "On a quiet street where old ghosts meet..." . Rather apt, don't you think? As can be seen above, there was hardly a sinner in sight when I took this shot. The result, if I may say so, makes for an exceedingly pleasant experience upon the eye. With deep humility, Brian:-)

I snapped this snazzy piece of street art whilst strolling down South Great George's Street the other morning. It certainly added to my Friday feeling. I found it eye-catching in the extreme, this risqué woman figure about to unpeel her bikini bottoms. Then all the sevens - those holy numbers - standing proud and tall. "Coming Soon" says the sign. I'm not sure to what it refers but I'd gladly wait around for it just the same. Humble, as ever, Brian

"I'll be speaking to you sweetly from a window in the Tower of Song..." These lines from Leonard Cohen's beautiful tune Tower of Song came to my mind as a I strolled past this fine tower on a recent afternoon. The majestic edifice in all its glory stands in the grounds of Dublin Castle. Dublin City was in the midst of a balmy late September Indian summer on the day I took the photograph, hence the cloudless clear blue sky above the tower. Looking up to the window to take aim, I couldn't help but wonder whether princes kept the view. Please do enjoy. Thine shutterbug, bathed in humility, Brian

Another pic from Tenerife. This is the beautiful Aisling taken on the day we were leaving. Having checked out of our room, we had a couple of hours to kill. So we strolled along the promenade - and no, we did not etch any postcards - and went for lunch in a lovely little place up from the beach. Aisling, as ever, looks classy in this shot. Though I think she was a little tired at this point - tired of my incessant photographing of everything in sight. All the same, I'm delighted I captured this one:-) Thine humble shutterbug, Brian

This little fellow came into sight on the balcony of my hotel room in Tenerife last week. Luckily, I had my trusty iPhone at hand and was able to - cliché alert! - capture the moment. I get the impression that Mr Collared Dove is actually aware I'm there and is simply staring back cheekily, dontcha think? Tenerife, by the way, was a really nice place and I thoroughly enjoyed my stay there in the company of my darling wife Aisling. Yours, etc, Brian

   I grabbed this fetching shot last Thursday afternoon (18th August, 2011) from Grattan Bridge. As you can see I've touched it up a little by means of the Camera+ app. I think I've managed to give it a rather painterly feel. In an act of high pretension I'm calling the photograph "Upriver in the Cloudy Noon". Incidentally, for any James Joyce fans reading, the building on the right of the picture is the Ormond Hotel. The hotel is the location of the Sirens Episode in Joyce's famous novel Ulysses. Nowadays, as far as I can tell, the establishment has been closed for several years. It's almost as though a programme of refurbishment coincided badly with the dreaded economic recession of recent times. Anyway, please enjoy my picture. Your humble shutterbug, Brian:-)

I grabbed this shot today on my way back from a cycle to the Phoenix Park. That's Castleknock train station on the left of the picture and the waterway is the famous Royal Canal. It's difficult to tell from the photograph but the sky had actually been overcast and teeming down with rain a short while before I stopped and got my camera out (or should I say my iPhone?) on the top of the humpback bridge. It's been that kind of summer: sun and heavy showers. I had struggled up Chesterfield Avenue getting a face full of rain. I posted the above on Instagram too and a friend commented that the colours were very John Hinde. Maybe so but the richness is mainly down to Camera+. What a nifty little app it is! Anyway, even though self praise is no praise, I simply must say: it's a gorgeous shot. Hope you like it, too. Your humble shutterbug, Brian:-)

This pleasant picture dates from the 2nd June, 2011. I'm only getting around to blogging it now. My activities on www.twitter.com/bahern7  keep me so busy, dontcha know? But I've torn myself away from the famed microblogging site tonight to place this pic up here on bahern7 . The origin of the photo follows a familiar pattern for me. As is my wont, I was taking a postprandial perambulation along the Liffey Boardwalk when I stumbled upon this sunny, clear blue vista. Oddly, for that time of the day, there wasn't a drug addict or petty thief in sight. Perhaps they were all at a convention or something of that nature on that particular afternoon. Anyway, seeing my moment, out came the iPhone and away I snapped. Hope you like it! Your humble shutterbug, Brian

I spotted this cheeky chappie whilst strolling the Liffey Boardwalk one sunny afternoon recently. There's a distinct air of the poseur about him (assuming the gender is male, of course, for it could equally be a she that we see here strutting and preening so defiantly) not to mention a certain haughtiness, too. How calmly the bird seems to observe me, a mere man going about the business of amateur photography. The one word that leaps to mind now, looking at the shot at several weeks remove, is: insouciant , that is to say, casually unconcerned . When next I need a new short story title, "The Insouciant Seagull" doesn't sound half bad. With humbleness, Brian:-)

Here's a shot from a couple of months back - the 24th March, 2011 to be precise. I was taking a postprandial perambulation in the Dublin 8 area that afternoon and came upon this rather colourful scene on New Street South. I stopped and stood still on the pavement with my attention pleasantly arrested by the sight of the advertising hoarding and the old house situated on the far side of a bed of blazing daffodils. For the purposes of accuracy I must record that the house and the hoarding are actually across the way on Kevin Street. Anyway, arrested as I was, I became adamant that the scene should be preserved. There was just so much colour going on (at least to my eyes) - delicious reds, beautiful blues, bright yellows and a rich green. I whipped out the iPhone, equipped as it is with its marvelous little camera, and fired off a round in a manner of speaking. You've got to admit, the resulting picture is rather pretty indeed. Your humble shutterbug, Brian:-)

So there I was standing by the City Hall on Friday afternoon last (1st July, 2011) gazing down the street towards College Green. The temperature was up, quite hot indeed, and the sky was a beautiful shade of cobalt blue. Dame Street was buzzing with people - teeming would be an accurate word - but from where I stood, at an odd angle, the milling plebeians could not be seen. You know something, I said to myself, this might well prove to be a tasty photograph. So, without further ado, out came the iPhone. I aimed and I shot. The result is what you see above. Not bad at all, even if I say so myself. Your humble shutterbug, Brian:-)

Call it luck. Call it pure fluke. Call it what you will. There I was strolling across Grattan Bridge (aka Capel Street Bridge) in the heart of the Hibernian metropolis on Midsummer's Day last, when the sound of several speedboat engines came within earshot. Momentarily startled, I quickly regained my composure and whipped out my trusty camera. By this stage acting purely on instinct, I pointed the lense downriver towards the Millenium Bridge, specifically in the direction of two boats which had just sped past going like the clappers. Without further ado and knowing that time was of the utmost essence, I took my photograph. The result is what you see posted here. Showing it to a friend afterwards, the Big Mon remarked that as a picture it displayed "perspective, balance and drama.". I have to say, I'm inclined to agree with him. Your humble shutterbug, Brian:-)

I've blogged about them before and no doubt will blog about them into the future, however today is worth mentioning as a special day for the great folks over at Ether Books. The latest Ether App (Version 1.4) has been released. It's a snazzy update with new features including the option to share details of your favourite Ether stories with friends and followers on Facebook, Twitter and via email. Also included is a new design, colour scheme and enhanced formatting. With this release, other bugs have been tweaked into the bargain making for an entirely pleasurable reading experience. One salient point worth mentioning (at least I think so) is the fact that the author surname order is now arranged alphabetically (happily, I'm now visible in fourth place in front of an Adams, an Adnan and an Agualusa). I've had five short stories published by Ether to date and hope to have more released this year and into 2012. It's a nice thrill to be involved with a company in the v...

Another lucky shot on my part, if I may say so. This one was taken all of one year ago, June 2010, on the southeastern part of Howth Head, Dublin, close to the Baily Lighthouse. I was strolling there with my beautiful wife on a sunny, summer's afternoon. Dublin Bay appeared before us in all its majesty. I whipped out my modest Fuji digital camera and - as the saying goes - captured the moment. To the centre of the shot in the distance can be seen the chimney stacks of the Pigeon House power plant in Ringsend. Sometimes referred to colloquially as Dublin 11, they are one of the city's most recognisable landmarks. When we got home and I uploaded the picture from my camera to my computer, I realised I'd got a rather tasty shot. Yours, in humility, Brian:-)

Well, I couldn't let the evening pass without posting something to mark Bloomsday. So much has been written already about the immortal day, 16th June 1904, that one struggles to say anything of any import whatsoever. Perhaps I won't even try, save to say that I took this photograph on O'Connell Street, Dublin in June 2011 (in 1904 the street was called Sackville Street). Joyce looks down benignly - twice - from the lamppost. Were he alive today, I've no doubt that he would rejoice (egregious pun, that!) over the commotion that surrounds his terrific novel Ulysses every June in Dublin and beyond. Happy Bloomsday! Brian

I took this photograph on a March morning in 2010 near the little village of Kilgobnet in Co Kerry, Ireland. The mountain range to be seen in the shot is called the MacGillycuddy's Reeks. I was lucky with the picture in that I managed to capture the huge sunbeam just as it broke through the cloud. A childish part of me imagines an old man sits behind these clouds wearing a flowing white beard and holding an interminable scroll in his hands. But the grown-up part of me knows that God is far more indescribable than that. I do believe, however, that He made the mountain range and the trees as well as the grass, the sky and the clouds:-) Brian

At the risk of sounding incredibly prententious, I call this picture 'Cork Hill in the Sunny Noon'. I know, I know, that makes it sound like something from the National Gallery but there you go. I snapped it whilst standing outside the gates of Dublin Castle one sunny noon in May, 2010. Although town was busy at the time, this photo - like all photographs - seems to capture a moment. In this case (if one ignores the hurtling omnibus), we steal some precious seconds of stillness from the frenetic pace of city life. As I said, at the risk of sounding incredibly prententious...

"riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs." from Finnegans Wake by James Joyce The green dome visible in the centre of my picture is that of Adam and Eve's church, Merchants' Quay, Dublin. The 'Eve and Adam's' of Joyce's quote above. Brian :-)

Went to see Hanna the other day. What a terrific movie! The young Irish actress, Saoirse Ronan, has incredible screen presence. If she's producing work of this quality at 17, the mind marvels at what she'll come up with as the years roll on. Incidentally, Cate Blanchett wasn't half bad either:-) Brian

http://www.communityvoice.ie/pages/CV161/CV161a04.htm Surprise, surprise, I'm blogging once more on the topic of Ether Books. The article linked here appears in the Community Voice newspaper (edition of May 2011) which comes out in Dublin 15 (a wonderful place of rainbows where I'm domiciled). I think the piece encapsulates things nicely. I hope my use of the word 'dystopian' is not too hifalutin. It's a pleasant feeling to appear in the local newspaper particularly when it's not a court report:-) Brian

YouTube - Brian Ahern Friends, For this my second post on bahern7 I'm sticking with the topic of Ether Books and my relationship with that gracious outfit. In that vein, herewith for your exclusive delectation, is a 32 second YouTube clip in which I expound (briefly, I'll grant you that) upon this keen interest of mine. As they say in some of the finest dining establishments on Earth: Enjoy! Brian

Ether Books launched at the London Book Fair in April 2010. They're a relatively new company and quite technological. Their whole premise is that, with roughly 70% of the world's citizens owning a mobile phone, the time is ripe to deliver short content (i.e. short stories) to a rapidly emerging smartphone market. As of now their free app is compatible with Apple's iPhone, iPod touch and the iPad, with plans to expand to the Android market i.e. smartphones operating on a Google designed platform later in 2011. The rise of smartphones along with the ever increasing popularity of e-book readers such as Amazon's Kindle does, indeed, seem to indicate that e-books and e-reading will be central to the future of literature. Naturally, I'm excited to be involved with such a pioneering company as Ether. In the thoroughly modern fashion, I first came across them on Twitter. I saw a link to their submissions page and decided to try my luck. I was a little daunted when I saw tha...