le cool issue #163 (the food issue)

Peperina 

I feel like Ranelagh is constantly trying to fatten me up. There are SO many reliably good restaurants and cafes. Peperina is slightly out of Ranelgah (located beside Mortons, Beechwood luas stop) so there's less temptation or decision to battle with and you can still remain sure of a dependably appetising and spirited meal. I had a late breakfast here, poached eggs, bacon and freshly squeezed OJ. I completely forgot that I'd just brushed my teeth and had a big gulp. Disaster. So I got a coffee too and it turns out they serve great coffee. Fun lighting fixtures as well. What else can I say? For one I really like the mix of produce for sale towards the front, gluten free, artisan pastas and well designed kitchen appliances. I just wish the weather had been nice enough to sit in the herb garden.

Full issue -HERE-

le cool issue #162

Tropical Popical 

Five days is good going. The whole salon is good going- it's good going there! Kitsch, completely unpretentious and from €7. I never get my nails did except in NY but I'd been following their twit and facyB so was pretty psyched. Through a half open door it's squeal worthy and awe-some from within. The signature Tropical Popical nail has palm trees and flamingos. 'Can of Lilt with your mani?' Amazing. I haven't had one since my grandad was diagnosed diabetic. 'Open that before you get your nails done'. Excellent. I brought Donal - 23, single, straight (he'll want me to mention that) - to prepare for winter dates. You gotta be buff. His technician wasn't as chatty as mine but gave him a hand massage that made me blush. Apparently they've had more men in. I'm looking at my nails right now five days later. A couple of premiere chips appeared last night on MY date. In a good way.

Full issue -HERE-

le cool issue #161

Dazed and Confused 

Here's one hell of a movie sure to get you in the mood for a party. I pity the chumps who consider Project X their celebration inspiration. Do they know how many times Mitch Kramer touches his face (drink up)? Or that main characters are based on real people from the director's high school who consider their names slandered. I'd be happy being portrayed by such attractive future stars but apparently it's now really hard for them to get dates without being asked if they still deal drugs. Were bongs really made during woodshop? 'Oh, no, they did that, but it wasn't me' says the real, adult Slater. What a cop out. That's what I love about this movie. The world gets older and more responsible, it stays the same age. L-I-V-I-N.

Issue -HERE-

le cool issue #159

Dealz

€2 store, I love you, but you're ripping me off.Dealz is €1.49 or less. Halloween's coming up? Sorted. I got luscious hair extensions in blue, pink and red and turned a massive room into a mermaid cave, almost exclusively from here. As for Xmas? In the (shopping) bag. Fairy lights - €1.49. Glam Mrs. Clause washing up gloves - €1.49. Stick on moustaches, inflatable saxophones, DVD's and CD's - all €1.49. Packs of THREE blade disposable razors - €1.49. In the food aisle? ALL the dealz. Hellmann's mayo, Ocean Spray craisins, Heinz ketchup, Denny and Galtee!NUTELLA. Five Capri Sun for the lunches and twenty socket covers to keep your new born safe. A friend talking with a taxi driver- "I'm not cheap," he told her, "but I'd buy my Nestle coffee there." 

De La Soul 

I found Hip Hop in my youth. I watched Wild Style, acquired some sick Adidas, bought a book on subway graffiti and let the tunes loose from my ghetto blaster (I actually did have an inherited ghetto blaster). De La Soul, BABY, that's the good stuff. The mixes and lyrics - consistently profound. Though only their first album, 3 Feet High and Rising became a massive commercial success, and  every single one of their albums has been critically acclaimed. Cult style. They've sampled 417 songs and, very flatteringly, have been sampled 116 times. Jay wowWW. Also it turns out that, hilariously, they got sued for a sample on 3 Feet... by some chancer 60's band who didn't even write the original song themselves. If no one wants to come with me to this I will literally go just by Me, Myself and I.

Full issue -HERE-

le cool issue *155

A Proposed Exhibition For The Irish House, Wood Quay 

You going to the Proposal exhibition? It is, quite humorously, not an exhibition but, as I've said, a proposal for an exhibition to be held in the legendary Irish House pub. Which you may not be familiar with as it no longer exists. Although some of you might be familiar with it for its historic social importance or from a scene from JoeStrick's 1965 Ulysses adaption. It's elaboratestuccoed facade could easily rival the Bernard Shaw and, in fact, trump it with blatant nationalist symbolism. I suppose I should say the building no longer exists as a whole because the plaster figures from it's front were preserved (by Guinness) and now (owned by Diageo) are shown here and there - for example in the Civic Tristbuilding where they create a comfortable backdrop for work created as a proposed exhibition within the walls they used to coat.

Issue *155 -HERE-

le cool issue *154

Putty Hill 

Here's a movie that got clear reviews across the board from critics and in a sick twist saw very few audience filled cinemas. Filmed after an teenage boy's heroin overdose, relatives and friends come together to pay their respects. What becomes apparent is that none of them really knew much about him. The film was shot in just 12 days after funding fell through for another feature. The people lined up to appear, many actual working class Baltimore dwellers, who the director, Matt Porterfield, had been preparing and building up trust with switched to this. The trust stayed put. Sky Ferreira stars, sings I Will Always Love You, and stirs intimate moments. The fact that Porterfield and his cinematographer went to school together and have a strong collaborative relationship gives a powerfully visual element. 

Entire issue 154 -HERE-

le cool *151

Opera in the Open: Cosi Fan Tutte 

DCC usually conducts these open air performances on the sloping grass behind the Civic Offices, however, Grand Canal Dock is employed tonight to help launch the Tall Ships festival. The Opera's controversy doesn't stem from the fact that the title loosely translates mockingly as 'All Women are Like That', rather it's due to the snobbish misunderstanding of why Mozart would ever have written such sweet melodies to go with the base language within the lyrics written by Lorenzo da Ponte. The story is of two husbands who fake being called to war, leaving their wives and returning disguised (as Albanians) to saucily test their fidelity.Leeeewwd. But the Viennese of the time were not offended, nor should we be.