ManicMammy’s Blog

Excellent compilation of the brilliant Smashing Pumpkins biggest hits.

This is an album I return to again and again. When I get bored with Arcade Fire, The Killers, Feist etc etc and need to blow away the cobwebs, get some energy and sing really loudly, this is the CD that goes on.

I came to hear the Smashing Pumpkins relatively late in their career. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness was the first of their albums I bought and I loved it from the off.

1979 has to be one of my favourite songs ever, I love the way it always seems to remind me of being a teenager. But maybe that’s just me.

This album has tracks such as “Rhinoceros” and “Cherub Rock” from earlier albums which I was less familiar with, in addition to 2 previously unrelased tracks.  But the bulk of the songs are taken from albums I have and am familiar with.

Brilliant highlights for me include, “today”, “bullet with butterfly wings”, “zero”, “tonight tonight”, “perfect” and “stand inside your love”.

Great music and lyrics combined to produce excellent songs. Anger, tenderness, rage, obsession, aggression, love. Definitely worth listening to regularly and a great way to start the weekend.

Rated 5/5 on Oct 26 2007 by ManicMammy
Review Tags: cd, compilation, music, rock
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Too loud to use, with no discernible improvement in clothes softness or drying time.

I bloody hate needless loud noise, drives me nuts. So you can guess my delight when I discovered what a racket these dryer balls make when in the tumble dryer. Arrggh.

They promise to mechanically soften fabrics in the tumble dryer without the need for fabric softener or dryer sheets.  “Deadly”, I thought, as the tumble dryer is used quite often here and the less chemicals/softeners that are used here, the better.

The dryer balls are bascially the size of tennis balls, but are much harder and fairly rigid. They are used in a pair. Each ball has different shapes nodules on its surface spaced at regular distances, one squarish shaped, one more rounded. I presume the idea is that they bash together in the machine with your clothes in between to produce a softening effect.

I really don’t care how they work. Alas my scientific inquisitiveness was not piqued. All that rattled around in my brain was the constant “bang bang” as they walloped off the inside of the tumble dryer. It was like I was tumbling a pair of runners or similar.

I persevered and used them for a week. At this stage, I’ve had enough. To be honest, there’s been no huge improvement or change in the softness of the clothes and the noise has gotten to me. I’m abandoning them.

They are now widely available, I’ve seen them in Tesco and Heatons. They retail for about €15 as far as I recall.

Perhaps if they were manufactured from a less rigid material the noise could be decreased but this would probably impact on their softening ability. Possibly they could be more successfully used if your utility room is far away from your living quarters and the noise more muffled. 

Rated 1/5 on Oct 24 2007 by ManicMammy
Review Tags: ball, clothes, dryer, drying, gadget, household, laundry
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Great quality and range of children’s clothes from babies to aged 10 years.

I really liked the gymboree range of clothes for kids when the shops were open here and was disappointed when they closed.

Thankfully I discovered the american based website www.gymboree.com. This has the added bonus of pricing in dollars as at the moment the exchange rate is very favourable to euros, making the clothes cheaper.

The website is very easy to navigate.

As you can see, you can browse initially under whichever age and gender suits. The different categories of newborn, baby and kid overlap slightly which is good as you can compensate for your child being a “small” or “big” baby/toddler.

The different subcategories of the different collections or clothing can then be chosen along the left hand side. The collections category can be handy if you’re looking for a full outfit or matching items.

Otherwise I find it great just to search for tops or similar and see what’s available.

The gymboree clothing quality I find excellent. I have found that tops, trousers, jeans and skirts wash and tumble dry without losing their shape.  The sizing is pretty generous too.

The range is good, especially if you’re looking for something different that’s not readily available in the shops here. For example this summer, I purchased a couple of skorts for my 3 year old daughter. The skirt/short combo was perfect for her and she loved them.

As we’ve come to expect now, you can zoom in and/or see a different view of most items with a click on your mouse, so you get a good idea of the look of the clothes before purchasing. 

Shipping costs $25 and the delivery arrived within a week.

They have regular sales so it’s worth signing up for notification of those.

Rated 4/5 on Oct 23 2007 by ManicMammy
Review Tags: clothes, children’s clothing, dress, kidswear, online, online shopping, online store, store, trouser
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Professional, friendly and efficient beauty salon in the heart of Bandon.

Alot of things make me happy.

One such thing, that although very superficial, but that doesn’t cost me much time or money and puts a bounce in my step, is to get my eyebrows shaped and tinted. I don’t know why this is so, but similarly to getting the gruaig cut,  I just feel a whole lot better after getting this done.

For the past few months the Bandon Beauty Clinic has been my salon of choice. It’s located on the Main Street, over Ulster bank. The staff are great, friendly and professional. I tend to opt for an early appointment just after the school run and I’m in and out in 10-15 minutes. The eyebrow shape and tint costs just €13.50 and I just think it’s just deadly.

They provide an extensive range of facials, wax treatments, body treatments, bleaching, electrolysis, nail extensions,  tan application and have sunbeds and sunrooms.

I have had facials there, though it has been over a year since my last one. As the number of my children has increased, I’ve found time to be at a premium and haven’t taken time out in a while for a facial. But the ones I did  have there, I found excellent. They supply a large range of  Dermalogica products, which I’m a fan of too.

So if you feel like a cheap and cheerful way to put a spring in your step, I would recommend getting your eyebrows sorted here. Happy days, who says I’m easily pleased!

Rated 4/5 on Oct 21 2007 by ManicMammy
Review Tags: beauty, eyebrow, facial, salon, treatment, waxing
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Handy tubs of organic, preservative free baby food with not just the usual carrot/potato/pear main ingredients.

The baby really loves the spinach, parsnip and basil variety of this babyfood. It smells like pesto and she wolfs it down.

I spotted these a few months ago in the local SuperValu. The packaging can misdirect you slightly as initially I did think it was just pureed plums. Its a purple coloured box and inside it contains 2 100gr tubs of food. On closer inspection, I discovered it was an organic babyfood range that’s preservative and artifical additive free.

The range doesn’t seem to use the usual run of the mill bulking ingredigents of carrots and potatoes. Instead amongst others, there’s

• Spinach, parsnip, apple and basil
• Parsnip, apple and pea
• plum, pomegranate and guava
• mango and banana
• Squash and sweet potato

They come in packs of 2 airtight containers which keep unopened in the press for months and then, once opened can be stored in the fridge for another couple of days.  They are really handy for popping into the bag if we’re out and about, in case the baby gets hungry away from home.

The spinach, parsnip and basil mixture has quite a watery consistancy but this makes it very handy for then mixing with other mushed baby foods or small pasta shapes. This also makes it more likely that she’ll eat other food.

They are more expensive than the usual baby food selection, but I feel worth the extra cost.

So far I have only seen the 4 month plus range in Irish shops. There is a 7 month plus range  and cereal range too but to date I have not spotted them.

Rated 4/5 on Oct 19 2007 by ManicMammy
Review Tags: baby, babyfood, food, organic
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Brilliant, robust, beautifully illustrated toddler board books that keep them interested with embedded flaps.

The 2 year old now has all but one of this range of board books. He absolutely loves them.

They are quite large, robust board books that can withstand being thrown about and chewed on by the baby. The range includes “Diggers”, “Emergency Vehicles”, “Farms” and “Trucks” and are wonderfully illustrated. Each page has lots happening to keep your child interested and also has a few embedded flaps which are easy to open for little fingers. These add more to the scene for the inquisitive toddler.

Each book has a different “thing to search for”. For example in the “Emergency Vehicles” book, all the flaps must be opened to find “Russ the rescue dog”. Each page just has a couple of sentences, one of which is a question such as ” Do you know where Russ is hiding?”

Fionn really loves them, his favourite books and they’ve been read again and again. His vocabulary has really come on as he points out different things on each page and he doesn’t seem have tired of them at all at this stage.

Would highly recommend. I have bought them in both Waterstones and Easons for around €10.

Rated 5/5 on Oct 18 2007 by ManicMammy
Review Tags: activity, book, children, children’s book, fun, illustrated, reading, toddler, tractor, train, truck
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Run of the mill book in the Dr Temperance Brennan series of crime thriller novels.

I read this novel over a couple of days last week, but to be honest, I’ve forgotten most of it already. As the latest in the Kathy Reich’s Temperance Brennan series, it just didn’t grab me.

Tempe is a forensic anthropologist and this story basically has two threads. Tempe’s missing childhood pal, what happened when she went missing all those years ago? Is she dead? Was she murdered? The second thread deals with missing young girls and unidentified bodies of young women.

The first does give some small insight into her childhood which was interesting, I guess, for those that have been reading this series of books.   

Alas I found it all too incredible. The main character interactions didn’t really ring true. More caricatures than believable people. It kept me interested whilst reading but in the end a pretty forgettable novel.

 I think I’ve had enough of this style of book. Onwards and upwards.

Rated 2/5 on Oct 17 2007 by ManicMammy
Review Tags: book, crime, fiction, novel, tempe brennan, thriller
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Great, clean, modern, good value hotel if you’re a single person travelling on business in London, not so perfect if you’re a couple on a tourist trip.

I love the idea of this hotel. Relaxed atmosphere, modern, basic facilities, charged by room rate rather than number of guests, free WiFi, all at reasonable rates for London. Our 3 night stay cost £437. This included breakfast. I love their breakfast idea.

Basically a “Lite Pret” breakfast is left in a brown paper bag outside your room each morning at whatever hour you specify from Pret a Manger. It consists of a layered yoghurt topped with granola, a banana and a bottle of orange juice. This suits me down to the ground.

Each room has a fridge which contains complementary bottled water and carton of milk. There is tea and coffee making facilities in the room also, with big mugs rather than small cups.

The room is spacious if you’re on your own, a double bed, flat screen tv and a small couch and one chair and desk. But I found it a bit cramped for two. It looks good. Bathroom contains a large walk-in power shower, no bath. The shower is great. One minor moan here was that only shampoo and a bar of soap was left, no shower gel.

We were on the fifth floor and the WiFi was brutal, very slow and intermittent connection.

Customer service was very casual. Check in and check out very straightforward as the room charge is applied to your credit card at the time of booking. There is no cancellation refund. Repeated requests for additional teabags for our room were made and acknowledged and promises were made by reception staff to replenish these, but none materialised.

The foyer and bar/restaurant area was busy at any time when we passed through it. Plenty of people hanging out, a good friendly atmosphere. It was pleasant to have a coffee there and relax.

We didn’t eat in the hotel restaurant but it seemed busy.

The hotel is a good location if you’re heading to London’s financial district. Its just a short walk. The nearest tube station is Old Street which is about a 5-10 minute walk away and is on the Northern line. The area around the hotel isn’t great, a bit dirty and rundown, but we never felt uneasy or had any  hassle in getting to and from the tube. It may have been handier for us though to stay somewhere nearer the city centre or touristy spots, or near a Piccadilly line tube station.

Overall, this is definitely a great value for money hotel, and you can be lucky and get one of their brilliant promotional £1 per room per night deals. The earlier you book the cheaper. We had only a few minor quibbles and I would stay there again if its location suited.

Rated 3/5 on Oct 15 2007 by ManicMammy
Review Tags: accomodation, city, hotel, london, shoreditch, where to stay
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Superb food but crowded loud room and mediocre service at expensive prices.

To be honest, prior to this visit to London, I hadn’t been a huge fan of Japanese food. I had thought it alright but given a choice for a night out, I would preferably opt for French cuisine. For a change though, on this occasion we headed to Nobu. We had heard great things about it and so expectations were high.

The table for 2 was booked a month in advance and we headed there for 8pm. It is located on the first floor of the Metropolitan hotel, very easy to get to, just opposite Hyde Park. The restaurant was absolutely hopping when we arrived. It was packed. Alot of business suits and I would guestimate that 70% of the customers that night were men. Is there a macho appeal to eating raw fish? It was a Wednesday evening and I would guess plenty of business dinners were happening. The restaurant is bright and modern, but the tables are very close to each other. We were shown to ours which had a bench along oneside and the chair opposite. We had a couple on both sides sitting very close and there was no privacy, all conversations were overheard.

We decided to go for the chef’s tasting menu. Not cheap at £70 each, but we hoped this would represent the chef’s talent and restaurant’s best food. We weren’t disappointed.

First came a salmon tartar with caviar. As you can see, despite the bad quality of my camera phone, it looked beautiful.

It was melt in the mouth delicious. So much flavour packed into each spoonful.

Then followed a white fish dish and after that a tuna dish as far as I recall.

Both again, looked and tasted fabulous. Next a beef dish followed by blackened cod. I loved both. Different textures and tastes. The cod in particular I remember tasting fabulous. Then a plate of sushi.

Miso soup and a dessert of chocolate pudding with a green tea icecream finished the meal. By this stage, I was really too full and didn’t really appreciate either. The green tea icecream didnt really taste of anything, and I do usually so love my icecream.

As we were celebrating, a bottle of champagne accompanied the meal.

Overall, the food tasted wonderful and was beautifully and appetisingly presented. The tasting menu was perhaps, a course or 2 too long,  there was too much food for one sitting for me.  The waiting staff were quite rushed and not particularly friendly or attentive, but not rude either. The tables were too close to each other.

We had a delicious, memorable meal, it has definitely ensured that I am looking forward to eating more Japanese food in the future and the tasting menu has given me a good idea of which type and style of Japanese dishes I prefer.

Rated 4/5 on Oct 14 2007 by ManicMammy
Review Tags: eating out, food, japanese, london, restaurant, sushi
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