Shane McDonald Facebook pixel
Solas Cancer Care Waterford – Film for Life 2019

Solas Cancer Care Waterford – Film for Life 2019

by | Apr 15, 2019 | Lifestyle

Solas Cancer Care – Film for Life 2019

Solas Film for Life 2019 is the third year of this Movie based fundraiser. Last year I entered the Film for Life fundraiser and over 6 weeks rehearsing and filming we acted out a scene from a famous movie. Last year’s movie was “The Hangover” and I played Phil, the Bradley Cooper character. We eventually won “Best Film” at the Solas Cancer Care Film for Life 2018.

I really enjoyed last year’s Film for Life and the fact that I was able to raise funds for a great cause. Therefore, I am doing Solas Film for Life again this year. I cannot say which film we are doing for Solas Film for Life 2019, but I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

 

About Solas Cancer Care, Waterford

The Solas Cancer Support Centre offers free cancer support to those affected by cancer, their families and carers in the South East. These services are available in their centre at Williamstown in Waterford City and in their West Waterford service based in the Alternative Health Clinic in Dungarvan.  Solas Film For Life is one of the many ways this cancer care charity raises funds.

Support my "Film for Life 2019" Fundraising

If you wish to donate to my “Film for Life 2019” fundraising event please click the button below. Any amount will make a difference and I appreciate all donations to this worthy​ cause.

Everyone who supports the event will be mentioned here on this page and if you are a business and wish to support I will link to your website as a thank you.

Click Here to Donate Now

All Film for Life donations regardless of size are welcomed and everyone will be credited on this page. I will also include a total of all donations for the Film for Life 2019 event which received online and offline will be displayed below.

Amount (€) Raised to Date

Thank You for your support

I would like to thank the following people for their support

Maria McEvoy

Vera McEvoy

I update this page with anyone who sponsors my Fundraising for Solas Cancer Care “Film for Life 2019”

Days until Solas Film for Life 2019

Day(s)

:

Hour(s)

:

Minute(s)

:

Second(s)

Loko – Dog Friendly​ Restaurant, Waterford

Loko – Dog Friendly​ Restaurant, Waterford

by | Apr 10, 2019 | Restaurant Review

Loko Restaurant Review: Dog-Friendly Restaurant, Waterford

Loko is located on the Dunmore Road in Waterford on the same spot as Ardkeen Stores. It is quite a large restaurant which spans over three floors. The decor is very trendy indeed with lots of quirky and interesting items decorating everything from the ceiling to the lampshades. You will also find some great pieces of art hanging on the walls.

I had been to Loko a few times before but I recently heard that they allowed dogs. With the recent change of legislation in Ireland, more and more restaurants are allowing dogs inside. As a dog owner, this is great as there is no more having to leave the dog at home, eat in the freezing cold in the outside area of a restaurant or just having to eat a takeaway in the car (all because a restaurant won’t take a dog … well done to Loko on that stroke of genius).

Booking a Dog-Friendly Table at Loko

So we booked a table for 2 humans and one dog. On arrival, we were greeted and shown to the doggy friendly area downstairs. We were given a water bowl for the dog and menus. You will find lots on the menu for you to enjoy. I do like seafood, and there is normally quite a selection on their menu. On this occasion, we had the monkfish scampi and the roast chicken. The Roast Chicken was superb as it came on a bed of mash, with onion gravy and large dumpling style balls of delicious stuffing. The scampi was light and perfectly cooked with a really crunchy panko style coating. 

During the meal, the owner came down to see if our dog would like to try some doggy beer. “Bottom Sniffer” is an alcohol-free, non-carbonated doggy beer. Apparently, the label says that it is the ultimate doggy refreshment which will help make your dog the leader of the pack and will have other dogs sniffing their bottoms with jealousy! (a marketing text which would work for this beer but probably would not work for Budweiser)

Of course, we enjoyed dessert afterwards, Bread and Butter Pudding and a brownie as far as I recall.

Loko is a very trendy and very enjoyable place to eat, with a menu which will suit almost every diner and welcomes everyone, including the canine members of the family. We really enjoyed our meal and we will certainly be back again soon.

 

 

Photo Gallery 

Loko-Dog-Friendly-Restaurant-1
Bottom Sniffer Beer for Dogs
Doggy Beer at LOKO
Dogs welcome at LOKO
Food at Loko Waterford
Food at Loko Waterford2
Loko Waterford
Contact Loko
Unit 1
Ardkeen Shopping Centre
Dunmore Road
Waterford
Phone: 051 841 040

Twitter:
@loko_ie

Facebook:
facebook.com/LokoWaterford

Instagram:
@lokowaterford

Loko, Ardkeen, Waterford

Loko, Ardkeen, Waterford

FlightRadar24 Vs Plane Finder, Flight Tracking iPhone Apps

FlightRadar24 Vs Plane Finder, Flight Tracking iPhone Apps

by | Mar 6, 2019 | Internet & Technology, iPod / iPhone Apps

A few years ago when I got my first iPhone, I downloaded two Aircraft Tracking iPhone Apps. These flight tracking apps were FlightRadar24 and Plane Finder. The smartphone air traffic apps allow you to track the position, height, speed, Squawk Code, Aircraft type, heading, source, destination and Aircraft Registration, plus much more.

These amazing iPhone apps are brilliant, especially if you are interested in aircraft. You may also just want to know where a plane in the sky is heading. Ever since I was a child, when I got my first pair of binoculars, I have been fascinated with knowing which aircraft or which airline is flying overhead. Aircraft are such amazing feats of engineering, it is amazing to watch them as they fly 10km up.

So, back to the flight tracking apps. Which one is better, FlightRadar24 or PlaneFinder? I am going to look at the 2 apps and do a proper review…in no particular order.

FlightRadar24

The FlightRadar24 system was the first flight tracking app I downloaded. The main features of FlightRadar24 were full flight tracking plus visual tracking where you could hold the iPhone camera up to the sky where there was an aircraft and it would point to it with identification using augmented reality. At the time this was very new to smartphone technology but the Augmented Reality system makes it possible to point the camera to the sky and view aircraft information and all the details regarding air traffic over you.

Flight Radar Screenshote - FlightRadar1 iPhone App Review

Flight Radar Screenshot - FlightRadar24 iPhone App Review

The accuracy is stunning – I actually grabbed a pair of binoculars when a Lufthansa 747 was reported over Waterford, and it was indeed the aircraft mentioned on the FlightRadar-24 iPhone App. Amazing.
Check out http://www.flightradar24.com/ for more details.

PlaneFinder

I downloaded the Planefinder app just as a comparison as this one showed actual photos of the aircraft in question and also allowed for sharing of the spotted aircraft on Facebook etc.

PlaneFinder does almost everything that FlightRadar24 does, but I find that there are certain functions you can achieve such as advanced filters, e.g. show all aircraft above a certain height, speed or indeed of a certain airline.  I also found some aircraft not listed on FlightRadar24 – for example, a Galaxy C5 showed up on Planefinder and at the same time did not display on Flightradar24 for some reason.

More information on PlaneFinder can be found at http://my.pinkfroot.com/

How do these iPhone Aircraft Tracking Apps Work?

These apps only show information regarding aircraft which are equipped with ADS-B transponders. About 60% of the passenger aircraft and some private aircraft have an ADS-B transponder installed.

The Flightradar24 and PlaneTracker apps use a network of ADS-B receivers around the world. These ADS receivers get plane and flight information from the aircraft with ADS-B (Broadcasts) and send this information to the main server. These apps simply collect the ADS data and displays this information on the iPhone Apps map. However the only aircraft within the coverage area of the ADS receivers are visible – so if you are in the USA you may have limited visibility as these apps are mainly covering Europe. Current coverage is approx 90% of Europe. However, there is also limited coverage in the USA, Australia and the Middle East.

App Problems?

Both Apps require WiFi or a 3G connection to work. If you only have a cellular data connection you may get 1 or 2 aircraft showing up but the app won’t work to its full potential – so ensure you have 3G turned on.

The only problems I saw was one aircraft which was a ghost image of itself – i.e., for example, an aircraft D-GBHF was showing up side by side but it was the same aircraft. Could have been a glitch.
However, the most fun glitch I saw was an aircraft which had a recorded cruising speed of zero knots – clever trick!

Flight Tracking Apps – Conclusion

Both apps are excellent in the way the aircraft are displayed plus the refresh rate and the accuracy is very good on both apps.

Both apps have been updated since my original post and I will be updating this post with the changes and new features.

PlaneFinder retails at €3.99 in the App Store

FlightRadar24 retails at €2.39 in the App Store.

FREE Versions of these Flight Radar iPhone Apps are available also and the desktop or web-based version of FlightRadar can be used for a limited session and with limited functionality for free.

If you have any comments regarding these flight tracking/aircraft tracking apps please comment below!

 

 

This post is a re-edit of the original post regarding FlightRadar24 and Plane Finder which was written earlier in 2015.​

360 Cookhouse – Pet Friendly​ Restaurant in Co. Waterford

360 Cookhouse – Pet Friendly​ Restaurant in Co. Waterford

by | Feb 25, 2019 | Restaurant Review

360 Cookhouse: Dog-Friendly Restaurant Dungarvan, Co. Waterford – Restaurant Review

One of the hardest things in Ireland to find is a dog-friendly restaurant. Unlike in the UK, most Irish restaurants will not allow a dog to enter its premises.

We are very lucky and Waterford to have two restaurants who except dogs, namely, Loko and 360 Cookhouse in Dungarvan.

I spotted the sign for the dog-friendly menu at 360 Cookhouse on a recent walk around Dungarvan and I made it my business to try it out.

Our Dog-Friendly Restaurant Booking

On arrival, we had a very friendly welcome into the restaurant and we had a spot for the dog who was very comfortable also.

360 Cookhouse is not just a pet-friendly restaurant but was Awarded Pet–Friendly Destination of the year 2019 from the Georgiana Campbell Ireland Guide! High praise indeed. You can also share your pet photos while you are here with their hashtag #Dogsof360.

The 360 Cookhouse menu is vast and is very varied. I could have tried a number of options from it but in the end, I chose the homemade fish fingers with came with fries and salad.

The fish fingers were chunky and made of the best white flaky fish all perfectly cooked and coated in a buttercream Panko crumb. The salad was perfect and had a pickled edge to it which contrasted the fish very well. The accompanying fries were homemade skin-on fries and doused in a good amount of sea salt. This main was absolutely delicious.

We were tempted to review the dessert menu and were drawn to a Crunchie Chocolate Moose which I had not ever tried before (Perhaps a 360Cookhouse signature recipe?). This was the lightest fluffiest moose topped with crushed pieces of Cadbury Crunchie and raspberries. An astonishing end to a great meal.

I later found out that a tapas menu is also available. I saw a few people enjoying that election and it looked ver tempting indeed. That option will have to be tried on return.

We also had 2 coffees and tea and the whole bill was less than €50 which was excellent value. Plus dog-friendly… did I mention that already ???

I’m delighted to see that dog owners are being considered when it comes to allowing dogs to enter. I can tell you that the restaurants which take dogs will be getting more of my business than the ones who don’t. I saw one sign in a restaurant which said “Dogs and Well Behaved Children are Welcome here” and I agree with that sentiment.

Photo Gallery – 360 CookHouse

360-Cookhouse-2-Welcome-Restaurant
360-CookHouse-1-PetFriendly-Restaurant
360-Cookhouse-5-Food
360-Cookhouse-6-Dessert
360-Cookhouse-4-Doggie-Friendly
360-Cookhouse-3-Pet-Friendly

If you are in Dungarvan I totally recommend you visit 360 Cookhouse. Great staff, great menu, great food, great desserts, great value and dog-friendly – that’s 6 stars out of 5 ! (Extra Star for the dog-friendly attitude!)

We are already planning our next visit to 360 Cookhouse. Next time with friends and dog also of course!

360 Cookhouse

Location: Castle St, Abbeyside, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford
Website: http://www.360cookhouse.ie/
Social: Instagram / Facebook

360 Cookhouse, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, Ireland

360 Cookhouse, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, Ireland

Oscars Predictions – Who will win at the 91st Academy Awards

Oscars Predictions – Who will win at the 91st Academy Awards

by | Feb 22, 2019 | In The News

My Oscars Predictions for The 91st Academy Awards

I always enjoy Oscar season as there are so many great movies to enjoy, from epic blockbusters to the more casual feel-good movie. This year I have seen a good few of the Oscar-nominated movies and these are my Oscars Predictions for the Academy Awards which take place on Sunday 24th Feb 2019.

I have outlined the categories below and have outlined who I think will win and also who I would like to see win as my Predictions for the Academy Award winners. It’s a bit of a cop-out but if you don’t see an entry for ‘Who I would like to win’ then you can take it that the ‘Who I think will win’ are that and the same.

Update 25/02/2019 – The actual winners are underlined and italicised within each category. I have a count below of how many I actually got right…


So here we go…

The nominees for Best Costume Design

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Mary Zophres)
Black Panther (Ruth Carter)
The Favourite (Sandy Powell)
Mary Poppins Returns (Sandy Powell)
Mary Queen of Scots (Alexandra Byrne)

Winner: The Favourite

 

The nominees for Best Film Editing

BlackkKlansman (Bary Alexander Brown)
Bohemian Rhapsody (John Ottman)
The Favourite (Yorgos Mavropsaridis)
Green Book (Patrick J. Don Vito)
Vice (Hank Corwin)

Winner: The Favourite

I Hope will win: Bohemian Rhapsody

 

The nominees for Best Original Score

Black Panther (Ludwig Goransson)
BlackkKlansman (Terence Blanchard)
If Beale Street Could Talk (Nicholas Britell)
Isle of Dogs (Alexandre Desplat)
Mary Poppins Returns (Marc Shaiman)

Winner: If Beale Street Could Talk 

 

The nominees for Best Animated Short Film

Animal Behaviour
Bao
Late Afternoon
One Small Step
Weekends

Winner: Bao

 

The nominees for Best Live Action Short Film

Detainment
Fauve
Marguerite
Mother
Skin

Winner: Fauve

 

The nominees for Best Sound Editing

Black Panther (Benjamin A Burtt and Steve Boeddeker)
Bohemian Rhapsody (John Warhurst and Nia Hartstone)
First Man (Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan)
A Quiet Place (Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahi)
Roma (Sergio Diaz and Skip Lievsay)

Winner: Bohemian Rhapsody

 

The nominees for Best Sound Mixing

Black Panther (Steve Boeddeker, Brandon Proctor and Peter Devlin)
Bohemian Rhapsody (Paul Massey, Tim Cavagin and John Casali)
First Man (Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montano, Ai-Ling Lee and Mary H. Ellis)
Roma (Skip Lievsay, Craig Henighan and José Antonio Garcia)
A Star Is Born (Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic, Jason Ruder and Steve Morrow)

Winner: Bohemian Rhapsody 

 

The nominees for Best Animated Feature Film

Incredibles 2
Isle of Dogs
Mirai
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse

Winner: Mirai

 

The nominees for Best Cinematography

Cold War (Lukasz Zal)
The Favourite (Robbie Ryan)
Never Look Away (Caleb Deschanel)
Roma (Alfonso Cuaron)
A Star is Born (Matthew Libatique)

Winner: Roma

 

The nominees for Best Directing

Spike Lee, BlackkKlansman
Pavel Pawlikowski, Cold War
Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite
Alfonso Cuaron, Roma
Adam McKay, Vice

Winner: Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite

 

The nominees for Best Documentary Feature

Free Solo
Hale County This Morning, This Evening
Minding the Gap
Of Fathers and Sons
RBG

Winner: Free Solo

 

The nominees for Best Documentary Short Subject

Black Sheep
End Game
Lifeboat
A Night at the Garden
Period. End of Sentence.

Winner: End Game

The nominees for Best Foreign Language Film

Capernaum (Lebanon)
Cold War (Poland)
Never Look Away (Germany)
Roma (Mexico)
Shoplifters (Japan)

Winner: Roma (Mexico)

 

The nominees for Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Border (Goran Lundstrom and Pamela Goldammer)
Mary Queen of Scots (Jenny Shircore, Marc Pilcher and Jessica Brooks)
Vice (Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe and Patricia DeHaney)

Winner: Vice (Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe and Patricia DeHaney)

 

The nominees for Best Visual Effects

Avengers: Infinity War (Dan DeLeeuw, Kelly Port, Russell Earl and Dan Sudick)
Christopher Robin (Christopher Lawrence, Michael Eames, Theo Jones and Chris Corbould)
First Man (Paul Lambert, Ian Hunter, Tristan Myles and J.D. Schwalm)
Ready Player One (Roger Guyett, Grady Cofer, Matthew E. Butler and DAvid Shirk)
Solo: A Star Wars Story (Rob Bredow, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan and Dominic Tuohy)

Winner: Christopher Robin

 

The nominees for Best Adapted Screenplay

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Joel and Ethan Coen)
BlackkKlansman (Charlie Wachtel, DAvid Rabinowitz, Kevin Wilmott and Spike Lee)
Can You Ever Forgive Me? (Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty)
If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins)
A Star is Born (Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper, Will Fetters)

Winner: BlackkKlansman

 

The nominees for Best Original Screenplay

The Favourite (Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara)
First Reformed (Paul Schrader)
Green Book (Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie and Peter FArrelly)
Roma (Alfonso Cuaron)
Vice (Adam McKay)

Winner: The Favourite (Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara)

 

The nominees for Best Original Song

All the Stars, Black Panther
I’ll Fight, RBG
The Place Where Lost Things Go, Mary Poppins Returns
Shallow, A Star is Born
When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Winner: Shallow, A Star is Born

 

The nominees for Best Production Design

Black Panther (Hannah Beachler and Jay Hart)
The Favourite (Fiona Crombie and Alice Felton)
First Man (Nathan Crowly and Kathy Lucas)
Mary Poppins Returns (John Myhre and Gordon Sim)
Roma (Eugenio Caballero and Barbara Enriquez)

Winner: Black Panther (Hannah Beachler and Jay Hart)

 

The nominees for Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams, Vice
Marina De Tavira, Roma
Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk
Emma Stone, The Favouirte
Rachel Weisz, The Favourite

Winner: Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk

 

The nominees for Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Mahershala Ali, Green Book
Adam Driver, BlackkKlansman
Sam Elliot, A Star is Born
Richard E Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me
Sam Rockwell, Vice

Winner: Mahershala Ali, Green Book

 

The nominees for Best Actress in a Leading Role

Yalitza Aparicio, Roma
Glenn Close, The Wife
Olivia Colman, The Favourite
Lady Gaga, A Star is Born
Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Winner: Olivia Colman, The Favourite

 

The nominees for Best Actor in a Leading Role

Christian Bale, Vice
Bradley Cooper, A Star is Born
Willem Dafoe, At Eternity’s Gate
Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody
Viggo Mortensen, Green Book

Winner: Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody

 

The nominees for Best Picture

Black Panther
BlackkKlansman
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Favourite
Green Book
Roma
A Star is Born
Vice

Winner: The Favourite

I Hope will Win: Bohemian Rhapsody

So There you have it, my Oscars predictions for the Academy Awards 2019 … or the 91st Academy Awards if you want to be exact. I have updated this blog post with all the Oscar Winners in underlined and Italicised above. So, how many did I actually get right.

%

Correct Predictions - I got 15 / 24 Categories Correct...

The Oscars 2019 were shown live on pay-per-view TV and they take place on Sunday 24th February at the Dolby Theatre, Los Angeles, California, United States.

If you have any comments on this years Oscars or the Oscar Winners themselves please leave them in the comments below.