And this is It's a small world after all, written , and concerning Musings, Conferences
So, there I was in the pub in Dublin, attending OSS Barcamp. Enjoying a beer or six (including Coopers Sparkling Ale, at Jan Schmidt's recommendation, which bills itself as "the ale by which all others should be measured", which is frankly a bit of a reach), and chatting to lots of people. The question "is this your first time in Dublin?" came up a lot, and since it is my first time in Dublin, the question got a nod and "but I've spent a lot of time in Cork", because that's where my family's from. Mostly it gets the nod-and-smile I'm-not-really-interested reaction, unsurprisingly, and then we get into an argument about emacs or something.
One chap, though, said: oh, really? I'm from near Cork. Where exactly?
Fermoy, says I.
You're kidding! comes the response. This chap grew up there, it turns out. And not only that, but...he knows well my cousins Ricky and Ted and Sean, Sean is his sister's landlord, and his mum plays bridge with my great-aunt Annette.
My dad's always said that I couldn't walk 100 yards down the high street in Fermoy without running into someone I was related to. I didn't realise the six-degrees-of-friendship thing would extend as far as pubs in Dublin.
It's a small world after all.
Comments
Bradley Wright
Steve
I come from a smallish town in the UK. Went travelling, and in Oz I decided to do a three day liveaboard on a boat scuba-diving. The guy behind me looked over my shoulder while I was filling out the usual forms in the queue, and I heard a very familiar accent behind me say "You're joking!" (Say that in an almost Geordie accent.) He and his girlfriend were from the same town, happened to be in Oz, in the same place, doing the same sport, in the same companies queue, at the same time, and stood right behind me. I didn't know them, or have the six degrees deal, but still!
Karl Lattimer
check out nexus, it's a book about small world theory pretty damn good, and weird too...
Ciarán
Ireland has ~4 million citizens, and I'm related to most of a village outside Dublin. So it doesn't surprise me that you met a relative in Dublin!
Still pretty cool though.
Mean-Machine
I had the hairiest pint of Ale in my life that night. Beware of the ol' Brainblasta. yuck
James Henstridge
I'd agree with Bradley: I prefer Cooper's Pale Ale (the one with the green label) to their Sparkling Ale too (the one with the red label).
It is also a good brand to buy if you're doing home brewing, since they do secondary fermentation in the bottle. So the bottles are unlikely to explode when filled with slightly overcarbonated home brew ...
sil
I didn't get a chance to try the Pale Ale. I liked the Sparkling, though! In no way did I slag it off. I shall try more Coopers. :)
froodie
If you have Irish relatives, this pretty much guaranteed to happen to you at least once in your life, somewhere. I tragically didn't get into Dublin until you were sitting waiting for your plane in some kind of a hideously hungover state.
next time x
bergersau
If you enjoy Australian style Pale Ales I suggest Little Creatures Pale ale (Freemantle WA), Duke Pale Ale (Surfers Paradise) or James Squire OriginalAmber Ale.
All worth a try.
I take offense at your slagging off of Coopers Sparkling Ale. It's a very very good beer. For the best Australia has to offer, though, I prefer the Pale Ale. It's a great summer drink (although it doesn't really resemble a Pale Ale in the English sense).