Cloudy and Cold

Posted 10 Mar 2010

Daily Life, Places | 2 Comments 

Are we likely to “have a great day” if today’s weather is “cloudy and cold”?

The words seem rather dim and dreary, respectively and alliteratively.

I then started to wonder if they even bother to change the sign throughout the winter.  Seems like from November to April, the degree of coldness changes but it is almost always cloudy and cold.

Google wags tongue at Olympics?

Posted 3 Mar 2010

Events, Guest Post, People, Places, The Little Things | 4 Comments 

Is it just me or does this ice skater (part of the Google search page illustration) look like she has her tongue sticking out?  Is this a subliminal message about the Vancouver games?

Thanks to a sharp-eyed reader in Michigan for spotting this and submitting the screen-shot to chickenmonkeydog. We LOVE to get submitted pictures and stories about the quirky events in your lives to share with the CMD community!

Awestruck by power

Posted 1 Mar 2010

Daily Life, Places, The Little Things | 4 Comments 

For the first time, I had the chance to see the Limerick Power Station as a reasonably close distance. I found the shapely towers and plumes of steam positively hypnotizing. Watching the white clouds of steam climb further into the sky, I was filled with wonderment, awe and fear. I was within a short distance of a nuclear power plant – consider the power that flows from there! The engineering and science that underpins it functionality. The number of people who light their homes every evening with its power. The potential danger that is the powerplant. The dangerous by-product of nuclear waste. It was a lot to take in … and has left me still pondering. Not sure what to make of it all.

Circular postcard distribution

Posted 26 Feb 2010

People, Places, Postcards | 4 Comments 

Overwhelmed by the magnificence of what lay before him, our foreign correspondent felt compelled to capture the grandeur of the Gateway to India in true chickenmonkeydog fashion.

And, dear readers, keep in mind that you too can capture the beauty around you with the red, yellow and blue hues of the chickenmonkeydog postcard. Just follow our simple instructions and a postcard could be winging its way to you.

Unmapped in a digital world

Posted 25 Feb 2010

Commuting, Daily Life, Places | 5 Comments 

This past week a good friend was unexpectedly without smart phone or GPS (or sat-nav) and trying to find his way across a new city by car. The amber warning light advising of an almost empty tank had reared its ugly head. Worried about finding his way home – and the nearest gas station – my friend stopped in a corner shop he passed to buy a map of the local area. The guy behind the counter at the shop was laughing at someone buy a hard-copy map.

That little story got me to thinking about how reliant we are (in the West anyway) on our electronic devices.  I rarely review my intended journeys before jumping in the car. Heck, I have an iPhone … there is little else I need, even if I am planning on climbing Mt. Everest!

Yet, as I reflected on my friend’s predicament, I realize how foolish and complacent I’ve become in the wake of modern technology. Surely, my phone or GPS device might break, get stolen or lost or a million other possibilities. By having no back-up plan, I am surely inviting problems, aren’t I?