No events until September?? – Events, suggestions and more

What can I do while being locked in?

Here are some suggestions for activities that are NOT watching TV. ;-)

1) Virtual Museum Tour
This week the weekly Museum’s Tour will be in the “Dead Zoo” or – as it is properly called – in the Natural History Museum in Merrion Street. It is a very unique museum, because it is such an old type of museum, that the museum should be in a museum. ;-) Stuffed animals or animals in Formaldehyde are not the done thing anymore. But the Natural History Museum in Dublin has a very different and unique charm and if you have never been there OR if you have last been there a long time ago, you should visit the museum again via this link: www.museum.ie/en-IE/Museums/Natural-History/Visitor-Information/3D-Virtual-Visit

2) Help for Parents
To help parents with the challenges during the Covid-19 situation, the Department of Children has created a “Parents Centre” here www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/parents-centre/ It might not blow you away, but there seems to be some useful information in some of the sections.
Especially the “Let’s Play” resources at www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/lets-play-ireland/ could be useful if you are looking after some highly energetic kids!

3) Ukulele License – Course
Mainly created for children and young people, but definitely useful for everyone who is interested in playing Ukulele is the Ukulele Licence course that has been created by Rockjam and Music Generation dlr. You find the overview and all relevant links here: www.musicgeneration.ie/news/article/secure-your-ukulele-licence-while-keeping-a-social-distance/

4) Online Courses
Learn something new: Of all course platforms that I have tested, I still think that Udemy is the best one. The only thing that is a little annoying is the randomness of their special offer pricing. Sometimes the cost per course is just EUR 9.99, but at the moment they are quite expensive, so check the courses out, but don’t buy any at the moment! You can find the courses following this link click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=/WFVYmx8raQ&offerid=507388.9273&subid=0&type=4
And a course that I picked this week (put it on your wishlist and buy it when the price has dropped!) is TJ Walker’s “2020 Complete Public Speaking Masterclass For Every Occasion”. Just put that title in the search field
Udemy also released a long long list of completely free courses for the time during the Covid-19 crisis and you will find this way: Click on the link above and then type into the search field “free course”. In the “topic” field on the left (on a desktop) or via the “Filter” function on mobile, you can choose what area you are interested in.

4) Books
In the “books” category, I like listening to book summaries to then decide if I want to get a book or if maybe the summary is enough. I use two book summary services. The first one is readitfor.me/91927 and the second is the app “Story Shots”. Both are free in the basic version.
To buy your eBooks (or paper books) I recommend Book Depository because they are usually cheaper than others and they always include delivery for free (and by using this link you help the Dublin Event Guide): www.bookdepository.com/?a_aid=dubevg
…
And I looked for two books again for you this week as a recommendation:
+ The first one is “Leaders Eat Last – Why some teams pull together and others don’t” by Simon Sinek. It is a fascinating book about how people in companies should work together so that everyone enjoyed working there. (www.bookdepository.com/book/9781591848011/?a_aid=dubevg)
+ The second must-read is a book that has changed the life of heaps of people. It is Tim Ferris’ book “The 4-Hour Work Week – Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich” (www.bookdepository.com/book/9780091929114/?a_aid=dubevg) It explains how to reconstruct your life so it’s not all about work.

5) Physical Exercise
And for physical exercise suggestions, have a look at this series of videos: www.youtube.com/channel/UCIqyCM91B1Xq7rVgW9rohiQ There are 16 videos and they are made by Richard, who is the fitness trainer at Bushy Park Padel and Tennis Club and Federico, who is one of the tennis trainers at the same club. So, the training might appear as if it is only for tennis, but that is not the case. Try it out and you will see that it is really good fitness training.

6) Gospel Music and the coolest online mass!
I have to mention this one again because it is really taking off! You might remember that I am part of the Gardiner Street Gospel Choir. In normal times we sing at a weekly Gospel Choir Mass in Gardiner Street Church every Sunday at 19:30. But we have no “normal times” right now. So, we did put in a lot of hard work and moved the mass online!
If you have never heard us, put your head in the virtual door and join us for a bit or for longer. And if you have heard us before you know how great the choir is and we hope to see you. The mass will take place at 19:30 every Sunday and it will be live streamed at www.facebook.com/TheGSGC/ Last week we had about 120 attendees and since then 2400 people saw the mass on Facebook. Join us on Sunday! ;-)

8) Mikey Smyth’s Charity Gig
Every Friday night Mikey Smyth is playing a gig (guitar and vocals) and he is inviting his audience to give donations to a charity that he suggests. In previous weeks he gathered nearly EUR 5000 for the charities ALONE, Our Lady’s Hospice & Care Services and DSPCA and “Friday with Mikey” next week will be for PIETA House. Pieta House work to prevent Suicide and Self-Harm and their main fundraiser, the “Darkness into Light” walk had to be cancelled this year. Join Mikey next Friday (20:00-21:30) at www.facebook.com/mikey.smyth.37

9) Dublin City Culture Company is regularly organising talks with historians and they are not stopping despite the lockdown, but they have moved their talks online and you can listen to a whole range of them on soundcloud.com/dccculturecompany They are mainly the “Mondays at the Mess” talks that took place at Richmond Barracks. (Normally not a free events, but now you can listen to it for free.)

10) Digital Libraries form far away
If you are interested in libraries and historic documents, I found some great treasure: There are 7 digital libraries in the USA that you can visit from your couch and they are all listed and described here edition.cnn.com/2020/04/19/us/digital-libraries-from-your-couch-trnd/index.html

–Joerg