URBAN EXPRESSION AND DEPRESSION
Street Photography That Highlights Urban Life
PHOTOGRAPHED 18 MARCH 2023
I learn something new every day. I thought that this example of paint-a-box street art was located on Nassau Street but it is actually on South Leinster Street which I have been unaware of until today.
URBAN EXPRESSION ON STEPHEN’S STREET AND ALEXANDER STREET
My first visit to Waterford was in May 2016 and I was surprised to discover much really good street art and when I asked the staff back at the hotel why it was so good they told me that there was an annual event known as Waterford Walls. I decided that I would visit every September to visit to photograph what had been created during the festival but unfortunately I was unable to do so. Covid restrictions created problems for me, last year my hotel booking was cancelled and this year I cannot get a suitable hotel room at a price that I am willing to pay.
In August 2015 twenty two artists used the walls of Waterford city are their canvas. The Waterford Walls event had surpassed all expectations as locals and visitors flocked to the city to see the street artists in action. I was not certain if the hall was included in the programme but I am assuming that it was.
This building is an attractive and substantial composition of graceful proportions that, despite currently being disused, remains in very good condition. The building retains its original form and character, together with important original salient features and materials that contribute to the character of the site. The building is a prominent feature of the streetscape, and forms an important corner site linking Stephen’s Street with Alexander Street.
SADLY THIS COMPLEX HAS BEEN REPLACED BY A HOTEL
This was an amazing location for Street Art. These are not my best photographs but they do capture the ‘feel’ of the location. Last year I visited the new complex and it was bleak and the preserved artwork lacked soul.
I was amazed to discover than many of my friends don’t remember the Tivoli as it was and I know that they attend concerts there.
“Tivoli Place”, the scheme containing the square, is owned by the German asset management company DWS, in partnership with aparthotel operators StayCity. In my opinion the scheme is more than disappointing … it is depressing and while it is described as a public space it is a POPS [privately owned public space] it does not appear to meet any real local community requirements.
The Tivoli Theatre was a theatre on Francis Street in The Liberties, Dublin which closed in 2019 and was demolished shortly afterwards for replacement by a hotel. The theatre opened on 21 December 1934 as a replacement for an earlier Tivoli Theatre located on Burgh Quay, which had closed in May 1928.
Built to the designs of architect Vincent Kelly with seating provided for 700. The Tivoli Theatre opened as a cine-variety theatre, but by the late-1930s it had converted to full-time cinema use and was renamed Tivoli Cinema.
The Tivoli Cinema was closed in September 1964. It was converted into a nightclub and a shop; before finally re-opening as a live theatre in 1987 and renamed Tivoli Theatre. At time of closing, the upper theatre could seat 475; and the lower venue was in operation as a nightclub
The walls of the carpark had become a noted street art location and the planning permission to demolish the theatre required the extant art to be photographed and documented prior to demolition.
The venue had seen The Cranberries, Oasis, Blur, Sinéad O’Connor, Suede, The Beastie Boys, Rage Against the Machine, Deadmau5, Perfume Genius,[ and $uicideBoy$ perform.
That Petrol Emotion played the Tivoli three times, including their Irish farewell gig in 1994. Recordings from that concert were included on the live album Final Flame (Fire, Detonation And Sublime Chaos).
PAINT-A-BOX STREET ART
I was disappoint to learn that the UK’s initial space mission has failed after “an anomaly” prevented the Virgin Orbit rocket from reaching orbit. I feel sorry for the nine teams who devoted so much time and effort to developing the 9 small satellites.
If space travel had followed Moore’s law since the the 1960’s it would cost as much as a bag of chips today.
Moore’s law is the observation that the number of transistors in a dense integrated circuit (IC) doubles about every two years. Moore’s law is an observation and projection of a historical trend. Rather than a law of physics, it is an empirical relationship linked to gains from experience in production.
The observation is named after Gordon Moore, the co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel (and former CEO of the latter), who in 1965 posited a doubling every year in the number of components per integrated circuit, and projected this rate of growth would continue for at least another decade. In 1975, looking forward to the next decade, he revised the forecast to doubling every two years, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 41%. While Moore did not use empirical evidence in forecasting that the historical trend would continue, his prediction held since 1975 and has since become known as a “law”.
Moore’s prediction has been used in the semiconductor industry to guide long-term planning and to set targets for research and development, thus functioning to some extent as a self-fulfilling prophecy. Advancements in digital electronics, such as the reduction in quality-adjusted microprocessor prices, the increase in memory capacity (RAM and flash), the improvement of sensors, and even the number and size of pixels in digital cameras, are strongly linked to Moore’s law. These ongoing changes in digital electronics have been a driving force of technological and social change, productivity, and economic growth.
Industry experts have not reached a consensus on exactly when Moore’s law will cease to apply. Microprocessor architects report that semiconductor advancement has slowed industry-wide since around 2010, slightly below the pace predicted by Moore’s law.
PAINT-A-BOX STREET ART ON CAPEL STREET
I really liked Ring My Bell but I could never remember the name of the singer and when I asked anyone (with one exception … @ronanleonard) they would always say Gloria Gaynor and that always annoyed me because I was not a fan of “I Will Survive” after hearing it too many times.
“Ring My Bell” is a 1979 disco song written by Frederick Knight. The song was originally written for then eleven-year-old Stacy Lattisaw, as a teenybopper song about kids talking on the telephone. When Lattisaw signed with a different label, American singer and musician Anita Ward was asked to sing it instead, and it became her only major hit.
“Ring My Bell” went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the Disco Top 80 chart and the Soul Singles chart. It also reached number one on the UK Singles Chart. It also garnered Ward a nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the 1980 Grammy Awards.
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