This afternoon.

Merrion Street, Dublin 2

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly arriving for Cabinet meeting in Government Buildings to discuss tougher NPHET measures on the elderly, publicans and sports matches.

Would someone please give him a hat?

Ah here.

Rollingnews

Meanwhile…

Racy.

Minister for Social Protection and Minister for Community and Rural Development and the Islands Heather Humphreys arrives for Cabinet in red to match her motor.

Name that jammer, anyone?

Rollingnews

Yes you two, near the big grey arrows there.

Are there other solar systems, just like ours, with planets orbiting a star? Well, stars we’ve seen, obviously, and – when the light is just right –  exoplanets. But never both in conjunction. Until now. To wit:

Recently, however, and for the first time, a pair of planets has been directly imaged around a Sun-like star. These exoplanets orbit the star designated TYC 8998-760-1 and are identified by arrows in the featured infrared image. At 17 million years old, the parent star is much younger than the 5-billion-year age of our Sun. Also, the exoplanets are both more massive and orbit further out than their Solar System analogues: Jupiter and Saturn. The exoplanets were found by the ESO‘s Very Large Telescope in Chile by their infrared glow – after the light from their parent star was artificially blocked. As telescope and technology improve over the next decade, it is hoped that planets more closely resembling our Earth will be directly imaged.

(Image: ESO, A. Bohn et al.)

apod

Fans will be locked out of Croke Park and other grounds in the country

This afternoon.

Via RTÉ News:

All sporting events will take place behind closed doors, under measures being discussed by cabinet this afternoon.

RTÉ News understands that a decision has been made not to allow spectators at sporting fixtures.

Firm but fair?

Inessential and sadistic social engineering?

Only YOU can decide.

Live Covid Updates

Earlier: Cruel And Unusual

An extraordinary persistence of vision installation by Russian art collective TUNDRA which sez of it:

Row is a modular and scalable array of screens that can form lines of various length of any desired shape. Translating raw visuals driven by generative sound, the content itself is being echoed with a slight delay which creates various moving patterns that highlight and reflect the spatial characteristics of where it is installed.

Fair enough.

awesomer

The Poxmen – Punch People

It’s the spirit of the age.

Donegal rabble rousers The Poxmen (top) air their pent-up frustration at modern life in this downbeat folk tune with a similarly disgruntled video animation to boot. Even the sun is grumpy!

The Poxmen say:

“A wee song for all the anarchists out there.”

Nick says: It’s a knockout.

The Poxmen

Near the junction of Oxford Road and Charleston Road, Ranelagh, Dublin 6 on August 18, 1994

UVF?

Provies?

Provies and rozzers?

One of his ‘own’?

Reggie and Ronnie?

We may never know.

Name that jammer, anyone?

Pics by Oisín Kane

Previously: Twenty Years Ago

Wuhan Maya Beach Water Park, Wuhan province, China at the weekend

Currently, the water park receives an average of 15,000 daily visitors during weekends, and is offering half-price discounts to some visitors, Hubei Daily reported.

The novel coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan in December last year. As the original epicenter of the outbreak,

May you live in interesting times.

*bow*

FIGHT!

Wuhan hosts massive water park party as coronavirus concerns recede (CNN)

Pics: Hubei Daily

The Ryanair Rock Week 1990 in North West London’s The Mean Fiddler

Abstract Analogue writes:

I thought it was worth archiving this advert I found for the ‘Ryanair Irish Rock Week’ at London’s Mean Fiddler – run by Irish man Vince Power – from 1990.

It was quite a line-up with some great bands and some even I’ve never heard of (nice to see the obscure Screech Owls listed too).

This was a fitting sponsorship when you think of all the bands and fans travelling to gigs, not to mention music business trips. A good percentage of any band’s advance must have gone on travel….

Abstract Analogue

Thanks Stephen Rennick

Broadsheet.ie