This past weekend was a bank holiday in Ireland (a 3-day weekend), which coincided with the Guiness Jazz Festival here in Cork. Over 120 acts appeared on 28 stages around the city, in theatres, hotels, pubs, and lounges.

On Friday night we joined J's workmates at South's, the bar of the Imperial Hotel, for some big band and types of jazz. The place was packed, mostly with tourists who had come just for the Jazz Festival!

On Saturday night a couple of my Quebecois friends invited me to see one of the headline acts, which they heard was a band from Montreal. We were excited to support our fellow Canadians! When we arrived at the Jury's Hotel it turned out that the show actually consisted of two bands from Montreal, the Francois Bourassa Quartet and the Alain Bedard Auguste Quartet. Both were good, and I especially enjoyed the first quartet.

Next week is another major festival in Cork, the Cork Film Festival. It runs Nov 1-8, and we leave for Amsterdam on the 6th, so I'm hoping to catch a few films before we take off. They look very appealing.

So, to end off this time, here is a little taste of Irish pop culture. This is a song by an Irish singer, Julie Feeney, that has been playing non-stop on the radio around here lately. I just saw the video for the first time tonight , and I like the cool headpieces. Enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI1TGrkNUmg&feature=player_embedded