Alison O'Riordain New Hampshire ski trip

Nodin · 10-11-2010 09:46PM

Saermegil wrote: »

Seriously now, how much money do you think she's making ? The average AH troll could write a better article on "skiing"

It'd at least be funnier, and not read like a c&p from a publicity brochure...

My name is URL · 10-11-2010 09:47PM

Do these articles of hers appear in the printed editions too?

Nodin · 10-11-2010 09:47PM

My name is URL wrote: »

Do these articles of hers appear in the printed editions too?

O yeah.....

efb · 10-11-2010 09:48PM

I wonder do she go down the slopes as quick as her apartment devalues???

geeky · 10-11-2010 09:52PM

In before the other Haikuers:

the snow condition
is like freshly served whipped cream
a cushy landing

(I simply had to edit out the 'which means', I'm sure lovers of Alison's ouvre will allow it for the comment it makes on her, ahem, plight.)

Manic Moran · 10-11-2010 09:53PM

Idbatterim wrote: »

that article is dated 7th November, but according to the link http://www.skinh.com/ski-conditions.cfm dvpower posted, the runs arent even open yet! also November seems very early for skiing! Also see http://www.skireport.com/newhampshire/

The first runs in the Tahoe (California) area opened the last weekend of October. Snow chains or 4-wheel-drive w/ snow tyres were required on the I-80 freeway three days ago (Score one for my Audi convertible!). And this is only 150 miles from where I currently sit, with short sleeves on. I'm sure early November isn't unheard of for New England, which is generally colder.

However, the giveaway is the maple tapping which occurs 'the last few weeks of skiing season', in which she apparently partook. That seals the fact that the trip was earlier this year, if at all.

NTM

My name is URL · 10-11-2010 09:54PM

Nodin wrote: »

O yeah.....

That's unreal.. I can understand why they'd include her crap online.. just to stir discussion. But they really are making a mockery of print media by allowing that to pass as journalism.

Nodin · 10-11-2010 09:59PM

My name is URL wrote: »

That's unreal.. I can understand why they'd include her crap online.. just to stir discussion. But they really are making a mockery of print media by allowing that to pass as journalism.

True, but if your idea of journalism is formed by reading the Indo and Sindo, sure ye'd hardly notice.....

(I'm sure theres capable people there, but lets face it, it's dominated by the lowest)

The Sparrow · 10-11-2010 10:01PM

Most travel journalism is simply an advertisement and it is not uncommon for articles to be published months after the trip actually took place.

Companies like Topflight pay for journalists to go on these trips and in return they get good press from the articles. That's how travel journalism works... it is a great gig if you can get it, but hardly the most ethical.

10-11-2010 10:08PM

RoundyMooney wrote: »

What a wordsmith.

I was about to quote that very line :eek:
Unbelievable stuff.

The whole thing still reads like a junior cert "this is what I did on my holidays" story.

bonerm · 10-11-2010 10:09PM

bluewolf wrote: »

I was about to quote that very line :eek:
Unbelievable stuff.

The whole thing still reads like a junior cert "this is what I did on my holidays" story.

I'm always surprised to get to the end of one of her articles and not be met with the closing sentence "Then I woke up and it was all a dream."

Terry · 10-11-2010 10:48PM

Manic Moran wrote: »

The first runs in the Tahoe (California) area opened the last weekend of October. Snow chains or 4-wheel-drive w/ snow tyres were required on the I-80 freeway three days ago (Score one for my Audi convertible!). And this is only 150 miles from where I currently sit, with short sleeves on. I'm sure early November isn't unheard of for New England, which is generally colder.

However, the giveaway is the maple tapping which occurs 'the last few weeks of skiing season', in which she apparently partook. That seals the fact that the trip was earlier this year, if at all.

NTM

Shhhh!

Here's the deal; Chick complains about struggling to pay her mortgage, but is able to afford a skiing holiday 3,000 miles away. This is a slap in the face of those actually struggling to pay a mortgage.

Let's take a look at the article.

We were told on the transfer journey that New Hampshire is a destination for many Irish school groups due to the gradual, soft slopes for beginners and the strict liquor licences, which means alcohol cannot be served to those under 21.

A couple of weeks ago my lodger (yeah, that one) told me that he once had a long term relationship with the Madam of a brothel. Me and my friends pissed ourselves laughing at that one, but I laughed even more at the above claim.
Irish teachers are not so deluded as to underestimate the resourcefullness of their students when it comes to obtaining access to alcoholic beverages (ooh. Look at me with my big words).

Mind you, you'll need a clear head to cope with the staggering degree of choice open to visitors. Imagine having 17 ski resorts to pick from in and around where you're staying. International customers visiting the state to enjoy a ski holiday can have access to five of the 17 different mountains all in a one-day pass.

Or you have ADD.
Tell us, Ali, how long does it take you to pick your lotto numbers?

Our first port of call was Loon Mountain, one of New England's classic slopes.

Too easy.

Getting into the American way of life immediately, we started to use the words like "powder" instead of snow, which got a giggle from our tour guide.

'Heh. Look at these eejits.'

Loon Mountain, with 49 runs over 336 acres, is the biggest of the resorts, and the snow condition is like freshly served whipped cream -- which means a cushy landing if you fall.

Whipped cream and ice cream.
Come on Ali.

What really impressed was the New England Disabled Sports, where year-round programmes for people with disabilities are on offer. Skiing and snowboarding with adaptive instruction is offered within a safe, supportive and fun environment.

I know quite a few people who have feigned disability over the years in order to get out of work, but you really take the biscuit here, Ali.

Just like a heroin addict will claim disability allowance for a self inflicted addiction, it seems to me that you are claiming that having orange skin is also a disability.
You chose to make your face visible to oncoming traffic on poorly lit roads at night.
That's really not a disability.
You should be ashamed of yourself.

New Hampshire, dotted with small towns and villages, boasts some of the most picturesque skiing in the world. Our first night was spent in the Woodstock Inn, the centrepiece of which is a Victorian home restored to its original beauty. Each of us had our own log cabin and we were all very eager to put our feet up in our room on our return from the slopes. Then it was dinner with a difference that evening at the Woodstock Station, a restored train station which serves food of epic proportions.

A log cabin to yourself?
This from someone who is looking for a lodger to help with mortgage payments?

I have two lodgers and just get by with my bills.
What's your secret?

-Leelo- · 10-11-2010 10:58PM

I love these Alison O' Riordan threads, they bring out in the best in you funny feckers!!

The Sparrow · 10-11-2010 11:01PM

Terry wrote: »

A log cabin to yourself?
This from someone who is looking for a lodger to help with mortgage payments?

I have two lodgers and just get by with my bills.
What's your secret?

Probably that she was on a press trip paid for by Topflight and the local tourist board. She didn't actually pay for any of that trip.

4zn76tysfajdxp · 10-11-2010 11:05PM

The Sparrow wrote: »

She didn't actually pay for any of that trip.

Don't think anyone thought that tbh. Just makes a change from Daddy paying is all.

mikom · 10-11-2010 11:12PM

We were told on the transfer journey that New Hampshire is a destination for many Irish school groups due to the gradual, soft slopes for beginners and the strict liquor licences, which means alcohol cannot be served to those under 21.

What a clusterfuck of a sentence.

Pace2008 · 10-11-2010 11:20PM

mikom wrote: »

What a clusterfuck of a sentence.

Nothing will ever equal:

Alison O' Riordan wrote:

One homeless man in a fleece with a broken zip and a can of cider in his hand offered me a cigarette. He told me he needed to drink because of the night time as it knocked him out."

amacachi · 10-11-2010 11:29PM

Just had to read the homeless article again and noticed this gem of a made-up quote:

The first thing I noticed beginning my stint was that the homeless are very territorial about the places where they choose to beg. So when I was told by a professional 'tapper' to "move on or there will be consequences as that's my spot", I didn't argue and moved away from the Ha'penny Bridge and positioned myself at Capel Street Bridge.

They were better spoken than the beggars I've come across.

oppenheimer1 · 10-11-2010 11:46PM

amacachi wrote: »

Just had to read the homeless article again and noticed this gem of a made-up quote:
They were better spoken than the beggars I've come across.

There is, or at least there was, a very well spoken homeless man that resided in the Stephens Green area. Irish times reader too...

10-11-2010 11:47PM

Pace2008 wrote: »

Nothing will ever equal:

I don't know, the port unfolding was in a class of its own!

Dennis the Stone · 10-11-2010 11:51PM

Our first port of call was Loon Mountain

Sounds like she'd be right at home there.

Nodin · 11-11-2010 12:36PM

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

There is, or at least there was, a very well spoken homeless man that resided in the Stephens Green area. Irish times reader too...

......beard, suit jacket, about 5.5-5.7 in height?

brianthebard · 11-11-2010 12:49PM

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

Thats an ad for topflight, nothing else. Its likely the trip was paid for by them.

The trip must not have been this year either because the slopes in New Hampshire aren't open yet http://www.skinh.com/ski-conditions.cfm . Did the trip take place at all?

I very much doubt she went anywhere tbh. It reads like a piece from the brochure, she hardly even uses the first person singular pronoun to describe the events of the trip, which points to a distancing from the reality of the trip. There's not even a picture of her there, which surely would be the least you would expect from such a trip.

Tbh I've come to the conclusion in the last day or two that the vast majority of her articles are just made up or rehashed from other sources. All of her stuff could be considered plagarism whether it be plagarising her own writing by repeating the same article, stealing articles on drugs, or borrowing notes from travel brochures. Its all the same, she is there to fill in space in a newspaper that isn't interested in giving you the news but in trying to stay afloat and in promoting FF.

nice1franko · 11-11-2010 12:59PM

It's convenient that some of the biggest arséholes in the country
(namely:
Kevin Myers
Alison O'Riordain
Brendan O'Connor
Ian O'Doherty
)
all write for the same rag, thereby making it considerably easier to avoid their collective shíte.

Now, if only people would stop perpetuating it on boards....

jimthemental · 11-11-2010 01:11PM

Getting into the American way of life immediately, we started to use the words like "powder" instead of snow, which got a giggle from our tour guide.

She must've found drugs outside her hotel room door as well :pac:

Dionysus · 11-11-2010 01:28PM

Nodin wrote: »

You don't work for the Indo, where apart from getting sent on ski trips, you get to mix with intellectual heavy hitters like alison, Brendan O'Connor, Ian o'Doherty and Kevin Myers....its like the west bank of the seine in there.

hehe. Now there's a wordsmith! Nár lagaí Dia do lámh.

stovelid · 11-11-2010 01:40PM

I enjoy laughing at her as much as anybody but it's getting to the point now where we're doing the bidding of that rag by producing such a large volume public opprobrium about their carefully constructed hate figure.

Same with Kevin Myers, O' Doherty and O' Connor: same rag; same platitudes designed to provoke.

brianthebard · 11-11-2010 01:46PM

stovelid wrote: »

I enjoy laughing at her as much as anybody but it's getting to the point now where we're doing the bidding of that rag by producing such a large volume public opprobrium about their carefully constructed hate figure.

Same with Kevin Myers, O' Doherty and O' Connor: same rag; same platitudes designed to provoke.

I'm starting to agree, especially if most of her writing is made up. Its no skin off her nose to have us bitch about her writing style or article choices in that case and she continues to get paid to be the indo filler writer, so there's really nothing to be gained from further mockery. On the other hand it is a nice stress relief after reading terrible articles to be able to complain about it online.

bonerm · 11-11-2010 01:48PM

In that vein could we have a moratorium on starting threads featuring the Orange One for, lets say, the next 20 years?

Thanks.

Nodin · 11-11-2010 01:49PM

bonerm wrote: »

In that vein could we have a moratorium on talking about the Orange One for, lets say, the next 20 years?

Thanks.

Expose?

Alison O'Riordain New Hampshire ski trip

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