I live here now. New year, fresh start etc.
Sep
29
Actually I’m sure I do have news but it’s like when you don’t see someone for ages and you’ve done loads of stuff and you still can’t think of anything to talk about and you see someone else you saw an hour ago and you have loads to discuss and then. And then.
The fringe came and went. I did the “Etiquette” thing with a friend and it was hilarious…you really get into it. I won’t say too much because it would ruin it for a random googler about to do it, but the props they give you are used to great effect. They include blue tak (not mala after all!) some fake blood, water, chalk and tiny stick figures.
Also went to Duke Special who was impressive as usual, but disappointingly didn’t play any of his own stuff much to the chagrin of my companion who loves his last album. I wasn’t too fussed either way – I like his voice but I’m not drawn to any particular song.
The biggest excitement of the evening was the new-to-me singer Beth Rowley. Not only did she have me in tears when she sang “Ms Otis Regrets” beautifully (there is a reason for this, I don’t generally cry randomly at gigs) but her own songs are fantastic too. The play itself, modelled on an old radio mystery, could have done with a wee bit more organisation, since they ran out of time and had to cut out the third act, as Lottie pointed out. It also seemed a little amateur and under-rehearsed to me. They would have been better just focussing on the music if there was a lack of rehearsal time or whatever. My opinion of course! pinch of salt etc.
Missed most of the rest of the fringe…time flies. What a boring sentence. See this is why I don’t blog much. I end up incurring the wrath of me.
Sep
29
…to offer a bit of nostalgia. I probably should wait for Christmas but I’m too excited after finding this and I had to share it with THE WORLD.
Am I actually seeing things or is bloody Alan Hughes the star of the best Irish ad eva?
In shock. How did I not know this Internet? How?
Sep
01
Still don’t have my recent photo taking endeavours ready for public consumption. Will soon. Sigh.
So anyway, Fringe fever! Well fringe fever plus 100% added Theatre Festival fun. Because I was living in the back arse of beyond last year (comparatively) I didn’t make half the stuff I wanted to see so this year I’m making it my mission not to miss any likely sources of edufuncation.
First off, and I think you’ll agree ladies and gentlemen, is one of the highlights of weird fringe events that is “Etiquette“. My friend G and I have this pencilled in for next weekend. It seems to be designed for our crazy heads. You book for two, show up at the cafe, get headphones that feed you lines and off you go on a little theatrical journey. You also get to use Mala as a prop apparently…MALA!!! Here‘s a NYTimes video explaining the process.
Marvellous.
Have also booked tickets for The Silhouette Old Time Mystery Radio Show with no less than Duke Special comparing. I’m hoping to be as impressed with the goings-on in the Spiegletent as I was with the whole Pirate malarkly last year.
Those are booked so far, more to be decided on in due course…I like the way the fringe isn’t the sell-out madness that the Theatre Festival seems to be. The very idea of Fringe should be about spontaneity and flexibility. Extending theatre and other performing arts into the mainstream of daily life. I’d like to be walking home from work and see something odd and captivating just starting with a seat waiting.
Obviously this is taking nothing away from the Theatre Festival itself which I’m sure will also be pushing boundaries and experimenting all over the siopa…I’m looking forward to seeing Black Watch, The Year of Magical Thinking (with Vanessa Redgrave…bow minions), and Waves, not necessarily in that order.
I am actually a little scared about Waves because I’m very precious about Virginia Woolf and if they fuck it up I will be a mite annoyed. Yeah I’m one of those people.
Tickets are slightly expensive but I won’t grumble too much…As I have said, it’s edufuncation.
Aug
25
Point format for the win:
- Last week I went to Lenny Kravitz in Marley Park. Well really I was there mostly to picket Alanis Morrissette about proper usage of irony (ten year old jokes for win no. 2) but she scared me with her volumes of hair and mania. In a good way. Lenny could never be as good as he is in his own estimation but there is no denying he is quite the showman. I have photos but (excuse the blograge) my bloody motherfucking disaster of a laptop won’t let me upload them so I have to find another method. Which I will eventually. I will not be including the one with me in a canary yellow rain muumuu.
- More photos on the way from the Festival of World Cultures in Dun Laoghaire yesterday.. Fun fun fabulous. With an extra serving of my celebrity stalker Lisa Hannigan. Went straight home and bought tickets to her show in the Button Factory so I can stalk her in return. (NOT REALLY LISA)
- I cried after the boxing yesterday when RTE interviewed Billy Walsh.
- I have booked tickets for the theatre festival and the fringe. And various gigs. Broke now. But so excited.
(tmsies obv.sies la rocksies)
Aug
21
Denis Lynch is out of the show-jumping final because of…you guessed it…more bloody doping.
Did they learn nothing from the last time?
Edit: Seems like maybe he was just very unlucky. Do they not check ingredients against some list though? The fact that he’s been using it for ages without being caught is hardly an excuse.
Aug
21
First part here.
25. Take my advice, never: develop an addiction to the Olympics. You’ll find yourself watching handball at 3am while searching the internet to find out how many more times Yelena Isinbayeva has to break the world Pole Vault record before she catches up with Sergey Bubka. And then you’ll get caught up in the BMX racing before deciding you have to know the difference between the different boats in the sailing (and try and figure out how to pronounce “Yngling”, finally relying on the Guardian for the answer). Then. THEN. Suddenly! THREE Irish boxers are up to their belts in medals, which means you have to find out all about them OBVIOUSLY.
Top five Olympic sports graded by my fascination in them.
5. Diving – This is obvious. They could hit their head, or do a bellyflop at any moment. I need to be there on the couch to see these events live.
4. Pole Vault – Isinbayeva is obviously fabulous, with all the talking to herself and jumping up and down and pure talent but also there is the drama of the silver medal winning American’s coach eating the head off her. Because she only won a silver. I LOVE Olympic drama.
3. Gymnastics – More drama. And little people. Who doesn’t like little people? Especially ones who can do death-defying one and a half turn back swing up and down and around the corner catchev let go and run away twirly things.
2. Swimming until you die race. The long one, where you have to eat and drink along the way.
1. Boxing. OBVIOUSLY. GO..eh..what are there names again? I wish John-Joe Joyce was still in. That name deserves a medal.
Ok. Yeah. Don’t watch the Olympics if you want a life. God maybe I’ll actually go to the London one. But then….you can’t watch Michael Phelps beat a virtual world record line when you’re actually there…hmm telly’s better.
26. My ideal breakfast is: Bagel. Cream Cheese. Bacon. Tea. Pineapple.
27. A song I love but do not have is: a really obscure version of the song “Ms Otis Regrets”. I don’t have it because I get extremely emotional listening to it. It was a favourite song of someone close to me and it brings me immediately back to the day of his funeral.
28. If you visit my hometown, I suggest you: climb Knocknarea Hill Mountain on your own early on a bright clear morning and let the view from the top and the peaceful solitude take your breath away.
You will most likely end up in Toff’s nightclub at some point, try not to judge the county too much afterwards.
29. Why won’t people: stop willingly paying exorbitant prices for all manner of shite in this country? I include myself here. It is a self question.
30. If you spend a night at my house: You probably won’t sleep at first. The noise of traffic on the quays takes a little bit of getting used to. You do eventually though…when I go home home (weshtwards) I miss the traffic and get woken up by the birds outside the window.
31. I’d stop my wedding for: a while until I had a chance to get legally married in my own country.
32. The world could do without: the human race. It’d be much better off. Cockroaches would be thankful for a start.
33. I’d rather lick the belly of a cockroach than: the balls of a rat.
34. My favourite blonde(s) is/are: the little man and sindy. Not barbie, sindy.
35. Paper clips are more useful than: the tip of a pen for resetting my ancient creative mp3 player when it hangs AGAIN .
36. If I do anything well it’s: analyse absolutely everything to death.
37. I can’t help but: wonder what life would be like without the Internet. And if it would be better. I know. Sacrilege.
38. I usually cry: when other people cry. Sometimes this can turn out to be quite inappropriate but I can’t help it. On plenty of occasions, randomers I hardly know might be leaving work and get a touch emotional at their little farewell presentation. Cue me blinking and looking manic. Cringe. I’ve developed a phobia about leaving presentations. Except my own, in the last place. I wasn’t a bit emotional. It’s only a job people.
39. My advice to my child/nephew/niece: would be to find someone you trust and talk to them about the things you are worried about. Even if that thing you’re worrried about is something like global warming and they can’t realistically help, it will feel better to talk about it.
40. And by the way: rules are meant to be broken.
Ok. Done. (In my head I said that in a Gordon Ramsey fashion). This thing is too long and annoying to force anyone into by tagging them. But you might be bored so please do it if you like and let me know your answers. Mmm Memes.
Aug
19
So yeah, uh huh, we’re so not even going to talk about how I ran away for a while with thanks to Annie who noticed. Let’s face it I’m hardly Billy Bountiful Blogposts plus it’s the internet you’re not meant to be reliable. Lets just have fun with some more memey goodness. This time, picked up from the lovely Anna at littleredboat. Which you should totally be reading btw fyi asap.
The Finishey-Sentencey Meeeeeem
1. My uncle once: told me he had walked into the room while his parents were “getting it on” (his words). I have no idea why he chose to tell me this, especially since it was out of the blue as we both looked down at my grandmother at her wake. We have the talent of the inappropriate in our family.
2. Never in my life: have I been as content as I am now. I don’t quite know how to handle this so I’m thinking about developing a heroin addiction.
3. When I was five: I was in Mrs. Mulligan’s class. She used to tell us to be quiet or the baby who lived in the attic would wake up. I had many questions about this demon attic baby but she never did answer them.
4. High school was: called secondary school ’round these parts. We used to have “Diet Coke Breaks” before German class looking down at the hot builders who were working on the extension. Power of advertising folks. I didn’t even like diet coke. Or hot builders.
5. I will never forget: where I came here from, never pretend that it’s all real. Someday soon this will all be someone else’s dream
6. Once I met: a girl on a train in California who asked me if I thought she looked like Molly Ringwald. I told her I didn’t know who that was (I was at that time not versed in movie nostalgia). She looked sad. I have a sneaking suspicion she actually was Molly Ringwald.
7. There’s this girl I know: who has the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen on any person, including the entire Jolie-Pitt clan. Which makes it all the more cruel when she looks right through you.
8. Once, at a bar: in Portugal I spent an hour taking photographs of the walls. If you are ever in Lisbon, and like me have a weird obsession with both war and clutter visit the Pavilhão Chinês.
9. By noon, I’m usually: contemplating giving marks & spencer’s more of my hard earned cash. It’s not just pasta salad, it fucking outrageously expensive yet the best local option pasta salad.
10. Last night: I introduced my girlfriend to the wonder that is Minnie Driver in Circle of Friends. She was suitably impressed I think, but didn’t quite appreciate the glorious disaster of Chris O’Donnell’s Irish accent.
11. If only I had: a clear idea of what path I should take to finally feel like I’ve made it.
12. Next time I go to church: I hope it will be as hauntingly memorable as the experience I had a couple of weeks ago in St Ann’s Church on Dawson street at an outstanding performance from the Cologne New Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra. It seems they are inspiring many memorable moments as they tour, if this wonderful post from K8 the GR8 is anything to go by.
13. What worries me most: is that I will ultimately regret the choices I have made.
14. When I turn my head left I see: This:
15. When I turn my head right I see: Pat “The Plant” Kenny. Our much maligned, sadly drooping house plant. Behind him are Marty-Whelan-In-A-Pot and Bob.
16. You know I’m lying when: I say I’m grand. There is always something wrong with me even when I’m happy. This just means the wrong thing is comparatively minor, like the fact that right now I have pins and needles in my right foot. If you press me on it, I will be happy to tell you all about the wrong thing and you will be sorry you ever hypothetically asked me anything. I may also make elaborate detours in conversation detailing the last time I had this particular wrong thing wrong with me, which is another charming family trait I have inherited.
17. What I miss most about the Eighties is: reading Reader’s Digests from the 70’s in my parent’s attic (no demon babies there, thankfully) and cataloguing them according to which ones contained “I am John’s Liver/Kidney/Heart/Brain” stories. I was obsessed with them and secretly hoped we would one day learn about John’s bold bits because I was short of vital information in this particular area.
18. If I were a character in Shakespeare I’d be: Emilia from Othello, if my 6th year English teacher is to be believed. She thought I was just perfect for the part of the boringly doomed minor character. Now that’s what I call encouragement to succeed.
19. By this time next year: I’ll hopefully have finished this post.
20. A better name for me would be: my real one, but I think it would be weird to start posting under my real name now even though I’m less attached to anonymity so I continue to use my middle name.
21. I have a hard time understanding: how so many people in this country have a ridiculously short memory when it comes to migration.
22. If I ever go back to school, I’ll: make sure I’m not in anyway naked. All my “have to go back to school” dreams involve me in some stage of undress. What the fuck, Freud?
23. You know I like you if: I make fun of your hat.
24. If I ever won an award, the first person I would thank would be: all the other girls in the lovely girls competition for being gracious in defeat.
……Phew. This is taking forever. More tomorrow.
Aug
19
I keep dreaming about dreaming about dreaming. What’s up with that? I could be dreaming now, actually. Am I?
Jun
25
Myself and my house-homie J were watching TV the other day and saw this excellent add by Heinz.
Funny stuff and ridiculously inoffensive. Of course though, Heinz has now bowed to pressure and pulled it. Because apparently, it is unsuitable to be seen by children who might CATCH THE GAY. Jesus H Christ.
Unbearably Light 