All posts by midnightmurphy

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About midnightmurphy

Limerick to Dublin to Amsterdam to Dublin to Limerick

Notional coffee, ice-cream and burgers

Dublin, Uncategorized, , , ,

coffee

On Sunday I had a notion to do the Greystones to Bray coastal walk. The fly in the ointment was that I didn’t leave my tastefully appointed flat until 2.30pm. This ought not to have been an impediment except for the fact that I had an arrangement to meet a friend in Bewley’s on Grafton Street at 5.30pm. The return train journeys added to the length of time it would take to do the walk, put paid to my lofty ambitions. Being a fine August day however, I decided to take the train to Dun Laoghaire and walk back in the direction of town. Continue reading Notional coffee, ice-cream and burgers →

Theatrical: ‘Waiting for Godot’

Dublin, Uncategorized,

godot

On Thursday I was very high-brow. I went to see ‘Waiting for Godot’ by Samuel Beckett at Smock Alley Theatre. I was dreading it. I’ve heard of the play of course – being as it is, one of the most important theatrical works of the 20th century. However, I’d heard that it was allegorical, and ‘about nothing’. Two men waiting by a tree for a character named Godot, whose provenance is never explained. It sounded very art-wanky to my ears. The type of work that, which may be incredibly clever and worthy, but would also be completely incomprehensible to a person like myself, who likes to go to the theatre either to be entertained or to see a shapely male buttock. In my ignorance I would have classified this play as being of the same school as ‘Ulysses’ by James Joyce. That book beloved by millions, but only read by thousands. Continue reading Theatrical: ‘Waiting for Godot’ →

Fantasy Football league

Travels to work, Uncategorized,

FFL

I slunk into my tastefully appointed cubicle in the wastelands of county Dublin, ill prepared for another day in the coalface of office administration. I huddled over my computer cradling my first cup of coffee of the day. I heard a voice. Who was it only my colleague from the North. He’s a pleasant person despite his booming voice, and I get on quite well with him. We don’t that much in common – he is married with a child, and big into football. I am none of those things. He runs something called a ‘Fantasy Football League’ at work that seems popular among the middle-aged married men. I support his endeavours. It is good to have a hobby. I haven’t the faintest idea of the meaning of a Fantasy Football League. Continue reading Fantasy Football league →

Concert review: The wondrous kd lang

Canada, Music, Uncategorized

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After my recent shenanigans in Canada I was happy – on the week of my return – to have a concert by kd lang to look forward to. Don’t ask me why kd uses the diminutive to spell her name as I have no idea – but as she has always done so, I will follow suit. Last night was the second night of her Irish engagement in the National Concert Hall. I was in like Flynn. It’s lucky that I even heard about it. The National Concert Hall does not sell tickets through Ticketmaster – an automatic plus for the venue – so it was by chance that I heard about the shows on the tram when I bumped into a friend and her wife, who informed me. Continue reading Concert review: The wondrous kd lang →

Fraud with Fine Gael

Ireland, Uncategorized, , , ,

 

 

Maria Bailey – Fine Gael TD for Dun Laoghaire – made a claim against the Dean Hotel for injuries she claimed to have sustained in 2015, when she fell off a swing in the hotel. She was not holding said swing at the time as both hands were occupied with drinkies. On her affidavit she swore that she was not able to run for three months after her fall. The only problem being, that on her social media she was seen completing a 10km run in a speedy time, only three weeks after the accident. She requested €20,000 in compensation from the hotel as an out of court settlement which the hotel refused. In a car-crash radio interview with Sean O’Rourke, she claimed that she only asked for €7,000 compensation for medical expenses. That is €7000 (or 20,000 in reality) for medical expenses for a woman with comprehensive medical insurance? How very scamtastic. Had the blatantly fraudulent case gone to court then damages of up to €60,000 could have been awarded. Bailey dropped the case because of public outrage at her lies, greed, and scam tactics in the run up to the local and European elections. Continue reading Fraud with Fine Gael →

My Nova Scotia adventures

Canada, Travel, Uncategorized, ,

west
‘One of your finest seats please’, said I to the check-in lady at the Westjet desk in Dublin Airport.

‘I am sorry Mr. Murphy, but you have no visa to travel to Canada’, said she.

‘Oh, but I do,’ said I with a smug chuckle. I had applied for, and received my eTA (electronic travel authorisation) three days earlier.

It turned out however that I had entered the wrong passport number when applying. My eTA was invalid and therefore I was not allowed to board.

My heart sank. I had been warned about this. Continue reading My Nova Scotia adventures →

Limerick Pride

Limerick, Pride, Uncategorized

Jack (2)

Last last month I missed Dublin Pride. I didn’t mourn, largely because of how intrusive the corporate sponsorship of companies like Tesco and Nestle has become – these are not known for treating their staff well. Rumour has is that London Pride is even worse – apparently members of the LGBT community are only allowed to participate when invited to do so by corporate sponsors – the ordinary folk are corralled behind barriers to watch Goldman Sachs employees wave rainbow flags on the parade. I have hope that Dublin Pride can be saved from its own greed with a strong effort made to limit corporate hijacking of the event. It saddened me somewhat to miss Dublin Pride – having experienced my first one there in 1996. It couldn’t be helped however. I was being internationally fabulous out foreign. Continue reading Limerick Pride →

Villagers in the Iveagh Gardens – concert of my life.

Uncategorized

villagers

I have been in the Iveagh Gardens in Dublin four times. The first time was to see Pixies in concert in mid July 2016, at the start of my two week summer break from work. It was wildly exciting to finally see them live. The next time I was in the Gardens was in mid July 2017 to see Fleet Foxes live, as I (coincidentally) began my fortnight’s summer holiday. Last year I went to the Iveagh Gardens on July 11th to see Eels perform as I went on twelve day holiday. Continue reading Villagers in the Iveagh Gardens – concert of my life. →

A visa for Canada

Australia, Canada, Travel, Uncategorized

untitled

While pondering on how to successfully poach an egg – while eating one – in the canteen at work in the Wastelands this morning, I started eavesdropping on the conversation beside me. A colleague was describing her son’s summer working holiday in Canada, and about how he has just started work in a distribution centre in Vancouver. How sweet, I thought, to be nineteen years old and traveling for the first time. I inquired whether or not he’d need a visa to work there. Unsurprisingly the answer was yes. Of course a visa is required to work on another continent. I mentioned my impending holiday to the Maritimes, and announced smugly that I wouldn’t need a visa. Continue reading A visa for Canada →