All posts by midnightmurphy

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‘Labels are for bottles, not for people’. Oh Vomit.

June 20, 2018Gay, Uncategorizedmidnightmurphy

mark-zuckerberg-just-slammed-the-anti-vaccination-movement

Happy Corporate Pride everyone. In the ever surreal landscape of life in the wastelands, my multinational employer is having a Pride day this week. I ought to be thankful that it is making an effort, but for some reason – despite my glued on smile – I find it quite bizarre. Thursday is ‘Rainbow’ day – a day where we are encouraged to wear our brightest clothes to ‘celebrate diversity’ and to ‘show our pride’. Hurrah. Yet I am not actually that celebratory. Such ungrateful behaviour on my part. Continue reading ‘Labels are for bottles, not for people’. Oh Vomit. →

Theatrical: ‘The Snapper’ at the Gate

June 19, 2018Books, Dublin, Film, Theatre, Uncategorizedmidnightmurphy

Currently in preview at the Gate Theatre is the stage adaptation of Roddy Doyle’s book ‘The Snapper’. The official opening is on Wednesday 20^th June. Theatrical etiquette rules that reviewers don’t review plays until opening night. Preview shows are intended to allow the director and the cast to iron out any last minute issues with the play. I am going to ignore that rule – for the simple reason that I paid full whack for my preview ticket (no freebies for regular audience members). As the show I saw, was the fourth preview performance, if they are not about 99% stage ready by this point then they never will be. Continue reading Theatrical: ‘The Snapper’ at the Gate →

Showbiz trooper

June 17, 2018Bloomsday, Dublin, Gay, James Joyce, Theatre, Uncategorizedmidnightmurphy

GAA

Friday evening was spent at the theatre – the final evening show for ‘25/The Decriminalisation Monologues’ at Outhouse. Having written one of the monologues – ‘The Number’ – I had found it very difficult to watch my own piece initially. I was feeling a touch self-conscious and insecure about it. Not by Friday however. I had gotten over my nerves and was able to sit back and enjoy the entire show. It was a privilege to be included in this project. It is important to remember how different this country was in the very recent past – how cold, hard and cruel it was to anyone who fell outside the boundaries of what was considered ‘normal’ by mainstream society. How it crushed many people. But how people resisted and pushed back, eventually transforming the social landscape. I hope there will be continued life in ‘The Decrminaliation Monologues’ as it gives an insight to young people about those who fought, although their struggle is largely unknown to younger people. Continue reading Showbiz trooper →

‘Fast Forward’

June 14, 2018Dublin, Ireland, Theatre, Uncategorizedmidnightmurphy

Yesterday evening, for the 2^nd time this week I attended the theatre. For my delectation on this occasion, was ‘Fast Forward’ by Firedoor Theatre. Written by Jason Coburn – who wrote last year’s ‘The Lover’s Guide to Losing your Mind’ – this play was inspired by the ideas of the Firedoor Theatre Devising Group. Continue reading ‘Fast Forward’ →

Burning up

June 11, 2018Uncategorizedmidnightmurphy

To celebrate my forty year anniversary as a Type 1 diabetic, today I went to the clinic. While I am not certain of the exact date of my diagnosis I know that it was in June 1978. Therefore I am declaring today to be the official anniversary. I was still basically a toddler, not having started primary school. For my improvement I was meeting a dietitian who was going to explain the wonders of carb counting to me. Continue reading Burning up →

The Paddy Jackson trial

June 8, 2018Uncategorizedmidnightmurphy

HBB

For the first three months of this year the country was obsessed with a trial. A rape trial involving two famous Irish rugby internationals Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding, and an unnamed woman (as opposed to unidentified – her name was all over social media despite reporting restrictions). In June 2016, after the rugby players had returned from a tour kicking a ball somewhere, and chasing it, they’d gone out on the town in Belfast. They drank oceans of alcohol and were treated like kings – our society lionises men who can run fast after a ball – be that a rugby ball, a football, or a sliotar. After the VIP lounge at some Nite Klub, they repaired to Jackson’s house for a party. Present were four men and four women. Continue reading The Paddy Jackson trial →

Home for the holidays

June 5, 2018Dublin, Ireland, Uncategorizedmidnightmurphy

fords

The bank holiday weekend was the business. Continue reading Home for the holidays →

A target for inclusion?

June 1, 2018Uncategorizedmidnightmurphy

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I am wearing a pedometer. This is a device that you connect to your belt which counts the number of steps you take. I am aiming for 10,000 steps per day for the next 100 days. You might be wondering why I am involved in such a suspiciously healthy sounding activity? Well these little devices are being handed out free at work, and we have been placed into teams of five. The mission is to get the staff moving, through teamwork and competition. ‘Make fitness FUN’ in other words. Obviously I have no truck with the team building part of this campaign. That sounds sinister and corporate – and as a secret communist, I’ll be having none of that kind of lark. While it may be true that no man is an island, I have no issue with being a peninsula – not cut off from my colleagues entirely, but nonetheless at a safe distance from their heart-warming tale of suburban, heterosexual married bliss. Continue reading A target for inclusion? →

In the lounge with Father John Misty

May 31, 2018Dublin, Music, Uncategorizedmidnightmurphy

The concert was in Vicar Street – one of the world’s greatest performance venues, for an audience. It is relatively new, so lacks the smell of despair and stale vomit, that older venues can possess. It has a capacity of 1200 people which is ideal – large enough to feel like an event, yet compact enough that you are never too far from the stage, and you are guaranteed a good vantage point. Continue reading In the lounge with Father John Misty →

The Decriminalisation Monologues : ‘The Number’

May 29, 2018Uncategorizedmidnightmurphy

GAA

June 2018 marks the quarter century anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in the Republic of Ireland . To mark this event Acting Out Theatre in conjunction with Outhouse (the Dublin LGBT community and resource centre) and Dublin Pride have commissioned a series of monologues inspired by this momentous occasion. The show is called ‘The Decriminalisation Monologues’. One of the writers approached to write a piece was my good self. If someone asks me how I managed to get such an illustrious gig, I peer over my lorgnettes, give a knowing, throaty chuckle, and hoarsely whisper ‘I was commissioned. Darling.’ Continue reading The Decriminalisation Monologues : ‘The Number’ →