As it was a bank holiday weekend in Ireland I headed west on the Friday after work My train ticket was booked for a 4pm departure. As I was logging off from work at 2.45pm my boss – in typical style – rang me to perform an urgent task. Hissing venom internally I did said task. Continue reading Visiting Dolores
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
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
‘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
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
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.
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
An email was distributed to all staff last week. Was anyone interested in a complimentary weekend pass for the inaugural Forever Young Festival, being held in the grounds of the Palmerstown House Estate this weekend? This was a festival that consisted of music acts from the 1980s. That was partly my era – well I was only five years old when the decade began so I’d be more of a late 80s kind of musical child. I was a bit ambivalent as I was already seeing Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott from the Beautiful South on Friday evening in Trinity College. Nevertheless I expressed my interest. To my surprise I received an email to state that I could have one pass – no companion pass for me. Even going to bed after the fantastic concert on Friday night, I was unsure of my movements on Saturday. Continue reading Frankie Says Relax
I played Riff-Raff in ‘The Rocky Horror Show’ in 2015. It was a pop-up show performed by the In-Players in Amsterdam. I was not the first choice for the role, but I didn’t know that when I was offered the part. Who cared? This was the role written by the creator Richard O’Brien, for himself. I could do that. It was a no-budget production, so I acquired a glittery pink one-piece, tight leotard for my 2nd costume on my own – as well as a hair drier as a murder weapon. I adored the experience from start to finish. Such a dirty, sleazy, hilarious show. Continue reading The Rocky Horror Show
Last night I went to the Teacher’s Club to see ‘Casa Valentina’ by Harvey Fierstein, which has been produced by the Acting Out group for its Irish premiere. Fierstein is the famed Tony Award winning writer and actor, who shot to fame with his play (and later film) Torch Song Trilogy about a young New York drag queen’s struggle to find love and family. I first encountered him onscreen as Uncle Frank in ‘Mrs Doubtfire’. Continue reading Theatrical: ‘Casa Valentina’ by Harvey Fierstein
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