Some people were wondering why I hardly blogged last week. Here’s my week from hell:
Monday
Work, after work, get train to Dublin, meet Cian, have food, get to Jury’s Montrose, change, leg it to RTE studios for Questions and Answers. RTE reminds me of the way hospitals were a few years ago. Crumbling. The building seems old and very worn. Cian points out the reception on the TVs in the main entraceway are shit. We were ushered into a waiting room with not enough seats for everyone and got served tea and coffee. Into the Q&A studio which is tiny. Seats are totally uncomfortable which is fine since I didn’t want to fall asleep. Cian got to make a comment.
Before the show started they picked a question which wasn’t chosen to be asked on air but would be fun enough to warm up the audience and the panelists. Some American kid had asked “Pepsi or Coke”. Liz O’Donnell answers Diet Coke, Richard Bruton says he doesn’t drink any fizzy drinks, Noel Dempsey says he doesn’t think he’s ever drank Pepsi. (We all know some of his party love Coke though), Eileen Gleeson says Diet Anything and Trevor Sargent launches into a rant about fizzy drinks and rotting your teeth yadda yadda. A mexican wave of eyerolling follows.
Afterwards we are invited back to the Green room or whatever it is where we chat with the panelists. Noel Dempsey sees me, shakes my hand, does the niceities and stays at the other side of the room with his mass of people. Four of which are the people that so vigourously defended Bertie during Q&A. Myself and Cian are there til 0130 chatting with various people with the odd RTE staff member reminding people we’re bloggers and we might blog this. Cian asks someone from the Green Party very tough questions. Fascinating to watch. Cian explains to Liz O’Donnell what blogs are and she finally understands what they are but wonders how she could find time to blog. She does mention lots of people have said she should blog. At least there’s talk of blogs. (Later in the week at the Blogging the Election conference we hear that Fiona O’Malley’s people advised her that blogging is a waste of time.)
Tuesday
Get 7am train from Dublin to Cork, can you believe that’s the earliest damned train to Cork? Madness. Go to work. Later,. get called by Prime Time about Smart. They’re looking to interview disgruntled Smart customers. I find a few for them. They ask me to come on to talk too. I mention I’m in Cork and for the first time they say it doesn’t matter, they can book the Cork studio. (Up to this point TV journos have always reacted with a “Ah forget it so, you have to be in Dublin.”) Go into RTE studios, nervous as shit, do the live interview. Miriam O’Callaghan was lovely before we went live. Very calming influence. No I didn’t know what I was going to be asked. Leave RTE, switch on phone. Greeted with texts from people telling me I’m on telly right now. I realised.
Wednesday
Work, finish work and fly to Dublin. Get into Dublin, ring the guy that was meant to come to the Leonard Cohen tribute concert. He hasn’t a clue what I’m on about. Didn’t know it was on tonight. Has other things to do. Great, I’m stuck with a quite expensive spare ticket. Check into hotel, get food, taxi it to the Point. Tout offers me 20 quid for spare ticket. I give him explicit instructions on how he can have intercourse with himself. Point only starts leaving people in around 3 mins before the show is meant to start. Bars are closed, they demand we hurry to our seats, I slow my pace. Get to my seat and Nick Cave launches into a song as everyone is stilling milling in. Concert is quite good, I fall asleep in parts though. At the interval I bump into Noel Dempsey again. I wonder who is stalking who. As the second half begins I see a guy that looks like Frank with a beard. It’s Frank, with a beard and a bird. Gavin Friday was shit. Sorry Frank but himself and that fucking screeching zombie were like they were auditioning for Jazz Club. They fucked up Hallelujah. Overall I loved the show though, when I was awake.
Thursday
Cohen show ends past midnight. Head back to hotel, friend who lives round the corner texts me to come over for some wine. Get ambushed to fix his laptop! Back to hotel, pack up for quick departure in morning. Hotel is told wake me at 0545. I wake at 0745. Shit. Missed my flight. Ring reception. They tell me wakeup call was for 0845, eh no. They double check and realise the hotel receptionist writes his 5 like an 8. Get 1100 train to Cork since there are no hourly trains yet! Get into work for 1430. Get piss taken out of me. Finsh work, go to dinner with a friend who is back from Boston. Go out after to the ever horrible Instinct bar. Go home and sleep.
Friday
Work, finish work, pack for Dublin, find out am nominated for NetVisonary awards, politely decline, train to Dublin, get into Dublin for 2300. Sleep.
Saturday
Wake early and meet Cian outside hotel and we head to the Digital Hub and meet Suzy and Mick for the “Blogging the Election” event. You know how that went.
Sunday
Wake early, not hungover, woo! Head to town, go into TodayFM for interview on Sunday Business show. Get 1200 train to Cork. Home and free! Phew. Almost.
How fast can you run boy?
I assume you’re going to use your blog to search for your PA…
Is blogging the new Rock n’ Roll?
So Mary Margaret O’Hara is a “fucking screeching zombie”.
Dear me. I know she’s an acquired taste, but I’m disappointed by that assessment. Please, please listen to her 1988 album Miss America – I think you might change your view of her. I thought ‘Hallelujah’ was the most reinterpretive track of the night, even if it wasn’t to everyone’s taste.
Perhaps you were asleep for her stunning version of ‘The Window’?
Jesus! I was knackered just reading this. Maybe you just don’t have time for Mary Margaret, which is a pity.
Interested to know why you declined the Net Visionary nomination
By the way, I think you need to start cloning yourself. We need more Damiens.
Slacker.
Wouldn’t it all be a lot easier if you just moved to Dublin full time (apart from the work bit obviously)?
When you are up in Dublin, I have a spare bedroom if you need it sometime.
Just off the Cherry Orchard train station. 😉
I agree with Sinéad and Jim re MMOH. I didn’t go to the concert last week and can’t comment on her performance there. But to add to what Sinéad said, “Miss America” is a gorgeous album, one of my all-time favourites.
I am fighting the law lecturer urge here to say ‘and no classes, eh?’
😉
Seriously – what a week!! Well done you 😀
On Gavin Friday, I wholeheartedly agree. The dedication of Everybody Knows to Bertie Ahern was, if I may say so, inappropriate.
Ah bollocks, I didn’t spot you there… see now if you weren’t running around so much and were reading my blog instead you’d have known about the beard.. 😀
I have to agree Sinead on Mary Margaret – that ‘Hallelujah’ and Lou Reed’s ‘Joan of Arc’ were two major highlights for me…
As for the dedication of ‘Everybody Knows’… was it my imagination or did Gavin Friday say ‘the bloody cross on cavalry’…? and if so was it a mistake or a reference to Bertie saying ‘Relevations’ instead of ‘relevations’…?
Twenty: I’m not into piercings anymore.
Sinéad: I suffered through all of her “singing”. I wish I had been asleep. Cloning is an option I haven’t ruled out but apart from meeting the EU next week and the IrelandOffline AGM, I should be able to relax and just concentrate on work and college, oh and starting work on the Blog Awards.
Anthony: I just didn’t feel right being nominated. Perhaps next year. *shrug*
Brian: Pah!
Tom: No way. I’ll eventually have to move to Dublin, probably in 5-7 years time but until then I’ll enjoy paradise.
Branedy: Appreciated. After the hotel fuckup I’m getting a free stay next time though.
Gerry: Fair enough
Fiona: I know I know. I’m being good this week though!
Kevin: He’s just a bad busker with a bono-complex.
Frank: You’re right. Am now subscribed to the blog. Very beardy!
Gavin Friday got a standing ovation from all the other artists at the aftershow party. Lou Reed was raving about Friday’s arrangement of Who By Fire. I guess he’s an artist’s artist.
Also… did anyone stop to think who the only Irish singer invited to perform at this event was? Yeah, that would be Gavin.
The Irish are notorious for not appreciating their own, and it’s a damn shame.
[…] This is not a music blog, but certain times in my perusing of music across this delectable global network I come across something that is worthy of mentioning. In Jim’s post below he defends Mary Margaret O’Hara from those ignorant critics who likened her performance of Halleluiah during the rock star packed tribute bash Came For Far For Beauty to that of a ‘fucking screeching zombie‘ and howled that her ‘caterwauling’ ruined the fine song and (it was inferred) insulted both Leonard Cohen and late Jeff Buckley, RIP. […]
You must have been at a different concert to me. We were in our seats for an hour before the gig.
And to call someone a screeching zombie is just rude. So what if she doesn’t sing like Jeff Buckley. Its not the sad bit from the O.C. its an interpretation of the song. If you want note perfect carbon copies Kim Il Jung does great concerts I hear. And has better broadband access too.
Opinions are like arse holes. Everyone has one.
Here’s my opinion, whether you want it or not. Anyone PIG IGNORANT enough to insult Mary Margaret O’Hara as you did isn’t worth shit. Now fuck off and die, you worthless moron.
[…] to Cork, back to Dublin, and on to Cork again – which of course is a serious waste of petrol, and something only Damien Mulley might do. And then there’s the coming home after the […]