St. Patrick's Festival: Poem - Untitled

Today, the plan was to check out some Edinburgh Fringe material that Free Stuff and Free Events advertised for last Thursday - seems the sessions are recorded. It'd be good to see some stand-up comedy again.

Yeah, well, comedy is subjective. I tried a couple of the recordings - turns out I'm kind of pathologically allergic to a couple of the regular presenters, whom I just don't find funny. One of them - Vladimir McTavish - is definitely trying too hard, I think. Well, that's how he comes across to me. I just can't bear to sit through any more of their stuff - so I'm afraid that's no longer an option for me. Well, I tried!

So, back to the St. Patrick's Festival website, where I came across a poem called Untitled, by the talented young Adam Mohamed. Another excellent piece of work, it deals with the perception of race in Ireland. Well worth checking out his stuff, which there's plenty of on YouTube.

On Friday night / Saturday morning, Thumbs Up Theatre Toronto are hosting a virtual walking tour of the old town of Hong Kong! To be clear, this is a real-life walking tour, live, in English, with a local guide.. cool! 3am my time, but what the hey.. A part of the world I've never been in, and I'll be delighted to visit virtually! Lockdown is good for some things.. and kudos to the group for reaching out to faraway places for ideas!

Play: My Hero

Tonight, Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS), unusually, had a Meetup I could make! A couple of folks were watching a live-streamed reading of a Canadian play - started at 11.30pm my time, and we'd chat before and after, was the plan. Yep, sounded like something I could manage! So I booked a ticket - was sent the link yesterday. Should make a change, at least..

Had the same security problems as before with my work laptop when it came to the play, so used that for the Zoom call with the group, and had my mother's laptop for the play itself. Well, of course, it turned out to be a Canadian group - Thumbs Up Theatre Toronto (TUTT). Easy to tell, from the sunlight streaming in the window of the first person I chatted to, online! A few folks joined, all in Toronto, and the organiser explained to me that she'd thought an international audience would be a good idea, so had hooked up with UITCS to promote it.

Anyhoo, on to the play - and the person introducing it mentioned something of a list of where people were watching from. "Even as far away as Ireland!", as she said (ooh, fame at last..) Again, a Zoomed play, each of the three actors in a different location, interacting online. The usual minor problems arose - minor fluffing of lines, and one bit where the third actor didn't come on quickly enough, and another was left hanging. But, professional as they were, they dealt with it.

The story involves a 40-year-old man, a teacher, who's divorced and lives with his mother. His father died in a car crash when he was a kid. In something of a role reversal, he's the stuffy, "square" one, she's the one willing to take risks. During the play, she starts dating the gardener - her son is slightly horrified. Only slightly, though - no real angst in this, which was billed as a comedy.

I found it not groundbreaking, but quite funny, and very watchable. The acting is great, each of the three characters very likeable. Comments in the chat afterwards mentioned that it was predictable - yes, undoubtedly, but we don't need to be surprised with new material on every production.

One person, in particular, took umbrage with the first plot point, that the teacher is going to give an A to one of his students, under threat of being accused of sexual harassment. She thought that was inappropriate, given the Me Too movement, and the long history of women not being believed when they brought such claims. Well, I take the point, but disagree - the plot doesn't involve sexual harassment, but a blackmail threat that someone might be accused of it, which is very plausible, especially in the context of the Me Too movement. Yes, the elderly playwright, Norm Foster, could have chosen another topic for the teacher to be complaining about - I don't think he was likely to have been making a point in choosing that one. But hey, considering the rubbish that I have personal experience of students coming out with in order to improve their grades - this is perfectly plausible..

So, pleasant, but not groundbreaking. Like most productions, really. Part of a Foster Festival that's running. And the play is available for 72 hours after broadcast, with an additional Q+A with the actors.

In the chat afterwards, I was invited to join the Toronto group - and I said, well, nothing to lose, and joined. And boy am I glad I did! This could be a way for me to get more Meetups in while still in lockdown - so many are at times I can't manage, and UITCS just doesn't have as many things online these days. Whereas, the Toronto group is feasible, if I'm prepared to meet late at night..

Tomorrow, thinking of checking out some Edinburgh Fringe material that Free Stuff and Free Events advertised for last Thursday - seems the sessions are recorded, woo! Be good to see some stand-up comedy again.

And on Friday night / Saturday morning, TUTT are hosting a virtual walking tour of the old town of Hong Kong! To be clear, this is a real-life walking tour, live, in English, with a local guide.. cool! 3am my time, but what the hey.. A part of the world I've never been in, and I'll be delighted to visit virtually! Lockdown is good for some things..

St. Patrick's Festival: Celebrating Pat Ingoldsby

During a brief lull in programming this afternoon, I turned onto the St. Patrick's Festival website again - set up for a lockdown holiday, and still mostly operational. And some more short animated films based on the poetry of Pat Ingoldsby. At only a couple of minutes each, they're no hardship! Mind you, I wasn't much enthused about Welcome to our Woe, as dispiriting a mock version of the news as you could hope not to hear. Keen observation of the actual news, though. Still, I preferred How Little You Really Know about Us, an amusing little piece about what the elderly got up to during lockdown..

Tonight, Up in the Cheap Seats, unusually, has a Meetup I can make! A couple of intrepid souls are watching a live-streamed reading of a Canadian play - starts at 11.30pm our time, and we'll chat before and after, is the plan. Yep, sounds like something I can manage! So I've booked a ticket - was sent the link yesterday. Should make a change, at least..

Film: The Dinner

Tonight's tv threw up a film I'd never heard of, although I had certainly heard of the leads. The Dinner has Richard Gere as a prominent politician, having dinner with his wife, his brother - Steve Coogan, unusually with an American accent - and his wife, Laura Linney, at a really posh restaurant. At this restaurant, the maitre d' hovers at their side all night (to the point of irritation), the courses are served to each diner simultaneously, each is described lovingly as it arrives at the table, and horror is expressed when one person says she's full, and can't manage her dessert - described as the most wonderful she'd ever taste.

Sounds horrendous. But that, believe it or not, is not the worst of the evening - oh no. It transpires that the reason they're there is to discuss the horrendous actions of their respective teenage sons, who (reminiscent of A Clockwork Orange) tortured a homeless woman they came across, one evening. It might never have come out, except that the little turds filmed the horrific event, and now it's gone online. So - what to do?

Essentially, this is a scathing attack on the wealthy. From the ridiculous restaurant, to the spineless politician, to his outwardly respectable brother, the history teacher with a history of mental illness, to their horrific sons - it doesn't make for particularly pleasant watching. The constant flashbacks to both the attack, and to events in years past, confuse the narrative.

But I enjoyed watching their world unravel - and while some might find the ending preachy, I was getting on my own soapbox by that point. While there are characters who feel guilty about what happened, the attitude of the others in ringfencing their safe little world is infuriating, and it's interesting to see who comes down on whose side. But I could have done without most of the backstory.. Still, it's better than its low rating on IMDB.

Tomorrow - Up in the Cheap Seats, unusually, has a Meetup I can make! A couple of intrepid souls are watching a live-streamed reading of a Canadian play - starts at 11.30pm our time, and we'll chat before and after, is the plan. Yep, sounds like something I can manage! So I've booked a ticket. Should make a change, at least..

Film: Sabrina (1995)

Well, you might remember that I saw the original Sabrina (1954 version) a while ago on Irish TV. A charming little film, where Audrey Hepburn plays an ingenue, daughter of John Williams, the chauffeur to a wealthy family. She's always had a crush on William Holden, the younger, playboy son of the family he works for, but he's always passed her over, in favour of more glamorous ladies. Well, off she goes to Paris - and comes back all grown up, fashionable, confident, and desirable. So much so, in fact, that he's willing to throw away his engagement to a girl from a rich family, a business merger with whom could be very lucrative for his own family business. Horrified, his work-oriented big brother, Humphrey Bogart, plans to distract Sabrina by wooing her himself. However, he soon finds himself falling for her, too..

So, the remake was on this afternoon. Julia Ormond is in the title role, her father is John Wood, her crush is now Greg Kinnear, and his brother is Harrison Ford. Nancy Marchand is their deadpan mother. Well, I was looking forward to Harrison Ford, at least - always enjoy watching him.

Ah lord, it's awful! Well, I suppose I've seen worse - but it's so bland! Julia Ormond is no Audrey Hepburn - Greg Kinnear is watchable enough, and John Wood is good. But Harrison Ford is a real letdown. He's as dull as ditchwater through the whole thing - where I thought that Humphrey Bogart could be redeemed from his workaholic ways, I never believed the transformation with Harrison Ford. For one thing, his demeanour never changes - he's kind of morose throughout, mumbling through his lines. What she's supposed to fall for, I really can't tell. There's literally no chemistry between them - were this a true story, I'd expect them to break up very rapidly after his move to Paris. Bah humbug - skip this, watch the original; as usual, the remake just isn't as good.

For Saturday - Up in the Cheap Seats, unusually, has a Meetup I can make! A couple of intrepid souls are watching a live-streamed reading of a Canadian play - starts at 11.30pm our time, and we'll chat before and after, is the plan. Yep, sounds like something I can manage! So I've booked a ticket. Should make a change, at least..

St. Patrick's Festival: Mary Coughlan - A Song and a Chat

Cultureseekers had another quiz today - but the topic, hairstyles, didn't appeal.  And just as well, because it'd have clashed with Prince Philip's funeral. They didn't show it on Irish tv, of course, and we don't get the BBC - but it was available online. It was just as well I got set up early - as predicted, my mother's laptop reception was too bad to watch it on that, and it turned out that the security settings on my work laptop wouldn't let me, either! I ended up watching the whole thing on my phone..

And it was well worth it, for fans of pomp and ceremony - nobody does it better than the British royal family. It might have been a pared-down ceremony, what with the pandemic, but it was a gorgeous, sunny day, and most of the main royals attended. Even with everyone in black, there was glamour to be had; the shots of the stooped little Queen, all alone, were poignant, and it was lovely to see Harry, returned for the occasion, chatting with William and Catherine as they made their way back to the castle, afterwards, eschewing the fleet of cars that had lined up to ferry them up the hill. So much for Hola, which claimed that he got a frosty welcome..!

Anyway, that took up my whole afternoon, so it was tonight before I needed something to fill the repeatedly occurring gap in Saturday schedules. It's a month now since St. Patrick's Day. And what with the pandemic raging harder than ever, of course it was all online this year - at least they had more time to prepare than last year! And they did us proud, with a week's worth of festivities - most available on the festival website, and for free. I hadn't had time to see everything I wanted to, but luckily, it's mostly still there to watch.

Tonight, I was lucky enough to find an interview with Mary Coughlan. Famous as Ireland's premier blues singer, she has a terrific voice, which she displays in a few performances in this clip - and in between, she's as fantastic to listen to as always. An uncompromising character, with a life tough and demanding enough to lend real authenticity to her lyrics, she's also entertaining, and in her day has been a devoted activist. Well worth listening to her account of her life! particularly her protests for women's rights.. Cannot recommend this highly enough.

For tomorrow, if I get a chance - well, Up in the Cheap Seats watched A Splinter of Ice, a Cold War drama, on Friday. It's still available for purchase, and can be watched up to July - I might try that.

For next Saturday - the same group has a Meetup I can make! A couple of intrepid souls are watching a live-streamed reading of a Canadian play - starts at 11.30pm our time, and we'll chat before and after, is the plan. Yep, sounds like something I can manage! So I've booked a ticket. Should make a change, at least..

Film: Deadly Daycare

I don't often watch tv films these days - there's usually something better on, or I've already seen them. Tonight, there were two - on different channels, at about the same time. So I started with South, which turned out to be an Irish film. Joe Rooney - the only one I recognised - plays a lone father who dies, whereupon his teenage son heads on a road trip to find his mother, at the other side of the country. She apparently abandoned them years ago.

Jeez, I was stunned to see what a high rating this has - me, I turned over at the first ad break! I just found it SO predictable. He's as naive as can be, surprised at the general unfriendliness of folk. Swiftly gets mugged, and all his money and bus ticket stolen. And his shoes. All they leave him is the battered guitar that his late father gave him as a present. Heads to the adjacent Garda station, where they at least find him a replacement pair of boots. So he hitchhikes from then on, meeting the predictably odd range of folks. From the trailer, I believe he ends up performing with that guitar.

Too predictable, and a bit too uneventful - you know he's going to turn out ok - so I turned over to the second film, which had just started. Deadly Daycare - as you might guess from the title - isn't going to win any awards, but at least it's interesting! A young divorcee, who's just moved to the area, needs to find daycare for her toddler. However, she gets more than she bargained for, when (small spoiler) one of the teachers turns out to be the woman that she and her husband were involved in a crash with (pre-divorce), whose own daughter was killed and husband paralysed in that same crash! Her daughter is now the same age as this other woman's daughter, when she died - and lo, she decides that this is a sign from God, and this child is meant to be hers. They even look similar.

Ok, first - how come this woman (the divorcee) only realised after some time that she'd have to go back to work? They'd just bought a massive house, FFS - unless you're sufficiently minted to buy it for cash, that's gonna come with a massive mortgage, and few single-income people can afford one of those. Indeed, I believe it's very hard to get a mortgage of any kind on a single income. But somehow, it comes as a big surprise to her to learn that her (lawyer) ex-husband can't afford to pay it all on his own. Even though they're now divorced, and he must be renting (I missed the start, I don't know).

Second - this accident: one fatality, the driver paralysed, and the other driver was on his mobile, and on the wrong side of the road. And the cops said it wasn't his fault?! Gee, I guess they were trying to make him more sympathetic, but this is completely unbelievable. Nobody is that good a lawyer.

The baddie in this - the daycare teacher who wants to kidnap the child - is cartoonishly wicked, and I'm not sure about the rationale behind her being rough with the little girl. BUT. Having said all that, it is watchable, and the plot is scary enough. So I enjoyed it.

As for tomorrow - it's nearly a month now since St. Patrick's Day. And what with the pandemic raging harder than ever, of course it was all online this year - at least they had more time to prepare than last year! And they did us proud, with a week's worth of festivities - most available on the festival website, and for free. I hadn't had time to see everything I wanted to, but luckily, it's mostly still there to watch. And with no Meetups that I can see tomorrow, that I'd fancy and can manage, I guess that's what I'll be doing..

Cultureseekers History and Culture Quiz - 1 Year of Saturday Quizzes & St. Patrick's Festival

Another late advertisement for Cultureseekers' weekly quiz, which I just got around to signing up for last night. I didn't go to last week's, which involved wearing silly hats - not my thing. Boring, I know. Anyway, this one was a picture quiz again - and in celebration of it being the 52nd weekly quiz since lockdown started - so, the one-year anniversary - the quiz comprised 25 questions from past quizzes. So, if you could remember the answers, you were sorted! Mind you, I was only at one of them - none of whose questions came up. But hey.

I had a late night, so ended up having brunch while lurking on my phone for this. With 67 people booked, it was the usual chaotic chatter, which I didn't engage in - I hardly knew anyone on the call, and it was hard to get a word in edgeways. Of course, with the death of Prince Philip yesterday, it was mostly about the royal family. He had an interesting life, and a keen wit - and was a real looker, right into older age. RIP.

When the quiz finally started, it was mostly London questions, handily, and as someone remarked, a good mix - spot the location, identify the landmark, what's the film / show? I have to hand it to the organiser, he's very well-prepared, these are very well thought out. And I was delighted with some of the answers I came up with - I correctly identified Wilton's, and the top of Southwark Cathedral - and had seen both the film (28 Days Later, which starts in London) and the show (Everybody's Talking About Jamie). We'll have to forgive his mispronunciation of Cillian Murphy's name.. And although I came nowhere near the top, I got a creditable score, and beat some who had actually seen the photos before. V enjoyable.

Afterwards, the usual hole in tv programming, what with all the sport. So.. It's nearly a month now since St. Patrick's Day. And what with the pandemic raging harder than ever, of course it was all online this year - at least they had more time to prepare than last year! And they did us proud, with a week's worth of festivities - most available on the festival website, and for free. I hadn't had time to see everything I wanted to, but luckily, it's mostly still there to watch.

Today's helping started with the last of the Transitions techno music series - Simon Cullen's piece is a very chilled mood piece, perfect background music for a relaxed half hour or so.

Not inclined towards the yoga videos that come next, I scrolled down and came to a comedy song by Michael Fry about what he's doing in lockdown. The song itself isn't up to much, but it's an adequate backdrop to the funny antics he gets up to in this short video. Recommended.

The Street Sweeper is a sweet little film, about a street sweeper that sees treasure in the trash.

And finally, Manchán Magan, whom I've seen for decades on Irish tv doing Irish-language documentaries about nature or language, has Sea Tamagotchi, in which he travels around the West coast of Ireland, interviewing fishermen about traditional Irish words associated with the sea. With the constant sound of the sea in the background, it's a lovely piece - bilingual, but if you don't speak Irish, there's about enough English to keep you afloat. And a more complete list, divided into regions, can be found on his website - I see there's a book, if you're interested. But certainly, check out this video first, for a flavour.

Still plenty on the site, for tomorrow..

St. Patrick's Festival: Techno Music - Transitions

It's over two weeks now since St. Patrick's Day. And what with the pandemic raging harder than ever, of course it was all online this year - at least they had more time to prepare than last year! And they did us proud, with a week's worth of festivities - most available on the festival website, and for free. I hadn't had time to see everything I wanted to, but luckily, it's mostly still there to watch. TV was decent today, so I didn't watch anything - but I made time to watch some tonight, before bed.

Next thing up was a series of "Transitions" videos, five in all. I got four watched (well, listened to) tonight - all techno music - not much to look at, apart from some Dublin seaside shots at the beginning and end. Otherwise, just the musician at the mixing desk: so, better to find something else to do, and have this on in the background. All just under half an hour long.

First is Polytunnel - mostly quite soothing, as far as these things go -   I did enjoy it, as background music - right up to the very end, and that really loud, jarring bit! But recommended, in general. After that comes a more upbeat piece, from New Jackson, followed by a more soothing piece again, from Gareth Quinn Redmond. My favourite of the four, however, was the atmospheric piece, Grief as a Ghost. I didn't find it at all mournful, but very peaceful - and the musician does provide some visuals to accompany it.

And yes, there's more on the site..

St. Patrick's Festival: Music & Poetry

It's over two weeks now since St. Patrick's Day. And what with the pandemic raging harder than ever, of course it was all online this year - at least they had more time to prepare than last year! And they did us proud, with a week's worth of festivities - most available on the festival website, and for free. I hadn't had time to see everything I wanted to, but luckily, it's mostly still there to watch. Now, yesterday proved quite good for telly, so I just watched that all day - this afternoon, not so much. So, back I went to see what else I could see, there.

I had a long afternoon to fill, so got quite a bit watched. And what a variety of interpretations of Ireland.. none of your twee stuff here! First up was A Love Letter to Dublin at Night. One for the clubbers this, an electronic soundtrack to a lament for the (hopefully, temporary) demise of Dublin nightlife. I'm not a clubber - but I can sympathise. Caveat: contains flashing images at the beginning.

Next, a short one - I watched Outside History, a short poem set to music. Explores the possibilities at the dawn of a new day.

After that, I watched Pomes Penyeach - more poetry set to music, this time the works of James Joyce. I always love poetry with a musical backdrop - although this soundtrack began a bit weirdly. Befitting the material, I guess (BTW, the name of the piece is explained at the beginning - again, giving a nod to Joyce's inventive use of language). Still, a gorgeous piece overall - and listening to it, I couldn't fail to notice the similarity between one singer's voice and a young Leonard Cohen..

Finally came a performance by Adam Mohamed (poet, whose poetry reflects the dual nature of the feeling of identity for someone whose roots are outside of Ireland), Gemma Dunleavy (singer), and Pillow Queens - a band that'll be instantly familiar to anyone who's been watching Irish tv lately, where their song, How Do I Look, has been used in an ad. Just can't remember for what.. Filmed at the Guinness Storehouse, worth a look. However, they need you to watch on YouTube, because of age restrictions.

And yes, there's more, which I'll get to.. Watch this space!