Today, it was back to another quiz from Cultureseekers - this one on British quotes. Another Meetup with no chatting for me, but can't be helped. I doubted I'd get many answers right, but the quotes promised to be interesting.
Logged on slightly late - as usual, it was late starting. Babble, babble, babble, and we started at 10 past the official start time, as usual. And hey, I didn't do badly - it would've been a lot harder without the giveaway clues!
That done, it was back to the telly - until I discovered yet another episode of something that I'd already seen. So, back to the trusty St. Patrick's Festival website, still there, months later, and well worth a look.
First, I finished that documentary about Jenny Wyse Power. Curiously, this last episode - 1922-36 - is the most interesting. Set in the period of the Irish Civil War and its aftermath, it describes how Cumann na mBan split, with a new organisation being founded for a new era. This new group, Cumman na Saoirse, quarrelled with the original Cumann.. and after the trials of war were over and the new nation state had been founded, this group came to an end.
She ended up as a senator - but my, what a state she saw created! While paying lip-service to the contributions of women during the years of struggle, the new state - kowtowing to the Catholic Church - did a good impersonation of Gilead! What with the marriage bar, which barred married women from most careers, so they had to stop working when they married - and a general stated belief that a woman's place was in the home - this is anathema to me, so I can only imagine how seasoned revolutionaries would have felt about it..
Afterwards, still lacking decent tv programming, I continued with the website. And am I glad I did - the next one is an absolute gem! A Treasury of Irish Voices is nearly 90 minutes' worth of audio clips, compiled by former radio presenter Brendan Balfe, who's assisted in the presentation by another radio man, Dave Fanning. Mind you, I found that video link didn't work, and had to open it on YouTube. Accompanied by a backdrop of nice Irish photos, this is a little bit long, but you really don't feel the time passing - if you really can't find the time, you can dip in and out.
Ah wow, you wouldn't believe what they have on here! (It's just a shame that some of the clips aren't longer - but there are so many, that would really have run on!) There are audio clips of James Joyce, George Bernard Shaw, Patrick Kavanagh, W. B. Yeats, Sean O' Casey, and Seamus Heaney - and one of Micheál mac Liammóir quoting Oscar Wilde. There's music, with Luke Kelly singing Raglan Road, and Mary Black singing No Frontiers. There's plenty of comedy - Niall Tóibín kicks the whole thing off with an hilarious explanation of the various Irish accents, but there's also Maureen Potter, Brendan Grace, Frank Kelly, and Rosaleen Linehan. Eamon Morrisey gives his own take on A Pint of Plain Is Your Only Man. Oh, and you shouldn't miss John Wayne's interview about the making of The Quiet Man - perturbed by the unpredictable weather, he asked whether there wasn't a weather prediction service in Ireland. "Oh yes," he was told. "Do you see those green hills over there? Well, if they look like they do now - it's about to rain. If you can't see them - it's raining."
Political moments include De Valera's famous speech on St. Patrick's Day 1943, in which he outlined his vision of Ireland (throws eyes to heaven), and a really moving recording of Gordon Wilson, describing his daughter's last words to him as they lay under the rubble following the Enniskillen bombing. (Oh, and towards the end, there's an extract from an interview that U2 did with Dave Fanning, c. 1984..)
A whistle-stop tour of Ireland, indeed - and I haven't told you the half of it. I only wish I had it to listen to all over again..
Well, tomorrow night, Thumbs Up Theatre Toronto scheduled a last-minute event, listening to a classical harp concert! Fantastic - it's so long since I listened to classical music. And mercifully, it's not on as late as the other recent events!
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