Author Archives: darraghdoyle

About darraghdoyle

Blogger, event addict and fan of street and performance art. You can contact me directly at darraghdoyle[at]gmail[dot]com or @darraghdoyle on twitter.

News about the 2010 Irish Blog Awards

  By darraghdoyle | December 22, 2009 - 11:58 am | Events, The Culch, The Internet
1 Comment

I’m sure you were only dying to know… As per the official blog: Just to let you know a few things about the 2010 Blog Awards: They will be in Galway We are looking at a March date Nominations will be opening on the first week of January for 2 weeks There are going to be new categories as well as old ones that will go There will be changes to the way nominations happen There you go now. Cue predictable mix of posts/updates/accusations/snide remarks/declamations and protestations. You know they’re coming…

Since when did the Irish Famine become something to laugh at?

  By darraghdoyle | December 16, 2009 - 3:25 pm | The Culch, TV
6 Comments

I don’t know - maybe I’m far too serious for my own good - maybe the Great Famine is something to laugh about, given it’s so long ago. Maybe too this video is just a gentle satire of the current situation and maybe, if it was happening today, this sort of thing might actually happen. The Irish Famine: Do they know it’s Christmas? from the show “The Savage Eye”. I haven’t seen it before. Based on that I certainly won’t be watching it. I just don’t find it tasteful or funny - though it is David McSavage - and was quite surprised to see it on RTE’s YouTube account at all. What’s your take on it?

I don’t think Granny O’ Grimm sings the right words here at all at all

  By darraghdoyle | December 16, 2009 - 3:13 pm | The Culch, The Internet
1 Comment

I met Granny O’ Grimm recently - it was quite the encounter and I’m sure I’ll be recounting it to you shortly. Amid the complaints, the grumbles, the overwhelming sense of pessimism and gloom (her life motto is “give up your dreams“), there was actually an attractive streak of divilment in this elderly lady that made up for the sheer mortification of having her show me up in the Central Hotel. That woman has a sharp tongue - though it’d be no more than I deserve, she’d say herself. I’d say she was afraid she’d catch a dose of positivity from me. However, Gertie (she’ll hate me telling you that’s her name, but there you go) is, as you know, working with Brown Bag Films and they’ve just released this video of her in divilment mode singing a Christmas song - though it’s not the one that I remember learning … There’s more →

Christmas rock and Christmas bells - two quick videos for you

  By darraghdoyle | December 15, 2009 - 12:00 pm | The Culch, The Internet
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If you’re gonna do a Christmas music video, make sure it’s at least as good as this one from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, called Christmas Eve/Sarajevo - 12/24: And if you’re gonna do some improv on the streets of New York, why not do it as part of a guerilla handbell strikeforce for a great cause like the Salvation Army on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan and make someone feel good about what they do? Lovely post on Improv Everywhere’s blog on the story behind it.

Get into the Christmas spirit with the free Glória concerts in Dublin this week

  By darraghdoyle | December 13, 2009 - 2:06 pm | Events, The Culch
1 Comment

It was one of my favourite Christmas events of last year and tomorrow I’ll be queuing outside St Anne’s Church on Dawson St for free tickets to the Glória annual Christmas Concert, on Monday 14 and Tuesday 15 December. Glória, founded in October 1995, is Ireland’s lesbian and gay choir, established “to provide a safe and comfortable space for gays and lesbians to meet and sing together and to promote a positive image of gay and lesbian life in Ireland.” An ad placed in Gay Community News invited singers interested in forming a choir. About 25 people came along on that first night – some of whom still sing with the choir – and today the choir has a singing membership of 44. The choir’s repertoire is wide ranging from musicals to madrigals and classical to camp. The songs are chosen sometimes to surprise, sometimes to challenge, but always to … There’s more →

A Sexy Christmas party? With Dead Cat Bounce? You having a laugh?

  By darraghdoyle | December 13, 2009 - 1:12 pm | Comedy, The Culch
1 Comment

The above photos is used, for some bizarre reason, to highlight on Facebook the Sexy Christmas Party that those talented lads over at Dead Cat Bounce are hosting in Dublin’s Sugar Club on Monday December 21. They’ve got a great line-up, including the International‘s comedy mish-mash superstars Andrew Stanley and Fred Cooke, as well as Jarlath Regan, Eleanor Tiernan, Reuben, John Colleary, Colum McDonnell, Foil Arms & Hog and some very special guests, they say. Doors are at 8pm, and the party will go late with DJ sets from the comedians and Dead Cat Bounce’s brand new covers set. They’re saying that sexy Christmas themed costumes are strongly encouraged, but not mandatory. Tickets are just €8 and will soon be available on the Dead Cat Bounce website or else €10 on the door. Advance booking is advised – it’s going to be a busy one. You can follow Dead Cat … There’s more →

Let’s David O’Doherty - his new CD recorded live at Whelan’s is out now.

  By darraghdoyle | December 13, 2009 - 12:58 pm | Comedy, The Culch
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Regular readers with great memories may remember Niamho writing about David O’ Doherty‘s live gig in Whelan’s of Wexford St, Dublin last August to record his new album. A couple of us went - supporting live comedy, don’t ya know - and it was indeed, what it promised to be - a funny, fast and frenetic couple of hours in the company of DOD, his keyboards, his many batteries and his rambling, manic, sometimes dangerous mind.

All together now… when the moon hits your eye…

  By darraghdoyle | December 10, 2009 - 5:55 pm | Random Whimsy, The Culch
7 Comments

When the moon hits your eye, Like a big pizza pie, that’s amoré. One of my favourite lines from a song. You’ll normally sing along. But if you change just a bit, could it be as big a hit? When an eel bites your hand, And that’s not what you planned, that’s a Moray. When a Japanese knight uses his sword in a fight, that’s samurai. When your horse munches straw, And the bales total four, that’s some more hay. When your sheep go to graze, in a damp marshy place, that’s a moor, eh? When you ace your last tests, like you did all the rest, that’s some more “A”s! When on Mt. Cook you see, An aborigine, That’s a Maori. I’m trying to think of more since I got the email today. Can you help?