Peat Muppets

Looking forward to this. Nice poster too.

Couldn't find a decent poster for the Wolf Parade gig on Saturday night but this'll do.

Solid Halloween

Maeve went all out for D's first Halloween. Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Soup, Pumpkin Muffins, Spooky Plates, Cobwebs...... even blood after she nearly cut her hand off carving a Jack-O-Lantern (Shamone!).

She also built D a really impressive and unbelievably scary honeybee outfit from scratch.....





So happy halloween to all souls, disembodied and disguised.

Hans Vans Shannon

Van's Shannons

Got a visit from Madame Linane Shannon last week. Great to see her and great to see her in such good form. And there's congratulations afoot aswell - Linda and Siamak are expecting! Or Linda is having a baby for Siamak. Or with Siamak. Or by Siamak. Hans, by Siamak

--> -->® So we spent hours talking about what to expect while expecting. But it's pretty pointless when you consider that we could never in out wildest dreams have expected....... this :


or........this:



We've discovered that I have a photographic memory..... in that I need photographs to remember anything. My memory is deeply dysfunctional. I never remember dreams, I can watch a movie a month after seeing it for the first time and still be surprised by the plot twists. I meet people I went to school with and don't remember their names. M asked me recently what were the favourite bits from my primary school years and I couldn't remember....... anything. This probably has a lot to do with the fact that I went to national school in Caragh. I'm pretty good with music though, setlists, lyrics, what kind of guitar the guy from that band was playing for that song in Whelans etc. But it's interesting living with someone who remembers her childhood in such extraordinarily vivid detail and can relate stories about 100 acre fields and going picking mushrooms as a five or six year old and the way one of her teachers used to pick his headscabs and flick them across the classroom. Whereas I need flash cards to remind me where I went to school and who was in my class. Google can't help you restore memories. Speaking of Google and memories - be very afraid of the cloud. I recently lost a huge and very detailed To Do list stored on Google Notebook. I depend on lists because my memory is so deficient so when I dump my brain into the cloud and the cloud swallows it without trace or excuse, it's a very bad thing. After the feeling of utter panic - what do i do next? what am i supposed to be doing now? the profound stillness in my brain engulfed me and I was simultaneously terrified and relieved. I was on a PM course recently and the guy was talking about time management and more specifically about keeping your inbox clean and he suggested a method for freeing up a lot of your time which he called "Extreme Time Management". Pick out what you consider to be the 10 most important emails in your inbox and delete everything else. Anything that was important will come back to you. An interesting approach. Well I never got the chance to bargain with the cloud. Remember this: you cannot bargain with the cloud. The cloud does not have a conscience. The cloud does not have a complaints commission or an Arthur Murphy's Mailbag. You cannot "talk to Joe" if the cloud fucks you over. Jesus Saves. Nimbus does not. A big part of the reason why I semi-maintain this blog is not for the edification of the hordes of avid readers (including no doubt all of my old school friends). It's primarily a words and picture tool for me to remember stuff. Remind me to remember to back it up aswell so the if the cloud does eat my homework, I wont get in trouble with that teacher with the headscabs.

A photographic memory

We all spent last weekend in the lovely Gaillimh with Gill Graham and Ava. I've heard of mate dates and double dates. But not until my very own family came along would I ever have considered a family date. We hung out in the city, got rained on, ate all around us, went to the beach, had some surf'n'turf' and turf'n'turf, killed the music industry by swapping loads of music, went proper drinking (well, the lads did anyways) with Martini (more than 2 beers is proper drinking for me these days), met people called Gugai, Elton and Smithy and heard all about the Camino de Santiago. Then we topped it all off with the shortest ever walk on the prom in Salthill where Ava told a G4 type lady with a very obviously adopted son that her dog's tongue looked like ham. The woman asked her what age she was and Ava promptly replied, very sincerely, "A-V-A". So great crack. Preparations are well under way for the wedding of the year in Siena. I'm reliably informed that the squat test has been done on both the suit and the dress and we all cant wait to get down to the business of a week long wedding.

Work has kicked off in a big way. Loads of overtime and working weekends, the only positive being the Summer we're having weatherwise. Hence the reason why I haven't been around much. We've been given an impossible to hit deadline after over a year of doing not very much. The most bizarre project I've ever been on from a planning perspective. The current analogy of our task doing the rounds in the team is that we're building an aeroplane while we're flying from plans that are constantly changing. My catchphrase has become "My indecision is final". Not pleasant. But all experience is good experience and I'm sure we'll deliver something usable. Problem is the launch date has been set/pulled out of the air for the week we're away at Gill and Graham and Ava's wedding in Italia :| I'll really need to ensure that the squat test is also performed on the system prior to my departure.

A reminder to go walking more, when the weather clears up and when things calm down

And finally I was listening to John Walshe being interviewed and he mentioned something about one of his relatives, an old dear who listened to Val Dounican's radio show religiously and hatched a plan to knit Val a sweater with his initials on it......... Bless.

D and Aunty Linda

Malcolm X goes to Mecca

...and the Ks go camping.

So I'm reading Malcolm X's autobiography and it's pretty fascinating for the insight it offers into the background and reasoning of one of the great American anti heros. I was sitting waiting for the train to pull out of Heuston the other evening, leafing through the pages, trying to find where I'd left off - the book has the following image on its cover :


....when 3 burly Nigerians from Portlaoise hopped in beside me. What do you do? Malcolm Little (for that is his less than intimidating real name) throughout the book refers to all white people as "the white devil" and holds an incredibly unflattering candle up to 400 years of relations between white and black Americans and preached separation, neither segregation nor integration, of blacks from whites. What the parallels were between me, these fellas (who had apparently distributed equally a half moxy measure of talc between them prior to boarding the train) and black power is unclear but I know I felt slightly uncomfortable. Uncomfortable enough to place the book on its cover with the spine facing me and to press pause on the Beastie Boys soundtrack on my earphones. The original white devils.

There's some strange passages in the book one of which describes Malcolm and some muslims congregating in a cockpit of a plane bound for Mecca. I find it funny in a quaint it-could-never-happen-today kind of a way.......

"The captain of the plane came back to meet me. He was an Egyptian, his complexion was darker than mine; he could have walked in Harlem and no one would have given him a second glance. He was delighted to meet an American Muslim. When he invited me to visit the cockpit I jumped at the chance. The co pilot was darker than he was. I can't tell you the feeling it gave me. I had never seen a black man flying a jet. The instrument panel : no one ever could know what all of those dials meant! Both of the pilots were smiling at me, treating me with the same honour and respect that I had received ever since I left America. I stood there looking through the glass at the sky ahead of us. In America I had ridden in more planes than probably any other negro, and I never had been up into the cockpit. And there I was with two Muslim seatmates, one from Egypt, the other from Arabia, all of us bound for Mecca with me in the pilots' cabin. Brother I knew Allah was with me."

And in the long introduction where it describes how his home is burned to the ground and its devestating effects on his family, it ends with the standalone "Malcolm X did not have fire insurance"........a warning to all of us but kind of jarring in the context of an assasinated 60s political historical figure who preached black power.

But an excellent read for all it's bizarreness.

On a completely unrelated note and much closer to home, (literally in our back yard) we went camping last weekend and baba took to it like a duck to water.


So now we know she's able for it we just need the weather to improve and we'll be on the road again :)

good to see that In-Tent Orange Glow back on the blog :)

Skangers'n'Everythin

Radiohead recently ran an online remix contest. People like Thomas Dolby and Holy Fuck submitted entries but THIS is far and away the most interesting - press play on the video in the link and be patient, it only kicks in after about a minute. Some guy sampled a load of old noises from obsolete hardware - dot matrix printers, hard disks, a specrum computer and a scanner on bass and ingeniously pulled them together and came up with something very tasty. And he made a video for it.

All The Pretty Horses

Just finished reading the Border Trilogy, 3 novels for the price of two and a half from Cormac McCarthy. 1100 pages in less than 2 weeks - a record for this slow learner. Anyways. It's an absolutely amazing read. One of the most eloquently written and touching and desperately sad and beautiful books I have never put down. Buy it, read it, get blown away.

"Baba Power!" A gorgeous photo of a sleeping D taken by M.

And in other news, baba is well on her way to becoming a civilized member of society. Last week she took delivery of a new high chair and now dines on all manner of puréed exotic fruit from her position at the head of the table. Her throughput has increased exponentially however so until she learns how to properly use the Water Closet, civilized society can wait.

D It Is Then

Baby D

Mammy and Baby having their first tiff


and 1 final baby photo (with the eyes open)

I'm In Love With A Girl.....

Honestly the most beautiful baby I have ever seen. Born 31st January 2008, 20:18, 8lb 12 oz, 10 days late but that's OK cos she's perfect.

We're still working on a name that'll do her justice..... "Busby" probably won't do :)

O Busby Where Art Thou?

Whale Macpherson. Waiting.

C'mon Busby... your wardrobe awaits!

choo choo choo choo beep beep

A little late pulling this together but better the later than the never never. These songs were hand picked by my own ears mostly while trying to block out the sound of some random commuter from Portlaoise ingesting their greasy stinking Supermacs while sitting mere inches from my grimacing, exhale-only face on the choo choo choo choo (beep beep). Hence the liberal references to my fellow commuters (who I love nearly as much as they love their chicken burgers).

I've discovered this holiday season that traditions are mostly a pain in the ass. As soon as these Audio Christmas Cards for the Blind become painful (for me .......it's already painful for you :) I will desist. I promise. In the meantime I hope y'all enjoy the free and hopefully new for some of you music. Contact me privately if you wish to be taken off the Christmas Card list ;) I've stuck up only the covers I like from some of the records to relieve the visual monotony a little.



choo choo choo choo beep beep 1 Christmas 2007

1. menomena..............................wet and rusting

"I made you a present, you never expected And when you unravel the secret will travel". I love this album. This is the first song I heard from it. We've been having great fun re-writing the chorus with things like....It's hard to eat crisps, when you've broke your wrists.....etc. All good things come from Portland. Sometimes good things go to Portland.

2. animal collective.....................grass
A rollicking oldie. Saw these guys again this year but they were only operating on 1 cylinder. Poor oul Avey Tare - he who sings Peacebone - had the flu so all he could do was abuse the cowbell. If busby isnt a runner, what about noah?

3. the unicorns............................sea ghost

Who Islands used to be. If you can get over the really annoying tin whistley bit at the start (particularly annoying at full volume through tinny headphones when everyone else on the train thinks you're a member of the provisional IRA marching band) this is a great tune. islands are playing here this year aswell...

4. the weakerthans....................psalm for the elks lodge last callA Canadian throwback. First heard them in a coffee shop on Commercial Drive in Voncoover and politely enquired of the waitress what it was. They live and work from Winnipeg I believe and they apparently make cleverly melodic guitar music to lift the soul. "Let the toast to absent members push through the ceiling". Breakfast time meltdowns are great cos you get them out of the way early and don't get embarrassingly ambushed in bank queues or while being vox popped on Talbot Street. Who is less present - someone who has left, or someone who hasn't arrived yet?

5. band of horses........................the funeral
Epic whinery. Graham is gonna burn me the new album. When he gets the chance. What I have heard is very amazing. We have the cant-waits.

6. bowerbirds.............................in our talons

Dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee. From the album Hymns for a Dark Horse. Proof that measured use of the accordion is possible in folk tunes. This landed in my inbox via a feed from some music blog just after we got home from our away spell. And I've been enjoying it ever since.

7. the breeders..........................off youAhh the Breeders. I did not show love when I harboured repeatedly lustful thoughts for Kim Deal and her great skin. Until she resurfaced with the Pixies wearing several wintercoats and a couple of gilets. I love the farty techno noise that loudly gate crashes the acousticness at the start of this song and is never heard from again. Not sure what it's all about but it's kind of haunting and quirky, the words are nice and it has been on many exotic road trips with us not to mention several trips on the Dublin Portlaiose train.

8. mccarthy trenching..............wedding song
Apropriate enough given we're currently auditioning the ether for members of our own Bluegrass .....Bayyyyynd. A dobro daughter OR a mandolin pickin' son will suffice :) I found this as I was putting the CDs together so if it gets really old really soon I had nothing to do with it, time was agin me.

9. black kids...............................i'm not going to teach your boyfriend how to dance
M found this one and it melts her heart every time. From the loveliliy titled Wizard of Ahhhhs EP. I don't think these guys are actually black but man do they like reverb. Ohh the irony.

10. meat puppets......................lost

Sung by the mad brother (appears here in the stone wash denim jacket) who has just recently been released from prison for attacking a security guard in a post office with his own baton whilst on a crack cocaine binge. The Kirkwood brothers have a similar relationship to the Deal sisters it would appear. What is it about wayward bass players? Anways, he got shot a couple of times and was given a prison sentence for his trouble. They're currently reformed and touring again. This song is from Meat Puppets II (1983) during the height of their cowpunk phase and everyone should have a copy of this in their home.

11. modest mouse.....................missed the boat
Ohhhhhhh. The only thing Johnny Marr has added to Modest Mouse is some lovely vocal harmonies. Isaac Brock is still writing great lyrics. Saw them finally at the Electric Picnic in 2007 and despite the soundman really letting them down twas a good gig. Even if Martini and M were blocking every disabled ramp in the place :)

12. menomena..........................rotten hell
More menomena.

13. my first earthquake..........designer boyfriend
Another one of those tunes you'll probably get sick of really quickly but it made me smile the first 3 times. I know absolutely nothing about these guys either.

14. dead milkmen ...................punk rock girl


A classic. From "Beelzebubba". We could of course also name it Mini-Pearl but neither of our dads are the Duke of Earl. Pity. More biblically restrained accordion playing from Rodney Anonymous in the face of much temptation as the rest of the band freaks out.

15. the national........................the geese of beverley road
Great drumbeat. "Hey Love we will get away with this. We'll run like we're awesome totally genius. Hey Love". Another band we saw live this year. The Ambassador is the worst venue I've ever ever been in. The National were great though even if they have graduated to wearing shiny showbiz shirts onstage. I have this theory about it all being Tom Dunne's fault. I'll offload my Tom Dunne psychosis offline to anyone who cares to listen.

16. pedro the lion....................when they really get to know you
Another bequest of the random button. Great guitar music from Seattle.

17. q and not u........................wonderful people
Dischord does disco.

18. sleater kinney..................modern girlI really like this one despite the horrendous mastering on the Woods album (it gets really loud and distorted at the end of this song for example). I've been trying for months to get M to dress up as Sleater Kinney complete with strap on SG and do the washing up so I can photograph her. As soon as I have it I'll throw it up here :) In the meantime here are the sapphic punkers in action on one of the Burn to Shine DVDs - an *excellent* series of DVDs the brainchild of Brendan Canty drummer from Fugazi where he picks a condemned house (which is due to be demolished) in Washington DC and gets his freinds' bands to come around and play one song live for the cameras. The idea was brought to Chicago a year later by Bob Weston - Shellac's bass player and bands like Tortoise played. The Sleater Kinney one is taken from Burn to Shine 03 shot in Portland. Ahhh Portland. I love the bit where the drummer comes in the window to play her harmonica bit :)

19. sparta................................the host
Read this. It's kinda scary.

20. youngblood brass band.....brooklynGalway sometime in 2004. We wander into Cuba during the Jazz festival and get blown away by a group of about 15 young American college students toting various weapons of percussion and brass destruction. Acoustic hip hop. Neat party trick of generating amazing beats with seperate people playing bass drum, snare and toms. Blow man, Blow!

choo choo choo choo beep beep 2 Christmas 2007
1. animal collective....................peaceboneOne of my top 3 musical moments of 2007.

2. deerhoof.................................believe ESP

Cowbell alert. Pookey Ookey to you too.

3. rollerskate skinny.................goodnight diamondGalavant your ankle free. Advice for life. Get Marc to tell you about that hitch hiker we picked up and decapitated with this song once upon a time in a misty bog far far away.

4. the breeders..........................huffer
Ahhhh ahhhhh. New album iminent and playing Vicar Street in April. Hopefully I'll be allowed go...... Also from Title TK. Great pop song.

5. the clash.................................safe european home"Wouldnt it be luvallay?" Best breakdown of any rock song ever. Mick Jones' clever arrangements within the limits of simple 3 chord punk tunes never fails to delight me. After our now mostly forgotten adventures in the Southern hemisphere this song will always remind me of 3 bed semi-detatched living in a flesh coloured housing estate somwehere on the plains of Leinster, Ireland.

6. wipers.....................................i'll be around
More snotty nosedeness from the Pacific North West *blesses himself*

7. the weakerthans...................the reasons
Yadda yadda yadda.

8. neutral milk hotel.................aeroplane over the sea

"But for now we are young let us lay in the sun and count every beautiful thing we can see" Amaaaazing hurling. Judicious use of the saw AND the trumpet.

9. midlake..................................roscoe
Fleetwood Mac for the 21st century. Thanks to Graham for convincing me that not only are midlake not shite, they're actually great.
10. wilco.....................................jesus etcHere they are on the Chicago "Burn To Shine". What's that saying about too many guitarists? Not a huge Wilco fan but we likes this song.
11. hayden.................................home by saturday
Great song. Know absolutely nothing about him. But fair feckin play dough.

12. the evens............................around the corner"There is no around the corner any more". Marco Van brought this to me on my wedding day and we listened to it in synchronised head nodding silence while we solemnly passed a bottle of champagne over and back as we drove to the church contemplating the end of life as we knew it.

13.tommy guerrero............... .today like every day
Brought to you in association with the random button from Winamp.....Constantly rediscovering interesting noises in my badly catalogued collection of digital recordings.

14.pulse programming............blooms eventually
Cher totally ripped these dudes off. Do you Believe in life after love?

15.mum....................................dancing behind my eyelids
I love the way mum's music sounds like it was made by kids. And their judicious use of Michael Flatley.

16.why?....................................darlaBecause we're fuckin groovin. A smile out loud song featuring the most innovative use of a cock in recorded music history :)

17.tortoise................................seneca

The best hand clapping bit of any song ever. Once you get it you'll be very pleased with yourself and you'll secretly use it to applaud every wedding speech you hear from now on.

18.q and not u.........................L.A.X
Cowbell alert. Whatever that means.

19. the jesus lizard..................rope

This gets included purely on the merit of the following piece of Agatha Christie-esque lyrical envelope pushing :
"He lay beneath a broken branch face down in the grass | No mason or bricklayer he, a trowel was in his ass " And also because its a great example of how to fill 2 minutes with masterfully focused agression and dexterity and because I will always be a dirty snot nosed punker at heart.

20. meat puppets...................six gallon pieWhat happens when the bluegrass band you've raised discovers drugs.
21.ween...................................ocean man

From the legends Dean and Gene Ween. This is the song which makes me dangerously elated in very restricted spaces on the train. How can you all just sit there reading free newspapers half asleep when there's DANCING to be done!? Discos on the Train = Commuting 2.0. You heard it here first. This song is also known as the bipolarity test song. One meeeeelion dollars to anyone who knows what this pitch-shifted freakshow song is about. Here they are pitch shifted in the other direction. Some of the bizzarest shit you'll see on youtube this week (other than this of course - Hi Aine!) - watch out for the "surprise" Prince sample :)

22. deerhoof.......................... +81Saw these at the Electric Picnic. For such a group of dysfunctional looking and acting individuals they're exceptionally tight live. Their drummer is a wizard of syncopation.

Happy New Year (binary finery)

here's a nice new years gift to you all.

and some freaky arithmetic :

2 + 0 + 0 + 8 = 1 0
1 + 9 + 7 + 4 = 2 1
1 + 9 + 7 + 6 = 2 3
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