Recently I bought two compilation CDs called ‘Holding Up Half The Sky: Voices of African Women‘ and it’s companion, ‘Voices of Asian Women’. The African cd is very good and I’ll look into getting more music by some of the artists.

I’d only heard of Angelique Kidjo before but some of the other singers include Stella Chiswese, Ami Koita and, my current favourite on this cd, Netsanet Mellesse.

It was released on the Shanachie label in 1999 and the ASIN(?) is B000000E3U.

Incidently, Sinnotts shop is on Michael Street in Waterford. It’s basically the main shopping street in Waterford. It’s just up from ‘The Square’ plaza (which is actually triangular in shape!).

You can also see what other music I like on my lastfm page.

Anyway, Guillamene is just outside Tramore in Co Waterford and they’re ‘NO’ signs everywhere. Needless to say, there’s a committee who look after the place.

Originally, it was a men-only swimming area so NO women were allowed. The sign is still there but it’s just a reminder of times past. Now, there’s NO fishing, NO radios, NO diving, NO dogs and more that I can’t remember now.

Strange place, anyway. A stone’s throw away is Newtown Cove which is much nicer. Though I wouldn’t throw a stone because it’s probably not allowed! Newtown Cove holds one special memory for me.

One time, when I was younger and drove cars like the Toyota Starlet (oh, the shame), I used to visit friends in the area. One warm evening, I drove very enthusiastically down the boreen (small road) to this beach.

I’d just bought The Stone Roses’ Second Coming and their first song, Breaking into Heaven, burst out of the speakers as my car flashed underneath the overhanging trees lining the road.

And then, just as the intro crescendoed into the main body of the song, my car burst out of the tree’s shadows and into the sunlight. It was a magical moment as the music, the (car) speed, the location and the weather all combined to create an experience that was more than the sum of their parts. It was only later that I discovered that the song was called Breaking into Heaven. Years later, I now have bigger cars but I’ll always remember that day.

I’m still trying to recreate that moment (with music!) and break into heaven.

From IMMA’s website… I’ve added paragraphs ;-|

Japan’s leading electronic composer/artist, Ryoji Ikeda*, focuses on the minutiae of ultrasonics, frequencies and the essential characteristics of sound itself. Since 1995, Ikeda has been intensely active through concerts, installations, and recordings, integrating sound, acoustics and sublime imagery.

In the artist’s works, music, time and space are shaped by mathematical methods as Ikeda explores sound as sensation, pulling apart its physical properties to reveal its relationship with human perception. This performance at IMMA includes two of his most influential and acclaimed performances C4I and Datamatics.

Using computer and digital technologies to the utmost limit, his audiovisual concerts suggest a unique orientation for our future multimedia environment and culture.

Ryoji Ikeda* –> cool website

Had a lie-in this morning before going to the gym. I spent so long in the jacuzzi that I started to feel a bit sea-sick! But it was worth it because it’s so relaxing and calming. Then it was into town to do a bit of shopping. I got the bus into town since Dublin is such a nightmare for parking these days.

I pressed the button at the traffic lights to cross the road to get the bus stop. Normally there’s an interminable wait for the bus drivers to finish their tea and drive their buses. But today, the lights changed just in time to stop an approaching bus so I had an easy stroll to the bus. Once in town, I found another art of asbestos sticker on Fade street. It’s a bit blurry because I used my camera phone but it reads, I’ve lost my English-Japanese dictionary. Now finding it hard to buy cheap whiskey in Tokyo. If you find it mail me at…’

First stop was Conn’s Camera Shop to buy a new monopod for my camera. I’m really growing fond of the place because of the pleasant staff and the keen prices. And they always have what I want in stock (hello Berminghams!!). A short stroll brought me to the bookshop and, hallelujah, the new Lee Child (Jack Reacher) book, Bad Luck and Trouble, was in stock. I also bought Niall McCullough’s tome, ‘Dublin, an Urban History: The plan of the city‘. The latter one could be heavy going but there’s lots of pictures so that’s alright!

On the way home, I decided to do something vaguely healthy so I got off the bus a couple of stops before I needed to. The bright idea was to walk that little bit extra so I could call it exercise. Of course, that all went out the window when I spotted a man walking out of a shop with a 99 ice-cream. It’s a bit like admitting an addiction but I had to get an ice-cream as well. Ice-cream before noon – what would the neighbours say if they found out!

Once home, I bought new CD’s by Maria McKee and Wilco from CDwow.ie. I don’t know why anyone would buy music from High St shops anymore. They were €12 each on the internet. Some wag will surely point out that Maria McKee isn’t worth a penny but €12 is a big saving over the sticker price in shops.

A couple of weeks ago, I attended an exhibition by Kilkenny-based William Watson in Dungarvan’s Old Market House Arts Centre and put a deposit on one of his paintings. He co-exhibited with his father (Tom) because William couldn’t come up with enough work in time for the exhibition. Artists are such a temperamental bunch. Still, I get to collect it this Friday and I hope I still like it!

Finally, I get to go to the pub tonight to watch a football match. Liverpool are playing in some final in Greece. I think they beat the same opponents in the same competition a couple of years ago and tonight is revenge-time. It was kinda funny when they won the last final because Liverpool could say they were European Champions (just like the English rugby team claiming to be the World Champions a few years ago) and, since then, they’ve lost loads of matches. Still, I get to go the pub, yippee!!

Seeing as how well my day has gone so far, I bought a lotto ticket because there’s a big jackpot tonight.

Today could end up being a very good day indeed! A very good day indeed.

I’d be grateful if someone could tell me if they are a ‘proper’ group or whether they were ‘just‘ an ad hoc group for the day. I think they were based out of Ring (An Rinn).

There are three photo’s below. The first is a group shot of the band. The guitarist mentioned above is on the right-hand side. The second photo belongs to the best dancer of the show. She looks amazing (very composed and professional) and her footwork was so fast, my eyes couldn’t keep up! The third photo is a group shot of the dancers as they started their last set. It’s already been pointed out to me (on flickr) that the girl on the left looks like she’s being beamed up to the mothership!!

I’ll post more photo’s to my Feile Na nDeise set on flickr as time permits.

but when she bent over rover went over

It is safe for work but, apparently, it’s got something to do with music?

Another sin committed today was greed. I bought a couple of new CDs from CD-Wow and they were:

Once Again is John Legend’s second album. His first was really good so hopefully his form continues in this latest opus. The critics invariably seem to describe Joanna Newsom as uncatagorisable but, since they have to fill their column inches, they try anyway. Her voice is supposed to be enchanting and the music otherworldy. Or maybe it’s the other way around? Anyway, hope it’s more Brigid Boden than Enya.

I’m not a big fan of ‘rock’ rock music so I’ve never had reason to buy a Queen album (I just borrowed them from a friend). But €18 for a 3CD best of platinum collection is a bargain and therefore unresistable. Tom Waits’ CD was a bit pricey at €32 but again it’s a 3CD ‘best of‘ collection and he’s maybe the prescription for those melancholy Irish wintery evenings that are sure to descend on us soon.

This is a photo of the Matt Talbot statute I took early in the morning when the sunlight was weak. ‘The Venerable Matt Talbot (d. 1925) (wiki) was ‘an Irish Ascetic who is revered by many Catholics for his piety, charity and Mortification of the flesh‘.

He was an unskilled labourer who lived alone and his life would have gone unnoticed were it not for the cords and chains discovered on his body when he died suddenly on a Dublin street in 1925. He spent his life living a life of quiet prayer and poverty. He gave away most of his wages to those who were just as poor as he was.

It is perhaps unfortunate then, that behind the statue, is the International Financial Services Centre where billions of Euro are traded daily. Worse, he is facing a (now closed) arts centre that was also a nerve centre during the HIV crisis in that it dispensed advice and needles to HIV-positive people and drug addicts during the ’80′s.

Having said that, the bridge (out of picture) is named after him.

I don’t know if schadenfreude is the right word but, if they’d put the statue on the other side of the bridge, he would have been facing the Ulster Bank’s HQ and the historic Customs House would have been behind him.

Here’s a photo of the Customs House I took at the same time…

When I was a biology student, one of my friends was a computer geek who really, really adored Monty Python’s humour (he could quote entire sketches verbatim). It seemed like a good idea at the time so he wrote an science essay for one of my classmates. Instead of writing about fast/slow muscle fibres, ATP and muscle reaction times, and other physiological things, he wrote about pirates making bad muscles walk the plank and queried ‘what have ATP molecules ever done for us‘? He then proceeded to answer the question in a very Pythonesque way.

As I said, he was a big Python fan but, sadly, the lecturer wasn’t. An investigation was launched and he was encouraged to avail of the University’s psychological service. This was before Columbine etc. He was completely normal, except for his fondness for Pringle-style jumpers. Naturally, he was a bit concerned about how things were unfolding so he went home to his father for advice. I can’t remember exactly what his father said to him but he came back as good as new and with his humour intact.. (His father was a rate (tax) collector for the local council.) Wearing my white lab coat, I think his father told him that people’s behaviour was like a Poisson distribution curve (an upside-down U). Normal/boring people tend to congregate around the median (the middle, the average) and those who are interesting/eccentric are 1 or 2 standard deviations (S.D.’s) from that. He was +/- 1 or 2. ‘Mad’ people are 4/5/6 S.D’s from the median.

I’m too far from the ivory tower to even attempt to explain what standard deviation is but I think we should all try to be at least 1 or 2 +/- standard deviations from the norm. Life is sooo much fun at the edge!

What has all this got to do with my title. Absolutely nothing, I must confess. But, like I wrote already, today is a good day. My new cd’s arrived – Cerys Matthews’ Never Said Goodbye and Joan as Police Woman’s Real Life. Both are pretty good, even if I’ve only listened to them a little bit.

Joan As Police Woman is the better cd right now. She’s a new artist to me and it’s a nice mix of jazz, piano and classical. Best songs so far are I defy and Save Me. Antony from Antony and the Johnsons sings on ‘I defy’ so it’s bound to be good. ‘Save Me’ just sounds good. As I’ve written before, I listen for the mood and not the lyrics so don’t read too much into the titles of the songs!! I haven’t checked the lyrics yet but, considering Antony is involved, there’s bound to be a bit of naughty-ness involved.

Even better, Joan’s CD is a ‘limited edition includes hand numbered art card by Joan’ (sic). That’s the picture above.

Right now, I’m 1,559, 1,002, 425,000 — think I’ll just be myself!

Both of the artists have myspace identities – cerys and joan. Personally, I think it’s a bit juvenile to have 1,000+ internet stranger friends on your website. Quality, not quanity, is my motto (cough, cough).

click here if you want to participate in my online poll

P.S. Both are visiting Dublin before Christmas. Cerys Matthews is visiting The Village on Oct 13 while Joan as Police Woman is playing the same venue on Dec 19. I think I’ll go to Joan (too lazy to type the rest) as I’m thinking of her as a sophisticated version of Maria McKee (isadub ducks as missiles are thrown!)

I don’t know whether this is true… but someone told it to me at the weekend and it made me laugh. Bono is at a U2 concert when he asks the audience for some quiet. Then in the silence, he starts to slowly clap his hands. Holding the audience in total silence, he says into the microphone… “Every time I clap my hands, a child in Africa dies.”

A voice from near the front pierces the silence… “Well, f***ing stop it then!”

from here.

Marc Almond My life
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy The Letting Go
Shawn Colvin These Four Walls
Cathal Coughlan Foburg
Tim Finn Imaginary Kingdom
The Killers Sam’s Town
Madness title tbc
Meat Loaf Bat Out of Hell III – The Monster is Loose (strictly for a friend, you understand)
Sting Labyrinth – Songs of John Dowland
Sharon Shannon and Friends Double Live CD and DVD
Osvaldo Golijov‘s Ainadamar

I might buy the new releases by Christine Aguilera, Depeche Mode, Moby, and Paul Weller. The last Moby cd I bought was Hotel. It’s nice to listen to but I had to ration myself as it kinda makes me a bit depressed (I spend a lot of time in hotels). Re the Aguilera bit, the only song of hers that I own is ‘Beautiful’ (honest). I don’t know what the rest of her material is like but reviews of her new album suggest it’s her own material. ‘Proper’ music critics reckon it’s ‘ok’. It’s still ‘pop’ but maybe it’ll be a toe-tapper; something to play when you’re getting ready to go out on Saturday night.

One More Thing, Why Are CD Titles Always Capitalised? Doesn’t Make Sense To Me.

Just listening to The Finn Brothers’ Everyone is Here as I write this and I gotta recommend it. The first ‘sentence’ is a bit difficult to read properly, if you, like, know what I mean, like! Anyways, here’s some lyrics from ‘Luckiest Man Alive’:

I know that it’s you behind
Everything that I do
And I wouldn’t try to hide
Who I am from you

It’s all me
That you see
I was ready for another try
But I needed you to set me free
Must be the luckiest man alive

Man finds love in his life
He’s the luckiest man alive
Someone true by his side
He’s the luckiest man alive
Once you cut right through
His foolish pride
He’s the luckiest man alive