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Upstart
For those of you not in Ireland we have a general election looming. The country is in “a terrible state o’ chassis”, to quote Captain Boyle in O’Casey’s play Juno and the Paycock. Part of my job is working with advocacy groups for the Arts in Ireland. In the past year and half Arts organisations have been working hard to remind politicians of the role of the Arts to our culture and economy. The above video is from UpStart, a non-profit arts collective which aims to put creativity into the public arena during the Election Campaign in 2011. It plans to do this by reinterpreting the spaces commonly used for…
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Autumn
I spotted this fine fellow on my way into the woods to walk my dog this morning. It’s a good example of Coprinus comatus, also known as the shaggy ink cap or the lawyer’s wig, among others. I usually refer to it as the shaggy ink cap (or, as I misspoke this morning upon my return – the shaggy inkwell). This mushroom erupted and flourished in the mere 48 hours since my last visit to this location, or else I was singularly unobservant during my previous trip. Change can occur in a day or two, if you notice. It was the first thing I spotted on this occasion, and I…
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talking arts
I will be interviewed this afternoon, around 1.30pm, by Claire O’Mahony, as part of her weekly “Arts Brew” cultural programme, on Z103, an Internet radio. We’ll be discussing the arts and its relationship with the Internet, although I believe Claire will be quizzing me a little about writing horror as well.
