my bags are packed and I’m (nearly) ready to go

Tags

bags, Dublin, John Denver, music, Narnia, packing, packing problems, sleep over, sleepover, travel

I can’t believe the day has arrived – it’s time to move out (for a little while) and on. Last night i spent hours packing, sorting, repacking, and finally going to bed very tired to dream about more packing – and I have to admit that I even got up a few times and took things out of the suitcase, added a few and tossed and turned wondering about the contents. The bigger problem is what I had to really scale down my ‘mobile office’ and books –  who knew that clothes wasn’t the issue but books and note pads!

Now everything is stowed away and all I need to do is pack everything into the car and head out for my two-night-sleepover at the most enchanting home in Dublin. And while I am really looking forwrad to spending some time in a place I love so much it does feel a little bit odd to be in Dublin but not at home.

But since it is the beginning of my six week adventure I will just go with it and see what I find – I may even check out a few wardrobes along the way and see if I can find my way to Narnia.

Max Richter at the National Concert Hall

Tags

classical music, Dublin, film music, Kafka, Max Richter, music, National Concert hall, quotes, sleep

Yesterday a good friend whisked me off to the National Concert Hall to experience the music of Max Richter. This German-born composer grew up in England and is possibly best known for the stunning score he composed for Shutter Island (On the Nature of Daylight) and his scores for the TV series The Leftovers.

We had front row seats and the ebb and flow of a mix of classical and contemporary music washed over us without any barriers. The violins lamented and soared, the cellos moaned and exalted, the piano sang, hummed and often led the way.

The concert started with The Blue Notebooks, inspired by Kafka, and the  words of Kafka led into imagined worlds of sound. After a short break we were treated to 90 minutes of Sleep. Max Richter calls it an eight hour long lullaby or cradle song and while listening it is easy to see why. Sleep is an exploration of the unconscious, which both music and sleep are doors into. The melting of strings and wordless vocals in a high, clear soprano, with the piano echoing, conjured up dreams and gave flight to the imagination.

It was a wonderful night out and the experience will linger with me for a while, just like the notes played lingered in the air.

Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.

Plato

Weekly Photo Challenge: Jubilant

Tags

Jubilant, music, photo, photogrpahy, singer, St Petersburg, travel, Weekly Photo Challenge, Weekly Photo Challenge: Jubilant

Jubilant – what a wonderful word, and what an even better feeling. One we may not have as often as we like, but then maybe we don’t take enough pleasure in the little things so we don’t recognize it when it peaks around the corner of our emotions. After all it is so much easier to spot those unhappy moments in the making then the joyous ones before they show up .

I can be Jubilant one moment and pensive the next, and a cloud could go by and make that happen

Bob Dylan

everything coming up roses

Tags

bad mood, Begin Again, chocolates, Everything coming up Roses, Keira Knightly, music, photography, photos, roses, worries, writing

Today just wasn’t my day – and I don’t even really know why! Maybe it was the weather, the murky skies and the drizzle really can get to you at times. Maybe it was because I have so much to do and not enough time. Maybe it was because my writing hasn’t been going well lately and I am very much behind. Maybe it was because my money worries are just getting to me. But then maybe it was just ‘caus.

Not wanting to let the mood ruin more than today I decided to treat myself to a bunch of flowers – and lucky me they were on sale – leftover, unwanted Valentine’s roses. And then one of my lovely fellow students gave me (and the other women in class) a box of Cadbury roses for Valentine’s day – a surprise, sweet treat. So now, even though nothing has really changed, i think maybe everything is coming up roses after all!

 

Keira Knightly in Begin again – a wonderful film

 

 

Blood & the Moon – a concert at the NCH

Tags

Adrian Crowley, Anna Calvi, Blood & the Moon, Dublin, music, National Concert hall, NCH, Pat McCabe, Thomas Bartlett, W.B. Yeats, William Butler Yeats, Yeats, Yeats year 2015

To mark the beginning of a new adventure (my MfA) I decided to take myself out on a treat.

A while ago I had seen that the NCH (National Concert Hall) was hosting an intriguing performance called Blood & the Moon so when the Irish Times offered a special deal – with per-concert canapes and all- I decided it was the perfect night out to mark this new chapter in my life.

All year long Ireland has been celebrating the great Irish poet W.B Yeats (he was born 150 years ago) and the NCH asked renowned pianist and composer Thomas Bartlett (aka Dove of The Gloaming) to create an evening of Yeats words put to music. And this is exactly what he did.

Thomas Bartlett gathered a selection of friends and ‘friends he hadn’t met yet’, as Yeats would say, for an amazing evening of music and film. Caberatist Mx Justin Vivian Bond opened the night and a quick succession of other greats followed. Anna Calvi, Sam Amidon, Adrian Crowley, Cathal Coughlan , Robert Foster, Pat McCabe and Benedict Schlepper-Connolly all spoke or sang words inspired or directly taken from Yeats’ poems. But that wasn’t enough, the ‘band’ was equally amazing with Doug Weiselman on Saxophones, Brad Albetta on bass, Lisa Dowdall on viola and Paul Noonan on the drums.

This potpourri of national and international musicians and poets created a magical evening, one I am truly grateful to have been part of, and one I will be thinking of for a very long time. It will invade my dreams and hopefully inspire me to write a few poetic words of my own.

Tread softly, because you tread on my dreams.

William Butler Yeats

what goes up must come down

Tags

Christine McVie, concerts, Dublin 2015 Concert, Fleetwood Mac, Fleetwood Mac in Dublin, music, Stevie Nicks, thoughts, ups and downs

After a wonderful weekend Monday morning can be somewhat of a let down, especially when the week decides to start with drizzle and dull skies.

Not wanting to give in to the lull that has settled around me, I am listening to Fleetwood Mac and pretending I am still in the Point dancing in my seat – a long climb up from the stage but with a brilliant view and great acoustic.

The concert was fantastic, the music perfect and I just couldn’t get over the fact that hippie queen and singing poet Stevie Nicks is now 67.  The entire band are all well into retirement age (songbird Christine McVie is over 70) but that really didn’t stop them from performing live for more than two and half hours.

It was inspiring to see people do what they love doing with such passion, even after over 40 years, and I was amazed at how the quality of sound and song was a good as ever – even if some of the moves on stage were a little comical, after all a 65 year old Lindsey Buckingham does not leap across the stage quite as agile as he once did and Stevie’s twirling is a little slower and less graceful.

But all in all it is truly amazing to witness enduring talent. Of course Fleetwood Mac has had it’s ups and downs but overall I think one could say they have had long-lasting success – one not many can compare with.

So as I climbed down from my seat up high I couldn’t help but think that everything that goes up must come down. And while that is true it also means that what is down can go up. Hopefully a thought that will help me get my work done this week, always thinking about how the long climb up will be rewarded.

A view from my seat up high – Fleetwood Mac in Dublin, July 2015

Saturday surprise

Tags

Fleetwood Mac, music, Stevie Nicks, surprise, tickets

I’m so excited – tonight I am going to see Fleetwood Mac. This has come very unexpectedly, a perfect Saturday surprise.

As someone who has a thing for 60s/70s music this is a real treat, and an added bonus is the fact that the tickets are a gift. A good friend of mine ordered the tickets months ago and due to many reason can’t go herself. And now, this big-hearted person has bestowed the gift of a wonderful night out on me.

Now all I have to do is count down the last remaining hours and get ready to party with Stevie Nicks – one of my all time favourite singer/songwriters- and I am quite sure she will be just as excited to see me as I am her!

late nights in kitchens

Tags

Dublin, kitchens, Larry Beau, late nights, music, photos, The Annesley House, The House Presents, thoughts

Yesterday The House Presents had its last night before the summer break and it was a long night that ended up in someones kitchen.

The first act of the night was I am Niamh, a cute little singer with a huge keyboard and a loop microphone. It wasn’t quite to my taste, and I have to admit that I still can’t make up my mind if she can sing or not. But after she had left the stage Larry Beau came on and enthralled all with his minstrel tunes and lyrical songs.

As the night wore on and the glasses emptied it became clear that no one really wanted to go home, so when it was time for The Annesley House to kick us all out some of us wandered down North Strand to the souterrain Kitchen of P., and luckily for us he had some brownies ready and waiting.

Cups of tea were brewed, glasses of wine refilled, cigarettes rolled and stories told. As the night turned to morning a few songs were sung leaning against the kitchen cupboards. And as I listened to B. sing an old Irish song and Larry remembering another, I couldn’t help but smile how sometimes the best nights are those had around the kitchen sink – there really does seem to be a certain kind of magic that happens late at night in kitchens.

a cocktail late at night

having a happy Easter

Tags

100 Muses, baking Easter loaf, Dragana Jurisic, Easter, music, photography, The House Presents

Having a quiet Easter is turning out to be wonderful. Yesterday afternoon I spent my time baking an Easter loaf and this morning I am loving the fact that I did, it really does make for a very yummy breakfast.

Last night my friend Dragana invited me and another friend D. over to dinner. She cooked a delicious chickpea and  chorizo stew. As the three of us sat over bowls of comfort food and filled Dragana’s new home with laughter I couldn’t but think of Shakespeare’s three witches, but in the best possible way.

As the evening grew dark we walked down to my local, the Annesley House, and enjoyed a night of poetry, music and dance. The first performance we saw was by the incredible duo Nic Gareiss and Maeve Gilchrist from “This is How we Fly”.

Maeve was like some sort of delicate elfin being who plucked her harp with grace, creating wonderful melodies that Nic danced along to. I have never seen such a magnificent combination, his soft shoes tapping out a beat to support the harp, sand changing the sound, the height of his jumps mixing up the beat. If you haven’t heard of them before, do check them out you will be in for an incredible treat, just click here and enjoy: Maeve Gilchrist and Nic Gareiss.

Over G&T we then listened to poems by Demitra X and later to the punk influenced by BeRn, and as the night came to an end Dragana met a few future muses (#100Muses outtakes of #MyOwnUnknown) and that alone was worth the night.

Today I just enjoy a few marzipan Easter Eggs, maybe later a walk on the beach and I will use my free time to write and just enjoy the day. All in all I have to say I really am having a perfectly happy Easter.

 

 

 

midweek music

Tags

bar, Celtic Tiger, Dublin, Jennifer Evans, music, Odessa Club, pubs

Dublin is filled with pubs and bars and last night I found myself inside the Odessa, a salon like club in the middle of town. At the height of the Celtic Tiger the Odessa was a private – members only – club and with its four stories of restaurants, bars and function rooms a hot spot for all high flyers to hang out in. Now everyone can venture in and visit this old fashioned gem in Dublin City Center and if you’re lucky you’ll find some very talented people performing in the upstairs bar.

Yesterday the wonderful Jennifer Evans was singing and I sat perched on a leather puffee sipping some G&T enjoying her unique sound and incredible voice . I went on my own but was delighted to find some friendly faces amongst the other music lovers.

As the saying goes, ‘good things come in small packages’, and this description truly fits Dubliner Jennifer Evans. This tiny person has an unbelievable voice, strong and deep and when listening you can’t fathom how such volume can come out of such a petite person.

Some midweek music was the perfect way to spend my Wednesday night and well worth running through the rain for.