Wild Card Wednesdays - Hammershoi

Nothing very wild today.

Here's a photo for you to ponder. It's proving the centrepiece of our visual approach to 'Pains of Youth'. It'll be beautiful!

Wild Card Wednesdays - Gerry Haugh RIP

Of course, sometimes in life the wild cards that come our way are bad rather than good. This week's was a particularly tough deal - Gerry Haugh, much beloved teacher at my Alma Mater, Belvedere College SJ, passed away very suddenly. His contribution to the lives of students, and his enormous charitable and philanthropic work, are pretty much immeasurable. May he rest in peace.

Wild Card Wednesday - MANGINA JONES

So, I managed to get to the Olympia Theatre on Sunday night, where one MISS MANGINA JONES was crowned Alternative Miss Ireland 2011. Truly the most extravagant, exciting, enthusiastic and electric night I've had in years! (And despite all of those adjective

s, no, I was not off my face on E.)

Miss Jones' rendition of River Deep Mountain High was quite the most fabulous thing Dublin can have seen in aeons - and the crowd duly went bananas for her after it was done. BANANAS.

Doubtless you'll be hearing a lot more from her in the not-too-distant future. Long live the Queen ;)

Wild Card Wednesdays - The Turn of the Screw

Our resident diva professor of design wrangled a bunch of tickets for the dress rehearsal of Jonathan Kent's production of 'The Turn of the Screw' tonight at LA Opera, and I was really glad to see it.

I've never forgotten how much fun I had PLAYING Miles in the play version (The Innocents) all those years ago. The opera is not quite as terrifying as the play, since the music - or maybe just the staging - prefigured a lot of things and painted things in strokes rather broader than the subtle horror of the Henry James might really need. That said, it is pretty amazing music, and it was extremely well-sung.

Wild Card Wednesdays - iPad 2

Dammit, Steve Jobs, you need to stop this.

I really didn't think I'd want or need the iPad 2. I get a lot of use out of my iPad 1, but you and your cruel/awesome game-changing ways have just made it pretty impossible to resist.

I hope you're happy. I hope I'LL be happy with it. We'll talk in April after my tax returns...

Love/hate,

Conor

Wild Card Wednesdays - Aphrodite

I just remembered that I'm going to the curiously double-named Aphrodite/Les Folies Kylie Minogue tour at the O₂ in Dublin next month! CANNOT WAIT.

I have never been entirely enamoured of the stuff that Kylie does live. I really enjoyed the tour that was filmed 'Live in Sydney', but everything since then has been very over-done (William Baker, I'm talking to you - and if you're reading this, hire me and I'll make you better). BUT this newest show seems to be inspired by showgirls and follies and Esther Williams, and will be a return to happy shiny sparkly Kylie, as opposed to wannabe-relevant-dark-deep-Damien-Hirst-crystal-skull Kylie.

Also, I was very burned out by the Hollywood Bowl concert - venue too big, show to small - so I'm happy to see her perform on a bigger scale. MUCH bigger. And Perez Hilton won't be in the audience.

UPDATE (post show, I didn't cheat and check before!!)

LOOK AT THE MODEL FOR THE SHOW!

Wild Card Wednesday - Aftab

I was really moved this morning watching the Theatre du Soleil documentary "Un Soleil a Kaboul- Ou Plutot Deux". Ariane Mnouchkine's troupe, fifty of them, decamped to Afghanistan against all odds for the summer of 2005 to lead a sequence of workshops with local theatre artists, in the hope of fostering - or renewing - a sense of artistry and cultural identity. Her braveness, sensitivity and good humour are pretty amazing to watch. But then, I am a big fan, and have drunk the Kool Aid (or perhaps the Sunny D?!).

What's impressive, too, is that Soleil have maintained links with their sister (daughter) company, and indeed several members of Theatre Aftab (Soleil in Dari!) were featured in the most recent Cartoucherie creation, Les Naufrages du Fol Espoir. Nice to see that the commitment and connection has lasted longer than just a summer abroad.

Check out the movie - it's superb.

Wild Card Wednesday - The Beatitudes

Yesterday in rehearsal we had a quiet moment during a particularly emotional scene, and for some reason I was moved to read The Beatitudes to our assembled company. Regardless of one's faith or denomination, they are very beautiful blessings, and certainly words that anyone could take comfort from and live by.

There's a really beautiful setting of the text by Arvo Part from 1990 - video below :)

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are they who mourn,
for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,
for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful,
for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure of heart,
for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called children of God.

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Wild Card Wednesday - Europe

I've spent a lot of time in the last month thinking rather wistfully about Ireland, Dublin and Europe in general. There is so much that I miss, and so much that I pretend is better than really it is, but regardless - I wonder where this year might take me. Part of me wants to take several months off after I finish the degree, whether to write or cook or meditate or even just sleep! I might travel somewhere wildly new, like Reykjavik or Buenos Aires, but really what gnaws at me most is how much I miss "l'esprit" in Europe. Los Angeles is wonderful, and fun, and I've met some truly remarkable souls here, but I wonder how long I'm meant to stay here.

Even if she is collapsing, Europe is calling....

Wild Card Wednesday - Confession

I have always dreamed of being an acrobat. Even now when I'm walking down a long corridor I wish that I could somersault all the way along it instead of walking. I completed a very basic gymnastics course when I was tiny - at a summer camp in Crumlin, I think - but haven't really done anything connected to it since.

Is it any wonder I am so intrigued by Cirque du Soleil? I can't even manage a handstand, let alone a cartwheel.

Someday, eh?

It can be on my 31 before 31 :P

Wild Card Wednesday - PUBLIC SPEAKING

I have never read much by Fran Lebowitz, other than pithy and amusing quotations in collections of wit and one-liners. Sitting in a hotel in Las Vegas over Thanksgiving, I saw commercials on HBO for a new special - directed by Martin Scorsese, no less - that promised all the usual 'rare insights' and so on into the life of this amusing and acerbic humorist. So needless to say I've been trying to get a look at it since.

Thankfully, it doesn't disappoint - she's right, she's judgemental, she's unapologetic, and she's pretty damn cool. Of course writing this I am fully aware that she doesn't give a damn what I say, but I very much enjoyed what SHE said. Check it out.

Wild Card Wednesday - MUJI!

I already have a weird reputation for being too much a fan of Japanese stationery. Can you blame me though? Nobody, nobody does it better. (It's a lovely coincidence, in my view, that the words for 'paper' and 'god' are homonyms in Japanese...)

Of course, the best of the best stationery comes from Muji. Tokyu Hands may be the 'Creative Lifestyle' store - and their stuff, on just about every floor, is splendid also, but for my (substantial amounts of) money, Muji can't be beat. Their pens. Their notebooks. Their bags. Their kitchen utensils. Even their packaged food! The cardboard speakers, the spinning-cd wall-mounted cd-player. The list goes on and on - their bed linens, in fun stripes and humble jersey, are probably my favourites in the world. Keep your posh Egyptian ultra-high thread count cotton, I'll take a Muji nap any day.

A New Look!

Well Hello!

I'm sorry I didn't make it into 2011 with a blogpost, but I managed to pick up a cold between 8pm and midnight on New Year's Eve (or possibly a strong allergic reaction to cats, but I doubt that) and so I've spent much of the year so far in bed, medicated.

Regardless, I am HERE, and happy to announce that, as one of my New Year Resolutions, I have decided to blog every single day for 2011. Even if it means that I wind up posting digests if/when I'm away from computer access. Just a little something every day.

In the hope of focusing my posts this year, I'm proud to be telling y'all that every day will have a different 'theme' this year, and they're gonna be something like this...

Spice Sundays

In my new career as a foodie, I'll be trying out a new spice every week - or re-examining one - and trying to cook something with it. Mild to wild...!

Movie Mondays

I watch a lot of movies. Some of them are so weird you may never have heard of them, but I'll be happily introducing what wonders I come across as we go through the fifty-two weeks of this new year.

Tune Tuesdays

Likewise I go through a bunch of music. Maybe it'll be an album, a song, a piece of classical music or maybe even an artist that I wanna talk about.

Wild Card Wednesdays

Just you wait and see!

30-Mad-Thursdays

I'm going to turn 30 on July 11, a little less than 200 days from now. As has become quite a popular blogger meme, I have put together my list of '30 before 30' - admittedly later in the game than some enterprising souls! Stay tuned as every week I let you know how I'm progressing. (Although I am cagey about posting the whole list. It's handwritten and posted on my wall above my desk - I'm gonna do it, but I probably won't post it until the big day!)

Foodie Fridays

As well as my own experiments and adventures in the kitchen, I'll be sharing food adventures and tastings in Los Angeles. Despite my status as a cash-starved graduate student, I manage to get around a bit here in LA, and there are lots of fun places I've discovered that I'm gonna tell y'all about. (And failing that I'll just comment on whatever madness is going on on the Food Network....!)

Seasonal Saturdays

This blog's title comes from the Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon, who wrote so many pithy entries documenting life in the Japanese court. Another favourite of mine is Liza Dalby's truly beautiful 'East Wind Melts the Ice' (buy it here) - a book that guides through the seasons of the Japanese (and, indeed, Northern Californian) year. As an homage, I am hoping, every week, to note something special - or note-worthy - of the time of the year, so that the daily beauty, the ordinary plenty, of 2011 does not go unnoticed.

Are you excited?

Stay tuned, add me to your RSS feed, leave comments, get in touch, let me know if even one single soul out there is reading any more!

(I'm gonna be posting regardless. But I hope you'll be coming along for the ride!)