Come Here To Me!

For the story of this one, see the comments.

It’s technically Tuesday even though I haven’t gone to bed yet, I’m getting slow with these.

Firstly, I welcome the Bohemian FC faithful across the Liffey this Friday. An incredible amount of traffic to this site comes from League of Ireland forums of all sorts, I think many League of Ireland fans in Dublin feel passionate about the city which hosts our respective clubs. Pats and Bohs is always a great encounter, the best goal I ever saw in the flesh was scored at an encounter between our sides in Dalymount Park.

With me in the mainstand and Ci the shed, a my side/your side article has to be written. I hope I’m bragging in it, but you never know. To any Pats players who find themselves reading this: Ask not what the southside can do for you….

I’m hoping to get into town with my crap camera and do something I’ve been meaning to for months: photograph my favourite Dublin shopfronts, along with some that are sadly rotten away. The fonts, the colours and all the rest make some of these integral parts of the streets of the capital.

On Sunday I dropped into Against The Grain with a friend to do a ‘wildcard selection’ as I call it. The pub over three glasses of foreign beer for €6, nice samples of stuff you wouldn’t normally try. For the second time, I took my chances and allowed the barstaff to pick three. Some day soon, I will find the best beer in the world by chance.

Friday sees another protest at Parkgate Street in relation to the case of Gerald McDonnell, the 63-year-old Dublin Port worker up in court over the ‘floating picket’ that formed part of that 8 month dispute in 2009, has been adjourned until April 1st. Supporters are asked to assemble outside the Courts of Justice (funny name) from 10am.

For 7 weeks, there are a series of free and open public discussions up at Exchange in Temple Bar, hosted by Knowledge Exchange. A friend made last weeks and her Facebook commentary suggests it was more than worthwhile. The first three lectures are looking at ‘internet activism’, the rise of which is something I’m fascinated watching unfold. The talks take place on Sundays.

The brother says (if you get that you’re in) that Myles Day will be excellent. Why wouldn’t it be? I’m hoping to drop into The Palace Bar on Friday with my ma to raise a drink to Flann O’Brien and hopefully hear a reading or two. Come meet dfallon’s mother!

Over the course of the week, I intend to walk the dog a bit more. You should too, providing you have one. The weather demands it.

I normally stick up the poster for the monthly Flea Market up at Newmarket, it falls on the last Sunday of the month. For some reason I forgot to do so this month.

In the past, of all the mad finds, I picked up a copy of the late 1940s far-right Aiséirghe newspaper via this market before. Today I picked up this 1960 Aer Lingus carrier bag, to come home and find one sold on eBay recently for three times what I picked it up for.

I’ve been to car boot sales and flea markets in every corner of the city, I might try to do a Sunday session of them around Dublin some week and do a write-up. If its mad old fascist newspapers or obscure pieces of Aer Lingus memorabilia you’re after, Newmarket is your only man.

The last time I posted Last Minute Miracle by The Shirelles, it was to celebrate the great Dave Mulcahy scoring a last-minute goal for Saint Patrick’s away to Bohs and sending the place into hysterics.

How fitting it should be upon Dave’s 100th game for the club he does it again. 89 minutes. Scarves go up. The crowd goes wild. It’s all the more remarkable when you consider with a half hour to go we were trailing Dundalk by two goals to nil.

Shed End Invincibles prior to kick off.

Once again, the Shed End Invincibles deserve praise for bringing the Richmond Roar back to Inchicore.

Their musical chairs journey around the stadium seems to have come to an end, they’ve been in every corner of this stadium but seem to have found a natural home. Watching the game from the Camac, they were louder from there than they normally would seem right next to us in the ‘new stand’. If they remain where they currently are, and Bohs fans bring their voices next week, it will be a great advertisement for the League.

One of the most bizarre moments I can recall in the League comes soon after kickoff, with both the travelling Dundalk fans and the Shed End Invincibles singing ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’, the Depeche Mode classic introduced to the football stands and terraces of Europe by the Green Brigade of Glasgow. They’re not in sync, at all, and the sing-off continues for a few minutes with neither side willing to concede the song for the night.

They are temporarily silenced on 17 and 49 minutes when Pats hate figure and one time European hero Mark Quigley scores. Two goals, and two beautiful goals to boot- the worst kind for a hate figure to score really. The second, a top class overhead strike, has the home faithful thinking we’re on course for a third defeat in a row. A disaster in other words.

What followed on the pitch was a spectacle. In fact, coming from 2 nil down to win by a goal is pretty ironic considering only two weeks ago we were cruising at that same scoreline against Bray before losing.

It would be wrong to conclude any report from the night without tipping the hat to the PA woman. Gone are the Cheryl Cole and Lady GaGa tracks, replaced by The Selector and The Clash. Maybe next week, for Mulcahy, we’ll stick on Last Minute Miracle.

I’m normally in town early enough in the day, and enjoy popping into R.A.G.E on Fade Street for a quick look. They’ve taken over the old Road Records and stayed very true to the spirit of that Dublin favourite, with vinyl taking pride of place and classic sounds playing all day. Unusually, they also stock classic video games for the kind of consoles you have under your bed.

I’d heard about the shutter, but you can hardly shout in ‘CLOSE YER SHOP SO I CAN HAVE A LOOK AT THE SHUTTERS!’ in fairness.

RAGE are on Facebook, over here.

Via my friend Will's fancy phone. Thanks Will.

Don Conroy in The Bernard Shaw.

It could go either way really, couldn’t it?

Well, it went swimmingly. A crowd of several hundred (PACKED!) twenty-somethings gathered out the back of a pub to listen to Don tell stories, and more importantly they gathered to watch the man draw owls.

Here is some audio from the event, Don discussing a visit from the postman in his childhood. He was loving the banter with the crowd, and I was surprised by the amount of random faces I encountered there, people I’ve never spotted in the pub before, including people from my childhood. The man is loved.

Pardon my mates and the general crowd:

Having drawn a few owls and told a few stories, Don was happy to sign heaps of autographs and pose for plenty of photographs.

Well done Don, the most successful artist in The Bernard Shaw yet 😉