So the wheels have almost totally fallen off my blogging wagon from rustiness. Mental busy times, much blog posts in the pipe (aka my head) but nil time to commit them to pixels just yet. For now here’s some link goodies:
In Cork this weekend? Check out the Street Performance World Championships. Last year was brilliant craic, even as a volunteer. This year is going to be even bigger taking over both Fitzgerald Park AND the Mardyke Sports Grounds. If you can’t make it we’ll be posting all sorts on the blog over the weekend so check it out at spwc.wordpress.com, Facebook and Twitter.
In Dublin for the weekend? Well why not give the Tweasurehunta go. The last one was a great laugh and great exercise to boot.
Bringing psychology to the web design toolkit. Stephen Anderson‘s note cards are available to pre-order now.
Looking for a freelancer of any description? Check out endor.se
Seth Godin enthusiast? Join the masses for the “first ever unofficial official Seth Godin Linchpin worldwide Meetup” in Buskers, Temple Bar on Monday 14th at 7pm. Check in on FourSquare to receive a free drink on arrival.
It’s been pretty quiet in terms of post frequency here this past while, partly due to busyness and partly due to trying to form this post in my head. Here goes.
SPWC – I had never heard of it before some time in March when Darragh started mentioning it & how he was going to be involved & how much he was looking forward to it. What started out as a trip to Cork to see some SPWC & visit my sister turned into volunteering for both the Cork and Dublin leg of the festival. I had no idea what to expect but was more than pleasantly surprised by the whole experience.
Grant Goldie as 'That Man'
Out of the 2 legs, Cork was my favourite purely down to the venue (Fitzgerald Park) being able to cater better for the festival and the crowd it attracted. I was mesmerised by the sheer range of stuff I saw from fire juggling to a man going through a squash racket to a man on a 12ft unicycle. And loads more besides. My personal favourites from the festival were ‘That Man’ (Grant Goldie) and Mr. Toons, both for different reasons. The ‘That Man’ show was magical – it combined more “traditional” street performance trickery such as juggling but Grant had the very special skill of being able to interact & click with the audience down to a tee. And all without speaking a word. His contact juggling piece had me totally hypnotised, absolutely beautiful to watch & there are some beautiful shots of this on pix.ie.
Mr. Toons was amazing just for the sheer uniqueness & craziness of his show. From the 12ft unicycle to the giant balloon into which he climbs it’s just mind boggling to watch let alone wonder how on earth he came up with such an idea. Check out the pictures on pix.ie – has to be seen to be believed.
'Relaxed' by Phil O'Kane (click for more)
It’s rare to see such a mixture of generations all mixed together enjoying the day & that for me is one of the things I loved most about SPWC. Anything that gets families, friends, kids & big kids out, about & laughing together is a winner. Being able to do that for free & in the open air (& thankfully sunshine for the most part) was icing on the cake.
One thing that also struck me over the two weekends is how much the performers themselves seemed to love doing their shows. From time to time I’ve had chats with my dad about various professions, our own included & how most of the time you can take a step back and say “funny way to make a living!”. Certainly applies here too to all involved from the performers to the organisers and everyone in between! But I’ll bet they wouldn’t have it any other way.
'Blowing Bubbles #2' by Phil O'Kane
Thanks all for a fantastic experience & hopefully we’ll do it all again next year
I had great fun at SPWC Dublin this weekend, so much so I’m still trying to gather together all my thoughts for a proper blog post on the event. Phil made the trip down with his kick-ass camera & got very snap happy (to the tune of over 1600 photos it seems).
Bubbles were a huge hit with kids of all ages (me included) but they are difficult little feckers to capture on camera. He’s managed to capture some here pretty awesomely (if I may say so myself)! Really looking forward to seeing the rest of the pics from the weekend, plenty great stuff on pix.ie whetting the appetite.
Confession: up until a few weeks ago, I had never even heard of the SPWC. Next thing I know I’m an SPWC volunteer & heading for the new Cork leg of the event with little idea of what to expect. I returned home hooked & I can’t wait to do it all again this coming weekend in Merrion Square!
So what’s it all about? Essentially, it’s the cream of the world’s street performers gathered in Ireland doing their thing for those who come see them in Cork & Dublin hoping to get their vote to be crowned SPWC champ. There’s a bunch of stages and the acts rotate around those stages throughout the day.
What are you going to see? Words certainly don’t do it justice so I suggest you take a look at the photos over in Pix.ie (where there’s a competition for SPWC photo-uploaders to win some tasty Canon gear).
When is it on, where do I go & how much does it cost? Thursday to Sunday at Merrion Square (Dublin 2) and it’s all completely free! Everything you could ever need to know about it is on the fabulous festival blog right here which also includes interviews with the stars of the festival!
It’s going to be a busy, brilliant weekend full of smiles & fun and who knows, maybe even some sunshine. There’s something for kids of all ages, from ages 3 right through to 93. I’ll be there all Saturday & Sunday, hopefully see you there!
Someone please explain to me where that weekend went to??? And while on the subject of the weekend, thank you thank you thank you to the man above and his posse for giving us the most glorious day on Sunday for the Dublin City Soul Festival & just the chance to wander happily around town & dine al fresco sans brolly.
I had the pleasure of meeting & hearing the gorgeous & talented Nell Bryden on Saturday afternoon – she will hopefully be appearing in an interview on a blog near you before long. Be sure to check out her new album & if you’re in Dublin on June 30th, you could do a lot worse than go hear the lady live in Whelans. Amazing voice, great energy will make for a fantastic gig.
Stuff on this week(end) include SweetTalk, Connector 10, Volvo Ocean Race in Galway, The Cat Laughs in Kilkenny and most importantly, Pat Kenny’s last gig as presenter of the Late Late Show on Friday night (yeah clear your diaries lads, break out the bubbly). Will he get a Harley? I f*cking hope not.
SPWC are looking for volunteers to help out with the festival when it hits Cork city on June 13th & 14th and then Dublin from June 18th – 21st. Check out the blog for all the info.
In a bit of a rule-breaking departure (excused by the puntastic opportunity & fact that it’s raising money for a great cause), I’ll be pushing Darragh’s parachute jump as part of the Tuesday Push. It’s on Saturday down in Offaly & he’ll be jumping 13,000 ft to help raise some cash for Care Local.
And finally, can someone please explain to what the heck Karen Millen was drinkin/smoking when she decided that this frock was a good idea. As another bemused passer-by on Grafton St said “what are you meant to do when you want to sit down?”. The mind boggles.
