Removal of Occupy Galway

Dear Galway City Councillors,

I am writing as a citizen of Galway to voice my disappointment and anger at the decision by Galway City Council to remove the Occupy Galway camp.  I have paid my household charge and this is what I get.  Eyre Square belongs to me and the rest of the citizens of this city.  In whose name was the camp removed?

I welcome the arrival of the Volvo Ocean Race to Galway.  I, like many Galwegians, had a ball the last time the race was here and I am not blind to the fact that the race brings in much revenue to the city.  And I sail and enjoy the water.

I also welcomed Occupy Galway to Eyre Square.  I helped erect a tent when they relocated the camp to facilitate the Christmas market.  I am not a member of the Occupy group but I recognise their aims.

Nobody in their right mind would deny that the world is riven with inequality.  It is obvious that the vast majority of the world's wealth is still in the hands of the tiny minority.  The Occupy Galway camp was a protest against this injustice.  By removing the camp, you councillors have taken a stand for inequality, injustice and greed.

Galway is an awesome city.  It is the sort of place where the radical and the corporate meet.  It is a city of culture and arts yet is the party town for stags, hens and the Galway Races.  Occupy Galway and the Volvo Ocean Race are not mutually exclusive; there is room in the civic space for the campaign for social justice and the enterprise of business men and women of Galway to make a living.  Yet by removing the camp, the voices for equality are again sacrificed on the altar of profit.  The people are silenced while all the concerns of business are met.  This slew in favour of one side of the civic equation only results in the alienation of the responsible citizen.  One can't help but wonder what President Higgins thinks.

"The eyes of the world will be on Galway", say you councillors.  Never mind the eyes of the world, I truly doubt that they would have cared about, or even noticed, the Occupy Galway camp.  But you should mind the eyes, hearts and minds of the people of your own city.  You further drive us into the arms of the far left with every conservative decision you make.

I now ask each of you councillors to reply to my email and explain why this decision was taken and what your position is.

Regards,
John Rogers.

'King Alfred: A Mystery Play'

Side-Show Productions present

King Alfred: A Mystery Play

March 14th-16th
8:30pm
Studio THT Galway
BOOK HERE

A kiss without a moustache...

... is like an egg without salt.



It's November and I'm growing a mo. It's Movember and you can join in by sponsoring me. Go to http://mobro.co/JohnTheBad to donate, keep up to date on what's going on on my upper lip and find out more about this annual drive to fight the good fight and to raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer.

Crisis in the Horn of Africa, petition

Hi,

Below is a petition to put pressure on World Leaders to act on famine in Somalia.  Please sign.  And spread the word.

We now have a date and venue for our fund-/awareness-raiser for the Horn of Africa -- ARTS FOR AFRICA, Saturday 20th August at Nuns Island Theatre, Galway.  Details as we get them.

Regards,
John.

--
Email: johnthebad@gmail.com
Phone: 00353-87-287-9131
Web: www.johnmrogers.co.nr
Twitter: twitter.com/johnthebad

sent from my Samsung Galaxy S II

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Dau&apos;ud Ali, ONE.org" <one-help@list.one.org>
Date: Jul 28, 2011 3:46 p.m.
Subject: Crisis
To: "John Rogers" <johnthebad@gmail.com>

Dear John,

I am currently in Somalia with a relief organisation called Hijra, a partner of Oxfam, witnessing firsthand the heart breaking situation faced by nearly 12 million people, as the region suffers the consequences of one of the worst droughts in 60 years. Oxfam is doing all it can to provide clean lifesaving water to over 1.1 million people so far across Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya. But we are facing huge challenges and massive needs. We need to reach more people and can't do it alone.

Last week, the United Nations declared famine in two regions here in Somalia. The UN have said if we don't act now famine could spread to the whole of southern Somalia within two months. It is vital that world leaders take action to ensure all immediate needs are met and long term solutions delivered. Yet despite the urgency of the situation, many governments are responding too slowly with funds to meet the needs of people affected.  

You are one of more than 40,000 people who have signed ONE's petition calling on governments to do more. Thank you. But we now need your help again to spread the campaign to as many people as possible.

Please forward this petition on to people you know:

http://act.one.org/go/25?akid=2320.1091731.UG3-k4&t=2

While there is an immediate need for emergency aid, leaders cannot drop the ball on long term solutions as has too often happened in the past. This is why we need your help to spread the petition far and wide - to put pressure on governments to ease the crisis now and to get back on track with their promises to make long term investments in food and farming in Africa. Please share the petition right now:

http://act.one.org/go/25?akid=2320.1091731.UG3-k4&t=4

If enough of us speak out, we can help put pressure on leaders to act decisively – to stop starvation and its causes.

Thank you

Dau'ud Ali
Hijra  (partner organisation of Oxfam)

ONE.ORG | PRIVACY | SUBSCRIBE | UNSUBSCRIBE | CONTACT US | ABOUT

'The Very Best of John Lennon' at the Town Hall Studio

I'm delighted to say that The Very Best of John Lennon has been accepted onto the inaugural Town Hall Studio Project in May 2011. We'll be in the Studio from May 10th to 14th. This is part of an exciting new project at the Studio that will see a different show for each week in May and will include post show discussions, upcoming show trailers and weekly wrap parties at the Town Hall Bar...

Read full post here.

My letter to the Irish Times editor

A chara,


Brian Cowen's mantra must surely be, Fianna Fáil before country always. In a report in yesterday's paper (Friday 4th March 2011) he was asked about the timing of the release of the the independent review of the Department of Finance’s performance form 1999 to 2008 and why it was only published after the election. He said, "it is a question of dealing with the general election and not allowing a manipulative approach be taken towards it." In other words, the review was withheld until after the election so as to save Fianna Fail from further damage. Such irony in his use of the phrase...

Read full post here.

To govern

To govern is to choose between disadvantages. So read yesterday's Salthill Seapoint casino's quote-of-the-day. It's an apt quote (the internet attributes it to Charles De Gaulle) considering Friday's impending general election. Perhaps today's quote might read something like – “to vote is to choose between bad and worse.”

For the past few weeks, I've been hurling abuse at Fianna Fáil via Twitter, Facebook and the radio (I don't just scream at the wireless, sometimes I text in as well). Now I might have a higher than normal sense of self-importance (I actually expect someone might even be reading this blog) but I doubt my FF-abuse has done or will do much damage to the soldiers of destiny. Really I've been just venting. But I will get the opportunity come Friday to inflict some harm, however slight, by not giving Fianna Fáil a single preference.

Here's another quote-of-the-day – a wise man hates no-one – I read it once on a calendar. Hatred is stupid, dangerous and destructive. Most times it's the hater who gets hurt the most. Yet hate is also easy, seductive and (to me anyway) addictive. Boy do I love to hate. And man do I loathe Fianna Fáil. I hate them.

I blame Fianna Fáil for the mess we're currently in as a nation. They lost us our economic sovereignty. They have left us in an almost comical position – we the taxpayers have bailed out the banks and yet many of us same taxpayers are still in debt to those same banks. As far as I can tell, there really is no immediate alternative to our deal with the ECB/IMF. Therefore we will have to accept severe cutbacks as well as higher taxes in order to receive the ECB/IMF funding. I wish Sinn Féin and others were correct in their assertions that we can go it alone and tell the ECB/IMF to sod-off but Gerry Adams can't seem to tell us where the money will then come from to pay nurses, light streets, run buses and pay the countless other bills a nation has to pay. So it looks like we have no choice but to accept the harsh medicine that's coming our way. And that's what angers me the most – Fianna Fáil have left us with the choice between something bad and something worse.

Another reason I despise Fianna Fáil is their ongoing refusal to truly accept their responsibility for this disaster. Cowen (remember him? He's our Taoiseach still) when he was ever asked about his party's unpopularity would answer that any party would be unpopular if they had to make the difficult choices his government were forced to make in order to save our economy from total annihilation. Martin as Fianna Fáil leader has continued this line since taking over. It galls me to hear it. It entirely misses the vital, salient and simple point that it was Fianna Fáil who caused the financial mess in the first place. Theirs is the party who were in power for almost fifteen years and it was Fianna Fáil ministers for finance and taoisigh who had political control of and responsibility for our economic policy. It was Fianna Fáil who slept while our regulators slept while the banks ran out of control. It was Fianna Fáil who allowed our economy to become almost entirely dependent on construction. It was Fianna Fáil who ignored the voices who called out, stop the madness. Were Fianna Fáil the only ones to make mistakes? No. Were Fianna Fáil the only party to be in power throughout all of this recklessness and waste? Yes. Have Fianna Fáil accepted the blame? Never. Whenever a Fianna Fáil member or spokesperson is actually forced to acknowledge these causes of our economic ruin, he or she invariably cites the downturn in the world economy and nimbly sidesteps Fianna Fáil culpability.

A paraphrased quote – I'm trying real hard Ringo not to hate.

I hate Fianna Fáil but it is not good to hate. It's bad for my soul. So I will try not to hate. I will try to tolerate. I will try and acknowledge that not all of Fianna Fáil is to blame and Fianna Fáil is not to blame for all. Finally I will try and not get angry with those fellow citizens who will, despite all that's happened, vote Fianna Fáil come Friday.

But I will not be one of them.

Dreams of Love

This week I'm stage managing Side-Show Productions's Dreams of Love. I recommend you check it out.

Side-Show Productions presents

Dreams of Love

Town Hall Studio, Galway; 8:30pm, Thur 24 to Sat 26 Feb;

Tickets €10/8

BOOK NOW

The Very Best of John Lennon was very, very good

I was delighted at the response we got to The Very Best of John Lennon. Thank you everyone who came along to support us at the Project, all at TheatreClub and the Project for giving us the opportunity to perform and a big thanks from me to Waterdonkey for inviting me along in the first place.

Fingers crossed that TVBOJL will return soon to a stage near you so if you missed out last week... watch this space.

A Different Animal

Hi all,

see below for info on an award winning play, A Different Animal, coming to the studio next week. I haven't seen it myself but I'll be heading along.

J.

--

Won, Best Female Actress

Special Mention, Writing

Nominated, Best Production

Limerick Unfringed Festival 2011

Wildebeest Theatre presents

A Different Animal

by Meadhbh Haicéid

February 10^th – 12^th, 8.30pm

Town Hall Studio, Galway

Tickets: €10/€8

http://www.tht.ie/

http://wildebeesttheatrecompany.blogspot.com/

A Different Animal is a new play written by Meadhbh Haicéid, and directed by Ciarda Bytyqi-Tobin. A young woman receives the strangest of visitors with the blue light of dusk. A bottle of wine is opened. Awkwardness turns to passionate fluency. Dusk lingers, unnaturally. And in the growing intimacy, something darker also stirs. Are they really who they say they are? Are they even who they think they are? And what, or who, will remain when dawn steals in?

Written by Meadhbh Haicéid, directed by Ciarda Bytyqi-Tobin, and performed by Marie Boylan and Crissie O’Donovan. Design by Liam Quinn.

Wildebeest is a new Limerick-based theatre company with four core members; Priscilla Nic Chonmara, Meadhbh Haicéid, Marie Boylan and Liam Quinn. Three of these four young, experienced theatre practitioners first met through Limerick Youth Theatre some years ago. More recently, they have rejoined forces owing to a shared interest in creating new work fixed firmly in the present, looking to the future and aware of the past. A Different Animal is the company’s second production. Wildebeest Theatre Company’s first show, The Real World (written & directed by Meadhbh Haicéid), explored the darker side of the border between reality and fantasy through the displacement of two well-known characters from children’s literature. It was performed in the Backloft, Dublin, as part of the Summer Solstice Festival 2010, in Kelly’s Bar & Lounge, Galway, as part of the Lunchtime Theatre Series, and in the Theatre Tent of last summer’s Electric Picnic Music & Arts Festival.

The company are excited to present a new show fresh from Limerick Unfringed, 2011.

Meadhbh Haicéid is a graduate of the MA in Drama & Theatre Studies, NUIG (2008). She is a founding member of Wildebeest Theatre Company, with whom she wrote and directed The Real World, ’10. She received the Jerome Hynes Memorial Award ’08 for short play The Fourth Wall. Another short, Making Babies, was included in Múscailt ’08, produced by Fregoli Theatre Company (Galway) and included in ‘Slice’, a showcase of new work in Theatre 503, London, ’09. To the Back of Beyond, a play for children, was awarded second place in an international competition run by ‘Imaginosity’, ’09. Meadhbh is also a founding member of Waterdonkey Theatre Company (Galway), with whom she has devised, directed and performed.

Ciarda Bytyqi-Tobin is a graduate of Theatre Studies in TCD and the MA in UCC. Since graduating Ciarda has directed a number of productions including; Stories, Lysistrata, The Beggars Opera & Romeo & Juliet (Limerick Youth Theatre), Midnight Court, Dracula, 100, Up From Their Knees & The Women (Teaspach), The Vagina Monologues (V-Day Ireland), The Midsummer Midnight Court & Walking Away (Adapt Services), rehearsed readings of Blood Wedding (Bottom Dog) and Dancing with the Devil (Siamsa Tire), Homo Fuge, Faustus, Suvi & Inverno & Duet (Amalgamotion) as well as making part of amalagmotion's series of interactive performance/installation pieces including; Propose, Thinksmith, Senseinsevin and Read to me, her play Fisherman’s Son was produced as part of The Theatre Hub. She has also curated for Mamuska Limerick and as part of Spirit Store project 09 and exhibited as part of the Art at Work project through Roscommon Arts Office. This is her first time working with Wildebeest Theatre Company.

Marie Boylan has a B.A. Hons Degree in Drama and Theatre Studies from Trinity College Dublin. Credits include: ‘The Beggars Opera’, ‘In Rear View’, ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (The Belltable Arts Centre, Limerick), ‘The Trojan Women’, ‘Low in the Dark’, ‘The Government’ ‘Inspector’, ‘Exit the King’, ‘Oh What a Lovely War!’ (Samuel Beckett Theatre, Dublin) ‘Once a Catholic’, ‘Edenstown’, ‘My Mother Said I Never Should’ (Players Theatre, Dublin), ‘Fish Sandy with Lovely Interludes’ (Project Cube, Dublin), ‘Elegies for Angels’, ‘Punks and Raging Queens’, ‘The Spelling of Coynes’ (The Loft Venue, Limerick) Marie won Best Supporting Actress (ISDA) for My Mother Said I Never Should, in 2007. She has also featured as ‘Sandra’ on RTE’s Killinaskully.

Crissy O’ Donovan has a BA Drama and Theatre from the University of Wales and continued her training at New York Film Academy NY. Credits include ‘Doris’, ‘My Mother Said...’ (Aberystwyth Arts Centre, UK) ‘Banshees’ (Cardiff Millenium Centre) ‘Dr Watson’, ‘Hound of the Baskervilles’ (Spanish Tour), ‘Ann and Barry’ (Talking Shop - AbsolutFringe 09). ‘Kelly’, ‘Project Dating’ (Scarlet Exchange, The New Theatre) ‘Clara’, Conditioned (Morton-Media, Axis Theatre). ‘Ysabell’, Mort (Mimesis TheatreCo, Players Theatre) ‘Alma’, Strike!, (Strike Productions, Samuel Beckett Theatre), ‘Helen’, ‘Chaos Theory’ (The New Theatre). Crissy is one half of Mimesis Theatre Company.

wildebeesttheatrecompany@gmail.com

The Real John Lennon

One of the videos the director gave me to watch is a documentary called the The Real John Lennon and it's very good. Have a look.

The Real John Lennon

If you have any thoughts on this or on Lennon himself, I'll be glad to have them. Just add them below as comments or email me here.

Later,

J.

--

UPDATE

Hmmm... now that I've watched more of this, I have to say that it's only ok rather than very good. It's an interesting biography of the man but there is no attempt at any investigation into Lennon's music and art. And it is very very biased against Yoko. I wonder was she asked to be involved.

The Very Best of John Lennon

Project Arts Centre, Dublin; 7pm, 15 Feb 2011;

Tickets €10

BOOK NOW

Bertie says bye!

Ouch. The old Bert doesn't come out too well on this one.

Upgrading my website

Hi all. I am currently in the process of giving my website a facelift. I've integrated my twitter feed and blog and I'll soon have videos and photos. I'm having fun (because I'm a bit of a geek) and I hope you will enjoy the look and content. If you're reading this, I thank you for walking the dog.

The Very Best of John Lennon

Well Suantraí's latest production is on hold because I've been invited by Waterdonkey Theatre to join them in their brand new production The Very Best of John Lennon. Click here for more details. I hope to post videos and more from the process so keep an eye out!

Please keep an eye out

My cousin Lorraine has had some bad news. The truck pictured above was stolen from her business. Lorraine says:

Can I ask you all to keep an eye out for it and ask your friends if they could do the same. Yellow IVECO 96 CN 2405, has our company logo on it. That is it in my profile picture. We can't work without it.

Please everyone, keep an eye out and pass the word around.

If Cowen were to go

According to IrishTimes.com (http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/1001/breaking7.html):

"A substantial majority of voters would like to see Taoiseach Brian Cowen stepping down from his post before the next general election, according to the latest Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI."

A quick glance at the rest of the poll is confusing and I'm not sure I agree with how the pollsters phrased the questions. However, if this is how people feel, it flies in the face of opinion of most commentators who feel that the people would not accept a second change of Taoiseach without an election.

I'm not sure how I feel myself. But I do fear that if Cowen were to go and say Lenihan took over without an election, this government's chances to survive would probably increase. And when the next election does then come around, Fianna Fáil could feasibly do quite well. They would sell themselves as the people who cleaned up the mess and with Lenihan as leader, they would claim innocence in making the mess in the first place -- it wasn't us; it was Ahern, McCreevey, Cowen and the PD's who made the mistakes along with bad bankers and ineffective financial regulation. That's not us now; we're a different party.

And it would work. Even if they didn't manage another return to power, Fianna Fáil would not be decimated. And that's my problem with a change in Taoiseach without an election. My vindictive, vengeful side wants to see the complete annihilation of Fianna Fáil for what they've done.

So what does the rest of you think?

Inconsistencies in terms of how we do standardised processes

Listening to today's New at One on Radio 1 today. The feature was about the number of children who have died whilst in state care for the past ten years. It seems the HSE have one figure (24 deaths) which doesn't add up to other estimates. Minister for Children or whatever his title, Andrews set up a review last March to find out the exact number. A newspaper yesterday reported that the number could be as high as 200, which is just horrific. According to the News at One, so far the HSE hasn't sent one file to the review team set up by Andrews. The assistant director for children and family services of the HSE, Phill Garland was on Morning Ireland and I will now attempt a transcription of what he said in relation to all this:

It is quite clear that we have deficits in our system. It is quite clear that we have inconsistencies in terms of how we do standardised processes. We are moving those issues forward in terms of our [something incomprehensible to me] programs consistency. The ombudsman's report absolutely highlighted the deficits. We need to address those and we are in the process of doing those.

What in the name of all that is wholesome does any of that mean? Mr. Garland should be given an award for his phenomenal, almost Joyce-like ability to communicate and convey absolutely nothing, while still using the English language. My favourite bit is, “it is quite clear that we have inconsistencies in terms of how we do standardised processes.”

In case RTÉ has done the man an injustice, I am going now to listen to his full interview from this morning's Morning Ireland.

You can listen to that here – http://www.rte.ie/podcasts/2010/pc/pod-v-2405102ndhour37m14smorningireland.mp3 – and today's News at One here – http://www.rte.ie/podcasts/2010/pc/pod-v-24051012m39snewsatonea.mp3.

Elevator Repair Service Internship Journal, Day ?

So much for posting my internship journal here. The past two weeks and a bit have been crazy busy; I've lots of work to be doing between ERS and my PDT essay.

But I'll get back to speed here in the week ahead.

Elevator Repair Service Internship Journal, Day 1

It's coming on 9am on Saturday and I'm sitting having a coffee in a small coffee shop on E. 4^th St. I'm supposed to be meeting Sarah Hughes of ERS at the New York Theater Workshop 4^th St. Theater (E. 4^th between 2^nd Ave. & Bowery) but I'm 45 minutes early.

Today is day one of my internship.

This is my second coffee of the day. I grabbed one in Brooklyn just before getting on the subway. It cost a dollar. My coffee here on 4^th St. cost $1.75. That's a 75 cent charge for crossing the river into Manhattan.

Reading National Geographic on the way into the city on the N train (one of my favourite things to do in the world) I came across something that made me sad. And it made me think of my friend Trish and my classmate Sinéad. This issue (April 2010) of National Geographic is a special issue all about water. In an article titled “The Burden of Thirst” by Tina Rosenberg, the writer talks about “the vicious circle of inequality” in much of the developing world and in particular how the vital and laborious work of finding water is almost always done by the women. The bit that really got me was:

Some women in Foro [S.E Ethiopia] came down to the river five times a day – with one or two trips devoted to getting water to make a beer-style home brew for their husbands. When I first came to Foro, some 60 men were sitting in the shade of a metal-roofed building, drinking and talking. It was midmorning. Women, says Binayo [a local woman and mother], “never get five seconds to sit down and rest.

That drives me nuts.

Life's synchronicity came into play as I read these articles about water shortage the world over. I was listening to the new album from Gorillaz on my headphones when, on the last track – Pirate Jet – Albarn sings:

It's all good news now

Because we left the taps

Running

For a hundred years

So drink into the drink

A plastic cup of drink

Drink with a couple

Of people

The plastic creating people

Still connected

To the moment

It began.

It's now 18:56 and on the train back out to my brother's house in Brooklyn.

I saw a lot today. What a lucky man I am. Sarah brought me into the rehearsal room and I was introduced to the director, John Collins and three male actors whose name currently escape me. I was made feel very welcome. I sat down and watched. Later I followed lines for the actors. After lunch, most of the rest of the cast arrived.

ERS are currently working on Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises or Fiesta. They seem to be adopting the script as they go along. It's exhilarating to watch. The book is dialogue-heavy so it lends well to what they are doing. One actor plays the narrator, Jake, the rest play a variety of characters. Narration is kept to a minimum. Music runs throughout. As do sound effects. There is a gorgeous, slightly zany feel to all this. The atmosphere in the rehearsal room is fun and relaxed. Collins and Hughes keep a loose hold on proceedings and the actors play off each other and everyone else (myself included).

I love the sound effects. They're used for background chatter and music in Parisian restaurants; the pouring of drinks (this happens a lot); clinking of glasses; cars; trains; fish jumping in a river. The music is loud and the actors sometimes struggle to be heard over the din. But the sound effects are never apologised for. I love it.

Some of the sound effects are plain daft. Everyone also uses the Sound Bar to augment the multitude of running in-jokes and gags amongst the ensemble so it is sometimes hard to tell if a sound cue is for the play or just for the crack.

And apparently (I don't have all this down yet) the sound technician who was absent today is an actor who also plays the character of Cohn. ERS are showing their Wooster Group roots here; they are bot so much showing us behind the curtain but ripping the curtain to bits.

There is great cultural plundering and mishmashing happening here. Some youTube clip (I assume that's what it was; I only heard the audio) of some wrestler called Nature Bit is a favourite of the ensemble. In particular his crazy whoops that crack everyone up (it is quite funny) and so are mimicked by the actors whenever they start some heavy drinking scenes.

Hemingway's book is set ion Europe in the 20's. ERS's play is set in no particular place and at no particular time. Neither are the people onstage necessarily the characters from the book. Who are they? Where are they? When is this? I ask Collins and he says, “that's what I'm finding out.”

The set consists of loads of chairs and four long tables. And two Sound Bars. I think this is how it'll be on the night.

I'm reading the book right now, had started it in Dublin Airport on Thursday. It all feels more alive to me now.

I have questions from today but I didn't feel quite secure enough yet to ask them. The big question was in relation to what I see to be a difference in how the actors are performing their roles.

The actor playing Jake for example often runs through his lines at a rate of knots. This may be just how he was treating today's rehearsal. Or it may be that this is what works for this type of theatre. And it does work. I don't for a moment imagine him as Jake. He's himself, playing the persona of Jake.

But then, the girl playing the character of Brett is playing her for keeps. I forget who she is and see only the character. And she does this very well – she is an excellent actress and then some. However, the two different approaches jar.

Like I said, I don't yet feel comfortable asking a question about this. Well, not yet.

So that was day 1.

Elevator Repair Service Internship Journal

Well I'm on my way ... I hope.

I'm on the Citylink bus, just arriving into Dublin. I fly out today, assuming no more volcanic nonsense. I was supposed to start my internship with ERS last Monday but have lost a week. I start Monday coming.

Part of the internship is keeping of a journal. It'll be interesting to see if I can post all of this journal here while remaining honest.

Let's see.