During the week, I received a message from Conortje, informing me he and his other half would be in Dublin for the approaching weekend. He asked if I ‘d like to meet  for a drink. I’ve read Conor’s blog for the last year or so. I’m familiar with his story. I knew much about him. I even knew of his other half, “Newfie”. I wanted to meet them for a pint, but I was nervous. I don’t know why. Perhaps, it’s down to the fact I’m a control freak. I hate surprises. I fear the unexpected. Despite this, I made arrangements to meet.

I arrived in the Front Lounge at around 21.30. I was only familiar with his appearance from photos. I tried to spot him with my best squint and unsurprisingly failed. I texted him for his exact location, ordered a drink and waited patiently by the bar. He replied. I spotted him in the distance and rolled up in my usual over-enthusiastic-compensating-for-nervousness-extroverted manner. This eventually subsided and I relaxed into the conversation.

Time passed pretty quickly. I learned much about Conor and his boyfriend. They were chilled, easy to talk to and very interesting. During one discussion, we realised Newfie had never heard of the Twilight Series, probably one of the most successfully marketed, teenage angst-romance novels ever. I found this amazing. Needless to say the night flew. The transition from the Front Lounge to the Dragon was barely noticeable. The laughs continued long into the night.

All in all I had a great time. Why I was initially nervous, I don’t know. By meeting Conor and Newfie, I heard some interesting stories, laughed countless times and made some new friends.

Eleanor Roosevelt could not have said it better.

in this instance it’s something completely different. as we all know, the dreaded recession has hit almost everything in this country, it really doesn’t discriminate. gcn (gay community news) unfortunately is no exception. as part of the gcn forever campaign, an exhibition curated by will st leger will open on the 5th march to raise much-needed funds. proceeds from sales go towards gcn. you can rsvp here.

i’m really honoured and excited to be part of this, especially as it’s for such a worthy cause. long live gcn. now, to get cracking.

under the influence

The International
Went into town to meet Gary from work for a couple of drinks and met up with some of the people that I had been down to Electric Picnic as well- John and his girlfriend Julie…and some of her friends Caroline, Justin, and Emma.  So quite a group when I was expecting to have only a few drinks.  John, Julie and Co were smart though and went off for something to eat…hindsight is always great but I should have done that!  So just Gary and I having a couple of more before we meet up with them later when a friend of Gary comes into the pub and we are there for another 2 hours with them before moving on.  This is definitely the springtime of the night since the body and head feel nice and fresh with the happiness of the neat vodka starting to warm up the body quiet nicely:-) 

Dakota
John, Julie and Co decided to go to Dakota after they ate- must say it was the quietest I have ever seen Dakota and was quite surprised but it was great since you could actually talk.  Great to talk with Caroline and Emma…really lovely girls and was great chatting with Emma about music since I didn’t have to explain anything at all!  Rarely happens that you can mention Nialler9 without having to say who he  is…actually told her about the blog as well which I don’t usually do so she must have charmed that out of me (yes Emma if you are reading this I am just trying to butter you up!)  So the summer of the night- laidback, relaxing, and internally warm:-)

The Front Lounge
Went there with Gary after Dakota since he wanted one drink in a gay bar before he got the bus- it should be noted that we were there for him!  I can empathise with women being eyed up and down and the hard stares from men- I feel like a piece of meat whenever we go there and it is actually difficult trying to get eye contact with the straight women while avoiding eye contact with the men.  Also met friends of friends who I haven’t seen in years so had a couple of drinks with them as well.  They reminded me of the first time I had met them- a rather infamous house party where they had tried to turn me and it so obviously did not work.  Great music in the place…lots of Depeche Mode as is to be expected.  Definitely the autumn of the evening…still warm but getting just a wee bit darker and you can feel winter starting to set in.

Phantasm- The Village
Didn’t have a ticket for the Phantasm or the gig in Whelans but decided to walk up that direction for a pub called Anseo that I remembered Lauren Guillery was going to be playing at.  It is just past Whelans/Village so decided to pop around the entrance of those venues to see if there was any buzz…rounded the corner and there was a girl that was getting rid of her ticket for the Village since she was going into Whelans so I was sorted there!  Had 10+ vodkas at this stage with nothing to eat so the head was starting to pound just a wee bit.  Noticed Pete straight off so had a quick chat with him and also a very quick chat with Eavann and Nadine- didn’t want to have an in depth conversation as I would have liked since I knew that I wouldn’t be able to last long. 

The place was packed which is great to see for a Phantasm!  I had missed the first group (Red Kids) but I had seen them at the last Phantasm so I knew I probably wouldn’t have heard anything new…they were a last minute replacement for A Lazurus Soul which would have been good to see live.  I hid myself towards the back so that I wasn’t blocking people and ended up playing eye hockey with a redhead that looked very familiar-still can’t remember where I have seen her before.

Betamax format came on and were good- played their couple of tracks that get the radio play and then some of their longer jamming tracks…kind of dark ambient but just doesn’t seem to have a hook.  Great visuals though with scenes from Vanishing Point/Deathproof playing in the background!

Fight Like Apes then came on with some rather funky sunglasses with lights and their usual sense of ‘this is my style so fuck you’ attitude- brilliant:-)  Great songs from them again- have heard them a couple of times this year and they always put on a great show.  I was approached by a lovely girl called Louise who was wondering why I was not smiling….great when somebody takes an interest but was truthful and told her I needed Solpadeine!  Loving the music but the head really starting to pound.  Of course she commented on my height but then she noticed the size of my feet and took numerous pics…and she asked the usual line of what they say about big feet being true…since I can’t tell a lie I had to give it to her straight…big feet….big socks;-) 

Pete came on the decks a short while later and I must say he was rocking!  Played some great old school hits and really had his finger on the pulse of the crowd to get them moving.  Pete was moving quite a bit himself up on the stage and I was just waiting for him to body surf into the crowd!  Some excellent tunes anyway but when he hit a quieter streak my automatic pilot came on and I just had to go for the bus.  So definitely the winter of the night with the felling of a darkness that is never going to end!

Had a great night all in all even if I wasn’t actually feeling the best the next day…only had three hours sleep as well since the body woke me up for more Solpadeine!  The best nights are the ones where you don’t expect it but thankfully it doesn’t happen every time:-)