The Dublin Community Blog

‘LADYFLASH’ RE-LAUNCH PARTY
KENNEDY’S UNDERGROUND
THURSDAY 28TH FEBRUARY 2008

Featuring live sets from
QUEEN KONG (Single Launch Party)
+
STAGGER LEE
+
DJ set from SINÉAD NÍ MHÓRDHA
(Phantom 105.2/Chicks On Decks)
Doors: 10pm

Hell-raisers Queen Kong are a mix between Siouxie and The Banshees and Blondie with elements of synthesizer wizards Kraftwerk thrown in for good measure. The band have played high profile support slots for bands such as all-American band The Like and indie act Good Shoes. Another momentous occasion in the life of Queen Kong is that they were once joined by infamous bass-player Krist Noveselic of Nirvana for a jam!
The band have been creating a stir amongst the media with the likes of UK music mag NME stating them as the ‘Kings and Queens of the Irish music scene’.
Queen Kong launch their new single ‘So Brand New’ at the Ladyflash re-launch party.

Toons : Indie, Electro, Punk, Rock ‘n’ Roll – i.e. good toons to dance to!
Date: Thursday 28th February
Venue : Kennedy’s Underground, Westland Row
Doors: 10pm
Admission : €7

The Port Tunnel is reported to be closed all day and into rush hour tonight due to problems discovered with the Scada safety system this morning. This system seems to be responsible for all the safety features in the tunnel so any problems with it pretty much wipe out all the safety mechanisms in the tunnel.

As a result of this you can expect heavy goods vehicles in the city this evening adding to rush hour traffic jams just a day after massive delays caused by the temporary closure of Pearse St due to an unsafe building in Trinity. You may want to consider working late this evening

Anyone who commutes to work in and around Dublin will be all to familiar with the traffic jams, crowded trams or trains and delayed buses. They will also know the reason many people choose to drive to work is that there is no reliable, or in many cases simply no, public transport that they can use. The Dept of Transport today released a consultation document asking for input on the future of travel and transport in Ireland with large sections related to the vision of transport in Dublin by 2020. Improved public transport, more emphasis on cycling and walking,  and the possibility of congestion charging.

This document can be downloaded here and will be well worth a read by anyone who sees themselves still facing into the long commute to work in Dublin by 2020.

So, it’s official: Dustin the Turkey is going to be representing Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest semi-final in Belgrade in May.

I’m going to put my neck out there and say I think it’s a great idea; the song is hilarious, ridiculous, silly, frivolous – all the things that winning Eurovision songs have been in the past few years. So shouldn’t we get in on the joke?

You can watch him performing the song, Irlande Douze Pointe, here.

A huge congrats to Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova on winning the Oscar for Original Song. A great achievement.

Speech content can be found on the official Oscar website and a video on YouTube (watch through to the end).

To avoid too many men in kilts in the city, I decided to spend half of my Saturday with a nice walk along the Royal Canal Way. Though the promised “sunny spells” failed to appear, it was a pleasant walk, especially the part from Maynooth to Leixlip. So, if you’re looking for gentle walk with almost no obstacles – except the omnipresent Dublin rubbish along the way from Leixlip on – board your nearest DART and take a stroll.

 

If you are wondering what is on the picture the answer is very Dublinish: Guinness!!

Michael Davidson of Florida University makes beer photos using microscope. What to say more? Check his beer website. 

Well, Catherine mentioned about it come time ago and so…. it happed.

Maybe it was not extremely popular, but people who ‘got frozen’ were visible. And for one ‘freezing performer’ there was one photographer.

Cheers to all brave ones!

VISIT
is an Exhibition by KRZYSIEK DABEK (Poland)

http://www.myspace.com/pussykrew

“One night i was walking through Dublin dark streets listening to the music, like i often do. But that night i saw something shiny, like a little light on the wall of small dark street. I came closer to see where this light came from, and then i saw: at first a little head and then whole bodies of these little light men coming out from the wall. Don’t you believe? …So come to THE SHED and see yourselves, because they gonna visit this place on 23 of February” KD

“Most of my life i spend on playing with video, sound, drawing, sculpture, listening, looking, dreaming. Trying to unite it in one. I love to travel and meeting people, that are my impulse to act, to form, to create. My works are a reflection of what i saw or what i’ve heard someday, somewhere. i never try to think why i make them, i just do. And it’s all about having fun!”

Read the rest of this entry »

Dublin has had a Lord Mayor as its first citizen, only surpassed in authority by the President, since Sir Daniel Bellingham in 1665. However the first citizen of the city has been in place since 1229, just without the Lord part of the title. The Lord Mayor is elected at Dublin City Council once a year though there is a campaign for the term to be lengthened. The current Lord Mayor is Cllr Paddy Bourke. I imagine there are many highlights being Lord Mayor, one being getting to ride in the City’s coach for the St Patrick Day Parade.

The official residence of the Dublin Lord Mayor is the Mansion House which is located on Dawson Street and was built in 1710 by property developer Joshua Dawson. While Joshua lived in the house the powers that be decided to purchase the house for the city at a cost of £3,500 and a yearly rent of 40 shillings and a loaf of double-refined sugar weighing 6lbs each Christmas.

Joshua Dawson also agreed to build another room, the Oak room, to be used for civic receptions. The Oak Room is to this day still used for civic functions and is decorated with the crests of all the Lord Mayors. The bottom photograph shows the crest of Daniel O’Connell who was Lord Mayor between 1841 and 1842.

Most of this information was cogged together from the Dublin City Council website and you can find out lots more about Dublin’s history at the council website.

Photos: 1. Inside the Lord Mayor’s office, the chain. 2. Inside the Oak Room. 3. The front of the Mansion House. 4. The Oak Room crests showing Daniel O’Connell’s crest (top left). 5. Portraits of previous Lord Mayors including the current Taoiseach Bertie Ahern who can be seen in the image.