mushtastic

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

2011-12-24T21:06:00.000Z

I'm sitting in my sitting room typing away to the sound of Wham's "Last Christmas" coming from Seán's laptop in the kitchen. The whole downstairs of the house is filled with the heady aroma of the Christmas ham bubbling away in cider. Will fire it into the oven after the turkey is done tomorrow afternoon. We spent a lovely afternoon out at Seán's family home, managing to get ourselves slightly soaked taking a quick stroll around the farm, seeing all the things that Seán's talked about over the last 3 and a bit years. It was great to get a chance to spend a bit of time with his folk - it's not often we do so. It's great to be made feel so welcome.

2011 has been one of those years. I can't say it's been a fantastic year but it hasn't been the most awful year either. Work has been relentlessly busy, more so than any other year in my nearly 9 years in UCC, but I can't really complain. I have a job and I'm eminently thankful of that. I know 2012 will be challenging but I'm up for it. Well, once I've had my holidays and the batteries are fully recharged. I'm looking forward to the holiday catch ups (including a 10 year reunion with my college class mates).

For me, sitting here on Christmas eve, I think the best thing to come out of 2011 is another year with Seán. I can't believe we're almost 4 years together and still mad about each other. Soppy I know, but sure you'll have that. Tis the season after all.

Anyway, wherever you are in the world, and whoever you're with, I hope you have a fantastic Christmas and that 2012 is as futuristic as it sounds. Maybe we'll finally get those flying cars, silver jumpsuits and jet packs we were promised by all that past sci-fi.

Later,

Mush

Presidential D. Higgins

2011-10-25T20:42:00.000+01:00

This coming Thursday sees us going to the polls again to elect our 9th president. A total of 7 candidates are running for election, the most in any Irish presidential election. Mary Davis (independent), David Norris (senator and independent), Seán Gallagher (independent but actually a dyed in the wool Fianna Fáilure), Dana Rosemary Scanlon (independent and agent of the Catholic Church), Martin McGuinness (Sinn Féin), Gay Mitchell (Fine Gael) and Michael D. Higgins (Labour).

It's been an interesting few weeks of campaigning it has to be said, with countless debates taking place on the telly and on the radio. Scandals a plenty have abounded - Martin McGuinness and his shady IRA past; David Norris and his letters of clemency for his former partner convicted of statutory rape in Israel; Gay Mitchell and his failure to connect with the electorate; Dana and her familial conflict; Seán Gallagher and his dubious business practices as well as his Fianna Fáil connections. Of them all, only Michael D. and Mary Davis have come out of the process relatively unscathed. They each have their postives and negatives but for me, my number 1 will be going to Michael D. Higgins.

I'm not a member of any political party so the presence of so many independents has given me pause for thought. Initially, David Norris was the candidate to whom I was going to give my first preference. But his handling of the clemency controversy damaged him in my eyes. For me it wasn't the fact that he had written letters calling for clemency for his former lover (after all, who amongst us would not try to do everything we could to help out the love of our lives if they got themselves into serious trouble, even if that trouble was as reprehensible as Norris' ex's sleeping with an underage boy). No, for me, the problem lay in the evasiveness and poor judgement that Norris displayed in the aftermath. I still have a lot of respect for Norris and think he has done a lot of good work over his years on the Irish political scene. But in Monday's frontline debate, he showed himself to work best as the underdog taking potshots at the political establishment; as the thorn in the side of the powers that be. That's a role he can best fulfill, in my mind, as an independent senator - not as president.

Over the course of all of the debates and thousands of column inches, the candidate that has most impressed me is Michael D. His integrity has shone through and he has emerged untouched by any of the kinds of scandal that have mired the other candidates. It was truly depressing to see the recent opinion polls putting Seán Gallagher, an out and out Fianna Fáiler who it's been shown in recent days to be cut from the same cloth as the likes of Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen, at 40% against Michael D.'s 26%. For me, Michael D. is the only candidate to have shown a firm grasp of what it means to be Irish president. He's not claiming he can create jobs like Gallagher has been doing nor has he stooped to the crass level of auctioning off the salary of the president like some of the other candidates.

The role of the president is tightly prescribed by the Irish constitution - he or she can refer legislation to the supreme court in the event of such legislation being suspected as being unconstitutional; he or she is the titular head of the defence forces and is the first citizen of our state. They represent Ireland to the outside world. Who better to be that face than a man who has done no small amount of good for this country in his decades of public service? Michael D. has a history of standing up for and representing the down-trodden of society. He has a solid reputation and an impecible character. He understands the constitution and what the president can and can't do. He is also a cultural figure, becoming the first ever Minister for the Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht in 1993 and was responsible for the growth of the Irish film industry through the various incentives he introduced while in government. He was also the minister responsible for the establishment of Teilifís na Gaeilge (later TG4), a truly important factor in the continuing survival of our native tongue. He is steeped in the arts and culture of Ireland as a poet and patron of the arts. In all the talk of economic downturn, it's easy to forget that Ireland is not just an economy but a country and a culture too. Who better to promote this aspect of our state than the man who has championed Irish culture for decades? He would be an incredible ambassador for this country on the social, political and cultural levels (to paraphrase my friend Mark Fitz).

Many people have questioned his age and health. We should remember that Eamonn DeValera was in his 90's when he was president and that Patrick Hillary was in a wheelchair towards the end of his presidency. As someone pointed out on Twitter today, Michael D. is the same age as Bob Dylan and shows no signs of slowing down either.

Overall, he just clicks for me. I can see him in the job. I can see him travelling the world on our behalf and I can see him acting without hesitation to send dubious legislation to the supreme court if necessary, despite the fact that his former party are one of the current government parties. He fits the bill on all levels. So on Thursday, it'll be Michael D. no. 1 on my ballot paper.

Later,

Mush

Picture source: 1. (via Keith "Lypsey" Keohane on facebook) 2. (via Michael D Higgins page on facebook)

Misjudgement Day

2011-10-22T11:28:00.000+01:00

Next week not only sees the electorate being asked to vote for a new President here in Ireland, but there are also two referenda up for consideration. You might be forgiven for not knowing anything about these constitutional amendments - the government has certainly been very quiet on the issues until only very recently when the media (undoubtedly bored to tears of the saturation presidential coverage) started to meekly look at the impending vote.

The first proposed amendment to the constitution looks at the issue of judges pay. On the surface this looks like a no brainer - why should judges not have their pay reduced in times of recession like the rest of us? And if that was the only implication of this referendum, I may well vote yes. However, there's a bit more to it than that.

Looking at the proposed change (via the referendum commission website):

"At present, Article 35.5 of the Constitution states:
“The remuneration of a judge shall not be reduced during his continuance in office.”

It is proposed to replace this with the following wording:
5 1° The remuneration of judges shall not be reduced during their continuance in office save in accordance with this section.

2° The remuneration of judges is subject to the imposition of taxes, levies or other charges that are imposed by law on persons generally or persons belonging to a particular class.

3° Where, before or after the enactment of this section, reductions have been or are made by law to the remuneration of persons belonging to classes of persons whose remuneration is paid out of public money and such law states that those reductions are in the public interest, provision may also be made by law to make proportionate reductions to the remuneration of judges."

So what we have is the legislative branch of our government, the Dáil, looking to interfere in the traditional independence of the judiciary. This change not only calls for the possibility of the reduction in judges' pay, but the mechanism through which that is achieved is by the passing of legislation in the parliament. Now, initially that may not raise too many eyebrows, but if you consider that judges are supposed to be free of undue influence from the government, that they are supposed to be independent from the government so that they can judge impartially no matter against whom they are passing judgement, handing the Dáil the judges' pursestrings becomes more problematic. At the end of the day, this amendment gives the Dáil the power to cut judges pay and with that power comes undue influence. I'm not arguing that judges' pay shouldn't be reduced in line with the other reductions across the public service. I'm just saying that this amendment is not the way to do that. Some sort of independent judicial review body could be established constitutionally that was independent from the Dáil and not dependent on politicians with their myriad agendas. This proposed change is ill conceived and rushed and weakens our judiciary, who have quite often been a well needed defence against the incompetence of politicians.

The second proposed change to the constitution, the "Oireachteas Inquiries" is as follows:

"At present, Article 15.10 states:
“Each House shall make its own rules and standing orders, with power to attach penalties for their infringement, and shall have power to ensure freedom of debate, to protect its official documents and the private papers of its members, and to protect itself and its members against any person or persons interfering with, molesting or attempting to corrupt its members in the exercise of their duties.”

It is proposed to renumber this as 15.10.1° and to insert the following subsections:

2° Each House shall have the power to conduct an inquiry, or an inquiry with the other House, in a manner provided for by law, into any matter stated by the House or Houses concerned to be of general public importance.

3° In the course of any such inquiry the conduct of any person (whether or not a member of either House) may be investigated and the House or Houses concerned may make findings in respect of the conduct of that person concerning the matter to which the inquiry relates.

4° It shall be for the House or Houses concerned to determine, with due regard to the principles of fair procedures, the appropriate balance between the rights of persons and the public interest for the purposes of ensuring an effective inquiry into any matter to which subsection 2° applies."

This amendment would, in effect, give the Oireachtas (either the Dáil or the Seanad or both) the power to establish committees of inquiry through legislation that could investigate people who have been perceived to have done wrong and to make a finding of wrong doing. Again, on the surface, it doesn't seem too unreasonable. I mean, who among us doesn't want to see the heads of the banks from the last 4 years dragged before some sort of tribunal and given the blasting they deserve? We all want to see the people who caused the recession and the banking crisis held to account. The amendment even says that it will conduct these inquiries in "the public interest" and with "due regard to the principles of fair procedures." However there's a whole bunch of things wrong with this proposed change.

Firstly, who determines what exactly is in the public interest? The fickle public, who often don't know an arse from an elbow without the media telling them which one stinks, are not exactly a reliable barometer. The same public elected Fianna Fáil on three consecutive occasions. A brief listen to liveline or a glance at RTE's frontline will give you a glimpse into the confused world of the public interest.

Secondly, although as we've seen the proposed change would give due regard to the principles of fair procedures (supposedly meaning that anyone dragged before one of these inquiries would be entitled to legal representation), the wording is sufficiently vague and wishy washy to create a legal quagmire. We are constitutionally entitled to protect our own good names but this amendment would conflict with that right, in that such an committee of inquiry could make a ruling "in the public interest" that someone had done something wrong based solely on the feelings and intuitions of the members of the committee. The burden of proof required to find against a person is much lighter and not as stringent as would be in a court case. If someone is found to be guilty by one of this committees, what legal recourse do they have to protect their good name? What can the courts do to overturn a verdict by one of these inquiries when it's found that the inquiry is in the wrong? The members of the Dáil and Seanad are not above making mistakes yet this proposed amendment would hand them unprecedented power, a power that could be used to carry out personal vendettas or wrong headed verbal lynchings.

Which brings me to my third point of contention. We already have a legal system. We have police and courts and judges. These are the people that we've entrusted with the determination of who has broken the law. Not the Dáil. Not the Seanad. Not our politicians. If there is a deficiency in the legal system, then that should be addressed certainly. If tribunals are taking too long or costing too much, we should look into that. But to hand this kind of power to the politicians is not the answer. The proposed amendment is a further erosion of the independence of the judiciary and further concentration of power in the hands of the oireachtas. It brings the prospect of McCarthy-esque trials and hearings a step closer to being a frightening reality in this country and gives politicians a further opportunity for political grandstanding. Politicians are not judges and should not have the powers of judges. The thought of some of our politicians sitting in judgement in such a way sends a shiver down my spine.

So these are the reasons I'll be voting no to both the referenda on Thursday the 27th of October. Even though the reasons for the proposed changes are, on the surface, quite sound, the potential for abuse by our political class is too great. And as we've seen all too well lately, if there's a way to fuck something up that was working perfectly well (like our economy) our politicians will certainly manage it.

Your Tax Euros at Work

2011-09-22T20:53:00.000+01:00

When people ask me what I do for a living I generally give them the stock line "I'm one of the people who looks after the UCC website." It's kind of a catch all answer that doesn't really cover everything I do but it's a start and people usually recognise the word website so that helps.

A lot of what I do involves talking to other people, be that discussing what a particular department in the university wants from their website or supporting people as they grapple with the Content Management System* or helping people get to grips with their facebook pages and other social media thingies. Meetings and phone calls take up a good portion of my week, but they can often hinder progress in other things. Like, for instance, if I'm trying to get the code for a new design into the CMS, it takes a lot of concentration and needs a good chunk of thinking time. A phone call in the middle of this thinking can throw my brain off track and it can take ages to get back into the coding mindset. Similarly, a half hour spent at a meeting can completely discombobulate my thinking, making it very difficult to get the coding neurons firing on all cylinders again.

To help with this I set myself a to do list every day. That way I have specific time set aside for the various projects I'm working on at any given time and I can devote a solid chunk of time to any one thing. It also means that if I'm not making progress with one thing, I know that I have other things on which I can be productive, or I can schedule myself some simpler tasks between the big guns. But sometimes there are days when nothing goes right and it gets hard to see the wood for the trees so to speak. Yesterday was one of those days. Hours spent digging around in code seemed to come to naught; things just weren't working and I couldn't figure out why. It's like I'm banging my head against the computer screen for all the good I'm doing. It genuinely feels like I'm a waste of taxpayers money.

But then there are the good days, like today, when things start to pop into place. Those coding neurons are blazing away and things start to work that had me stumped for days. Those days are the days were I feel like the government are getting a bit of bang for their public sector pay buck. There's still a mountain of work on my overall task list - the website needs serious improvement, we need to be doing more with our social media, and people still need to know how to wrangle the at-times unwieldy content management system - but a solid productive day makes it all seem very surmountable. I want our website to be the best. I know we're a long way off it yet, but today made that goal that little bit more achievable.

Later,

Mush

*The content management system is the software we use to implement our website. There are tens of thousands of pages on the UCC website so it's handy to have some sort of programme to help us keep track of it all, control the appearance of pages, store the content of each page and a whole bunch of other fancy technical stuff.

Artistic Challenge 18 - Symbiosis

2011-09-11T15:03:00.000+01:00

The following is a short story for the Artistic Challenge group (of which I am a member on Facebook). Hope you enjoy. Constructive criticism welcomed.

Symbiosis

Evan awoke to the sound of flint scraping flint. Someone was lighting the bullrush torches that lined the walls of the temple. The flickering of the light cast dancing shadows across the stone chamber, silhouetting the train of dark-robed priests against the rough-hewn, hempen drapes that enclosed Evan’s hiding place. He had snuck into the main vault of the druivery after evensong had concluded, eager to catch a glimpse of the secret rites of Winterghast. Every town and village across Aonraoícht would be silent tonight, save for the murmured, hidden chants of the druivs in their arcane sanctuaries. The year was coming to an end and the priests of Aonraoícht would stand their traditional guard against the Namhaid and his demons, while smallfolk and Lord Electors alike would huddle with their families around the Winterghast Candle that each household kept lit throughout the nine days and nights of the year’s end. No one would talk, not even whisper, save for the priests in their temple. Every infant in the realm would be sleeping a soundless sleep, aided to their slumber by a draught of coddleoil and warm milk, lest they should cry out during the dark silence of Winterghast and attract the attention of blind Namhaid’s dark followers. Not a sound would be heard from any living soul in Aonraoícht who wasn’t a member of the order of druivs.

Evan stretched slowly in the cramped, curtained space behind the great stone altar. The heavy drapes were kept drawn for the full nine days of the year end and wouldn’t be opened again until the first light of the new year. Behind them, a massive window of coloured glass stretched twenty feet from stone floor to stone ceiling, ready to banish the shadows of Winterghast come the morning’s first rays. Between window and curtain was a gutter, a good three feet wide and three feet deep. Normally used to channel the waters of the freshwater spring that bubbled up behind the druivery into the vault, it was dry now for the duration of the ceremonies. The loosely boarded opening to the outside grounds had allowed Evan access and it’s depth enabled him to conceal his fourteen year old self from the chanting occupants of the main chamber. Excitement coursed through him, his youthful frame shivering in anticipation of what was about to unfold before him. He had spent the last five years as a dalta druiv, and it would be another four before he’d don the whites of a full acolyte. Only then would he be allowed to participate in the Winterghast ceremonies in his own right. But Evan had always been impatient. An impatient baby, he’d come into the world a full three ninedays before anyone had expected him, his premature birth taking the life of his mother. A precocious child, he was walking and talking months before his eight siblings had been when they were infants, despite his frail beginnings. Evan’s constant impatience to be at the centre of things, to learn, to fight, to cause mischief with the best of his brothers and sisters had led his exasperated father, Novan, to give him to the druivs on his ninth birthday in the hope of tempering his impatient spirit. Five years of learning had only heightened his restive nature. There was so much to know and so little time in which to know it. The arcane world of the druivs and their mysteries had awakened a voracious and unquenchable lust for knowledge. The other daltas might be content to plod along the prescribed path of study that the druivs had laid out for them, but not Evan. He was going to see it all, learn it all, know it all.

He peered through the gap between the drapes and the slate flagstones of the floor. Five feet from where he crouched was the altar, a huge block of black marble, veined with white, ten feet wide yet only waist high. The swirling runes of the druivs decorated the flat vertical surfaces, eight flickering Winterghast candles arrayed on its surface. A ninth candle remained unlit in the centre of the altar awaiting the conclusion of the rite before it would be finally lit. Spread in a semi-circle behind the altar were the druivs, each clothed in a white-sleeved black cassock, their faces hidden by the voluminous hoods of their robes as they incanted their secret rites. Nine in total, each was accompanied by a white-robed acolyte standing silently behind their masters.

The chanting grew steadily quieter over the hours as Evan watched from his increasingly uncomfortable hiding place, until it was barely a whisper. Outside, a breeze stirred the bare branches of the druivery’s sentinel oaks, their naked limbs creaking and whipping as the gusts grew stronger, creating a whisper of their own to replace that of the near silent druivs. Morcach, the head druiv stepped forward from the semi-circle, lips moving in now silent incanctation. He lifted a taper to the eighth candle and lit it, then moved to the centre of the altar to the unlit ninth candle. He raised the guttering taper to the wick of the centre candle and gently touched the two together. An impossibly bright flame leapt from the ninth glim, illuminating the cadre of druivs and their students in a terrifyingly naked luminescence, blasting monstrous silhouettes onto the high stone walls of the druivery. Evan stared, awestruck as the shades of the occupants of the hall started to dance and move of their own accord, as if the shadows themselves had come alive. The curtain in front of him began to flap, gently at first, as if caught by a soft breeze, then more firmly as if the chamber had all of a sudden found itself open to the elements. Druivs and votaries alike had linked hands now and had formed a full circle around the blazing candlelit altar. The hoods of their robes had been blown back; their faces, etched with grim determination, raised to the darting shades while mouthing their silent prayers.

The excitement that had previously coursed through Evan was replaced with gripping, cloying fear as he watched the dark shapes whirl across the walls and the coarse fabric of the drapes above him. Some of the larger shadows detached, forming swirling mists, black as pitch above the heads of the priests. The shapes bounced off the flames of the candles as they swooped and dived at the silent convocation below. Demons. Namhaid’s dark servants. The terror of this realisation tore at Evan. He had to get out, get away, get safe. But he knew the stories. What he’d previously dismissed as old wives tales and the exaggerations of old men had become terrifyingly real in front of his very eyes. And with that, he knew that the slightest sound from a human voice outside of the circle of priests and their acolytes would draw the attention of every grasping shadow in the chamber.

Winterghast, Winterghast take all noises past,

Winterghast, Winterghast make the silence last,

Midnight chills, Man’s sound kills, Namhaid’s here to plunder,

Voices loud and voices proud, he’ll gladly rend assunder,

Winterghast, Winterghast the year starts a-new,

Winterghast, Winterghast save song for the dew,

Demon master Demon servant, on morning’s light away,

Voices loud and voices proud, on new year’s brand new day.

It was a silly, rhyme, or so he had thought the scores of times he’d heard it over the last nine days, or indeed the hundreds of times he’d heard it over his fourteen year life. A silly rhyme that was all of a sudden his only solace. Sunrise was just under an hour away. If he could keep quiet until then, really quiet, he’d be okay. Every child in the realm knew that it was your voice that opened your soul to them. The druivs had drawn the demons to the druivery with their chants and trapped them there with the Winterghast candles and silent adjurations. Evan had hidden himself outside of their protective circle but within the walls of the temporary prison they’d built for the demons. He considered retreating through the gutter gate he’d entered through but the slightest whisper, the faintest whimper and the blind eyes of Namhaid’s legion would find him. Best to stay completely and utterly still.

The minutes passed slowly. Beyond the curtain the shadows raged against their ensorcelment as the druivs continued their mute incantations. Above Evan, the inky pools of the coloured glass window began to lighten as the dawn hour approached. The druivs began to slowly expand their circle outwards from the altar. Morcach was on the side closest to the drapes. They were getting ready to draw the curtains, Evan realised. He slowly pressed himself closer to the wall of the gutter, careful to keep his breathing steady, wary of releasing even the slightest grunt. He couldn’t begin to imagine what Morcach would do when he saw him. Morcach’s patience and composure were legendary, his counsel much prized. Even the Impira in Decathair had been known to write Morcach for advice from time to time. But Evan had crossed a line tonight. That he had disobeyed the rules of the ollschool yet again was one thing, putting himself in direct danger of demonic possession was quite another. The realisation that this would be his last night as a dalta druiv concerned him much less than getting to the point where his own voice no longer had the potential to condemn his soul to eternal damnation. The acolytes took their positions by the curtain drawstrings and pulled. The dawn light, coloured by the glass of the window, filled the room. Above their heads, the frenzied shapes of the demons began to writhe in palpable agony as the the light of the new year burned away their mist-like forms. On the eight walls surrounding the window, massive drapes were pulled away to reveal eight mirrors, each almost as large as the stained glass window itself. Their eight facets reflected the coloured light of the window across the hall, creating rainbow beams of light and banishing all shadows, save for one, almost imperceptible shade that dropped unnoticed to where Evan was hiding and hid itself in the small shadow that the boy’s crouched form cast against the wall of the gutter.

Evan’s attention was still focused on Morcach, who in turn was scanning the heights of the druivery. Every surface was shadow free, with a druiv at each mirror turning and twisting them so that every side of every object in the room was completely bathed in multi-coloured light; chasing shades from their hiding places in the cast shadows of the room. Morcach silently directed their efforts, pointing to a dark patch under a side altar or directing a full beam of mirror light over an acolyte standing in a corner recess. Finally his gaze came to a rest on the gutter below the window, and the hidden shape of Evan. Evan met his stare and began to rise. A look of utter sadness and disappointment fell across the face of the head druiv as he stepped towards Evan. Shame and embarrassment washed over Evan. He could no longer look Morcach in the eye and distracted by his guilt, he stumbled head first over the ledge of the gutter. The sudden disorientation caught him off-guard and as his head hit the floor at the feet of Morcach, the faintest grunt escaped his lips.

He awoke to the sound of flint scraping flint, his head throbbing. A blurry shape lit the bullrush torch to the side of the cell door and crossed to the bed where he lay disoriented. He tried to sit up, but couldn’t quite get the hang of moving his limbs in a coordinated fashion. Eventually he managed to prop himself up on his elbows as the visitor sat at his side. Morcach reached out tenderly and placed a cool hand on the boy’s brow.

“It’s good to see you awake. We’ve been waiting for you to surface.”

The boy stared up at the head druiv, lips parting as if to speak but no sound came out. He raised a hand shakily to his throat and then towards the small bowl of water on the bedside table.

“Hush,” Morcach whispered as he grasped the bowl firmly and raised it to the boy’s dried lips. “It will take you some time before you find your voice, I’m afraid. It’s more than likely buried inside with the rest of the boy. But not to worry, we can help you with that. Things haven’t gone exactly to plan but you’ve found yourself a strong host. He’ll prove stubborn at first, but there is a core strength there that will prove invaluable as you grow. In retrospect a potentially far more powerful vessel than the acolyte we had meant for you to take. We’ve had our eye on this one for some time but we thought him too young yet. Seems his own obstinacy has inadvertently paved its way to a greater destiny than even he would have imagined.”

The boy who had been Evan smiled wearily and lay back in the bed. He could feel the throbbing presence of the body’s previous occupant in the back of his mind. This Evan would prove a challenging symbiosis, but he could feel that core strength that the druiv had mentioned. There was a darkeness there too. The product of a birth corrupted by a death and a young life tinged with impatience. He could feel the shape of the boy’s soul as it strained and wrenched at it’s confinement. There would be time to mold it, control it, use it along with the body. Right now he just wanted to enjoy the feeling of corporeal form again. Too long without a physical presence, without a voice, without sight. Namhaid turned to face his servant in the head druiv’s body and smiled.

The Writing's on the Wall

2011-09-04T21:54:00.000+01:00

A couple of weeks back I posted about writing more. Got a lot of positive feedback on that both online and off and have been working away on getting more words out of my brain and down on digital paper so to speak. While I haven't blogged every week, I have spent a few hours every week doing some kind of writing. Today I spent most of the afternoon working on a submission for the Artistic Challenge group on Facebook. Last week I had to put together a little script at work and the week before I made a start on building a world. All in all, some progress being made at least.

I can't remember where I came across this video but it's a shitkicker. Worth a look:

Also this is still sending shivers down my spine every time I watch it.

Later

Mush

Hysteria Lane (Do not Feed the Trolls)

2011-08-24T21:37:00.004+01:00

I've been online for 14 years at this stage. Sure I dabbled a bit with Internet at school where it was all dial up and screeching modems (I remember the modem phone was a big black rotary dial phone sitting on a wooden box with a red light bulb - very sixties spy movie to be honest). But it was only when I started in BIS in UCC in 1997 that I really began to experience the world wide web. Back then it was all chatrooms that you could sign up to with your Hotmail account (before hotmail was owned by microsoft - on a side note I had my hotmail account for a full ten years before I got rid of it. It got hacked like so many hotmail accounts do so it was time to say good bye to the butterfly). Forums came later. And with all these new colloquia came the trolling and the hysteria.

Don't get me wrong, as a new comer to the digital frontier, I did my fair share of baiting. I also had my fair share of conniptions. When I was doing the trolling, it was all in good fun, however when I was the one clip clopping over the binary bridge, my anonymous nemeses were foul, mentally unstable, despicable beings; creatures unworthy of human consideration or feeling. And always so very, very wrong.

But it's a futile game, arguing on internet forums. In all the years of squabbling with strangers I don't think I ever convinced anyone to give up their ridiculous beliefs in favour of my more sensible ones. I tried. For sure I tried (mostly on the People's Republic of Cork forum of the early naughties) but my nameless, faceless opponents held strong. In recent years, YouTube comments have come the closest to the sheer vitriol of those early forum days. It takes a lot not to be drawn into the mire. But as futile the borg insist resistance might be, we have to try. The sheer volume of information available via something like Twitter, for instance, is second only to the sheer volume of idiocy on the same platform. It can be so easy to get swept up in the hysteria of a twitstorm and given the often times ludicrous statements flitting through our timelines it can seem quite justified. But the constant stream of righteous anger that seems to pervade every social media platform these days does nothing for us. Rising to the bait of the trolls does nothing but make them feel a brief moment of schadenfreude and leaves us feeling fucked off and miserable. It seems to me that taking a deep breath and counting to whatever, before replying to an obnoxious comment slagging the poster of a YouTube video or before retweeting that outrageous sounding injustice on twitter, would help us all take our collective blood pressures down a notch. With the evening talk radio shows screaming doom and gloom at us between half four and 7 every day, taking a breath on the internet would probably do us all some good.

Later,

Mush

Well I Think it's Fine Building Jumbo Planes...

2011-08-09T19:00:00.004+01:00

I was listening to some Cat Stevens earlier (and actually still listening while I'm typing this). One of my favourite songs is "Where Do the Children Play?" from Tea for the Tillerman. I remember listening to this on vinyl many years ago when we lived in Ballygarvan. Myself and my sister Edel used quite often just sit around in the dining room of our house there, listening to our older sisters' records on constant repeat (except "repeat" in those days was a manual operation, lifting the needle back to the start of the set of grooves for a particular song). We must have listened to that song a helluva lot because listening to it now the version in my mind keeps expecting the song to skip in certain places. So much so that I have an irresistible urge to give my Mac a light thump on the side coming up to certain parts of the chorus.

I think one of the reasons we used to play that song so much was because it reminded of us when we lived in suburbia. Moving from Bishopstown to Ballygarvan when I was about 8 was a formative experience to say the least. We went from a place surrounded by people, with a green full of other kids during the evenings and all day on summer days, to a pretty peaceful country abode surrounded by cows, trees, fields and horses. For the most part, living in the country was actually pretty good. We had streams to wade across, woods to explore, mud to traipse through. Plenty to keep kids with imaginations busy. Despite all that I still missed the suburban kid's life. Having friends within walking distance who could "come out and play"; rounders and football on the green; other boys my age with whom bases and forts could be built in back gardens or on the abandoned mounds of earth the builders left behind when the estates were built. I missed that life so much that I still have dreams where we move back to that house we left in Kenley drive.

Myself and Seán moved into a house in Bracken Court in Donnybrook in Douglas this weekend. It's a plain, 3 bedroomed semi-detached suburban home. With early 90's decor and that orangey, wobbly glass in the doors. And I love it. I love it because I'm there with himself. But also because it reminds me so much of that suburban childhood interrupted. There are kids playing on the green, running in and out of each other's houses, messing and enjoying a suburban summer before the cruel vagaries of childhood have them back behind a school desk in a few weeks time. They say nostalgia ain't what it used to be but I think the Cat Stevens is suiting quite nicely just now.

Later,

Mush

He Said it Best When He Said Something

2011-08-07T21:40:00.005+01:00

A post from Damien Mulley about blogging (or more specifically a lack of blogging) nicely sums up some of the thoughts I've been having about getting back into the blogging and writing. I also just finished reading Wil Wheaton's "Just a Geek", where he discusses going from struggling former star trek actor to being a writer through blogging. I've been thinking about how I was going to go about getting back into my writing for pleasure and these two pieces have spurred me on. At the start of the year, my excuse was that I was waiting to get a new computer, then I had all sorts of half formed ideas of waiting until I had set myself out a schedule or to do list for blog posts. Seems like I've been procrastinating over this stuff for far too long so on top of my little outburst last week, I've decided to just get back to it.

You see, I've never really said this out loud before but I want to be a writer. To do that, I need to hone the skill and there's only one way to do that - to write. It's one of the reason's I started the blog way back when, a place to put my witterings, half baked ideas but most importantly a scribble pad for my writing. So there it is. Dunno if this is just a pipe dream or not. Gonna give it a try anyway.

Later,

Mush

Norris

2011-07-31T01:34:00.001+01:00

I wanted David Norris to be president. Because he's smart and funny and different. And gay. The man who is synonymous with gay rights in Ireland (at least in my mind) was going to take the Áras from the party political hacks. He was going to show the world that Ireland was a grown up country who could elect a gay man to one of it's highest offices. Sure he was colorful. But he had dignity and the respect of the nation. He was going to show Ireland that gay people can do the big jobs too. But then he fucked up. He fucked up by writing a letter to an Israeli court pleading for clemency for his former lover, who had been convicted of statutory rape 19 years ago and not telling his campaign team about it. He fucked up by underestimating the relish with which certain tabloid publications would pour over every salacious detail of his life while at the same time refraining from informing his campaign team so that they could protect him when the inevitable stories surfaced. This whole thing has been swirling round my head all day. I've been cursing his campaign team for leaving him in the lurch, the israelis for leaking the letters in the first place, his former lover for being a possible child molester. But mostly I'm just sad because the man I thought would make the best president seems to have lost his chance. If he makes it to the ballot I'd still vote for him. Sure there's a certain arrogance about the man. The letters he wrote seem to belie a man with an incredible ego, with no little sense of self importance (although you might argue that when you are writing a character reference, it's kind of important for it not only to say good things about the reference but also about the referee or else it becomes an empty gesture). But I also think he has done some good and because of him, my sexual preference is no longer a criminal offense in this country.

I don't feel so protective of the role of Irish President that I feel we need someone saintly. I just want someone human. Someone likable. Someone who can string a sentence together without an autocue. And yes, having a gay man in the Áras appeals to me. Of the potential candidates out there, I think Norris can still be that person. Whether his campaign can recover from this latest crisis remains to be seen. I truly hope it does.

Mush

What, a Blog Post from Mush? Unheard of!

2011-03-29T09:49:00.003+01:00

I know, I know, it's been months. And I'm still not ready to start blogging frequently again yet. The demise of my laptop led to a 3 and a half month hiatus from the blogosphere but in the words of a former Kaleefoahnian Governer, "I'll be back".

In the meantime, I just wanted to post this link: http://www.nomorelost.org/2011/03/25/straight-male-gamer-told-to-get-over-it-by-bioware/ - it's a blog post outlining Bioware (Game Development Company)'s response to a complaint by a "Straight Male Gamer" that it's Dragon Age game was pandering too much to the gays and the wimmin. Bioware's David Gaider's response to the "Straight Male Gamer" really struck a chord with me.

In particular when referring to "why such an opinion[that Gay's and Women are entitled to their storylines in Gaming] might be met with hostility, it has to do with privilege. You can write it off as “political correctness” if you wish, but the truth is that privilege always lies with the majority. They’re so used to being catered to that they see the lack of catering as an imbalance. They don’t see anything wrong with having things set up to suit them, what’s everyone’s fuss all about? That’s the way it should be, any everyone else should be used to not getting what they want."

It really gets to the nub of why some groups in society get so frustrated at the equality agenda. They're so used to getting what they want, that when someone else gets their time and rights, it seems an affront to the previously privileged group.

Anyway, just wanted to share.

Later,

Mush

Missing Links 4

2010-12-14T10:21:00.003Z

Good news everyone! Zac Efron is now single: http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20449284,00.html

Also, it's Christmas time and here is the song tipped for Christmas No. 1 in Ireland (although most of you will already have seen it) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljPFZrRD3J8:

2000ad is truly the galaxy's greatest comic. Check out the first 1500 covers in 3 and a half minutes (via my sister via Dave Bishop ex 2000ad editor) - http://viciousimagery.blogspot.com/2010/12/genius-first-1500-covers-of-2000ad-in.html

Later,

Mush

Missing Links 3

2010-12-07T12:13:00.002Z

This weeks missing links will be short. It's been a busy week since the last post, mostly spent dealing with the new UCC website - http://www.ucc.ie/en/ - it's a vast improvement on the last site which was last upgraded 5 years ago and the feedback has been pouring in. Some positive, some negative, almost all useful in helping us get the site right. A lot done, but definitely a hell of a lot more to do.

My second link for today is Arcade Fire with some added David Bowie: - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-wEBmLht5g - rocking!

I'll finish up today's post with a link to a nice post about Cork's Christmas Market - http://www.anygivenfood.com/cork-christmas-market/ - we were wandering through there last saturday evening and it was a real slice of Christmas. If you're about Cork at the weekend check it out. The lights in Bishop Lucey park are pretty stunning too. Fair play to Cork City Council for really christmassing up the gaff!

Later,

Mush

Leaving

2010-11-30T17:57:00.002Z

It was getting harder to breathe for him now, his once corpulent frame withered and frail under his sagging skin. Decades of living life at it's most calorific, now reduced to a clammy blanket of flesh on a disease-wracked carcass. A fit of coughing gripped his body, sapping his energy further. He raised a claw-like hand to the cold, blood-flecked plastic of the oxygen mask and pulled it away from his pock marked face.

He slowly pushed himself up in the bed, the stained sheets tangling around his legs and waist like some tentacled thing from the deep straining to keep him flat on his back. The effort of moving himself even slightly upright started another bout of coughing, specks of blood and lung spattering the already filthy bed covers. The curtained gloom of the room hid all manner of foulness. Piles of newspapers, mountains of unwashed clothes, towers of food encrusted plates covered the dusty wooden floor of the bedroom. The home help had stopped coming weeks ago, but he'd been stronger then, at least being able to make it to the kitchen. But the onset of winter had put paid to that. And now he could feel the end closing in, bit by creeping bit.

Of course, if he'd lived in a civilised country he'd probably have had more time. But in this backwater he had been lucky to get the home care that he had got. His once generous pension had been whittled away to practically nothing by a series of misfortune. His wife had left him years ago, taking a sizeable chunk. Mounting medical bills coupled with the constant devaluation of the funds in which his money had been invested had left him almost penniless. He'd also had a nice fat state pension but that had been stripped away by those grasping morons in the government. Restitution they called it. Retribution he called it. Retribution for his greatness.

Twenty years previously he'd been on top of the world. Rubbing shoulders with the great leaders of the early twenty first century. His was a prosperous nation, proud, boastful, full of the swagger of the nouveau riche and he was it's leader. A decade and half in government and the country never had it so good. A decade and a half of gout inducing excess, banquet after state banquet and he wolfed down every last morsel. And why not? He deserved it. His government had made the country rich beyond it's wildest dreams. And fuck the begrudgers.

And when it all went wrong, when the country needed a strong leader, by god did they get one! No nonsense, tough talking, quick to action. They were lucky to have him. But despite everything he did they still turned on him. Cast him aside like used tissue. The fuckers. The jealous fuckers. He did his best for them and this is how they treated him? And that jumped up boy scout on the opposition. That fucking gepetto-carved marionette! Sweeping in, making all those cuts. Of course the country couldn't take it. It was only a recession when he left office. He'd left them with a sound four year plan. It wasn't his fault they couldn't make it work. Some, of course, did try to blame him. His policies. His leadership. Saying it had all started when he was in office, when he was in charge of the books. But he couldn't be blamed for the poor hiring policies of the country's banks, could he? He didn't make them borrow all that money. And he certainly couldn't be held responsible for the country defaulting on its international debts. He wasn't even office, how could he be responsible?

Ungrateful bastards so they were. Hounding him at every corner for the last twenty years. Mary couldn't stand the constant barrage of questions from angry journalists every time they left the house. Sure of course he had the odd drink in the evening. He had to do something to take the edge off. But that was too much for her. It was only after she'd left that he'd been diagnosed with cancer of the liver. At that stage they'd taken half his ministers pension and his leader's pension. Leaving him with a worthless private pension and the meagre state allowance to try and pay for his failing health.

But he'd shown them! He'd shown them by refusing to give in. He'd never apologise to those blue shirted imbeciles and their socialist masters. His country might have abandoned him and his body betrayed him but damn it all he still had his pride. He was a hero god damn it! He'd earned the country more money than it had ever seen and they still tore him apart, called him traitor and then cast him aside.

Another fit of coughing took hold. His body shook with each convulsion and his lungs exploded with each missed breath. He could feel his strength leaving him. Abandoning him like everyone else had.

"So this is it?" he thought to himself. "This is how heroes die?"

Expenses are Priceless

2010-11-24T19:27:00.000Z

I was struck by a story in the Irish Times last week (Evidence of an Irish politician's scruples on expenses . . . in 1922 http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2010/1108/1224282866090.html) regarding Michael Collins making sure that he foot the bill for a car hired for election purposes when he was using it for personal journeys. That the man had such integrity is no surprise. He was a true hero and deservedly one of the top five in RTE's recent Ireland's Greatest series. He's also been one of my own personal heroes ever since I was a boy. Strong, bold yet practical and not afraid to make tough choices, he was the kind of person who got things done both as a soldier and as a politician.

He's also the kind of person that we're sadly lacking in today's Irish politics. Can you imagine any of the current denizens of Leinster House acting so unscrupulously as to pass up a chance to claim that little bit extra on the election expenses? We have a senator in Ivor Callely who repeatedly abused the trust of the Irish people in his expense claims (claiming for travel expenses from his west Cork holiday home while living in Dublin, getting companies to provide him with false invoices so he could claim the maximum allowable for mobile phone costs) and other members of the Dáil who regularly inflate claims. Can you imagine what Michael Collins would make of the representatives of the Irish people nearly 100 years after the first Dáil? This man gave his life for this country. And how have his heirs repayed him? By grubbing around for every spare cent in expenses, by selling the contry to the property developers and bankers.

The myth of this man is truly great but is this not what we should be aspiring to? At a time when we are crying out for true inspirational leadership, the example of Mícheál Ó Coileáin should be the ambition of every political leader in our country.

Later,

Mush

Missing Links 2

2010-11-23T14:01:00.003Z

An interesting "State of the Union" blog post from Maman Poulet - worth a read:
http://www.mamanpoulet.com/ireland-inc-bankrupt-not-only-financially/

This movie looks just awesome. Cowboys. Aliens. What more could you want?
http://justjared.buzznet.com/2010/11/17/daniel-craig-cowboys-aliens-teaser-trailer/

More from the Vlog Brothers - this time their "Thoughts from Places" series. Some decent modern day philosophising on the YouTubes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAEM3BkLANQ&feature=list_related&playnext=1&list=PL9EF0C1C9A93295C5

Wheel Spinning Hamster Dead - Political Satire in cartoon form. Good stuff.
http://www.wheelspinninghamsterdead.com/

Unbankable

2010-11-19T11:12:00.001Z

So there's a hell of a lot of media attention on the state of affairs in little old Ireland these days. And it's not just the financial journals watching - major news organisations are now paying heed to the crumbling edifice of the Irish economy.

Although this crisis itself has been years in the making (a massive property bubble, a country swept up in nouveau riche excess, a political elite that was more interested in clapping greasy hands with developers than prudent financial management of the country; and a banking system whose individual banks clambered head over feet to outdo each other in reckless lending), it was last weekend that the whispers of a European Central Bank (ECB) / International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout began to seep out to the international press. It seems it was the BBC who were one of the first on the trail of the story of the Irish Government in bailout talks with Europe. The Irish Government weren't long in trotting ministers out left, right and centre to flatly deny that there were any talks. Despite this obvious bullshit, ministers and even the Taoiseach kept blatantly lying, saying there were no bailout talks. On Thursday the 19th of November, the ECB and IMF arrived in the country for direct talks with our officials about a substantial loan to bail out our banks. Even when the governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, one of the few trusted figures in Irish finance, admits that we're about to be bailed out (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11782356), the Taoiseach has the temerity to come out with a "he's entitled to his view" dismissal of Patrick Honohan's statement.

And here's the thing, even at the point when every reputable news source is saying we're having a bailout, when our most redoubtable financial expert is saying we are having a bailout, our government can't bring themselves to tell us the truth. Dick Roche, our so called Minister for Europe, and the Taoiseach have been the biggest culprits. Numerous comparisons to Comical Ali (the Iraqi spokesman who denied the American invasion was having any effect when US tanks could be seen rolling along the streets of Baghdad behind him on camera) have been made. If it wasn't so tragic it would be hilarious. What we have now is a government in complete and utter meltdown. Incapable of handling criticism; absolutely disconnected from reality. Department of Finance officials were telling reporters to direct their questions to the IMF (in a move akin to a company under receivership directing all questions to the liquidator); the Green Party Twitterati have been blocking followers who level any criticism their way; and the Taoiseach still persists in engaging in a convoluted game of semantics where he'll use any words other than bail out to describe our inevitable future.

I suppose we shouldn't be surprised at this behaviour from the Fianna Failures and their Green Party concubines. Since September 2008 they have peddled lie after lie, rendering any government statements totally meaningless and unbelievable. If they released a statement in the morning declaring the sky blue, you'd have a country craning their necks to see what shade of red it had actually turned. Every figure they've mentioned in relation to the bank bailout has consistently turned out to be false. At this stage it's a wonder why they even bother.

I'd like to say "what kind of fools do they take us for?", but it obviously works on some people. We've had two decades of the same gombeens in government and despite everything that they've wreaked on this country, 19% of the country would still vote for them in the morning. That there is anyone in this country that could even consider voting for Fianna Fáil, after their total mismanagement of the genuinely booming economy of the early 2000s and their total disregard for the truth, is utterly baffling. So no wonder they keep peddling their denial act, it's worked in the past on us so why shouldn't they keep it up? They've no incentive to tell the truth.

The sad truth, however, is that it looks to rest of the world that we are biting the hands that feed us. The ECB and the IMF have rocked up with tens of billions of euro to help us get back on our feet and Brian Cowen metaphorically spits in their faces with his ungainly brinksmanship. At this stage the thought of the IMF/ECB running our affairs is actually a relief. The things that need to get done to right the wrongs of this economy might finally get enacted under our new IMF/ECB overlords. We have a strong export economy despite the best efforts of the current government to fuck everything up. That's something we can grow on. We have the potential to be a major provider of renewable energy. This is something else we should be concentrating on. We have a bloated welfare state and an obese public sector that is badly in need of losing a few extraneous punds. And I say that as a public sector worker. With the IMF in charge there will be no excuses. There is no more money in the pot for extravagent salaries for the incompetents in the civil service. The efficiencies that should have been delivered under bench marking might finally have a chance of being realised. And while we must do everything in our power to protect the most vulnerable in our society, we shouldn't tolerate a situation whereby people on minimum wage end up with less in their pockets than someone on the dole.

There is another thing that is pretty disappointing and that's the relish that certain certain commentators seem to take in the pressure that our financial melt down is putting on the euro. It genuinely confuses me when people pronounce that the euro is dead or that Ireland should leave the euro. How in non-existent deity's name is that even possible? It took us decades to get rid of the punt. How in the name of gibbering fuck are we supposed to just "get out" of the Euro? Are we going to wake up in the morning and suddenly find our euros have transformed back into punts? As pretty as some of our coinage was, I don't think that's something we should be hoping for. Leaving the euro would be a long and complicated process - we'd have to re-mint our own currency; convert all our tills, bank machines and any other device that takes money; re-price all our goods and establish a stable value for this fledgling punt-nua all in the midst of the financial clusterfuck that is the current banking crisis? On a fundamental, practical level I just can't see it.

Finally, the rumblings about the demise of our twelve and half percent corporation tax are increasingly worrying. The one bullet left in the chamber of our economic recovery is being targetted by certain sectors of the European Community who've spent years trying to figure out a way to eliminate this competitive advantage. I've always wondered why, if they were so taken with our low corporate tax rate, they wouldn't adjust their own tax rates accordingly? With little else going right with our economy at the moment, it would be madness to lose what little genuine ingenuity we have left. Unfortunately with the emphatic statements from Dick Roche and his ilk on how our corporate tax rate is one hundred percent guaranteed, it can only be a matter of time before that too slips out of our control.

Later,

Mush

Missing Links 1

2010-11-18T18:01:00.005Z

From time to time we all come across interesting articles or websites that we'd like to share with the ether. They don't always necessitate a full blog post discussion so I thought I'd throw them in together occasionally as a single post (inspired by Mulley's Fluffy Links).

First up, it's not only the ordinary people who are shit sick of this government. Their own ombudsmen have taken them to task. Sarah Burke has an interesting piece on Politico about the government's disregard for the care of the elderly.

I'm no longer a member of the Catholic Church but I think the Association of Catholic Priests are showing themselves to be an unusual force for good. A group of rank and file priests, they've recently started challenging the heirarchy on all sorts of issues. Something the Church badly needs, in my opinion. Anyway one of them was recently taken to task for saying nice things about homosexuality. Fair play to the ACP for standing up for Fr. O'Sullivan.

A radio play for the digital age. With Zombies. I've only listened to the first episode but the zombie podcast is worth a go if the undead are your bag.

In a shameless plug for a work related site, UCC recently started a graduate start-up incubation unit called IGNITE.

In honour of the release of the latest Harry Potter film (I'm going Saturday), I give you Hank Green from the Vlogbrothers singing "Accio Deathly Hallows"

Later

Mush

Paint the House Pink

2010-11-16T09:22:00.000Z

"Where are all the gay politicians?" the Independent asked in July 2006. Four years later and there is still a noticeable lack of openly gay elected representatives in this country. David Norris still remains our only fully out member of the oireachtas. Only two candidates at the last election were gay and neither of them won a seat. But basic stats tell us there should be at least 20 gay, lesbian or bisexual senators and/or TDs. So where are they?

It would be really great to see some out and proud politicians in this country. People the LGBT community can go to in times of need who understand our issues, people who get what it is to be gay in Ireland. It's not that we're a horribly oppressed minority but there are still struggles that we face. There are still many gay couples parenting children whose relationships with those children remains in a state of legal limbo. There are many gay couple who wish to marry and can't do so in this country. There are gays and lesbians across Ireland looking for someone to stand up and fight our fights for us. The more out people there are in public life, the more accepted in society members of the LGBT community become.

But it's not just the gays who are sorely under-represented in our political system. Women are also in a significant minority in the oireachtas. Despite some great role models, Ireland is at number eighty four out of one hundred and thirty eight contries in terms of the numbers of women in Parliament. At a time when we're crying out for change isn't it time we really started to ask for different politicians. The time of the gombeen men of Irish politics needs to pass and we need representatives from all walks of life in our Dáíl. We need representatives of the new Irish, representatives of the LGBT community, representatives of women, representatives of the disabled. The marginalised need to become the mainstream. We need a true cross-section of society to represent us in the next Dáil in order to get this country back on track. It's no coincidence that the fairest societies are the ones that are also the most stable politically and financially.These are also the countries we aspire to be like the most - the Nordic countries of Sweden, Norway and Finland.

So at the next election let's take a chance on the non-white candidate or the non-straight candidate or the non-male candidate. Let's give our parliament a chance to experience the benefits of true diversity and get rid of the current crop of gombeen men.

Later,

Mush

Electile Dysfunction

2010-11-10T09:07:00.001Z

There are a lot of things that make me angry about the current Fianna Fáil-Green party abusive relationship that we call our government. Their consistent ballsing up of everything being the primary one. But their latest trick, the latest straw currently doing it's best to break the back of the Irish electorate, is that they've finally managed to make Sinn Féin respectable.

Last week Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty won his high court challenge to the Government's failure to hold a bye election in Donegal to replace Pat "the Cope" Gallagher. Gallagher had vacated the seat after winning election to the European Parliament some 17 months ago. Since then, the constituency of Donegal South West has been reduced to two TDs, one of those being the most disappointing person to ever hold the office of Tánaiste, Mary Coughlan. That's over a year and a half where that constituency had less than it's constitutionally mandated number of TDs. A year and a half of under-representation for the people of Donegal South-West. And a year and a half of our government denying a section of the population their constitutional imperative because they do not want to face the electorate in anyway.

This absolute cowardice on behalf of the government is hidden behind vacuous platitudes about how the country needs stability or how elections will disrupt the delicate budgetary process. It's so obvious why they didn't want to hold the election, after all the proverbial turkeys are not known for their vigorous political support of the Christmas Party. But to couch it in yet more false excuses is just one more glob of political saliva gobbed in the face of the Irish people. And to top it all off, it was a Sinn Féin senator who brought and won the court case that finally forced the government to concede and announce the bye election. This government have managed to make Sinn Féinn the heroes of the hour. A political fringe party, former mouth pieces for the IRA have just been made that little bit more electable because the current government are terrified of losing their sweaty, clammy grasp on power. I don't think it will surprise anyone if Pearse Doherty is returned as TD for Donegal South-West at the end of November. And he should be congratulated for the stance he took when the other major opposition parties dithered. But thanks to our current Government being so unbelievably incompetent, cowardly and hopeless it means that a party who's policies, which to me at least, seem to border on communist may well be seen by many as a party that they can now legitimately vote for.

Later,

Mush

Meta Blogging

2010-11-09T21:28:00.003Z

Finally got round to writing some blog posts (to be posted over the next few days). I've missed the little buzz I get out of writing for me of late and am trying to get back into the swing of things. Of course I want to put a bit more structure on the blog as well so that kind of requires a bit more planning on my part. That doesn't mean I won't be popping random thought type posts up here from time to time and of course when I am truly vexed there's nothing like pouring out a good rant through the interwebs.

I've always enjoyed writing and the whole point of starting the blog was the help me to do more of it. Laziness is my biggest challenge. That and Angry Birds (stupid addictive exploding birds on my mobile phone). But I will progress. And I'd love to hear more from the people who read this. Leave a comment or say hi on twitter or facebook.

And now I'm going to go watch some Stargate Universe. Still a quality show.

Later

Mush

Snoozily Stuffed...

2010-10-17T21:02:00.004+01:00

The lovely Seán and I headed to Midleton this evening for dinner. Seán'd had a recommendation from an Italian colleague of a pretty decent Pizzeria called Pizzeria San Marco which is on the main street of Midleton so we decided it'd be a nice place for a birthday dinner for himself.

Midleton is always closer than I think it is. Especially now that we're in Douglas we're on the eastern side of the city and can get out there in 20 minutes. However, if you're thinking of going to PSM it's a good idea to book. Foolishly I assumed it wouldn't be too busy at 6 o clock on a Sunday but it's not a massive restaurant so it was actually full so we had to go away for an hour. We spent the hour wandering around Midleton - not a bad little town but there's not much open at 6 on a Sunday.

Still once we got in it was pleasant enough. The food was very tasty but not as great as we had imagined. Seán's Caesar Salad was damn tasty but my insalate beef something or other was only ok. Could have done with a decent dressing. And the chairs were uncomfortable. I know that might seem like a little thing but a comfortable chair is a must for any decent restaurant. Mains of Pizza were very good (well my Pizza Maialata - various types of pork) was very very tasty. Seán was not too impressed with the scanty handful of prawns and mushrooms on his and found the sauce rather salty. Dessert made up for it though with an excellent tira misu and a lovely caramel panna cotta. Overall it was a good meal but I wouldn't be in a rush to drive 20 minutes there and another 20 back again. If it was on the doorstep it'd would stand a chance of repeat business but being out in Midleton means I probably won't be there again any time soon. Still if you're down east Cork direction you could do a hell of a lot worse. Just maybe get the food to take away so you don't have to put up with the ergonimically disastrous chairs.

Later,

Mush

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes...

2010-10-11T18:53:00.002+01:00

...are coming. It's been a while since I've blogged but I was taking a break from digital exposition longer than 140 characters for the past little while. I'm planning to get back into the regular blogging over the coming weeks with more articles, essays and general mush thoughts on a whole range of things.

The main topics I tend to blog on are: Irish politics, LGBT issues and my life and that's what I aim to continue to do just with a bit more regularity and a bit more focus. Ireland is going through a very turbulent times and it's important that different voices are heard. I'd like to think I have an idea or two about the state of the nation and would only love to share those thoughts.

Anyway, watch this space (or not. In fact, there's probably loads of other things on the internet that you could be watching. Like this.)

Later,

Mush

Tri-ed and Tested

2010-09-09T19:04:00.003+01:00

So I probably should have blogged a bit sooner but I guess I was all tri-ed out after the Blackwater triathlon 2 weeks ago. The prospect of doing the final triathlon wasn't daunting, but I think I was very much done with Triathlons for this year by the time the last one came along.

That said, the triathlon itself was perfectly pleasant. Despite the late start (I prefer the morning races cos there's not as much waiting around), it was a decent course. A 250m upstream swim followed by 500m down meant I didn't do my best swim time. Still, I did manage to pass people on the swim course, which was nice.

The cycle was fine too - no major hills, just a nice rolling course. The countryside around Fermoy is very picturesque. In fact, that's one of the things I've been pleasantly surprised by during the course of all five races - how well the Irish countryside holds up to the stereotype of the beautiful rolling, green hills. That's been one of the great things about taking part in competitions across the country - I've genuinely seen parts of Ireland that I'd never seen before and all of it is beautiful!

The run was a full 6 kilometers and I really felt every meter of it, having done bugger all running in the weeks before hand. I still managed it though and I wasn't the last to cross the line (although time-wise I was yet again the last person ). I was a very happy Mush crossing the finish that's for sure.

I still don't know how much exactly I raised. I've a few promisory notes to collect on so will post the final total when I've gotten everything in. Still, big thanks to everyone who supported me financially and spiritually over the last few months. I'm glad I did it all - definitely feel like I accomplished something this summer that's for sure.

Later

Mush

The Final Front Ear

2010-08-27T22:29:00.003+01:00

One last blast tomorrow in my "Tri Anything for Marriage Equality" up in Fermoy where I'll be doing the blackwater sprint triathlon. One last 750m swim, one last 20k cycle and one last 6 kilometer run and I'll be done.

And I'll be glad of it to be honest. The aim of the game was to raise money for Marriage Equality and to get into some kind of reasonable shape. Well the money raising part has gone well enough (I don't have a final tally yet but I should be in or around the thousand euro mark - although there's still time to sponsor me if you'd like via the online form http://www.marriagequality.ie/events/2010/04/18/fundraising-spotlight-maurice-ryder/) but the reasonable shape part, not so much. Sure I'm fitter than I was when I started but not necessarily lighter. In fact I don't think I've lost any weight over the last 7 or so months I've been training and taking part in triathlons. I've gone up and gone down but overall it's balanced out. Still I'm happy I gave it a go and I've genuinely enjoyed each one so far.

But I've had enough as well. The recent move didn't do much for my training motivation so I'm going into my last tri the least prepared I've been. Not completely unprepared, after all I am cycling to and from Douglas every week day now, but certainly a lot less prepared than I have been for the previous four. Still I'll get through it and be happy when I've done so. I'll give a report on it when I'm back tomorrow evening or possible Sunday (it's a late afternoon start in Fermoy which means a whole bunch of waiting around to get going. I much prefer the morning tri's that's for sure).

Anyway, not much else to say except thanks to everyone who's supported me over the last few months. This ones for you guys ;-)

Later,

Mush

Little House Full of Fairies...

2010-08-20T16:31:00.004+01:00

One week down in the new gaff and so far so good. The whole experience of moving to a new place and moving in with one's better half has certainly been challenging. Worth it certainly but definitely challenging nonetheless. I'm glad I took the time off work as well. Having to move stuff and arrange accounts to be moved and opened for various services at a new address would have been impossible if I only had the evenings to do so.

But despite the initial teething problems of deciding where to put everything, we've settled into the new place very well I think. It's a great little house and cosy too. Space may be at a premium but it's only the two of us so we have a whole house to do with as we wish. I've also had a new commute to get used to. The plan is to cycle the 6 odd kilometers from Douglas to UCC as much as possible - all though I did cave this morning and drive to the park and ride facility on Pouladuff Road. The torrents from above this morning robbed me of my resolve. Of course it's gorgeous outside now but one day driving out of five is not bad. Must get some decent cycling and wet weather gear in the very near future though!

As for the coming weekend, we're off to Dublin on Sunday to participate in this year's March for Marriage organised by LGBT Noise. Starting at 2pm from city hall in Dublin, the March will head for the Department of Justice on Stephen's Green to protest at the inequality of the recently passed civil partnership law and to demand full marriage equality for members of the LGBT community. If you're in Dublin on Sunday feel free to join us! http://lgbtnoise.ie/?p=1563 for full details.

Later,

Mush

Nearly There...

2010-08-12T12:24:00.002+01:00

I've spent most of this week moving to the new house. It's been grand actually, and being able to take time off work has really helped make it a painless process. We have the Internet and TV from the lovely people at UPC. Really was very happy at how fast they were able to switch us from the Lough to Donnybrook. The new UPC telly is going to take some getting used to after having sky+ for so long.

So the new gaff is starting to take shape. I've nearly all my stuff moved over. Just a few bits and bobs to move. But the new place is really starting to feel homely. Once Seán has all his stuff in it'll be complete. One of the things I'm looking forward to most is having a real fire again. I haven't lived in a house with a real fire place in over seven and a half years so it'll be a real treat.

I'm also kinda psyched about my new commute. It's a full six kilometers from the new house to UCC so my daily cycle will include at least twelve kilometers for the foreseeable. That should help somewhat with the old fitness. I'm really looking forward to getting to know the area. I've spotted a little walk that I want to follow and see where it leads me and that kind of thing.

And now I have to head to Aldi to pick up some cleaning stuff.

Later,

Mush

Do No Evil - A Broken Promise

2010-08-10T23:28:00.005+01:00

It's one of Google's founding principles - to "Do No Evil". It was always their goal to fight for a transparent and open Internet. I've been a fan of their output for many years and am very happy to use Gmail, Google Search, Blogger, YouTube, Chrome and even Android on my HTC Hero. Google have provided me with a seamless online experience allowing me to integrate email contacts with my phone contacts, allowing me to post my pictures online to Picasa and to generally enjoy my time online without too much hassle. In return for this, I understood that I would get advertised at in various places that I used a google service. I've even clicked on some of these ads from time to time.

But this week Google took a sinister step towards doing some pretty big evil in the world of the Internet. This week, Google partnered with Verizon in the US to effectively usher in the end of "Net Neutrality" for the Mobile Internet. Net Neutrality is basically the idea that your Internet Service Provider should not be able to restrict what you access over the internet or charge content providers or viewers more for providing or accessing particular services or websites on their network. So Eircom shouldn't be able to reduce your ability to access YouTube for instance or for them to charge Google more in order for you to receive YouTube. It would be like Zanussi having to pay the ESB more for you to use your dishwasher on the ESB network. In the end, it's the customer who would end up paying more for the privilege of having a Zanussi dishwasher.

Wired.com have posted a very interesting article on what Google has done in the states and it's well worth a read: http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/08/why-google-became-a-carrier-humping-net-neutrality-surrender-monkey/all/1

I just hope that EU regulators will sit up and take notice and support the concept of Net Neutrality no matter what the platform or medium. As more and more people access the internet over their Mobile Phone, this issue will become more and more relevant to our everyday lives.

In the meantime, I won't be giving up my use of Google services just yet. But they've made me wary. They've broken one of the promises that made them such an appealing service provider to begin with. I guess there really is no such thing as true corporate altruism.

Later,

Mush

Marvelous

2010-08-04T19:58:00.004+01:00

I like comics. I always have. When I was a kid it was the Beano and the Dandy or Whizzer and Chips. I was even a fan of Bananaman. If it was printed in black and white with a primary-colored centre spread I loved it. When I was very young we wouldn't have had the money for comics to be anything more than an occasional treat - summer specials and annuals making up the majority of my collection.

As I got a bit older, and discovered I liked to draw, I think it was my older sister Fiona who introduced me to 2000ad featuring Judge Dredd. This was a whole different type of comic with artwork that wouldn't be out of place in an art gallery. Deliciously detailed, fantastically violent, I was hooked. Fiona herself was also into drawing and art and would come back from college with bundles of 2000ads she'd borrowed. She'd use these comics as inspiration for her own artwork. My cousin Simon would come to visit during the summers and he too would have bundles of the Galaxy's Greatest Comic. We'd spend hours pouring over the various strips. Sláine. Nemesis. Strontium Dog. Old Stony Face himself. And we'd try our own versions of the various characters, convinced that the life of a comic book artist beckoned. I started collecting 2000ad myself when I was about 11. Every wednesday for seven years I bought it almost without fail. And I loved it. Loved the stories and loved the art. The visuals that were printed in 2000ad were just amazing. So different from the American comics with which I had a passing acquaintance. I knew about Batman and Spiderman and Superman. A few of those comics had sneaked into the borrowed bundles that my sister used to appear with during those summers. I enjoyed them but never as much as I enjoyed Judge Dredd and his compatriots. Artists like Simon Bisley, Brian Bolland, Carlos Ezquerra and Glenn Fabry and writers like Pat Mills, John Wagner and even Alan Moore all graced the pages of 2000ad with characters that inflamed the imagination.

Every copy book I ever owned, every school book I ever possessed is testament to my appreciation of classic british comics sci-fi. Judge Dredd was my go-to doodle. Anytime I was bored during class, I'd sketch a quick Judge Dredd on whatever surface was available to me. I was constantly doodling JD. So much so that even now, when I'm bored at a meeting or my mind wanders slightly during a phone call, I find myself unconsciously sketching out a Judge Dredd helmet (or his Irish counterpart) or a Judge Dredd figure, armed with a suitably sci-fi gun. I just can't help it. It was that important to me when I was younger.

2000ad was fifty pence when I started and was close to one pound fifty when I gave up collecting it seven years later at the age of eighteen. Fags and Booze became more important than the thrill of comic book violence. But at this stage I had gained a deep appreciation for all graphic novels (the fancy term for a comic book). Neil Gaiman's Sandman, the occasional Batman collection, the infamous Alan Moore's various greats (V for Vendetta, Watchmen). I devoured them all. Nearly 20 years after I started collecting 2000ad and I am collecting regularly once again. Instead this time I'm foregoing the weekly or monthly titles and concentrating on the collections. And this has given me a chance to start to get to grips with the Marvel universe. As I mentioned, I had a passing familiarity with this world before, but I've recently delved into the Marvel Ultimate universe. The Ultimate Universe sees all of Marvel's popular characters re-imagined for the 21st century. And it works. It started with the Avengers (Captain America, Thor, Wasp, the Hulk, Iron Man, Ant-man/Giant-man) re-cast as the Ultimates. There's wife beating, mass murder, alcoholism, more mass murder all in a contemporary setting. Proper story telling with proper consequences for the characters. I've started collecting Ultimate Spiderman, X-Men and Fantastic Four and have to say I'm loving them. Spiderman and X-Men more so than Fantastic Four but they're really great books. There is so much more to the artwork than I remember from the Marvel books of the 80s and the stories a more than just the villain of the week efforts of the past.

So I've finally got a few decent Marvel titles to go on my shelves. They'll take their place with the Batman origin stories of the Long Halloween and Dark Victory as well as the complete Judge Dredd collection. And I mustn't forget the Walking Dead, Robert Kirkman's awesome zombie series. It's one of the things I love most about being in my thirties. I'm lucky enough to be in the position that I can finally indulge the inner child and get the comics I always wanted. I can't wait to get them all reshelved in the new house. I'm looking forward to a few winters evenings curled up next to a crackling fire, losing myself completely in any of the worlds of DC, Marvel or 2000ad.

Later,

Mush

Adventures in Househunting

2010-07-27T19:58:00.003+01:00

It's really quite astounding the shite that some people have the gall to actually offer for rent. Myself and the lovely Seán have been househunting and have seen a few houses at this stage. Most of the places have been quite nice but one place in particular, in Greenmount, was just horrendous. A three bedroomed house with a dusty sitting room, dilapidated kitchen and mouldy walled bedrooms. It has been on the market for a few weeks now and it just astounds me that they hadn't the consideration or respect for their future tenants to make the place look in any way presentable. It's like they just assume that people will be queuing up to take the place. And given it's proximity to UCC, it may well get tenants before August is out.

Another thing that frustrates me is the amount of properties on Daft that don't bother to put up decent photographs. It costs nothing to take a few extra photos using a digital camera but you'd think, given the paucity of pictures on most ads, that Daft charge on a per photo basis. A decent set of pics can really help to give an idea of what you're getting yourself in for.

Of course, there is nothing compared to actually going to visit a place. It's kind of exciting and a little bit scary to be looking for a new home after all this time. I've been four years by the Lough, and three and a half years on Connaught Avenue before that. This next house, apartment or whatever could potentially be where we live for the next few years and we want to make sure we get it right. So we have our list of things we'd like and things we think are essential. A comfy couch and a clothes dryer shouldn't be too much to ask for. It sometimes seems, though, that some Landlords forget that the people renting their properties want the same comforts as they have in their own homes. I get the feeling that there's occasionally an attitude of "Sure that'll do em, they're only renters" from landlords when furnishing these rental properties.

But sure these are only small gripes. And I'm sure we'll find the right spot.

Later,

Mush

Tri-als and Tri-bulations

2010-07-20T17:59:00.003+01:00

Last place. Yet again. Last place. That was my placing in the Carrick on Suir triathlon which took place last Saturday. I'd been to Carrick once before, years ago, to visit a buddy of mine from college. We had been in Waterford for a weekend of shenanegans and stopped of at Mike's gaff in Carrick for Sunday lunch and got a fine feed from the wonderful Mike's Mam. T'was probably nine or so years ago at this stage. Which meant I didn't really remember much of the town. It's quite a nice little spot. Great countryside. And it helped that the day was actually quite pleasant. There was even sun screen worn!

The River Suir

The day started with an early rise in order to get up to Carrick for registration. I gave myself plenty of time (probably a bit too much) and the drive only took an hour and twenty minutes. So I had plenty of time to get registered, find a nice spot in the transition area, have a sconce around the Seán Treacy park where it was being held before the twelve o'clock start. The start of the swim was a good bit upstream (just over 900m walk to where we got into the water) and being in wave 2 meant I didn't get started until half 12 or there abouts. The current helped me to a 13 minute time for the 750 m swim.

My Number

The cycle was grand, nothing too hectic. I managed it in a time of 51 minutes 19 seconds. And the run, which was over the normal 5k at 5.8k, came in at 50 minutes and 37 seconds. So two hours in total for the whole thing. A better time than the last two triathlons at least. Of course it's hard to compare each triathlon, with differences in the courses making each one a truly unique event. But I suppose that's one of the things I've enjoyed about them. There's no one event the same. And even from year to year, differences in the course mean you're very rarely getting the same experience each time. Variety is the spice of triathlons it would seem.

Transition Area

So one more left. One more triathlon in my five triathlons in aid of Marriage Equality. I'm definitely looking forward to finishing up for the summer. I'm going to give myself a different kind of exercise program for the autumn and winter months but I'll still try to include the swimming, cycling and running. And I can see myself doing a few again next year, maybe just not so regimented.

As always, thanks to everyone who as sponsored me. Your support is truly invaluable. And if you still feel like throwing a few bob my way the link for the online donation is:

http://www.marriagequality.ie/events/2010/04/18/fundraising-spotlight-maurice-ryder/

Later,

Mush

Ya Like Ta Move It Move It...

2010-07-15T20:50:00.003+01:00

In a months time I have to move out of my current home. By the time I move out I will be one week shy of four full years living by the Lough. As cliché as it might sound, it really has been great. It started with mself and Fiach moving in with Sarah and Valerie. Valerie soon moved on and Cathy moved in. The next person to up sticks was Fiach (nearly two years ago at this stage) and I took his room. That's one of the things I'm going to miss most about this house - my room. Its size, its space, its fantastic view of the Lough. After Fiach we had a Frenchman who lived with us for all of 3 days, a Chinese girl who stayed a year, a German (the inimitable Franz) who was with us for 6 months and a Dalmador, Penny who we got as a pup.

We lost Sarah to Jonathan at Christmas time and Cathy left in June to move in with the lovely Aebhric in Dublin. Which has left me as the sole tenant (with the company of the lovely Seán) for the last little while. When I first moved in I couldn't imagine living, for all intents and purposes, on my own. I always liked the idea of having company in the house that one lived in. Of being able to have a chat and a cup of tea with ones housemates or flake off to the cinema of a thursday evening. But having the house to myself when Seán has been at home has actually been quite refreshing. It might be that getting older has given me a maturity to be comfortable in my own company or, more likely, a tendancy towards the misanthropic has been awakened. Or maybe a combination of both. I think most people reach a stage where the prospect of living with anyone besides their significant other becomes unthinkable. And there's nothing wrong with that.

That's not the only change the last four years has seen. Cathy is engaged. Sarah is going to be a mum soon. Fiach lives in Scotland. Valerie is seeing a lovely Italian dude. Franz is back in Germany. Four years ago I was still in the closet. I couldn't drive. I hadn't run a marathon, made two short films, ran the Ballycotton 10 twice, done five triathlons nor met the man who I'd fall in love with. But all those things have happened. I might miss the infamous kitchen parties we had every so often. Those impromptu, after the club, drinking til seven in the morning, dancing on chairs type of nights that happened every now and then. But no regrets.

In four weeks time, I'll be moving into a new house with the lovely Seán. We haven't found a place yet but we'll be looking soon. And I couldn't be happier. A bit nervous, maybe, but also excited for the change, the next step, the moving forward.

Later,

Mush

I'll Tri the Carrick Please

2010-07-08T19:44:00.003+01:00

On Saturday, the 17th, I'm heading to Carrick-on-Suir for my fourth triathlon in my "Tri anything for Marriage Equality" series of five triathlons. I know I've still got a further race in August but it's nice to be approaching the end. Come the end of next week I'll only have one more to do.

It's been an interesting experience really. My goals at the start were to raise money for Marriage Equality, raise awareness for marriage equality while losing weight and getting fit. Over the past 4 months I've raised the best part of €900 (I'm hoping to at least double last years total of €500 for one triathlon) for M.E., I've had a number of positive reactions at each triathlon to my M.E. emblazoned tshirt and I'm definitely keeping fit. The weight however has kind of plateau-ed and I haven't been shifting as much as I'd have liked. But then again, I've not exactly been depriving myself either. It would probably be an understatement to say that I like my food. But overall I try and eat healthily. I just don't always succeed. Still, there's no point in crying over eaten food. I'm happy with the goals I've achieved so far and am resolved to continue until the end.

The important thing is just to keep it up. I've enjoyed the challenge of each triathlon and the training that goes with it. Sure, the training could probably go a bit better some weeks, but there are times like today when it all just clicks. It might be bucketing down, but it was actually fantastic to be out in the rain for my run this evening. A 5 kilometer jog to Harvey Norman on the Old Kinsale Road and back, listening to podcasts on the iPod in just over 40 minutes. That was on top of a 20+k cycle out to the estuary and back yesterday, which in turn was following on from a 12 k cycle, 4k run combo on Tuesday. Its left me with that glorious exercise tiredness in my bones and muscles - that good kind of tired you get when you know you've put in a bit of effort.

And the effort is worth it. The money being raised is even more important to the Marriage Equality cause after the passing of the civil partnership bill today. Because now we have to fight even harder for full equality. And it's going to take even longer than it should have done because there's going to be no appetite from any of the political parties to move from civil partnership any time soon. But we have to persist. If we don't insist on our rights to be seen as equal to straight people in the eyes of the laws of this country, the perception of the LGBT community as different and other and deviant will never fully lift. There are 9 countries in the world that offer true marriage equality to their citizens - Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Canada, Portugal, South Africa and Iceland. It would be class if Ireland could join that list sooner rather than later.

As always, if you'd still like to sponsor me the link is:

http://www.marriagequality.ie/events/2010/04/18/fundraising-spotlight-maurice-ryder/

Later,

Mush

A Vampire Weekend

2010-07-07T22:24:00.004+01:00

Last Sunday I spent the day with my friend Noelette watching the Twilight saga. The third movie was previewing so we wanted to be all caught up before heading to see it. It was a surprisingly enjoyable day to be honest despite the utter awfulness of Stephanie Myer's creations. Well, some of them anyway.

If you haven't read or seen Twilight the basic premise is Girl falls in love with Boy. Boy turns out to be a vampire. Angst ensues. In the second book, a hot werewolf is introduced who falls in love with girl. More angst ensues. As does an awful lot of shirtlessness. In the third installment, werewolf and vampire compete for girl's affections while trying to protect her from vampire army lead by vengeful lady vampire who wants to kill girl in revenge for her boyf getting offed in the first book/movie.

It's harmless stuff by and large but the biggest flaw is the utter unlikeability of the central character. Bella Swan is a selfish crazy person who manages to wrap hot boys round her little finger despite her complete failure to function as a normal human being.

Still I have to admit I enjoyed the whole event. Sometimes it's just nice to watch pretty people jump around without their shirts on from time to time.

Later,

Mush

A Civil Matter

2010-07-01T22:06:00.003+01:00

So the Dáil saw fit to pass the Civil Partnership bill tonight. I have to admit I am highly conflicted. On the one hand, I am very happy that at long last there are at least some legal protections for same-sex couples in this country. For a lot of gay and lesbian couples this means a lot. They will be able to file joint tax returns, co-own houses, be each others next of kin and have many of the same rights afforded to married couples.

But there's the rub. It's only some of the rights afforded to married couples. Not all. As I've mentioned before the civil partnership completely ignores the rights of children being raised by same sex parents. Martina Devlin puts it much better than I ever could in her article in today's Irish Independant. It is desperately disappointing that our government didn't have the courage to provide us with equality with our straight peers. This bill may be a step on the road to full equality, but it's by no means the destination of the fully equal society that we should be entitled to.

It was heartening, however, that the uncharitable forces of the christian right that had been protesting the bill had no effect on the final ballot. There was even reports of Beverly Cooper Flynn, a member of the dáil who would be far from my esteem in political terms, gave them a right earful telling them they were a disgrace and should be ashamed. Not sure if this was because she feels passionately about the cause of gay civil rights or because she was pissed off at being heckled, but it was gladdening all the same.

But anyway, the fight continues. I'll finish my triathlons in aid of MarriageEquality and I'll keep pestering my elected representatives until they see fit to give me and all gays the freedom to marry the people we love, regardless of their gender.

Later,

Mush

The Process of Removing Weeds from one's Garden

2010-06-30T22:32:00.007+01:00

It's peeing down outside at the moment. Proper summer rain, making the sky darker than it has any right to be on the last day of June. But it was a far cry from today's precipitous inclemency last Thursday when my sister, Edel, got married to the lovely Gar Hanrahan.

Caribbean-esque skies and tropical-like beach were the setting for their humanist ceremony on Derrynane beach in County Kerry last week, a day so weather-perfect that it could have been scripted. Gar in his bond-villain tux, Edel in her bullet-proof wedding dress made for the perfect happy couple. And the Humanist ceremony, though thoughful and simple, made for one of the shortest wedding ceremonies I've attended. God bless the humanists, eh?

After the beach part of the wedding, the celebrations moved to my parents' house in Castlecove where a Marquee had been set up during the week. South African hog roast was the main meal, followed by fine wines and spirits and even finer dancing. No cheesy DJ but plenty of cracking music - Edel has always had great taste in tunes. A great culmination to months of preparation that included the two of them running the cork city marathon only 3 weeks beforehand.

Weddings always make me happy. I'm a soppy romantic at heart, I believe in the happily ever after. It's something I'd like myself in time (given the right legislative changes) and always give rise to inevitable day dreams. Still, at the moment I'm just thrilled for my sister. She's met a true gentleman and snagged him good and proper. They're currently in Iceland (who wants to be your friend, by the way, and top of my list of places I want to visit) on honeymoon, enjoying volcanic vistas and midnight suns. Truly delighted for them both.

Later,

Mush

Tri As I Might...

2010-06-29T19:57:00.006+01:00

...I will not be winning any Triathlons any time soon. But I'll certainly complete them.

Apologies for not posting sooner but I was on my holidays and was internet-less for a good chunk of last week. Anyway, the Cahirsiveen Triathlon took place on the 19th of June at 10.30am. The weather was absolutely glorious and I think the crowd was much bigger than last year. An earlier start time meant I had to be down on the Friday evening to register but I had the lovely Seán with me for company this time so the journey down was very pleasant.

Breakfast of Champions - Honey Puff Waffles and Banana!

An early start meant getting up to leave Castlecove (where my folks live) at half 8. A quick breakfast and off out with us. Cahirsiveen is about a 40 minute drive from there so we were there in good time. My sister, Fiona, was over from England for the week as well (our other sister Edel was getting married last week hence the taking of holidays then) and she popped over to Cahirsiveen as well. It really was great to have support on the course from Seán, Fiona and my little niece Caoimhe (a friend of mine from college, Diane, was also there supporting her fella). It's amazing the difference just a little shout of encouragement can do to lift spirits and give that extra boost of energy.

Putting the Bike Together

The race itself was fine. I didn't do better than I did last year - in fact my time was significantly longer. I did all breast stroke on the swim which meant I was five minutes slower than last year on the swim.

Built for the Water

That's me running up the ramp

And a few minutes extra on the run meant my time was longer overall. The cycle course was different this year with a long climb for the first 10 kilometers. This meant a nice descent for the second half of the cycle and I actually made up time on this. I also got a nice cheer of support for Marriage Equality from one of my fellow triathletes during the cycle - a hefty "Hooray for Marriage Equality" was shouted at me as someone zoomed past me on her bike during the uphill part of the cycle. Alas, the killer 2.5 kilometer climb of the first half of the run, put paid to any advances in time from the cycle.

On the Way Out...

So, yet again, I came last overall (299th was my final position). I have to admit, I enjoyed the overall experience, but being the last person to cross the line can be a bit of a soul dampner. Still, I'll manage. I know that each one completed is an achievement in itself and I also know that I'm raising money for a good cause.

Nearly There...

Crossing the Line...

Speaking of which, Marriage Equality's "We are Family" campaign is in full swing. There are posters illustrating the variety in modern Irish families on many buses across Dublin, and they are also looking for people to send postcards depicting these families to their local TDs, Senators and other public representatives. I have 50 of these postcards (already stamped too) if anyone would like to send some on to their elected representatives. We really need to get the message out there that LGBT families already exist and we need the government to put in place legal equality with "ordinary" families. And the best way for that to happen is for them to introduce Civil Marriage Equality instead of the inadequate civil partnership bill that is currently before the oireachtas.

The Best Supporters...

...a guy could ask for :)

As always, if you would still like to sponsor my efforts, you can do so online at http://www.marriagequality.ie/events/2010/04/18/fundraising-spotlight-maurice-ryder/. I've two more triathlons to go - Carrick on Suir in July and Fermoy in August, so plenty of time to throw a few bob marriage equality's' way!

Later,

Mush

3rd Times the Charm - Tri Anything for Marriage Equality

2010-06-14T21:13:00.003+01:00

I have been remiss in my blogging of late. But in good news, Cahirsiveen triathlon is less than a week away at this stage. It'll be a good opportunity to see how far I've come since last year as this will be the first time that I've repeated a course (I did Sive Tri last year as my first ever triathlon). Looks like the weather will be good and the company even better as the lovely Seán has said he'll join me for the day.

The training has been proceeding. The short time between this one and the last one has slightly thrown me off though so it hasn't been as good as it should have been. Still I've managed to get in a few good sessions between in the last while including a fantastic cycle and run this evening. A 20k out and back from my house to the estuary beyond blackrock castle on the bike, followed by a 5k run around the lough and down to western road in order to get a bit of a hill in on the way back (Gaol Walk up from western road to college road and up highfield avenue is a grand steep run). The run on Saturday is 2 and half kilometers up hill so needed to get in the practice.

So come 10.30am on Saturday morning I'll be off on Triathlon number 3. A big thanks to everyone who has sponsored me so far. Best part of €800 raised so far but still a ways to go to get beyond the €1000 mark. If you haven't sponsored me yet and would like to do so, as always the online donation page is at http://www.marriagequality.ie/events/2010/04/18/fundraising-spotlight-maurice-ryder/ and I have sponsorship cards on my person at all times :)

Oh yeah, Pride weekend took place over a week ago in Cork. T'was good to be out on the streets of Cork with the UCC Staff LGBT Network. Even though the blaring bad techno music isn't necessarily my cup of tea, I do think its important to stand together as a community to say to the greater community that we are here to stay and that we'll be continuing our fight for equality for as long as it takes.

Later,

Mush

Another Tri-ing Time

2010-06-01T20:12:00.006+01:00

I've never been to Slane before. Despite the appeal of the boyne valley, newgrange and the hill of Tara I'd never managed to make it up to that part of the country. I certainly never expected a bout of swimming, running and cycling would get me up there but last weekend my second triathlon of the year took place in Slane Castle.

I headed up on the Friday night seeming as the triathlon was starting at 1pm and I didn't fancy hopping on the bike after a 3 hour drive. First off, I have to mention the fact that this was the first weekend that you can drive from Cork to Dublin completely via Motorway. Sure the tolls add up, but totally worth it as I managed to make it from the Lough to Slane in just over 3 hours. Traffic was light enough obviously and I didn't need to stop for anything. Makes the prospect of visiting that part of the country all the more appealing from now on.

Slane village itself is really quite picturesque with lovely old buildings and a great view of the Boyne Valley. I didn't get a chance to visit any of the historical monuments and sites but I'll most certainly be revisiting. Which brings me to the accommodation. I had the fortune to book a private room in Slane Farm hostel and due to the quite time of the year, I had myself a lovely terraced self-catering cottage all to myself. And only €30 for the night. Absolute bargain. I'll be going back definitely.

Registration

The triathlon itself? Well, it had it's moments. The venue was spectacular of course. Nothing like a big, fuck off castle to set the scene. But there were downsides too. Parking was ages away from the transition area (the place where you switch between sports) so it was a bit of trek lugging gear and bike and what have you from the car to transition. It didn't help that the swim was also a bit of a trek away from transition in the opposite direction. As was the mount point for the bike. It just meant that transition times were going to be long plus the added kilometers of walking between the various points didn't help with the energy levels either.

No. 203

Still, I think overall, Alive Outside did a good job organising and the whole event ran pretty smoothly. The swim was in the River Boyne (which was another first for me as I hadn't had a river swim before) and I managed a respectible enough 13 mins 57 seconds for the 750m. That was with the current though so faster than if I had been in the pool over the same distance. I could definitely do with more open water practice but that will come with time.

Bike on the rack

The cycle ended up being just over 24 kilometers (2 laps of a 12 k route) which was longer than I expected. I knew it was going to be over 20 k but I had 22 kilometers in my head for some reason. This meant that my time was always going to be over the hour and ended up at 1hr and 17mins. I have to admit I struggled on the first lap of the route. I was uncomfortable and just didn't feel right. Still, I managed to get through what was a very hilly route in an ok (for me) time.

A view of some of the run course

The run wasn't bad though. 5 kilometers in just over 40 minutes is there or there abouts for me personally. It's the kind of time that I'm usually happy enough with in training so it did the job in Slane. The run course was challenging enough with a few tricky inclines early on but it was a fabulous location, running through the woods on the castle grounds. The race itself finished right in front of the castle for maximum wow-ness.

the finish line

If I had it to do again there are some things I'd do differently - probably wouldn't have eaten as much before hand, as I don't think my food settled well before the race. And I think more front crawl and less breast stroke while swimming could easily net me another minute or two. But overall, there's little point crying over spilled milk. I placed 2nd last of the individual competitors but that doesn't really bother me that much. The whole experience was something different. It's not every day that you get free sporting reign over the grounds of one of Ireland's most famous castles and overall I enjoyed it. Plus they had spit-roasted pig for afters which was tasty as hell.

The drive back to Cork was grand, I had the Eurovision on Radio 1 to keep me company. One tip though. If you think you're gonna need petrol on the way, don't take the exit for two-mile borris and go to Thurles for your petrol. You'll be ages trying to get back on to the motorway. It seems motorway services are a foreign concept to the National Roads Authority (and don't get me started on the late fees for the barrier free toll on the M50). Anyway I digress.

So that's two down and the 3rd triathlon approaches rapidly. Cahirsiveen will see me repeating the course of my first ever triathlon in just under three weeks time. This one I'm really looking forward to. It'll be the first time I can compare like with like to see if there's been any improvement since last year. It's also the first event for which I fundraised for Marriage Equality so I'm looking forward to having the t-shirt this time. And to having raised more money! Of course, as always if you haven't sponsored me yet and you'd like to do so, you can give to me in person or throw a few euro into the online payment thingy at http://www.marriagequality.ie/events/2010/04/18/fundraising-spotlight-maurice-ryder/. I should also mention that Marriage Equality have just officially launched their "We Are Family" campaign - http://www.marriagequality.ie/wearefamily/ - aiming to highlight the different types of family prevalent in modern Ireland and how civil marriage for same sex couples is the only way to enable full equality for these families.

So lot's of training, lots of fundraising, plus a Pride parade thrown in for good measure over the next few weeks. Tis good to be a busy Mush.

Later,

Mush

A 2nd Tri for Marriage Equality - 1 Day

2010-05-28T12:59:00.003+01:00

Well Slane is almost upon me and triathlon training has become routine. This week was a quiet week - I never train too hard the week before a tri - the last thing I want is to do myself an injury so close to the race. Anyway, two swims, walking, cycling and a bit of cross training was this weeks effort and I'm quite happy with that.

I also made a few purchases in the Edge in town. Spare tyre (not the one around my waist but one for the bike) and little pump for the bike in case I get a puncture mid race. And a set of open water goggles to make visibility that bit better. I'm looking forward to a dip in the River Boyne. And the wetsuit still fits so that's a plus :)

I hear talk of the Dublin - Cork Motorway being fully open so hopefully the trip to Slane this evening won't be too long. Looking forward to not having to go through Abbeyleix anyway. I've booked into what will hopefully be a lovely little hostel called Slane Farm Hostel - their website looks good anyway.

As always, I'll be flying the proverbial flag for Marriage Equality so if you haven't sponsored me yet and would like to do so, the site is http://www.marriagequality.ie/events/2010/04/18/fundraising-spotlight-maurice-ryder/ or you can give in person too if you'd like - I've already raised just over €700 but I'd love to get more (I really want to breach the €1000 mark and with 4 triathlons left to go, it's definitely doable). A big thank you to all the people who've sponsored me so far. I really appreciate the support and I know Marriage Equality does too.

Later,

Mush

A 2nd Tri for Marriage Equality - 1 week

2010-05-21T20:00:00.003+01:00

Just over one week to go til the Slane Triathlon. I'm pretty stoked about the prospect but it does mean I'll probably miss out on the TV highlight of the year - the Eurovision! I haven't had a Eurovision party in a couple of years and was hoping to have one this year but alas the Triathlons take precedence. I don't really mind to be honest - last weekends epiphany in relation to the encroachment of age on my capacity to party as hard as I once did has left me unperturbed by the prospect of a drinkless weekend.

Training has continued a-pace. Still hitting my targets and still happy that things will go ok. I picked myself up a tri suit from Aldi the other week and it does make a difference. Going to have to make sure my wet suit still fits as well of course before next weekend. All will be fine I'm sure though.

The sponsorship is still coming in and there's plenty of time left before I'm done for the year. As always the link is http://www.marriagequality.ie/events/2010/04/18/fundraising-spotlight-maurice-ryder/

me at the Waterford Crystal Clear Triathlon

Later,

Mush

14 Years Hard Labour

2010-05-18T22:56:00.003+01:00

A gay couple in Malawi were sentenced to 14 years hard labour today (via towleroad). They were found guilty of "gross undecency" and "unnatural acts". What they actually did was marry each other. They didn't fuck sheep or rape children. They were two consenting adults who love each other and wanted to spend the rest of their lives together.

As we fight for the right to equal marriage here in Ireland, it is sobering to see how worse other nations have it. Of course that doesn't negate the fight that we have on our hands here, but we shouldn't ignore the plight of our LGBT brothers and sisters in more hostile parts of the world. In Uganda, there is a proposal before parliament to introduce the death penalty for the crime of "aggravated homosexuality", in Iraq, gays live in daily fear of being captured, having their anuses glued shut with super glue and then given laxatives leaving them to die in a most horrendous fashion and we have here, gays in Malawi being sentenced to 14 years hard labour! 14 years! For wanting to commit to the person they love for the rest of their lives? There have been paedophiles and murderers in this country sentenced to far less time.

So we must continue to fight for our rights here in Ireland but we must also call on our public representatives and in particular our Minister for Foreign Affairs to send a message to any country that would subject it's LGBT population to torture, degradation and humiliation that Ireland will not stand for this.

Later,

Mush

URGE

2010-05-18T21:10:00.002+01:00

There was nothing really to distinguish that house from its neighbours. Each one clad in red brick, two windows downstairs separated by a wooden door, two windows upstairs separated by the gauziness of a satellite dish nosing towards the night sky. In some houses the lights were on, in others only darkness. In this particular house, the lights were off; its inhabitants retired for the evening to their beds.

At first he didn’t know why he’d stopped outside number two hundred and thirty three. A faint scent had grabbed his olfactory attention. A slight muskiness, mixed with a sweetness, that stopped him in his tracks. He lifted his head trying to catch it again, a thousand other scents danced on the light summer breeze. The distinctive smells and aromas of the grass cut earlier in the day, the lingering smokiness of evening barbeques, even the street’s tarmac still warm from the heat of the now passed day, played and mixed in the summer’s night air. And yet, through it all, that heady odour floated, grabbing his attention as he’d passed the terrace. It was the scent of a person and it was coming from one of the upstairs rooms. Very few people would have noticed it. And fewer still would have been so thoroughly captivated by it. But he was.

Number two hundred and thirty three was a middle terrace house, and like all of the neighbouring buildings, had a drainpipe running from the eaves to the street. A blur of movement and he stood on the roof of the building. Another blur and he was perched on the roof of a small wooden shed in the garden of the house, all the while moving with preternatural speed and absolute silence. He stared at the rear of the dwelling, and sniffed the air. The windows of the upstairs bedrooms were open to the balmy summer’s night, the scent stronger now, dizzying, almost, in its potency. A faint sigh escaped from one of the rooms, along with the sound of a person turning gently in their sleep. Normal ears would have barely heard the sound but to his the sound was as clear as if he stood in the room. Accompanying the sound was that unmistakeable, intoxicating aroma. A silent leap and he was on the window sill, peering into the darkness of the room. Of course, darkness was not an obstacle for him as he gazed at the sleeping form with supernatural eyes.

A young man, perhaps nineteen or twenty years old sprawled across the double bed, his lean form covered in a faint sheen of sweat. A tangle of blankets entwined the youth’s legs, providing the only cover for his otherwise naked body. The watcher poised catlike on the edge of the sill and moved towards the open window. The full force of the sleeper’s fragrance filled his nostrils. Sweat, cologne, the night air, the detergent used on the sleeper’s clothes. And the unmistakable ferrous tang of blood.

The youth murmured softly and turned in his sleep, his face now towards the window and the silent watcher. A small clot of blood clung to the sleeper’s neck, the result of a careless slip of a razor while shaving before bed. The watcher inched closer. Blood. Nothing else on earth could enthral him like blood could. It drew him. He longed for it. Thirsted for it. Lusted after it. It’s very smell made him dizzy. The prospect of it flowing, warmly, bitterly yet sweetly, over his lips, down his throat made his long-dead heart scream. It had been too long. A full month since he’d drained that homeless man, whose blood had been more alcohol than platelets. The long days and short nights of summer made hunting difficult. The streets were always too crowded and by the time they were empty the sun was rising.

But here and now, tantalisingly close was his favourite prey. Young, male, handsome and oblivious. The scent of blood on the youth’s sheets was maddening. It drove him closer to the open window. But he could not enter. Not yet. As much as he was driven to, as much as he needed to, he could not cross the threshold. Not without permission. Still, he’d find a way. He just needed to get close enough to the open window. He crouched between the open panel and the space that was the window frame and closed his eyes. Concentration was key. Ignoring the pangs rippling through his body he cleared his thoughts and focused. A faint whisper. A flash of light behind his eyes. He could feel the mind of the young man, twisting and turning through the convulsions of a dream.

He knew it was a dream. Even though he was in his own room, the dimensions kept shifting, from cavernous to cosy and back again. Normally that kind of realisation would have woken him but not this time. Strange. The air shifted. A spiciness filtered through. It was like nothing he’d ever experienced. Intensely aromatic and infinitely compelling, it overwhelmed his senses. His dream form pushed itself out of the bed, and explored the space that was and was not his room. Sniffing the air, he caught the scent again. Dizziness this time, so strong was the compulsion, the need, to find the source.

There. A Portal? No, a window. Beyond the window a shape. That was the source. That was where the unfathomable aroma was coming from. But something was stopping it from filling the room, some invisible force was keeping it from enveloping him, surrounding him. He needed it. It would be so simple. All he had to do was let it in. All he had to do was say the words.

“Come in.”

A 2nd Tri for Marriage Equality - 2 Weeks

2010-05-16T19:32:00.004+01:00

I'm getting too old for this shit. In a Danny Glover-esque epiphany I've realised that a bit o' boozing can really knock the wind from my sails. Myself and the lovely Seán had a few impromptu drinks on Friday night, hitting the bróg and one of the local Cork gay clubs, Rubys. I think my training over the last few weeks has made a significant impact on my ability to handle my drinkies. A couple of pints and an admittedly large quantity of vodka and coke saw me suffering incredibly yesterday. It even had me feeling a bit under the weather today too. So much so, that I had to defer some of my exercise that I was due to do today til next week. I still managed to get out for a 20k cycle but the run and swim will have to slot in to next week's schedule.

This weekend's hiccup aside, I've actually been really happy with how training has been going. I'm hitting all my targets and I'm feeling it in my overall levels of fitness. The weight is starting to slowly shift as well which is good.

I'm not sure exactly how much I've raised so far for Marriage Equality but I'm pretty sure I'm ahead of last years total for one triathlon so far. I'm really happy and thankful for all the support I've been getting, so a great big hats off to everyone who has sponsored me so far. Marriage Equality's latest campaign, "We are family", aims to highlight the inequalities faced by the many families with LGBT parents. There are many families across Ireland with kids being raised by same sex parents. The children of these families are being denied vital rights to continuity of parenting in the event of something happening to the biological parent in these families. The Civil Partnership bill as it stands ignores the rights of children being raised by same sex couples. Marriage Equality's "We are family" campaign aims to highlight these inequalities and will be participating in various Pride parades across the country this summer. This is just one of the campaigns that the sponsorship money raised will help fund. For more information on this particular campaign you can check out their website at: http://www.marriagequality.ie/news/2010/05/10/your-family-needs-you/

Anyway, only two weeks to go until the Slane Triathlon. I'm feeling good about it.

Later,

Mush

A 2nd Tri for Marriage Equality - 3 Weeks

2010-05-09T14:53:00.003+01:00

3 weeks until the next triathlon. As previously mentioned this one will be taking place in Slane Castle. The organisers have posted some video of the routes on their website and on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nduMV5x4ab8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32ptmFWsMP4

Have to admit it looks pretty cool. I'm looking forward to the swim in the boyne as well. I haven't done a river swim before so this should be a unique experience.

As for training, it's been going well. I've really been feeling it this week. Taking a break from boozing at the weekends is probably helping too. And I've taken to wearing my Marriage Equality branded t-shirt while out and about on the streets of Cork. Always good to get the message out!

Later,

Mush

A Food Resolution...

2010-05-07T11:16:00.004+01:00

Been watching more Jamie Oliver lately. And do you know what? I think he's great. Despite his cockney laddishness, he cooks up some mean meals. Myself and the lovely Seán were watching his latest series the other evening, "Jamie Does..." where he was in venice and he just makes fantastic food. Raw meat has never looked so good. And the recipes are so straightforward as well. Now, I've been pretty lax of late with the home cooking, lapsing into the easy as opposed to healthy, but watching a Jamie show always rekindles my interest in cooking.

I just watched the first episode of his "Food Revolution" series for Americans and even though it has all the elements of these kind of shows, the heightened drama, the confrontations, the tears, the guy seemed to get genuinely emotional about the resistance he was encountering. I think he's dead right too - as an overweight guy, I know my biggest problem is eating too much crap food. And I think our country could do with a bit of an intervention too! The preventative health benefits of a healthy diet are enormous. Coupled with a bit of exercise, this way of eating could have a significant positive impact on our health system, leading to less money required as diet related illnesses decrease.

Now all I gotta do is practice what Jamie preaches.

Later,

Mush

Pedal to the Metal...

2010-04-30T14:02:00.006+01:00

One of the things I enjoy about triathlon training is the opportunity to get out and about on my bike. As mentioned previously, my new bike is svelt and zippy compared to my previous bike and makes cycling a pleasure. So much so that in the waterford triathlon I was a full 15 minutes faster over the same distance as my first triathlon.

So this week, it's been a bit of a struggle to get back into gear after last weeks post triathlon taking-it-easy. I've had two 12 k cycles and have a pretty established route out towards blackrock castle (the castle is 7 k from the lough where I live so the 12 k cycles don't quite hit the castle). I also tend to listen to the same playlists on my iPod when I'm training so I tend to mark my progress based on song progression as opposed to the passage of time. It keeps me interested anyway and it's not as boring as clock watching. It also pushes me to beat my previous session by completing a work out before a playlist is complete. This week my diva playlist of Florence and the Machine, Lady Gaga, Bonnie Tyler, Cyndi Lauper and Kate Bush was actually quite useful. Yesterday's cycle I managed to beat Wednesday's session by half a Florence and the Machine song. And Total Eclipse of the Heart is great when you want to push yourself - the last half of the song really builds so it helps you to go faster and faster as the song progresses. Almost as good as a Rodrigo y Gabriela song :)

Later,

Mush

PS as always if you'd like to sponsor me, grab me in person or feel free to send some money along online at http://www.marriagequality.ie/events/2010/04/18/fundraising-spotlight-maurice-ryder/

A Tri-ing Time

2010-04-21T19:41:00.004+01:00

So last Sunday I took part in the first Triathlon of my "Tri Anything for Marriage Equality" 5 Triathlon Challenge. It took place in Waterford in the Waterford Crystal Sports and Leisure Complex and I have to say I enjoyed it immensely.

The day started early enough for a Sunday (9am) but I did't hit the road to Waterford until 12. Arrived at the Sports complex for half one, thinking I'd be bit early for the supposed sign-in at 2 o clock. Turns out I was a good bit early - the triathlon people weren't even there so sign-in didn't happen until 2.30. It was an inauspicious start to the day. The lateness kinda snowballed from there meaning the supposed 4 o clock start didn't happen until after half 4. Because the swim was in the pool, the field of participants had to be divided into 5 waves, with the slower swimmers starting the race. This meant that my wave didn't get started until nearly half five. The waiting was a bit of a balls to say the least. And to make matters worse, the swim itself was a bit disorganised in that the people doing the lap counting weren't always up to the task. I noticed one guy being stopped half way through a length because he'd already done his twenty lengths. I wasn't as fortunate and ended up having to do an extra two lengths. Despite lapping everyone in my lane of five people I was fourth out of the pool. Not the end of the world and it only added about a minute to my time but it wasn't the best way to start the race.

The cycle was next and I enjoyed it. My new bike definitely made a difference, cutting a full 15 minutes off my cycle from last years triathlon. Of course, it's hard to compare the two races exactly because of the differences in geography between Cahirsiveen and Waterford, but still the distance was the same. So I was happy with that. One advantage of having the late start was that the cycle was taking place during the cool early evening, making the going that bit easier. The hills were nice and handy as well - it really helps to be doing your training in Cork where the hills are a bit more challenging.

The run was the last part of the race and was actually fairly straightforward. 2 and a half kilometers downhill towards Ballybeg and 2 and a half kilometers uphill back to the sports complex. Again, this went pretty well and I was happy enough with my time.

So overall, the race went well. Well, well for me anyway. According to the results on IrishTriathlon.com my total time was 1 hour 28 minutes and 25 seconds - a significant improvement timewise on the Sive Tri last year even if you add an extra 5 minutes for the longer swim of that race. In an unintentional metaphor for Marriage Equality's priority to this government, I came last - out of the 96 finishers, however, I finished 96th.

I'd liked to have finished ahead of someone but it was not to be. Still, I'm pretty happy with the time - as I said, it was a considerable improvement on my first effort. The extra lengths of the pool didn't help but there's no point crying over spilt milk. Overall I was happy on the day. Despite the hiccups it was enjoyable and fair play to the organisers - sure there are improvements to be made for next year but for a first effort it was good.

I was also delighted to see some of my Waterford relatives come out to support me. My cousin Tony and my aunt's husband, uncle Eddie were there at the start, and my aunt Ita was there as well to see me cross the line (she took the photo of me finishing the run above). It really makes a difference having support along the route - it really gives you a boost when you're flagging and helps you step it up a notch.

On the sponsorship stakes, so far I've raised €440 for Marriage Equality - a really sincere and big thank you to everyone who has donated online or given to me in person so far. Anything that people give is really helpful so if you still feel like sponsoring me, I have 4 more triathlons to do and the online form (http://www.marriagequality.ie/events/2010/04/18/fundraising-spotlight-maurice-ryder/) will remain open until I've done the last one in August.

I have to admit I also got a bit of a buzz from running with Marriage Equality on the back of my t-shirt. While most people taking part were wearing their various triathlon club gear, I felt a little thrill of pride to be advocating for civil marriage for the LGBT community on the highways and bye ways of Waterford city, even if that advocacy was limited to my t-shirt.

And so the training continues. So far this week, I've had a run a swim and a small session on the cross-trainer. I've a stag do coming up this weekend so need to get on the bike tomorrow evening to ease out the creaks from the weekend. Overall I feel energised and the race on Sunday has certainly increased my appetite for the Slane Triathlon at the end of may.

Later,

Mush

Tri Anything For Marriage Equality - 1 day

2010-04-17T11:43:00.003+01:00

Well tomorrow is the day. The preparations are complete (going for one more swim later today). Only had one cycle and one walk this week as didn't want to break myself so close to the main event. I have to admit I'm a bit nervous but kind of excited at the same time. It will be interesting to see how it goes.

I'm particularly interested in how the swim will work as it is a pool swim and the only triathlon I did before had an open water swim so I'm wondering how the transition will work afterwards. I'm sure it'll be fine.

Will be packing up my gear later on, including my bespoke marriage equality t-shirt. Looking forward to pounding the streets and roads of waterford with this on. Cos at the end of the day part of reason for doing these triathlons is to raise awareness of the whole issue of marriage equality (while getting fit and raising money too).

But mostly I'm just going to try and enjoy the day. Despite having a two hour drive beforehand, I plan too be down there for 2 o clock so that will give me two hours before the start of the race to take my ease and get myself ready. So if you're in waterford tomorrow, keep an eye out for me particularly around the cork road - kilmeaden area :)

Later,

Mush

Tri Anything For Marriage Equality - 1 week

2010-04-09T15:26:00.003+01:00

The Waterford Crystal clear triathlon is rapidly approaching with just over a week before I take part in my first triathlon this year in aid of Marriage Equality.

Despite being on my holidays in Kerry for the last few days, I've still managed to keep up the training. So far this week I've done 60 kilometres on the bike and another 15 kilometres running. I've 1 kilometre done in the pool today with another to do. Monday was the first time that I'd done the full cycling and running distance of the triathlon together this year and it was exhilarating. It was particularly cool to be out and about in the wilds of kerry. The cycle I did down there took me from Castlecove out to Derrynane (birthplace of Daniel O'Connell) and back again amongst some spectacular ring of Kerry scenery. The run was from Castlecove to Westcove pier and back again and it too was a beautiful run. It helped too that I had the lovely Seán with me for some of it.

I also took delivery of the tshirts for each of the triathlons. I'm looking forward to wearing the Marriage Equality logo across the various highways and biways of Ireland over the next few months. Hopefully some awareness of the issue of full civil marriage for gay and lesbian people will be raised (as well as some monies of course).

As for the sponsorship, there have been a few online donations made already and thanks to the 6 people who've donated so far. I'd really love to start getting more cash in the door so if you can, please send whatever you can afford over at my fundraising page: http://www.marriagequality.ie/events/2010/04/18/fundraising-spotlight-maurice-ryder/. Of course if you want to give in person, I'll have sponsorship cards on me at all times from next week.

And if you're in Waterford next sunday, I'd love to see some familiar faces along the route. The bike route will be 20km in length, turning left on exiting the Waterford Crystal Centre, proceeding straight out the N25 Cork road to Killmeaden for 10K and then straight back to the Waterford Crystal Centre. The run will be a 5km out and back route leaving from the Waterford Crystal Sports & Leisure Complex. Runners will leave the Waterford Crystal Sports & Leisure Complex and turn right. We'll be running down the N25 Cork road, turning right at Bally Beg Cross Roads, proceeding up Bally Beg Drive 400m and then returning back to Waterford Crystal Sports & Leisure Centre. The crowd always makes such a difference during a race and can be a real boost to all competitors (not just little old me).

Later,

Mush

Tri Anything For Marriage Equality - 2 weeks

2010-04-03T14:23:00.003+01:00

So it's actually 2 weeks to go before the first triathlon (I miscounted when I started my count-down). Sunday the 18th of April at 4pm in Waterford city. Training proceeds as usual, the distances have been upped (16k cycle plus a 3k run today) and I'm feeling the benefits. It can still be a struggle to get started but once I'm on the road it usually goes grand.

I'm heading down to kerry for a few days with the lovely Seán for a bit of a holiday. The challenge will be to maintain the levels of training while away in the kingdom. If the weather stays anyway kind of fine, it should be no problem. I'm bringing the bike with me anyway (20k cycle and 5k run to do on Monday for myself - at least I shall be well fuelled for that via chocolate from the easter bunny).

A quick thank you to those of you who have sponsored me already - your donations are greatly appreciated. For those of you who would still like to sponsor me the online form is available at: http://www.marriagequality.ie/events/2010/04/18/fundraising-spotlight-maurice-ryder/ or you can sponsor me the old fashion way the next time you see me in person! Would definitely like to hit the €1000 mark this year if possible.

Later,

Mush

We are all April Fools...

2010-04-01T12:51:00.004+01:00

At least that's how it feels we are thought of by this government.

This week the government promised to pour a staggering amount of money into the Irish Banking sector to prop up a bunch of institutions that have proved to be greedy, incompetant and down right criminal in their financial management. At every turn, the banks have lied about the state of their books. Last year AIB were saying they wouldn't need any further capital injection from the government but here they are again fumbling in the greasy till to the tune of another €7,000,000,000. Anglo Irish Bank need €8,000,000,000 with the distinct possibility of a further €10,000,000,000 in the coming year or so. And they can't give any guarantee that they won't need more money. In fact it's a distinct possibilty that they will need more.

We're now in the position as taxpayers of owning a failed bank, two practically failed building societies as well as having controlling interests in the other two major banks in the country. On top of this, we're also pouring money into these banks through the complete swindle that is the National Asset Management Agency. NAMA is paying for loans from the banks that we already own. The government claims that NAMA may make money if the value of the properties taken in rise again. But they'd have to rise to boom time prices. Which means the entire success of NAMA is predicated on another property boom in this country. They want us to go through this again!

All of this financial mismanagement happened on Fianna Fáil's watch. Our current Taoiseach was the bosom buddy of the wheelers and dealers of these corrupt financial institutions. He was Minister for Finance when the worst of these crimes were being perpetrated. He either stood by and let it happen or was complicit. Either way his ineptitude is as Eamon Gilmore suggested in the Dáil yesterday tantamount to "Economic Treason". The population of this country has been yoked with the debt of a handful of avaricious politicians, bankers and developers and there is no end in sight. The prospect of them coming back to government for further bailouts is very very real. They have doomed this country to penury for a generation and it's going to take blood, sweat and tears for us to get back to the real economic growth we were seeing at the end of the 90s and start of the 00's when the Celtic Tiger was based on economic output and not a property bubble.

We have to send these people a message. We have to get rid of Fianna Fáil. At the next election, whenever it happens, they need to be firmly routed. I don't blame the Greens anymore (not that I'll be voting for them) - they're like a battered spouse who can't leave their partner because "he says he loves me and it won't happen again". They're the hostage suffering from stockholm syndrome. Fianna Fáil are the real villains of the piece. They have consistently showed contempt for the people of this country. Insult heaped onto injury with every bullshit policy and financial mis-step. A cabinet reshuffle that put the most inept Táinaiste this country has every seen in charge of Education. Education. The sector of our society that will ignite the knowledge economy in the hands of a person who thought it was Einstein who came up with the theory of evolution. Who had to have the LGBT acronym explained to her and then told the students in question to not be worrying about trying to get marriage equality cos they're too young to be worrying their little heads about that kind of thing. Ireland's answer to Sarah Palin with the expressiveness of a dock worker. This is just one example in a long list of disastrous decisions by Brian Cowen.

Its time to start writing to our politicians, calling them out on their facebook and twitter accounts. We need to take them to task and hold them accountable for the situation we find ourselves in. We need to start taking the country back. Yet again echoes of Yeats' "September 1913" reverberate in current affairs.

Later,

Mush

Tri Anything For Marriage Equality - 4 weeks

2010-03-26T13:59:00.002Z

Well just over 4 weeks to go til the first of my 5 triathlons. During the week Marriage Equality set me up with a page so that people could sponsor me online. If you haven't seen it its at: http://www.marriagequality.ie/events/2010/04/18/fundraising-spotlight-maurice-ryder/.

Training wise things have been going well, So far this week I've done two 14k cycles and 2 4.5k runs. Some swimming and cross training to do tomorrow but I'm keeping on top of it. I had a day off today so managed to get a run and a cycle in which was invigorating to say the least.

One of the great things about training for a triathlon is that, because you need to cover a decent distance when out on the bike, you really get to see more of your locality. Today's cycle brought me out to Blackrock Castle and back. It really is a lovely part of Cork City.

Some of you may be wondering how I managed to get that much in today - well since February I have been on flexitime which means I can build up time off by working late or coming in early. So in Feb I managed to build up enough to take a full day off. It's top notch - and means I don't have to eat in to my holiday entitlements (I can save those for the many weddings that are coming up over the next few months).

Anyway, that's it for now. I'm off to town to renew my parking permit. Exciting! It's a fast paced life I lead :)

Later,

Mush

In the Spotlight...

2010-03-23T15:10:00.003Z

...over at Marriage Equality.

So no doubt if you've been reading the blog you know of my plans to do 5 triathlons this summer. Well Marriage Equality can take sponsorship online for all 5 triathlons over on their site. They've set up a Fundraising Spotlight page giving the details of the triathlons and a facility to sponsor me.

Even though the donate field defaults to €50 don't feel you need to give that amount. Any and all sponsorship is greatly appreciated. Last year I raised over €500 and this year, with your help I'd like to at least double that if possible.

If you don't want to give online, I have physical sponsorship forms and am happy to take any cold hard cash that people are willing to give.

I also want to give a quick thank you to Dawn Quinn in Marriage Equality for sorting out the online form.

So, with just over 4 weeks to go to the first triathlon I would love if people could sponsor me if they can.

Thanks a million,

Mush

Tri Anything For Marriage Equality - 5 weeks

2010-03-19T19:01:00.002Z

So five weeks to go to the first triathlon. I still don't have any online page for donations/sponsorship yet but I've been in talks with Marriage Equality and we're trying to sort something out.

This week has been a bit of a mixed bag training wise. Monday was a no training day due to the excesses of Cathy and Aebhric's engagement party (didn't get to bed til 7am on Sunday morning - twas a good party). So Tuesday was fine - got a decent run in of 4k at a pretty decent pace. Wednesday saw me doing 13k on the bike but then I had to follow that up with a 5 hour round trip to Kerry to look for some documents for my dad. Didn't find it but did find a lock of my own hair that my mam has kept since I was 1. Very awwww altogether!

Yesterday was a bit of a wash out too - my 4k run got downgraded to a walk due to having to take in some family news that kind of took the wind out of me. Nothing horrible or anything just something unexpected. And nothing that directly affects me either so no need to worry.

Today though I managed to haul my ass onto the bike despite the torrential weather. 10k round trip to douglas and back made for a very sodden Mush. Still I'm glad I made myself go out. Will go for a run and a long swim tomorrow to finish off the week and I'll have done everything I had planned at least.

Later,

Mush

Submissions of a Marital Nature..

2010-03-13T14:45:00.003Z

Following on from the whole "Tri Anything for Marriage Equality" theme, the Oireachtas Committee on Justice Equality Defence and Women's Rights are currently looking for submissions on the Civil Partnership Bill. They will be discussing the proposed law on March the 24th but submissions need to be with the committee secretary by the 18th of March.

This has become particularly important as there are reports of a large number of submissions from those members of society who are opposed to ANY form of recognition of same-sex relationships having been sent to the Committee already. So we need to get as many submissions in support of Marriage Equality to the Committee over the next few days. I've discussed in the past how the proposed Civil Partnership does not go far enough but at least it is a positive stepping stone on the way to full equality. We can't let the right-wing homophobic religious fundamentalists get their way on this. It affects too many people's futures. So if you can take a few minutes to pen a one page submission outlining support for full marriage equality that would be fantastic. You can send your submissions to:

Mr Alan Guidon
Clerk to the Committee
Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights
Leinster House,
Kildare Street,
Dublin 2

Or by email to alan.guidon@oireachtas.ie

We really need your support on this.

Later,

Mush

Tri Anything For Marriage Equality - 6 weeks

2010-03-13T14:09:00.003Z

So it's been a full week since I blogged - I really need to get more frequent at this. Anyway, with 6 weeks to go before the first triathlon training is still on track. This week I did two 12k cycles, two 4k runs, 2k on the cross trainer and a total of 1750m swimming. It really is starting to show as well I think in that I have so much more energy.

Weight wise there hasn't been any decrease over the last couple of weeks but then I have been a bit lax diet wise (plus there have been a few extravagant nights of drinking over the last little while and it's Cathy (my housemate) and Aebhric's engagement party tonight). Still I'm not too worried about that for now. I am just glad to be getting into the routine of regular exercise. Of course sometimes it's a struggle to get my considerable ass in gear but I'm managing. I think the fact that I have a goal to raise money gives me that extra incentive to get my act together.

I also officially signed up for the 4th out of the 5 triathlons. The Aliveoutside.ie Slane Castle triathlon is on in May (the 29th) and looks like it could be really cool. The swim is in the Boyne, the cycle is 23K around Slane and it's environs and the run is a cross country 5k through Slane Castle grounds, finishing at the castle itself. From the description on their website it looks fantastic!

My Training Plan

Later,

Mush

Tri Anything For Marriage Equality - 7 weeks

2010-03-05T20:00:00.002Z

So in 7 weeks time I'll be doing my first triathlon of the season (as I've mentioned already). As I've also mentioned I'll be doing 5 triathlons in total all in aid of Marriage Equality. To that end, I'm going to post at least one blog post a week outlining my progress. I'll also post up the link to the online sponsorship page once I have that set up.

So this week, I've done two running sessions (3.5k and 4k), a cycling session (11k), 2 k on the cross trainer and 1k swim. Tomorrow I have a 4k run and a 750m swim which will set me up nicely for the weekend. The last 5 weeks have all contained something similar (with the distances increasing gradually over the weeks) and I'm starting to feel the benefits. The Christmas weight is gone (but I still have last summer's weight to get rid of). But all in all, tis going well.

And to celebrate I'm gonna go watch some french zombies eat le braaaainnnss in the french film festival later on.

Later,

Mush

Happy Sunny Lovely Song

2010-03-03T12:40:00.004Z

From the album "Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down" here's "Five Years Time" by the Noah and The Whale.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12PQYX1r7Bc

Just bought this album today. Very upbeat and bouncy. Useful on the grey days like today to get the brain firing on all cylanders.

Later,

Mush

Minister of the Indefencible

2010-02-19T09:42:00.003Z

So Willie O'Dea has resigned. His lies finally caught up with him and I, for one, am perfectly happy to see him go. It's bad enough that he thought it acceptable to spread malicious gossip but he then lied in a sworn affidavit, denying he had made such comments. For me, this was his biggest sin. To be honest, we all have our moments of weakness where we may say something we regret. But Willie O'Dea thought nothing of lying under oath. Not only that, he couldn't understand why people were getting so uppity. Maybe I'm naive but wouldn't it be great if members of the government would actually hold themselves to some reasonable level of honesty and decent ethical behaviour? We need these people to have integrity. We need to be able to trust them. Yet again, a politician has perpetuated the stereotype of unscrupled, unprincipled mé-féin-ism and this at a time when respect elected officials was already at an all time low.

This country needs honest people in the oireachtas. People with principles and who will not sell out those principles for the heady whiff of power. Like the Green Party have done. I think it was Paul Gogarty, Green Party TD who was complaining on the radio the other morning about the Greens being taken to task over the failings of Fianna Fáil. But the thing is, we already know that Fianna Fáil are going to try and screw us at any given opportunity. The Green Party are supposed to be the ones with principles. But yet again their initial vote of confidence in a Minister who resigned 24 hours after said vote, shows their complete ineptitude and willingness to abandon any semblence propriety and principle to stay in government. Deputy Gogarty constantly states that he's never been comfortable about being in government with Fianna Fáil, and yet he still constantly votes with the Gombeen Men.

If one of the supposedly more principled parties in the Dáil such as the Greens can abandon its values so readily then no wonder people are so cynical about politics. I try to be optimistic - I'm a believer in change and hope - but this kind of bullshit tests that optimism to the limits. I really hope that people put the boot in at the next election. I expect the greens to go the way of the PDs but it would be much better if it was Fianna Fáil who became extinct.

Later,

Mush

Capricious TV

2010-02-08T19:04:00.002Z

Caprica is the prequal to Battlestar Galactica. For those of you who've been following my blog for a while, you'll know that BSG was one of my favourite TV shows so it was with no little anticipation that I awaited Caprica. And it hasn't disappointed. The pilot showed on Sky One there last week and now the series proper starts this week.

One of the things I loved about BSG was how grown up it was - it didn't shy away from difficult themes and subjects (the opening episodes of season 3 were unbelievable in that they gave a frank and powerful commentary on war and what can turn a people to terrorism and suicide bombings and the power of religion and belief were a constant throughout the 4 and a half year run). It looks like Caprica will certainly be following in these footsteps, as they include a major character who is married to someone of the same sex.

This show has just jumped to top of the list for my favourite shows this year - lets hope it doesn't disappoint. If it's pedigree is anything to go by, disappointment is only a very remote possibility.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLwtBu5PVgI

Later,

Mush

PS Found the clip above through http://www.towleroad.com/2010/02/watch-gay-couple-featured-on-syfys-caprica.html

Week 1 of TriAnything Training

2010-02-05T16:56:00.003Z

This week was the first week of my 12 week plan to get ready for the Waterford Crystal Clear Triathlon (the first in my 5 month triathloning adventures). So far so good, but then again the start is always gentle. I did have a full week of pre-training plan exercise as well the week before to help me get on my merry way.

Monday: 9K Cycle
Tuesday: 3K Walk/Run
Thursday: 3k Walk/Run
Friday (today): 1K Swim
Saturday: 750m Swim, 3k Walk/Run

The walk/run thing is because I'm not quite at jogging pace just yet but the main thing as far as I am concerned is covering in the distance. I'm not going to go hell for leather the first week of training and end up doing myself an injury.

I'm going to try and make more frequent updates on this as I go along.

In other Mush news, my sister in conjunction with some of her friends has set up a facebook group called "Artistic Challenge". The idea behind it is that every fortnight there is a theme and that members of the group create various artistic works, be they paintings, graphics, animation, music, writing etc. It's a good way to keep the creative juices flowing because sometimes it's easier to work to a theme than grabbing ideas from thin air. If you are of an artistic bent and feel like joining in, please feel free to do so. Just click the link above and join.

This weeks theme is "Torture Company" for which I'm going to try and get some sort of illustration together. That's Sunday's job anyway.

Now, off to the pool with me.

Later,

Mush

Ouchies

2010-01-29T10:51:00.003Z

First pay day of the new year today and t'was a tad painful. Starting to really feel the pinch now. Of course, I know I'm lucky and I have a relatively stable job with a good wage and great benefits. But the recent cuts in public sector pay have definitely meant a tightening of the belt.

But that's not necessarily all bad. I've gained a new appreciation for Aldi (and Lidl to a limited extent) and Supervalu is finally starting to live up to its name. While the recession has been an almighty kick in the nads for an awful lot of people, it has opened our eyes to value for money. More importantly it has opened businesses eyes to providing value for money and that has to be good. What we need is moderate growth and a firm hand kept on price inflation in the coming years. Of course, I wouldn't trust the current shower of failures that run our government to manage that but it's what we need to aim for. Screw aiming for boom times. Lets just aim for stability. Let's, as a nation, start saving for the next rainy day and try not to lose the run of ourselves again.

Later,

Mush

Waking Up and Getting Up Has Never Been Easy...

2010-01-23T12:17:00.003Z

...but not so much on Saturday. The long precious lie in of a non-hungover Saturday is truly one of life's pleasures. The thought of an uncomplicated day ahead, with no real pressures or responsibilities save perhaps the putting on of a load of washing is truly blissful.

Having been back at work for two weeks, the jobs and tasks are starting to mount. I also have a bunch of stuff to sort out for my mother while she's away (they're still in New Caledonia and my brother and his family have just gone to join them for the last four months of their round the world trip). But all of that melts away for the weekend. I've been avoiding booze since my birthday and I'm enjoying the pain free weekends. Over the Christmas break, even though I didn't drink an inordinate amount, I was really feeling the hangovers. A sign of the progression of time no doubt, but it has left me to think twice about my alcohol consumption. Not that I'm thinking of giving up completely - I'm sure my native thirst will build again in the coming weeks. But for the time being I'm perfectly content to avoid the pub.

Music of the moment for me is Noah and the Whale by the way. Was watching some music programme on Channel 4 last night and they blew me away. Their MySpace is http://www.myspace.com/noahandthewhale - worth a listen as is their song "5 Years Time" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8YCSJpF4g4

Later,

Mush

And if it's Crowded All the Better...

2010-01-19T17:43:00.006Z

Two years ago today I started seeing the lovely Seán. It kinda sneaks up on you this "time" business. I certainly wasn't looking for a long term relationship then but I was definitely open to the possibilities. And I'm glad I was. I can't imagine the last two years without him. I think things would have been very different. Meeting him was one of the catalysts for my decision to completely come out (as I'm sure I've mentioned before) and I haven't regretted a day since. Sure, we've had our ups and downs but there's been a way more ups than downs I'd like to think. We managed to weather his year in Italy only to come out the other side stronger in a lot of ways. Can't wait to see what the next year brings.

Mush

PS The Song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2V_ZT-nyOs

Tri Anything

2010-01-17T13:10:00.003Z

As mentioned before it's my intention to maybe do a few triathlon's this year. Well I've signed up for my first one of 2010 - the Crystal Clear triathlon in Waterford in April. I'm a little bit excited about and looking forward to getting my considerable ass in gear.

I had me a good christmas and certainly have lived the good life over the past few months paying more attention to tasty food than trying exercise. So there's a bit of work to be done to get back into shape (or to rather change shape to one a little less rotund).

I've also got me a new bike through the government's cycle to work scheme which I'll also be using for my triathloning. It's super awesome! So much lighter than my last bike and it has gears that work (and more gears in total as well). It's made cycling a pleasure again. Poor old Baurice, my old bike, was a nightmare to cycle. Heavy, clunky and with gears that were a challenge to say the least, he had to be replaced when the rear wheel buckled for the second time.

As also mentioned previously, I'll be looking for sponsorship for the mush triathlon series in aid of MarriagEquality but I've yet to sort out an online facility for that just yet. Further details will follow over the coming weeks and months.

Later,

Mush

It's Snow Problem...

2010-01-10T16:47:00.003Z

...to have proper snow in Cork. I can't remember when we had this much continuous snow in the southern capital. And I know its going to cause havoc for our ill-prepared city but by god it's so class out there!

Despite the city council having broken up all the ice to stop people skating, the Lough is still choc-o-block with people walking, playing, snowball fighting. There's just such great humour out there. I myself decided to build some snow men out the front. There was enough snow in our garden and front yard to make two snowmen. And they got plenty of positive comments too from the various passers by. I even got myself involved in an inpromptu snowball fight with a passing family. It's good to be out and about today.

On the down side it's going to make my trip out to crookstown to collect the lovely Seán a bit of an adventure but it should be fine as long as I take it handy.

Later,

Mush

A Winter's Day...

2010-01-08T12:54:00.005Z

...on a deep bright January. I'm neither a rock nor an Island as the old simon and garfunkel song might imply. But I did place myself in (or more correctly on) a large body of water today. Cork's "The Lough" is all frozen. In fact, it's been all frozen for about 3 weeks now but today it was covered in a light dusting of snow which seems to have made it irresistible to people to walk on it. Myself included.

The Lough hasn't been this frozen since the 80s so it was with a touch of trepidation that I took myself over there (I live just across the road after all). Initially I wasn't going to step on it but then I thought, "Fuck it, when am I going to have this opportunity again?" And it would appear I wasn't the only one. There were even a group of young fellas skating around as well as people playing football, rugby, frisby. There were young kids and old fellas out there, and the amount of cameras out there is unbelievable. Digital technology for the win.

The other thing that were in abundance were smiles. Everyone out there is smiling. In a time of economic depression and doom and gloom, this little winter's diversion is bringing the kid out and people and giving people a chance have a laugh. And that can't be bad.

I took a few photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/m.ryder/FrozenLough2010

and a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MTK6nd7fGE.

Enjoy!

Later,

Mush

Thirtysomething...

2010-01-04T18:08:00.002Z

...was a dramedy on the telly years ago that my sisters used to love. Now, however, its what we are. My brothers are the only ones not in their 30s (they're a little way off yet) but the rest of us are firmly ensconced in our 4th decade with today being the 1st anniversary of my 30th birthday.

I've always liked my birthday and as mentioned in past birthday posts, I do like to celebrate it with the style and panache for which I'm famed. However this year was the first year that I felt quite content to let the moment pass without too much fuss. Well, at least I felt that way for a little while. I was content to have a nice lunch with the lovely Seán and for that to be it. But it didn't feel quite right to do nothing. I could have waited til the weekend but low key was still part of my thinking so instead I'm just going to keep it local and head to the Hawthorn by the lough for a few pints later on this evening (from 8pm if you feel like popping in). There are actually quite a few people who, like me, are not back at work yet so a school night seemed ok for a little celebration. It never seems quite right to wait til the weekend after to celebrate - I feel like I'm being a bit of a fraud if I were to do that.

Later,

Mush

New Year's Evolution

2010-01-02T13:05:00.003Z

I've been enjoying my Christmas break and haven't been of the right mind for blogging of late. But I just wanted to stop by and wish everyone who reads this a happy new year.

I have to say, I'm looking forward to 2010. It has the potential to be a great year. There's a whole bunch of weddings going to happen including two of my best friends (Emer and Mark but not to each other) as well as my sister Edel to the wonderful Gar Hanrahan.

Seán and I will be facing into our third year together on the 19th of January when we celebrate our 2nd anniversary. I can't believe it's been that long. I think the 11 months he spent in Italy has helped extend the "honeymoon" period. So yeah we're still all loved up and sickening at the moment. I still quite can't believe that I've been seeing anyone for two years let alone another guy. But it's still so right. I came out to my 80 year old Aunt Mary (she's like a granny to me and I spent a chunk of every summer on her farm from the age of 6 to the age of 17 so she's a huge part of my life) at the end of November as well. I have to admit to being a little nervous as to how she would react but being the wonderful person she is, she was totally accepting over the whole matter. So that sees me heading into 2010 completely out as far as family and friends are concerned.

I'm also looking to raise more money for Marriage Equality this year by taking part in at least 5 triathlons. An ambitious goal to be sure but I'm looking forward to the challenge. I'll post again next week when I've decided which ones I'm going to do. I'll also be setting up an online donation facility when I figure out which one is the best one to use.

On the food front I'm going to try my hand at more home cooking again. I started last year very well but by the end of the year I have to admit I'd fallen into bad habits again. Fast food needs to start taking a back seat in my diet again. Still if I can manage to kick cigarettes I can knock the fast food on the head as well. Come Monday I will be a full year off the cigarettes so that sets me up nicely for 2010.

Come Monday I will also be 31 and for the first time in many years I have no major plans for my birthday. I'm pretty ok with that too - I think I'm all partied out for the time being so I'm quite content to spend the afternoon with the man I love and then maybe hang out with some friends in the evening. I think the cinema is as far as I'll go, if there's anything good in at the moment.

Anyway, that's enough for the time being. I'm going to try to be more prolific in my blogging this year but I'm not making any firm promises.

Later,

MushMauriceMossMaur

First Official Rugby Gay...

2009-12-19T01:16:00.003Z

Gareth Thomas has come out of the closet. As much as it pains me to do so, here is the link to the full story in the Daily Mail (I saw this story on Panti Blog).

Looks like Dónal Óg started something perhaps? It's sad though to see Gareth Thomas have to wait til the end of his career for this. Sure he's still playing club rugby but at 35 the glory days are behind him. And as he says himself, he couldn't have come out when he was younger or he would never have reached the pinnacles of success that he did reach - the opportunities and doors that opened for him would not have done so if he was openly gay.

And suppressing his sexuality lead him into a failed marriage and unquestionable stress that eventually lead to a mini stroke. But I for one am glad to see another high profile sports star coming out and showing that being gay does not mean being a stereotype. He can be another role model for young kids struggling with their own sexuality to look up to. Well done Gareth Thomas.

Later,

Mush

Project for Awesome 2009

2009-12-18T14:44:00.003Z

There's a community on YouTube known as the Nerdfighters. Followers of the Green Brothers (Hank and John Green also known as the vlogbrothers) nerdfighters are generally of an affable nature and more interested in having fun and being nerdy than anything else. There are all kinds of nerdfighters - those into their music, those into their books or harry potter. It's a pretty great community actually.

Every year, the vlogbrothers run the "Project for Awesome" where they attempt to take over the YouTube most rated and most discussed pages. Basically a bunch (hundreds) of people make videos that have the same thumbnail and then the nerdfighter community rate and comment on those videos so that they top the lists. These videos are usually advocacy videos on behalf of some charity or cause that needs highlighting. So instead of miley cyrus and jonas bros videos, YouTube becomes about reducing world suck.

On the Irish YouTube pages there are four of these Project for Awesome videos to be found under the Most Discussed list and five under the Most Rated. Including my own, which is a video outlining the work of the group Marriage Equality. If you have a few spare minutes, please feel free to stop by and add a comment or rate the video by going to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEPStRZS550

DFTBA,

Mush

Budgetary Matters...

2009-12-12T07:08:00.000Z

So on Wednesday the public service and the social welfare system suffered a doozy of a cut in the Budget delivered with low panache by the Minister for Insolvency, Brian Lenihan. It was expected to be a savage cut but its far more sobering in the cold harsh light of reality than it is in the speculative column inches of the previous days. Despite the necessity of the cuts, it doesn't mean its not unpleasant.

I've worked for the public sector nearly all my working life. I had a job as a hospital porter that helped put me through college and apart from 6 months work placement in the states, a couple of bar jobs and a 2 month stint in hell - I mean a 2 month stint in telesales -I've worked solidly for the public sector since graduating in 2001. And I like it. The hours are good, the holidays are great and there isn't the pressure of cut and thrust of the private sector. I have an indefinite contract, which means all going well I have a job until I'm 65. That doesn't mean I'm permanent though - my terms of employment mean I could be left go with a months notice (subject to certain conditions). I work in a place that I enjoy going to every day (well, most days anyway) and work with people who are great fun,dedicated and for the most part, hard working. Overall, this public sector life has been good to me. I earn a decent wage but its not exhorbitant.

Still, taking a two and a half grand pay cut will hurt. And I don't have to like it. But I do understand that it is necessary. The simple maths of Ireland's financial situation means that something has to give. However, it just galls me that this Fianna Fáil government have yet again failed spectacularly to get it right. Sure they needed to bring public spending under control, but they have showed time and time again that they have absolutely no vision. With all the reports they've had done - the McCarthy Report, the Commission on Taxation all presenting them with a myriad of options - they still manage to bludgeon the people who are worst off. I'm not talking about me here, I know I'm lucky and I can take the hit. But there are plenty out there who will feel this keenly.

I think what irks people so much is the lack of fairness. The ministerial paycuts of 15% are in reality 5% as they include the paycut they've already taken. I wonder if the 6% they're cutting me could include the income levy that I'm already paying? The numerous tax loopholes that allow the mega rich to get away with not paying as much as they should, should have been closed off. Now was the perfect time, but yet again the fianna failures bottled it and left their millionaire paymasters off the hook. I want to be clear, I am not one of these people who thinks the rich should be taxed to high heaven - most of them are rich because they chose to work long hours and graft 7 days a week for years and are in the position they are in through their own efforts. But I do think that if someone on over two million a year is on an effective tax rate of 30% then there is something not right about our tax system.

Frustratingly, this budget was the perfect opportunity for the government to do something radical. Reform of the public sector was on the table, changes in our tax system could have been brought in and a decent stimulus package could have been brought in. Instead, our "leaders" have managed to take the easy blunt way out. Where is Ireland's New Deal? While Fianna Fail are in government this country will never recover.

Later,

Mush

They Say December is a Gay Old Month...

2009-12-04T15:32:00.004Z

...but for the people of New York, not so much. The State Senate of New York voted against the passing of a Civil Marriage bill for its citizens, with several supposed Democrats voting against the bill. I could go on about how unfair it is, and how this is yet another step back in the global struggle for equality for the LGBT community but I'd prefer to let Christine Quinn of the New York City Assembly do so instead (thanks to towleroad.com for posting this first):

(if you're reading this on Facebook you will need to go to my blog to get the full video).

Coincidently, our own legislature started debating the Civil Partnership bill yesterday. As I've stated before I really don't think the proposed legislation goes far enough. But I can see for some people it is important to get this legislation in place sooner rather than later (the whole idea being that its better to have some rights rather than none).

Anyway, Deirdre Clune emailed me the full text of Fine Gael's Justice spokesperson, Charlie Flannigan and I have to say while not a rousing embrace of the notion of full marriage equality he certainly acknowledges that the Civil Partnership does not go far enough in terms of the rights of children of same sex couples. Read the full bit below.

Later,

Mush

Speech by Charlie Flanagan TD, Fine Gael Justice Spokesperson, on the Civil Partnership Bill 2009
Dáil Éireann, 3rd December 2009

I am proud to welcome this Bill to the Dáil today on behalf of Fine Gael.

Family law and social justice are two big interests of mine and this Bill combines both.

This Bill is a hybrid of two separate schemes and I would like to address each individually, beginning with Civil Partnership.

Legislating for Civil Partnership is a tangible testament to how far Irish society has come. Until very recently this country was characterised by oppression, patriarchy, dogmatism and a particularly rigid and domineering brand of Catholicism, with an inflexible set of social rules that one had to conform to or simply leave. Church and State were intertwined to an inappropriate degree and religious dogma dominated discourse and deed in the Legislature.

We are only too well aware of the fate of single mothers, enslaved in laundries and socially ostracised for having a child out of wedlock, a "sin" in the eyes of the Church. We now know the harrowing suffering that such girls endured and these factors must be borne in mind by parliamentarians when we are shaping legislation.

In the Ireland of the past, homosexuality was not tolerated to such an extent that it was actually a criminal offence to engage in homosexual activity. It remained a criminal offence until 1993 when the European Court of Human Rights found Ireland in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights. It is to Senator David Norris's eternal credit that he played such a key role in having that law removed from our statute books.

The Ireland of the past was undoubtedly an extraordinarily difficult place for gay and lesbian citizens. There was virtually no understanding of difference.

No doubt the way in which the Churches treated homosexuality as a "sin" and a "choice" must have led to painful turmoil for gay people in this country.

Thankfully, we have made great strides as a nation and we now live in a more tolerant era, characterised in the main more by reason and science than by bigotry, superstition and fear.

This Bill will help us move to a place where "tolerance", "diversity" and "inclusivity" are more than buzz-words, but are characteristics that define our corpus of family law.

In the concluding paragraph of her judgement in the case of Zappone and Gilligan v. Revenue Commissioners and Other ([2006] IEHC 404: Katherine Zappone, Ann Louise Gilligan v. Revenue Commissioners, Ireland, The Attorney General The Human Rights Commission, unreported, High Court, December 14, 2006.), Dunne J commented:

Undoubtedly people in the position of the plaintiffs, be they same sex couples or heterosexual couples, can suffer great difficulty or hardship in the event of the death of serious illness of their partners .... It is hoped that the legislative changes to ameliorate these difficulties will not be long in coming. Ultimately, it is for the legislature to determine the extent to which such changes should be made.

The plaintiffs referred to by Dunne J are, of course, Katherine Zappone and Ann Louise Gilligan, a same-sex couple who sought a judicial review after the Registrar General and the Revenue Commissioners refused to recognise the validity of their 2003 marriage in Canada. Although the High Court found against the plaintiffs, the comments of the presiding judge on the need for the legislature to "ameliorate" the painful difficulties faced by same-sex couples in Ireland highlights once again the need for this Bill.

I have referred to the Ireland of the past being a difficult place for gay and lesbian people but unfortunately, the Ireland of the today can sometimes reflect an ignorant, bullying prejudice that a majority want to consign to the history books. A comprehensive study by the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN) published earlier this year revealed some horrifying statistics.

GLEN's study found that:
• One in four homosexuals has been punched, kicked or beaten in violent homophobic attacks.
• Almost one-fifth have tried to take their own lives - with many saying this was related to their sexual identity.
• 58% of respondents said there was homophobic bullying at school, with over half saying they had been called abusive names and a quarter saying they had been physically threatened by other students.
• Over a third said they had heard homophobic comments by teachers, while 8pc said they had been called names by them.
• A third of respondents said they self-harmed over the stress of concealing their sexual orientation during their teenage years.
• Some 80% of those surveyed said they had been verbally insulted, while 40% had been threatened with physical violence.

Those survey results paint a very bleak picture of life for young gay men and women in our country. We are all well aware that "difference" can give rise to bullying whatever that "difference" may be. I believe that the Oireachtas has a very important role to play in addressing homophobia in Irish society. Introducing equality measures such as Civil Partnership legislation sends out a message: there is nothing wrong with being gay and all our citizens are entitled to live in a society characterised by equality and tolerance.

The Fine Gael Party has long had a proud tradition of promoting social justice. The launch of my Party's seminal equality and social justice policy, ''The Just Society", in the 1960s has guided our social policies in the years since then. I am proud that it was a Fine Gael-led Government that in the 1980s brought in significant legislation to improve the legal position of women as well as introducing remedies for abuses such as domestic violence. It was a Fine Gael-led Government who introduced divorce. In doing so, Fine Gael was not seeking to undermine marriage but, rather, to give a legal remedy to those whose marriages had broken down and who were left stranded in a legal limbo.

The rationale that informed the decision to legislate for divorce is very evident in the Bill before the House today. Civil Partnership and, indeed, the cohabitation scheme, are about providing legal remedies and rights rather than undermining marriage. Similar to divorce, the rights and remedies contained in this Bill will often be the most relevant when people are experiencing difficulties or heartache in life, for example when there has been a death, when a long-term relationship has broken up, when someone is seriously ill.

Fine Gael recognised the need to address the legal difficulties faced by same-sex couples in 2002 when we committed to removing legal barriers in areas such as property and inheritance rights. In 2004 we published a more comprehensive policy on civil partnerships, seeking to create an "atmosphere of acceptance" for gay people in Ireland through a range of measures not limited to civil partnership.

I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to those involved in framing that policy, particularly, former Senator Sheila Terry.

Some have attempted to portray this Bill as an attack on the institution of marriage. I refute that allegation.

Marriage is a matter of personal choice and religious conviction and the fact that there are many same-sex couples in Ireland who would like to get married only indicates how popular and desirable marriage is for many people.

The process that has led to this Bill being read today in the Dáil has been described by some as a "model" process due to the raft of significant options papers and reports that preceded the Bill. The Minister has referred to these, the most significant among them being the Colley Report and the Report of the Law Reform Commission on Cohabitees. Many of the recommendations of the Law Reform Commission Report may be seen in this Bill.

We also had the opportunity to examine systems in other countries. Civil Partnership for same-sex couples is now available in a number of European countries including Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Germany, Switzerland, the UK and Slovenia. Many countries have gone further and legislated for same-sex marriage including The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Canada, Norway and South Africa.

So, we are part of a growing trend towards a more rights-driven World that permits and celebrates difference. I am pleased that Ireland is moving in this direction.

I must say, I am very concerned about the glaring omission of children from the civil partnership provisions.

Such an omission fails to recognise the de facto situation in which an estimated one third of the 2,090 same-sex cohabiting couples registered in the 2006 Census, have children.

Failing to take children into account in Civil Partnerships fails children.
This was brought home to me just two years when a former constituent of mine named Barbara Gill was knocked down and killed, leaving behind a devastated partner and child. Barbara and her partner comprised a same-sex couple and they had a baby son which Barbara's partner had given birth to. Barbara did not have a biological link to her son, yet he was her son, she was his parent. When Barbara was killed, her partner and her son were left in a legal quagmire with no relief

Barbara's elderly parents came to see me; they were distraught that having lost Barbara, her loving partner and son were now faced with further trauma, this time caused by a failure by the Oireachtas to legislate to protect the inheritance rights of children in same-sex partnerships.

Barbara was a person who contributed enormously to Ireland during her all-too short life. She lectured in the Church of Ireland College of Education and in St. Patrick's College, Drumcondra. She espoused causes like human rights and intercultural education before such causes became fashionable. She was a good person and she was a good parent.

We owe it to people like Barbara Gill and to her partner and her son to address the vulnerable legal position that children of same-sex couples and their non-biological parents are currently in.

Studies have shown that children who are raised by same-sex couples do just as well as those raised by heterosexual couples. Such studies have been carried out by the UK Royal College of Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association.

My understanding is that it is unusual not to address children in a scheme for Civil Partnership. It is not too late to make significant changes to this Bill and I hope Minister Ahern will commit to addressing the current gaping lacuna in the proposed legislation - otherwise our law will remain out of step with reality and fail to protect the vulnerable.

The second major pillar of this Bill relates to rights and responsibilities for cohabiting couples, both same-sex and opposite-sex.

It may have been more appropriate to introduce measures for cohabitants in a separate Bill. However, in recognising how infrequent it is for a significant Bill overhauling Family Law to come before the Oireachtas, I accept that there may be some merit in including a scheme for cohabitants in this particular Bill.

The scheme for cohabitants is a presumptive scheme and this will, I believe, give rise to challenges in respect of communicating to people that the law has changed significantly. I would be interested to hear Minister Ahern's comments on how he intends to proceed in that regard.

Some legal experts have warned that the presumptive nature of the scheme could give rise to legal challenges and that ambiguities in the Bill regarding the establishment of when cohabitation begun may present problems.

I note again that we are following precedent elsewhere in that similar presumptive schemes for qualified cohabitants are in operation in jurisdictions such as Scotland, Austria, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. Perhaps the Minister could brief the House on how these schemes operate and whether any significant legal difficulties have arisen?

Notwithstanding these technical issues, we must acknowledge that provisions recognising cohabitants and qualified cohabitants reflect the reality of modem Ireland. The 2006 Census registered 121,800 cohabiting couples in Ireland; 74,500 children live in these households. The Census further recorded 2,090 same-sex cohabiting couples, one third of which have children. Therefore, it is important that this Bill introduces a mechanism for cohabiting couples to regulate their financial affairs, as well as providing a financially vulnerable cohabitant with access to apply for a number of financial reliefs such as maintenance or a share in the family home.

In Fine Gael's Civil Partnership policy paper, we included 'non-conjugal' couples. In doing so, we were thinking of situations where two elderly brothers or sisters might have lived together all their lives and wish to look after the other sibling should they pre-decease them.

Both the Colley Report and the Law Reform Commission Report referenced non-conjugal couples but stated that they had received "few submissions". This is hardly surprising as the people that Fine Gael is seeking to protect in its policy proposal are not plugged into any advocacy group that I'm aware of. Making a submission to a Government Report would not be easy for them.

Both aforementioned Reports referred to "a lack of research in this area" and on that basis, non-conjugal couples have been omitted from the Bill.

I would say to Minister Ahern: these Reports have identified a NEED for research on non-conjugal couples. In Fine Gael's view there is a group of people out there that need greater legal rights and if a lack of research is the primary obstacle to helping these people, then it is time to commission research.

I will conclude by one again welcoming this Bill and pledging to support it. I am aware that while many welcome it, others feel it does not go far enough, and to those people I would say: change is incremental and I hope that full equality is not far away.

To those who oppose the Bill and to those who have written to me outlining their objections I would say: we do not live in a theocracy. We live in a democracy which must recognise and protect the rights of ALL citizens, not just some. We cannot have a tyranny of the majority. We, as legislators, must look after all of our citizens and this Bill is part of that process.

"Secular" is not a dirty word - as some have tried to assert. Secular, democratic measures have given women equal rights in this country and blown the lid off decades of sexual abuse by religious congregations by conducting important investigations, the most recent of which is the Murphy Report.

We do not inhabit a flat earth covered in picket-fence perfect homes. We exist in a diverse society where minorities make vital, welcome contributions. As Prime Minister Zapatero said, speaking in the Spanish Parliament before the final vote introducing gay marriage in Spain in 2005, "a decent society is one which does not humiliate its members". I agree with those sentiments and I believe they are appropriate to this Bill.

Thank You.

Fred The Band

2009-11-28T09:43:00.005Z

Tonight myself and the lovely Seán are going to the Fred gig in the opera house and it promises to be awesome.

Fred the band have been knocking about Cork for years now and have always been highly entertaining. I'd go as far as to say that they are so much better live than they are recorded (and they're still pretty brilliant recorded) and I've had the pleasure of seeing them live on numerous occasions. I think the first time I actually saw them play was on Patrick Street at some street festival for European Integration or something which was a few years after I first became aware of them in '98(Justin used play drums with Niall Connolly who was my housemate at the time) but I've even paid money to see them since.

This year they seemed to have gotten the ball rolling as far as national success goes with a few singles in the charts and even having one of their songs (Damn you, Hollywood) being chosen as part of the soundtrack for an episode of Gossip Girl. They've toured in Canada and America and I honestly couldn't be happier for an Irish band. They really are pretty darn daycint!

One of my favourite songs from their most recent album "Go God, Go" is "The Lights" - watch it on youtube if you have a minute:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5nZwIVftgM

If you're a fan i'm sure I'll see you at the Opera House in Cork tonight :)

Later,

Mush

Union (Hi)Jack

2009-11-24T18:55:00.005Z

Today saw the country's public sector go on strike, although not all public sector workers were on the pickets. Some of us had been exempt due to our organisations being hit by the floods of last week. Others chose to take the opportunity to head north for some Christmas shopping.

I'll be honest, I'm not a member of a union. Never have, and perhaps never will. Personally I feel that unions, in their present form, do not represent me. And yet, we have a situation whereby they feel like they can call a strike whenever they feel like it and expect me to go without a day's pay because I happen to work in the Public sector, even though I fundamentally disagree with the strike action at this time. And now they're calling for a second day of strike? The level of disruption, taken with the fact that those who were supposed to be on strike (and therefore should have been at a picket or at a protest) had swanned off up north to do a bit of shopping, will hardly endear the public sector to the rest of the country. A second day of strike when we don't even know what the government are proposing in terms of cuts is, I feel, ridiculous.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm all for public protest. I hate this fucking government and most everything they stand for. From the blasphemy law to the civil partnership legislation they've demonstrated that they are no good at anything. But the one thing they are right about is that we are not getting value for money from the public service and there has to be reform. If they were to come out on the 9th of December and say we were all getting a 50% pay cut, well then I could see the need for strike. But until they actually publish what it is they are proposing, the strikes should be called off.

I work in the public sector. Its clear as all hell that there are inefficiencies in the system. While there are a whole bunch of people who do great work there is a significant minority of dead wood that needs clearing. We're all aware of people who take the piss. The twice daily half hour coffee breaks, the refusals to do anything beyond the narrow scope of what they define as their jobs. All of it adds up. But these people are in permanent positions and cannot be removed short of them committing murder (and even then they'd probably only have to take a career break). Take the HSE - 11 health boards merged into one organisation, primarily in order to achieve efficiencies in scale and so forth and yet not one person lost their job. How is that right? And that's just one example. The public sector is littered with this kind of bullshit.

And yet the unions insist on these strikes. I can understand strikes when the workers are being treated unfairly. When Jim Larkin and James Connolly were leading the workers in the early part of the last century, there was genuine injustice. Nowadays, David Begg and his ilk need to justify their union dues so we get two strikes at a time when our country could do without them. It boggles my mind and frustrates my soul. My inner sense of justice tells me that these strikes are just plain wrong.

Anyway, I just wanted to get that out. It may not be my most articulate of posts but I needed to get it out of my brain.

Later,

Mush

We're Going to Need a Bigger Boat...

2009-11-20T11:36:00.005Z

So Cork is under water. We're finally reclaiming our title of the Venice of the North with much of the city flooded this morning. I've never seen the western road as covered as it is but from my office you can see the river running where it should be road. They've had to evacuate students from many of the student accommodation complexes.

Down by the Mercy Hospital

Lorna took some great photos on her way to work:

Grand Parade

The old Thirsty Scholar

Glucksman Gallery in UCC.

It's all very biblical here at the moment. I keep expecting pairs of animals to start showing up looking for their ark. I took a wander around campus myself earlier on and grabbed a few snaps of the place as well.

Western Road, across from the Front Gates

Some poor bollix is going to be wringing the Carpets for a while.

We also have unconfirmed reports that UCC will now be closed until the 30th of November (lecutres were cancelled today) because of the damage done to some key buildings. The brand new Western Gateway Building is seriously affected as are some of the offices along western road, not to mention the lovely new Tyndall Building at the Lee Maltings.

Later,

Mush

Weeeee

2009-11-19T18:58:00.002Z

Playgrounds have changed since I were a lad. No longer are they places of dilapidated, splintery swings and non-slip slides but these days they are rubber coated bastions of bouncy fun. At least that is what myself and Seán discovered on our recent trip north west.

Stopping in Athenry for a time, we discovered the local playground on a rain-soaked Saturday morning empty of an kids but full of the kinds of playground facilities that you could only dream of, including a zip line type thingy. Of course we couldn't resist and the video below is the result.

Watch the Video Here

When I win the lotto, I'm building one of these for myself.

Later,

Mush

Flash (Mobs), Saviour of the Universe?

2009-11-18T12:31:00.003Z

Well no, probably not. Apologies for the lack of blogging last week. I was in Dublin for two days and generally very busy (2 weeks to go live for the new Study at UCC website that I've been working on so I haven't been in the mood to spend masses of time in front of the computer outside of work time).

Anyway, I digress. Cork held it's first flash mob last weekend which was nice. I have to admit I am a big fan of the flash mobbing. I just like the whole element of gloigínery that goes with it. Plus there's the whole similarities to the Borg with a bunch of people acting like a collective while dancing to groovy choons.

I also came across a cool flash mob video from Bondi Beach with a dodgy drag queen leading the dancing (via Panti's Blog).

So here they are in their YouTube Glory:

Cork Flash Mob

Aussie Flash Mob

Later,

Mush

Bulletproof...

2009-11-06T14:04:00.004Z

...by la roux is a pretty damn catchy choon. I know it's possibly a tad on the glittery side but I am a gay after all and I reserve the right to have some sparkly cheesy choons on my iPod (actually this is probably mild on the homo-scale compared to the smattering of Cyndi Lauper, Kate Bush and Annie Lennox I have on there).

Anyway, its friday and I'm going out tonight so why not share some music for the afternoon?

So here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOYufRHQSms

La Roux - Bulletproof - Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

Tom Parlon Fumbles in the Greasy Till...

2009-11-02T22:36:00.005Z

There was a story on the news this evening and reported on the Irish Times website (http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/1102/breaking57.htm) that house prices have reached the bottom. After fleecing the country for years with massively over inflated property prices, the IHBA (Irish Home Builders Association)have the audacity to come out and try to convince the country that the price of houses has bottomed out. Tom Parlon, former member of the PDs and head of the IHBA, has the gall to call on the government to introduce a scheme to get first time buyers to buy properties at the current prices.

According to David McWilliams and others, the value of a house should be no more than 14 times the annual rental income on that house. At the moment, rents are averaging at around €1000 for a 3-4 bed gaff. This means the average house price in the country should be around the €150,000 mark for your average semi-detached residence. But, according to the ESRI House Price index the average price of a house in this country in September was still €232,584 a full €80,000 dearer than what the experts say we should be paying for our houses.

And the IHBA have the cheek to come out and try to convince the public that prices have bottomed out? After fleecing this country rotten for the last 10 years? Some F*cking Nerve those guys! Now I understand times are tough, and I particularly feel for small independent builders who are feeling the pinch at the moment. But Tom Parlon and his ilk are the epitomy of what is wrong with this country. Those fumblers "in the greasy till, who've dried the marrow from the bone" to quote Mr. Yeats, fumble still to fleece every last halfpenny and penny from the Irish people. September 1913 was not a patch on November 2009.

Later,

Mush

Save the Kino

2009-10-30T16:59:00.003Z

The Kino Cinema has been a valuable addition to the cinema-going landscape of Cork for the past 13 years. Unfortunately, massive debts are threatening the Kino's future (See the Examiner for more details) which would be a massive blow to arthouse and independent cinema in Cork. This coming Saturday, October 31st 2009 at 2pm, a public meeting is being held in the Kino itself to see if anything can be done. UPDATE: The meeting is actually taking place in the Opera House at 2pm instead due to the expected high turn out.

A facebook group has also been set up to raise awareness and gather support for the kino (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=210189208344&ref=ts) - this group has gone to nearly four and a half thousand members in only a few days so go join if you can. It would be an awful shame to see the Kino go under.

Later,

Mush

Cosmic Love...

2009-10-28T14:43:00.002Z

...is a great song by the wonderful Florence and the Machine. I just got me the album, Lungs, last week and it's been getting a lot of play. Anyway, I just wanted to share this song cos it's awesome :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZadc9YXcLo

Later,

Mush

Pick this Song...

2009-10-21T08:57:00.003+01:00

Another Youtube singer (well he actually mostly vlogs but has made a couple of neato songs) is Jared, also known as "PickthisCar". His song "Someone Wrong" is raw and a bit rough (as it is recorded directly to video), but I still like it and wanted to share. There's something about unaccompanied piano and straightforward singing that really hits the musical spot. Plus the lyrics are nicely off the wall.

Hope you enjoy! The direct link is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4GMJ6btV_4&feature=fvw.

GAA spelt GAY

2009-10-19T09:19:00.002+01:00

So it turns out the rumours that Donal Óg Cusack, Cork Hurling Goalkeeper extroardinaire, is gay are very true. This weekend Cusack came out (http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/championship/2009/1018/cusackd.html) in an interview with the Irish Mail on Sunday. Leaving aside his poor choice in newspaper, this is an incredibly positive step for gays in Ireland. High profile gays engaged in what are traditionaly very hetero-centric activities is always good for the promotion of a positive view of the LGBT community.

In a less positive note though, there are suggestions a foot that the beating that lead to the death of Barry Walsh in Dublin recently (http://www.independent.ie/national-news/gardai-quiz-man-over-violent-death-of-plumber-outside-club-1914132.html) was, in fact, a homophobic attack. One's heart has to go out to the family of Barry and hope that even if it was such an attack that it is an isolated incident.

So there you have it, a step forward and a step back for the gays in one little blog post.

Later,

Mush

EstherRimbaud - Vampire in Store

2009-10-15T13:37:00.003+01:00

From time to time the YouTubes can be a great place for to find good music. One musician in particular that I came across a while back is Esther Rimbaud (at least that's his YouTube username). I dunno how you'd describe his music but it's ace as far as I'm concerned. If you're bored and looking for something a bit different check him out:

And as always the link for those reading this through facebook: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLn7dBTdhNM

Later,

Mush

Hand-drawn Mush

2009-10-13T20:30:00.005+01:00

My pen & tablet practice continues apace. Despite being a photoshop user for the best part of 9 years now, there is still so much to that program. The pen and tablet really lets me put it to good use, particularly in the area of brushes.

So I decided to mess around a bit with the sketch I did the last day, adding a bit of color and shading to it. I found a nice little photoshop tutorial on line that brings things back to basics (which is nice cos sometimes it's nice to go over things that you should know but may have forgotten over the years). Tis a nifty little lesson if you like the photoshops - http://www.tutorialized.com/view/tutorial/Digital-Sketching/3240.

And heres the partial result:

More to come later I'm sure. Click on the image to make it larger.

Later,

Mush

A Green Betrayal

2009-10-11T13:06:00.004+01:00

Yesterday the green party voted to stay in government. And with that vote out went the last of their principles. They clearly could not give two hoots about the Irish people and see clinging to power as more important than giving the Irish people a chance to vote in a competent government to deliver us from the economic depression that pervades the country.

Oh to be sure, the programme for government looks good at a glance. No to fees, government reform and a myriad other promises make it look like a document for the glowing recovery of the Irish nation. But a closer look shows that it is all empty words and aspirations. Even the much lauded clause against the re-introduction of fees is couched in the caveat that this is subject to financial constraints.

Saturday was the last chance for the Greens to redeem themselves. To show that they had a some balls and that they had a smidgeon of integrity left. But alas it was not to be. Their vote for the programme for government shows their true colours. And their vote for NAMA has just lumbered the Irish taxpayer with a €54 billion debt that one of the world's leading economists, Joseph Stiglitz, described as "criminal".

Well that's me done with the Green Party. I won't be voting for them again. Nor will many other people. They have consigned themselves to the fate of the Progressive Democrats and good riddance.

Later,

Mush