#Golden Globes. It was wonderful that so many actresses donned their black dresses to make the ultimate statement on their big night out. In this case, beauty really was a weapon that hit the target. The male nominees barely made a headline but they wore black in solidarity which was pretty cool of them. I think this was a lovely start to a wave that needs to continue. 2017 was the year of the pervert purge which outed a lot of bad boys and made a lot more quake secretly in their boots. 2018 is the year actresses the world over let the creeps know they will not be putting up with their vile behaviour any longer. This brilliant defiance needs to grow and grow, and it does not need an awards ceremony every time either. Well done ladies and don't forget to keep doing well.
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#PhilLynott I recall being a music mad teenager and coming across the music of Phil Lynott. The Boys are back in town is such an awesome snapshot of Dublin and of course Whiskey in the Jar has some of the best guitar you will ever hear put on record. He was cool, the smoothest man in rock. He just had the effortless magic that other singers yearned to have but could never quite capture. I grew up in Southern Ireland but recall seeing some footage of him walking down Grafton Street and wanted, so badly, in that moment, to walk the streets where he walked. I decided that Dublin must be a fairly awesome place if it could produce music legends like that. He managed to be a rock star with a popular swagger which is no easy feat to pull off. We liked him for it and he was always interesting. In a pre-Internet age, he still managed to reach fans all over the world. He paved the way for other bands in America and they owe him a lot. He was, and always will be, a Legend.
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#NewYear'sResolutions I guess we do it every year. There we are, in the depths of Winter, slightly full of resolve that this year will be better. I had some dreams come true this year so I am going to dream even more in the next year.
I want more short stories printed and I want that part in that play. I am not going to name it just now but it is a bit of a career changing part if I do get it.
There is nothing in the world wrong with having a dream but there is everything in the world wrong with expecting it to fall into your lap.
I am working like a dervish to make this happen and yet it could all come down to someone just deciding that it is not for me. I go to my acting lessons every week and learn all I can. I am told that I have come out of my shell as an actress so some tiny voice in my head is saying that maybe my time has come. Maybe I will get this part. Can you send me bucket loads of good karma all the same? sincerely, the menopausal dreaming actress.
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#Reverbnation When I first uploaded my song 'All leave is cancelled' on here, it seems as if it was decades ago. I was such a different person then. I loved songwriting and writing and acting but had only the experience of having a song online. The other two interests seemed to be out of reach and then one day I somehow had the money for acting lessons. Within the space of a few years I had also had 3 short stories published. I now have an acting agent as well and have been in two plays. So its seems to me you get a bit of confidence when you put a song online and that confidence spills over into other areas of your life. I know that my voice on the song on here is not awesome but it was done to protect the copyright; also I may have had lots of beer before we recorded it in the very web cafe I am sitting in now. It's worth it to put your songs online in my opinion. Tell people your interests because you never know what it could lead to. Oh and have a Happy Christmas.
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''Matt Damon''. So Matt Damon has taken it upon himself to inform the women of the world that all men, are not, in fact, predators. Really Matt? Really, you are going to be that guy?
So does this mean that we women of the world should maybe organise some sort of non-predator celebration day to commemorate this? I really don't imagine so.
This has been the year of the pervert purge and I am glad of this. For too long, there had been abuses of power in high places. This is not to say this is going to stop overnight. For every Weinstein and Spacey caught, there are many many more who did not get noticed yet or are too powerful still to be brought down. Their day will dawn. Karma gets everyone in the end.
Is it just me or does anyone else think that Matt Damon might want to get a better scriptwriter in life? Did he really not consult with anyone before he saw fit to tell the women of the world that some men are decent? I already knew this and I didnt need him to tell me. I imagine the hordes of women who have been abused in Hollywood but are not in a position to name their abusers are somehow comforted by Matt's words. (seriously, he is breathtakingly ignorant). Next time Matt, maybe have a little moment to yourself where you can decide in advance if something you are about to utter to the general public could do with being edited.
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#8Committee So it is that this has come to pass. The 8th is going and nothing is to replace it. How long have the women of Ireland waited for this?
Well done to the Committee for doing this and well done to the women and men who have campaigned for this for many decades now. All the marching and campaigning and tweeting and just generally wanting the right to control their own bodies in their own country has finally paid off.
No woman goes joyfully to an abortion but she should have the utter right to procure this in her own country should she need to. That is a fundamental right. i imagine out there now the women who had to travel are giving sighs of relief that women in the not too distant future will no longer have to go through such a thing on their own. This is a huge step for the rights of women in Ireland.
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#MaxClifford So the most notorious Pr guru in the history of the English media is gone. I imagine there will not be a whole lot of people showing up at the graveside.
He could get his clients out of a lot but he could not get himself out of the jail sentence he so richly deserved. He was the chief source of income for women who kiss and tell and he sold sordidness as a commodity. In the end, it was his own vile behaviour that brought him down. I do wonder who is going to show at the funeral though. I wonder will Simon Cowell show up?
Max Clifford kept the stories of Cowell's legions of women out the paper but let enough slip through so that the ordinary public could know Simon was getting his share. I never understood why Cowell employed Clifford in the first place but even the great and powerful make mistakes. I hope the victims of Mr Clifford are getting some solace from the fact that Clifford's fall from grace was spectacular right to the end.
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#revenge I remember that day down by the river in Glanmire when you threw rocks at Veronica when she was ankle deep in the water.She was a lovely teenage girl and you were a venomous self-hating bully. She screamed at all of us to help her. You treated her like nothing and I would not stand for it. I told you to stop and you said I would get the same. I appealed to your friend Brendan who told you to stop. In the face of this, you stopped. Veronica got out of the water and she was silent. I dont think anyone really understood how traumatised she had been until, in the aftermath, she barely left the house for three months. You apologised to her when she did come out again but she was not really interested in this. I swore revenge on you. Many years later a group of us were in the pub and you were being as nasty as always. I never did understand why Margot was with you but then again she never did aim very high. I decided this was it, this was the time. I told you that nobody at the table could stand you. You disagreed and said that you bet that if you were single that any girl at the table would go out with you. I knew they would not so I told you to ask them. So you did. You went around a table of six women and they all turned you down. I could see your heart sinking. You deserved it though. Margot was sitting beside you and she could see it too. She glared at me. Too bad. I did not care. I meet Veronica in the street a few weeks later and she thanked me. I told her it was for Glanmire. I was told that not long after the night of your mass rejection in the pub you took yourself off to the doctor to be treated for depression. Well, now you knew how it felt to feel like nothing because of the words of another person.
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#StarWars I can recall a long time ago being brought to the cinema in Southern Ireland. It was such a rare event in our house that it might actually have been the first time I went. We got the sweets and went in and sat down. It was pitch black and the cinema was packed to the rafters. The trailers and ads came and went. I was as quiet as a mouse, eyes glued to the screen. Then those introductory sentences came up. 'Long long ago,in a galaxy far far away'...I was transfixed on the spot! Then the movie got underway. There was Hans and Luke and Princess Leia and Chewbacca and Darth Vader. Such unusual names, such interesting people. How had I not heard of them before now?
Of course I developed a tiny girl crush on Luke. I think this is actually required of all Star Wars fans though. At some point in the sequels I changed allegiance to Hans Solo but, in that moment, I loved Luke and I felt fierce sad when he lost his hand. I also loved that Hoverjeep he was going around in and wondered where to buy one. I felt tiny childish envy at Princess Leia who got to hang out with these totally cool people and wondered how to get to know them. I absolutely felt sure we would hit it off. I absolutely believed everything I saw on the screen and wondered why we had not studied them at school. The opening credits said it had happened after all. Oh the innocence of me back in the day! I just got totally lost in the movie and left the cinema on air and enjoying my first crush. My sister thought this was hilarious and when she found a picture of Mark Hamill in one of her teen magazines, she cut it out and pinned it over my bed. Now I could sleep with his face over mine. I was so happy and innocent. Many years later he came to Ireland to film on Skellig rock and I was sorely tempted to see if I could go and watch the filming. But you know what? I didnt. I will never be 10 again and no actor could live up to that cinematic image. Still, it's nice to see him back in the limelight again.
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#meghanMarkle It is so lovely to see a young couple in love. They are clearly besotted and this is nice.
Now can you just imagine all the upper-class Mammies in England giving out yards because the 5th in line to the throne just got engaged to a divorced American. It is massively entertaining all the same.
I do recall a time in history when the very idea of a divorced woman marrying into the Royal family actually led to an abdication. Thankfully the Royal Family or rather their advisors can now see beyond this daft limitation and allow people to love who they want to love.
I think Harry had been the daft younger brother for a long time and then he seemed to find a purpose in life. He has stated that Meghan 'tripped and fell into my life'. I think it is a case of him meeting her when they were ready for each other. Long may it last.
Reply
suzy bevan / Blog
A great gesture and dont stop now.
#Golden Globes. It was wonderful that so many actresses donned their black dresses to make the ultimate statement on their big night out. In this case, beauty really was a weapon that hit the target. The male nominees barely made a headline but they wore black in solidarity which was pretty cool of them. I think this was a lovely start to a wave that needs to continue. 2017 was the year of the pervert purge which outed a lot of bad boys and made a lot more quake secretly in their boots. 2018 is the year actresses the world over let the creeps know they will not be putting up with their vile behaviour any longer. This brilliant defiance needs to grow and grow, and it does not need an awards ceremony every time either. Well done ladies and don't forget to keep doing well.
Reply
Has it really been so long since you left, Philo?
#PhilLynott I recall being a music mad teenager and coming across the music of Phil Lynott. The Boys are back in town is such an awesome snapshot of Dublin and of course Whiskey in the Jar has some of the best guitar you will ever hear put on record. He was cool, the smoothest man in rock. He just had the effortless magic that other singers yearned to have but could never quite capture. I grew up in Southern Ireland but recall seeing some footage of him walking down Grafton Street and wanted, so badly, in that moment, to walk the streets where he walked. I decided that Dublin must be a fairly awesome place if it could produce music legends like that. He managed to be a rock star with a popular swagger which is no easy feat to pull off. We liked him for it and he was always interesting. In a pre-Internet age, he still managed to reach fans all over the world. He paved the way for other bands in America and they owe him a lot. He was, and always will be, a Legend.
Reply
Its that time of year again.
#NewYear'sResolutions I guess we do it every year. There we are, in the depths of Winter, slightly full of resolve that this year will be better. I had some dreams come true this year so I am going to dream even more in the next year. I want more short stories printed and I want that part in that play. I am not going to name it just now but it is a bit of a career changing part if I do get it. There is nothing in the world wrong with having a dream but there is everything in the world wrong with expecting it to fall into your lap. I am working like a dervish to make this happen and yet it could all come down to someone just deciding that it is not for me. I go to my acting lessons every week and learn all I can. I am told that I have come out of my shell as an actress so some tiny voice in my head is saying that maybe my time has come. Maybe I will get this part. Can you send me bucket loads of good karma all the same? sincerely, the menopausal dreaming actress.
Reply
Some things have changed since I first came on here
#Reverbnation When I first uploaded my song 'All leave is cancelled' on here, it seems as if it was decades ago. I was such a different person then. I loved songwriting and writing and acting but had only the experience of having a song online. The other two interests seemed to be out of reach and then one day I somehow had the money for acting lessons. Within the space of a few years I had also had 3 short stories published. I now have an acting agent as well and have been in two plays. So its seems to me you get a bit of confidence when you put a song online and that confidence spills over into other areas of your life. I know that my voice on the song on here is not awesome but it was done to protect the copyright; also I may have had lots of beer before we recorded it in the very web cafe I am sitting in now. It's worth it to put your songs online in my opinion. Tell people your interests because you never know what it could lead to. Oh and have a Happy Christmas.
Reply
Oh wow we would not have known this without you(sarcasm intended).
''Matt Damon''. So Matt Damon has taken it upon himself to inform the women of the world that all men, are not, in fact, predators. Really Matt? Really, you are going to be that guy? So does this mean that we women of the world should maybe organise some sort of non-predator celebration day to commemorate this? I really don't imagine so. This has been the year of the pervert purge and I am glad of this. For too long, there had been abuses of power in high places. This is not to say this is going to stop overnight. For every Weinstein and Spacey caught, there are many many more who did not get noticed yet or are too powerful still to be brought down. Their day will dawn. Karma gets everyone in the end. Is it just me or does anyone else think that Matt Damon might want to get a better scriptwriter in life? Did he really not consult with anyone before he saw fit to tell the women of the world that some men are decent? I already knew this and I didnt need him to tell me. I imagine the hordes of women who have been abused in Hollywood but are not in a position to name their abusers are somehow comforted by Matt's words. (seriously, he is breathtakingly ignorant). Next time Matt, maybe have a little moment to yourself where you can decide in advance if something you are about to utter to the general public could do with being edited.
Reply
And so it is done
#8Committee So it is that this has come to pass. The 8th is going and nothing is to replace it. How long have the women of Ireland waited for this? Well done to the Committee for doing this and well done to the women and men who have campaigned for this for many decades now. All the marching and campaigning and tweeting and just generally wanting the right to control their own bodies in their own country has finally paid off. No woman goes joyfully to an abortion but she should have the utter right to procure this in her own country should she need to. That is a fundamental right. i imagine out there now the women who had to travel are giving sighs of relief that women in the not too distant future will no longer have to go through such a thing on their own. This is a huge step for the rights of women in Ireland.
Reply
So another slimebag has departed for the great Furnace in the ground.
#MaxClifford So the most notorious Pr guru in the history of the English media is gone. I imagine there will not be a whole lot of people showing up at the graveside. He could get his clients out of a lot but he could not get himself out of the jail sentence he so richly deserved. He was the chief source of income for women who kiss and tell and he sold sordidness as a commodity. In the end, it was his own vile behaviour that brought him down. I do wonder who is going to show at the funeral though. I wonder will Simon Cowell show up? Max Clifford kept the stories of Cowell's legions of women out the paper but let enough slip through so that the ordinary public could know Simon was getting his share. I never understood why Cowell employed Clifford in the first place but even the great and powerful make mistakes. I hope the victims of Mr Clifford are getting some solace from the fact that Clifford's fall from grace was spectacular right to the end.
Reply
The bully and me
#revenge I remember that day down by the river in Glanmire when you threw rocks at Veronica when she was ankle deep in the water.She was a lovely teenage girl and you were a venomous self-hating bully. She screamed at all of us to help her. You treated her like nothing and I would not stand for it. I told you to stop and you said I would get the same. I appealed to your friend Brendan who told you to stop. In the face of this, you stopped. Veronica got out of the water and she was silent. I dont think anyone really understood how traumatised she had been until, in the aftermath, she barely left the house for three months. You apologised to her when she did come out again but she was not really interested in this. I swore revenge on you. Many years later a group of us were in the pub and you were being as nasty as always. I never did understand why Margot was with you but then again she never did aim very high. I decided this was it, this was the time. I told you that nobody at the table could stand you. You disagreed and said that you bet that if you were single that any girl at the table would go out with you. I knew they would not so I told you to ask them. So you did. You went around a table of six women and they all turned you down. I could see your heart sinking. You deserved it though. Margot was sitting beside you and she could see it too. She glared at me. Too bad. I did not care. I meet Veronica in the street a few weeks later and she thanked me. I told her it was for Glanmire. I was told that not long after the night of your mass rejection in the pub you took yourself off to the doctor to be treated for depression. Well, now you knew how it felt to feel like nothing because of the words of another person.
Reply
When I was a girl of 10; my Star Wars experience
#StarWars I can recall a long time ago being brought to the cinema in Southern Ireland. It was such a rare event in our house that it might actually have been the first time I went. We got the sweets and went in and sat down. It was pitch black and the cinema was packed to the rafters. The trailers and ads came and went. I was as quiet as a mouse, eyes glued to the screen. Then those introductory sentences came up. 'Long long ago,in a galaxy far far away'...I was transfixed on the spot! Then the movie got underway. There was Hans and Luke and Princess Leia and Chewbacca and Darth Vader. Such unusual names, such interesting people. How had I not heard of them before now? Of course I developed a tiny girl crush on Luke. I think this is actually required of all Star Wars fans though. At some point in the sequels I changed allegiance to Hans Solo but, in that moment, I loved Luke and I felt fierce sad when he lost his hand. I also loved that Hoverjeep he was going around in and wondered where to buy one. I felt tiny childish envy at Princess Leia who got to hang out with these totally cool people and wondered how to get to know them. I absolutely felt sure we would hit it off. I absolutely believed everything I saw on the screen and wondered why we had not studied them at school. The opening credits said it had happened after all. Oh the innocence of me back in the day! I just got totally lost in the movie and left the cinema on air and enjoying my first crush. My sister thought this was hilarious and when she found a picture of Mark Hamill in one of her teen magazines, she cut it out and pinned it over my bed. Now I could sleep with his face over mine. I was so happy and innocent. Many years later he came to Ireland to film on Skellig rock and I was sorely tempted to see if I could go and watch the filming. But you know what? I didnt. I will never be 10 again and no actor could live up to that cinematic image. Still, it's nice to see him back in the limelight again.
Reply
#MeghanMarkle
#meghanMarkle It is so lovely to see a young couple in love. They are clearly besotted and this is nice. Now can you just imagine all the upper-class Mammies in England giving out yards because the 5th in line to the throne just got engaged to a divorced American. It is massively entertaining all the same. I do recall a time in history when the very idea of a divorced woman marrying into the Royal family actually led to an abdication. Thankfully the Royal Family or rather their advisors can now see beyond this daft limitation and allow people to love who they want to love. I think Harry had been the daft younger brother for a long time and then he seemed to find a purpose in life. He has stated that Meghan 'tripped and fell into my life'. I think it is a case of him meeting her when they were ready for each other. Long may it last.
Reply