been seeing: riverrun

Riverrun (The Shed, 19th March) is an extraordinary experience. It starts with Olwen Fouere silent and barefoot walking to the microphone and then begin the words; the voice of the river in James Joyce's Finnegan's Wake. It's so sudden it takes a couple of minutes to adapt to the language but then without noticing you find yourself immersed. Fouere gives a body to Joyce's language, her interpretation feels powerful, natural and above all authentic. It's a testament in itself that she is able to bring emotion and understanding to a text that is almost exclusively regarded as academic. It's an exhilarating 60 minutes that passes by in a flash.

baking: Odlums White Soda Bread

OK, so, I'm cheating massively here.  I was in the supermarket yesterday buying spaghetti which for some reason is right beside the Irish aisle and I saw a packet of Odlums soda bread mix.  A short background: there used to be an Odlums mill in the little town my family are from and my grandmother worked as a nurse to the Odlum family's children, so I have a slight interest in them. Added to my new interest in making soda bread, it's almost like I was fated to see this.  Or at least that's my justification for making a 'just add milk' soda bread.  All in all, it was yummy, but still not as yummy as my Nanny Patty's soda bread.

PRINT GIVEAWAY

Head over to my Flickr page for a print giveaway.  I'm giving away one print to three people, just comment with a link to the print you would like to win.  I'll pick names from a hat on the 1st April.  

OVER HERE!

Wedding Flowers

The other day as I walked through the train station, I caught through the corner of my eye, a bunch of red roses and gypsophila, similar to the bouquet my mum had at her wedding over 30 years ago. Obviously I snapped them up.  There's something beautifully old fashioned about such a simple bouquet.

been travelling: Rome

Happy St Patrick's Day!

At the St Patrick's Day Parade in London yesterday I was probably the only person not wearing green, other than the beautiful Newbridge Claddagh ring my mum gave me.  So tonight I'm going all out and painting my nails like the flag - incredibly I already had all the colours, which was a happy surprise.

Nail polishes: white, yellow, green
Ring: Newbridge

been seeing: Single White Slut

Tim Key is the master of deliciously unsettling comedy. Glib musings follow unexpectedly moving observations and an occasional audience rebuke.  Yet it is all, somehow, balanced in perfect harmony. Single White Slut (Arcola Tent, 10th March) was slightly different. Perhaps sitting in the round didn't quite suit the schtick or maybe it was the audience participation often stunting the show rather than adding to it; while trying to keep up with Key's nonchalance any audience offerings came off as rude rather than funny.  Whatever it was, the show felt more drawn out and less slick than previous years. The jokes are all still funny and the stories are still smart and cringingly brilliant but there was something about it that felt less exciting than previous shows. Still, there's nobody else out there that comes close.