"War of Independence veteran dies aged 105"

When we saw this story on the news this evening, Col and I realized that this was the same gentleman we saw at the 1916 Easter Rising comm -emorations. We had snuck into the roped off area for ritzy-ditzy politician-type people after the main event when most people were exiting and milling about, and we climbed onto the special viewing platform to see who was still about. One gentleman in particular seemed to to have all the press buzzing about his wheelchair. We didn't know who he was at the time, though we figured he was a veteran. We just didn't realize he was over 100 years old and a veteran from the War of Independence! What follows below is an extraction from an article on BreakingNews.ie (green highlights are my own formatting though :) ). Read the original article HERE. The photo is from last year, when he was a spry 104 years of age.

A 105-year-old War of Independence veteran who served alongside Michael Collins, died today.

Lieutenant Colonel Sean Clancy, a former Commanding Officer of the Fifth Infantry Battalion, fought against British forces in the Dublin Brigade of the Volunteers from 1919 to 1921.

The Co Clare native also shared the historic moment in Dublin Castle in 1922 with Collins when Britain handed over power to the new Irish Government.

In a statement the Defence Forces said: "It is with great regret the Defence Forces mourn the death of Lieutenant Colonel Sean Clancy at the age of 105 years.

"At the time of his death Lieutenant Colonel Clancy was the oldest surviving person receiving a military service pension for his role in the War of Independence."

Lt Col Clancy died in a Dublin nursing home.

I Don't Think We're in Kansas Anymore...

A thick Dorthy shows her 'bits' to the Wizard of Oz after he asks her to do something for him... He meant that she was to kill the Wicked Witch of the West, but she obviously thought he meant something else...

This is the kind of bizarre twist you find in the imaginative retelling of the Wizard of Oz that Col and I went to see Friday night. The brief explanation of this show found on most of the promotional material read as follows:

"Sumptuous costumes, surreal sets, big shiny production numbers and a gender-bending cast that will colour your dreams in shades of ruby red and emerald green. Part musical theatre, part drag show, part multimedia installation, this is a full-blown decadent musical diversion that will take you down the yellow brick road to an Oz you only knew existed in the darkest (and campest) recesses of your twisted little mind."

This show was featured as part of the latest Dublin Fringe Festival and was put together and performed by Dublin's own DoppleGang (Blogger wouldn't accept the 'diacritic umlaut' that the 'a' is supposed to be... It therefore is missing the two dots over it), a fantastic group of performers including drag kings and queens but also many other talented and varied performers doing their own cabarett shows.

Honestly, this article on Queer ID (featuring 'Oz: A Fairytale Plot' as it's September 'Pick of the Month') explains DoppleGang's history and this new show much better then I ever could. And it makes a good quick read. So give it a skim if curious about what I am raving on about.

Basically, all I can say is that it was a hoot. It was such a massive undertaking for the group ('Original songs and dance numbers and multimedia effects, oh my!'), but they really stepped up to the mark. Their run at the Fringe Fest ended tonight, but I hope they were satisfied with the response they got. So much work went into it, but it was fantastic.

Tonight Col and I took a bus into town to get our first taste of the Dublin Fringe Festival. Our bus dropped us up near the top of O'Connell Street. This main thouroughfair had been brought to a near standstill by the 'strike' action of angry taxi drivers. Taxis were parked in four of the six lanes (one left open in each direction) while drivers marched about in the ramaining areas, sometimes allowing buses to move through. I went a little snap-happy, but the place was a bit of a zoo. The heavy rain and the tired commuters trying to get home made the situation a little extra bleak.

Eventually Col and I made it to the GPO where we were to pick up a government form (hard copies are available as not everyone is equipped to print their forms off the internet. However, we were told that the form we needed was not in stock, but that it wasn't their fault (of course...). It was that government department's job to ensure that their forms were in stock, they had nothing to do with it. Sheesh...

The show we saw was the preview (cheaper tickets!) of DR DILLON AND GEORGIA, based in part on the life of the word's first surgical female-to-male transexual. It is very difficult to hold an audience captive in any performance, let alone a one-man show with few props or costumes. And yet this show did just that. It certianly made me want to learn more about Michael Dillon.

A xkcd Comic (shamelessly stolen from someone's avatar...)

Here is the comic's original source... Looks like another webcomic archive for me to feast upon...

Daw.... :)

Recently one of Col's good friends stopped by for the afternoon with her two kids. We went and played at the nearby park and then they came back here for a bit of tea. One worked on her colouring while the other worked on his aim. So cute!