Monthly Archives: September 2013
Come here to me
I’ve also added Come Here to Me to the blogroll. Although it’s not strictly a republican blog – it’s about Dublin city and life – it does have quite a lot of material about republican Dublin and there are some very interesting exchanges in its comments section about left-republican people and activities of the past. It’s at: http://comeheretome.com/
Also, the folks behind it have brought out what looks like a very interesting book, Come Here To Me: Dublin’s other history. It’s advertised on their blog’s home page.
Reading and listening – September
Just bought Damien Dempsey’s Shots and Dick Gaughan’s Gaughan Live! at the Trades Club. Spent a lot of time listening to them when they arrived on Wednesday, interspersed with Chase and Status’ No More Idols and Seth Lakeman’s Hearts and Minds.
God, I wish I had a voice like Damien Dempsey; that guy’s voice could shoot helicopter gunships out of the sky. And I wish I could play guitar like Dick Gaughan. And I wish I could do anything musical a fraction as good as Seth Lakeman.
I’ve got Gaughan on at present, great version of “Tom Paine’s Bones” and “Whatever Happened?”, which is about renegacy on the left and is just mesmerising. I first came across Gaughan several decades ago as his version of ‘Galtee Mountain Boy’ (my favourite version of that beautiful song) was on a cassette brought out by the Sinn Fein POW Dept as a fund-raiser during the 1981 hunger strikes. I’ve never come across his version anywhere else, even on youtube.
I think my next CD purchase will be something by Gary Og, probably something that has ‘Back Home in Derry’ on it. I love his live versions of it on youtube. Then probably some more Damien Dempsey.
Reading wise, I’m re-reading Bolshevik economist I.I. Rubin’s Essays on Marx’s Theory of Value (political reading), re-reading some early 1960s David Storey novels (for relaxation reading) and Richard Davenport-Hines’ brand new An English Affair: sex, class and power in the age of Profumo (work-related reading).