‘Ey! Get back here, ya skinny bullocks!


Advertisement
Ireland's flag
Europe » Ireland » County Dublin » Dublin
August 31st 2008
Published: August 31st 2008
Edit Blog Post

This content requires Flash
To view this content, JavaScript must be enabled, and you need the latest version of the Adobe Flash Player.
Download the free Flash Player now!
 Video Playlist:

1: Our favorite buskers 62 secs
The GateThe GateThe Gate

This was actually one of many gates into the storehouse. It's were the big trucks enter/exit for distribution. There is a funny little Wizard of Oz-esque door off the the right, though.
The title was something we heard yelled at a man on a bicycle who had nearly hit another fellow who was walking along the street. Many expletives followed, but I thought I’d just leave it at that. We heard this yesterday as we left campus to stroll down O’Connell Street. (By the way, my favorite part of class Thursday morning was Dr. Barington’s description of how the British claimed that James III was actually an illegitimate child as he had been smuggled into the bed of Mary of Modena in a bed pan while she was in labor. Just thought I’d throw that in before I forgot.) Aside from the many monuments of important historic figures in Irish history along O’Connell, one establishment of note was the Gate Theatre. Ben, John, Ingle, and I all decided to buy tickets to a show called No Man’s Land featuring Michael Gambon and a few other actors of note. (We’ve now discovered that it’s on tour and will be in London while we’re there, thus Margaret has already gotten us tickets.) Despite our overzealous nature, we were very excited about the prospect of some quality theatre.

After we made our way back to Trinity and grabbed some lunch, a large group of us (16 I believe) hopped on a bus to the west side of Dublin for a soccer match. When we arrived, we discovered that there were only 4 tickets to be had at the box office and 9 in a nearby pub. I had been pretty ambivalent in the first place because I knew of an improv show going on that night that I’d have to miss for the match, so I decided to skip the game and head back towards the city (FYI, Ben and I are in an improv troupe at Furman called Improv!able Cause just in case anyone somehow isn’t aware of this). Six of us split off from those who had tickets and headed to the Guinness Storehouse as it was on the way back. The first couple floors of the storehouse were the most interesting: they outlined how much detail went into the specific ingredients in Guinness, the founder Arthur Guinness, and even the coopers who handcrafted the barrels that Guinness was originally stored in. A few of the more interesting facts were that two-thirds of the barley produced in Ireland goes towards the production of
Waters from WicklowWaters from WicklowWaters from Wicklow

What are you doin' in my waters?
Guinness and that the yeast used today is from the same stock that was used by Arthur Guinness in the 1700s. I found it amusing that they used to call Arthur an alchemist; he’d turned a bunch of inexpensive raw materials into black gold (Texas T…). At the top of the storehouse was the coolest part: The Gravity Bar. The storehouse is vaguely shaped like a pint, so they refer to the Gravity Bar as the head. It is here that all visitors of age receive their complimentary pint of Guinness and a breathtaking 360-degree view of Dublin. The view alone was worth the trip. We could see Trinity, the Spike at the end of O’Connell Street, and many other familiar landmarks. We could also see the beautiful hills of Ireland outside the city that we all longed to get a better sense of. After sufficiently savoring the views and the pints, we made our way back down to the ground floor, perused the gift shop, and continued our trek back into the city. Ben, Ashton, John, and I grabbed a bagel for dinner after finding the location of the improv show then headed back to Trinity to rest for
CloverCloverClover

This was made in all of the pints are they were topped off.
a bit.

Although none of us intended to, we all completely conked out for three hours. By the time Ashton knocked on my door, it was nine. We hustled back to the Ha’ Penny Bridge Inn to be sure we’d get tickets for the 9:30 show. We got there and climbed the stairs to the second floor of the bar where the Battle of the Axe Comedy Club was with plenty of time and space to spare. I was a bundle of excitement at what to expect. While waiting for the show to start, Ashton and I spotted a fellow in a fedora at the bar that seemed like he was going to be a part of the evening’s festivities. At last we were greeted by our MC for the evening, Aiden. He was wearing a T-shirt with the Thing on it and a beanie littered with small buttons over his almost waist-length hair. I liked him from the moment he took the stage. He had a great look and presence. The immediate thoughts were confirmed when he began to work the crowd. He asked who all was from Dublin, Ireland aside for Dublin, then outside Ireland. There were
Dublin 1Dublin 1Dublin 1

View from the Gravity Bar
a surprising number of folks present from different countries. Among the other countries represented were Holland, Scotland, and Canada; and we were not the only Americans in the crowd. After the introductions, Aiden told us he was going to warm us up by taking us a year and a half back in time. We all had to stand up, hold hands, count backwards from ten, shout “Happy New Year,” and break into Auld Lang Sine. This served a double purpose of warming us up while confusing the folks in the pub downstairs and the streets outside. After celebrating, Aiden welcomed the first stand-up comedian of the night to the stage, Kevin Laughlin. It was pretty standard stand-up. He wasn’t bad by any means, but I could kind of see where most of his jokes were headed. I could tell he hadn’t been in stand-up very long, though. I think my favorite joke of his was one about using a blender to solve the problem of getting a baby to eat lumpy food… not by blending the food, but by sticking the baby’s hand in the blender and threatening to turn it on. He said his child now loves to eat lumpy food…with his good hand. Moving on… the next performer was a guy who Aiden introduced as Merlin the Wizard. It was the guy with the fedora that Ashton and I had spotted at the bar. He was obviously not from Dublin. I actually thought he had a southern accent, but I figured that was a long shot. His slight of hand magic was pretty good, but he was so ADD and everywhere that he was so hard to follow. This guy was spastic. At some point, though, he stopped in the middle of the act and asked who in the crowd had said they were from South Carolina. I raised my hand, and he told me that he probably knew where I went to school…wow. Small world. His scrambled show ended with him pulling a bird out of his hat…a phalangular bird. The next act was a female comedian named Sonya. She was easily the best of the three. She had a very Rachael Dratch look and style of comedy. I think my favorite bit of hers was about boutiques: “please don’t stand so close to the clothing, the fabric is very delicate and you may inhale it… this is a size -45…” After the stand-up there was a short break before the improv. During the break, Merlin (whose real name was Jason) came up to us. He was from Columbia, SC. He freaked when I told him I was from Lancaster. He’d gone to Camden Military then come to Dublin for a change of scenery. He’d been here since January doing magic in the streets and in bars. I told him we all went to Furman, and at some point he stopped me and told me that my accent reminded him of home. I made him talk to Ashton for a bit as she is from Alabama and has a pretty significant drawl, and he loved that. He said he was going to go outside and come back after the break, but he never came back in. After the break, Aiden took us back in time again, but this time it was to the famine. We all had to pretend that his fist was the last potato in Ireland (with fingers representing chips). All of the foreigners had to make really hungry eating noises (the four of us went “Om nom nom”) until he took his hand away
I <3 LampI <3 LampI <3 Lamp

We've now seen 3 of these signs. I don't question them... I only worship them.
and all of the Irish folks had to cry. Then he introduced the rest of the troupe (yeah, he was in the troupe. I could have called that.) There were five guys (come on ladies… where’s the funny?) altogether, and I believe they called themselves Hippity Laugh (the name was kind of lost in the accent). They opened with Party Quirks (by the way, they never said any of the names of the games; I just knew most of them). There was a man who sold lingerie to penguins, a taxidermist (my suggestion) for pirates (Ashton’s), and a postman who only delivered STDs. There was also a Lollipop Lady (an older female who helps children cross the road) who helped children cross the poverty line. The last one was the toughest for the host to guess and the most regional (there were a lot of references to notoriously poorer areas and richer areas). They then moved on to Story, Story, Die. This entails 4 members in a line all telling the same story but only when it is their turn as designated by the host. The trick is that each person has a different genre and has to continue with
Battle of the AxeBattle of the AxeBattle of the Axe

Sorry these pictures aren't great, but I was trying to to be too obtrusive by not using the flash.
the story without hesitation or they’re out (die). The genres were Film Noir (we ALWAYS get this, and this guy absolutely nailed it), Kung Fu, Zombie (my suggestion), and Star Wars. The story was pretty convoluted, but they did really well with this tough game and went on for a while. The next game was one that I’ve seen played before but don’t really know a specific name for. They took a well-known fairy tale (in this case Little Red Riding Hood), acted it out quite ridiculously, and then acted it out again in a different genre (in this case, gangster movie). Hilarious. A few of the funnier moments were when the wolf almost forgot that he was supposed to eat the grandma before Little Red came in, when the cookies became crack in the gangster genre, and when the woodcutter came in at the end of the gangster version. They then played Emotional Rollercoaster. Two of the guys had to try to get out of a dishwasher on an airplane while the host periodically yelled out emotions that they had to change to. A few were lazy, awkward (John’s suggestion), indifferent, stoned, and PMS (THE funniest. One of the guys kicked open the dishwasher and was opening and closing the door while they were yelling at one another. It was probably one of the funniest moments of the night. The timing was just perfect). We thought that was going to be the last game, but Aiden said there was time for one more… a singing game. Do-run. Please tell me at least a few members of the I!C fanwork just got really excited. Do-run is a game that we frequently close with, so Ben, Ashton (as a regular attendee of our shows), and I all flipped. As a response to our obvious excitement, Aiden told us he was going to have to talk to us after the show. Ben actually taped the whole thing, so I’ll have to attempt to steal it from him and upload it. They played a little differently, but it was the same idea. Overall, the guy who did the pirate taxidermist, film noir, woodcutter, and dishwasher kicker was the best, but all five guys were really strong improvers. Before we left, I went up to Aiden and told him how much we enjoyed the show and that Ben and I were in a troupe
Party QuirksParty QuirksParty Quirks

Aiden's in the middle.
at Furman. He thanked us for coming and told us about the finals of a stand-up competition coming up. (Think Irish Last Comic Standing, but sponsored by Bulmer’s, a very popular cider.) We talked a bit about what we were studying here, and he told us that he actually went to university for theatre and directed a lot before he started doing improv (which he likes because it’s less work…so true). We got back to XXX around 1 AM in a great mood after discovering that improv is a universal language.

The next morning started too early with a bus ride to Clonmacnoise. The ride was fairly quiet as no one had quite woken up yet. It was a couple hours to our destination, so everyone dozed on the way. Once we started to get out of the city, the scenery was gorgeous. Clonmacnoise (literally meadow of the sons of Nós) was established in 548 by St. Ciarán at the crossroads of the river Shannon and a major road-like gravel ridge. This caused it to become an important center for religious, trade, and political influence. All that still exists are the ruins of the city that was continuously raided by Vikings. Our tour guide, John O’, was so great. He emphasized that he didn’t have a scripted tour so he didn’t really know what all he was going to talk about. The first part of the tour was a long discussion about The Cross of the Scriptures. I think that was my favorite aspect of all of the ruins. There were about 16 different scenes that had been carved into different sections of the 13 ft tall Celtic cross of sandstone. Some of them were much more visibly obvious of what they were than others, but my favorite aspect was that all of the Romans were pictured in the large pointed helmets of Vikings because none of the craftsmen had actually seen any Romans. This is an important fact: the Romans never invaded Ireland, so while the Roman Empire was taking over most of Europe, the Irish monks were transcribing the Gospel in Clonmacnoise. This is the premise of the book How the Irish Saved Civilization (I think I was the only person who’d heard of this… thanks Dad…). Also, the Magi were pictured on horses because the crafters had never seen camels. We were told about a few of the other specifics of the crosses and church ruins, then went into the museum where the actual crosses and some of the actual grave-slabs were kept (apparently the crosses outside are replicas… kind of lame…) However, the crosses inside were in better shape than the replicas and more of the detail was able to be observed. After taking in the view of the river and hills while we still could, we hopped back on the bus and headed back to the city.

That night a big group of us went to a pub recommended to us by the driver of our bus, the Knightsbridge. When we got there, a pair of Irish musicians was playing, but after they’d played a couple songs a DJ took over. This consisted of a lot of random American music and some Euro techno. The dancing was fun, though. We were actually some of the few people dancing, but gradually there were more. After a while we left this pub and headed to find another. Our large group split in half somewhere along the line with one half forging ahead to a new pub and the other half heading back to the first pub. In this split, Andrew and I got confused as neither of us was really paying attention because he’d begun to sing Sweeney Todd, and we’d just switched to Wicked. We couldn’t find either half of the group, so we anticlimactically returned to Trinity.

While that first outing was fun, nothing topped how much of a kick we got out of last night when we roped Dr. Barrington into accompanying us to the same pub. It was much more crowded, and there were about three different parties of what we assumed were bridesmaids. This meant there were about six older ladies in each group dresses in French maid costumes, sporting light-up bunny ears, and fuzzy red devil horns. Entertaining to say the least. There were a lot more people dancing and the same strange assortment of music. Our group was delighted when Thriller came on, though. The following is an actual conversation I had:

Random Irish Man: Shite music, eh?
Me: What!?! This is Michael Jackson!
Irish Man: It’s shite.
Me: What do you like if you don’t like Michael Jackson?
Irish Man: I like BEATS.

Wow. Priceless. But not as priceless as us convincing Dr. Barrington break it down on the dance floor. He was such a great sport about it. Then it got better: a crazy techno remix of Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” came on. You can’t make that shite up. When we finally convince our professor to dance with us, a song that proclaims “Hey! Teacher! Leave those kids alone!” comes on. Too perfect. We didn’t want to push our luck after that great turn of events, so most of us called it a night.

This morning a group of 6 of us went to St. Anne's, the Anglican church that we had seen off of Grafton Street. The service was actually morning prayer, and the choir is off in July and August. This led to a lack-luster service, but the church was beautiful. It's 300 years old. Oscar Wilde was baptised there, and Bram Stoker and Wolfe Tone were married there (not to one another, of course).

Still loving it, guys. Oh, and I've mentioned Dad in both of these blogs, but have found no love for the madre. Hi Mom! I love you!



Additional photos below
Photos: 22, Displayed: 22


Advertisement

The Whispering ArchThe Whispering Arch
The Whispering Arch

Priests would place their ear in the corner of one side of the arch while a confessor whispered into the other side. I think I was confessing my undieing love to Ingle.
The TainThe Tain
The Tain

The Irish novel The Tain (the Medieval Lit. class had to read it) was written in this building. Here's a dramatic reenactment.
Cross HuggersCross Huggers
Cross Huggers

The actual crosses are eroded from where they were continuously embraced by those who thought it would cure back aches. Will and I demonstrate
A lady in an inappropriate positionA lady in an inappropriate position
A lady in an inappropriate position

Dr. Menzer said these were frequently placed in the arches of churches to warn those who entered not the stray into sin.
Castle RuinsCastle Ruins
Castle Ruins

Near Clonmacnoise. The piece on the left looked like it would fall at any moment.
Riley and IngleRiley and Ingle
Riley and Ingle

Walking towards the Spike.


31st August 2008

mmmmmm
yummmmmm, guinness looks like soup. tasty tasty soup
1st September 2008

Clover?
Are ye surin that the imprint on the foam isn't a Shamrock maybe?
3rd September 2008

That's so exciting that you found improv in Ireland! I miss your Improvable Cause antics.
4th September 2008

Few things
I should comment that the Clonmacnoise and Guinness factory pictures were borrowed from Ashton as I was having rechargable battery issues that have since been cleared up. I was referring to a middle finger when I said Phalangular Bird. I was going for a euphemism. And clover and shamrock are fairly synonymous, father.

Tot: 0.094s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 5; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0426s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.2mb