The Squeee

[ Source ] Happy St Patrick's Day! :) And "Happy FanstRA!", for the last time this year. I hope the week has been good both for readers and participants - it's certainly kept me busy! There have been so many great posts out there over the past week, I admit I haven't had a chance to go through them all yet. There are a few hours yet for those of you in the Americas, but FanstRA week officially ends in about half an hour from me writing this.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Even though I'm not Irish this time around, I still like to observe St. Patrick's Day. And as is traditional for me on the blog, here is an Irish song. This rendition of Óró, Sé do Bheatha 'Bhaile is from a 2002 live performance of traditional songs by Sinéad O'Connor. I really like her version of it. If you've seen The Wind That Shakes the Barley , it's sung by the characters.

Stalking the TV channel Yesterday's website in order to find out if/when they're going to show The Glass Virgin . They always seem to be showing Catherine Cookson adaptations, after all. (Wondering why you should see it? Brendan Coyle à la 1995. "OMG" doesn't quite cover it.) Also, I see now that he played Michael Collins in a 2001 miniseries called Rebel Heart . Brendan Coyle with an Irish accent playing Michael Collins - this is almost too good to be true! And it is, sort of. The bloody thing isn't available on DVD! HOW RUDE!! (You can get a used VHS from £25 but that's a bit much.) Ohh, although it's on YouTube. Hooray! That's my evening sorted! :D Erm, anyway, before I digressed, I came across a test: Who's your ideal literary hero? Can't resist a challenge like that!

Two wonderful things have happened recently on the BBC. Or, technically, four. The first ones, I came across by accident on BBC Four when channel hopping: a Christy Moore concert accompanied by the two programmes Folk Hibernia at the BBC (2007), which is a one-hour show with clips from various BBC shows where Irish musicians have performed. Clannád, The Dubliners, The Pogues and many more; and the second, a ninety-minute documentary about Irish folk music called Folk Hibernia (2006). It gave the background of the Irish folk movement, and how it started out being sort of hidden away and only really played in the countryside, and then how it was popularised in America by the Clancy Brothers, who brought it back to Ireland and paved way for groups like The Dubliners . A highly interesting programme to watch for anyone who loves traditional Irish folk music. The other thing I've come across, #4 in order, is a show I came across when flicking through Virgin Media's Catch up on D...

I was meant to have written a few posts yesterday, but work got in the way. Funny how it does that, eh? ;) When I got home and sat down to do some writing, I stumbled across the place where you sign up to publish your own eBooks on Amazon Kindle and then I got caught up in having a look at what you can do with it, how it works and all that, which in turn led to looking into blog publishing to the Kindle and then all of a sudden it was time to go to bed. Dangit. But anyway, I'll see what I can fit in today, which is the day of St. Patrick! Have a great time, y'all, be ye Irish, wannabe Irish, of Irish ancestry or just like a bit o' craic ! :)

Good evening, everyone - I'd especially like to welcome any newcomers who have found the blog through the Richard Armitage FanstRAvaganza. Thanks for following! :) Today is St. Patrick's Day, the Republic of Ireland's national day, celebrated amongst the Irish, Irish descendents, or just friends and fans of the Emerald Isle everywhere in the world. I'm in the "friends and fans" category. I'm currently doing a course in Celtic Studies, I'm a big fan of traditional Irish folk music, and the time period I'm most interested in in Irish history is approximately 1825-1925 or so. That period covers emigration, potato famine, the Easter Rising and the Civil War. However, this is not a political or historical or religious blog, so celebrating will be in the shape of film. Two Irish films I particularly like are Neil Jordan's Michael Collins (1996) and Ken Loach's The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2006). Same time period, similar topic.