The Importance of Being Sound

I was at Castlepalooza, a small music festival in Tullamore, for the first time last weekend. I hadn’t ever heard much about it-none of my friends had ever gone, I’d never read any write ups or seen any coverage and my computer went absolutely bonkers when I tried to look up the website-so I was pretty much going blind…



It was brilliant. I haven’t had so much fun at a festival in years. The music was great-a real eclectic mix of quality bands and DJs, including loads of surprisingly good, up and coming Irish acts. The venue is lovely-very compact, using the castle and its surrounding grounds to full effect. But what made the whole thing, was the people. Everyone we met was sound. Randomers, people we hadn’t seen in years, friends of friends-even the security guards were positively cheery. We met some of the organisers-sound. The bands-sound. Bar staff-really sound. And it just creates such a good atmosphere. Everyone’s relaxed. There’s no one telling you-you can’t go there or you can’t do that. And because it’s so small, you can bump into someone and not be afraid of losing your mates, so people are really talking to each other… and listening… and having a very good time…



On the last night, I was just remarking on the fact that the cretin quota had been so ridiculously low, which was always gonna tempt fate and naturally, a pungent mangler appeared who I thought was gonna hoover my head with his oversized, flapping jaws…but he was soon taken in hand by an apologetic friend who explained his over-exuberance, pleaded him mercy and ushered him away into the night. Now, if only the same could be said at all festivals…Sound.

Muppets

The blood is still literally boiling in my veins after the comments made by Mick Wallace in the Dail last week, about his fellow TD Fine Gael’s Mary Mitchell O’Connor. Unaware that he was being picked up on a live mic, he indulged in a right old laugh with Independent TDs Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan and Shane Ross about Ms Mitchell O’Connor’s appearance. ‘Miss Piggy has toned it down a bit today’ he remarked in reference to Ms Mitchell O’Connor’s normally colourful attire (amongst other things, one would imagine-none of them with very flattering.)

This just would not fly in other countries. A dismissal or at least a suspension would be looked for immediately. Not only does it reinforce the idea of the ‘old boys club’ being alive and well, this kind of attitude is detrimental to attracting females into politics. It is sexist and embarrassing-members of parliament acting like silly school boys down the back of the class. Another episode in the ongoing show of incompetence and misconduct from our politicians.

What really makes me laugh about the whole thing though, is that if anyone in the Dail resembles Miss Piggy-it’s Mick…with his long, blonde, curly locks and his penchant for pink…the irony of which I’m sure was not lost on Ms Mitchell O’Connor. In fact, to be totally fair, he could really more plausibly be the secret love child of Miss Piggy and Beaker…