Eoin Butler: writer, journalist and Mayoman of the Year

Tripping Along The Ledge


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Election Latest: Vote Yes for Cute Kittens

kittens
Aidan is buzzing. He’s like a kid in a toyshop. I, on the other hand, am just about keeping my excitement under wraps. We’re sitting in the first and, to my knowledge, only Dublin bar to offer the “unique” pull your own pint experience. Aidan thinks it’s amazing. Pulling our own pints. God above. What next?

I’m not quite so enthusiastic. I think its a gimmick. They’re making me do something that’s normally done for me by someone else? Yippee, when we’re finished here, can I clean the toilets? Read the rest of this article here.

April 22nd, 2010. 6 Comments »

Miscellaneous Amusing Items I’ve Comes Across #33

Do not drop the floss
My sister’s girlfriend found these in her cupboard today. Read it the whole way through. Someone is having fun at the Ten Thousand Use The Dish Cloth people’s expense. Read the rest of this entry »

April 22nd, 2010. 8 Comments »

Are You Lonesome Tonight? (1969)


Yeah, it’s the laughing version… The back story, from Wikipedia: Read the rest of this entry »

April 22nd, 2010. Comment now »

Holy crap, is this the most casually homophobic article you’ve ever read or what?

homophobia
When I read this piece by Ian O’Doherty yesterday morning, I shrugged my shoulders and just kinda assumed someone else would kick up a fuss about it. But that didn’t happen. Now I’m no fan of outrage, but last year Daily Mail columnist Jan Moir was widely pilloried for a column she wrote following the death of Stephen Gately. And truthfully, that article contained little more than a few massive logical non-sequiturs and some spiteful innuendo.

On Tuesday – coincidentally, the morning after RTE’s acclaimed Growing Up Gay documentary was screened – a columnist in our biggest selling daily newspaper branded gays “sexual deviants”, and clearly equated homosexuality with paedophilia and bestiality. Read the article after the jump. It’s about a thousand times more ignorant and offensive than anything Jan Moir wrote. Yet no one seems to have batted an eyelid: Read the rest of this entry »

April 21st, 2010. 45 Comments »

Published: Mongrel magazine, March 2004

Embrace Satan

al-pacino-devil's-advocate_nrml
Welcome to the the first in a series of commercial features (i.e. articles that look like real articles but are actually just a mutant form of advertising.) This month, we’ve teamed up with His Satanic Majesty, the Archangel Lucifer, to suckle upon his fiery teat and drink deep of his molten juices.

The forces of evil have never been as hip and youth oriented and we want you to get involved. Below you will find details of a fabulous offer open exclusively to our readers. But first here’s a personal message from Satan himself: Read the rest of this entry »

April 21st, 2010. 3 Comments »

Published: The Dubliner, April 2010

“I feel a bit like Ian Paisley, after a night on the sauce, awoken to find I’m hosting a cake sale for the Legion of Mary…”

paisley
Great journeys are often embarked upon unknowingly, and completed in tiny, imperceptible increments. It isn’t until we step back sometimes, that we are even aware of the unexpected turns our lives have taken. The selfish prima donna has become a devoted spouse or parent; the wide-eyed optimist a battle-hardened cynic; and the biggest, most diehard culchie is suddenly writing a column for The Dubliner magazine. Read the rest of this entry »

April 20th, 2010. 9 Comments »

The Aristocrats!

oows

April 20th, 2010. 2 Comments »

“Your rook is attacked and shortly after I’ll take another pawn. This is a position to die for, in fact…”

000018‘You’re not doing very well, I’m afraid.” It’s Wednesday morning and Eamon Keogh and I are playing chess on the banks of the Grand Canal. It’s a glorious sunny day and a gaggle of swans have glided over to see what’s going on. But the two-time Irish champion is unimpressed. He tuts quietly and leans across the table to offer some constructive criticism. Read the rest of this article here.

April 19th, 2010. Comment now »

“As adept with the long pause as he is with the awkward silence…”*

villagers
Compiling the singles reviews for The Ticket, I must admit, is one of the easiest and more pleasurable of my weekly chores. But I do sometimes approach the Irish releases with some trepidation. Mediocre music is mediocre music. So even if I once queued behind the bass player for service at the bar in Whelans, it doesn’t exactly sweeten the deal for me. Read the rest of this entry »

April 19th, 2010. 5 Comments »

Rocks Off (1972)


“The sunshine bores the daylights out of me…” Listened to this today for the first time in a long time. It’s even fucking better than I remembered it. My favourite rock n’ roll track of all time. Easy.

April 19th, 2010. 8 Comments »