Regina's Return (Kind of)

This new song by Ben Folds and Regina Spektor is most agreeable, don't you think?



It's called 'You Don't Know Me'. Still no word on La SpekTor's new album other than vague assurances of a 2009 release.

Mo' Money, Mo' Problems?

Surely not.


I think I can safely say that, at this precise moment in time, I am poorer than I have ever been before. And it sucks.

As time goes on, more and more of my friends are setting up in The Real World, bringing in a salary and even starting to save (for a rainy day, presumably). An unfortunate consequence of this is that I'm having to miss out on a lot of social occasions due to my lack of finances.

When we were all poor students, we all lived cheap and rarely went beyond the confines of DCU to socialise. These days, most of the same people wouldn't be caught dead in a student bar whereas I simply can't afford to go out anywhere else unless I 'pre-booze' (as one of my friends calls it) or stay sober.

Cinema, theatre, gigs and the likes are also off the menu for me at the time being. At the moment, I don't even know how I'm gonna pay for my next couple of months' rent and it's a scary, scary feeling.

YouTubular Amazingness

Who's a poor neglected blog?

I'm still getting to grips with my new schedule but there's plenty that I'd like to post over the next few days.

In the meantime, I'll leave you in the very capable hands of David Byrne and BPM ( aka Norman 'Fatboy Slim' Cook.)

Cathy Davey Interview

(published in the current issue of DCU's Campus Magazine)

I’ve called Cathy Davey at a bad time. She’s in the middle of saying goodbye to her dad and simultaneously trying to coax her dog, Rex, back inside her house. I offer to call back but she insists she’ll be ready in a moment.

I’m struck by the cheery, relaxed tone of the voice on the other end of the line. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised as Davey has much to be happy about these days. In just under twelve months, the silky-voiced songstress has released a critically acclaimed album that’s currently racing towards double platinum sales, picked up trophies at the Meteor Awards and Dublin Fringe Festival, been shortlisted for the prestigious Choice Music Prize and had her track ‘Moving’ used in a national advertising campaign for Vodafone.

Davey’s good fortunes may seem to have come about overnight but there were a number of obstacles to overcome along the way, not least the crippling stage-fright that plagued the Wicklow-born lass when promoting her debut album, ‘Something Ilk’, in 2004.

“I was petrified. I’d just completely freeze on stage and sometimes I’d even vomit before a show. I’d locked myself away for two years, writing and recording demos, but I’d never had to perform or to sell myself. At one point, I went to a hypnotist but it had no effect on me because I’m such a bad sleeper. I’m actually glad the hypnotism didn’t work though because I don’t think you can just bypass a problem like that.”

Davey believes that part of the problem was that she wasn’t entirely comfortable with the material she was performing. She felt that the demos she had toiled over in her bedroom had been tainted by studio gloss and, by her own admission, was ‘embarrassed’ by the material.

I ask if she ever considered giving up at any point, if she was tempted to pack in the music career and pursue something else. “Never. I always knew music was the one thing I could do best. I suffer from dyslexia and wasn’t particularly academic but writing music was something I could excel at.”

Davey was determined that her sophomore effort would not fall victim to the same fate as ‘Something Ilk’. “For ‘Tales of Silversleeve’ I did most of the recording on my own. I did a lot of the work in my dad’s house. This time, there were no other dominant characters, which was better because I think that can ruin creative things.”

It appears that this approach worked out well for Davey as she seems far less prone to the jitters nowadays and has established a reputation as one of Ireland’s foremost live performers. A number of fans were left disappointed at this year’s Electric Picnic when they couldn’t get into the packed-out tent where she was performing. “The Electric Picnic set was pretty wonderful. I’d played Oxegen last year and V Festival a few years ago but I’d never played to a packed-out tent like that.”

“I enjoyed the performance but I think I chose a bad running order so I was a little annoyed about that.” It's comments like this that hint at the singer's perfectionist tendencies but, if she continues to produce such fine music, it’s probably best just to leave Cathy Davey to nitpick away.

Year 5, Day 2

I started my Master's degree in Journalism yesterday. I think it's probably a good thing that I was so busy the past few weeks because, if I'd had time to think about properly, I probably would have been quite petrified about the whole affair.

Thankfully, it's been going swell so far although I'm still coming to terms with being suddenly thrust into 'interactive' lectures having just sat and listened to boring maths lecturers for four years. I'm also a little bit intimidated by the amount of experience some of my classmates (two of whom are researchers on Newstalk) but everybody seems friendly enough. There are only 22 of us in the class so I'd hope to be able to get to know most of them quite well during the course of the year.

I've just finished my first assignment (we had to re-write a 19th century account of a London fire in a contemporary style) and we've got our first radio class tomorrow so it's all very exciting. Well, for me anyway.

As tragic as it is that I'm back in for a FIFTH YEAR, I'm delighted to be a DCU student once more. Boozy sessions in Shanowen, confabulations in 'The Street', boogieing in The Old Bar and swim'n'gym sessions in DCU Sports Club. Oh, how I have missed you, DCU.

Unfortunately, there are a number of people I met and grew to love at DCU that have moved on to bigger and better things since last I frequented this redbricked haven and. Not only do I pine for these people but I also get this strange feeling of guilt for continuing on with my DCU experience without them. It's hard to explain.

Tomorrow I will attend my fourth DCU Freshers' Ball (technically I am in the first year of a course but I will concede that there's nothing particularly 'fresh' about me.) The theme is Superheroes and, after much deliberation, I've decided on my costume:

You like?