Coming out, TVYP and Sleater-Kinney
So, as I said in my last post, I came out to my youngest brother (Eamonn, who's 12) last week. I can't actually be arsed going into it, but basically I was talking to him hinted that Anthony (my other wee bro) knows more about my life than he does, and he got really jealous and nagged me til I told him. He was totally cool about it, which I wouldn't have expected from him a coupla months previously but my anti-homophobic nagging combined with sibling rivalry evidently payed off. Of course it all might have been a facade to look cool in front of me, but he did say he hust wants me to be happy so I don't really care. Haven't told him about Cassie yet, I'm not sure that he's ready. But hey.
Anyhoo, enough about that. On Thursday I flew off to Edinburgh for a TV course, which was completely free except for travel costs. It basically consisted of 4 days of masterclasses, workshops and parties. I met Vernon Kay and Jayne Middlemiss, who were really lovely, plus lots of high-powered tv execs etc. On Saturday night there was a VH1 party with half naked waiters, which was entertaining to say the least. Then got vomited over at 4am by this girl Malinda. T'was funny.
So, yeah, came back from that on Monday evening, and then the next morning I left for Dublin. Yes, you heard me, the very next day after a gruelling weekend. "But Aideen," I hear you cry, "why didst thou journeye over hill and plain to Baile Atha Cliath so soone after your epic queste in yonder Land of Scots?" Well, I'll tell you. It was because Sleater-Kinney, my favourite band in the universe, were playing a wee gig there. "But Aideen," you continue, "didst not olde Sleatere-Kinneye play in Belfast on the day of Wednes anyway?" Yes, yes they did. But, you see, as I have said before, they are my favourite band in the universe. And it's taken them ten fucking years to come play round our neck of the woods, so I figured, meh! It's worth it.
Got the 10.30 Enterprise so I was there for about half past 12, had a wee dander about town and checked in at my hostel. I met some peeps from film school, and then I went to meet the Riot Grrrl Irelanders cos one of them, Michelle, had my ticket. Also, they were the only Dubliners I knew who were going and I wanted to meet them anyways. We met at St. Stephen's Green and then went down to Temple Bar. Nobody knew where the gig venue was except me (go me and my sense of direction!), so we went down to check it out.
We stood for several minutes gazing at the S-K poster in the window with wonder and awe, when suddenly this bloke came out of the front door. I asked him if I could have the poster and he said “not until after the gig”, but cryptically added “if you hang around, you might see someone”. Needless to say, once the idea was put in our heads, we *had* to meet the band. We probed him for more information, but all he could tell us was that their van was around the corner. After checking out the van (no S-K), we went round the side, where we noticed that the stage door was open, and saw people setting up. “Argh!” we thought, “we are standing beside the same building that Sleater-Kinney are in, and we aren’t speaking to them!!!”. We needed a plan, and badly.
Luckily for us (or so we thought), I had brought my TVYP ID thingy with me. Oh yes, I had predicted that it might come in handy the previous evening when I packed, and now my lateral thinking was paying off. Here was the plan:
1. Put on my snazzy ID thingy and carry a pen and notebook in hand.
2. Stick my head through the stage door and find someone official-looking.
3. Say “Hi, my name’s Aideen Johnston, I’m with TVYP. We’re a youth media scheme up north. I was wondering if I could have a wee interview with the band?”
4. Fake it when I actually met the band.
So after spending 5 minutes actually plucking up the courage to go in, I managed to find some guy who worked there and go through stages 1-3. He told me I’d need to go through the press office, and gave me a number. To cut a long and boring story slightly shorter, it didn’t work as the ladies were unavailable, though I did try.
What were we to do? Well, meeting the band got pushed further and further to the back of my mind as we began to discuss the ID situation. Basically, the gig was over 18s only, but I was the only one there who actually had ID. A problem indeed.
To be continued…
Anyhoo, enough about that. On Thursday I flew off to Edinburgh for a TV course, which was completely free except for travel costs. It basically consisted of 4 days of masterclasses, workshops and parties. I met Vernon Kay and Jayne Middlemiss, who were really lovely, plus lots of high-powered tv execs etc. On Saturday night there was a VH1 party with half naked waiters, which was entertaining to say the least. Then got vomited over at 4am by this girl Malinda. T'was funny.
So, yeah, came back from that on Monday evening, and then the next morning I left for Dublin. Yes, you heard me, the very next day after a gruelling weekend. "But Aideen," I hear you cry, "why didst thou journeye over hill and plain to Baile Atha Cliath so soone after your epic queste in yonder Land of Scots?" Well, I'll tell you. It was because Sleater-Kinney, my favourite band in the universe, were playing a wee gig there. "But Aideen," you continue, "didst not olde Sleatere-Kinneye play in Belfast on the day of Wednes anyway?" Yes, yes they did. But, you see, as I have said before, they are my favourite band in the universe. And it's taken them ten fucking years to come play round our neck of the woods, so I figured, meh! It's worth it.
Got the 10.30 Enterprise so I was there for about half past 12, had a wee dander about town and checked in at my hostel. I met some peeps from film school, and then I went to meet the Riot Grrrl Irelanders cos one of them, Michelle, had my ticket. Also, they were the only Dubliners I knew who were going and I wanted to meet them anyways. We met at St. Stephen's Green and then went down to Temple Bar. Nobody knew where the gig venue was except me (go me and my sense of direction!), so we went down to check it out.
We stood for several minutes gazing at the S-K poster in the window with wonder and awe, when suddenly this bloke came out of the front door. I asked him if I could have the poster and he said “not until after the gig”, but cryptically added “if you hang around, you might see someone”. Needless to say, once the idea was put in our heads, we *had* to meet the band. We probed him for more information, but all he could tell us was that their van was around the corner. After checking out the van (no S-K), we went round the side, where we noticed that the stage door was open, and saw people setting up. “Argh!” we thought, “we are standing beside the same building that Sleater-Kinney are in, and we aren’t speaking to them!!!”. We needed a plan, and badly.
Luckily for us (or so we thought), I had brought my TVYP ID thingy with me. Oh yes, I had predicted that it might come in handy the previous evening when I packed, and now my lateral thinking was paying off. Here was the plan:
1. Put on my snazzy ID thingy and carry a pen and notebook in hand.
2. Stick my head through the stage door and find someone official-looking.
3. Say “Hi, my name’s Aideen Johnston, I’m with TVYP. We’re a youth media scheme up north. I was wondering if I could have a wee interview with the band?”
4. Fake it when I actually met the band.
So after spending 5 minutes actually plucking up the courage to go in, I managed to find some guy who worked there and go through stages 1-3. He told me I’d need to go through the press office, and gave me a number. To cut a long and boring story slightly shorter, it didn’t work as the ladies were unavailable, though I did try.
What were we to do? Well, meeting the band got pushed further and further to the back of my mind as we began to discuss the ID situation. Basically, the gig was over 18s only, but I was the only one there who actually had ID. A problem indeed.
To be continued…