The Dubliner Magazine

Roman Emperor Stabbed in Burger King on O'Connell Street

An early stunt from the

To submit your own dare, for their forthcoming series on RTE, click here.

Is he in love with her? Or out of love with you?

One of Dublin's more ambitious theatre companies, b*spoke, has a new show opening at the Samuel Beckett Theatre next week: it's the Irish premiere of Honour, Joanna Murray-Smith's witty and powerful play.

When a man leaves his wife of 32 years for a younger woman, one life collapses as another is renewed. A marriage built on mutual love, understanding and companionship is explored. Beware, warns the playwright: nothing should be taken for granted when passion is aroused.

David Horovitch will make his Irish debut in the production, alongside three of the city's most talented actresses: Barbara Brennan (Festen, By the Bog of Cats), Fiona O'Shaughnessy (Salomé) and Marcella Plunkett (Once).

Booking now open:  0818 205205  or 01 896 2461. There is a post show discussion on Tuesday 10th July.

Property on Sale to the Lowest Bidder

An unorthodox approach to affordable housing

This story (in the UK Independent) outlines an innovative new approach to the property market.  

It could become very popular in these islands, as house prices continue to dwarf average annual earnings. It may even be more efficient than the present system.

Unfortunately, I think it comes down to gambling.

 

Help Yourself

Bridget Hourican reviews Affluenza by Oliver James

The 20th century was, among other things, the century of self-help. Between Freud’s The Psychopathology of Everyday Life and Oliver James’ They F*** You Up: how to survive family life, thousands of books arrived on our shelves with a twofold mission: to identify what was wrong, and to prescribe a cure.

Regrettably Rose-Tinted

Max McGuinness doesn't regret nothing.

I went to see Olivier Dahan's biopic of Edith Piaf, La Vie en rose, yesterday. A thoroughly pedestrian affair, it confirms an absurdly maudlin and nostalgic tendency among contemporary French film-makers - La Vie en rose  indeed.

Despite a wealth of emotionally inspiring material, Dahan fails to develop an arresting narrative out of Piaf's life. Instead he flits across the major episodes, cutting desperately back and forth across the decades and never dwelling long enough to avoid the impression that he's just trying to cover all the bases - like a kid trying to "explain World War Two" in a 4-page Leaving Cert essay.

Except Dahan, like many of his compatriots, just rubs his chin and looks across the village square when the War does come up.

Left Over

Max McGuinness on the future of the Labour Party.

Over the past two weeks, debate has been fizzling across the op-ed and letters pages of the Irish Times about prospects for the Irish Labour Party following last month's disappointing election result, where Labour lost one seat and saw its share of the vote dip to just above 10%.

The antagonists fall roughly into two camps. On the one hand, the likes of Labour Party International Secretary Michael McLoughlin, who wrote an op-ed last Tuesday, insist that the party has to modernise – code for ditching the Trade Unions, Socialism and the rest while explicitly targeting middle-class voters.

Graydon Carter and Tina Brown: How to edit a magazine

They are, perhaps, the most famous magazine editors of our age. And both have prospered in the notoriously competitive American market. So what have they got to teach us about editing, reading and writing for magazines? Trevor White on Tina Brown and Graydon Carter.

One is English, the other is Canadian. Both have edited edited Vanity Fair, the pre-eminent glossy magazine. Tina Brown and Graydon Carter are global superstars of magazine journalism. So what's their secret? How do they judge an article? And how do they fish for new readers?

The Last of the Lads

by Rory O’Keeffe

All his mates are happily mortgaged and he’s still swaggering around like Liam Gallagher, back when Liam Gallagher had anything to swagger about.

If you happen to be anywhere in the Boston area this summer...

...consider checking out...

...the subject of this link.

If not, don't worry about it.

If Johnny Cash and David O'Doherty had twins...

New Zealand's fourth biggest folk parody duo finally hit the big time

If Johnny Cash and David O'Doherty had twins, and they had their own TV series, it would probably look something like this.

You can watch the first full episode of Flight of the Conchords' HBO series online here.

Or click 'play' below for a taster. To be honest, it's the kind of comedy that gently grows on you, rather than the kind which can be easily condensed into 45 second bursts.