The Banana Republic and the Bailout published by Jusos Kiel

I was asked to write an article by my Comrades in Jusos Kiel who were kind enough to show me all around there lovely homeland a couple of years ago.

It focuses on the state of the nation post-bailout and why The Boomtown Rats still matter.

The article is available in English here.

And translated into German here.

Enjoy!

Copenhagen Beer Celebration 2014

The Copenhagen Beer Celebration takes place in a sports-hall in Østerbro, Copenhagen each May since 2010. The festival is organised by Mikkeler, the microbrewery and pub chain based in Copenhagen.

The festival hosted 40 breweries over 4 “sessions” with each brewery presenting 2 different beers per session. Breweries from the Brazil, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the UK and the US. There were well known names such as Brew Dog, Three Floyds, De Molen and of course Mikkeler itself.

Numbers can be used to label things numerically or randomly.

The first 3 sessions sold out quickly, so they added an extra one, at 10am Friday morning...

This is the one I attended and after 40 minutes of queuing me and my fellow travellers arrived into the sports beer hall and received our tasting glasses. The glasses at 60ml were practical for tasting, and you were more than welcome to get seconds if desired. Though their were some fountains to clean your glasses, most of those manning the beer taps were using bottles of water to rinse the glasses to save everyone inconvenience.

Despite the crowds the atmosphere was relaxed and after 30 minutes of everyone was pretty jovial from the sampling. Those dispensing the beers were as a rule from the breweries and were enthusiastic though extra signs to show what brewery was where and what they were offering would have certainly helped.

The Glasses fit safely in my pocket when urinating or gesticulating

Tasting Glasses

You get a map that tells you your location is else where.

There was coffee, fancy hot dogs, Smørrebrød and pork burgers available for those that needed less beer based nutrition. The location was pretty handy despite the toilets available, two high-end-but-still-festival-standard-porta-loo-cabins, being outside the entrance. But it was a sunny day and it was nice to be able to take your beer out for a walk in the sun.

Among all the fun and little beers, I had a melodramatic insight into a well publicised family feud, where Jeppe from Evil Twin (Mikkels Evil Twin, for more on that) was greeting people with hugs on the ground floor, Mikkel was taking it all in from an upstairs window, as menacing as DarthVader in the Death Star.

Here is a brief overview of Breweries that stood out for me, in alphabetical order:

Arizona Wilderness: Presented a very good Barley Wine, which managed to balance its traditional sweetness against good grain.

Buxton: Had a Raspberry Rye that allowed you to taste the bitterness and mouth-feel of fresh raspberries mellowed in rye. They also had a Stronge Extra Stout that was nice but unremarkable.

De Molen: Their Hot & Spicey Terrible Trinidad Moruga Scorpion Chilli was, well it was hot sauce in a glass. Could be better used, as, well hot sauce.

Evil Twin: The Mini Dingo, a good imperial stout, this was late in the day so I can't offer more...

Academics

Funky Buddha: This was something special, their Bonita Applebum: an apple pie brown ale, gave you all the spices, crust and apples you'd expect from apple pie in a glass. A great example of what a dessert beer can be. Their Last Snow, a Coffee Porter with Coconut, White Chocolate and Caramel was a delicious as it sounds as well, but not as distinguished as the Applebum.

Kernel: I always enjoy what they bring to the table, though I enjoyed their HBC 466 India Pale Ale,and their Pale Ale, with Cascade Chinook Citra their delicate qualities are best enjoyed sitting down with some time to mull them over.

Kuhnhenn: Their Fluffer Session IPA was exactly what it promised and I'd be interested in more of their range.

Professional Researchers

Levrig: It's not often I get to enjoy Norwegian beer as I don't have the oil money to buy it, but I found Levrig's Galaxy IPA and their We Love Wheat (a collaboration with Nøgne Ø) very well crafted beers.

Mikkeller: Their A X Imperial Stout Black Spirit Olorosso Barrel Ed., an imperial stout, fell on its face for me as some of their more complicated beers do, it seemed like a good beer with some bad sherry thrown in (on another note, I had a stout aged in Calvados from Mikkeler, at the Viktoriagade bar the day after and it worked wonderfully!).

To ØL: Their Yeastus Christ SuperSour was a beer I was looking forward too, though it was very enjoybale and had a good long linger, I think they can aim higher than Christ and up the sour. Their 10 Finger Discount, a Cedar IPA was a good full IPA.

M gasin: My first publication in Denmark

I've been in touch with the few Danish poetry journals I could find to see if they would consider work in English.

One that welcomed it was M gasin, a journal run from Aarhus.
It features poetry and artwork in colour with a hard cover- a nice little production.
M gasin is "uncensored", with its editors trusting that self-censorship is the best kind, so editing it is a matter of filling the pages.

The February edition features 3 poems by myself and it can be read here.

And submissions can be sent here mgasin@gmail.com

I got in touch with Jeppe Ottow the current editor to learn more about M gasin:
(dryly translated from Danish to English by myself!)

How would you describe your relationship with poetry?

Anyone can be involved in poetry and/or writing poetry. It's about finding the right form. I do not like all kinds of poetry. I best like poetry with a lot of humour, but I can also be gripped by other styles.

What is your role as part of M gasin?

I am the guest-editor, and perhaps a little more than that.I gather the texts, make the layout, find the money for printing, communicate with authors, send M gasin in the post to the authors and others who would like a copy. I do a lot, but could not without help. Others in the environment are good at inviting authors, that I don't know, to send texts and there is great support for the project from everyone I meet.

How did M gasin all start?

In 2001 there were 4 who wished to present the peoples poetry in writing so we came together and started M gasin. The first 2 volumes were black and white booklets with 12 A4 pages. It had no name but but it was simply titled ”I” and ”II”. Later the journal was named M gasin. We passed the department store M*agasin and the light in the first ”a” had gone out. We took this as a sign that the journal should be called M gasin...followed by the number we were at in Roman numerals.

What does M gasin publish?

M gasin publishes what there is space and budget for in each edition. As a rule we print 100 copies and each author or illustrator has 1-2 pages to themselves. It is important for M gasin that it is the author who decides hat will be in M gasin. We take pride in not censoring the journal. There are so any other publishers and journals censoring and when all is said and done self-censorship is the strictest type.

The current issue features many images, how do you pair them with texts?

Many of the texts and illustrations are put together beforehand by those who wanted to collaborate or they are done by authors who also make illustrations. Others are paired in the review process. After I have but M gasin together I send a pdf round to all who have contributed to this edition. Then you can correct errors, but you also have the opportunity to be inspired by others observations so then a text will suddenly work with an illustration or another illustration will fit a text.

Tell me more about the Poetklub in Aarhus?

The Aarhus Poets' Club has existed since 2002. We established the association so we could seek subsidies from the commune to fund M gasin. But suddenly it took on a life of its own, at one point we held the Aarhus Poets' Club 203 times a week. We had poetry slams, open mic's, The mad Poets Café, The Church in Swing, Lyricarium, various other events and of course the journal M gasin. The Poets' Club spread throughout Denmark and it had members in Jutland, on Funen and Zealand. There was even a member in Sweden. For M gasin it has always been important for the Aarhus Poets' Club to provide space for poets and the public where all can participate. The Aarhus Poets' Club cherishes the grass-roots poetry scene in live and in book form. Currently the Poets' Club Wednesday Salon is held in Trøjborg Beboerhus one a week and there is an open mic once a month at Løves Bog og Vin Café. Any one can be a member of the Aarhus Poets' Club. It costs 200 DKR a year and it helps support the associations activities. We are happy just for people to show up.

How's the poetry scene in Aarhus?

There is really a lot in Aarhus. Løves Café is well visited and there are also many other great literary things in Aarhus. There are places for poets whether there are established or underground and the audiences always have an interesting scene for poetry.

How can people submit work for future issues of M gasin?

You can find more info on the Poets' Club and M gasin on the associations homepage www.poetklub.dk. You can also find info on Facebook. Look for M gasin or Poetklub Aarhus.

Anything else you would like to say to the world?

Put a pair of poetic glasses on and take a walk. It is really good fun.

Zugzwang: New poem on the Irish Left Review

Link here: http://www.irishleftreview.org/2014/03/13/zugzwang/

The Irish left Review on line and in print is a great resource for cultural, historical and very current writings on Ireland and further afield. 

Advertising Amager

Amager is an island to the south of Copenhagen, which is largely the result of a large exercise in menial labour during World War II. It features large barren spaces, large barren architecture and an airport- accessible via a metro line which is elevated to minimise contact. Below are some images from Amager's new promotional campaign.

Hyggelig housing

A set from Bladerunner

The worst of the Urban with the worst of the Suburban

Image sourced from Google Street View, Here and Here.

*Amager at least has a big aquarium which I am sure I will love and it has nice beaches. If they got rid of all the other stuff it would be great!

Dancing like nobody's watching and Limerick City of Culture: Part 2

Efforts have been made to adjustment the structure of Limerick City of Culture to make it appear acceptable that Pat Cox attempted to gift Patricia Ryan with a job and a generous wage packet. The interim appointment of Mike Fitzpatrick and the introduction of further representation from cultural groups and Councillors should of course be welcomed, but should never have had to be fought for.

The papers read:

“Cox said he was “determined to do everything I can and we can to hit the reset button to put together in place the necessary resources.” ” [1]

“Mr Fitzpatrick now has the opportunity to show people there is more on offer than squabbling.” [2]

“I firmly believe that, the negativity created recent events, Limerick can and will put the past week behind it, seize the fantastic opportunity to highlight all that is positive about that fine city and get on with the project.” [3]

The ‘reset button’, ‘squabbling’ and putting the ‘past week behind it’.

The need to forget and move forward is important, discussing the circumstances that allowed the controversy to exist is ‘squabbling’ and going on blindly despite the nation witnessing an obvious fault is progress.

We are all once again asked to dance like nobody is watching.

The virtue; in being more determined after clear failure is a selfish one, adopted by Patricia Ryan before her resignation and now being adopted by much of the media to the comfort of Pat Cox.

In his previous defence of Ryan’s gift, Conn Murray, Limerick City and County manager, stated:

“"I accept the criticism around the process and if, quite honestly, I had been given a different approach to this, different time lines, obviously the approach would have been different" [4]

It seems all it took was prolonged outrage and organised action by the people of Limerick to find a different approach. Ryan’s quality of being available at short notice seems, somehow, more dispensable than before, when we see that an interim Chief executive could be appointed. Perhaps they can find someone who is as available as Ryan and maybe someone who will not be as reliant on others with a capacity for the job at hand, as Ryan made clear she was on Karl Wallace to handle the job she was gifted [4].

Something which is important to acknowledge when culture is used as a promotional tool is that culture is not necessarily positive in design or in action.

Culture is more than what you can sell and more than entertainment.

Culture can be designed to be ugly and uncomfortable, and cultural practitioners should be aware that in the creation of their work- they may design something which is in effect and interpretation ugly or uncomfortable.

Their ability to create discomfort and ugliness was used to make Ryan resign.

It is vital that arts and cultural practitioners not only use their darker talents in the creation of their work, but also in defence of their work.

[1]http://www.irishcentral.com/news/irishvoice/limericks-city-of-culture-tenure-in-uproar-as-ceo-patricia-ryan-resigns-239298791-239671761.html#ixzz2qxGEX0bU

[2]http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/relief-greets-new-limerick-city-of-culture-appointment-1.1647455

[3]http://www.irishexaminer.com/analysis/limerick-can-emerge-from-debacle-with-strong-legacy-254655.html

[4]http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/festivals/festivities-and-fireworks-as-city-of-culture-shakes-off-controversy-29876207.html

Dancing like nobody's watching and Limerick City of Culture 2014: Part 1

The departure of Karl Wallace and the subsequent departure of Patricia Ryan; played out publicly what many people know or assume about the terms 'Board', 'CEO', 'Director' and 'Brand' mean in relation to public administration.


Such titles and jobs are more associated, with an uncertainty about credibility and a certainty about personal profit, than they are with work or production. The Patricia Ryan's of Ireland are all about 'delivery' and 'oversight'. They ensure the project is delivered, to her credit, so her and others like her can perpetuate the myth of their competence. They oversee who responds to their invented authority and who questions it, so further recruits for the pyramid scheme can be identified.


The multiplication of the hierarchy is important, it guards its existence. Patricia Ryan did not pick up her pay check so those implicit in gifting her (not hiring her) for a job she was not suited for nor needed for. The reality is, she lost nothing in this exercise, it is not clear why she was hired or if she was needed, all she needed to do, was nothing to receive her gift.


It was the actions of Karl Wallace and his colleagues Jo Mangan and Maeve McGrath who's depatrure brought her down. Unlike Patricia they have lost financially as they gave up positions they had to compete for, they lost personally as unlike Patricia, they had labour of use and they applied it to the concept at hand and they have of course lost professionally as they showed a disregard for paymasters.


In the media storm that followed Patricia did what the rest of her ilk would do, they danced like nobody was watching.


In the blind determination she showed in her inability and her vacuousness regarding how she could not relate how professional artists, cultural workers and anyone who attempts to be rewarded for their ability viewed her salary.


She danced like nobody was watching, assuming enthusiasm would qualify her, that in ignoring all that was around her;


Eyes clenched closed- her appointment she didn't think “was very relevant to people on the ground”


Fist's pumping- she thought “people were more interested in the programme, what’s going to happen, and what’s in it for them...that’s what my focus has been and that’s what it will continue to be”


hips- with a life of their own that she was doing the job she was needed to do and despite it all she said “If anything I’m even more determined”


Then, her friends stopped the song, put a coat on her and called a taxi- so they could continue their party, without her.



*Quotes from http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/artistic-director-of-limerick-city-of-culture-resigns-1.1641819