Women writing about everything from fashion to feminism, pop culture to politics…
Posted in Blast From the Past, Music on Aug 31st, 2010
Maybe it’s because one of the first bands I really loved as a teenager in the late 1980s was REM, whose frontman Michael Stipe spent most of the ’80s singing in a barely comprehensible murmur, but I’ve never had a problem with listening to music whose lyrics I couldn’t understand. Yes, song lyrics have been [...]
What kind of taxi driver have you got lately? THE GANGLAND GUY: Dark-haired, slick and slightly ugly, this guy is a rabid fan of stripey shirts and bobbing dashboard Holy Mary’s. He knew Marlo Hyland personally and it wasn’t all broken bones and bullets in the head… he bought local people hampers and goldfish at Christmas… a decent old [...]
Posted in Anti Room Q&A, Books on Aug 30th, 2010
Canadian writer Lisa Moore has written four novels. Her debut, Alligator, won the Giller Prize, the 2006 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and was long-listed for the 2007 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Her latest novel, February is long-listed for this year’s Man Booker Prize and is published by Chatto & Windus. What’s the first record you ever bought? It [...]
No other sentence can elicit in me an immediate drop in humour quicker than a demand to smile made by a random stranger- usually male. Give you a smile? Why? Do I know you? Have you entertained me in some way? No, you’ve just gawked at me, stood in my way and demanded I grin [...]
A plan is afoot to plasterLondon buses with adverts urging the Pope to ordain women priests. It’s an interesting angle for the English to approach the pontiffs visit with, almost as if there weren’t more pressing matters with which to confront him. Then again, it would be too rude to embarrass him with messy issues [...]
Posted in Books on Aug 25th, 2010
Last week or the week before (who can tell, in August?) I read Susan Hill’s book Howards End is on the Landing, about her decision to spend a year reading only books she already has in the house. Her by-the-by spins-off into various other book-related discussions helped very pleasantly to pass my annual lie-in. The [...]
Posted in Anti Room Group Post, Ireland, Women on Aug 24th, 2010
Yes, it’s that time of year again. The time when lovely girls from all over the world head to Tralee to sing songs, do a dance, tell stories and exchange awkward small talk with a lovely boy in a tuxedo. Four Anti-Room writers give their thoughts on the Rose of Tralee. ELEANOR FITZSIMONS Tonight the [...]
Posted in Anti Room Q&A, Music on Aug 24th, 2010
May Kay is the singer with Irish band Fight Like Apes. Their debut album, Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Gold Medallion was nominated for the 2008 Choice Music Prize. The band release its follow-up ,The Body of Christ and the Legs of Tina Turner this Friday and kick off an Irish tour with [...]
A good many moons ago, when Ireland was dubbed the ‘sick man of Europe’ and Wurzel Gummidge was being suitably saucy on tea time TV, I found out I was directly related to Oliver Cromwell. Although only ten years old, I knew it had to be De Da’s side of the family as he was particularly gifted at [...]
Posted in Family, International, Nightlife, Parenting, Women on Aug 22nd, 2010
Modern life is tough for teenage girls. Early and inappropriate sexualisation combined with a culture of binge drinking can lead to some fairly risky behaviour and very unpleasant outcomes. Pubescent girls are under intense pressure to conform to various idealised and unhealthy body stereotypes. No wonder mothers, older sisters and concerned females who have reached [...]
