k-punk

Is it me or has Bloomsday become a version of St Patrick's Day for pseudo-literary types who'd rather drink a half of Guinness with green food coloring in it and maybe catch a one-man show off Broadway than actually read the damn book? See today's New York Times for an example.

well yeah but did you wake up on the wrong side of bed today?

;-)

Yeh, Nigel, Sean O'Hagan was saying just that in the Observer on Sunday --- talking abt the Disneyfication of Irish culture.
Course, as O'Hagan points out, there's a supreme irony abt Joyce being co-opted by the Oirish tourist industry, since, like Beckett, he spent most of his creative life in exile from Ireland and its 'triple net'.

but it started years ago with O'Neills and other shite didn't it so fair enuff, back to our brandy.

does anyone know anyone (i don't, although plenty of mates have been to towns nearby in Slovenia) who's been to/lived in/comes from, Trieste?

i'd be interested to see if the local tourist info office or whatnot there makes much play of their Joyce connections.

I read something abt this the other day, can't remember where, though; they certainly do celebrate the connection.

The O'Hagan piece is here btw, for those who ain't seen it..... http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,6903,1237415,00.html

Thing is, what does it matter if it's a Disneyfication? It's wonderful to go to Dublin and see so austere and unashamedly literary a figure loom so large. You just can't imagine it in England. We'll probably have a statue of Nick Hornby and Nick Park soon....

oh yeah i dont mind the Disneyfication, for one.

the literary pub crawls thing, all that.

Dublin's size (it's gotta be smaller than Brum or Mcr; maybe also Lpool and Leeds for all i know) doesn't hurt in this respect.

i mean you can go to one specific corner of Bankside and find enough on the Bard, but it doesn't feel the same...