MAN ABOUT TOWN

If you’re reading this, that probably means you’ve purchased a copy of the latest Cthulhu Invictus sourcebook from Golden Goblin Press : Britannia and Beyond , a Call of Cthulhu guide to Britannia, Caledonia and Hibernia in the Roman era. Thanks for your support of the book, and your interest in the subject.   Here, I’ve detailed some of the thinking that went into writing my chapter, which is focused on Iron-Age Ireland during the Antonine period, as well as describing and detailing some of the many sources which informed my work. Before proceeding, I should acknowledge that I am neither an academic nor Irish (my great-great-grandmother Ellen Brady was born in Country Clare, emigrating to Australia after losing her family in An Gorta Mór , but that definitely doesn’t make me Irish-Australian – I’m Australian through and through, for better or worse). In writing about Ireland in the Roman era for Britannia and Beyond , I drew instead on a great love for Irish music, history...

I wrote this piece in early 2020 on spec for the editor of the travel section of a nameless newspaper, having visited Ireland for the second time the previous year. Of course, shortly after I submitted it, COVID hit, and the editor said she could no longer publish it despite her liking for the piece. So, here it is on my blog - my first blog post since 2017! ***  Low clouds are rolling down the mountainside towards Teelin Harbour, where the River Glen meets the choppy waters of Donegal Bay. Outside, a chill wind is blowing but in the front bar of the Rusty Mackerel in County Donegal, the Guinness and the craic are flowing and it feels like the most welcoming pub in the world. Located in remote north-west Ireland, Teelin scarcely seems to qualify as a village. There’s no church that I can see, not even a shop; just the pub, an Irish language college, and a cluster of houses scattered along the road leading to the harbour. Wild fuchsias bloom along the road’s edge; in the green fi...

I've just discovered that the pilot episode of UK series Being Human is online again, after having been taken down for a while. I first wrote about it back in the dim dark past of 2008 , when I said it should appeal to 'anyone who's A) ever lived in a share household, B) wants to know what out gay actor Russell Tovey (Rudge in the film of The History Boys , and Midshipman Frame in Doctor Who: Voyage of the Damned ) is up to, career-wise, and C) like myself enjoys sinking their teeth into genre shows with a supernatural bent.' Here it is again for your viewing pleasure:

I wonder if it's time to start blogging again?

I've lived in Fitzroy for 14 years, and long before I moved here spent some formative moment in its pubs and terrace houses. I have an unpublished novel that set's in Fitzroy in the 1940s (originally it was set in the 1950s but I've realised it was the wrong period). I love this suburb, even as it changes before my eyes, which is why I love articles and photographs and stories of its past.   From the Herald-Sun , here's a series of images of the old inner city slums that once characterised much of Fitzroy. And from The Age just yesterday, here's an article about a photographer who was documenting the vanishing post-war Fitzroy culture in 1973-74.  Happy reading. And maybe allow Dan Sultan to provide you with a soundtrack?

Poor, much ignored blog: the least I could do is update you with a list of all my Age reviews from this year's Melbourne International Comedy Festival, so that they're all easily accessible in the one place. Here you go: The Tim Vine Chat Show A dad joke generator turned up to 11, the prop-swinging, pun-slinging UK comedian Tim Vine takes the Parkinson route in this entertaining but unchallenging show, in which interviews with audience members become the inspiration for more quick-witted quips drawn from his encyclopaedic memory. Read full review here. Adrienne Truscott's Asking for It: A One-Lady Rape About Comedy Starring Her Pussy and Little Else! Fallacies about consent and startling lessons concerning the birds and the bees – or more specifically, ducks and gerbils – are provocatively and intelligently explored in this debut stand-up show from US cabaret artist and acrobat Adrienne Truscott. Read full review here. Geraldine Quinn's MDMA: Mo...