Fun Boy Three

“I have heard the big music

And I'll never be the same

Something so pure

Just called my name

I have drowned in the big sea

Now I find I'm still alive

And I'm coming up for ever

Shadows all behind me, ecstasy to come”

-       The Big Music ( Michael Scott )

Somehow we’re on the right path.

Somehow , almost despite ourselves, we’re nearly there.

Somehow…

Or is that just me ?

The lamp on my desk looked lovely, but acted very much like the Irish sun, you sort of know that it’s there, but only know for sure when you look directly at it.

I needed a new lamp, and decided that I wanted a Fancy Dan anglepoise one. The short version of this noble quest for divine light is that I ordered one from Mullan Lighting. Edel rang me when it was ready, which was yesterday, and asked where I’d like it delivered. I asked if I could collect it, as I used to work there when it was a shoe factory and love to see all of the changes to the factory and the village.

So I travelled back in time yesterday.

Mullan Mill was originally a flax mill built in the early 19th century , it became a shoe factory in 1925 and my Granda, Frank Sally, worked there in the 1930’s and lived in the village. My Dad worked there in the 1970’s and I worked there in the 1980’s. My Dad said that trying to keep jobs in footwear manufacturing in Ireland was like trying to swim up a waterfall. It was tough.

Visiting it yesterday and walking around the village with Edel and hearing about all of their great plans was a joy. When I left the shoe company there were 35 people employed in the factory and 4 people living in the village. Now the Mullan Lighting company employs 65 people, they’re doubling the factory floor space and almost 80 people live in the village ! And you really get the feeling that they are only at the start of their community journey.

I pointed out to Edel the window of the office that used to be mine and then remembered that this is the third time that I’ve met Edel in the factory and also the third time that I’ve pointed out to her my old office window.

The other thing I love about Mullan Mill is that Mullan gets its name from the Irish word Muileann which means the mill, so Mullan Mill really means The Mill Mill. Similarly our national airline Aer Lingus is Irish for airline, our national airline is called Air Line. Love it !

Another cool thing I got to do this week was to watch Fontaines DC live concert from Brixton Academy in our kitchen. We bought a ticket for the livestream and borrowed a projector and sound bar from Glenn ,the Skyrocket alchemist, sellotaped a white sheet against the largest window and bopped about to our hearts content.

I posted a picture of our set up on Facebook and an old friend of ours, Talat, from Belfast messaged me to say that he too loved the Fontaines DC and asked was one of the band members a cousin or nephew of mine.

So, for the record, Curley, lead guitarist in Fontaines DC, is indeed from the True Centre Of The Universe, Monaghan, as am I. Everyone in Monaghan seems to be everyone else’s third or fourth cousin, so yes, we are cousins….technically…well not technically… but…quite possibly.

Everyone is connected to Monaghan, somehow.

The other, other cool thing that I got to do this week was work on a project that I can’t actually tell you about, well I could, but then I’d have to kill you… It involves developing a marketing campaign for a company and allows me to be wildly creative and , most importantly work with people waaaaaay cleverer and creativerer too.

My joy in this is partly the realisation that I’m quite good at it, partly the realisation that others appreciate that I’m quite good at it, and mostly that it doesn’t feel like work at all !

Oh, and I wrote a story this week called ‘Mostly St.Jude’s’ about a school populated with dysfunctional teachers that the kids have to keep covering up for…I think it would make a great Netflix series. Teachers sleeping off hangovers while the students help each other. The school has a statue of St.Jude on top of the entrance porch. It is headless in the opening episode, and then in each succeeding episode another piece is missing, and then the head is replaced by a gorilla head, then a clown head, hands are replaced by claws, or wear marigold gloves…

Or maybe I just dreampt that I wrote it….

Toodles,

Paul

P.S. Those of you that signed up to the blod and entered that competition ages ago will finally be getting your SuperJetRobotDinosaurs sweatshirts before Christmas !

P.P.S Can you hear them ? Talking about us, telling lies ...