Hibernia Rising

July 23rd, 2011 § 1 Comment

1916My short play Hibernia Rising is being put on by Current Theatrics as part of “The Green, The White and The Orange: 3 Tales from Imagined Irish History” at 3pm, July 22nd/23rd at the Abbey Hall Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio:

SECOND TREASURE-HUNTER (thinking aloud): What does an Irishman keep under his bed?

SECOND TREASURE-HUNTER takes the gun from the REBEL’s hands, inspects it closely.

FIRST TREASURE-HUNTER: Pot of gold maybe?

GUIDE: Pot of tea?

SECOND TREASURE-HUNTER: [Returning rifle to REBEL] Pot?

Thanks to Ruth Pe Palileo (Director/Co-producer), Tommy Costello (Co-producer), and actors Matt, Boomer, Amanda, Liz, and Corey.

Flickr image by kman999

Low on Oil

January 16th, 2011 § 3 Comments

Oil, particularly in the West, has become almost as necessary to our way of life as oxygen and water. It is quite the thought experiment to figure out how much we are dependant on the stuff–and what will happen when it starts to run out.

Peak Oil proponents hold that we have used around 50% of extractable oil and thus face a dwindling, increasingly expensive supply. (One proviso: OPEC do not reveal their reserve estimates but, as every driver knows, prices have been rising over recent years, indicating demand outstripping supply).

Cut out oil overnight and our social and commercial fabric would quickly collapse: supermarkets would be empty in a matter of days for example. But this will be a slower crisis and, if we are to overcome it, we need to act now.

One grassroots initiative that has taken off in recent years, particuarly in English-speaking countries, is called Transition Towns. You can learn more in an article I wrote for the Smarter Cities website recently:

Keegan – All Together Now: Transition Towns Rise in the US

Thanks to Paul McRandle, John-Paul Flintoff, Annie McCleary, Ben Brangwyn, and Trathen Heckman for their help. Flickr image by Roger Smith

Our Man in Bohemia

December 13th, 2010 § Comments Off

My essay on three novels by the late Chilean novelist, Roberto Bolano, appears in the current issue of the Dublin Review of Books.

His protagonists are wanderers, usually bohemian, invariably troubled, following their distant star across oceans, into deserts, through the orbit of violence and evil or madness, then on into the depths of almost certain obscurity. They live, for the most part, in the contemporary world, consuming books and encountering friends and lovers, but their dedication to art seems anachronistic, more of a piece with the romantics, surrealists, or beat poets: these are not the kind of self-branding careerists to show up as writers in residence or guests on Start the Week. As with all great vocations, many are called but few are chosen: suicide, addiction and neurosis are often their lot but, along the way, they partake of a quest which, for Bolano, is the most interesting thing humans can do.

You can read the full text at the Dublin Review of Books.

Flickr image by rocketlass

A New Republic

December 2nd, 2010 § 1 Comment

Irish Postage Stamp: The Sword of lightEarlier this week I spoke on a Nevada Public Radio panel about the Irish debt crisis and its likenesses to the situation in Southern Nevada, which, like Ireland, experienced the abrupt collapse of a property bubble.

As I write, it remains to be seen whether Ireland will actually pay off the outrageous (banking) debt that has been settled upon us, courtesy of our inept, lame-duck government (itself the product of a rotten political system).

My main point in the discussion–besides pointing out that we are being penalized unfairly–was that civic reform is vital. The public space in Ireland is currently agog with initiatives, most at an early stage of gestation, testifying that a historical opportunity is upon us.

If we leave our public life unmended, darker forces, in my view, will seize the initiative. Besides emigration, political violence is another Irish “solution” to Irish problems.

You can download/listen to the radio show here:

KNPR Radio Discussion

Stay tuned for details of a new online initiative being cooked up by myself and some friends here in Westport. Flickr image by karen horton

Good News from Another Universe

November 16th, 2010 § 1 Comment

Speakeasy Poster
Here’s an original story I told at the Speakeasy Lounge Club in Westport last Saturday night.

Good News from Another Universe

Not exactly high-fidelity since I forgot to take the recorder out of my pocket–but I hope you like it.

Thanks to Dermot and Steve for a great night of music, fun, and smart people. The next event is being held on Saturday, November 20th. See their Facebook page for details.

Writing Workshop

October 5th, 2010 § Comments Off

Old Rectory RetreatI will be chairing a writing workshop at Old Rectory Retreat near Westport this Saturday. Taking a nuts-and-bolts approach to the writing of stories (or memoirs), the aim will be for each participant to produce a solid piece of work by the end of the day. As well as writing exercises, we will be looking at key aspects of the craft such as Point of View, Conflict, Plot, and Dialogue.

Please bring, if you wish, copies of a page or two from a story or book that has impressed you. And a pen and paper…or a laptop.

The day, which costs 60 Euro, runs from 10.30am to 5pm with delicious home-made lunch included and takes place set in the delightful surroundings of Old Rectory Retreat in Knappagh, not far from Westport along the Leenane Road.

Hope you can come! For further information or to make a booking, phone Roisi­n at 087-776-4820 or email oldrectoryretreat@gmail.com

The (Almost) Lost World

September 28th, 2010 § Comments Off

Imagination…is the healthy child’s most precious possession, the bedrock of their ultimate identity as autonomous and well-adjusted adults.

Why then, one might ask, does society lay siege on imagination? For that is how things stand today.

To begin with, falsely believing abductions and child murders to be everyday dangers, we have put in a host of needless restrictions on children’s lives, preventing them as a result from experiencing much nature (or life indeed) beyond the bite-sized chunks dolloped out to them on screen or in museums.

We allow advertisers (even on RTE, to our shame) to exploit children by making them feel self-conscious for not having Object X or looking like Celebrity Y.

You can read the full text of this article I wrote for the Mayo News, by clicking the link below:

Keegan – The (Almost) Lost World [Mayo News]

Flickr image by …Tim

The Five Antidotes

August 27th, 2010 § Comments Off

Five thoughts I hope you find useful:

1: You are a good person, worthy of fulfillment

2: When not your master, fear is your truest servant

3: You are strong: embrace challenge and risk rejection

4: Fantasy is good–but not in place of reality

5: Trust your instincts. Serve your truth. Be yourself.

flickr image by lanier67

FJK commented: “I like these 5 Antidotes. I deal with fears real and unreal in many recovering alcholic/drug addicts and it’s always a negative. Could you give me a couple of examples where it would become ones servant?”

And here was my response:

Thanks for the feedback. I suppose the point I am trying to get at is that fear is in fact something internal to our minds/nervous systems and thus, like pain, is actually meant to serve us (so that we can avoid unpleasant experiences).

However, because we are wired to avoid short-term threats, our fear system sometimes does not act in our best interest e.g. if I let my fear of water dominate me I will never learn to swim.

So the best way to treat my fear system is as a highly paranoid servant, who may well be right some of the time but not all the time.

The reason I say truest servant is because by treating its alarms as a useful indicator I can quickly identify areas of self-actualization that my paranoid servant is trying to warn me away from e.g. a young man in a long-term relationship might be terrified at the prospect of marriage. In fact, his fear is a strong indicator that there is a deeper destiny awaiting him–if he has the courage to overcome his fear he might well find fulfillment as a father.

Another example: a shy person is unreasonably afraid of strangers. And yet, if they can open the door to new people they might find a new role for themselves in, say, public service.

Some people go out of their way to systematically conquer each and every fear they possess but that does seem extreme to me!

Ring of Dust

August 13th, 2010 § Comments Off

Lake Mead Bath RingSuch is the electric opulence of Las Vegas, my erstwhile home, that one can forget how vast quantities of power and water are required to keep the city in its customary orgasmic brilliance.

Enter the Colorado River–which kisses the southern edge of the Silver State and keeps Las Vegas alive.

Of course, long ago, when the southwestern states divvied up river resources, little did they imagine that a city of 2 million high-maintenance souls would emerge in the pitiless Desert cauldron of the Las Vegas Valley.

But emerge that city did, replete with mod cons and then some. And then along came Global Warming in the shape of an ongoing drought.

Add to that trenchant opposition to water extraction from rural counties…and you end up with the present situation: a regional water system under severe stress, as evidenced by the dramatic “bath ring” in Lake Mead pictured above.

You can read an article I just wrote for the NRDC’s Smarter Cities website on this topic, as well as listen to a portion of an interview I conducted with Pat Mulroy, the Las Vegan charged with meeting the city’s water needs, by clicking the link below:

Keegan – Ring of Dust (NRDC Smarter Cities)

Thanks to Pat Mulroy, Dr Robert Fielden, Robert Glennon, and Paul McRandle for their help on this article. Flick image by loop_oh.

The Brown Envelope

July 29th, 2010 § Comments Off

Brown EnvelopeHere’s an original story I told at an Open Mic in the Creel in Westport last night.

The Brown Envelope

This story came second in the 2010 Jonathan Swift Satire Contest. I hope you like it.

flickr image by Conor Pendergrast

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