No green light from Paul regarding my competition idea yet, so I am holding my breath for a minute, but another On My Radar for you, a subject that will affect all of us around here one way or another, so check out the link to see what is happening on Friday afternoon in Carrick-on-Shannon!

An approach to look at hydraulic fracturing through artistic eyes and research, what stays behind in the landscape when we dig too deep, which elements of our lives will be at risk if we follow the path of promises and money, and which consequences may be impossible to undo for our lifetime to come. Or the lifetime of our children and theirs. A fresh  look at a pressing issue, four artists sharing ideas and working on the exhibition collectively, hence the title. Unfortunately I am not able to be there on Friday eve for the actual opening, so I had to peep my Dock Blogger camera into the exhibition space today and get a first glimpse of the work… I am sure the guys will spend all day to get ready for us on Friday, but I let you in on the preparations, Stephen Rennicks and David Spence getting the place ready for the opening of the exhibition of work by the four artists selected for the Trade residency program 2011. Featuring group work undertaken as Engage Artist Collective as well as individual work featuring David Spence, Brigitta Varadi, Stephen Rennicks, David j and David Michalek. To be opened by Declan McGonagle and there will be a presentation by Dr. Aedín McLoughlin of Glenwood Research. Part of the Trade 2011 conference at The Dock. http://engagecollective.wordpress.com/

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/32914046[/vimeo]

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/32915092[/vimeo]

Thank you Stephen and David for showing me around!

And there she is, our very own Ailie Blunnie, coming out to chat to me on the rainiest day of the whole month, thank you Ailie, I very much loved chatting to you! Looking forward to your concert on the 9th of December at 8.30pm in The Dock, I hope you'll be having your Roisin and our man Keith from the sound box in tow that eve! Out and over to Ailie Blunnie!

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/32788372[/vimeo]

The hits (or is it clicks?) on the blog soared since Ailie Blunnie put a link onto her Facebook page, so much for advertising, thank you Ailie for that! Looks like we need to review our own way of promoting the blog, or do I just need to drag Ailie everywhere I am going? We are very close to uploading the video of the interview with her, so this is just the post before the post on a Monday morning, since I promised to give you something to check out before you get into gear on your desk at the beginning of every week! The last Wednesday at The Dock hosts De Dannan this week and I am sure with all the trad fans around the place we’ll be in for a great night out, I hope the Jury bar will be open after the gig too!

One little, cute and funny picture of an Irish road somewhere in the south, made me laugh, see if you can spot the difference!

Otherwise, I am working on a little competition for you guys, will have it up on Wednesday, get your cameras and brain waves out already for it, I only need to get green light from Paul and then I let you in on the deal!

As I said, this is the post before the post, while we are eagerly awaiting Ailie Blunnie in Interview with the secret Dock Blogger! See you soon!

I am just back from my little trip into town to interview Ailie Blunnie, brilliant; I just loved every minute of it! She is funny and open, quirky and lovable, and she definitely told us a few things we didn’t know about her yet, so I can’t wait to get the interview up and running! This time we have Gordon on the team from the start, it looks like the technical side of things will be well looked after and we may even get a secret distorted Dock Blogger voice out of him! That brings me one last time to the subject of voting if the Dock Blogger should reveal her secret identity or not, it’s a close nose to nose at the minute and it can still turn either way very much so! So make sure you vote as well, a handful of posts down from here you find a blue windowed poll where there is voting made easy for you, no login etc. required. So now it’s only waiting to get the video up here, but I am rather sure I don’t need my Under Construction sign this time…

Have a good weekend, Your Dock Blogger