Ken McGuire

Tag: kenmc

  • KenMcGuire.ie

    Currently enjoying an upswing in blogging across various blogs from late 2011, I’ve finally settled on using kenmcguire.ie as a personal blog. Yes, the food, arts, and music are still getting attention, along with the events but as the content spin on kenmc.com weighs far more heavily on technology side than anything else (outside of 2011), I’m using kenmcguire.ie as a personal outlet for photos and projects I’m working on in 2012 so you might start seeing that one pop up a bit more on Twitter and Facebook.

    After spending so long deliberating what direction to take kenmc.com in, I figure a complete change is as good as the rest.

    Happy New Year to all.

  • 25 Things

    I’d been running in the park this morning and thinking “Jesus, I better get something up on that blog fairly quick”. May has been a relatively quiet blog month due to my attention being drawn to a number of other online projects but to round out the month and mark that fact that today is my 25th birthday, I’ve got one simply called 25 things.

    Here are 25 “things” – moments, achievements, memories that jump out at me from over the years. They’re in no apparant

    1. Getting a bike for my fourth birthday.
    2. Learned to play piano.
    3. Learned to play guitar. Musical instruments offer so much creative freedom and release.
    4. Got involved in theatre (first production was a lead in a musical aged 15).
    5. Graduated college and collected my shiny 1.1 degree which still sits in the roll it came in.
    6. Started my own business. If it’s ever crossed your mind to do it, do it. I’ve learned some fantastic lessons and met some great clients over the past few years.
    7. Started a theatre company.
    8. Started KilkennyMusic.com (which has opened so many doors).
    9. Formed a band (and another. And another. And another).
    10. Heard my music played on the radio.
    11. Started podcasting.
    12. Started blogging and met all you mad, wonderful people.
    13. Traveled around Europe growing up.
    14. The fantastic relationship I’ve got with my family, however extended and scattered they become over the years.
    15. Put myself on the track to fitness in 2008… and it’s working.
    16. Traveled to America, Canada.
    17. Directed Cannibal! The Musical after waiting seven years to take it to the stage.
    18. Learning how to swim and subsequently bodyboard, surf and kayak – all three of which I need to do more often.
    19. Falling in love… and out of love.
    20. Skiing for the first time in Italy back in ’98.
    21. Rubbing raw chilis in my eyes (accidentally, I’d been cooking at the time) on that same skiing trip. When I reached for water I found neat vodka. You couldn’t script the comedy of mishaps that occurred that evening.
    22. Learned how to drive
    23. First road trip to Sligo on my own… great adventure
    24. Lahinch 2007 with the KKM crew and my brother (subsequently returning home looking like a lobster).
    25. 25 years living, working, eating, drinking and breathing in Kilkenny, home to some of the best people on the face of the planet!

    Not quite a techy post but something a little light to round out the month. I’m off in search of some type of beer, possibly some form of comedy and a meet up with friends later.

    Enjoy your bank holiday weekend.

  • It’s Been A Busy Week, And Weekend

    Well it’s certainly been a busy week, and weekend. I’m judging that partly on the fact that for both Saturday and Sunday (today) I find myself up and about pre 7am. No such thing as a lie-in here I tell you.

    It has been a week of revelations – one that has taught me interesting things about close friends, current and future clients as well as highlighting the notion that everything has the chance to surprise you when you least expect it.

    I also spotted once again that the iSight does, in fact, rock when it comes to Online Meeting Rooms 😉

    It has also been a rather productive week. Despite knocking out 50 hours in the office, I also managed to squeeze some day time hours out of my week to plan a return trip to Canada towards the end of the summer, record some podcasts, assist two people in the setup of new podcasts, get involved in the running of two shows at the Rhythm & Roots Festival next weekend, sign a few cheques and contracts in relation to the performance of Trainspotting in June, meet and talk to all the cast and crew, finalise a PR strategy for an upcoming nationwide music tour in July (one Irish, one Australian act) and while I wait on the kettle to boil, I’m currently prepping for a 12 hour video shoot today in Kilkenny.

    The video shoot should be fun.

    But this trip to Canada – or anywhere else for that matter, can’t come soon enough!

  • A Peek Into My World…

    Google alerts are a handy tool. I use them for a stack of things, but mainly tracking mentions of KilkennyMusic.com, Devious Theatre and my own name online.

    An alert arriving this morning flags an update to Katharine Blake’s blog as she’s published an interview I did with the Kilkenny People recently. I say recently but it must be about two months ago at this stage.

    The interview and subsequent photo hogged the entire back page of the ‘People (great personal advertisement I tell you). The article itself proved quite interesting. While a lot of money had been spent on regular print ads a few years ago, it garnered nothing close to the response of this article (on all fronts – web, music and theatre).

    The idea behind it was to go right back to the very beginning… school talk, college talk, work talk, music talk, right up to present day.

    Yes, I enjoyed my few minutes in the headlines. You can read the article in full here.