As Christmas is a time for giving and whatnot, we'd like to draw your attention to some of the selfless acts being committed around the country. Well, two of them anyway.
I had a crazy Friday night sitting in ogling the box, and was introduced to the phenomenon that is 7UP Christmas - Late Late Show Celebrities On Ice. In other words, Irish celebrities can potentially crack their faces off a hard surface in the name of charity. Now that's giving right there. Let's overlook the fact that one of said celebs is rugby legend Shane Byrne, but how did organisers get beeeauriful types like Brian Ormond and Lisa Murphy to risk mashing their mushes? No, they're not just fame hungry beings with little else to do for large chunks of the year (after all, the fourth and final contestant is MEP Patricia McKenna...); they want to give back to the community. Lisa Murphy (used to date Michael Flatley, very glamorous, her face and ice have something in common), for example, is representing the very noble cause of Down Syndrome Ireland. If you wish to get involved, dedicated text lines will be announced at the start of this Friday's Late Late Show and will be available on teletext. In the unlikely event that you need another reason to tune in; the Friday show will also be a tribute program to Boyzone *squeals*.
While Friday night was spent indoors couch pawing, Saturday night was a hell of a lot more hectic. Cork's RED FM hosted their inaugural Red Rooster Jingle Bell Ball in aid of Breast Cancer Research in The Pavilion, and raised an impressive €10 grand. Performances by The Blizzards and local heroes Fred were broadcast live, while presenting links came courtesy of Red Rooster hosts KC and (at times) Lenny (someone had to whip the audience into the frenzy while 'Bressy' wasn't onstage ;). I'd like to heap thanks onto the RED FM team for inviting me and to the Clarion Hotel for treating us so well. It was a fantastic night rife with highlights; some of the less obvious ones included: stealthily making my way through the contents of The Blizzards' rider (apologies); getting to know Dave Mac's beard on a personal level (there's a lot of love on that face); coercing Lenny into showing the camera his 'Magnum'; being informed by one musician (who shall remain nameless) that one of the fans he'd been nattering away with had breath which banged of something (which shall also remain nameless); the vision of Peter Stringer and Niall Breslin standing side by side; and, after a night seeing the fellah getting mobbed, it was really great to meet my fan, Nuala *waves*.
If you'd like to get involved with either cause, have a gander at breastcancerresearch.ie and downsyndrome.ie