Well, we finally made it to fifty episodes! And then we waited nearly two weeks to post Episode 50. But life is kind of busy, so here we are.
Anyway, in this episode we answer the question we left you with at the end of Episode 49: Where do we want to retire, if, God willing, retirement is in our future?
Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland. Gateway to the Wild Atlantic Way. That’s where. Is it any wonder why?
Kinsale, County Cork, IrelandKinsale, County Cork, IrelandKinsale, County Cork, IrelandKinsale, County Cork, IrelandKinsale, County Cork, Ireland
Beyond Kinsale, we continue our recap of our latest trip to Ireland, including some hidden gems in Cork City: Thompsons Cork Restaurant & Microbrewery, and a bar called Sin É, where we listened to a wonderful singer and guitar player named Tony Milner.
And we talk about another pleasant surprise we discovered in Cork: a Mediterranean/Turkish restaurant called Nosta. Modern Ireland is far more diverse than you might expect.
We also spend a good part of this episode discussing the virtues of not over-planning vacations, which we call improvisational travel.
And speaking of improvisation, we talk about our wild weekend of June 7 and 8, which included our local PrideFest, a tribute concert for our old high school jazz band director on the occasion of his 80th birthday, and reconnecting with friends we haven’t talked to in quite a while.
We hope you enjoy the show, and please feel free to follow us on Instagram (@jenn_and_dave). You can also follow us on the site formerly known as Twitter, where our joint account is @JennandDave1 and the podcast account is @itsotetPodcast. Until next time!
In our first episode back from our vacation hiatus, we begin our recap of this year’s trip to Ireland, a country that is near and dear to us. We briefly talk about our visits to Dublin and Cork, using GPS to navigate, and the many (many) modes of transportation we used.
But we spend most of the episode talking about Bruce Springsteen’s fantastic show at Croke Park on May 19. Bruce’s 2023 show at Dublin’s RDS Arena was great and will always be a special experience, but this year’s show was really something. In front of 80,000 adoring fans from Ireland and around the globe, Bruce had a renewed energy, a strong voice, and a seemingly invincible spirit. The 2023 show, while uplifting and life-affirming as always, had somber, introspective moments that simultaneously made you feel glad to be alive but appreciate how fleeting it all is. This year’s show, on the other hand, convinced us that Bruce and the rest of us will live forever.
Figuratively, at least.
Some highlights from his twenty-two song, seven-encore performance in Dublin:
Opening the show with “Lonesome Day” from The Rising, a pleasant surprise in its own right, and following it immediately with “Night” from Darkness on the Edge of Town, a diehard fan’s favorite.
Bringing back “Darlington County” from Born in the U.S.A., a song he might have left behind because of its comical (obviously pre-9/11) reference to the World Trade Center.
Giving Nebraska’s “Reason to Believe” a full E Street Band/ZZ Top-inspired treatment.
“Wrecking Ball,” the only song he played off of that album, which the crowd always goes crazy for.
“She’s the One.” Nothing else to add here, really. It’s simply one of the best songs ever recorded.
“Nightshift” from Only the Strong Survive, Bruce’s 2022 album of soul covers. This song lets the E Street Band’s great backup singers step into the spotlight.
A rousing, emotional “My City of Ruins,” a song he originally wrote for Freehold, NJ, that became a New York City anthem after 9/11.
An incredible set of encores featuring “Land of Hope and Dreams/People Get Ready,” “Born to Run,” and a cover of the Isely Brothers’ “Twist and Shout” (Dublin did not cut the power half-way through, unlike London when Bruce and Paul McCartney sang it at Hyde Park).
And the emotional crescendo of the evening: closing the show with a cover of the Pogues’ “A Rainy Night in SoHo” as a tribute to the late Shane MacGowan. We knew it was coming, but that did not lessen the impact.
We then talk (half-jokingly and half-seriously) about the power of saying “maybe” instead of “yes” or “no.” You know, we really might be onto something here!
And finally, we think we found the place where we will ultimately retire (God willing). But you’ll have to tune in to our next episode to find out where that is.
We hope you enjoy the show, and please feel free to follow us on Instagram (@jenn_and_dave). You can also follow us on the site formerly known as Twitter, where our joint account is @JennandDave1 and the podcast account is @itsotetPodcast. Until next time!
Yes, it’s been awhile since we posted our last episode on October 1, 2023. We’ve had a lot going on since then (mostly, the holidays) and we’ve given a lot of thought to whether we should continue the podcast, due in part to some of the flak we get online. But, in the end, we decided that we’re not going to let the haters dictate what we do and say.
So, we’re back. And this time we mean it.
Anyway, in this episode we talk about dealing with abuse on social media without losing your sanity. We’re not policing anybody’s posts, but sometimes the best thing to do is to simply not engage. You can mute the abusers, block them, or simply ignore their comments and get on with your life, but there’s no real upside to fighting with them. Post whatever you want, but consider what’s the sanest and best approach to dealing with people who get bent out of shape — because no matter what you post, it’s pretty much guaranteed that somebody’s going to get bent out of shape about it.
On a lighter note, we also talk about traveling back to Ireland (our third trip in three years) to see Bruce Springsteen again (for the second time in two years). Last year, you may recall, we split our time between Dublin and Sligo; this year we’re splitting our time between Dublin and Cork, Ireland’s second largest city. Should be a great trip!
So, we hope you enjoy the show, and please feel free to follow us on the site formerly known as Twitter. Our joint account is @JennandDave1 and the podcast account is @itsotetPodcast. Until next time!
Following up on Episode 25, we continue our conversation about our recent trip to see Bruce Springsteen in Dublin, but first we talk about recording an episode of Set Lusting Bruce with our friend and podcaster, Jesse Jackson (not that Jesse Jackson; the Springsteen podcaster from Dallas). We had a really great time talking to Jesse about some serious stuff (the rising tide of anti-LGBTQIA prejudice in the US and whether it’s the last gasp of a dying ideology) and some very fun stuff (BRUCE!).
We’ll post a link to Jesse’s podcast when it’s up. In the meantime, check out other episodes of his podcast, including the most recent episode where he talks with Warren Zanes, author of a deep-dive into the Nebraska album called Deliver Me From Nowhere.
We then we go into an extended discussion about the concert, getting there, getting in, getting close to the stage, and … getting wet. But it was a fantastic show and Bruce was in fine form. The set opened with “My Love Will Not Let You Down,” which was the opening number on his reunion tour with the E Street Band in 2000, so it holds a special place in Springsteen lore. From there, he played a fair number of songs from:
The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle (“Kitty’s Back,” “The E Street Shuffle”);
Born to Run (“Born to Run,” “Thunder Road,” “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,” “Backstreets,” “She’s the One”);
Darkness on the Edge of Town (“The Promised Land,” “Prove it All Night,” “Badlands,” “Something in the Night”);
Born in the USA (“No Surrender,” “Glory Days,” “Dancing in the Dark,” “Bobby Jean”);
The Rising (“The Rising,” “Mary’s Place”);
Wrecking Ball (“Wrecking Ball,” “Death to My Hometown”); and
Letter to You (“Letter to You,” “Ghosts,” “Last Man Standing,” “I’ll See You in My Dreams”).
He also played “Out in the Street” from The River, “Nightshift” from Only the Strong Survive (his recent collection of soul covers), Jimmy Cliff’s “Trapped,” “Johnny 99” from Nebraska, and “Because the Night” (an all-time favorite). He did not do some of his lesser known songs that resonate with long-timers (“Roulette,” “Held Up Without a Gun,” “Paradise by the ‘C’”), but it was a very solid retrospective of his career. You can actually down the audio of the performance here.
In addition to that, we talk about our time in Dublin, wandering around O’Connell Street, our adventures on public transport, and hiking in the Dublin Mountains, plus our visits to the James Joyce Centre and the Garden of Remembrance and our thoughts on the documentary, Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming with Dave Letterman, part of which was filmed right across the street from our hotel.
For more on our Ireland trip, the concert, and reflections on modern Ireland, you can listen to this episode of David’s Clash podcast, Two Minutes Fifty-Nine.
So, please enjoy this week’s episode, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments, and, as always, support the rights of LGBTQIA people everywhere! And if you’re new here, you can also follow our Twitter account, @itsotetPodcast.
In the first of (at least) two episodes on our epic trip to Ireland to visit the ancestral home of one side of the family and to see Bruce Springsteen in Dublin, we talk about the genesis of this crazy trip, flying into Dublin, driving to County Sligo in the northwest and the time we spent there, and then driving back to Dublin for the show.
We will post some pictures of the first part of the trip shortly, but suffice it to say that Sligo and the northwest coast of Ireland are spectacularly beautiful. Sitting on an estuary where the River Garavogue (An Gharbhóg) meets the Atlantic Ocean, the city of Sligo has about 20,000 residents, but, like most of Ireland, is quickly becoming a center of technology. The mountains of Benbulben and Knocknarea (with the massive cairn of Queen Maeve (Medb) visible at the top) dominate the views from nearly every street corner, and the city itself is just a short distance away from Strandhill beach, the Collooney Mill Falls, and the Eagles Flying raptor sanctuary, where we got to meet a couple of owls, a falcon, and other assorted birds of prey.
Meanwhile, if you ever get a chance to visit Sligo and you’re looking for accommodations, we recommend the Clayton Hotel. We had a massive room there and really enjoyed our stay. And we learned a little bit about Gaelic football from one of the bartenders, too.
On next week’s show, we’ll talk more about our time in Dublin and Bruce Springsteen’s phenomenal show, plus wandering around O’Connell Street, our adventures on public transport, and hiking in the Dublin Mountains.
So, please enjoy this week’s episode, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments, and, as always, support the rights of LGBTQIA people everywhere! And if you’re new here, you can also follow our Twitter account, @itsotetPodcast.
In this episode, we talk about our trip to Dublin, Ireland last week to celebrate David’s 60th birthday, and reconnecting with our cultural heritage as Irish Americans. We spent most of our time south of the River Liffey in the city center, where many of the major cultural attractions are located (including the seat of the city and national governments, the National Concert Hall, the National Library, Dublin Castle, Trinity College, the National Art Gallery, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the National Museum of Archeology, St. Stephen’s Green, and Grafton Street).
What was most striking, though, was witnessing firsthand the way Ireland’s cultural identity survived through centuries of oppression and intense efforts to erase it. While it’s moving to us as Irish Americans to see the culture thrive, we could not help but think about people around the world who do not have the luxury of reconnecting with their culture and history the way we do, including the modern ancestors of enslaved Africans, the indigenous people whose languages, cultures, and traditions were nearly eradicated by colonialism and imperialism, and the victims of the Holocaust.
It was an exceptionally moving experience, and we recognize how lucky we are to have had it.
So, please listen to this week’s episode, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments, and, as always, support the rights of LGBTQ+ people everywhere! And if you’re new here, you can also follow our Twitter account, @itsotetPodcast.
