Brian Lally, avowed Dylan fan and presenter of RTÉ Radio 1's Country Time on his Subterreanean Lockdown Blues.
"I'm not sure any of us knew when Late Debate (RTÉ Radio 1, MonDay to Thursday) took a sabbatical that we'd still be in absentia more than ten weeks later.
"And with no end in sight you start to wonder when or if so called normal programming will return. So I've been Working from Home (WFH) - never knew that acronym before - for much of the interim, with Today with Sean O' Rourke, Drivetime, and now Today with Sarah McInerney.
"I'm also doing Country Time for the last while - so that's occasionally being recorded in what I call 'the Country and Western wardrobe’. You'd be surprised how good clothes are at absorbing sound.
"Good WFH - no commute, so I can enjoy North County Dublin, take a thought break, no traffic, no looking at the person in the next car wondering what radio station they have on.
"You embrace the chance to enjoy where you live and who you live with and these fine long days are a boon. It's a bit of a battle getting juniors into school mode, they aren’t morning birds, and that's, lets say, interesting.
"I'd swap the 33x - the Express Dublin bus that goes from Skerries to the Green via M1 and tunnel rather than via Swords - in a heartbeat if the bloody tech would work every time you try it. The best thing abut WFH is the stuff you can access online. NPR and the Daily are great US podcasts, and my Bob Dylan addiction is also sated by numerous resources, such as Is it Rolling Pod, PodDylan and so on.
"TV-wise I've got into classic black and white movies, especially thrillers and legal. TV bingeing has recently been Ozark and Dead to Me, smart grown-up TV from HBO. I'm the only person I know who hasn’t seen Normal People and that's cool. Generally from 7am during the week, Radio 4 is on Alexa and Morning Ireland is in the ear - and US news feeds are on as well - in case the gang inside (the programme producers at the RTÉ base) are looking for a clip.
"Bad WFH is missing the chatter of a programme, getting ideas, added to by colleagues. The I’ll get that bit of audio" and it's ready in a fIash. I've fab broadband at home - but a crap mobile signal that mightn't seem a biggie but it is when you're WFH.
"And the labyrinthine log-on process means I scurry round the house at seven every morning, in search of a signal (top of the left-bedroom window In case you're wondering) and looking for the text that I'm supposed to receive to log on to live RTÉ systems - iNews, Radioman, databases. One day recently, I got the coveted text at nine that night. First world problems, I know.
"I'm a lazy yoke, but we took the bikes recently after work and headed off on a spin to Ardgillan, we may have exceed the 5km by a few hundred yards, but it was worth it. That and some DIY decor and a bit of kayaking are the closest to physical acitvity I've got, and that's cool too. Gimme a device and a set of headphones and the world is my lobster.
"Music-wise, Country Time is a great excuse to seek out the best of Country music, or at least MY best.
That leads down all sorts of rabbit holes ...The Rolling Stones' Far Away Eyes, to Townes Van Zandt's version of Dead Flowers, to Gram Parsons and Emmylou, it’s a long strange trip.
"I'm listening to the Dolly Parton podcast again - it’s by Jad Abumrod - his father is a Nashville surgeon and friend of Dolly and it’s a wonder - she recently donated a cool million dollars for Covid research.
"Another good one is Cocaine & Rhinestones, an education (billed as 'a podcast about the history of 20th Century Country Music and the lives of those who gave it to us’).
"Playing-wise, sometimes I'll pick up a guitar and noodle for a bit but the Strat copy is more often than not in Junior's room - so that's a good thing. I did an online thing on reading music a while back and will return to that I hope, those dots have always been a mystery to me.
"You can even get roll-up pianos online so that's also on the list. Don't want to spend and have it lying around the house. The pride and joy du jour is the new Audio Technicaturntable - a recent buy that brings great happiness. I've started getting classic LPs - Miles Davis's Kind Of Blue, The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, Derek & The Dominos Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, all the iterations of Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks - and they are poptastic .
"In conclusion, WFH for this 'lockdownee' is okay, subject to the above caveats - but a pint wouldn’t go amiss".
Brian Lally presents Country Time, Saturday nights, 11.10pm
