When we struggle to live in the present, is the past the comfort blanket of our times? Our slight Carrie Bradshaw moment aside, there are a spate of sites, publications and on-street trends that make us wistful for places, people and hair-dos we have never known.

Whether it’s the delving delights of comeheretome or the unearthing of John Joe’s 22nd child at the age of 86 in Brand New Retro or the newest fogey on the time ravaged block, the aptly titled Where's Grandad?, our curiosity is piqued and bellies ache with laughter at an era long gone but not forgotten.

There’s the fine bone china in the Cake Café, the tweets of Irish Mammy and the hair-cuts of the Waldorf. Simpler times and maybe happier people. Here’s hoping that in instances where we still have the past like the Georgian street lamp posts and bins of Grafton Street, that we don’t stupidly unearth them only to feature on these sites in time.

Keep your monocle close to your brow and hearing aids tuned for details of le cool's Lostagia event zimmer-framing its way to the city soon!

Whose more High Nelly than high this week? Michael, Ciaran, Conor, Kate or Camille?

The '90s was a decade both cringe-worthy and iconic; for its sitcoms, its boy and girl bands, grunge, and the anti-fashion ideal. Not to mention that awkward, quirky, dreadfully patterned and neon-dominated sense of style, which is slowly wedging its way into the present. I challenge you to think of something from the '90s that you don’t either a) love; b) love to hate; or c) have the urge to watch again. Whatever came to mind, it was fuel for Little Green Street’s latest project; an open submission exhibition devoted to the embodiments of the decade that spawned Radiohead and Saved By The Bell. They’ve called on artists from every medium for contributions; so expect anything from print to performance art. Dress is optional, but we would like to see a few scrunchies, neon caps, and high-waisted jeans with sneakers. / Jerath Head

Trisha Brown has been making dance history since the 60s when she was part of the Judson Dance Theater that revolutionised modern dance. It was a revolution that took dance out of the theatre and into daily life, and initially Brown made a reputation for herself putting dancers on rooftops or walking down the sides of buildings. She found a new kind of virtuosity in the apparent simplicity of everyday movement. Fifty years later, her work for the stage has the same apparent casualness. But there's virtuosity in the detailed fluidity of her dancers' movement and a delicious rigour in the patterns that Brown has them weave. Highlight: for historical importance and the pleasure of seeing a puzzle unfold see Set and Reset. You get a retro eighties vibe in the Laurie Anderson score and Robert Rauschenberg designs too. Win Tickets to Saturday / Fearghus Ó Conchúir

The Green on Red is such a versatile space. Last time I went, I got creeped out and fled from a pretty ominous looking projection, but this time I found myself in a gallery filled with rainbows and light. Spiky rainbows, but still... Joyce's use of colour is spectacular; what might say 'Ikea children's cushions' (if an uncreative soul such as myself attempted to daub them on a canvas in the name of art) pop when applied in geometric assortments. Earlier work used these colours in a charmingly unsteady approach to the geometric look, but this exhibition punches you in the face with its threatening use of shape and variety of textures juxtaposed with rather benign, friendly colours. The only word I can really use is splendiferous. / Cora Burke

Urban legend has it that the Simpson's cantankerous, gun-toting barman Moe Syscylak is based on Rich Hall, who is better known for bringing the gruff sulkiness of the Deep South to BBC prime time panel shows. A talent well spent you might think, if that was the limit of his talent...but hey there! Hold up! The chap, under the name Otis Lee Crenshaw, and his band o' brothers make country music that would make you cry if it wasn't for songs such as Women Call It Stalking and Bag Lady. This is a bloke you can be certain never promised Lynn Anderson, nor any other woman, a rose garden, and probably pushed Billie Joe off the Tallahatchie Bridge. That said, Simon Cowell definitely missed a trick in not making him the new American X-Factor judge, cos that's a show I would watch. Just sayin'. / Win Tickets Kate Coleman

Now this is a lineup. You're getting pretty much the entire Eglo records roster in one night. Pick of the bunch is Floating Points, whose handful of releases over the past two years have marked him out as one of the most exciting artists operating in the middle ground between classic house and UK Bass music. He's got an unerring instinct for melody (and he's not above pop sounding stuff, as the sunshine soul vibes of Love Me Like This prove), and deceptively easy way with a groove that belies the level of thought that must go into his compositions. I mean these things have layers. It's classic, classy stuff and if recent mixes are any indication the guy knows how to put together a proper party set as well. The rest of the fare isn't too shabby either, with Alexander Nut, Fatima and Funkineven rounding out the bill. Win Tickets / Conor McDevitt

Canadian composer and sound-artist Tim Hecker pays a rare visit to Ireland this Friday when he plays the Unitarian Church. And what better place, having recorded the organ tracks for his most recent album Ravedeath, 1972, in a church in Reykjavik. Hecker’s drone-based music is full of undulating synths, distorted guitars and swirling organs that wash together to form an ethereal soundscape of reverberating textures. While tones of old-world organs are gradually eroded by waves of digital interference, he explores the ideas of “digital garbage” and sonic decay, notions that are more pertinent in today’s throw-away culture than ever before.  Full of melody and discord, Hecker’s music is both challenging and ambient at once. Add to this the haunting venue and you're in for one very special evening indeed. / Dave Desmond

Don't call it a comeback. Call it...reincarnation. Ishmael Butler has been around the block before (in another life he was a member of '90s undie-rap heroes Digable Planets), but his latest guise as front-man of Seattle's Shabazz Palaces might be his most rewarding role yet. The rap game may have changed, but the group's abstract rhyme schemes and off-kilter beats fit in surprisingly well with the wild, weird, west-coast stylings of Odd Future and Lil B. For all the surface strangeness of their music (Sample song title: Swerve the Reeping of All that is Worthwhile (Noir Not Withstanding)) they have a gift for memorable hooks and lyrics, and by all accounts they're even better in concert than they are on record. And in a genre that's gained a reputation for lacklustre live performances, a real old school rap show is not to be missed. Win Tickets / Conor McDevitt

Stewart Lee has been considered the ultimate comic's comic for some time now, and he's always been the voice of those who resent being 'spoon-fed warm diahrroea' by Michael McIntyre and his prime-time BBC 1 cronies. Lee says it how it is, and his satire may have gained gravitas since his heady days working with Richard Herring on Fist of Fun and This Morning with Richard Not Judy, but his humour sneaks upon you more, now. Never be complacent during one of his gigs, I got caught once trying to figure out a joke about Israel and missed the next joke that I would have understood (it was dissing Russell Howard, I know my level). There's always another one coming, kids, Lee won't leave you hanging! Warm up with his Comedy Vehicle, and a gander on his website...Beware plagarists, behold your prison! / Kate Coleman

My first experience of a silent movie was in a rather odd little town in Colorado. The pianist was as old and creaky as the wooden auditorium,  but once the film started rolling both were suddenly full of life. The 'live' element of the screening seemed to give the audience permission to laugh out loud, applaud mid-movie or even close their eyes and listen to just the piano. You didn't feel like you'd gone to see some old movie, you felt you'd gone to an event. Following on from last month’s screening of Carl Dreyer’s 1932 classic Vampyr, the IFI is having another screening but this time with LIVE accompaniment by Steven Severin. Personally, I believe it's the perfect theatre for revisiting a time before 'talkies' because they already have all the elements of communal appreciation that guarantees a unique and enjoyable day out. Win Tickets / Rachel Ray

As Irish people, we don't mind the kind of sickly dreamers who spent their schooldays exempt from P.E. leading our military coups, or giving grenades to fellas who wouldn't be allowed to operate potato peelers if they were in England. Sure, the reason we have martyrs with more sick notes and reading glasses between them than the Chuckle Brothers' Adult Fan Club is the reason we're such awesome mad feckers. Now try and put those sentiments in dance form, and dedicate it to Padraig Pearse. Alan Gilsenan succeeds, and I'd recommend it over reading Pearse's woeful and morbidly blood-spattered poetry. Taking art and revolution, and mushing them together with aspects of biography and personality, there's a distinct chance that the audience will look at Pearse head-on for the first time, instead of being ignored by his iconic profile. Win Sunday Tickets / Kate Coleman

The Chocolate Factory is a four-storey warehouse that officially opens this summer. Billed as a restaurant and hostel, as well as a creative space for artists, you can have a sneak peak at it sugary goodness today as the ground floor is taken over for a one day market whose emphasis is on urban and street culture. All wares will be made by women, whether it's art, music, jewelry, clothes, crafts or short-films. Organisers will also be raising money for women's shelter Aoibhneas, and after you've haggled over the price of what-catches-your-eye you can stay late for tunes. So that's shopping, cup cakes, haggling, unique jewelry and dancing all taking place in somewhere called the chocolate factory. If Mel Gibson is still around he should call down as that's that exactly what women want. Stay sober though Mel, ok? / Vernon Steel

Tank fly boss walk jam nitty gritty, your listening to the boys from the big bad city, this is jam hot! Dublin be good to me! Without question, the  stand out event in the city this week (as long as Andre 3000 doesn't go on a booze-fuelled, car vandalising, masturbatory rampage). The Tivoli will be rammed with b-boys, b-girls, breakers, beats and world class graffiti writers as the fifth installment of the Tivoli Jam ramps up a skateboard and lands a load of cool in your lap. Among the foreign writers coming over are San Fran's Kem, Spain's Dems as well as Pantone, SozyOne, Flying Fortress and Nychos. This will be the best thing that happened in a car park since that Jackie Chan scene from Rumble in The Bronx. / Vernon Steel

Saturday morning. No food in your fridge – just some beers left from last night. How to come back to life? Go get a burrito at Gustavo´s stall, or a box of noodles at Tasty Land, or shortbread at Noirin´s bakehouse. Temple Bar Food Market is a paradise for food lovers. Hotdogs, Oysters, Burgers, Crêpes, Dumplings…all kinds of dishes. If you´re a vegan, enjoy choosing the best organic products at the vegs and fruits stall. If you can´t live without meat, go to Rahara farm´s stall: Valerie will help you to decide which steak to take home. If you love fresh fish, buy it at Out of The Blue. And if your passion is sweet, don´t leave without visiting The French Bread and Natasha´s living food stalls. Slightly more expensive than Dunnes or Tesco´s, but so much of the selection is fresh, homemade, organic and/or free range. / Verónica Zumalacárregui

Sustainable living has come a long way with technologies easier to access and adopt, no longer the sole domain of sandal wearing crusties. Hop on board the Earthship in this lecture by sustainable architect and controversial Garbage Warrior; Michael Reynolds, as he introduces the pragmatic and philosophical aspects of "Sustainable Autonomy for Everyone". His radical house designs and usage of discarded everyday items like aluminium cans, plastic bottles and used tires to create unique, otherworldly, one-off houses dubbed “Earthships” for their self-sufficiency and independence from municipal energy, water and sewage hook ups. Damn those Tea Party types anyway and their Climate Change denial. Bottom line: how many of you would just love to send a bill to the ESB instead of paying one? / Elish Bul-Godley

Showcasing three of the most respected names in post-classical composition, the Transcendentalists tour arrives in Dublin this Sunday.  Icelandic keyboardist, Jóhann Jóhannsson combines orchestral string arrangements with electronic drones and vocoders to produce eerily haunting music that has captivated listeners ever since his debut album Englaborn in 2002.  Joining him on the night is German pianist, Hauschka, whose compositions are performed on a “prepared” piano that is modified to produce unusual tones that buzz, click and hum, as he constructs elaborately rhythmic and mesmerising musical frameworks.  Also a pianist, but with a contrasting approach to composition, Dustin O’Halloran writes for solo and string-accompanied piano.  His work is poignant and reflective, with melody and harmony being the driving force. / Dave Desmond

Sparkle, sparkle. The glitteratti were out en masse this week; perfectly coiffed, glossy haired lovelies packed the Copper House Gallery to admire the works of renowned Irish fashion and portrait photographer, Barry McCall. The gallery walls are heaving with mesmerizing images of the famous faces he's captured. It's hard to contain the drooling when Michael Fassbender is eyeing you up, but the shock of seeing Jedward looking like sultry superhumans will mop that right up, he's even managed to include Glenda Gilson in the nip - I'm still trying not to get a complex. Despite the big names and more Irish celebrities than you can shake a perfectly manicured finger at the pure charm of McCall's work, the contribution to the ISPCC and the family atmosphere at the Copper House leave you with a warm fuzzy feeling. / Sarah Maguire

Ok, this is not ‘pop up’, ‘fundit’ or ‘DIY’. I still think it’s cool. The guy has been around for ages, everyone remotely Irish knows him or think they do. The exhibition, full of beautiful alcoves and dimly lit nooks, won several awards, mostly to the joy of tourists who come to find out that Ireland’s greatest poet and national treasure was a bit of a crazy who was into astrology and fairies. Which is exactly what I loved about this exhibition. It shows a different side of Yeats, probably the side that wrote ‘A Vision.’ I plan to go back alone and take time studying all the hand-written notebooks, drawings, illustrations and watching videos with headphones, like a proper foreigner I am. Partly because I always wanted to do that and partly because I still secretly believe that you can learn something new from the old. / Nadia Gativa

'I love every thing that is old; old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wines…' says one of the main characters in She Stoops to Conquer. Oliver Goldsmith's comedy of manners was performed in Smock Alley Theatre 225 years ago and this new adaptation is celebrating the official reopening of the space. If you too love old things then you'll be intrigued by the significant story behind what is Dublin's oldest theatre. After the original playhouse closed in 1787, the building was variously used as a warehouse, church and later fell into disuse. While it was being redeveloped in the early 1990s remnants of the original theatre were discovered. Tonight, after many years of fundraising and campaigning the theatre is officially reopening on its original site. A BYO oysters and flagons of wine policy is in place, one hopes. Win Tickets / Maisie

‘Captain, we have a glitch. So get creative, damn it!’ Glitch Fest has returned to Dublin to create some positive buzz around digital arts and media. The idea behind it is to explore new media utilisation in the artistic process; think the Science Gallery in Andy Warhol’s trousers. Artists like Alan Butler and Ellie Harrison bridge the gap between virtual and real space pushing their creation into some magical between-worlds vortex. Spicing things up with mysterious algorithms they travel through computing clouds, open source software and quantified data to tell a story of collective intelligence. With a great selection of exhibitions, films and workshops it looks like a real treat for techno-lovers and believers in the Three Laws of Robotics. / Anna P

This Julember weather has shed a dark shadow on spring and induced much SAD sufferance in me. I hope to find relief in this creative spectrum of contemporary lighting design comprising 18 bright young startups. Rachel O'Neill brings a kinetic and tactile textile piece hand-sculpted with goose feathers and Velcro. Kathryn Payne and Aislinn Lynch launch an inaugural range whilst the Locker13 boys collaborate with Jennifer Slattery Textiles to create pendant light "Loominare" (insert flashbacks of Beauty & the Beast). Aural pleasure a plenty on launch night, as Nightmaker Studios will create original music for the event. All this, plus an opening night address by Paul O'Hara, to illuminate our minds:  a world leader in social innovation, founder of Change Nation and director of Ashoka Europe. / Elish Bul-Godley