Critical Junk

Nice parking A**hole

2009-12-04T12:47:00.002Z

I came back to my car on Dawson St yesterday evening to find this BMW driving Dumbass parked practically on top of my car.

Bill Withers - Harlem

2009-10-24T17:51:00.002+01:00

I heard this in a shop on town today and thought it rocked. I couldn't believe it was Bill Withers, I always associated him with real MOR easy listening stuff because of Lovely Day. This is stompingly good.

He didn't die because he was gay.

2009-10-18T21:04:00.005+01:00

He didn't die because he was gay.

I'm all for freedom of speech, I've no problem with anyone saying whatever they believe, you know, on a Newstalk Vox Pop or whatever, go for it. But Jan Moir through her sick and twisty little article in the Daily Mail, giving credibility to every other little sick twisted little hererosexist out there, frankly pisses me off. She seems to think that Stephen died because he was a homosexual.

Stephen Gately died because that was how it worked out for him, and it's sad. And that's how things go for families all over this country, suddenly, unexpectedly, losing people they love. He didn't die because he was gay.

We have our own Jan Moir here off course, Brenda Power, another individual who believes discrimination has a useful place in our society.

It doesn't bother me that Jan Moir has the opinion she has, it bothers me that, like Brenda Power, she's paid for it, her opinion pays her rent. Millions fork out daily to pay for her opinion, and companies like Marks and Spencers and Nestle pay to have their adds placed in these newspapers, thus further filling her bank account while she feeds the sick and twisty discriminatory thoughts of heterosexists out there who feel that their opinions are justified and credible, they read it in a major newspaper after all.

In defense of M&S and Nestle, they pulled their adds, from the article though, not the newspaper.

Go and complain right now at the Press Complaints Commission on the basis that it breaches sections 1, 5 and 12 of its code of practice. I have.

I am T Pain app

2009-10-09T14:53:00.003+01:00

I'm getting this app!

Obama Auto Tuned by T Pain for Jimmy Kimmel

Dirty Young Man

2009-09-28T13:57:00.003+01:00

Roman Polanski, aged 44, outside court in 1977 admitted to raping a 13 year old.

Here is an excerpt from her testimony.

Polanski pleaded guilty to the assault in 1977 but jumped bail and fled the US the following year to avoid a lengthy prison sentence.

He was arrested yesterday in Zurich and is said to be in good spirits.

Can you hear me now?

2009-09-25T15:44:00.002+01:00

This is a great little montage of different explanations filmakers have come up with to explain why people don't simply use their mobile phones to get out of a fix.

Send some love to Liberty Hall

2009-08-28T11:48:00.004+01:00

I love Liberty Hall on the Dublin sky line and I've always seen it as a legacy building even if SIPTU are going to knock it down.

As part of Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival, from the 24th of September until the 11th of October 2009, Playhouse will transform the iconic Liberty Hall building in Dublin’s city centre into a 50 metre, low resolution, TV screen.

Members of the public are invited to create animations with sound and music, via their website, and broadcast them across the city’s skyline.

It's nice to see it being put to artistic use and it might encourage people to appreciate the building more while it's still there while at the same time having a bit of fun.

Folded

2009-08-26T12:21:00.004+01:00

Check out this AMAZINGLY cool folding plug for the mac.

I want one!

There's an APP for that....

2009-08-26T12:21:00.001+01:00

John Hughes RIP

2009-08-07T10:38:00.002+01:00

John Hughes died yesterday at 59 years old.

I'm a big fan of his films, especially The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueiller, and Planes Trains and Automobiles.

She's Having A Baby is a particular favourite. It's not one of his better known films but it's worth checking out for all the cameos - Kevin Bacon hails a cab and the cabbie is Steve Martin! I love it's classic sob-fest sequence near the end where the baby is being born and Kate Bush's track This Woman's Work is playing underneath.

Here's a little montage of some of his films.

Arthur's Day

2009-07-22T15:03:00.003+01:00

Guinness is Celebrating its 250th birthday and in the process they're having their inaugural Arthur's Day on the 24th September.

Tom Jones, Estelle and possibly the Black Eyed Peas are going to be playing at James Gate and loads of bands will be playing in local pubs around dublin.

From what I can figure you can only buy tickets per venue, without knowing who's actually going to be playing.

There is a pretty extensive line up of acts, with something for all tastes including David Holmes, Soul II Soul, The Kooks and Jamie Callum

Their website is unfortunately an epic fail and takes aeons to load, so I got bored and gave up looking.

The GAZE Commercial

2009-07-15T16:50:00.003+01:00

Here's an ad I just directed for the Dublin Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.We shot it in The Lighthouse last week. John McEvoy and I came up with the concept based on their theme this year "Be Moved". Warrior Films produced it and it will be on TV next week!!! Also (even better) it will be projected on the big screen in the lighthouse for the next few weeks.

Electric Picnic Line Up 2009

2009-07-02T12:30:00.004+01:00

Let me be the first to piss and moan about the poverty of imagination in this years Electric Picnic Line up - manna for nerdy boys and their 'I want you to think I'm cool' girlfriends and... well... that's all folks.

I can't believe that this is all there is, but apparently so.

What a waste of a couple of hundred euro.

Michael Jackson RIP

2009-06-26T13:48:00.000+01:00

He was a childhood hero of mine...

Rubbish in The Independent.

2009-06-03T12:54:00.002+01:00

There's an artical in The Independent today Cutbacks leave beaches looking like rubbish tips The article begins "THE full cost of council cutbacks was laid bare yesterday as tonnes of rubbish was left uncollected on some of the country's most popular beaches."

Am I missing something here? Surely that should read People leave beaches looking like rubbish tips

Total Eclipse Of The Heart Literally

2009-06-02T12:45:00.003+01:00

Check this out, it's the original video with the lyrics changed to reflect what's really going on onscreen.

More of the same here.

A wedding video that's actually good!

2009-05-27T08:01:00.001+01:00

OK, so normally I'm not down with the whole wedding thing (I'm not bitter) but I really think this wedding video is brilliant. I predict a rash of these popping up now, hell I might even get into the business of doing them!!!! (hysterical laughter)

Brian & Eileen's Wedding Music Video. from LOCKDOWN projects on Vimeo.

My Showreel

2009-05-22T17:04:00.001+01:00

Thought I'd pop this up here. This is a teaser I made for a short film I've written with John McEvoy called The Night Before. Dave Leahy Produced it and JJ Rolfe was the DOP and John Lynn is the man in the mirror.. We had a lot of fun putting it together.

Mmmmmm...Chicken

2009-05-14T13:23:00.005+01:00

Got this by email today.....

Sunnier days beckon

2009-05-13T18:35:00.005+01:00

Judge the movie by the cover

2009-05-01T12:06:00.005+01:00

Here are some really cool retropretations

As a really nice illustration exercise this guy has designed covers for non-existant paper-back novelisations of movies, though I am pretty sure Willy Wonka was a book first!!

I think this one of the movie BIG is my favourite though it's hard the choose, the War Games one is pretty clever too.

I Love You Dark Matter

2009-04-23T15:54:00.005+01:00

We Love You Dark Matter is the new album from Irish band Dark Room Notes, and I've been listening to it over and over. It's the best Irish Album I have heard in ages, I LOVE IT. I've been playing Let's Light Fires, Shake Shake and Love Like Nicotine a lot on Live Drive so I've really been looking forward to hearing this and they don't put a note wrong. I can't believe more people aren't raving about this, check out their myspace and buy the album, it's an early summer soundtrack!

Here's Let's Light Fires.

No experience required.

2009-04-23T12:02:00.005+01:00

Check out the queue for job interviews for the Londis chain in Dublin yesterday. 100 jobs advertised, 2000 people turned up. That's a 1 in 20 chance of getting a job so I guess the odds aren't that terrible.

The video was taken from the Live Drive cameras:

insane queue on stephen's green, think it's for jobs in londis! What in the name of god is going on? This is scary! on 12seconds.tv

And I snapped this walking home.

There is a story about it in The Irish Independent.

Single Ladies like Paco

2009-04-20T10:55:00.002+01:00

Beyonce's Single Ladies video works perfectly with a Spanish Eurotrash aural calamity Paco Paco Paco. Who knew?

I didn't know it would end up on youtube.

2009-04-17T17:52:00.002+01:00

Wow.

Bollywood comes to Dublin

2009-04-08T17:19:00.004+01:00

My mate Bonnie is busy making a Bollywood short, if you feel like being a star for a day check out the details and Jai Ho

Learn the Dublin Bollywood Dance!
Dancers, actors, movers and shakers, the grand finale dance sequence of IRELAND'S FIRST BOLLYWOOD MOVIE is being filmed on Sunday the 19th of April at a central location in Dublin. How do you make your Bollywood debut on the big screen? Simply learn the dance and turn up on time! Rehearse with our music video from your laptop, in the office or with internet on your mobile, anywhere! Please pass the video on to friends and remember to be in this stunning movie you must submit your details NOW to dublinbollywood@gmail.com. Please include name, phone no. playing age, dance ability. See you in the movie!!!

Some thoughts on the RTE Storyland voting system.

2009-03-25T11:37:00.003Z

I have voted for a show on Storyland, and, for the record, I voted for Running Low - I liked it the most... but I thought some of the others were pretty good too....

I think it might be an Idea in the future to allow tiered voting, you know, your top 6 choices in order of preference.

There are some really good arguments for this.
-- It encourages people who are simply visiting the Storyland site to vote for a particular show because of a good online campaign, to take a moment to watch a few more.
-- Because you can only vote for one if your choice gets knocked out in the first round why would you go back? The system as it is is getting people to invest in shows but not in Storyland overall.

Voting in order of preference means that if you are voting No 1 for a video that has a good campaign you are also voting for things based on your taste and how good you really think they are,and you're actually investing in Storyland itself. I think this method might throw up some interesting results and also build the Storyland brand a little better.
Let's face it, Storyland provides good oppurtunities for emerging and existing film makers so it would be nice to see the project survive until next year.

The colourful Pat Kenny

2009-03-23T15:49:00.004Z

One of the joys of sitting in on a Friday Night is experiencing the joy that is Pat Kenny on The Late Late Show. This week, he has a bit of a Black and White minstrels moment with the young All Ireland Talent Show breakdancer, Jack Lynch. Personally I paled.

Work it.

2009-03-23T14:18:00.001Z

Hours of fun to be had here, well...maybe minutes....

Nothing to be sheepish about!

2009-03-23T13:42:00.002Z

We may have just beat Wales in the Six Nations in Rugby but their sheep farmers have a hell of a lot to teach us.

Storyland is live

2009-03-23T10:44:00.002Z

The Storyland competition is live now the RTE Website and seeing as we were shortlisted for it we sat through the videos and off course, we voted. Interestingly there are only nine videos, there were supposed to be ten, Moo Cow Productions Morbid and Sons pulled out early and were replaced by Pub World ages ago, but it now seems that for some reason Sulleybags has been axed/dropped out also. RTE have made no reference to it but it is disappointing that none of the others on the shortlist were considered as a replacement in the way that Pubworld was. Perhaps something happened at the last minute?

When we were viewing the videos their scores were visible on RTE which seemed a bit daft for two reasons, you don't know how well the voting is going on The X Factor or Irelands Got Talent because it can influence voting patterns unfairly and also, with nine videos to troll through most of them over 6 minutes long the natural inclination is to just watch the most viewed or the favourite. Thankfully for those taking part in Storyland, the scores have now been removed so the playing field is more level. For the record Hardy Bucks was waaayyy out in front with 45% while the rest shared fairly equal footing of 8 - 12%

This is the first time RTE have done something like this so teething problems for all concerned are to be expected. One thing that I think is a major challenge for all concerned is the simple fact that 9 videos at an average of 5 minutes each comes up to a fairly jarring 45 minutes, add the fact that the streaming is a little slow, and the time it takes to read the blurb on each one and before you know it you are an hour down, in fact it took us an hour and a half to go through them all. That's one hell of a time commitment, and not one I think a lot of people will make. Instead, I guess, they'll just pop along to view whichever one they've been mailed about or told about in one way or another. This means that if your marketing skills aren't up to scratch then, even if your video is worthy, you could be sunk, which is a shame. I don't know what plans RTE themselves have for pimping the project but as of today it's not linked from their home page.

Another possible improvement might be to include a simple logline with each video on the home page, to entice the viewer a little more to click through and watch it, as it is you have to select the video to find out what it's about, and you don't so much get log lines as paragraph. Interestingly the Pat Mc Cabe penned Chez Spuds has the clumsiest bit of copy.

We're going to publish our opinions on each later but in the meantime pop along to RTE Storyland and have a look. Don't forget to vote!

Look behind you!

2009-03-16T21:54:00.002Z

I drive a Smart, I've had it for about 2 and a half years and I LOVE it, it's my most favourite car ever. While it has much to offer in terms of city driving, milage and parking, this ad shows, there are other benefits!!

Oxegen 2009, the big names.

2009-03-05T13:16:00.002Z

Just added to the line up at the official launch are Nine Inch Nails, Janes Addiction, Pet Shop Boys!!

The last L Word ever!

2009-03-05T11:16:00.002Z

It's 3 days to the airing of the last ever episode of The L Word. Every season of the L Word has been different, and this final season plays out like a murder mystery. Looking at this video I realised how many changes have happened the characters, especially Jenny throught the last six years. What a show, I'm going to miss all these characters sooo much.

All hail the man in black

2009-02-23T10:56:00.003Z

I thought Sean Penn was AMAZING in Milk, so I'm delighted he got the oscar and he scores extra kudos for his acceptance speech.

On the subject of gay rights there were a bunch of people on Pat Kenny this morning going over the up and coming lame - ass Civil Partnership Bill which serves if nothing else as an opportunity , to borrow from Penns speech for Irish people to "sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame..." We really are a backward homophobic bunch as a whole. As Sean said, we've got to have equal rights for everyone.

Make Love Not Porn

2009-02-10T11:29:00.004Z

Last year I went to a friend Karen's 40th birthday. Karen had invited friends and family to the event and among the guests was a former colleague of hers, Cindy Gallup. Cindy was a pretty fabulous woman looking like Purdy meets Studio 54 and she got up to say a few words about Karen. Her speech was a funny, excellent show stopper and I'm not surprised to see her pop up again causing a stir.

Cindy walked onstage after World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners Lee at the recent TED Conference (TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds) and launched her new website makelovenotporn.com. She got a huge response, as evidenced here, here, here and here, and even had Robin Williams rapping with her about it out front after.

Check out her site.

Losing it on film sets.

2009-02-09T11:53:00.005Z

Christian Bales on set flip out at the DOP Shane Hurlbut on Terminator 4 got me thinking about other on set blow outs, check out this Lily Tomlin one fron I Heart Huckabees, the director really goes for her, watch out for the clapper loader sneaking off and the First AD trying to clear everyong aeay!.

Here is one of Michael Sera on the set of Youth In Revolt which I think is actually a viral scam.

Oh yeah and here is the best Christian Bale remix - over 2 million hits, I can see this making it on the dancefloors.

Get tipped off about the latest cheap treats.

2009-02-06T12:26:00.003Z

Tipoff.ie is one of the latest in a growing number of websites dedicated to getting you recession busting deals, I've signed up, it will be interesting to see if it is any good or just another pigsback type advocon*.

*advocon - A website or product that lures you in with the promise of service, information or reward, but really just exists to sell you shit through lousy advertisements.

The Rubik 360

2009-02-03T13:31:00.002Z

Rubik's Cube creator Erno Rubik has come up with a new puzzle set to launch this summer. There's a review of it here.

Bono at the inauguration.

2009-02-03T13:22:00.002Z

I've been meaning to blog about this for a while. Bonos whole '4 boys from the North-side of Dublin' really irked me, we slagged it off a bit on the show but I couldn't quite put my finger on exactly what it was that bothered me. Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that they were , it was Bonos comments that were the rub. Any way while I was trying to figure out how to articulate what I was thinking, Shane Hegarty nailed it in the Irish Times

Something good "Comes Out" of Iceland's economic meltdown

2009-01-30T11:47:00.002Z

From The Independent

The first government collapse of the global economic crisis is about to yield the world's first openly-gay leader. Johanna Sigurdardottir, a former air hostess, is expected to be sworn in as Iceland's Prime Minister by the end of the week.

Wanna buy a Shepard Fairey?

2009-01-26T13:18:00.004Z

I think these are going on sale on Jan 30th, reckon they'll be gone in a flash!

Failing that just make one of yourself over at Obamicon.me

Talent? Depends on what your wearing.

2009-01-26T12:43:00.004Z

Last night on The All Ireland Talent Show, Blathnaid Ni Chofaigh wss in Kilkenny to look for the greatest entertainers that the east has to offer. "I'M concerned about your age" she said to a seven year old, who had clearly been allowed enter so....? Later she wondered alloud if a mother of 3 would be able to handle the commitment of taking part in the show, eh Blathnaid, lots of people have kids, you included, and then go to RTE and watch the 25th January show from 38.55, she asks the guys with the football freestyle skills if they would be willing to do it with their shirts off? They said no. Blathnaid! Taking off your clothes is hardly a talent!!

The Story didn't land....

2009-01-23T12:41:00.002Z

We didn't get selected for Storyland, Bummer. We got a lot out of the pitch process, and we're happy with what we submitted, I guess this time it was not to be....

A bleeding nostril, Perfect.

2009-01-22T15:41:00.003Z

There are a whole bunch of these ads about Pablo The Drug Mule Dog, online and on TV at the moment as part of an anti drugs campaign in Britain. They're really cool but I don't know how much of an affect they are having.
Check out the Frank website, and the basement where poor Pablo gets slit open.

Our pitch for RTE Storyland

2009-01-19T17:45:00.006Z

Myself and LiveDrive producer extraordinaire John McEvoy submitted an idea to RTE for their Storyland project. The basic premise is that they will select 10 videos, put them on the RTE website and get viewers to vote for them. If your project gets selected, you get to make another episode, and so on until you get voted out or win.... They shortlisted 20 submissions and we were among the people who got to pitch. We were in with them today so fingers crossed...

Our show is called iCabalot, it's about a young philosophy graduate who unexpectedly inherits his dads taxi and discovers he has The Gift of the Cab.

This is the teaser trailer we made for our pitch.

Kate Winslet wins Golden Globe

2009-01-13T11:52:00.000Z

Kate has a spasmodic complicated little celebrity orgasm on stage. I'm Horrified.

RTE aren't all talk (Shock Horror)

2009-01-12T16:20:00.002Z

As posted by Una, 2fm management have decided daytime DJs Rick O'Shea and Nikki Hayes must drop all non-music items from their shows and simply introduce the music.
Show your disgust by joining the Facebook group

Interesting TV on the way

2009-01-12T15:59:00.005Z

Stephen Spielberg had an idea for a TV show and got screenwriter Diablo Cody, of Juno fame, to write it. The United States Of Tara premieres soon on Showtime and looks pretty cool. Toni Collette starring can't hurt.

Gay Marriage will save the American Economy

2008-12-22T14:49:00.003Z

Or so it is claimed in all star Prop 8 - The Musical on Funny Or Die

"Prop 8 - The Musical" starring Jack Black, John C. Reilly, and many more... by Jack Black

Cutting right to the point.

2008-12-22T14:44:00.001Z

This is doing the viral rounds at the moment, 40 inspirational speeches in 2 minutes, funny.

"This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi People, you dog"

2008-12-22T14:26:00.006Z

That's what journalist Muntadar al-Zaid, yelled when he hurled his shoes at "President" Bush. A website has been created to honour his actions, appropriately it's called Thank You For Throwing Your Shoe. People from all over the world are giving the guy a thumbs up.

The moon over The Four Courts

2008-12-12T16:10:00.003Z

I took this picture this morning on my way in to work, I couldn't believe the moon was so fat and so low, it's a pity I only had my shi**y iPhone camera for the shot.

Making Dublin work harder

2008-12-11T12:44:00.003Z

John and I just went on a nerdtastic tour of the Houses of the Oireachtas. You're not allowed take photos but I took one of the Christmas tree anyway! Anyone can get a free tour, the porters are amazing tour-guides and full of interesting snippets - (like when Countess Markovitz died, the poor of Dublin loved her so much that they scraped all their pennies together and sent 6 truckloads of flowers to follow her coffin to Glasnevin.)

Malcom Gladwell in UCD

2008-12-02T10:55:00.004Z

Malcom Gladwell gave a talk last Thursday night in the O'Rielly Hall, mostly covering a section of his new book Outliers, which is pretty great. Turns out one of my main problems in life is how I mitigate my speech, and better news, that's something you can fix!!

A reason to buy a mobile home.....

2008-11-20T22:06:00.001Z

Apparently they are only making 250 of these so you better get your order in fast, I'm getting solar powered one!

Melissa has a point

2008-11-07T13:09:00.001Z

And you could argue the exact same thing here.

And not so nice, California.

2008-11-06T10:15:00.003Z

In Barack Obama's acceptance speech he declared the following

"It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states. We are, and always will be, the United States Of America"

That's pretty uplifting stuff, and I'll admit that like many I shed a tear, and felt a surge of hope.

Unfortunately, while the Californians were electing a President, they were voting on some other stuff too. One thing in particular was to overturn Proposition 8, that's the court ruling that allowed Gay people to get married in the state of California. Alas, this is no longer possible, Californians voted to overturn the proposition and void all the marriages that have taken place over the last few months.

"young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans" are a long way from being equal Americans.

And by the way, folks, the Irish aren't big on equality either.

Nice One, America

2008-11-05T14:09:00.002Z

People are easily led

2008-10-31T13:18:00.004Z

I hate the fact that Jonathan Ross has been suspended and Russell Brand has resigned and the Radio 2 Controller has resigned over an misjudged prank that would have gone unnoticed, and in fact did go unnoticed until British Red Tops whipped the braying Mob up into a frenzy. What's next? A spot of book burning?

I've spoken to a few friends about this and the ones that are really antagonised by Brand/Ross phone call haven't even listened to the broadcast, which goes to show how easily led people are. I heard it was bad so it must have been bad.

BTW Andrew Sachs, institution that be is, rose to fame by portraying a racial stereotype. But that's funny. Right?

Bye Bye Russell

2008-10-30T15:09:00.004Z

Russell Brand is one of the few comedians/pundits that I think can get away with saying the most outrageous stuff without causing the kind of offense that would happen if, say, I said the same things, I took the time to listen to the whole silly broadcast that has been all over the news, and while I thought it was less than radio gold, , in context I don't really see the big deal, they went too far. It happens. Move on.

Andrew Sachs seems Okay with it.

Katherine Lynch's Wonderwomen etc.

2008-10-28T12:22:00.003Z

Last night we gave Katherine Lynch's Wonderwomen a shot on RTE 2. I wanted to like this, I think it's cool that people are getting a chance to try things out and push the boat out a bit on RTE. Unfortunately we thought it was appalling, unwatchable rubbish, so bad that we only hung in there for about 3 minutes (and I'd like them back). Jesus, what is it with the notion that people wandering around with fake "Dobelin" accents acting like "eejits" are somehow automatically hilarious and entertaining?? Fail.
We flicked over to Seacht on BBC2 which is an Irish language teen soap that would be better suited to 6pm but nonetheless was a pretty good effort at college drama, pity RTE hadn't picked that up instead. Pass.

Time for a paint job.

2008-10-21T12:56:00.003+01:00

I was walking through Temple Bar at the weekend and it occurred to me that the upper floors of this building were probably painted during the last recession!

Breakfast in Munchies in the Millennium Walkway

2008-10-17T16:25:00.006+01:00

A while ago I had a breakfast that I thought was pretty lousy, but today that experience has been out done by the dreadfulness of the Munchies Full Irish.

It was cold in the restaurant and considering it's all glass and tiles it doesn't bode well as a hang out spot for the winter, brrrrrrr.

John got the full Irish and I opted for the vegi, I eat meat, I just didn't feel like it. The eggs don't look so good but in fairness they were probably the best thing on plate, though pretty greasy and messy looking, they did taste like a fried egg.
John couldn't tell the white pudding from the black pudding and he said the bacon was burnt at the edges from curling up under the grill.

Nothing was hot, except for the coffee which was good, and the toast, two decent thick slices.

The Vegi comprised of old burned cold bits of cold potato, some dirty beans that looked like they had fallen of someone else's fork a week ago, that's what they tasted like too. Ugh, my own fault for putting them in my mouth I guess. Those are vegi sausages on the plate, rubbery, hard, dry and a waste of space and as for the mushrooms...emmm...bleaugh.

The 2 breakfasts and 2 black coffees came to €22! Not cheap.

John summed it all up afterwards with one word, REVOLTING.

The Munchies strap line is Honest to Goodness. Honest to Goodness don't bother.

The Ice President

2008-10-17T14:36:00.002+01:00

A while ago Matt Damon made these comments about Sarah Palin and College Humour went off and made this video, I don't know how I missed it but I did, have a look it's hilarious!

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Sarah Palin booed at Hockey Game

2008-10-17T14:31:00.001+01:00

Gotta say I feel sorry for her kids.

Palin As President

2008-10-16T16:48:00.004+01:00

Want to know what it would be like if Governor Sarah Palin was the President of the United States?

Check this out!

The new MacBook

2008-10-16T13:10:00.004+01:00

Hmmmm, my PowerBook G4 is still humming along nicely, running Leopard and handling whatever I throw at it, plus, although a little heavy, it's a neat 12", but at over 3 years old it's bound to cave in at some point. The new MacBook looks like it's more powerful even though it's consumer level. I'm going to have to do a bit of research, but what's the deal with no Firewire?

Republicans and their supporters

2008-10-16T12:48:00.002+01:00

Una put a pretty interesting take on the American republican supporter here, here's another example.

Polls for the US elections

2008-10-15T16:24:00.002+01:00

For anyone tracking the US Presidential elections there is a pretty good time line on the BBC website here, and a nice breakdown of which way each state is going here

Santa Baby

2008-10-06T13:27:00.005+01:00

Leeson St, Lunchtime today.

Tina Fey as Sarah Palin strikes again

2008-09-29T12:21:00.004+01:00

Took this from Una, Tina Fey has reprised her role as Sarah Palin in this Saturday Night Live spoof interview. Amy Poehlers Katie Couric is just as funny as Tina Feys Palin

Lost in Dublin

2008-09-29T12:09:00.002+01:00

Snapped these in Donnybrook at the weekend, they've been there a while. They're the work of Dublin street artist Asbestos, parts of his Lost Series.

Take away lunch from AYA

2008-09-19T15:02:00.012+01:00

After this mornings breakfast meeting that ended without a breakfast, I had to do a few bits and pieces in town. It was lunchtime and I was hungry, and I didn't have much time to queue or sit in some place. Normally I bring my own lunch in, but not on fridays, because I have breakfast out.
A sandwich is the obvious answer but I'm low-to-no wheat at the moment so I got a take away from the new hot food counter at Aya behind Brown Thomas. This is such a good deal! They have four different hot dishes ready to go with rice and it's €6 for a meal, or, if there are 2 of you, €11 for two. I had the thai curry and it was delicious, plus it's more like a dinner. I don't usually consider Aya to be good value, but this is a recession busting deal.

€6 is £3.93 in old money, these are 1990's prices folks!

Someone told me that since the current turmoil in global stock markets had kicked off we had lost 10 years in economic progress, it had simply been wiped out. If that's not a reason to start talking in punts I don't know what is.

I ate my lunch in the park behind Dublin Castle, beside the Chester Beatty. The only people who ever take the time to enjoy this park are tourists, which is a real shame.

Breakfast at the Sixty Six on Georges St.

2008-09-19T15:02:00.005+01:00

Every Friday John and I have a breakfast meeting after the show, somewhere in town. There are surprisingly few places that do decent breakfast, and we've tried most of them. Recently we've been making the Sixty Six a regular haunt, mostly because there is always a seat at the window, and this makes for decent people watching on Georges St. John likes it because the Open Skillet, a full Irish with all the trimmings, is pretty decent and sets you up for the day. I'm not really a Fry up kinda girl but there's plenty more on the menu. Last time we were there the coffee was burnt (I think their machine was dirty) but today the coffee was OK.
My breakfast, on the other hand was not. I ordered scrambled eggs with tomato and potato, pretty safe, and straightforward, I'd had the scrambled eggs there before and they were nice. Today, however they were dry, and stone cold, The potatoes were hot, the tomatoes lukewarm so I guess it was a case of bad timing in the kitchen. I sent them back, and a few minutes the plate was returned, with the exact same eggs, just hotter. I went back up to the manageress and asked if they had microwaved the plate, turns out they had shoved it under a hot grill, so now I had dried up potatoes and tomatoes and crunchy, reheated scrambled eggs. No Thanks.

The place was empty, it always is on a friday morning, except for us, and we won't be back.

Sarah Palin - Target Woman

2008-09-13T15:38:00.001+01:00

A Republican Hurricane

2008-09-13T14:58:00.001+01:00

Meeting David Sedaris

2008-09-12T13:59:00.002+01:00

I went to a David Sedaris reading organised by Waterstones in the Westin Hotel last night. The reading was in a really beautiful room, I'd forgotten all about the Westin until now actually, probably because the bar is a bit dark and claustrophobic.
The Waterstones crew were out in force in green David Sedaris t-shirts, it was sold out and they must have been expecting a rush at the door. There were 4 of us and as we walked in I simply followed the lead saying "I'm with them" assuming they could see all the tickets, "Hold On", the Waterstone snapped, "Step back behind the line", my immediate impulse was to hold my arms out to be searched, after some confusion we were allowed in. Inside there was another kerfuffle over seating as one of the Waterstones wanted to seat us far away on the outer edges even though the place was still empty, we stood our ground and took centre seats.
The reading was was warm, funny and perfectly delivered, here's a reading from This American Life about the meaning of Jazz.

And something from Letterman

Tremendous Calamity

2008-09-12T13:53:00.002+01:00

If you're around town over the next while go and have a look at the David Godbold exhibition Art, Drugs and Prayer in The Kerlin, the drawings on the first floor are particularly mad and funny!

American Prayer!

2008-08-28T15:56:00.002+01:00

One For The Road brought this to my attention, I wonder if it will have an impact, and if so, what kind?

Getting ready for the Electric Picnic

2008-08-28T15:26:00.004+01:00

In the middle of a really busy week this week so I've had to be tres organised so I wouldn't end up stressing. Last year, we left the packing too late and ended up scrambling around for torches and chargers into the wee hours so I was pretty sleepy on the Friday. I've been making a concerted effort this week to get enough sleep so I have all the energy I need!

So far things are going to plan and we're more or less on schedule, the plan is to depart straight after the show tomorrow in a mini convoy so by Lunchtime I fully intend to be kicking back with some bubbly and a BBQ. Yes indeed, we are bring the Bling to EP '08, and rain hail or shine, (and I'm going for shine) we are going to be fine.

Running times are still being posted on The EP site, but have been leaking out all week anyway, you gan get them here, here and here, The latter being in a handy downloadable format!!

I am totally going to Dark Room Notes, Santogold, Joan As Policewoman, The Breeders, Grace Jones, The Gossip, and I'll be checking out Martina Topely Bird in Body and Soul and Lou Rhodes on the Jazz Stage thingy, along with Ibrahim Electric...and that's just the start of it, it's going to be pretty hectic, who knows where we'll end up really! If you are looking for a hot tip, check out R.S.A.G in body and soul for a Saturday breakfast treat! Have a great weekend and see you at the picnic!

Lenny Kravitz at Marley Park

2008-08-21T11:22:00.005+01:00

Rocked. Rocked. Rocked. And Yes, those are pictures of Lenny throwing himself at the crowd. Best Gig This Year.

Alanis was pretty cool too, she played for about an hour, but the sound was a bit dodge.

When Lenny came on he tore it up, sound was pumped, and he is probably the sexiest man I have ever seen on stage. He was loving it too....

Guilty Pleasure for a Tuesday

2008-08-19T12:49:00.003+01:00

Because I know what it means,
To walk along the lonely street of dreams......

Sometimes the only thing that's gonna give you a lift is a no holds barred power ballad, punch your hands in the air and give it up for Whitesnake.

Whoop

Soooo playing this on the show tomorrow....

Atsushi Kaga at the Butler Gallery

2008-08-13T11:56:00.005+01:00

I'm a big fan of Atsushi Kagas work and if you happen to be in Kilkenny over the next while I seriously recommend you take the time to pop in to the Butler Gallery and have a look at his exhibition, fabulously titled

"I want to give love to socially neglected parts of you, that’s my mission."

The Exhibition is divided up into four sections,
A room of his smaller drawings, many of which are hilarious.
A room with 3 huge drawings including the piece "I want to give love to socially neglected parts of you, that’s my mission." which I would Kill to have in the foyer of my office (if I had a foyer)
A room with his recent oil paintings which mostly feature his usual protaganist Bunny, and are a combination of Bottecelli meets Caravaggio.

And a room with an installation that is so cool it's heartbreaking to think it will be painted over when the exhibition is finished, so I took some photos, there are 8 TV's in total and I WANT ONE!!!!

Ross Stewart - Sound Off

2008-08-13T11:33:00.002+01:00

Ross Stewart injects dark humour into serious issues at the Kilkenny Arts Festival

The Joy at Red Space

2008-08-13T10:59:00.008+01:00

Last night we went along to the opening of a new gallery in Dublin, The Joy, situated in the ever evolving Red Space on Rutland Lane. It was pouring down but nonetheless the launch was really well attended.

We had a bit of fun with The Goldfish Project By Layla O'Mara which involved jotting down thoughts inspired by the cups placed on a table in their associated notebooks while listening to music. Thats me in the picture being inspired.

I am looking forward to seeing what kind of shows emerge from the space.

Bunny on a fridge

2008-08-11T16:56:00.005+01:00

As part of the Atsushi Kaga Exhibition in the Butler Gallery, which I will be blogging more about later, Atsushi has been giving out drawings for people to bring home and upload on to his Bunny on a Fridge Project site. I haven't uploaded mine yet, but I will be soon, in the meantime I took a video of him drawing my bunny!

The Script Album Launch

2008-08-11T14:18:00.003+01:00

Up and coming Dublin Band The Script had an Album Launch in St Catherines Church on Thomas St on Friday Night and I went along with John McEvoy. They are getting a major push from SonyBMG at the mo and are straight to No1 with a bullet on the iTunes Music charts. They are a little like a slightly rougher version of Maroon 5. At the launch they played a live set and proved to be fairly tight on stage. The singer keyboardists is showing signs of a rapidly developing charisma which harnessed would make him irresistible to teeny boppers everywhere and the band have an easy rapport on stage. My favourite track from the set was Rusty Halos because they were just hitting their stride on stage and tore it up. They closed with a cover of Bowies Heroes, which I think they played more for themselves than the crowd. They should stick to their own material, it's good enough.

Electric Picnic tickets back on sale!

2008-08-01T15:04:00.001+01:00

On the Ticketmaster website!

Not sold out after all??

Stella Dore - Sebastian Guinness Gallery.

2008-07-31T17:16:00.005+01:00

Last weekend I went into the Stella Dore group show at the Sebastian Guinness Gallery, there were some very cool pieces and installations, and there is a slideshow here that no sh*ty iPhone camera can do justice to.
I bought myself a print by one of the artists Eelus which I LOVE, all I need now is a frame.....

This is the Print I bought.

Shebeen Chic - Georges St

2008-07-31T16:39:00.005+01:00

I went into Shebeen Chic on Georges St last night with my mate Betty. It's a new self proclaimed Gastro Pub directly opposite the George in a building that seems to change hands from restaurant to restaurant on a far too regular basis. Shebeen Chic is brought to you by the people who brought you the Globe, The Market Bar and the Odessa Club among others so their track record for successful venues is pretty good. The place is an 'eco' venue with all the furniture recycled or mix and matched from auctions and the wine list is made up of Bin Ends, meaning it will change regularly but should be good value for money.
I liked the look of the place, it reminds me a lot of the bars in Oberkampf in Paris about 10 years ago. There's plenty to look at and the place was buzzing.
For me, the menu was a bit of a disaster, It took ages to figure out what I wanted because, well, let's just say I found the menu "difficult" There are about 6 soups, the first of which was "Leek, Onion and Maybe Mud" about 6 Boxtys, (that's mashed potato mixed with stuff) one of which was something like "Beans and Blood", Then there were the the starters which included pigs trotters (but of course) and the mains, a long enough list with "Monkfish Cheeks" and "Eel and Fried Banana" in the mix. I opted for the "Spudballs with Mushrooms and Ould Cheddar" which was basically Gnocci with mushrooms, a sticky grey sauce and some very overcooked broccolli. It was inoffensive enough in it's own way, but nothing to get too get carried away with. €14 for some very cheap ingredients is what it actually was.
The trouble with putting things like Mud and Ould on a menu in a place that is made up of a load of recycled stuff is that you get the impression your food might be leftovers too, especially if it comes out grey with unexpected bits of ancient broccoli.
We went downstairs and ordered some coffee, after waiting ages we called the waiter over to find out what was taking so long and she explained that the coffee machine was broken and she had forgotten to tell us. I guess that's the trouble with getting things second hand, they're not always reliable.
On the way out the door we passed the Harpist, strumming away.
It's a cool venue but first impressions are that the food kinda sucks.

How's my driving?

2008-07-29T10:32:00.002+01:00

Garda in a yellow box in Donnybrook.
That's be 2 penalty points then?

What shall we do with the drunken sailors?

2008-07-21T14:28:00.003+01:00

I had the misfortune of going to Friday Nights Hal Willner's Rogue's Gallery Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs and Chanteys, as part of the Analog Festival.
What a shambles, someone would come on, stumble through a folk type tune, wander off, there would be a few minutes pause and someone else would shuffle on, god forbid they, or anyone else would introduce them. The whole thing was completely disjointed and disorganized, making a school concert seem like an efficient military operation in comparison. Shane Mc Gowan did a few rousing tunes and then poured beer all over the people at the front and started firing cans into the audience. Let's face it we deserved it for being dumb enough to tolerate their self indulgent tripe.
Maybe if we had been out on a pier with the sound of waves splashing and ropes jangling boat masts it would have worked better. Nah, probably not.

Heeeeeerrres GRACE!

2008-07-15T13:19:00.002+01:00

Good news, Grace Jones is playing at Electric Picnic this year, and Joan As Policeman is confirmed, but we knew that already.

Oxegen 2008

2008-07-14T11:25:00.006+01:00

Made it down to Oxegen for the afternoon on Saturday and Sunday, used the park ride and shuttle service and it all worked out fine. Gig wise the Saturday line up suited me better.

Music - Saturday
We popped into the Brian Jonestown Massacre to watch them self combust but they were pretty together, tighter than I thought they'd be and other than that not much to report. Newton Faulkner was on the Main Stage and for a guy with an acoustic guitar he held a good crowd closing with a cover of Bohemian Rhapsody which went down well. I ended up seeing a bit of My Morning Jacket in the Pet Sounds Tent because it was pouring rain. They were well into the performance and having fun, but ultimately boring. Legged it over tho The Ting Tings and had to fight our way in, they were playing in the Green Room Tent which apparently has the same capacity as the Point Depot and they were thronged. They played the tightest set, I loved it. Caught a little of The Wombats on the O2 stage just after, Snore Bore. I meant to go and see Holy F**K then but I forgot or got distracted or something. We went to Amy Winehouse on the main stage, probably for the wrong reasons really, I felt a bit cheap showing up just to see if she showed up. She came on and sang away fine, didn't really engage with the crowd (would you?) and left. Her kind of music is not really Main Stage stuff, she suits a more intimate setting better i think.
After that we popped in to Seasick Steve in the Pet Sounds Stage, swigging away on a bottle of Jack Daniels and busy blowing everyone away. I think it was a mutual thing, the more he played the more the crowd responded the more blown away he was. It was one of those occasions where you really believe the guy when he says "You're a great crowd" It was my festival highlight.

Music - Sunday
The weather was warm and sunny for the most part. The Feeling, on the Main Stage belted out covers, including A-HA classic Take On Me, which had everyone dancing. I popped into Prince influenced David Jordan, who was throwing himself into it to a tiny crowd. we caught The Stranglers too, just to hear Golden Brown, and fitted in a little bit of The Blizzards.

Festival Thoughts.
The festival overall was organised enough in so far as I could see. There seemed to be a pretty hefty Garda Presence and loads of Stewards.
The food offerings were pretty grim, most people opting for AbraKebabra, who had a lot of concessions stands, better the devil you know I guess.
We opted for Chicken On A Stick and had to bring it back because the chicken was raw.......
The Eco Cups kept the place clean enough which meant less rubbish underfoot when moving around, a big improvement on previous years.
The age profile seems to have gone up, yes there were loads of kids, but there were loads of thirtysomethings too, the line up maybe....?
The line up was really male orientated, very few girls on stage either as musicians or singers, it made the whole thing feel a little hey ho same ol'. I think that might be why Seasick Steve was so rockin', it was something different in a sea of boys with guitars singing identikit songs.
There is not a lot to do at Oxegen if a band you are interested in isn't playing, there is a funfair I guess.....
Lot's of cover songs knocking around.....I got the feeling a lot of bands had a better chance of getting the crowd going if they played them stuff they know (ie not there own stuff)
There are no more super groups.

Operator Please in Crawdaddy

2008-07-14T11:05:00.006+01:00

I went to Operator Please in Crawdaddy last Tuesday night. The crowd was pretty small but there was an appreciative gang up the front. The drummer (who looks like he's 12) singer and fiddler were all fairly rocking, bass and keyboards less so ( I think the bass guitarist wants to be in My Chemical Romance). Highlights were their hits, Leave It Alone and The Ping Pong Song and an energetic version of Salt N'Pepas Push It.

4Day Movie - one of the best bits.

2008-07-02T11:54:00.003+01:00

The 4Day Movie, a collaberative effort made as part of the Darklight Festival is a montage off the work of a number of people who shot around dublin last Thursday. The whole thing was spliced together to create a feature of sorts.
Below is a longer version of what appeared towards the end of the movie, it got a great reaction from the crowd, and was one of my favourite pieces, in fact I've been raving about it a little, so I'm glad it's online now!

Virtual Cinema

2008-07-02T11:42:00.002+01:00

The 10 videos made as part of the Wildlight Virtual Cinema scheme are online now!

Here is my favourite.

Bye Bye Boat

2008-06-30T14:18:00.004+01:00

Managed to catch the Roskilde bound Sea Stallion on it's way out of Dublin Bay, on Sunday.

Darklight 2008

2008-06-30T12:41:00.005+01:00

I spent chunks of the weekend popping in and out of various events running in the Darklight Festival. This is the second year the festival has run in June, having previously been an Autumnal thing, and to be honest I preferred the old time slot. The Summer is becoming saturated with things to do.

€50 bought you access to pretty much everything and considering the variety screenings and the caliber of some of the speakers, it was terrific value.

Friday involved running between different talks some of which were in Filmbase and some in the Lighthouse.

The Lighthouse hosted the Virtual Cinema Symposium, and included on the panel Barry Ryan from Warp x "a sustainable digital studio driven by creative talent and a dynamic business model that rewards everyone involved in the films" His contribution was particularly interesting and inspiring to me. Warp X was created to fastrack low budget filmmaking by, well, just gettiing on with it. Their mission was to produce 6 films in 3 years and they are bang on schedule. At the Q&A afterward someone suggested setting up a film making manifesto based around darklight not unlike the Dogma movement. Personally I'd be more interested in "a sustainable digital studio driven by creative talent and a dynamic business model that rewards everyone involved in the films"

Viral Marketing was on the agenda later in a symposium chaired by Steve McCormack from Wildwave. There were some terrific panelists here too, the producer of Bebos Sophies Diaries and Bandy Toaster.

It turned out that Darklight had indeed been behind the dodgy video that was knocking around last week. They seeded it with a bunch of bloggers and waited for things to take off. It was, sadly, rubbish and someone thought better of things and pulled it.

I didn't get to see the Virtual Cinema Shorts, but no doubt they will be online soon, I heard they are fab.

On Saturday we went to a screening of Dead Mans Shoes, followed by a short film Dog Altogether and a Q&A with the Actor/Writer/Director, Paddy Considine.

The only thing we had a chance to go to on Sunday was the 4Day Movie, a collaberation by 30 odd people, it was worth the trip into town and a great end to the festival.

It's a definite on next years calendar!