A hero speaks

May 26, 2009 by John    6 Comments    Posted under: atheism, rant

I can’t believe this only has 1000 or so views on youtube. Everyone should see this.  Michael O’Brien unleashes a heartfelt anger on questions and answers expressing the rage that the nation are feeling. I don’t think I could do this issue justice without resorting to spitting, fuming and cursing. I am absolutely outraged at every aspect of this. How does one organise a nationwide march? How the goverment and The Catholic Church in Ireland are dealing this will place them in history alongside the Holocaust.

Watch, vent, cry, pass on.

Bye Blogger!

May 25, 2009 by John    7 Comments    Posted under: blogging, web, web design

Have been meaning to move from the piece of shit Blogger over to WordPress for ages now. The only thing that was delaying me was that I wanted to re-design the whole site but could just never get around to it. So I grabbed the irrestable theme instead. It’ll sure do for now. I think most things are working but I’ll probably be tinkering with it for a while. Hope the feed is working as it was, guess we’re just about to find out…

Dance wiv me

May 21, 2009 by John    9 Comments    Posted under: flash, photos, random, video

You know when you’re flicking through your camera and you see two shots that were taken in quick succession and it looks like a little animation and you sit there for a while making the people dance? No!? well I’m always at it. Thought I’d add some music to this one…

Le Cool

May 21, 2009 by John    6 Comments    Posted under: random

It’s been a while since I’ve had any interest in gig listings filling in my inbox. But I’ve just subscribed to a new email weekly listing called Le Cool that’s not just music; comedy, family events, movies, arty stuff and any other cultural events. Check it out / subscribe at lecool.com/cities/dublin.

Disclaimer: Wouldn’t post if I didn’t like it but yes I do know one of the promoters. And he’s one of the friendliest people I know. And that get’s extra bonus points from me.

5 Great music videos featuring robots

May 20, 2009 by John    2 Comments    Posted under: music, videos

Bjork – All is full of love

Secta Chameleon – More than a feelin’

Flight of the Conchords – The humans are dead

Beck – Hell yes

Herbie Hancock – Rockit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK0Pi4wC8Hk

Coldcut – JDJ (70 minutes of madness)

May 18, 2009 by John    2 Comments    Posted under: music

I was listening to the radio the other day and I heard this little sample that gave me a mad craving to hear Coldcut – JDJ “70 minutes of madness”. Then I realised it was so frigging long since I listened to it, that the last time I heard it was on cassette. A tape that I once listened to over and over and over, a gazillion times. A tape that’s now buried deep in the arctic somewhere – ie the attic. I mentioned this on Twitter off the cuff and had several kind offers to get me a copy. I’m listening to it now and it’s still the best mix I’ve ever heard, hands down.

I’ve always been a big fan of a well worked mix. Off the cuff mixes obviously have their charm, but I was always a bigger fan of DJ’s who put a huge amount of time into perfecting their mixes to admittedly obsessive levels, whether it’s finding that perfect record or the perfect sample or the perfect scratch… or any other trick, I’ve always loved hearing that fantastically carved blend of sounds that compliment each other perfectly. Much more that a traditional album.

And 70 minutes of madness is a proper *mix*, not just one boring style from beginning to end. They took the JDJ (Journeys by DJ’s) mantra and smacked the bitch up. It’s on Amazon but if you’ve not yet heard it don’t go and spoil it by listening to separate tracks. Most definitely the sum of the parts here dude.

Latifah! The feminine professor of Wits, Coldcuts on the mix. And it ticks us off when we see so much wrong World, what’s goin on!?

The Shawshank Redemption

May 16, 2009 by John    6 Comments    Posted under: Uncategorized

I’ve been to far too few plays in my life. Something I’d love to remedy but time and money can be impeding factors. So I’m not exactly equipped to review plays. However, several things I learned tonight.

• Watching a play at the very back of the Gaiety is like watching a play of people watching a play
• Sitting behind a fat head can ruin a play
• In no way is it a given that a play will be better than the film in the way a book is
• Unless you can afford the good seats, plays are best experienced in small venues
• Keeping your head at a 45 degree angle for two hours can be very sore

I truly wish I was better at enjoying things I really should enjoy rather than letting the little things spoil experiences much more than they should.

Few movies

May 12, 2009 by John    8 Comments    Posted under: movies

The Princess Bride regularly seems to pop up as a people’s favourite. I’ve been hearing how good it is for so long that I was all prepared to be disappointed – but I still expected a bit more. Thought it might be a bit more like Big Fish… y’know just a teeny little bit more depth to it. But it’s a bog standard fantasy kid’s movie, nothing more. I guess it’d be different if you first watched it as a kid. But it didn’t do much for me watching it for the first time all grown up and grumpy. In that vein, I think I’d prefer The Never Ending story, or Time Bandits. Actually give me Jason and the Argonauts any day. You can’t beat claymotion monsters.

Harold and Maude is another one I’ve been meaning to watch for a while – and I loved it. You couldn’t write about this film without using the phrase ‘an unlikely friendship’ and that it is, between a boy and a woman in her eighties – but on paper that still could be some flimsy whimsey exploring the relationships, barf. It’s a real outsider movie, celebrating individuality, and that too is obvious – but there’s never a dull moment, it’s an eventful flick and very funny in places. Thumbs up from me.

Also went to see Star Trek last night and it’s a jolly good space romp! My eyes quite often glaze over during actions sequences. I’m a bit sick of hearing people bigging up the latest action movie as if it transcends it’s genre – only to find out it’s the same old two dimensional shite with some cars blowing up*. Yes Ledger was good but there was an awful load of rubbish in Dark Night – I didn’t watch it until the end – I just got completely bored with the action. So I’m very suspicious of highly recommended action movies lately. But Star Trek was just good fun, a bit tongue in cheek, and the action seemed more necessary and involved, and yeah it looks great, but that’s a given. Yes it’s disappointingly good.

*Paul Greengrass might be an exception.

Stills from that movie in Rome

May 5, 2009 by John    8 Comments    Posted under: photos, photoshop

Here’s some stills from that movie I was shooting in Rome last year.

Not really. Just messing around with this photoshop tutorial.