I’ve Not Been Sleeping Well…

…so I ended up having a really silly dream. I obviously read too many papers, spend too much time reading worrying stories online and then spend hours processing this information (poorly) inside my head. So, the dream. Basically, they (by which I mean, “boffins”) invented a new, giant telescope to investigate the so-called ‘Space Blob’ . […]

Well, My Family’s ALWAYS Supported Ipswich…

Lots of jersey swapping is sure to ensue as fairweather Irish fans of Ye Olde Englishe football change allegiance yet again. Mind you, they’re being asked to wear the blue of Ipswich Town now. How dare Roy Keane pick a team who don’t play in the red of Munsterpool United, or even a nice shade […]

Making Radio Waves

Interview with Richard Curtis and Bill Nighy, Sunday Business Post, 19th April 2009 If there’s one line of dialogue that defines the message of The Boat That Rocked, Richard Curtis’s new film about pirate radio on the waves, it comes from the disc-jockey character played by Philip Seymour Hoffman: ‘‘These are the best days of […]

National Treasures. Or Not.

For any Irish band, dipping their toe into the murky, uncharted waters of music criticism beyond these shores can be quite telling. No matter how an act styles itself, unless they have crafted their sound and image entirely within the confines of their own imaginations, they’re almost certainly going to sound derivative. Most Irish bands […]

So Far, Sphm*re

I know, Dear Reader, that I’m a persistent curmudgeon, but even reading online music reviews, as I do on a daily basis, gets me riled beyond accidental Emmerdale viewing. Today (well, like every other day since I started using the Internerd) there are two Titanic funnels’ worth of steam emerging from my ears over the dogged, […]

Who Says The 1980s Weren’t Stylish?

The second series of Ashes To Ashes began last Monday night on BBC1. It’s by no means as great as its predecessor, Life On Mars, but it’s a lot of fun nonetheless; Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister) is still the finest current comic creation on TV. Anyway, this isn’t a TV review, it’s about the clothes. […]

“Yeah, but you know what…”

“she’s got a lovely singing voice.” And, by the looks of it, a new (p?)leather jacket.

Poe Little Puddy Tat

“I had walled the monster up within the tomb!” I couldn’t help but shudder at the story of Richard Parsons, a funeral director from Ugborough, near Plymouth in Devon, whose builders uncovered a 400-year-old mummified cat in the wall of his cottage’s bathroom. It immediately evokes the terrifying climactic twist of Edgar Allan Poe’s tale, The Black […]

Delorentos “Not Dead” Shocker

“It was all a dream,” says Rónan* Time for a huge and grateful sigh of relief. It may not quite be timed to coincide with Easter but nevertheless, one of Ireland’s very finest bands, Delorentos have been resurrected before they’d even properly split. Singer/guitarist Rónan Yourell, whose departure from the band in February led to the decision to split, announced via […]

We All Go Down Together

Can any teacher, or other public servant for that matter, actually come up with a better argument than this excellent analysis from Kevin Myers, published in today’s Irish Independent? I can’t open the papers without getting riled these days. Yes, I think the government is deplorable, and could not be more irate with people who voted Fianna […]