Whelans this weekend- 2-3/12/07

Looks like I am not going to make it to Whelans this Saturday for a couple of excellent groups with some very catchy tunes but if you get a chance you should!

 The Brunettes – Her Hairagami Set

Edit:  Got an email today and have some free tickets for The Brunettes….typical!!!

Supported by the Limerick group We Should be Dead which do not seem to have any good YouTubes up so check out their MySpace for the infectious Forget Romance Lets Dance.

Another Edit:  from the comment below by one of the guys in WSBD- here is the excellent vid for their single:

I might be able to get to Whelans on Sunday for Dan Deacon though.  A local boy for me- he is from Baltimore but I wouldn’t usually say that too loud since I never liked the place.   Just not sure if his music is just that bit too eclectic….coming from me that is saying a lot!

Dan Deacon “Snake Mistakes”

Bloody Yellow Ribbon

I had the excellent tunes from Spiral Stares driven from my brain last night after reading a blog by Shane Galvin where he mentioned that insipid tune Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree and it has been going through my head all day!   I was in school in the States in 1980 when the American hostages were being held in Iran and we were made to sing this song constantly…it has haunted me ever since!  Had a listen to some In Extremo today to blast it from my years…not many people have heard of them but they are a German medieval metal group and some interesting tunes…and instruments.

In Extremo – Herr Mannelig

France- Ooh la la!

Back from France yesterday and a woeful migraine so no blogging last night.  Its my own fault really since my French friend introduced me to some Lindt chocolate with chili and I had far far too much!  Absolutely orgasmic is all I can say- best chocolate that I have had in a long time and if you just let it melt in your mouth it is damn fine!   Not hot at all but leaves you with a lovely warm feeling in the mouth and it really brings out the flavour of the chocolate.  Don’t know who had the idea first but this was the secret ingredient in the film Chocolat.   I liked it so much that when we went to the supermarket I bought what was left on the shelves to give to some special people here.   Got just a few strange looks with 12 bars of the same thing but this chocolate is really worth it! 

The trip itself was as relaxing as usual- I go quite often to visit the friend and god-daughter so I just sit back and relax which is something I don’t get to do here.  She also happens to be an excellent cook which goes quite well with me being an excellent eater so quiet symbiotic I think.   Not so much rest this time though since she has some new additions to the apartment- a new kitten and puppy to go with the other 3 cats.   The new kitten (Plume) absolutely loves me and was waking me up at all hours to share her love.   I forgot what cat tongues can be like and she is one of the lick-iest cats I have ever seen….the fact that I thought there was a nail file being repeatedly dragged across my face at 4 in the morning will give you a good image there!   I have never owned a cat…or been a slave to one depending on which way you look at it…but they seem to have some sort of affinity with me which can be nice but just not that early in the morning!  Then Sherlock the new puppy-come-horse had to get in on the act as well and made sure that I had lots of dog ‘kisses’.   The puppy is nearly 4 months old and already the god-daughter can ride him like a horse! 

Spent some time as well comparing music- some groups both of us have heard of but she had a lot of new groups for me to listen to so will be trying to catch up over the next couple of weeks.  Most of the music can be found at Europe2 and the majority are groups that sing in English- I am still amazed at the number of foreign groups/acts that sing in English in their home country.   There is a very good blog from two of the presenters called Nagui et Manu which has some playlists and podcasts- I even came across Ireland’s very own Duke Special in a fairly decent live studio set there.   The site is easy enough to navigate but having a bit of French would be helpful of course.

I must say that the website for Europe2 is fantastic and I hope that when Phantom goes national (presuming that is the plan) that they will be able to expand their website to include some of the elements there…all down to advertising revenue I know!  Saying that- I still prefer the overall type of music and vibe of Phantom over Europe2. 

Will leave you with one of the groups that I came across who’s singer has quite a catchy voice….then again I am always a sucker for a female with accented English…be it Cork, Fermanagh, French or Finish!

Called Thedo (Zhe-doo is at least how the friend pronounced it)

Although not an official video and just the song.

Silencer Tropfest

Another YouTube that I came across in Tropfest- some very good short films in there but think this one has a good edge to it and has an excellent production.  Sent off to the Kiosk….

Silencer- Tropfest 2006

Cuckoo Love

Off to France tomorrow so only a quick one- came across this quirky animated short a while back.  By students of the Sup’infograph School in France and very well done!

L’engrenage

The Story of Bubbleboy

Happened to come across this brilliant short this evening since it caught my eye with the sometimes nickname of Bubbleboy (as in the Hardcore post below).  Quite a funny story with excellent narration similar to a Dr. Seuss story.  Will never beat Boris Karloff in The Grinch Who Stole Christmas but still very good.

Hardcore

About as personal as I am ever going to get here. 

Hardcore is the moniker which I have been getting the last few years with my neat/straight Vodka drinking and while I do love that image a rather different moniker has been used by friends- Bubbly Boy!

The reason behind both monikers is that I have numerous intolerances to food, chemicals and even water these days.  One of my friends has told me that if I were a dog he would have me put down!  I have been thinking of prostituting my body to medical science but to be honest I don’t want them turning me into something like the Elephant man.  So living in a plastic bubble might be the best way to go!

I have something called Orofacial-granulamatosis ….or if you want to sound really hip with Doctors you can just say OFG.   Actually even mentioning it to a doctor will leave them baffled anyway since there really is no information
on it at all.  You can find the google here.

It appears to be something that you have a genetic disposition to and will kick in when triggered by certain factors…I am blaming my mother for subjecting me to Government testing when I was a baby and living in the close proximity to some Nuclear weapons;-)   (Both true….but only some sort of cognitive testing and I only found out about the small nuclear missiles about 10 miles from away when they were declassified).

I do not have an allergic reaction but I am intolerant to somethings and just hyper-sensitive to others. I pretty much follow a coeliac’s diet even though I am not coeliac…I say that I am sometimes though to save the hassle of explaining everything.   Just to make it interesting as well I get severe migraines so that cuts out another swath of food that I should not eat.   On a positive note I came across this in the Economist recently so I probably have a negative percent chance of ever having cancer.

I will not list all of my intolerances but these are the main ones that I have to avoid:

Wheat (and Oats and most other grains)- well pretty much in everything from bread (of course), pasta (people actually forget about that and still say to me at least you can eat pasta!), soups, sausages, crisps….etc

MSG- mono-sodium glutamate (E620-E625) and its cousins maltodexterin and dextrose.  In nearly everything and bloody insipid.  

Benzoic acid (E210-E219)….in nearly everything since it is a very cheap way to kill off the germs in water and water based items in softdrinks, shampoos, soaps…list goes on

Triethanolamine- another pernicious one…in shampoos, soaps, eye gels…

Water- yes water!  Mostly the bottled ones though with high sulfate levels but also some of the filters that use silver nitrate.

At this stage I know for the most part what I can have and I don’t have to read the back of everything I buy- tis a pain though when the manufacturer changes the ingredients and I only realize it afterwards.

So the next time you see me in a pub with my neat vodka then you will understand that I am not an alcoholic but that it is just about the only safe thing that I can have to drink!  So all in all I probably should be in a bubble…then again I would probably have some reaction to the plastic;-)

All of this notwithstanding- ask the friends- I will beat them hands down in a drinking competition so I am hardcore!!

Battles Fans

Just a re-post of the bulletin from Battles in MySpace:

 The video for Atlas is up for Subterranean’s Best of 2007!Click the below link, go to “vote,” do so, and then spread the word.

http://www.mtv2.com/#series/10897

There are some other great groups up there as well and you can vote more than once so get voting!!

Beowulf

Managed to get to Beowulf at lunch today- good auld flexi;-)

As usual just my thoughts on it- if you want a more in depth review you can check and see if it has been put up yet here Confessions of a Film Critic – was in  the print edition of the Sunday Business Post yesterday (Agenda). 

Nadine O’Regan’s interview with Brendan Gleeson was in the Agenda as well and she just posted it in her blog.  Great interview and she really does get to talk to some very interesting people!  Check out her interview with Tarantino!

Anyway-

The film was better than I expected.  As with all mainstream Hollywood animated films for the teen/adult audience I was not sure if it was going to be good enough to actually entertain you or if it was just going to be a set piece just to show off the animation.  Must say that it worked on all fronts and was very entertaining.

When I first heard Ray Winstone there was no mistaking who it was but I would still expect that cockney accent in the streets of London and not at the helm of a ship!  (The only time I have not spotted his accent was in Cold Mountain where I only noticed his name at the end credits and was then trying to figure out who he played!)  The graphics are extremely well done- sometimes the proportions slightly off and the detail not quite as fine in some shots but other times they are breathtakingly real and you really do have to look twice to check if its real or animated!  (and no I am not talking about Angelina!)

The animation has really come a long way since Final Fantasy- The Spirits Within which is the first film that I remember with stunning real life cgi characters.  As with all cgi films though- they discover different techniques during the making of the film and its not always applied to the work that has already been done so can be slightly uneven sometimes.

The story is not like the original I am sure (being a Yank I was never forced to read this in school) but it is well paced and keeps your attention for the majority of the film.  I didn’t see this film in 3d since it was in CineWorld but that brings me to a niggly point.  There are quite a few sequences that are very obviously done just for the benefit of 3d- it can be quite good if done well and blends into the story so that it surprises you but many of the sequences were not surprising.  I suppose you have to have quite a few of these though to justify the audience wearing the not-so-ultra-hip 3d glasses for two hours!   It could be that I only noticed them since I saw so many 3d fixtures in Disney/Universal this summer- I can imagine that some of the action scenes and the last Dragon scene would have been good though. 

For the most part the voice talent was good- a few synching issues but not too obvious.  Hopkins and Winstone very good and Gleeson doesnt sound too Irish but not sure if Malkovich and Wright-Penn’s voices are really suited.  On the whole the film is well done and would recommend it but still enjoyed Final Fantasy more. 

Funny happenstance as well- got a call during the film (yes phone on silent!)- Ruth from Phantom had been on to say that I had won the Beowulf competition for Cinerama so I will have two very happy boys:-)

I only enter the Phantom competitions on the shows that I havent had any personal contact/emails with….so a very short list indeed now since I seem to have been in contact with half the station at this stage!

Phantasm- November

Another month, another great Phantasm!  Was a bit quieter than normal with the lousy weather but a decent crowd in the end.  The lineup was fairly good with Superjimenez, The Radio, and Red Kid.  Superjimenez were excellent and I really like their vibe- some great tracks that have some airplay and a shame that they were on first since the crowd wasn’t huge at that stage.  The Radio I have mixed feelings about since I saw them in the Sugarclub- they can have some catchy tunes but there is just no punch to them at all- radio friendly is the nicest thing I can say about them (not particularly a compliment).  Red Kid was superb- nearing on gypsie rock on occasion and really great to get the crowd going- lead singer had a bit of dancing with the crowd just to make sure!  Afterwards some great tunes on the decks by the excellent Derek Byrne of Album Archive and The Lounge on Phantom.

Radio City itself is a great place to have it- like the layout and you can usually manage to see the band- probably not suited for some of the bigger groups but perfect for that night.  Had a chat with Derek and some of the other Phantom people I hadn’t met properly before- Brian from sales and Eavann who I had actually talked to at the last one when she was dressed as Amy Winehouse and I didn’t twig that it was her!  She pointed out the fantastic guy up next to the stage who was doing something that could be construed as dancing- it really defies description as to how he was moving but was a good spectacle.  I will never feel embarrassed by my moves again!! Saying that I didn’t make it to the dance floor with the migraine brewing- never a good thing when you are out!  Had a chat with Tayna as well who I have bumped into a couple of times but unsurprisingly in Radio City since she books the groups there.  There is another night at Radio City called Revolver that will have The Minutes and would love to see them but am going to France soon so the gigs will have to wait!