All it takes is one bad Apple

Disaster!

I was over in London just before Christmas and Steve gave me an old wireless router that he had going spare. I took it home and spent last Saturday trying to hook it up to the broadband box in my house. After a little headscratching, several swear words directed at my network configuration and many system restarts, I got it all working. In a flurry of excitement and industry I moved all the cables downstairs, hooked up the cordless phone that I got months ago and settled optimistically into a brave new world of wireless internet and cordless telephones..

Having spent the next few days painting my bathroom (red, as you're asking) and finally fixing the stain on the ceiling of my living room (you know - the one that miraculously appeared as Garth Hudson from The Band) I was sitting at home on New Year's Day anticipating a year of frenzied blog activity and wireless online shenanigans when my Macbook Pro died. Dead. Nothing. No power at all. Dead to the world. At first I thought it was just the battery but when I plugged in the battery charger nothing happened.. I've been looking for clues online and while there does seem to be a problem with Macbook Pro batteries (this is where Steve in London smiles to himself and says 'I told you so') but I don't understand why it won't start-up at all when it's connected to the mains..

So for the next while I'm going to be blogging from work and relying on stolen moments on friends' laptops.. The previous post was done on a Dell PC.. Seriously, how do people use those things? I know this subject has been done to death but going from my laptop to a PC is like changing from the car you're used to driving to another one where the pedals are in the glove box, the gears are under your seat and you can only see out the back window. But hey - I'm nothing if not a quick learner so how can it possibly be a problem. I'm not going to let a dead laptop stop me from pressing on with new year's resolution no. 1!

I just hope I haven't lost the novel I was working on at the time. I was about 3 sentences into the first paragraph when it happened. But they were quality sentences.

Coming around again..

So this is 2008? Where on earth does the time go? Same place as my hair, I suppose*. It seems like no time at all since 2007 was knocking on our door looking to come in and now we've pushed it out the back door, taken out the good china and welcomed in a shiny new year. I've been avoiding putting up any kind of year-end list because, well.., because I just haven't been blogging at all lately. If I had the time in December, you would have read about how the best record I heard all year was Wilco's Sky Blus Sky, the best film I saw was The Lives of Others and the best book was Catherine O'Flynn's 'What Was Lost'. And Wilco's show in Vicar Street would have been taking home the prize in the highly competitive 'Best gig of the year that wasn't Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in December' category. Although Richard Hawley's gig (also at Vicar Street) was terrific. He's back next month. You should go.

Here's some other things that happened in 2007.

January: I passed my driving test.

February: I crashed my car.

March: I signed up, and started training, for the Four Peaks challenge.

April: Asked myself why I had signed up for the Four Peaks challenge.

May: I started this blog (a pathetic 86 posts in 2007. Must try harder in 2008).

June: I started jogging in the park.

July: I hurt my knee jogging in the park.

August: I turned thirty-bloody-five.

September: Finally gave in and bought so-called 'media wanker' glasses confirming
what people have been saying for years.

October: Endured first ever massage. Traumatised by mid-massage interruption,
disappointed by non-offer of happy ending.

November: Started jogging again.

December: Stopped jogging. Again.

So that was last year but what about 2008? Well I can bang out a few new year's resolutions as well as the next man. Apart from the same ones that everyone else has (lose weight, get fit, drink less, exercise more, watch less tv, finish Anne Enright's 'The Gathering', call home more often, start reading the news sections of the Sunday papers and not just the glossies and the tv guide, clear out the shed, go to church, help the aged, watch our carbon footprint and eat more vegetables) here are some of mine:

1. Blog more. I know - it's an obvious one, isn't it? The last few months of the year showed a bit of a drop-off in volume, if not the quality (he kidded himself!) of the posts. I really enjoy doing this and want to be doing it more so let's see how I can get on with increasing the number of entries. The lack of posts certainly isn't a reflection on the amount of things I'd like to post about so it's just a case of finding time and, let's face it, it's not like I'm rushed off my feet here at the Towers.

2. Stop buying stuff! I don't want to buy or receive another dvd or book until I've exhausted at least 50% of the things sitting on my shelf. Seriosuly, it's getting ridiculous. Another Christmas has passed and with it I'm adding to my collection of books and films. I could stay in for a year and still I wouldn't get through it all so this year I'm going ot make a real effort to get stuck into the backlog. Although you're mad if you think I'm going to get to the end of Guy Ritchie's Revolver (what was I thinking?!!) or finish The Gathering.

3. Take more time off. It's a hard life, isn't it? I'm carrying the better part of 2 weeks holidays over from 2007. That's becasue I didn't really get away last year at all. Hopefully that's going to change in 08. Already I have vague plans to go to France and New York this year and I'm overdue a trip to Prague too. I had hoped to have a long break last Autumn but it didn't happen and by Christmas I was running on empty. That's not going to happen this year.

4. Do more things. Even it means doing them alone. It's funny how few things we do on our own. By that, I'm referring to gigs, cinema, theatre etc.. I skipped a lot of events I wanted see last year because I couldn't find anyone who wanted to come along. Yet one of the reasons I loved the Wilco gig in November so much was because I was alone and didn't need to worry about whether or not the person with me was enjoying the show. Of course, nobody likes to be johnnynomates but if you can get over the feleing that everyone in the building is looking at you and things you're a sad case, it's really quite liberating!

5. Lose weight. Hey - I'm just like everybody else! Seriosuly,once again December has taking its toll on my waistline. I've always been quite fortunate in that whenever I try to lose weight I can do it easily. However, at the same time, I've always been quite unfortunate that those occasions are few and far between! But January is one of them and already I'm feeling better. Amazing the difference that eating vegetables and fish and drinking lots of water makes. The Government really ought to try to spread the word about that!

Happy new year to all of you.

*I think I've stolen that line from Bill Bryson. If not, feel free to correct me.

Pull yourselves together

I came in to work this morning and couldn't avoid all the coverage of Katy French's death in the Irish media. Obviously it's very tragic and her family must be going through hell but is it any more or less tragic than the death of Kevin Doyle in Waterford last week? He died in what appears to be similar circumstances and a friend of his is still fighting for his life in hospital but nobody seems too concerned about them.

Now, I'm not completely naive - I understand that she's a celebrity and the papers have an audience that demands celebrity news as opposed to grim news from Waterford. The papers behavior at time like this is one thing, but I really can't believe some of the comments that have been posted on the Independent's website under their main report.. Who on earth is writing this stuff? Katy French was an Irish model - I've no idea if she was a good one or not. I don't know how these things are decided. She got a lot of coverage in the Sunday Independent for most of the year and I've seen her on various tv shows but I don't know much more about her than that. A lot of the things that have been written here this morning are by people who didn't know much about her either. It hasn't stopped them though..

Here's some of the comments. I've lifted them directly from the site:

I can't believe the news....Katy was such and inspiration to many...

I didn't know this lady but a huge loss to Ireland...

She was our princess-we each owned a little bit of her. That beautiful smile and warm personality will be greatly missed and never forgotten...

Ireland has lost today,a very special person, a beautiful icon of such grace and charm...

R.I.P Katy, a light went out in Dublin last night..

The world is certainly a poorer place without her.

You will be greatly missed by the whole country..

The whole Irish nation is in mourning at the loss of this beautiful young girl. She touched us all deep in our hearts and even those who did not know her are in sadness today...

There is billion's of stars shining in the sky but there is one thats shining bright Katy and thats you...

Seriously, isn't there something wrong with us if we're talking about this girl's death as some kind of national tragedy? Where did this need to mourn come from? Did it all start with Princess Diana's death? Obviously the media need to take some responsibility for the way these things are reported but those comments have been posted by regular punters that are reading the same news reports that you and I are .. 'an inspiration to many... our princess... a beautiful icon...the brightest star in the sky...' What's wrong with these people? What possesses them to write this stuff?

Perhaps people feel this way because of the way she died. If she died suddenly I don't think people would have reacted that way they have. We had 5 full days of coverage with very little fresh news. As a result there's been lots of speculation and lots of people playing catch-up on who she is and what she's done. In my office on Monday very few people had heard of her or knew who she was. Four days later and it's like we've been following her life and exploits for years. Without being disrespectful, it's almost been like the ultimate celebrity reality show. Now that it's over, people feel the need to add their little summary. It was the same when George Best died. That story lived for so long in the news at the time that the momentum carried on after his death to the point that he practically had a state funeral.

Am I being a bit harsh? I don't mean to speak ill of the dead here. On the other hand, I do mean to speak ill of the living. How do these people deal with real problems close to home? How will they deal with a death in their own family? In the end I think that her family and friends must be in a terrible state this week. The same can be said for Kevin Doyle's. But the grief is theirs. Trying to make it ours as well is just distasteful..

It's Christmas!

Well it is, isn't it? Every year we all complain that the shops are stocking Christmas decorations too early, that it's too commercalised, that it's not like it used to be etc. etc. but now that we're into the first week in December is it ok for us to talk about it?

I was looking at RTE's Christmas schedule earlier. Or their Christmas Christmas schedule as they seem to be calling it. Anyway, I can't wait for it all to kick off. Christmas highlights include a Killinaskully Christmas special, Westlife on the Late Late Show, lots of cheapo sports 'end of year' type review shows, Podge and Rodge on New Year's Eve and best of all, the cast of Fair City in some kind of X Factor-style singing competition. It all sound terrible and it all sounds fantastic. I know that when we were kids there was always lots of excitement abut the big Christmas films on tv but RTE can't rely on that stuff anymore. We've all seen the films (this year's premieres include The Life Aquatic, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Finding Nemo and Sin City) on DVD already, so RTE have to come up with something else and this year it's Leo Dowling from Fair City singing 'Strangers in he Night' (probably). I've no problem with all this. Besides the good old days weren't really that good were they? Morecambe and Wise? Top of the Pops Christmas special? Bah! The past is gone, the future is Corrigan's Christmas Countdown! Bring it on..

And look at this.
For years, the same lights have gone up on Grafton Street and George's Street but this year, they've got a new man in to shake things up and it all looks fantastic. Better still, the lights are 75% more energy efficient than before. Hurrah!

Last night I went to the cinema to see Strength and Honour, an Irish film about travellers and boxing. It was full of cliches and awful acting. And terrible accents, of course. Lots of American actors with shiny teeth saying things like "C'mon Mikey, sure sometimes we need to go back to where we've been to know where we're going at all, at all. Bejaysus and begod, stick on a pint of the quare stuff" Actually that's a bit unfair - it's pretty bad but it's not that bad. I think there was good intentions behind it but I could have done without Vinny Jones doing his impression of Brad Pitt's impression of Irish travellers from Snatch. I couldn't understand a word he said! Anyway before the film they showed this ad. I know people talk about how Christmassy the Budweiser Clydesdales ad is but this Guinness ad (yes - another guinness ad. This is the last time) really puts me in the mood..



Happy Christmas!

The Domino effect

I saw the new Guinness ad on tv last night. I heard somewhere they've spen 5 million quid on it. Don't know if that's true or not but you have to admire it. Doesn't make me want to rush out for a jar of stout though..



Looking at it reminded me of this ad for vodafone which a friend of a friend worked on last year. A smaller scale perhaps but fewer cutaways. Apparently for weeks afterwards when he had a quiet moment he could still hear those coins turning over. I imagine he dreamt about it for months..

Preaching to the converted

I went along to the Ambassador to see the Manic Street Preachers on Friday night. I like the Manics. They're decent performers and they seem to have a genuine bond with their fans. Sure, their best days are probably behind them but they're still writing great songs and have hung in longer than most of their peers.. The first time I saw them live, about 5 years ago, they were touring their 'best of' record and it all seemed a bit flat. This time they were touring on the back of Send Away the Tigers, one of the best records of the year (to my ears at least), and they just seemed a lot more engaged with the material and, in turn, with the audience...

Or at least part of the audience.. There was a strange atmosphere at the gig. On one hand you had people crowdsurfing, no - really people were crowdsurfing, and large sections of the audience were singing, clapping and generally behaving as you'd expect an audience at a rock concert to behave. But at the same time you had lots of people who didn't seem to be paying much attention to anything at all.. 4 guys in front of me spent most of the gig talking to each other and playing some kind of a game that involved squeezing each other's back and then rubbing their noses. It was very odd and more than a little homoerotic. Which is fine, but why come to a Manics gig to do it. Occasionally, they'd look up, recognise something (most likely something from Everything Must Go) and punch their fists in the air.. Then they'd go back to pinching each other.. Perhaps they couldn't believe they were at a Manic Street Preacher's show. I had a similiar experience when I went to see Bryan McFadden in Whelans a couple of years ago.

But that's a different story..

Anyway, despite all that nonsense it was a decent show and, yes, they finished with A Design For Life. It's funny - not being a huge fan of the Manics, I often forget about Richie Edwards. I was never really interested in them until Steve educated me a few years ago and so, although I can remember the palaver when he disappeared, I never really think about it very much. So during Design for Life, when James Dean Bradfield moved his mike over to Richie's old position on the stage, I didn't realise for a moment what he was doing. As the band played on, he said goodnight and sang the chorus one last time from Richie's spot. No encores and no curtain calls (apart from Nicky Wire doing a spot of skipping!) It made for great theatre and was terribly moving. Things like that really warm me to bands. I can always forgive a bit of ploddiness and bad pacing if there's genuine affection and sentiment onstage. The Manics have it to spare. Long may they run..

An arm or a leg?

Saw a poster for Shane Ward's new album this morning.. Can anyone tell is that an arm or a leg over his shoulder? I think it's an arm.. It looks like that's a girl leaning over the back of him? What on earth is she doing? Looking for change? Checking the label on his shirt? It's very odd indeed..