Goodbye Cruel World...

..I'm leaving for well, three weeks.

I'm unsure as to whether I will enjoy the 'Gaeltacht' experience but I'm keeping an open mind. I'm bound to have some crazy adventures, meet some interesting people and brush up on my Irish dancing moves!

So until July 18th, I say my sincere most meaningful goodbyes to the Internet and English speaking civilization.

*salute*

Tunick Shoot Dublin

Yes, when I refer to Spencer Tunick in Dublin I refer to the 'nudie art thing' that happened this morning.

Once I received the email appealing for volunteers, I couldn't exactly refuse! Firstly, I kept my clothes on (I'm crazy, but not that crazy. Maybe some other time). Instead I took part by volunteering as the crew. Despite the incredibly early starting time of 1:45am, everyone was in high spirits. The event was not just reserved to zany, arty and loony types. In fact all kinds of people from all walks of life showed up to bare all for the artist. There was a great sense of togetherness and merriness amongst everyone despite the early morning hour. I suspect the alcohol may of helped! It was amazing to see such a taboo as nudity to be discarded so easily amongst the participants, most of whom were complete strangers to each other! Afterwards, I think it can be safely said that nobody had any regrets.

The shoot itself took place on the pier in Dublin, a place I didn't even know existed. Right out at sea it was absolutely freezing too, I felt sorry for those without a stitch of clothing but then again - most didn't seem to mind! Three shots were taken, two on the peer and then a third more eh, unique shot on the shore of the beach. The latter took place in the lashing rain and bitter breeze. It was miserable, and I mean miserable. However this didn't stop the good cheer amongst the participants and their singing could be heard way down the pier!

All in all, it was a definite first and unique event for Dublin and possibly the most surreal experience I've ever had. The sight of 2,500 naked people on the Dublin pier cheering at the early morning passenger ferries passing by certainly won't be a memory I will soon forget. (''Welcome to Ireland!'') Definitely one to tell the grandchildren, fair play to all those involved. And most importantly those who were brave enough to display that famous Irish tan for the world to see!

Shameless plug for some photography of mine...

I just finished uploading an expressive portrait series on DA which I entitled 'Sanctuary'. I can't be bothered uploading it here but do check it out, I'm eager to see what people think.

Linky

Feeling Down? Sing along!

Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cock-sucker,
Mother-fucker, tits, fart, turd and twat.

Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cock-sucker,
Mother-fucker, tits, fart, turd and twat.

Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cock-sucker,
Mother-fucker, tits, fart, turd and twat.

Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cock-sucker,
Mother-fucker, tits, fart, turd and twat.

I fucked your mom

Addictive little game

How fast can you type the alphabet?

Try it out - my highscore is 3.41 seconds =P

Firefox 3 Release

The release of the long awaited major update to the Firefox browser is finally here. The update comes after a long string of BETA testing and promises many updates to security, speed and interface. I for one can't wait to check it out. I don't think I've ever been so excited about a web browser before, save for perhaps Firefox 2!

In facr, news is that the good people at Mozilla are already developing Firefox 3.1 as we speak.

God bless Mozilla.

Download Here

Children of Bodom, Vicar Street Dublin (11/6/08) Review

Children of Bodom first came to Irish Shores under the Unholy Alliance II tour in the Point back in 2006. Although the gig was excellent, any die hard fans would have to wait for their return as a headline act before they could truly experience a proper Bodom show. Thankfully that time came on Wednesday night when Children of Bodom performed their first ever headlining show in Ireland. The show took place in Vicar Street, Dublin. Vicar Street used to be practically reserved for stand up comedy only but lack of decent venues in the city centre has led to it being utilized as a live music venue also in recent years. The venue itself was quite nice but the carpeting on the standing floor was a bit annoying for moshing, jumping and just general shoving around. The gig was all ages thankfully so I didn't have to worry about trying to bypass the bouncers for once.

I arrived at Vicar Street, rather drunk mind you, just as the Welsh support act Anterior were finishing up (good timing eh?). Since I didn't see much I can't really comment on the support but even with 'familiar' riffs, I doubt they were many people's cup of tea. Everyone was there for Bodom. The turn out was a tiny bit disappointing and the gig itself didn't actually sell out. I suspect this had something to do with the current state exams taking place and the fact the gig was taking place midweek. Let me just say that the rule about drink staying in the heavily restricted bar was complete bollicks. Although I can see why they wouldn't want to ruin their lovely carpet, it's practically religious for some people to enjoy their favorite band live with a plastic cup of beer in one hand. The venue lost out on a lot of sales that night because of this. The stage setup wasn't too fancy and consisted of a simple 'Children of Bodom' background. The keyboard and drum kit shared the back of the stage, each being placed slightly off centre.

Practically bang on schedule, after the Evil Dead II soundtrack intro, Children of Bodom walked on stage and launched into the classic 'Sixpounder'. The set was practically perfect in my eyes. Thankfully they didn't focus too heavily on their new album and only picked four songs to play including the title track 'Blooddrunk'. The band were much more on form (and possibly even drunker!) than they were back in 2006 and delivered a practically flawless performance. All of Alexi's solos were top notch and his on stage ramblings were predictably filled with all variations of the word 'fuck'. The sound wasn't great to be entirely honest but then again, sound is rarely perfect.

The only odd problem I found was that the crowd were a bit too 'static'. Apart from the one constant moshpit in the middle, there wasn't much movement in the crowd after the first two or three songs. This was even the evident case in the front where I was shocked to actually have space to stand and not get knocked halfway across the venue floor every two minutes! Considering it was a heavy metal gig, there wasn't even that much crowd surfing. Maybe it had something to do with the venue not being entirely full, it being midweek or the lack of alcohol from the bar but all in all there wasn't as much atmosphere in the crowd as I had hoped. But I'm nit picking here, the gig overall was fantastic. The real problem was - it was over too fast!

Come just a little after 10:30, every metal head was released back onto the streets of Dublin to consume even more alcohol and discuss the events of the night. There are already in fact rumours of Bodom returning sometime next year on a full and proper headlinging 'Blooddrunk' tour. I think I say with absolute certainty that after their performance on Wednesday, they will be very welcome back to Ireland to kick some ass all over again.

Setlist
Sixpounder
Hellhounds On My Trail
Silent Night, Bodom Night
Follow The Reaper
Living Dead Beat
In Your Face
Banned From Heaven
Needled 24/7
Hate Me
One Day You Will Cry
Mask of Sanity
Angels Don't Kill
Blooddrunk
Hate Crew Deathtoll
Downfall

My 'Unlucky' Friday 13th Post

So, it's Friday the 13th. Big deal. Do you really think anybody is going to be extra unlucky today just because of a magical alignment in the calender? I doubt it. But if you do end up breaking both your legs today in some freak accident involving a ladder and two German hookers... maybe there is something to it.

So Friday 13th, what's been going on. Well, Lisbon Treaty referendum took place yesterday. Already RTE are reporting on a practically unanimous 'no' vote being tallied from across the country. (Especially in the 'People's Republic' of Cork. *cough* I wonder why *cough*) Despite having to wait for the official announcement, it seems that the Lisbon Treaty has been rejected by the Irish people. Our major political parties won't be too happy about it and they'll probably bring it in again in a few years but for now, we're officially anti-Lisbon.

Moving on from politics... despite this being a 'personal' blog I read back through some of my past posts and find them to be well, a bit boring and lacking in actual opinion of personal response to the topics I discuss. In other words, I'm going to try to make my blog more interesting. I'll more than likely fail but fingers crossed it'll hopefully be a bit more exciting in the coming weeks... even if I have to sex it up with German hookers (again with the hookers, sorry).

Actually I'm a wee bit angry at the moment. Why I (don't) hear you ask? You see I'm supposed to be going to the Rocky Horror Pictureshow tonight but my friend pulled out at the last minute and now I have nobody to go with. Pity too since I had my costume ready and all. Ah well, there will be other times *wipes tear*

To cheer myself up, I'm focusing on the fact I'll be volunteering helping out the modern artist Spencer Tunick with his naked people installation on the Dublin Docks. Apparently my job will include carrying lighting and ordering around naked people. Now that's going to be an experience!

Speaking of experience, I sat down and watched for the first time the first Star Wars Movie last night. (Episode IV that is and not the crap arse prequels) Yes, that's right... for the first time. Me the mega nerd and I've never seen the original Star Wars trilogy. I don't know, it's just one of those 'things' I never got around to doing. Perhaps it was in fear of becoming a Star Wars nerd which is unfortunate because wow, I didn't know what I was missing! Episode IV blew me away last night. I've been drawn into it something terrible and I'm going to sit in and watch the remaining two movies today. Sad? Perhaps, but this is Star Wars we're talking about dude!


...And that's about all worth mentioning for today. Now shoo and go break a leg. Literally. Remember? It's Friday the 13th bi-atch!

Varg Vikernes Denied Parole Again

This brings me back a few months to my post on Varg Vikernes. For those who don't know he is the sole member of the band Burzum and famous underground metal figurehead. According to Blabbermouth, his latest parole hearing was unsuccessful. Varg was denied parole yet again, official reasons pointing to the fact he tried to escape back in 2003 and, of course, his apparent 'ties' with neo-nazi groups. He's free to try again in a year apparently but it doesn't look good for Varg, who still has a third left of his 21 year sentence to serve for murder of Mayhem Bassist Euronymous in 1993.

It's International Donut Day

Yes, really.

Virtual Donuts for all!

=D

Baise-Moi Review

After hearing about this movie's notorious reputation a couple of months ago from my usual sources, I made a note to see it at some point. The chance came during the week when I was surprised to see a single copy sitting on the shelf of my local Borders store. Trusting the recommendation I received, I bought it and took the movie home. I later discovered that the title itself, 'Baise-Moi' is French for 'Fuck Me'. I wasn't overly aware just how far this little flick goes!

Upon release this movie caused quite a storm worldwide. It enjoyed a short ban in New Zealand and Australia. Also it is still officially 'banned' here in Ireland which led to my surprise at seeing it on the shelf in a local store. It also was in the centre of public outrage in it's home country of France. This led to the original given 16 rating being revoked and the old 18 rating being revived just for this movie. The Canadian censors also struggled with classifying the movie and the UK censors cut a liberating 10 seconds or so from the movie because of their favourite opposition to so called 'sexual violence' in an early rape sequence.

Still interested? Read on....

Baise-Moi is based on a controversial Feminist French novel of the same name. Made on a shoe string budget, the movie tells the story of two young working class French women who by chance meet one night and form a close friendship. They share a common hatred for what is, in their eyes, a male run and sexually fueled society. They express this hatred by then going on a violent murderous rampage across France. Forget 'Amelie' or 'The Science of Sleep', Baise-Moi is a different side of French Cinema in the same vein as 'Irreversible' except not half as stylish.

Baise-Moi was shot entirely using DV cameras and no artificial light. This gives the movie a very amateur look but I felt that it works for the movie in the end as it adds a very gritty and realistic look which in turns compliments the on screen events. I was surprised that the film wasn't overly violent. Yes, there is a lot of violence in the movie but it isn't exactly shocking. Instead the film's controversy is firmly rooted in it's graphic, and I mean graphic, sex scenes. I won't give much away but let's just say this film has it all for the audience to see. Considering many of the actors and actresses including the lead roles are involved with adult film, such on screen 'performance' wasn't a problem. This sacrifice unfortunately makes the acting in the movie come across a little weak in the more dialog heavy scenes.

All in all, think of 'Baise-Moi' as a French exploitative 'I Spit on your Grave' for the 21st century. It's violent, tragic, savage and gritty 'no-holds-barred' look at the seedier side of French society. There is important underlying commentary here which is unfortunately slightly lost in the sheer controversial nature of the movie. It's not something for everyone but for those who can stop, forgive it's short comings and watch with an open mind, 'Baise-Moi' is a surprising and unlikely gem of a more underground kind of French Cinema.

Pie anyone?

Wow, so here's the first post of June. Time flies by, doesn't it? I don't know about anywhere else but the weather here in Dublin is amazing. I'm hoping it stays this way. The second level Junior and Leaving Cert student exams start tomorrow, best of luck to those 'lucky' enough to be sitting them over the next few weeks.

So, what's been happening the last few weeks...

Ireland's not only been heating up weather wise but politically too with a hefty public debate taking place over the upcoming EU Lisbon Treaty. The Treaty itself deserves it's own post here so I won't go into too much detail but the referendum for the Treaty takes place here on the 12th of June. Seeing as all the political parties officially support it, aside from Sinn Fein of course, the public is being pushed very heavily to vote 'Yes'. However there is also very strong opposition to it. Personally, I think we may be heading for a 'No' but who knows.

But enough politics. School has already become a distant memory. I'm now spending my days just lazing around and having a good time. There's a few nice little events coming up before the great departure (for three weeks!) to Galway Gaeltacht at the end the month I may enjoy it, I may not. Although I have a feeling lack of the English language, outside contact, Internet, and music may drive me insane.

I've also recently been rediscovering my inner child with my friends. Yes, 'my inner child'. And no, I haven't been brainwashed with positive psychological bullshit. For example I spent the whole of Sunday climbing trees (including a five storey tall tree O_o), going through sewers (don't judge me), fields and other stuff that only a six year old would consider to be fun. Despite the simplicity and well filth of it all, I had a great time. I felt like a kid but it was the most fun I've had in weeks. So, there's a suggest for the week: Take a break and rediscover your inner child. It worked for me!

And before I leave my computer to go back outside and sunbathe, I thought I'd just let the interweb know that the Sennheiser CX300 headphones rock. Finally received them in the post this morning and they've been stuck in my ears since then on a test run. I can safely recommended them for those looking for a pair of sub €50 earphones with great quality and isolation.

Dudeee... The Summer rocks =]