Elastic band twang in slow motion

New Scientist have some videos on their site of elastic bands being twanged, taken using high speed cameras. Beleive it or not, for me this is actually work related. Honestly, it really is!

Liverpool 3 - Bordeaux 0

Thanks to Richard I managed to get a ticket for the game last night. Actually there was quite a few of us that went as there seemed to be quite a few tickets being offered around the Sony offices. Gavin won two tickets and offered to bring Yolanda. Thanks Gavin! I took a couple of snaps with my cameraphone but I've not got an easy way of taking the photos off my phone at the moment. So I'll add the pics to this post later. Oh yeah...it was a great match! I was sitting about 20 rows behind the goal in the KOP. Great atmosphere, lots of singing. I hope they can keep the momentum going now for the premiership matches too.

Happy Halloween!

The Worlds Greatest Twit

Video CV of the worlds greatest twit. Allegedly this was leaked by a recruitment agency and he is thinking of suing.

The Universal Translator

If you have ever thought that the 'Universal Translator' from science fiction movies was a great idea that was centuries off from reality then you might be interested to know that scientists are developing a translation device that can translate in real time from one language to another. It literally reads your lips and then translates what you have said into the language you wish to speak. Amazing how much science fiction becomes science fact. (link)

Can you trust the police with your life?

On the way home from the gym last night, we were asked for directions from some guys from London. After giving them the directions we walked off as one of them made a strange comment, "watch out for the guy on the wall" he said.
I couldn't see anything at that point so I was some weird joke that I didn't get and just walked on. We were most the way along Dale Street and Yolanda was the first one to spot him, clinging to the side of a building about two stories up! He seemed to be in distress. It didn't look to me like he was trying to kill himself but more that he had been trying to do something he clearly wasn't able to do. Maybe he was trying to break into the building? He was a particularly useless cat-burglar if that was his aim.
Anyway... I went over along with another guy who had just walked out of a pub. There was an old woman there who was calling the police on her mobile. The guy was telling us all to go away and kind of crying. She kept trying to talk to him but that jus seemed to aggravate him. So the guy and I said nothing to him.
Next thing the police arrived. We described how he had been there for 5 or 6 mins and I asked the police woman if they had any kind of sheet that we could pull out so he could jump into it. They didn't. Another guy in a suit appeared on the scene around this time and the second police officer went inside the building to try and talk to him from a nearby window. All he got from him was "Go away, Fuck off!".
Next thing another police car arrived and then two other police cars blocked off Dale street. The two new officers just started trying to move us away from the scene. One of them was a big guy who was a bit strange. He told the guy from the pub, “please move along, we are just cleaning up the area”. I thought this was a strange thing to say.
Anyway, before leaving I noticed that inside the building being climbed there was a huge pile of green transparent bags full of paper for recycling. I suggested to the second female police officer that they should get the bags and pile them up under the guy in case he falls so that they might break his fall a little. By this stage he’s climbed up even further and is now about 2.5/3 stories high clinging to the front of the building.
The police women do what I suggested and pile the bags under him. Just after they finished piling the bags and as the fire engine is just arriving the guy either slips or makes a jump for it! He lands on the bags and they break his fall a bit but it was still a long way down. He’s lying on the ground but appears to be conscious and the police women are talking to him. The guy in the suit tells me that my idea might just have saved the guys life. I can see that he’s going to be alright so I leave.
Now I’m not telling the story as though I’m some kind of hero. I’m telling this because I was shocked at the way there was four trained police officers on the scene and not one of them seemed to have a clue of what they were doing. All they were focusing on was making sure that the people that were on the scene were moved back from the area. Other than that they didn’t seem concerned about the possibility that this guy could fall at any second, or make any effort to try and think how to get him down or break his fall. Let’s put it this way…I don’t think I’d fancy leaving my life in the hands of these guys.
If I hear anything about the guy in the local paper on whether he was ok or not, or what the hell he was doing there in the first place. I’ll post it in the coming days.

That's a little more information than we required Kimi

YouTube has no goals

Recently YouTube has come under fire from Japanese media companies to remove 30,000 copyright infringing clips from it's database. (via)
And now the Premier League has told the 101greatgoals.blogspot.com web site to stop putting clips of premiership goals on YouTube. It seems YouTube themselves disabled the clips but new links popped up on the 101greatgoals.blogspot.com web site. The web site is battling to keep going despite the attacks and it's going to be interesting to see how it all pans out as it could set the tone for the future of YouTube. (via)
We all knew this was inevitable and this is why Chad Hurley and Steve Chen sold to Google before the going got tough. A smart move on their part. But it is also now clear that some major revenue sharing deals were signed before the sale to Google than mean that not all the media corporation content will be removed from YouTube.
It's going to be interesting to see the fate of YouTube. I think it will last but only as long as it evolves. If it stands still it will be left behind like so much else . The internet users are fickle, and if something new and shiny comes along then we'll all be off there quick as a flash.

Bush is drunk...

Hilarious - Philips Bodygroom Advert

I was sent this link to the Philips Bodygroom Advert by my friend Henry. Thanks Henry!

Richard Dawkins on BBC News

I received the new Richard Dawkins book, The God Delusion, for my birthday from James and Vanessa, thanks guys! I can't say that I'm that familiar with him but so far I have to agree with much of what he says. I suggest you get the book and make you own decisions. However... It is compulsary to read the book and not just slag it off with out giving it due consideration, like so many people out there seem to be doing.

A whole new Jordan...again (edit)

Thanks Rob for this. It really brightened up my morning. See the article here. (EDIT) Video no longer available...and it was all a fake anyway...as if we didn't know that anyway. Didn't make it any less funny though did it?

The beat that my heart skipped

Or De battre mon coeur s'est arrêté to give it its French title. I watched this on DVD recently and thoroughly enjoyed it. The plot is a little far fetched but it's carried off with skill by all those involved. It's a moody film with juxtaposing elements of violence and gentle piano playing.
I watched it based on the fact that it won some awards, but didn't read too much about it before watching it sI i wasn't sure what to expect. Let's put it this way, I was not disappointed.

My Friends Book

Recently a good friend of mine, Yannis Tzioumakis, published a book on American Independant Cinema. Yannis is a senior lecturer in screen studies at John Moores University in Liverpool. If you are interested in buying his book click here.
There you go Yannis! I've done my bit of promotional work for you. Although I'll be surprised if it has a huge effect on your already impressive sales figures.

T-Shirt Origami

Putting my T-Shirts away will never be the same again!

I Robot gets a little closer

Obviously we are a long way off from the I Robot scenario but it's a tantalizing idea never the less. There are a number of things that I hope to see and do in my lifetime and walking talking robots is one of them. I suspect this comes from my love of Star Wars. The other thing I'd like is to go into space. With Branson making progress on his space tourism project, I think that this is likely to be something I'll achieve in my life time. It may be towards the end of my life but beggars can't be choosers.

House of Flying Daggers

I came across this photostream some time ago when browsing through Flickr.This is the actual house from the movie. The photos were taken by a girl named Oppo Hash who was born near there. Her Flickr page is here if you fancy having a look at more of her photos. She's got some really nice ones with lots of colour saturation.

GooTube

Google has announced it's plan to purchase You Tube for $1.65 billion. More on this over on Time/CNN.

I've been a Wild Rover...

Images from the NASA HiRISE project are available here. Click on the image to get a closer view of the opportunity rover on Mars.

Bush uses a lot of words to say nothing...again

European PS3 launch delayed till March 07

The launch of the PS3 in Europe has been postponed till March 2007. The reason being given is delays in production of the Blue Ray Drives. The US and Japanese launches will go ahead as scheduled on the 17th of November.

Ok let's get back to business...

Check this baby out! saw this over at TCAL and it's the coolest thing!

Wedding and all that...

Sorry I've not bloged for a while. I've been busy leading up to, during and now after the wedding. This being the problem I guess with bloging, the busier you are and the more you have to blog about the less time you have to blog it!
I'll be back to normal soon though I suspect so until then feel free to check out some of the old blogs... Some amusing stuff there I promise!

Craig Bellamy is coming to Liverpool

He's got the pace we need, and he was a Liverpool fan growing up so he's likely to have the passion (he's taking a wage cut to come to LFC too). I just hope he gets on well with Rafa. Could be a good signing.

Cisse move still on for Marseille

There is still strong interest from Marseille to by Cisse to try and avoid Lyon signing him. The Marseille president was in liverpool yesterday to talk about a loan deal. via

Suicide biggest 'killer' of under 35s in Ireland

In an article here I see that Ireland continues to have a huge problem with suicide. What this article doesn't mention is that the ratio of men to women committing suicide is something like 7 to 1. So most of this figure is made up of young men.
I know this has been a growing problem over the last 10 years because I've heard the increasing number of stories. What concerns me is that little seems to be being done about it.
I've read in another article that fewer people are being admitted as inpatient to psychiatric care, this being because of a trend towards community psychiatric facilities and a drop in mentally ill people being treated in hospitals.
I find the whole thing very concerning and wish that someone would start to take this issue a bit more seriously. There is a distinct problem in Ireland that occurs no where else in the world.

Try not to laugh...I dare you!

Jon sent me this the other day...if you can watch it without laughing then you are a better man than me. It's in Flemish but you need the sound on for this one!

Lord of the rings meets Anne from Little Britain

Saw this over at TCAL, almost made snot bubbles it's so funny:

Roy Keane announces retirement

See BBC SPORT for more info

Didi Hamann poised for Bolton switch

See icLiverpool - Hamann poised for Bolton switch for news on the posibility of Hamann leaving Liverpool after 7 years.

Look at the cut of ya!

3 boys yesterday were told that their haircuts were against school rules and that they couldn't sit their exams in the school. The boys have 'skinhead' haircuts. They were given the option to sit the exams in another school, but one of the boys refused on principle.
I remember when I was at school, many moons ago, and it was a hot topic even then. It's always going to cause controversy when you’ve got teenagers wanting to push the boundaries of the rules set on them by the school.
I myself had a mullet which was frowned upon and my friend Finbar had lovely flowing locks too, but nothing was actually said to us about it. Then I grew a beard! It was the summer of the first Feile and I was feeling quite cool about it at the time. Anyway, I’ll never forget the look on the principles face when he saw me in the school yard the first day back. It was his first day as principle and he was a sound fellow so he said hello and had a big smile and looked very happy with himself in his new position until… he realised it was going to be his job to tell me to have a shave. Then you could physically see his stomach churn and his face drop. I found it quite amusing at the time. I new I’d have to have a shave and only waited to see how they would handle it. They didn’t know I didn’t really mind so it was three days before they came up with a game plan.
I was told that while “my beard was great and I’d done a fine job of growing one…if I was let keep it then other lads that wouldn’t be able to grow a decent ‘tidy’ one would still try, and would end up making them look scruffy so for the good of the school, I should have a shave”. I thought this was a fascinating way to have approached me. Great psychological manoeuvre. However, being one step ahead I said “well as you agree that strictly speaking my beard is fine, and it’s only if the beard makes someone scruffy looking that they need to shave it off, then surely it’s your job to deal with those people and not mine?” Hmmm…well the debate went on for a while but eventually I agreed that I would have a shave but only because I felt like doing it myself.
The key thing here was that the man was capable of speaking to a student in an adult way and we came away from the situation having a respect for each other. This is often not the case; 16 year old boys are often not capable of having a rational debate and unfortunately neither are many of the school principles. This has been proven once again by the ignorance of the principle in this news item. Some things will never change!

Driving Tests in Ireland

I was listening to NewsTalk 106 on the internet yesterday and heard all about the meeting yesterday that meant that 1300 driving tests had to be postponed while a decision was made on the option of bringing in a private company to help the problem of the 40,000 people on a driving test.
I've had a look at the info on the Department of Transport website to see what the figures were like. The shortest wait is 23 weeks in Clifden and the longest is 60 weeks in Raheney. The average wait works out at 43.3 weeks. That's nearly 11 months! Jesus that's mental.
But I've got a question...the average pass rate is 53.6%, so why is it that someone that has 11 months on a provisional licence to practice driving that they still manage to fail the test?
Anyway, they have decided to get the private company in until they reduce the waiting list down to 6 weeks.

Ratatouille the next one from Pixar

Click here to see the trailer. It looks great!

A few memories to get you in the mood...

Ireland in the World Cup 1990
We got our revenge on the Italians the next time round in 1994. Good ol' days perhaps someday we'll get to relive them...someday...

Cisse's broken leg

As you can see in this video, the first break being the most recent and the second the first break...

This had completely ruined his world cup dreams and Liverpools dreams of selling him. Or so it seemed...but he's expected to make a quicker recovery this time as the fracture isn't as bad as the first one and there might still be interest from Lyon to buy him, but for how much? that's the question.
Many expected liverpool to only get 3 million for Cisse, they origonally paid 13 million. He was bought by Houllier when he was manager of Liverpool and now he's manager of Lyon and still has faith in the Cisse and wants him there. The latest report before the leg break was they would pay 8 million, which was great news for Liverpool. But with a broken leg? who knows what they would offer.
It looked like everyone expected the transfer was off yesterday but there seems to be more optimism today...let's see how it pans out.

Pierced Eyeglasses

I saw over on TCAL this guy's Pierced Eyeglasses. Check it out...it's a bit freaky as he's a weird lookin geezer anyway but the idea of accidentally catching the glasses on something and tearing half your face off is enough to put most people off this idea. I hope.

Thank you for smoking

It’s a brilliant movie. It’s so funny and it doesn’t have any cheesy ending. I loved that. I hate cheesy endings.
It follows ‘Big Tobacco’s’ top spokesman (Aaron Eckhart), who is a master of spin, through a range of adventures as he tries to keep true to his choices in life while trying to be role model for his young son (Cameron Bright).
Eckhart is just fantastic. This movie is going to do a great deal for his career. He carries this role off with the subtle humour that gently flows from the screen and massages you with true wit and intelligence that only a brilliant script and fine acting can do. There is nothing obvious about this movie and I think that it operates on many levels giving enjoyment to people with all levels of wit and sarcasm.
Cameron Bright is also very good. I’ve seen him once before in the movie ‘Birth’ with Nicole Kidman. I wasn’t a huge fan of that movie as I can’t usually stand Nicole Kidman, and the movie was a bit weird. But, Cameron Bright was very good in it and it was good to see him again.
I’m tipping this as the ‘Sideways’ of 2006.

Esunday Bloody Esunday

As I spend a fair amount of time in Spain I've subjected to their equivalent of "I think I'm a great singer so vote for me or I'll cry and have a tantrum and tell you that, even though you are a millionaire music producer, you haven't got a clue" type programmes, I believe it's called Operatión Triunfo. I think it's hilarious when one of the contestants who don’t have a word of English tries to sing a song in English. It's understandable when someone from Spain sings in English that they will have an accent. That's perfectly ok and normal. But...when they are just making noises that are supposed to sound like a language that they don't understand then it's just too much for me to stand.
Anyway, I saw this over on the TCAL blog and it reminded me of watching the Operatión Triunfo.

the broken laptop i sold on ebay

I'm sure this has been done to death by now but for those who havent managed to see this blog yet here it is "the broken laptop i sold on ebay".

Does anyone know someone in Genesis?

The Parr Street Studios are being forced to close by the pension fund of the band members of Genisis. I know this all sounds a bit far fetched but please read this letter and get in touch with Tom if you have any information that might help. This is NOT a joke posting.

Super Mario

I've been home to Ireland for a long weekend for my Stag Party and i'm just starting to recover now so I've not been posting for a bit. I'm still waiting on the photos from the weekend to come in for a posting so i'll have to get to that later. In the mean time here is another amusing video from YouTube.

BBC question wrong man on the Apple court case (video)

After the judgement on the Apple v Apple case was given the BBC News Team quite naturally wanted to get an expert opinion on the outcome. They expected to see Guy Kewney. What they got was another man with a similar name who just happened to be sitting in the foyer waiting to be interviewed for a job. He thought it was an unusual interview but went with it just wanting to impress...check it out for yourself. A classic moment in TV.

It later emerged that the man was Guy Goma, a business studies graduate from Congo who was there for an interview for a high level IT job with the BBC. In a rush the producer of the news program grabbed the first 'Guy' he found in the foyer.
Mr Kewney, meanwhile, was still waiting in reception when he saw the taxi driver being introduced under his name. “Anybody would have been fascinated to see me introduced live on air, as the expert witness in the studio,” he wrote on his weblog. “Me? Not fascinated; astonished! What would you feel, if, while you were sitting in that rather chilly reception area, you suddenly saw yourself — not sitting in reception, but live, on TV?” He added that it was especially surprising because the man, who spoke with a French accent, looked nothing like him. “I’m not black. I’m not-black on a startling scale; I’m fair-haired, blue-eyed, prominent-nosed, and with the sort of pale skin that makes my dermatologist wince each time I complain about an itchy mole.”

Florida's alligators turn nasty

Three women have been killed by alligators in florida in the last week. The attacks were not in the same area so it seems to be something more widespread. To put these events into perspective there have only been 18 alligator killings in florida in the last 58 years. So 3 in a week is highly unusual.
BBC NEWS World Americas The threat from Florida's alligators

Lyons and Tigers

As promised, here is the video of Lyons and Tigers I took sidestage last week. Great gig for them and they made a great impression on Dick Valentine from Electric Six. I remember he claimed at the gig that he was going to start a petition to have Liverpool John Lennon Airport renamed to Liverpool Lyons and Tigers Airport. He has my full support.

Liverpool won on penalties (edit: now with video)

What a match! I had booked a table in the Sports Cafe to watch the game with 6 others. The atmosphere was electric! Great to be able to sit down and have your food and drink brought to you so you can give the game your full attention.
As it was the most watched sports event of the year so far on UK TV and I expect similar for Ireland I obviously don't need to say who won but if you have been living under a rock on the far side of the world somewhere (without internet access) then this is how it went...
An own goal from Jamie Carragher and a close range fumbling led to a goal from Dean Ashton to put West Ham 0-2. Painful. But then Cisse pulled one back to make it 1-2 at half time. Steven Gerrard brought it back to 2-2 after the break but Paul Konchesky's cross slipped into the top right hand corner to put West Ham back in front. West Ham had looked set to win the match, widely acclaimed as the most exciting FA Cup Final in recent years, until Steven Gerrard equalised for Liverpool in the dying minutes of normal time, making the score 3-3.

Neither team scored in extra time, and Liverpool won the penalty shoot-out 3-1. Awesome!

A great win to an excellent season. Should put us in a strong position to tempt some new players in the summer. Fingers crossed.

Dick Valentine (Electric Six) Live

Really only went to this gig to support my friend Dave Lyons’s band ‘Lyons and Tigers'. But it turned out to be a really great gig by Dick. He’s doing a solo acoustic tour of the UK at the moment. In his own words he’s humbled by the fact that his band are not exactly having continued success in terms of chart success and is more friendly with the fans now he doesn’t have the crushing weight of a got complex.
Anyway for your viewing pleasure I captured some video of him and approximately half the small audience on stage singing ‘Gay Bar’.

As you can see it was in intimate gig with lots of audience participation. I’ve got some video of Lyons and Tigers too doing their classic ‘my pants are too tight’. I’ll get that uploaded soon.

Mission Impossible III

Well it’s not exactly rocket science in terms of its script, but that’s to be expected from an action flick. However, I didn’t let any of that spoil my enjoyment of the film, and I did enjoy it! Except for… Tom Cruise crying! Jesus Christ! He cried a lot in this film. The whole ‘super-agent with a home life’ thing just doesn’t work for me. It’s unrealistic to think that these people go through life without meeting other people and having romantic engagements but people don’t go to see this kind of movie for happy families they expect to see a James Bond type of character who is a player or a tough guy like John McClane in Die Hard, who tried to have wife and happy family but it just couldn’t work out, you know what I’m getting at here yes?
Anyway, Tom, what’s with all the crying? I thought you were a super tough special agent? I can understand that you would be angry that someone was telling you that they were going to kill your wife but breaking down crying all the bloody time come on Tom get your shit together man! These ultimate bad guys are not eroded by your tears.
As always, see the movie for yourself. It’s pretty slick and has great stunts and as long as you can get over the happy family thing and the crying then you’ll probably enjoy it, like I did. The best of the three movies so far.
Oh, and if you wait till the end of the credits you will see a thank you to the Hanso Foundation. Those of you who are fans of Lost will know what this is about.

Wedding rings and Shakespeare

Yolanda and I sorted out the design of the wedding rings with Nicola the Saturday before last. Nicola made the engagement ring for me and did a great job so we went back to her for the wedding rings.
Nicola is based in Warwick so after sorting the rings and having a bite of lunch in a nice family owned Italian place, we went to Stratford-upon-Avon to see what it is like.
It’s a lovely place, but I don’t know if it was particularly bad because it was a nice day but it was absolutely heaving with tourists. No, of course I realise we were tourists ourselves but we only came because we were in the area anyway. I’m wondering if it’s that busy all the time? And how packed must it get during the summer?
Anyway, I’ve got some pics and stuff and I’ll post them here later when I get more time.

Liverpool FC

It’s been a good season for Liverpool. Third in the premiership is an improvement over last year, and we came very close to being second but Charlton let us down against Man-Utd.
It’s been another good run of wins to finish the season, especially the win over Chelsea. Just the FA Cup Final to play now to seal it off. They’ve already played West Ham a couple of weeks ago and won 1-2 but it wasn’t a pushover by any means so it should be an exciting final.
I’ve got a table booked in the sports café for myself and a few others to watch the match in comfort. Going out after for a long nights drinking on the Liverpool leg of my stag party. Should be good, especially if Liverpool win.

Lego Bible Stories

thebricktestament.com tells the stories of the bible using lego. Truly this is divine inspiration!
Here we see Moses throwing down the tablets with the ten commandments...he looks really angry! Those naughty people have been worshiping false gods!

Chelsea 1 - Liverpool 2

What a game! Real heart attack stuff! After the first 10 mins Liverpool dominated the game and simply didn't make mistakes. Chelsea win games by capitalising on mistakes. If you don't make them this is what happens. Lessons for next years premiership should be learned from this game not just for Liverpool but for all teams.
The atmosphere in the Sports Cafe in Liverpool was electric. I've been going there regularly to watch the Liverpool games with Gavin and we have a nice routine going for ourselves now.
I'll be keeping an eye today now the Middlesborough v West Ham game to see who we're going to get for the final. Many said yesterdays game was the real final, but complacancy looses games. I'll not be happy till the cup is in the cabinet.

Imagine

Easter in Ireland

Went home to Ireland for the Easter. Yolanda said she needed a break, the flights were cheap, it was a good opportunity for Alia (Yolanda's sister) to see Ireland, and well...I don't really need a reason to go.
The weather was fantastic when we arrived in Shannon airport. My parents met us there and we took a bit of scenic route home. We stopped by Bunratty Castle to show it to Alia, but Yolanda hadn't seen it either. We had lunch there. I was surprised that they were serving roast beef on Good Friday.

The Castle was closed for the day but I was interested to see that the Cliffs of Moher were still open! I thought this was hilarious and just had to take a picture. How exactly would you close the cliffs?

We then drove up through Ennis where the world Irish dancing championships were on. We popped in for a look. This brought back many memories as my sister was an Irish dancer and dance competitions were a regular thing in our family. Although I’m told I was very good, I never took to it and perhaps a life of riverdance and such. What a relief!
On Saturday we had a bit of a look around home and took a walk over to the lake before heading off in the car with Henry to show the west of Ireland to Alia.
Headed up to Galway, then Clifden where we stopped for lunch.
I want to take you to a guys bar, guys bar…
I also spotted this great piece of Irish engineering. As I was squaring up to take the picture a man claiming to be the inventor was passing by. He told me that it was intended as temporary solution but as it seemed to catch so much attention he thought he’d just leave it.
We then headed up past Kylemore Abbey

And on up to Westport and stopped in for a surprise visit to my sister Nuala. She works in the Spa Salveo in Knockranny House Hotel. A quick visit but it was great to see her.
Then it was off home for another feed before heading to Glenamaddy for the night. We met loads of friends in Jim Pete’s and had a drink in Mac’s too before going home.
Sunday we headed up to Dublin. We got as far as Dermot and Sue’s but started eating and drinking and got settled so we didn’t bother going out. We had a good laugh and were entertained by their neighbour Lisa-Marie, who seems to be a bit of a lunatic and deserves a post of her own to do her justice. (there appears to be something kindling between her and Henry so I’ll wait and see what happens there before I say something I might regret)
In the morning I took a picture of Lisa-Marie’s mini...
If you can’t read them, the stickers on the windows read “Kindly refrain from parking in this area”. These and one saying “I’m blond for a reason” or something to that effect were put on her car by some kind or arch nemesis of hers. This requires a long story. I’m guessing I’ll come back to Lisa-Marie in a future post.
Monday we went into the city centre. We drove through Phoenix Park by Áras an Uachtaráin. Sue told us some interesting facts about the place. She knows it well because she used to live there when she was a personal aid to the president, Mary McAleese (Sue’s a captain in the army). We then took advantage of Sue’s privileges and parked in an army barracks, taking the tram the rest of the way into town.
After the girls had finished a bit of shopping we went for a coffee in the John M Keating café/restaurant.
I hadn’t taken note of the name of the place on the way in and was deep in conversation with Dermot but it seemed strangely familiar. I then realised that I’d seem photos of it on Rick O’Shea’s blog post “Drinking with the Dead…”. Ah! I thought, I had meant to come here for a look but I hadn’t remembered it was so close to the centre. Lovely place and I recommend it as a place to go to get away from it all when you need a break from the hustle and bustle of Dublin.

We then raced back to the car, if you can race on a tram, and off to the airport. It was a great weekend and I’m looking forward to going home again in a few weeks for my stag party.

There’s a bomb on board!

A Ryanair plane flying from Paris to Dublin was escorted to Prestwick Airport near Glasgow by three RAF tornado jets after a message was found in a magazine saying there was a bomb on board.
The plane with 172 passengers, including 71 students from a girls secondary school in Carlow, was searched and no bomb was found. The plane then continued on its journey and arrived in Dublin at 11:30 last night. It has not been found out who planted the hoax bomb warning.

New York Hack

Came across this site last night. New York Hack is interesting for me because I lived for a short while in New York and have visited there many times. It's an interesting viewpoint on the city that never sleeps.

Liverpool 1 - Bolton 0

I managed to get a ticket for the match yesterday. Yannis got two tickets from someone who couldn't go to the game so he called me and off we went. Not the best game, it must be said, but still enjoyable to be there and see Robbie score one. Great stuff, but it looks like the goalfest is over.

Numbersixvalverde

Yippie! I picked the winner of the Grand National again this year. If only I had more confidence in my own ability I would have bet more money. But then that would have been greedy and another horse would have won. I'm happy enough with my few quid.

Shit Hot!

In Oslo they are using raw sewage to heat homes and offices. In Oslo, a problem is that the flow in the sewers is irregular -- Monday mornings between 4-6 a.m. are especially dry because people go to bed early on Sunday. But at weekends, the flow is good. "When people have been out to parties there's a lot of beer going into the sewer," said Oyvind Nilsen, the project manager for the Oslo plant. Full story at Reuters

Is Ireland ready for Bird Flu?

It's here! Well it's in Scotland so it’s very close. I imagine it won’t be long now till it’s found in Ireland. I’ve heard lots here about the preparations made for bird flu here in England in terms of stockpiling drugs. How is the preparation going in Ireland is what I’d like to know.
I watched a program recently on channel 4 about the ‘Spanish Flu’ in 1918 that stated that flu was actually a bird flu too, and that was how it spread so rapidly, killing over 20 million people.
Resent studies have shown that ‘Spanish Flu’ was in fact a type of bird flu that mutated so that it could be transferred from human to human. Scientist are using this information to try to prepare for when H5N1 mutates and is able to be transferred from Human to Human. However, the 1918 and H5 flu’s hemagglutinins are different so apart from understanding what in principle is going to happen it is almost impossible to predict in what way the H5 virus will mutate and little can be done other than plans to contain any outbreak after a mutation occurs.
As long as the area where the mutation occurs is secured and this mutated version isn’t allowed to spread then the virus should remain contained. This could happen anywhere though, and if it is not contained immediately then the virus could spread rapidly.
Anyway…back to my main point. What is being done in Ireland to prepare for what might happen?

Monster Rabbit on the Rampage

In a strangely similar story to the plotline of Wallace & Gromits Curse of the Were-Rabbit, a monster rabbit is reported to have been rekking havoc in Felton, near Newcastle in the north of England. Reuters have reported the action.

Eminem is an egit

First he was stupid enough to get married with a crazy woman, then he divorces her, covers his body with tattoo’s to say how much he hates her and says he wants to kill her in his songs, so what does he go and do next? He gets married to her again! Only 3 months later to file for divorce again! Duh! He might write a half decent rap but in the real world he’s a complete egit.

MC Hammer Project

On a lighter note…I came across the MC Hammer Project site some time ago but forgot to mention it before in relation to my discovery of MC Hammers Blog.

Jack Straw gets into Condoleezza'a Bed

It's been reported that Condoleezza Rice gave up her cabin bed to Jack Straw and she slept on the floor in the aisle. I realise that there may have been limited space on the place but surely for a plane to take off everyone must be securely seated. Therefore I deduce that she would have had a seat to sleep in. I find this whole story to be a farce and I would even go so far as to say a contrived political stunt by Condoleezza to assert her dominance over Mr Straw.

Denis Donaldson shot dead

Denis Donaldson has been found dead in a house Glenties, Co. Donegal. He was a member of Sinn Fein for 20 years, but was in fact a double british 'double agent'. He was expeled from Sinnn Fein last december when this information was discovered.
The news available to date on his killing is meager but the facts seem to be that he was shot twice with a shot gun. He had been living in a run down cottage with no electricity or running water.
There will be a lot of speculation over his killing as no one has claimed responsibility. Gerry Adams from Sinn Fein had said Donaldson was under no threat from Sinn Fein and he has condemned the killing saying:
"We are living in a different era, and in the future in which everyone could share.
"This killing seems to have been carried out by those who have not accepted that."
The IRA has denighed any involvement. The Irish and British govenments have obviously condemned the murder.
But of course Ian Paisly, Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, has his usual spin on events;
"If what I have heard is true that they cut his hand off, that would show that they were saying 'here is a hand that signed away, what we would say, his obligation to IRA/Sinn Fein and we will deal with him' - it looks like that sort of murder.
"There are serious talks that are going to take place and I would say that this has put a dark cloud over those talks.
"If this man has been murdered because of his connection with IRA/Sinn Fein and because of the past happenings, then it strikes a blow at what the two governments are trying to do - to say that the IRA has forsaken these ways and they are seeking peace."
I'm not a big fan of Mr Paisly as it seems to me that he always likes to put the worst possible spin on things. He for me is one of those people who refuses to move on.
Hopefully time will tell what has actually happened , but it seems to me that there was nothing to gain from this killing except for those who wish for the peace process to be stalled once more.

West Ham 0 - Liverpool 2

A couple of nice goals have us victory, keeping things on track to give Man-U a run for the second place spot in the Premiership.

Condoleezza Rice visits Liverpool (Edit)

Tomorrow US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is visiting Liverpool with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. This visit is to reciprocate his visit to Birmingham, Alabama where she is from, which took place last year.
They will be visiting Blackburn where Mr Straw was a member of parliament. Then they will visit Liverpool, Paul McCartneys former school, the Liverpool School for Performing arts and see the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
There are many people here in Liverpool that do not agree with the war in Iraq and they are planning demonstrations in protest. All in all it should prove to be an interesting day.
I know a little about Dr. Rice. I know that she was born in Birmingham, Alabama and was the daughter of a Presbyterian Minster. She had a tough youth growing up during racial segregation and one of her schoolmates was killed by a bombing of a primarily black church. She initially planned to be a concert pianist but didn’t quite make it. She got interested in politics and went to college, later to become a professor of political science and the head of Stanford University California. She speaks Russian, French, German and Spanish. She is an all round clever woman. And of course she’s black.
I’ve never met the woman. I don’t know what she’s like. But I have seen her many times on TV even in a couple of movies. Primarily this has been highlighting the fact that during her political career and in particular the issue of Iraq she has contradicted her self many times (also sometimes know as covering up lies) and changed her story to suit the given situation. I’m sure you have all seen it…we are in no danger from Iraq…we are in direct danger from Iraq…Well as I said I don’t know the woman but I’m not convinced she is as righteous as she should be given all the hype about her being such a great black female role model, but when it comes to Iraq and all that stuff well I’m afraid she appears to have made her bed and now she must lie in it (pardon the pun about lying there).
I know that people will have opinions on this so let’s see what the comments are like… Does Condoleezza deserve to be subject to protest because of her involvement in the war in Iraq?

Edit: I've just seen on the news that the protests in Blackburn have been enough to put Condoleezza off. She was supposed to visit a mosque there and the reality of the situation wouldn't look good for Condoleezza's PR. She's had the opertunity to face muslims with concerns but has chosen not to face up to it. I knew that this would be interesting. More news tomorrow no doubt.

Nuns! Feck! Reverse!

who the fuck buys this shit? Look at the flippin rosary beads! you have got to be a bit daft to want a lamp that's supposed to look like a nun. I bet they are all the rage in the Vatican.

Better than mind the bloody gap!

Up again at 6:50am (Edited)

Edit: I've been advised that commenting on work related issues is not a good idea these days. It's all too easy for anyone to read your blog and find out things you didn't want them to know. This is the second time in a week that I've been told that it is now common practice for employers to google their employees and prospective employees.
I'm not usually one for censorship but I’ve got to cover my own ass here. The internet is a powerful tool for free speech. It’s never been easier for people to have their say to the world about what ever they want but…we should also be just as free to retract our statements realising that it may have been a rash comment after say 4 hours sleep and you’d just had a tough day. So that’s what I’ve done here.
If in the future I appear to be pissed of when writing my blog the reason for this may have to remain shrouded in mystery. At least until I get a tobacco sponsored blog like Twenty so that I don’t have to worry about a job and can spout all the crap that I want.

It's 2:16am

I've had a busy day. Got lots done but it's not been much fun. I'm not writing much in the blog today. I'll do some tomorrow when I've had some sleep.

Ouch! Granny aims for the Toodles!

Inside Man

I was looking forward to seeing this. Firstly it’s directed by Spike Lee. Secondly it’s cast includes Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, Christopher Plummer and Willem Dafoe. Also it’s been describes as being reminicant of Dog Day Afternoon.
This reference to Dog Day Afternoon…well…hmmm? Yes it’s a bank robbery but I’m lost when it comes to seeing any other similarities. Marketing bullshit.
Spike Lee has made some great films but I think he’s really gone off the boil. Let me explain where I think this film goes wrong with this one. For some reason Mr. Lee has tried to combine humour with the high gloss of an expensive thriller. It all gets a bit confusing. The film doesn’t know what it’s supposed to be. There were so many elements to this film and each one had a completely different style. It just didn’t flow. One minute it’s a thriller. The next minute a comedy. The next a buddy movie. It’s not the worst movie I’ve seen. I enjoyed bits of it. When it was funny it was funny and the whole look the film was pretty good. But there was so much cheese in the script it stank.
Yolanda hated it. She had enough after the first 5 mins. If it was a DVD she would have turned it off and watched the TV instead.
I didn’t hate it. I thought it had potential but it all went wrong. But the more I think about it the more I know I don’t want to see it ever again.
My advice; save your money or go and see something else.

Liverpool 3 - Everton 1

I don't know what Gerard was doing getting himself sent off after 18 mins, but everyone else seemed to be on form for the day. A great continuation of the recent goal scoring to give a total of 18 gloals in 4 games. That's pretty good by any teams standards, and certainly goes a long way to making up for the many dissapointing score sheets in previous months. Will it keep up is the question. I hope so.

Salvation at the bottom of a glass

I've put some pictures from paddy's night on the photoblog if ye fancy a look...

The Kid From Brooklyn

Michael Caracciolo from Brooklyn, New York is a character that has to be seen to be believed. Here he is on YouTube but check out his home page for a daily dose of verbal diarrhoea .

Father Ted

Some of the best telly ever made...

A Joke from Henry...

While I was driving down the M50 today, (going a little faster than I should have been) I passed under a bridge only to see a copper on the other side with a radar gun laying in wait. The copper pulled me over, walked up to the car, and with that classic patronizing smirk, asked:
"Runway too short?"
To which I replied, "I'm late for work."
To which he asked, "What do you do?"
"I'm a rectum stretcher," I responded.
The copper was surprised and confused.
"A what...? A rectum stretcher?? And just what does a rectum stretcher do?"
"Well," I said, "I start by inserting one finger, then I work my way up to two fingers, then three, then four, then with my whole hand in, Work side to side until I can get both hands in, and then I slowly but surely stretch the hole, until it's about 6 feet."
Then the copper asked questioningly and cautiously,
"And just what do you do with a six-foot arsehole?"
To which I politely replied,
"You give him a radar gun and park him behind a bridge..."

Speeding ticket: £105.00
Penalty Points: 3
Court costs: £45
Look on copper's face: Priceless

What’s going on at Anfield?

15 goals in 3 matches! That’s what’s going on. They only scored 9 goals in the previous 14 matches which was a poor tally for a team at their level. So what’s changed to cause this?

Photos from St Patricks Day

some photo's coming later...

Happy St. Patricks Day

Hasn't it rolled round fast! It only feels like a few days since I was completely twisted and having a great laugh in the Irish bars of Liverpool. Well, actually it has only been a few days but I’m talking about St. Patrick’s day last year.
It should be a good night tonight, with no work tomorrow. The plan is to start in Pogue Mahone’s and just take it from there as usual. It’s going to be packed in there tonight so don’t bother getting all dressed up ‘cos some amadán is bound to spill half his Guinness down yer geansaithe! Prepare to get messy and very, very drunk!

He's Lovin' that DELL

Liverpool 5 – Fulham 1

Yes! Finally Fowler has got that first goal since his return to Liverpool, after having three disallowed in previous matches. This was followed by a levelling goal by Fulham and then an own goal by them put Liverpool back in front. But Liverpool had a great night for the strikers (for a change), Morientes, Crouch and Warnock got a goal each and gave us a confidence building 5-1 win. Let’s hope it continues.

Muppet Show - Swedish Chef

Jeff Bridges has a cool homepage/blog

Welcome To Jeff Bridges.com is cool because it all looks like it's just scribbles and sketches on paper. See for yourself...

Irish Blog Awards

Being a proud Irishman (I don't know any who aren't) I thought I better give a mention to the Irish Blog Awards held in Dublin at the weekend. Organised by Damien Mulley, and presented by Rick O'Shea, it was by all accounts a very successful event. Even though I’m new to blogging myself I’ve found the whole process fairly easy, except when it comes to original content. This is where it becomes tricky and when I see the consistently high standard to which these people reach on a regular basis I realise how funny and interesting these people must be in real life. And that for me seems to be the difference that sets blogging apart from other internet content. You don’t have to be a tech-head to set up your own blog you just need something interesting to say. So, well done all you who had blogs represented in the awards and keep up the good work. It’s your blogs that inspire the rest of us to give it a go, and who knows one of us might give Twenty a run for his money in talking complete shite to the highest calibre next year.

Mr T you mother!

Chuck Norris Top 10 read by Chuck Norris

Aine is getting famous

Aine Chambers of SligoZone.net made the national papers in Ireland yesterday. Thanks to Damien Mulley’s Blog for the links to where someone has scanned the paper for us all to see. Here and Here.
I knew the moment I saw her site she was destined for the big time!

Snowy Sunday

Woke up to find there had been a heavy fall of snow during the night. Not all that common in Liverpool despite it being a relatively cold place. Anyway, went out and took a couple of snaps.
An environmentally friendly Snowman... (no waste of fossil fuels for his face!)
Old tephalome boxes...Old man, also taking photos, with a weird camera. He says he refuses to buy one of those new fangled digital thingies as he's not able to operate a computer.
Then unexpectedly hear someone shouting "I've got your number!" I turned round to see the moustached 188188 guys from the telly in their new A-team styled van! Then I had to get on with cleaning the snow drift from the front of my car…
Then it was off to watch the football. I'm not in the mood for talking about that yet. It was a crap game and the boys let us down again. Although they did have some help from the referee. (not just my opinion that!) Some lovely food at Richard and Gaelle's flat kept the mood up though and genrally it was a good weekend.

Oh yes... I stayed in on Saturday night and watched 'City of God'. Not seen it before. It was excellent, a must see if you've not before.

Robot Donkey

When they give the Robot Donkey a head, it'll take over the earth!

More freaky kids doing stuff…

K O L L A B O R A T I O N : : Kollaboration Videos wait for the kid in the orange shirt to start...it's krayzee!

The Proposition

I know what's going to happen with this movie. The vast majority of people are going to focus on the ‘sudden’ violence and label this movie as a ‘nasty’. Well sorry but I just don’t agree with this. The fact is that the movie is set in a place and time that was particularly violent, 19th Century Colonial Australia. If you can get past the fact that it is violent you will be able to appreciate fine performances from Ray Winstone, Emily Watson, Guy Pearce, John Hurt and Danny Huston.
There is no clear good guy in this film with both sides fighting with their morels to make a life in this remote part of the world. It’s clearly a hard life on the border of society and you can imagine the pong given off by these people when you see their filthy bodies and clothes, rotting teeth, dehydrated sun burnt skin, constantly covered with bot flies and drunk for most of the time. A visual feast just begging for the invention of Smell-O-Vision!
There is a warning at the beginning of the movie that the film might cause offence to Aborigines, this is fair enough, but a word of warning could have been added for those Irish viewers too as there are a few salacious comments about the Irish that might get a bit of a reaction too!
About half the people I saw this film with found the gore a bit too much to take or just didn’t find the film enjoyable for one reason or another. I thought it was great and would definitely watch it again. If you are reading this before seeing the film then I hope it prepares you for the violence and allows you to appreciate a great movie.

SligoZone

SligoZone.net The homepage of Aine Chambers has to be seen to be believed. There’s an 'interesting' selection of photos and video to be found on the site which is supposed to promote the 'City' of Sligo. It's come in for some criticism recently and has featured on Podge and Rodge.

When we put ourselves on the web for all to see we risk the judgement of others. All we can do is take it on the chin. However, a little careful consideration before posting can save us embarrassment in the long run. Check it out and make your own judgement. Does this kind of thing make the internet better or worse? I invite your comments...

Karting

A gang of us went karting recently. Hadn’t done it before, it was great craic! Looking forward to going again some time.
Some more photo’s here: Karting

Marriage Preparation Course

For those of you who haven’t had time to probe the depths of my blog you may be interested to know that I have another blog specifically dealing with the build up to Yolanda and my wedding. Part of this is the ongoing saga of the ‘Marriage Preparation Course’. If you are interested in seeing more check it out here:

Marriage Preparation Course - Episode I

and here:

Marriage Preparation Course - Episode II Attack of the Midwives

tune in next week for the continuing adventures of Paul & Yolanda in the land of God!

She's been Tango'd

I've been living in Liverpool for going on 10 years now and I've seen a lot of 'orange women' that are common around here. But this is one of the worst cases I’ve seen recently. It's difficult to see exactly where the orange belt she's wearing as a skirt finishes and her skin starts!
What's even worse is the fact that she's wearing little else along with the skirt and although it's not clear from this picture you'll have to take my word for it that she's no more than 16.
It was snowing that day and everyone I was with was wearing several layers to keep warm. What is it that these girls are taking so that they don’t feel the cold? I had a fair amount drank myself so I know it wasn’t alcohol, it’s got to be drugs of some sort! Seriously? How can she just stand there in what is no more than a bikini in the middle of the night when it could snow again at any moment and show absolutely no sign of feeling cold?

Anyway...can someone explain to me what is going through her little head when she'd deciding what to wear fo the night?

TSOTSI

Really enjoyed this film but I only saw it yesterday so I’ve not had the time to write some comments on it yet so I’ll have to get back to you on this one…

Ok! I've come back to comment on this movie because I said I would. It's a great movie! It's won Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars this year and deserved it.

It's set in Johannesburg, South Africa and centres around the life of a gang leader. All about how he got where he is now and what he does when he accidentaly kidnaps a baby when he thinks he's just stolen a car.

No crazy special effects, no excessive violence, just one little bit maybe, but manly it's just a great script with strong emotional characters that you can get attached to.

I loved it. I'm sure everyone who see's it will love it too.

See! There! I told you I'd come back later!

Muppet on a Moped

I see some interesting things on the road occasionally. I once saw ‘Thomas the Tank Engine” (which was a full size train with a face on the fronot!) on the back of a lorry which was a bit surreal, unfortunately it was on the motorway and I was driving quite fast so it would have been a bit dangerous to start taking snaps. The example here I took at traffic lights so please don’t start with lectures!
This I thought deserved a mention because although I have seen guys with Mohicans glued to their helmets, which is daft enough but this guy with the huge ears takes 1st prise. What a clown! How drunk/stupid do you have to be to think this is a good idea?

Syriana

I've been looking forward to seeing this one for quite a while now and it was worth the wait. However, this is only because I’m of that age now that I've become politically aware enough to be able to understand it. It works great in terms of having a political message about the greed, power and generally dirty dealings that go on in the world of oil and how people in organisations like the CIA fit into this.
I've just seen in the news this morning that George Clooney has won the Oscar for best supporting actor. I think he deserved it as much as anyone for this on the back of his recent effort on 'Good Night and Good Luck'.
This is a complicated movie with several complicated storeys going on at the same time and how they all fit together isn't made blatantly obvious until close to the end. This is not unlike 'Traffic' which was written by Stephen Gaghan, who now directs ‘Syriana’.
If you liked 'Traffic' and didn't find that difficult to follow and you have some interest in global politics in relation to the oil business, then you will like this. If you find that kind of thing boring well just go and see something else because there is nothing for you here!

Ireland 3 - Sweden 0

Great result for Ireland! Could this be the start of a new generation of Irish soccer? The new boss Steve Staunton has pulled off a fantastic victory. Hopefully it will continue.

A young Jackie Chan in the making...

This guy is absolutly awesome! YouTube - this guy kicks ass

MC Hammer Blog

Check out MC Hammer's blog! Hammer Time!!!

Benfica 1 - Liverpool 0

Nuts! Liverpool have it all to do at Anfield now! A nightmare with only 6 mins to go. Report card says 'could have done better'.

Clerks 2

Kevin Smith is back with Clerks 2 later this year! Ten years later, the story of Quick Stop convenience store employees Dante and Randal continues...
In 1994 Clerks became for many an instant Cult Classic. I say many 'cos Kevin Smith movies are love them or hate type things. My lasting memory is that it was filmed in B&W and we didn't know that so we thought our VCR was on the blink! But we watched it and loved it anyway.

A Bittersweet Life

A Korean movie directed by Ji-woon Kim, who also directed A Tale of Two Sisters. Described as a violent thriller by some and an action/noir by others I found this to the latter. Perhaps I’m getting a little desensitised to violence but I really didn’t find this that strong, but it does have its moments, but you do have to wait for them.
The story centres on Seonwoo, a cold blooded ‘enforcer’ for a crime boss. The boss goes away for three days and charges Seonwoo to look after his latest flame, Heesoo, a young cellist. Seonwoo also is placed with the added task of finding out if she’s cheating on the boss. The story then follows Seonwoo as when he finds that she is indeed cheating he’s unable to kill her and her boyfriend without having a better reason. He then also manages to become entangled in a mysterious rivalry between his boss and another gang leader. This all leads to Seonwoo being wanted by all and his only way out is to kill them all first.
All of this doesn’t sound too ground breaking in terms of story line but I think the style of the film and some of the action is different from the norm and well worth checking out.

Liverpool 1 - Man Utd 0 (FA Cup)

Great result today for Liverpool to knock Man-Utd out of the FA Cup. First time we've beat them in the FA Cup for 85 years!
Again a very strong first half performance and we could have scored more but didn't capitalise on all the opportunities. Howerver, Crouch's come back goal was enough to put us in a very strong position, but Man-Utd had nothing to put us under pressure today. Long may it continue!

Liverpool 1 - Arsenal 0

Another win for Liverpool to put them 10 points ahead of Arsenal and 6 ahead of Tottenham. Looks like things are getting back on track. Fingers crossed for the FA Cup game against Man-U on Saturday. They looked like they were getting back to form too in their last game. Jesus! Listen to me! I’m starting to sound like a real football fan! How laughable this probably is to so many people back home in Ireland.
My commiserations to Yolanda for Real Madrid getting knocked out last night even though they won 4-0 they needed it to be 5. Sorry Babe!

Middlesbrough 3-0 Chelsea

What a result! Rafa better study the video of this game closely to see what we have to learn.

I'll be keeping a close eye on Portsmouth v Man-U later! Clearly anything can happen now!

Wigan 0 - Liverpool 1

Thank god for that! See the difference when Liverpool scores first. It's all about the mental attitude of the players. We can go into the game against Arsenal with more confidence now.

Paella @ Jordi's

Last night we were invited round to Jordi and Nuria's flat on mathew street for Paella. Jordi has a restaurant in Spain but they close for 4 months over the winter so he's come to Liverpool to work in La Tasca and improve his english. BeBe is from Nigeria and isn't in the picture as he was the one taking it! This will make a change for him because he's a model and spends plenty enough time in front of a camera.

Anyway, the paella was great and we had a few vino's to help it down. It was a good laugh and good to meet some new people.

Charlton 2 - Liverpool 0

I'll leave it up to Mr Benitez to comment on last nights events....

"It was unbelievable we have lost that game," said a bemused Benitez. "For the first 40 minutes we were always attacking and it was one-way traffic. Then what happened was just crazy. It's clear to see it wasn't a penalty but when you concede a goal you then can't concede another."

"We've got to learn from our mistakes and we've got to learn soon," added the Reds boss. "If we want to win trophies we can't concede a second goal straight after the first. We've been talking about mistakes after recent games and tonight we have made another two.

Hopefully it's just a bad patch that won't last too long.

There's Wigan, Arsenal, Man-U, Benfica to come next and it's not any easier after that. Things must be fixed before the next game or we could see Liverpool drop down the premiership table very quickly and get knocked out the champions league too!

MacGyver Returns!

priceless.com - Film Festival has the new master card advert with MacGyver as the star! Absolutely classic!!!

RateMyTeachers.ie

This is an interesting one! RateMyTeachers.ie is a site where pupils can tell it how it is from their point of view. Not too many teachers from my era remain but it looks to me that things havent changed that much since I left. Facinating reading for about 5 mins for me but I bet It makes for good conversation in the parents/teachers meetings.

Chelsea 2 - Liverpool 0

What a farce! Again we started out as the stronger team in the first half and failed to capitalise on the opportunities, of which there were many. But then, Chelsea gets one opportunity and they score straight away!
The second half is a bit more of an even handed affair but Chelsea capitalises again and we are left 2-0 down and frustrated. What are we doing wrong?
Generally in defence Liverpool is as capable as anyone else but they seem to be getting caught out by all going for the ball and not sticking to their defensive zone. You can get away with this when playing against lesser teams, but against the Chelsea’s and the Man-U’s of this world they will take advantage of any opportunity they get.
In the middle we are great.
Up front? Well… we are not scoring goals it’s as simple as that! We have plenty of strikers and they are supposedly world class players but they just don’t seem to have the same aggression as the strikers from Chelsea or Man-U. Our guys are too nice! It’s a tough one for me this, because I hate players like Crespo who is a macho asshole and has a huge head. But on the other hand when you are in front of the goal you need to have that confidence that you are unbeatable and strike the ball like you mean it. This is what is missing from Liverpool at the moment. We are just too nice up front! (Just my theory)
As for the sending off of Pepe Reine…he should have kept his cool but it also should not have come to what it did. From my point of view there was nothing wrong with his tackle on Gudjohnsen, who seemed to me to have handled the ball. Reine should not have raised his hand to Robben, but his swan dive was sickening. That a grown man would resort to such tactics is disgusting. Nothing was made of the Chelsea players who raised their hands to push Reine away from the scene and there was a severe lack of consistency in the referee’s decisions throughout the match, in both directions.
However, at the end of the day (got to get that in there when talking about football), Liverpool lost because of their own faults. There was nothing spectacular about Chelsea’s performance and we could have come away with a victory if these faults had been removed. Benitez warned about these problems in the days before the match but it just didn’t sink in for the players it seems.
Chelsea is a runaway train again this season. But we still need to keep working towards second place and a good result in Europe. Next year could be our year in the premiership but we need to start strong and figure out what we are going to do about getting a serious goal scoring machine.

Good Night, and Good Luck

I loved this movie! Great script and cinematography complemented by strong performances all round. Directed by George Clooney, it was all filmed in B&W. The film is set in the 1950’s and centres on the main character Edward R Murrow and his quest to stop Senator McCarthy’s Communist witch hunt. I couldn’t help feeling the morels of this movie are very relevant to the current political climate.

Edward R. Murrow:
“We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.”

The point here is that it seems clear that America sometimes could do with looking in the mirror before pointing the finger. That said, the same could be said about lots of other countries. But I’m not opening that can of worms.
The main story is supported by some sub plots and although I’ve heard other people say that they go nowhere, I feel that they do help in showing the cultural climate in which people were living at that time. We have come a long way in terms of human rights since the 1950’s through out the world be lets face it we have a long way to go yet!
It’s alleged by IMDB to have been a greyscale set filmed in colour and touched up but I’m not convinced that this is true. Someone in IMDB having a laugh maybe?

Underworld - Evolution

Went to see this with Jon ‘cos he had some free tickets. Probably would have waited to see it on DVD otherwise. I know this because I’ve still not seen the first movie. Anyway...It was more or less what i expected, but the story was a little over complicated for this type of movie and it wasn't always clear who the characters where straight away. This may be less of a problem if you have seen the first one.
The special effects were of a high standard and plentiful. The sets were good too, all very dark and there was a good atmosphere to it all.
Of course there were the obligatory gratuitous shots of Kate Beckinsale’s rubber clad body and there was a sex scene too but too but it wasn’t particularly steamy and didn’t give the censorship board much to worry about.
The rest of the supporting cast are an ensemble of British actors of a high standard like Derek Jacobi, Bill Nighy, and Tony Curran, which helps to make the whole thing a bit more…well believable isn’t the right word…but you know what I mean.
Well worth checking out on DVD but only go to the cinema if you are a fan of this type of thing.

More Gay Cowboys!

YouTube - Brokeback to the Future

Chinese New Year

It was the Chinese New Year yesterday and Yolanda, Alia & I met Jon, Rob & Marta in chinatown for the celebrations. It was a great opertunnity to try out Jon & Rob's new cameras. (Lucky Bastards!)It was flippin' freezin' yesterday so we didn't hang about too long in chinatown. We wandered down to 3345 for a coffee and warmed up instead. Followed closely by a fry up at home and falling asleep on the sofa in front of the telly.

Oh, and it's the 'year of the dog' by the way! A friend tells me that could be true of every year for him but i thought it might get him in trouble with ex-girlfriends if i put his name. (So don't worry Declan your secret is safe with me!)

ACDC Tribute

Yannis and I went to the Cavern Club on saturday night to see an ACDC tribute band called "Touch too Much" as part of the Rock Extravaganza and it was a great laugh. We met Cedric there too and afterward we met up with Gavin and some others and went to the Krazyhouse. As always this too was great craic. I went home about 3am and left the others to it. Clearly getting sensible in my old age!

Brokeback Mountain

It was actually a bit of a struggle to get to see this film. It's proven so popular in FACT that it's been sold out all last week. So we didn't get to see it till Tuesday.
It's a good film, there's no doubt about that and it's two main protagonists do a great job. In particular, Heath Ledger, who was magnificent and is a definite nomination for an Oscar.
The cinematography in the movie is magnificent and makes great use of the breathtaking landscapes.
The bottom line here is that it has it's flaws, but I’m not going to get into all that right now. Go and see it and make up your own minds. Despite the flaws it is a great movie and will no doubt be seen by many as a milestone in cinema because of its subject matter.

Man-Utd 1 - Liverpool 0

Well… What can I say? Disappointed doesn’t quite sum it up…disgusted? Yes that it! I was disgusted with that moment of luck that Man Utd had against Liverpool, who dominated the game yet failed to score. I believe the technical term for a situation like this is ‘a travesty’.
The comments of Carlos Queiroz, United’s assistant coach after the match didn’t do anything to improve my mood. He claimed that they planned to give Liverpool the ‘apparent control of the game’ they would ‘find the right places to damage Liverpool’ and then claimed their ‘plan worked’ and they ‘deserved to win’. Rubbish!!!!
Liverpool dominated the game because they were the better side. They lost the game because they didn’t capitalise on the opportunities they had and Man Utd got lucky in the last minute.
I could go on but I won’t. Time to move on…

Jarhead

Last night I met with Jon in the FACT and we saw Jarhead. It's not your typical war movie, in fact there isn't an awful lot of combat in the film. It's a very personal view of the war from a man in the marines and his experience of the gulf war in the eighties.

The man in question is Anthony Swofford and the film is based on his book also titled Jarhead. I've not read the book so i can't comment on that, but the film I enjoyed.It's a slow paced movie and has moments of both humour and violence. There are some points that will make you think about the rights and wrongs of war, but mainly it's a film about a fairly normal guy trying to do his job that seems sometimes to be in over his head. Anyway...I liked it. And I'm sure that I'll watch it again sometime.