An Scian agus na Guillemoteanna

One of the few programmes worth catching on the myriad music channels on satellite these days is the always interesting '120 Minutes'
It's usually on in the early hours of the morning and allows an artist to choose some of his/her favourite music and videos
Easily my favourite one from the last year was 4tet's slot and the two videos that particularly stood out were from Guillemots and The Knife
Guillemots' euphoric We're Here with it's fast motion shots of animals, clouds, ebbing tides and sunrises brilliantly brings to life the beauty of the Scottish highlands
Whilst The Knife's Pass This On is just one of many inspired videos from the Swedish siblings - we see a transgender woman performing a song onstage at some community centre perhaps in rural Sweden, already there is something strange about this scenario, it's almost dreamlike - her audience watch, entranced, hypnotised...until....

Guillemots have been added to the bill for Damien Rice's gig in Marlay Park this August, a venue I'm not pushed about but the addition of Guillemots has gotten me interested
Unfortunately The Knife aren't fond of touring but I had the pleasure of seeing them last November in The Forum in Kentish Town and they didn't disappoint, easily my favourite gig of last year - incredible visuals and an arsenal of breathtakingly inventive tracks ('Silent Shout', 'Marble House', 'Pass This On', We Share our Mother's Health' to name just four), they are one of this century's essential bands

Some new music

Well it's new to me anyway!
Have a listen to mr. whelk - digging the kate bush track and the furious five one
also the twilight sad - i guarantee at least one of those four songs will make you sit up in your chair and exclaim 'that's fooking good that is!' in your best Mel B accent

TV3....why?

I've tried, God knows I've tried but I still cannot find much to recommend Ireland's flagship non-public service TV station
In fairness, they give good coverage of the Eircom league, more than any other channel as far as I'm aware but it's when they try their hand in other areas that things can come a cropper
Take politics for instance - the Political Programme, I'm sure it's heart is in the right place and Ursula Halligan seems an affable and pleasant person but the program just doesn't work on so many levels
First of all there's the cameras, they seem to be zoomed in almost permanently so what you get is a close up of Pat Rabbitte or Graham Geraghty's mug! So we're off to a bad start straight away
But then there's the questioning which for the most part seems trivial and inane, nothing of any real substance
This is 'The Political Programme' so therefore we'd like to hear about politics, not how many dogs Bertie owns or what's Enda Kenny's favourite colour (blue?!)
The atmosphere is all very pally pally, almost sickeningly so
Questions and Answer on RTE isn't perfect either by any means but it's streets ahead of this
Now maybe I'm completely missing the point of the programme but for me there is little point in having programmes like this
Why TV3 got rid of 'Agenda' with David McWilliams i do not know but that was an example of hoiw TV3 CAN do politics well if it really tries
Come on TV3, you can do better than this, prove me wrong!

Marathon Schmarathon

Enough is enough! I've heard more than is necessary about the bloody mini-marathon at this stage!
"I ran it 36 minutes, 4 minutes faster than last year!" Really? that's fascinating...
"It was great, I met Nora and Paddy and Mick and Josie there, we had mighty craic!" Good for you
"I think I'll do it again next year, you should do it too!" Noooooo.......!!
No more, change the channel, I'll even talk about the weather, X-Factor, whatever! just no more about this feckin' marathon!
God be with the days when the only people who ran marathons or half marathons were Frank O' Mara and John Treacy, now it seems everyone does them, and are only too eager to tell you all about it
I say we strap them to a chair Clockwork Orange style and make them watch the 'Marathon Man' from start to finish and then maybe, just maybe we might get some peace!

100 greatest musicals

According to Channel 4
Not impressed to see Grease at No. 1
I've heard 'Grease Lightning' way too often, from weddings down the country to drunken hellholes like Coppers, it's the track that strikes fear into the heart of many a heterosexual male

You're just waiting, hoping, praying the dj will play something even half decent....and on comes 'Grease, Grease, Grease Lightning' and your heart sinks as you realise the night is truly beyond redemption
And don't even get me started on 'Sandy'....

Nah, however pretty Olivia Newton John looked as 'prim Sandy' (didn't like 'leather Sandy' at all), she can't compare to the beauty that was Natalie Wood in the real best musical of all time
Great characters, astounding choreography, amazing soundtrack and did I mention Natalie Wood? :)
The one that I want?
Not you Sandy, I've just met a girl called Maria

Full of it

I'm talking of course about Environment Minister Dick Roche here

Just listening to him being interviewed by George Hook here and as is often the norm from Government ministers we get treated to waffle, hyperbole and meaningless selective statistics
Sample quote: "We have achieved more than any other Goverment in Irish history in implementing green initiatives"

YES Dick, that's because the environment is now one of the biggest issues around!
OF COURSE you've implemented more green initiatives than any previous Irish government
Because years ago nobody aside from a handful of eco warriors and hippies gave a fiddlers!
Now however, the world and his dog has woken up to green issues with the realisation that cities like Cork, Dublin, Gawlay and Waterford could be treading water in a few decades time if nothing is done

Unfortunately Dick Roche has already shown the Irish people exactly how much he cares for the environment by approving the routing of the N3 motorway through the Tara hinterland!
It beggars belief that an environment minister could show such disdain for the environment and Ireland's cultural heritage and history
This is not just some fields in the middle of nowhere, it's one of the most important archaelogical sites in Europe
Poor auld Cormac Mac Airt must be turning in his grave!

It's things like this which really putting me off voting for FF ever again - they're so concerned with looking after their corporate buddies, big developers, lawyers etc, that everything else becomes less important
And as for Bertie, I have even less time for him now than before. I just cannot take the man seriously with that feckin smug grin on him on the FF election posters
Time for a change, no question, but whether the Rainbow Coalition is a viable alternative remains to be seen