Overheard

This is a Freak FM snippet...

"Cats are evil."
"No cats are not evil!"
"Cats are evil."
"No. Cats are not evil, insurance salesmen are evil."
"No. Cats are servents of the devil."
"They can't be. Cats don't know anything about insurance"

rocktronica?

When did rocktronica become a real word?

Anyway...

The slightly trippy sounds of God Is An Astronaut are coming to Cork, namely they are showing up in Cyprus Avenue on Friday February 25 to promote their "All Is Violent, All Is Bright" album.

take care,
Will

Three ways to hit the screen

I said I wouldn't write about the TV.
So here are three ways to get on the TV.

I'm watching Channel 4’s Anatomy for Beginners at the moment. It's slightly gore not filled. For some reason friends of mind thought it would be a splatter-fest. You only get splatter when the heart is still pumping, or if the body is decomposing.

It is however slightly creepy. Well Dr Gunther von Hagens is anyway.

So method one to get on the telly. Donate your body to be opened, and die.

The downside of this is of course that you have no fame nor fortune.

Staying with Channel 4, you could try out for the 2005 version of Big Brother. The Irish auditions are at the RDS in Dublin on Wednesday 16th February.

You get fame. The downside of this is your fame usually lasts two weeks.

So you could apply to become a rock gawd.

INXS launched an worldwide search to find a "talented and charismatic" man or woman to be the lead singer of their rock band. The new kid will of course replace the late Michael Hutchence.They will visit 20 cities worldwode (mostly in the US), but the nearest to Cork are in London and Liverpool. Applicants must be at least 21 years old and perform up to three songs (it is not required to perform an INXS song).

In the UK, auditions will be held in London on February 8 and 9 at the Shepherd's Bush Empire and at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA) on February 10. Call backs will be held in London on February 11, with successful applicants travelling to Hollywood in May 2005 for the final round of casting.

So a passport is another requirement.

Interestingly, you can pre-apply for the UK auditions... they will accept MP3 files!
(And the application form is worth reading just for the scary legal bits)

The upside, you stay alive and get fame and fortune.

The downside... you are the new kid in the old band. You are the outsider who will have to prove yourself.

Sounds like fun...

I'm still not applying but it sounds like fun.

take care,
Will

Shots

Damien Dempsey r3eturn to Cork to play the Savoy Theatre on March 20.

Snatching at Everyman

I don't know if Snatch know this, but their news mails are the unoffical e-mail guide to the Everyman.

Anyway, they are looking for a woman.

OK, let's try that again.... they are looking for a female improviser (and yes some experience in improvisation is required). They'll be at the Granary Theatre Studio (upstairs) on Saturday February 5th from 4pm until 7pm.

And on to the highlights in the Everyman...

Shakespeare's Villains with Steven Berkoff
The man is brilliant. It's going to be great. I won't even bother with the offical press release, because there is no point. It's going to be good if not brilliant.
Tuesday 25 - Saturday 29 January, 8pm. Tickets EUR25, EUR18 Conc.


Sisters, it's billed as a world premiere presented by City Theatre, Dublin... which really means it's a show outside of Dublin to get all the bugs out of it.
Still, it's a first.
Written by Cork's Declan Hassett, staring Tony Award winner Anna Manahan and it's set in 50's Ireland.
Preview Monday 31 January, 8pm, special tickets price: EUR12.50, Opening Tuesday 1 February, 8pm, tickets: EUR23, EUR15 conc., Matinee Saturday 5 February, 2.30pm, all tickets: EUR15.

I don't know if it's any good, but Manahan has a good track record to say the least.

take care,
Will

Here (WA)s Johnny

If it wasn't for Jack Nicholson's turn in The Shining, there is a fair chance that I would have never heard of Johnny Carson. He was the "King of U.S. late-night television as host of NBC's The Tonight Show for nearly 30 years" (quoting from here.

He died on Sunday.

The Addams Family

Bryan Adams has extended his upcoming visit to Ireland and now plays Millstreet, Co. Cork on Saturday May 21.

United Cork

The cream of Cork based and native musicians will gather to perform at The Savoy Theatre, on Friday January 21st, in aid of the Irish Red Cross Tsunami Appeal.

The stellar line-up of confirmed artists comprises:

The Frank and Walters, John Spillane, Freddie White, Ger Wolfe, Fred, Niall Connolly Band, Gavin Moore, The Waiting Room and Ian Whitty.

Staged in two rooms at the Savoy, the show will commence at 9.30pm, with tickets available on the door. The ticket price has been set at a minimum donation of €20.

RTE Radio 1 presenter John Creedon will compere the event.

The Savoy Theatre is providing the venue free of charge; so all funds raised on the night will go directly to the Irish Red Cross. Deloitte, Cork will oversee fundraising and dissemination of all funds raised, on the night.

Touring the county

To be honest, I know that Paul Tiernan started the Irish go-it-alone philosophy of record production, but I don't know what he sound like.

However, he's doing a big tour, with lots of Cork dates to promote his new Belle album.
The tour includes...
Sirius Arts Centre, Cobh (February 11 with guests Interference);
Blackbird, Ballycotton (12);
De Barra's, Cork (23 with guests Interference); and
The Lobby Bar, Cork (26).

take care,
Will

Must console

"Ah Billie Piper. A beautiful woman with a thing for older red-headed men. There is hope!"
The Librarian, while looking at his Doctor Who Magazine

Without you

A Tsunami fundraiser... An Evening Without Neil Young
featuring...
Boa Morte,
Niall Connolly,
Jamie & Joe from Fred,
The Grunts,
My Evil Ex,
Paddy O’Herlihy,
Queen Kong

Saturday 29th of January @ The Lobby, Cork
Tickets €10 (All proceeds for the Tsunami Relief) available from the Lobby Bar
Doors 8pm

Presented by The Freakscene Culture Club & Lobby Promotions

Another "for one night only"

There are some acts which should be gentle.
And classic.
And bound to be at least interesting.

One of these is Niall Toibin. (He of no catch phrase)

He plays the Cork Opera Houseon Sunday February 8 (8pm). Joining Niall on the night is special guest singer/songwriter Eurovision winner Charlie McGettigan.

Buzzin'

Blurb warning
New York trio Fly are one of the most auspicious new bands on the downtown scene. A collective trio comprised of drummer Jeff Ballard, bassist Larry Grenadier and tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, these are some of most creative and forward-thinking young musicians in jazz today. Their self-titled debut on Savoy Jazz seems them imagining outside the box and playing with the kind of freedom and joie de vivre that jazz deserves.

Mark Turner is well-known for his Warner Jazz albums Ballad Session and Dharma Days. Ballard is best known for his seat in Chick Corea’s New Trio and Joshua Redman’s Elastic Band.
Irish audiences will be familiar with Grenadier as a member of Pat Metheny’s band and the Brad Mehldau Trio.

Fly are contemporary jazz at it’s most innovative.

You don't need to know much more... If you can't stand contemporary jazz avoid the Half Moon Theatre on Friday February 4 at 8.30pm.

Lobbying

James Yorkston does a solo tour in support of this Just Beyond The River albumand he's visiting the Lobby Bar on Saturday 12 February.

And Mark Geary shows up for a two nighter on Thursday 17 and Friday 18 February.

Want to go for a "lock-in"

Sorry for the cut-and-paste-from-the-press-release of this post, but I will annotate

As hundreds of people are organising fundraisers for the victims of the Asian Tsunami Disaster, supported by thousands throughout the length and breath of Ireland, Cork Prison Officers’ wanting to do their part have come up with a novel way of raising funds for this most worthy of causes.

Prison Officers’ at the Rathmore Road Jail, (a former military detention centre, now a Committal Prison normally for males aged 17 years and over serving sentences up to life) will give freely of their expertise and time to staff the Cork City Gaol at Sunday’s Well, Cork for a ‘Celebrity Lock-up’.

Asian Tsunami Disaster Relief Fund. Organiser Mick Sheehan said, “the Celebrities will present themselves at Cork City Gaol, Sunday’s Well on Monday, 17th January 2005 at 6.00 pm to be incarcerated there for a period of twenty-four hours. At the time of going to press those confirmed include Alan Browne, GAA; Amanda Brunker, Presenter of ‘The Dinner Party’ on RTE for which she deserves to get locked up, or am I moxing her up with The Swan presenter; Elaine Crowley, TV3 Newscaster on ‘Ireland AM’; Patricia Messenger, Presenter of ‘North Cork Today’ on 103FM County Sound; Tracey Piggott, RTE Sports Department; Diarmuid O’ Sullivan, GAA; Neill Prenderville, Presenter of ‘The Opinion Line’ on 96FM 'tis a pity he can only stay for 24 hours, Jack O’Shea, former Kerry Footballer, and Paul Williams, Ireland’s leading crime reporter. Mick continued, “they (the Celebrities) may be released sooner if ‘Bailed’ by the general public. A bail amount of €5000 has been set for each participant and when this has been pledged the Celebrity will be free to go”. In addition to those already confirmed, there will be a host of other well known personalities dropping into the Cork City Gaol during the 24 Hour Appeal.

A variety of activities have been organised throughout Monday and Tuesday to which the general public are invited. The programme of events planned at the Sunday’s Well venue includes a music extravaganza from 8.00pm to midnight on Monday night (17th) with guest appearances by Tim O’ Riordan and Natural Gas of ‘The Langer’ fame which is competing for the Cork national anthem with the Banks. Can they have a sponsord gag?, the incredible John Spillane, Sean O’Shea, The Molly Maguire’s, Murphy’s Men, Andy Dunne, Trad Routes, noticing a trend here, hmmm Noel Shine and many, many, more entertainers. School visits are arranged for Tuesday morning (18th) with storyteller Pat Speight giving some of the history of Cork and the Goal. Sportsmen will also be on hand to sign autographs and give some pointers on their areas of expertise. John Spillane will give a lunch time concert, followed by a sponsored head shave of Cork Prison Officers for a moment there I thought John Spillane would be shaving his head. Master-of-Ceremonies will be none other than Mo O’Connor no idea who he is either. A Celebrity photo shoot and other side show activities are also in the pipeline”.

One of the organisers’, John Kirwin said, “A special account has been opened at Permanent TSB, 40 Patrick Street, Cork in the name of ‘Cork Prison Officers’ Tsunami Disaster Appeal’.

Two nighter in the Granary

The Self-Obsessed Tragedy of Ed Malone
by Edward Malone


The Granary Theatre Studio
January 25 & January 27
For Two Performances Only at 9p.m.
Tickets: £8/£5 conc.
Bookings: 021-4904275

A Cork, Munster and World premiere. In other words this is something either being tried out or thrown together. A biopic, solo performance, written and
performed by Edward Malone, a Cork-born actor, writer, drinker and
improvisational street performer. I like the drinker included in the job description.

The play charts Malone's story through a series of
bizarre reminiscences and deranged rants about modern life. His failed
romantic endeavours, his experiences as a homosexual-wannabe, his mammy and
his daddy, his one job ever, and his failure to handle his drink, all from a
central character who clearly watches far too much episodes of Home and Away
for his own good. Directed by Brian Desmond.

To be honest, the Home and Away reference is enough to stop be going, but I can think of people who would go just for that

take care,
Will

Meteor-ic

The nominees have been announced for the Meteor Ireland Music Awards. Have your say... vote online. For further details and to vote online, log on to www.meteor.ie

Five categories are up for public vote: Best Irish DJ, Best Irish Band, Best Irish Male, Best Irish Female and Best Irish Pop.

The awards are presented on February 24 at the Point Theatre, Dublin. The host for the night is the stand-up comedian Ed Byrne.

Body found in Robert Holohan search

The following e-mail arrived just after 15.00h

A body has been found within the area being searched for missing Cork schoolboy Robert Holohan.


Gardai have confirmed the discovery was made at Inch Beach in East Cork just after lunchtime.

It is understood that the remains of a male were discovered by a member of the public.

The area has been sealed off for examination.

They are refusing to confirm whether it is the remains of the eleven year-old from Midleton who has been missing since last Tuesday.

Missing...

It might be just my mind that links things together that shouldn't be, but I read this moving account in The Times of the Thai nursery school class, in which seven of the thirty children are missing. In this one school of 687 pupils, aged from 3 to 16, she says the bodies of 29 children have been found. Another 23 are missing, certainly dead. Nine are orphans and 30 more have lost one parent. There is not a single child who has not lost at least one relative. The school term just restarted

Somehow I'm linking the reaction of the children with what probably happened in the class of Robert Holohan in Middleton. The 11 year old been missing from his home at Ballyedmund, Middleton since 2.30 p.m. on 4th January 2005. (contact Midleton Garda Station, Cork on 021-4621550.)

Ok, it's probably not the same impact.

take care,
Will

yo Yau

Anto Yau in touring. The details are on his site, but the Cork date is Sunday 20 February in Club One.

Shave your head at...

with apologies to Basement Jaxx.

Boyz 2 Men Barbers will hold a charity Head Shave night at East Village Bar and restaurant, Douglas, Cork on Thursday 13th January at 9pm.

Come along and have your head shaved for only 15 euro!

With prizes DJ and dancing. All proceeds to The Hands of Hope Charity for the prevention of street children in India. All head shaves carried out by professional Barbers from Boyz 2 Men Barbers, Douglas Village Shopping Centre, Douglas, Cork.

If only I hadn't shaved my head over the weekend,

take care,
Will (with a shiny head)

...cross between Miss Marple and Mary Poppins...

Every so often you find interesting things on the web...

First off is an interview with Forensic botanist Patricia Wiltshire. Now there's an angle unused in crime fiction at the moment (or at least a topic not touched very often by CSI and it's spin offs). On a serious note, she played a key role in jailing Ian Huntley for the Soham murders.

And last off is Circadiana. (Found off BoingBoing.)
It's a blog written by "Coturnix," who appears to be an academic studying sleep. It's topical since everyone here seems to be completely knackered having come back to work. At the moment we're blaming the high winds for waking us up.

Cut and pasting from Met Éireann...
Stormy weather expected on Tuesday. South to southwest winds will reach speeds of 30 to 40 mph in the morning, with gusts of 50 to 70 mph. They will become west to southwest in direction during the afternoon and evening, and reach speeds of 45 to 55 mph with gusts of 80 to 100 mph in exposed parts of the West and North. Elsewhere gusts of 70 to 80 mph can be expected There is also a risk of coastal flooding in the Northwest on Tuesday and Tuesday night due to the extremely strong onshore winds. Valid 0600 11/01/05 to 0600 12/01/05

take care,
Will

Old news?

Apparantly the Irish Music Rights Organisation, Apple made the European version of the iTunes Music Store available in Ireland on Thursday January 6th.

Yeah, didn't hear a thing about it until now either.

take care,
Will

Donations

Concern - www.concern.net - is working with local partners to meet the needs of families in the devastated coastal villages of Tamil Nadu, the worst-affected state in India.

Goal teams - www.goal.ie - are at present working in Tamil Nadu in Southern India where they are distributing aid to 5,000 families.

Oxfam - www.oxfam.org.uk - is active in Indonesia, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Sri Lanka and India. Their relief operations include distributing food packs and hygiene kits and setting up water and sanitation facilities.

The Red Cross, with its sister charity the Red Crescent, is supplying blankets, cooking utensils and other crucial goods. It has had to set up a new site - www.ifrc.org - because of the unprecedented demand from people wanting to make donations.

The United Nations World Food Programme - www.wfp.org - is seeking donations to feed victims of the earthquake.

Meeting the team

Cork's All Ireland Hurling team and the McCarthy Cup are on tour. They are due to show up today at 7pm in Douglas East Village.

I assume it's the pub called East Village in Douglas, but you never know, they might be popping in to Douglas Court shopping center too.

take care,
Will

modern manners

Turn you mobile phone off (or at least set it to "silent") during the three-minute silence for victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami.

A quite voice

Just after Christmas I was at my cousins wedding.
Her sister was her bridesmaid.
"I heard you were on holidays just before the wedding."
"Yeah," she said in a quite voice "Thailand."
"You mean if it wasn't for your sister's wedding..."
"I'd still be there."

If they come calling... donate. If they don't come calling, go out and look for them.

Will