I feel a big smoke coming on

There's a bumber comics weekend in Dublin on this weekend in December. The first ever Irish Comics Expo in the Central Hotel on Saturday 3rd, from 10 till 5 then in the bar. Comics, pros, the usual sort of thing. robatomicdiner@eircom.net for details.

Then on Sunday Ireland's biggest comics convention take place across the Liffey in Wynnes Hotel from 10 to 6. Free admission, and there's movie nonsense going on as well. comicartist@oceanfree.net for details.

the streets are white with snow.

Hello Rick,
It snowed in Fermoy last night. Christmas is around the corner... So Rick, you asked for Christmas songs...

I finally found my Christmas CD pile.

The ones I want to hear
- Tori Amos "Winter"
It's Tori dammit. It's got to be good.
- Dean Martin "The Christmas Blues"
Found this on the LA Confidential soundtrack. Actually contacted EMI, but can't get the sheet music anywhere. It's a little more Tubridy than late night radio but still...
- Turn "When you Dream"
It's on "It's all Bells" and it's got to be on an album of theirs. It's not that Christmassy (and personally I feel that its going to break in to "house of the rising sun" at any moment, but it's a "peace on earth" message.
- Marvin Gaye "Purple Snowflakes"
You can't beat Marvin. Ahh smooching while it's cold outside (see below)
- The Handsome Family "So Much Wine"
Ah yes, I've have family weddings like this...



The unusual
- Lamb "Heaven"
It would be great for the chill out spot. Not exactly Christmas, but cool. (On the 6 feet under soundtrack and their own albums)
- Sugarbabes "New Year"
From memory, not released as a single (first album I think). Cool and unusual. Actually, a little chilly.
- Rasputina "Fire and Ice"
More winter than Christmas, but... (great Chellos baseline for a rock song)
- The Incredible Moses Leroy "Christmas in the Summertime"
Release this song in Ireland please. It's a love song. Obvious should be played with "Winter in July".
- Damian Dempsey & Sinead O'Connor "Fairytale of New York"
It’s the Irish traditional Christmas carol. However it's not the version most people hear. From the "it's all bells" compilation
- Juno Falls "White Christmas"
From the "it's all bells" compilation (phutCD002). It's a "rocky" version.
- Pugwash "Thanks for Christmas"
Same CD. I think it's his own, but I'm not sure. A little too bland for my taste but , pleasant.
- The Flaming Lips "A Change at Christmas (Say it isn't so)"
Is there anything not unusual about the Flaming Lips?
- Rufus Wainwright (3?) "Spotlight on Christmas"
Hey, people like the rich kids who give presents, not the poor who work during it.
- Ed Harcourt "In the Bleak Midwinter"
I can't believe it's not the Divine Comedy



The tacky
- Boney M "Mary's Boy Child"
It's as tacky as it gets, but it's a party song.
- Go Home Productions / Mark Viddler "Christmas on the Block" (J-Lo vs. Paul McCartney Jenny From The Block / Wonderful Christmastime)
Yes it's a mash. No longer on his site http://www.gohomeproductions.co.uk/ , but if you ask him I'm sure you could get a copy. He would also have a lot of suggestions.
- Tom Jones and Cerys Mathews "Baby It's cold outside"
Fun. However a karaoke version with you and Penny would be better.
- Tom Lehrer "A Christmas Carol"
The head of mathematics in Harvard should not have released this. It's great, and an accurate depiction of Christmas (shopping) today.
- Bob & Tom and 'Virginia Kegle' "I want a Boob Job for Christmas"
This is now my Christmas party piece. It's impossible to not hear the original and laugh.
- The O'Jays "Christmas ain't Christmas, New Years ain't New Years without the one you love"
Contender for the longest Christmas title ever?
- Diana Ross and the Supremes "Just a Lonely Christmas"
It shouldn't be tacky, but given here Westlife single this year, its unavoidable.

I'm going dancig now.
Take care,
Will

Cranks and quotes

I'm sorry.

I just don't get modern art. I thought I did, but I find it hard to see a lot of the art in it.

I went to the Terminal show in the Triskel, and for the most part, I was bored.

Not quite fair, I found the "travelling armchair" (an artist decorated the lift as a sitting room) quirky.
I found the curtained-off video booth of the prostitutes in India (literally street walking you smutty minded people) unusual in the grounds of being, well quirky.

I found the table laid out for an tea ceremony, uninspired.
I found the technical drawing to be worse than what I did in the leaving...

"Oh, you did tech drawing" said the bell-ringer at lunch.
"Did you do spirals, eccentrics and cranks?"
"Spirals and cranks, yes." I replied "But what's an eccentric?"
The librarian raised his hand to volunteer himself.

My point is that I didn't leave impressed.

As for the carved dildos... I thought they were badly done mushrooms. I wasn't going to spend €100 on them. (I don't have €100!)
And it looked like no one else was putting their hand in their pocket either.

Thank technology for the mobile phone.
I got a SMS and pretended it was a call and so excused myself.

My idea of art is something I can't do. Based on what I say, no wonder people are buying blank canvases and doing things for themselves.

Will

p.s. an eccentric is a wheel where the axis is not in the centre.

Carved Dildo auction

It sounds like bad spam, but that's what I've been asked to go to.
Sometimes I wonder what Liz is planning...

Will

A bit more notice this time

The Cork Arts Theatre (a.k.a. the CAT Club) sent another notice, this time timely.

They are holding a fund raising Table Quiz (€30 a table) in the Glenanaar Bar on the Boreenmanna Road in Cork.

It tends to be fun...

take care,
Will

Tag you're hit

Calling ALL budding Graffiti Artists.
Triskel invites you to 'graff' selected sites on Tobin Street. Dates are Fri 17th 4-9pm; Sat 18th 11.30am - 6pm.

Now call the Triskel first... somehow I suspect this is "supervised".

I'm hoping the results are something similar to the Surface Tension "festival" each year... but it's probably that Prime Time are getting an update.

Given that Christmas is only 37 shopping days away, can you use snow spray?

take care,
Will

A little late to the party

Yes I know its a last moment posting. It just arrived in my inbox.
I wonder if they really expect a crowd, I'm booked...

Cork Arts Theatre Presents
Cork One Act Drama Festival 2005
November 17th/18th/19th
Nightly @ 8pm

Cork Institute of Technology, Rossa Avenue, Bishopstown, Cork

Admission: €5 Students/OAP’s Free

Acting down?

Bruce Schneier CRYPTO-GRAM computer security update is always useful however this little snippet may be useful. The DMCA is up for review.

The Copyright Office of the U.S. Library of Congress is conducting its required regular review of the anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Comments can be submitted over the Internet, and are due December 1st.

The comment form

Good information on the DMCA:
EFF
Epic

take care,
Will

Let your fingers do the dancing

Want to play Dance Dance Revolution with Madonna prancing around on an illuminated dancefloor.
Badly?

To be honest, I suspect it would make a great typing tutor, but that's about it.

have fun,
Will

Let's talk about sex

First off, would you like to buy some sex history? Alfred Charles Kinsey (as in the movie Kinsey did research in the study of sex and sexuality in humans. In the 1940's and 1950's. He is also the last person to do major research in the area (in the US at least).

Anyway the original outdoor sign used by Kinsey's Institute for Sex Research when they moved to Indiana University's Jordan Hall in 1955 is now available for sale on Ebay.

From teh study of sex to a by-product. No not kids, STIs. Somehow Andrew Stimpson to come forward following claims that he has been able to rid his body of the virus after taking little more than vitamins. It seems far fetched, except for the bit where he's hiding from the media.

I guess I'm not helping then.

And finally, nothing to do with sex, but maybe evolution, but Scott Addams, the creator of Dilbert adds his 2 cent to the intelligent design shouting match.

take care,
Will

Baghdad on the Seine?

BoingBoing has a piece on the Blogger reaction to the Paris riots.

It partially answers some of organisation questions which were raised both by the police and the media, 200 plus people showing up at a set time. It's called flash mobs.

take care,
Will

Tipping Over

I've been listening to a lecture by Malcolm Gladwell about mavens. I'm not going to go in to what maven are (if you care about the whole Tipping Point area, you know all about Mavens and Connectors).

I suspect that a blogger is almost a maven.

People read blogs, and get ot know the blogger over time. When they make a recommendation, no matter how badly spelt, you put some of their trust in to that recommendation. It's a personal connection to someone you've never met.

It's something that's worth thinking about, mainly since the world have seen how a blogger's "diss" can effect sales etc.

Now that google allows a search on blogs, I wonder how many companies are looking for their product on them. And how many can correlate sales with those blog entries.

take care
Will

Burning bridges - old ties

It's odd that the moment I say something too harsh and suspect I've burnt my bridges with a friend, is the exact same time that two old mates contact me out of the blue.

Carlton is in town on business, and the gremlin, well he just rang me out of the blue. Which reminds me I need to get in contact with the couple based on my Zatras meeting them.

Timing isn't everything, it's only 99% of the solution. Sometimes Fate is kind with his timing (I go with the Pratchett desrtiption).

take care,
Will

Crunch time

Dan Carter, the New Zealand Rugby got some product promotion.
Just watching him is knackering. On that note the Fat Boy Slim training sessions becan in earnest a few weeks back. I'm in pain... still.

take care,
Will