So there is this footballer named Stephen Ireland, and last weekend he scored a goal, and promptly dropped his shorts to reveal Superman Underwear^[1] I know, not a good move, but you know, worse things happen at sea. There was the Titanic incident, crappy film or what?

In response to Ireland’s celebration many of the papers have been giving out. Whatever. But one in particular struck me as amooosing as I wandered lonely as a cloud^[2] home. It was probably the Evening Herald as I was finished for the day which makes me suspect that it was evening time. But maybe it wasn’t. Who can say for sure. The truth is as cunning as a very cunning fox and often hides from us. Especially when memories are involved.

But this is all beside the point, the point is that it was a shitty tabloidy paper that I’m talking about.

You know the sort, jump down anyone’s throat. Print pictures of naked peoples. That sort of class operations.

So, you have that image of responsible meeja behaviour in your mind? Now, imagine what they said about Stephen Ireland’s behaviour? Will I reveal all …
They said he was crass. Which yes, he may very well have been, but I wonder did the editor think about the colour of pots and kettles, or what happens when you toss stones about and live in a glass house?

I’m guessing not.

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Remember Once? Well I got some press bumf for its release in the states, so if any of you are interested it opens today (Wednesday May 16th) on limited release (NY & LA), and will then expand across the country. I’ve used the youtube videos as I think they are easier to share, but below the cut in case it slows down the loading for people.

Written and Directed by: John Carney
Produced by: Martina Niland
Executive Produced by: David Collins
Cast: Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová

Synopsis:
“A modern day musical set on the streets of Dublin. Featuring Glen Hansard and his Irish band “The Frames,” the film tells the story of a street musician and a Czech immigrant during an eventful week as they write, rehearse and record songs that reveal their unique love story.”

Film page url: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/once/

Read the rest of this entry »

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So it seems that the conflict between the rugby players and the meeja peoples isn’t actually resolved. Of course, there is nothing about it on the official rugby website apart from in the forums, which are only for members of the supporters club. And even there all the IRFU have said is

The full facts on this have not been made public in the interest of trying to resolve the issue and the IRFU will not be commenting on it at this time.

But, a classy paper at the best of times The Indo are clearly loving it.

For, what has ultimately occurred this week is a shattering of the bond between the players and the supporters - the media are merely the conduit through which this symbiotic relationship is recorded. That bond is a sacred one and has existed for over a century before this week’s events and, undoubtedly, will continue for many centuries to come.

I’m sorry, but wtf? A shattering of the bond between supporter and player. Are you mental? The media is a conduit, yes, but the fact that the rugby players decided not to talk to one reporter is hardly a vow of silence. I didn’t hear anyone moan about freedom of the press when Jack Charlton refused to talk to Eamonn Dunphy. It was the rest of the journalists who decided to walk out on the team.

There is nothing wrong with criticising a team for a poor performance. But that wasn’t what we got on Sat, from all reports Ireland played well, but made errors in the final 15/20 minutes. I didn’t see it of course because it was only shown on Sky Sports. And there is a difference between constructive criticism and bashing.

Also, can someone tell me what a Losser is? Because across the top of today’s Irish Independent is a banner. Half of which is about the World Cup, the other half says “Rugby Row Irish Fans The Lossers. Someone must have spotted the mistake, because there is a different banner showing on the pdf version on the unison site

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Yesterday, at lunch I walked by An Roinn Iompair and spotted a very sorry looking tricolour; looking like it had been half blown off the flagpole a few days earlier and not been touched.

It wasn’t until much later, when I was on my way home and spotted the flag outside the court in exactly the same state that it dawned on me. They were simply at half mast, but because there was very little wind they were just hanging there, not blowing.

You’d think I would have realised it when I heard that Charlie Haughey had died. But no, obviously the brain wasn’t in gear yesterday.

But Haughey… I dunno. He was pretty much the embodiment of the cute hoor, who finally got caught out with the tribunals, but never really paid the price due to illness.

For those of you interested Crooked Timber have an interesting piece on The Boss, for those of you who couldn’t care less, we’ll move on.
[EDIT Although even if you aren't all that bothered you should still check out Auds post on Charlie and what he meant to a certain section/generation of Irish people. Is it a good thing, or a bad thing, d'you think, that we don't look up to people like that anymore. We're all just so cynical because the politicians have made us that way with their lies and corruption, so we are correct not to idealise them. But at the same time, I do believe there is something in people's nature that makes them want to believe.]

To the trouble Down Under, with Ireland’s rugby players boycotting a certain Indo journalist, leading to a mass exodus by the other media-heads^[1] Supposedly this article by Dave Kelly upset some of the players, and they decided they wouldn’t talk to him. Which meant that he was forced to leave the press conferance. And in solidarity the rest of the print and photographic meeja followed suit. One out, all out, as Gerry Thornley in the Irish Times puts it.

Bloody stirring meeja, eh

Course the very fact that the players now have no media coverage will mean that the press’s side will be reported, and theirs won’t. Maybe it is a tactic to foster unity within the squad, The team agin the world. Or maybe it is just a sense that they were hard done by in that article. Or maybe their upset over losing the first test has made other minor issues into large ones. All of the players interviewed since the first test match have described how they wanted to win more than anything, and are “gutted” because it was stupid errors that threw the victory away.

If they do manage an historic win next Saturday, what’s the bets all this is forgotten.

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While I was home I had the wonderful opportunity to read The Sunday Independent^[1] cause the parents get it every weekend. And what a load of unreadable tosh a lot of it is. Not that there is all that much choice on a Sunday. In Sligo we get the Sindo, The Sunday Tribune and The Sunday Times. The mudder says the only reason to get the Sindo is for the jobs section, but I’ve a feeling it is more down to habit than anything else. Anyways, despite my dislike of the style of the Independent there was one article that I liked. One^[2] which pointed out the ever so slight differences between the English version of certain papers and their Irish versions.

The winner of this year’s Palme d’Or at Cannes was Ken Loach’s The Wind That Shakes the Barley^[3] which deals with the Irish civil war, and the behaviour of British forces during the War of Independence. Now I haven’t seen the film, I’ll be going when it is released, and I’ve a feeling that I won’t like it’s politics. It’s supposed to be more in favour of the anti-treaty side, whereas I’m a Michael Collins-pro-treaty sorta person. But I’ll wait till I’ve seen the film before I judge it^[4] I’m more interested in the fact that the Sindo seems to be correct in its pointing out how the English papers are reporting it:

1. The Times give ou about Loach’s Marxist philosophy and say he shouldn’t have been in Cannes as it is all about the capitalism
2. The Daily Mail think that Loach just likes attacking his own country. And sure wasn’t the Empire a great thing anyway, “With all its deficiencies, it brought much of value to most of the countries it occupied. Also, it all happened a long time ago and no one should be forced to apologise for it.” Hmmm. What else should you expect from the Daily Mail though
3. Back to The Times again and it again Loach is attacked for being English. Or at least, for being English and daring to suggest that the English soldiers during the War of Independence weren’t all heroes. This despite the fact that it is an historical fact that the black and tans did commit reprisals and random shootings. Course the IRA did too. Maybe Loach doesn’t show that, in which case, fair enough, complain about that. But what I particularly like is the fact that although these articles are critical of Loach and The Wind That Shakes the Barley the film itself isn’t actually reviewed. Does this mean they haven’t seen it?

Course the fact that Loach then justified the film “exclusively” in also makes me go hmmm. But as I haven’t seen the film I can’t complain about it, or judge it, unlike some who know all about it before they go:

The reason why I won’t be going to his film (which I couldn’t see before I wrote about it as it had been shown only at Cannes) is because I can’t stand its sheer predictability.

Personally I think I may be more bothered by Cillian Murphy’s voice. In all the trailers I’ve seen so far he sounds very like Gift Grub’s version of Roy Keane.

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• David Strathairn - Edward R. Murrow
• Robert Downey Jr. - Joe Wershba
• Patricia Clarkson - Shirley Wershba
• Ray Wise - Don Hollenbeck
• Frank Langella - William Paley
• Jeff Daniels - Sig Mickelson

It is the 1950’s, and McCarthyism is rife in America as the hunt for reds under bed trundles on.

In CBS Ed McMurrow begins to highlight McCarthy’s scare tactics and methods on his current affairs television show. The film is told both by the actors and by actual footage from the time. We get to see McCarthy, to hear his own words, and see the scaremongering of the time.

Shot in black and white it all looks great, but the film itself was simply too subdued to grab my attention. I have a feeling that this may be because of the mood I was in while watching it, but the low-key nature of everything simply served distance me as a viewer from what was going on. I also didn’t like the way the film seemed to stop every now and then to let us hear a song. There were maybe three of four from Dianne Reeves. They did sound lovely, and helped to create an atmosphere, but I just felt that they slowed the film down.

Despite these few problems this is a film worth watching. Strathairn is fantastic as McMorrow, and all the supporting cast do great jobs.

It also performs very neatly at alerting us to the present day situation, and how we can learn for the past. Yet at the same time there is no sense that this is hitting anyone over the head. You can see lessons for today if you wish, but no one is forcing you.

Clooney Studio | IMDb | Talking Pish | jFalstaff

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