Its genesis can be traced back to a conversation that took place between myself and PMc at our abode in Pembroke Street, Irishtown in early May 2005. A dodgy webhost in Singapore went belly up a few weeks previous, taking my first blog with him. The conversation was idealistic and fanciful and exciting. We were carried away with doing something that was creative and engaging, somewhere our friends could come and trade friendly barbs and tell nasty jokes about each others' moms.

More and more contributors came on board over time. Cahony, El Commandant P, Dae and Francie made handsome and varied contributions throughout. I will remember the Biscuit Tin series and especially when El Commandant P discussed the political nature of Custard Creams on Newstalk, the one where I claimed that women were more interested in shopping than politics which resulted in a lambasting from many female bloggers, the posts with comments where Cahony and I earnestly told each other to fuck off, Cahony's articulate rantings on Palestine and techno, PMc's astute post about the playing of God Save the Queen in Croke Park, Francie's horse racing punditry and Dae's unique take on the realities that face immigrants arriving in Ireland. A shoutout for the three other one-off posters Shirley, Tom and Euzie must also be made.

Maybe the Irish Blog Awards hex really does exist because on Monday morning, a collective decision was reached to shut up shop. Careers, distractions, 24 hour partying in Berlin :-) and the more important things have ultimately meant that this is no longer viable.

Anyway, enough of this unseemly and drawn-out farewell. So long. For now.

tags:infactah

Published by Colm.  

Made up exclusively from planks.



tags:cabinet

Published by Colm.  

Of Montreal @ Primavera Closing Party




Well I trust now well over a week later my Primavera companions, like me, have just about recovered from the non-stop partying carried out over 6 nights and early mornings at Barcelona's (and dare I say one of Europe's) most wonderful music festivals. Yes, yes I know Sonar is on this weekend!

The depth, variety and geographical spread of musical talent which descended on Barcelona on June Bank Holiday weekend last was truly mind-boggling. Couple this with the logistical setup of the festival and you have a must-have experience for any music fan. The performance and drinks licence runs from 4p.m. to 7a.m. Thursday - Saturday with a closing party on Sunday night in a Barcelona Club 9p.m. - 6a.m. The peak time for the big name acts would be from about 1a.m. to 4 a.m.

The venue, El Parc del Fòrum conveniently located on one of the city's Metro lines is a purpose built outdoor entertainment venue by the sea with grassy knolls and an assortment of amphitheaters ranging from vast to intimate. Sitting on the top tier of one of the amphitheaters around midnight watching a near full moon reflect on the mediterranean and shoreline in front of an amphitheater packed with thousands of revelers will be an abiding memory.

Of course, besides the festival Barcelona is a wonderful city to visit for any reason and you will not be disappointed with its many charms. I wouldn't quite go as far as last year's must have T-Shirt at Sonar "Fuck Berlin, Barcelona has a beach", but it is close! (BTW guys, if anybody sees any of those T-Shirts out there this weekend at Sonar - Buy, buy, buy. There's a soon to be exquisitely valuable In Fact, Ah mug in it for you!)

We took one excursion away from the festival all weekend when we missed all the peak time acts on Friday night to go 40K outside Barcelona to a club called La Cova (it literally looks like a cave with a few bars stuck in the corners) to see Shitmat who was in town. Line of the weekend had to be from the awesome Shitmat himself after his gig when we were chatting to him "Oh, is there a festival on this weekend?".

As regards the festival (and Shitmat) from my own perspective (in its various states of lucidity over the few days) here's a loose order of hots and nots:

Hots
Battles
Shitmat
Slint
Girl Talk
The Fall
Band Of Horses
Of Montreal
Isis
Nathan Fake
Ivan Smagghe

I was a little disappointed to have missed Fujiya & Miyagi due to an unplanned diversion at the festival, but you've got to embrace the craic when it happens. Apparently F & M were really great.


Nots
Smashing Pumpkins
Dominik Eulberg
Justice
Erol Alkan

Some various video fragments spliced together are below.


At the end of the Girl Talk set which was insanely fun, Girl Talk stage dives, crowd surfs and then almost flattens some poor punter in a fall after which he professes his love for said punter.



Justice, meh. You've seen this done before, but here's them doing it.



Slint. Hadn't listened to these guys much before seeing them this time performing their album Spiderland. Wow and stuff!



Shitmat at La Cova. So we missed much of the peak time acts on Friday night at the festival to go the 40K outside Barcelona to see him. Boy, oh boy was it worth it. Major kudos to El Commandant P for marshaling the troops in the right direction and for the blags, it wasn't half bad craic getting backstage with Henry (that's Shitmat to you guys) after his set. The vid includes bits from before and after the main man's set, he's the clip in the middle in the blue shirt with no sleeves going bonkers behind the equipment.



So that was Primavera.





It was a pleasure always, and a pain to leave. So it was good; and so it must come to an end. Thanks!

tags: Primavera

Published by Paul.  

tags:the end

Published by Colm.  

There are fewer pleasures in life that surpass quaffing £50 bottles of champagne while fine dining in Bam-Bou on a Friday night, especially so when the bill is taken care of. Indeed, the past three weeks' dining out have embellished my rotund proportions. Yesterday's barbecue and odd bottle of wine, and today's pork sausage, feta and salsa wrap (my invention) haven't helped either.

Today's beautiful weather and inspiring demonstration of athleticism by Rafael Nadal made a convincing case for getting off the couch. Running and I were never best buddies, but I do try, with the help of Map My Run, to do 25 minutes exercise three times a week. As mentioned already, the past few weeks have distracted me so today was going to be a struggle.



Half way in and I was struggling badly. Legs and chest would not cooperate. A 60 year old woman passing me out on Lambeth Bridge didn't help. In the end, I kicked like Sonia and showed that old lady who the better athlete was. A young girl then glided past, who strangely appeared to take only two steps every 10 metres; she was positively gliding. There was nothing left to do except give up when I got heckled outside a nightclub in Vauxhall (day nightclub).

The End.

tags:running

Published by Colm.  

What costs £400,000 and looks like it was designed on a kid's magic drawing board? It's the new logo for the London 2012 Olympics of course. Ken Livingstone has given his two cents and recommends that the design company not be paid. Most Londoners think it looks daft and some bloggers have likened it to a Simpsons cartoon that's gone horribly wrong. Oh my.

But not all logos are bad, right? Discuss. My favourites are ...



tags:logos

Published by Colm.  

Published by Francie.  

His epic cycle's title is probably slanted towards those who speak American/Canadian English, so don't laugh. But seriously, Tony Griffin is an inspiration both on and off the hurling field. A classy hurler for Clare for the past number of years, this summer Griffin is using his natural athleticism to help him overcome a 7,000km cycle across Canada. Anybody from the Banner who was watching the Clare V Cork game last week probably wished that they had 15 Tony Griffins on the field. Meanwhile, Tony himself was navigating rugged terrain in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Sometimes, it really is just a game. Griffin is aiming to raise 1 million euro in support of cancer research. This journey was inspired by his father's death from lung cancer in December 2005.

The Clare People are featuring a diary of the man himself and it makes for interesting reading. The daily updates leave the reader with the impression that this isn't just another vacuous charity fundraiser. Griffin comes across a deeply spiritual chap who seems to make friends with everyone he meets. Heck, his writing is almost better than what you'll see in Wayne Rooney's autobiography! :-)

Go make a donation here, even if you are Tipperary and the thought of giving money to a Clare hurler makes bile climb your oesophagus.

tags:tony griffin

Published by Colm.