I was asked to write a portrait of Galway through the prism of Shop Street, and while I think I give a fairly accurate impression of the area, in retrospect I’m not sure how much of Galway it captures – those industrial estates spreading around its edges, the housing estates that funnel cars on…
The enduring fantasy of Owen Pallett
I had the great pleasure of seeing Owen Pallett perform yet again in Whelan’s last night, the fifth time I’ve seen him perform and the third time in that venue. Announced on Twitter just the day before – the place is a fave of Pallett’s, apparently – tickets cost just €5 and it had the…
The futility of expert predictions
It’s safe to say we’re paying the price for ignoring the experts, or at least listening only to the wrong ones, a phenomenon I find endlessly interesting. So when I saw Dan Gardner’s Future Babble in Company of Books earlier, I didn’t hesitate to pick it up – Gardner’s Risk, about our pathetic inability to accurately…
Sufjan the Entertainer
Had the extreme pleasure of seeing Sufjan Stevens do his extraordinary stuff at the Olympia during the week, during which he out-Wayne Coyned any Flaming Lips show I’ve ever seen. The review of this week’s show can be read here, but it was quite the contrast to the first time I saw him, a much…
Dublin’s best new street artist
The footpaths of Dublin have, over the past few days, become home to an extraordinary piece of street art that surely must count as one of the most extensive in recent history – some inspired creative is covertly decorating every manhole in the city centre with yellow wrench silhouettes, creating a ubiquitous, recurring pattern of sprayed paint…
Brands at war, Redux
Bread packaging doesn’t tend to attract much attention, but I guess the bakers themselves are sensitive to the design issues involved – McCambridges have sued Brennans over what they feel is imitative packaging. I wrote a Present Tense column way back in 2007 about a somewhat related case, featuring Michael McDowell in Perry Mason mode. “Sincerest…
The Commitments, Part Deux
“Could there possibly be a better time for Dublin to rekindle its love affair with the world’s hardest-working band? In 1991, a modest little film adaptation of Roddy Doyle’s story about a motley Dublin soul band became a cornerstone of modern Irish identity and burgeoning self-belief. Twenty years later the original cast of The Commitments…
Iron and Wine at the Ambassador
My review of last Monday’s Iron and Wine concert is in The Irish Times today, and can be read here, but the short version is: a bit disappointing, actually. The guy’s determined to keep experimenting, which is always to be admired, but that sweet voice was often overwhelmed by the honking sax, and the effect…
The Art of Election Posters
A look at the design of election posters in Dublin South East. Nothing too serious mind.
The Day the News Died
The disintegration of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire really is a sight to behold, with the drip drip drip of phone hacking stories in the Guardian over the past few years transformed into a destructive tsunami of revelations – from Gordon Taylor to Gordon Brown, and in between every citizen unfortunate enough to become a news story…
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