Year: 2003
Is There Life On Mars?
Daev has to make do with the naked eye. Wednesday August 27th, 21:30: After dark, a craic team of Blather astronomers, warmongers and eroticists made their way to the Phoenix Park. Our destination was the Papal Phallus - where, in 1979, the pope played christianity's greatest hits to a capacity crowd. Robbie Williams attempted to top this recently. I'm not sure how the attendance compared. Tonight, Mars was close to earth. Closer than it will ever be again, in our lifetimes. This is going on for a few weeks... cloud cover allowing. So there's still a chance to appease the gods. Our team was inaccurately briefed. We were expected to encounter David Moore and a smattering of Astronomy Ireland types with a small phalanx of telescopes. Instead, we found traffic jams, and creative parking. Dumped the horseless, and stumbled through the dark towards the papal pudenda upon which the staff...
The adventures of Jasper the time travelling cat (Volume 1. Episode 8)
Volume 1. Episode 8. Hope. We had almost given up hope... Indeed, so deep was our despair at Blather Paranormal Investigations Inc., that we had actually held a short memorial service less than a week ago. For it had been long, too long, since we had heard any whisper of that intrepid traveller - Jasper the Time Travelling cat. But hark. There I am, disconsolately sucking on Mr. Mojo Doohickey pipe weed and occasionally giving an involunatary shudder of grief which could only be cured by imbibement of copious mouthfuls of absinthe, when there came a crackle... From the wireless, we began to recieve a stream of data. At first it seemed like nonsense - backround noise or a crossed mobile phone signal. Then we heard the miaow. That magnificent miaow. Setting quickly to work, we managed to locate his signal. And suddenly all was clear. The reason for Jasper's...
UFO Crash in Kerry?
Jesus Christ, there's a lot of mad news on the go at the 'mo. First it was lake monsters, now it's UFOs. Kerry is lapping up the weirdness this summer. According to an article in The Irish Independent, the Irish coastguard has called off a search for a crashed aircraft. There were eyewitnesses to the apparent crash, but no planes have been report missing. A search and rescue operation was launched yesterday evening (August 25th) at around 18:30, after a man reported seeing ' an aircraft swooping low out of the sun with smoke and flames trailing from it' in the sky near between Lispole and Dingle. Search operation finds no trace of 'crashed aircraft' (Irish Examiner) Rescue services in Co Kerry have called off their search for a light aircraft which was apparently seen crashing into mountains near Dingle last night. More > > Search called off in Co...
Classic Blather: Viktor Schauberger
The current Fortean Times has a feature on 'Nazi UFOs' and occultism... The article covers the unwilling involvement of Vikor Schauberger in the Nazi's apparent attempts to build a flying saucer. Here at Blather HQ, we published - some time ago - a piece about Schauberger's theories and experiments with water. Formerly published in the now defunct 'Source' magazine in Autumn 1999, - daev explores why people are strapping spirals of copper to their water pipes, speaks to Con Connor of Ireland's 'Living Water Workshop', and discusses the works of Viktor Schauberger and his theories of vortex implosion. Read on >> Also: Transcript from interview with Con Connor, Living Water Workshop, 20th July 1999. By Dave Walsh. Read on >>
New T-Shirt: Walsh’s Taking of Caravaggio’s Taking of Christ
We're on a roll here. Get yer Blather duds on. Walsh's The Taking of Caravaggio's The Taking of Christ (click image for t-shirt) Purchase T-Shirt!!! Related Story: The Taking of Caravaggio Related Story: Knick Knack Paddy Whack - Media Hoaxing: Tunnels under Clontarf, Berlusconi and the Caravaggio - the The P45 boys tell all in The Yoke... Blather's Dave Walsh attempts to take The Taking of Christ More >>
Irish Gov. Minister wants to ban incense in churches
It's got to be a hoax... surely? Or Just Silly Season Someone's got to be taking the piss. According to James Helm on the BBC News site, Irish minister Jim McDaid (not McDade as it's spelled by the BBC) has condemned the use of incense in churches, as it may be harmful to altar boys and girls. No mention of the danger posed by priests to boys and girls. McDaid, a junior minister, is apparently a medical doctor who knows about these things. And the silly season is nothing to do with it, surely. The Irish Government banning smoking in any workplace - pubs included - from next January. Personally, I can do without smoke in a pub (being an avid non-smoker), but the government are handling it all wrong... Read the BBC article McDaid incensed by Holy Smoke risk to altar boys (Irish Independent) Hilarious discussion on p45.net
Hunter S. Thompson: The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved
A classic. Sadly, this version doesn't have Ralph Steadman's illustrations... I posted this to the Blather discussion board a few weeks back, but just thought I'd highlight it here too. I love this essay... it is, apparently, Hunter S. Thompson's 'first' Gonzo article, a wild journalistic style that lead to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. However, after reading his earlier works and collected letters, Thompson did not simply launch into himself into Gonzo, but rather developed it, in parallel with the 'new journalism' of Tom Wolfe etc. Gonzo: "a type of committed, subjective journalism characterized by factual distortion and exaggerated rhetorical style." - Oxford English Dictionary 'Gonzo journalism is a style of reporting based on William Faulkner's idea that the best fiction is far more true than any kind of journalism - and the best journalists have always known this. Which is not to say that fiction is necessarily...
Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde
With the tragic loss of Douglas Adams, many have despaired of ever being so simoultaneously amused, educated and enthralled. But now, there is a new contender for the throne. Stand up Jasper Fforde “I was in love once… I was quite besotted, in my own sort of way. We used to plan heinous deeds together, and for our first anniversary we set fire to a large public building. We then sat on a nearby hill together to watch the fire light up the sky, the screams of the terrified citizens a symphony to our ears’ -Acheron Hades, from Lost In A Good Book Trying to write a review of Jasper Fforde’s new novel Lost In A Good Book is an utter nightmare. In fact, I cannot think of a harder book to review. This is not because the book in question has an unpleasant subject matter, or because the dialogue...
alfred jarry: absinthe, bicycles and merdre
Jarry's influence has been considerable. While he himself owes much to Rabelais, movements such as Dadaism, Surrealism, Futurism, Expressionism Cubism, Theatre of the Absurd - all owe debts to his works. Read on: alfred jarry: absinthe, bicycles and merdre
Mirror, Mirror… Muppa!
Blather.net made it into today's Irish Mirror, thanks to our 'Bertie and Ernie... Muppa!' Get yourself a Muppa! T-Shirt We're almost embarrassed. The Mirror describes the t-shirt as 'controversial'. We would have said satirical?, if a little lazy. We also, apparently mention on the wireless, by an RTE gentleman with the improbable name of 'Ryan Tubridy'. Read the Daily Mirror article