Year: 2004
More Einsturzende Neubauten Photographs, Templar Music Centre, Dublin 4/4/04
The full set of photographs... Read the review of the concert » Visit neubauten.org » All photographs are © 2004 Dave Walsh. If interested in using any of these images, please contact Dave Walsh. High rez versions are available to purchase. Read the review of the concert » Visit neubauten.org » All photographs are © 2004 Dave Walsh. If interested in using any of these images, please contact Dave Walsh. High rez versions are available to purchase.
Review: Einsturzende Neubauten in Dublin – with Photographs
I'm such a fucking fan... photographs, and a review... On Sunday night, Einstürzende Neubauten came to Dublin. And just 10 minutes after the gig, I had my hands on a double album of the gig, burned to CD in realtime. I'm listening to it as I write... the quality is remarkable. The Temple Bar Music Centre was packed with Neubauten fans, and the atmosphere was thick with anticipation. With the band piled onto the tiny stage, Blixa apologised for the lack of instrumentation - they just didn't have room for it. It's Neubauten's first Irish gig in their 23 year history... and they're already promising a bigger stage for next time. I had a photo pass, so I spent the first three songs in the pit, rolling around, squeezing off b&w film rolls, and get an eyeful of the band's collection of makeshift instruments. The music was hitting me full...
Julian H. Cope says the web is a real dead loss …
ro_G is a big Julian Cope fan. Julian disses the internet in favour of books made out of paper and leather, which gets a big thumbs up from ro_G, what with him being a bookbinder and man of the vellum. Julian Cope: "Which brings me right back to my dear friend Merrick, who recently made the percipient comment that the stature of future scholars will be determined by their ability to take information from the internet and discern whether or not it is of any value or not. Man, that’s so damn true. In the 90s, when I wrote both KRAUTROCKSAMPLER and THE MODERN ANTIQUARIAN, so little was available on the Net that I didn’t even consider it to be a real resource and, therefore, relied on libraries and books. But nowadays there are umpteen barely usable websites there to wind us up with false claims about being able to...
Blather’s Express Tours. See Ireland at High Speed!
By our satirist-at-large, Elimare... Welcome to Blather's Express Tours, the quickest way to see the sights! BET is sponsored by the Dublin Fortean Society and provides exclusive tours of dead things. All excursions begin early morning and last throughout the day, and are so packed full of fun that you will wonder how they fit it all in. Our guides are professionally trained and you will marvel at their driving skills as you barrel through the countryside Italian Job style. Take a trip with Blather's Express Tours today and see what you've been missing out on! Sample Itinerary: Morning: Over 5000 years old, built by God knows whom and for an unknown purpose, Newgrange is Co. Meath's finest achievement. The lights only come on once (maybe twice) a year, and you won't be lucky enough to be there on the day, so will have to make do with standing in...
Gadaffy Duck pimps his ass
Hmm. So Tony is to be seen shaking hands with a former enemy of the War on TerrorISM... A former member, no less, of the second circle of the axis of evil. Now why, I ask you, why is Tony suddenly so friendly with the man who was President of the Nation that supported, protected and possibly ordered the Lockerbie bombing, which was until the 11m massacre in Madrid, the largest terrorist atrocity on European soil since the 2nd World War? Anyone else curious? Is it just me? Well. Let's consider some simple statistics (courtesy of the Guardian) shall we? "For both the UK and US, an energy crisis is looming. The latest BP statistical review of world energy predicted that UK proven oil and gas reserves will last, respectively, only 5.4 and 6.8 years at present rates of use. It has been estimated that by 2020 the UK could...
‘Proud to be Canadian’ by Alex DeJong
Guest Writer Alex DeJong gets some stuff off his chest.... Proud to be Canadian This past month in Spain has been a tumultuous one to say the least; from the bombing in Madrid to the election of a left-wing president. In the wake of it all, two hundred people are dead (the death toll ranges from 189 to 201), Zapatero has promised to withdraw the Spanish troops from Iraq, and Spain must now worry about a new enemy, Al-Qaeda; a group that has made it specifically clear that the 11th of March was due to Spain's alliance with the United States and their invasion of Iraq. Being an American amidst it all has been quiet interesting. I heard about the bombing on the news and immediately thought that ETA was responsible (due to the recent prior attempts to attack Madrid's rail lines). Like many Spaniards, I was searching for blame...
David Norris for President? (update#1)
Here and now, I am going to nail my colours to the mast. There is only one man who I want to be President of Ireland: Senator David Norris... David Norris for President - Click for T-Shirt! (all profits go to charity) So. The Presidential elections (in Ireland) are oozing their way towards us. And how shall we choose this time? Shall we choose to elect the incumbent merely because she has 'Mary' as a first name and because the lowlifes at Abject Fianna Failure have told us to, or are the opposition going to give us something else to have a gander at? Well, here and now, I am going to nail my colours to the mast. There is only one man who I want to be President of Ireland: Senator David Norris. 'Is he qualified?' I hear you ask. Well take a quick look at the stats: Council...
March 20th Anti-War Demo in Dublin (Update 1)
And Blather was there... I don't usually go to rallies, protests, or demos... I don't like crowds, and I tend to get pissed off with dodgy looking people trying to flog me copies of Socialist Worker. On Saturday, however, after having spent the morning fighting a gale and 70mph storm in a 6.5m semi-inflatable off the Irish coast, I felt suitably prepared. The RIB belonged to a North Dublin powerboat training school, and I was doing some supplementary lessons. In a storm. Nuts. At 3pm, I turned up at in Parnell Square, still in my waterproofs, laden with camera gear. True to form, I was almost smothered in fliers and newspaper sellers. Go away people. I AM MEDIA. Feck off. There didn't appear to be a huge crowd gathered outside the Municipal Gallery (The 'Hugh Lane'). A couple of thousand, maybe. As I arrived, the speakers started. Brendan Butler, of...
The 25th Hour
It's not often that we indulge ourselves in movie reviews here on Blather. Especially for movies that are a year old. But with the 25th Hour, we´ll make an exception... Last year, young Dave wrote a quick review of Spike Lee's movie (sorry, I am not calling it a joint), The 25th Hour, starring Edward Norton and Brian Cox. True to form, it's taken me almost a year to see it and write the requested follow-up. Normally, I wouldn't bother my bronzed butt, but in the case of the 25th Hour, I am happy to make an exception. Quite simply, it is around about the best movie that I have seen in at least three years. Nothing has gripped me to a seat like this since Christopher Nolans' breathtaking debut, Memento, starring Guy Pearce. The 25th Hour sports fast dialogue, a sumptuous score, superbly understated acting (see the mercurial genius...
Ballyedmonduff Wedge-Tomb in the Dublin Mountains
The latest in the Blather Neolithic Safari Series... St. Patrick's Day. Urgh. Not so much a hangover as just feeling very tired. I'm supposed to be going mountainbiking, but can't generate the impetus, the motivation. The night before, I'd been out helping David Moore celebrate the launch of his new book, the Accidental Pilgrim, about his cycling trip in pursuit of St. Columbanus. But today, I don't want extreme exertion, any Irish saints, or bicycles. But I still want to tramp up the mountains. It's a beautiful spring day, and I'm damned if I'm going to spend it in a pub. I recruit my housemate, Garrett, and head off across down in the BlatherMobile, eating sandwiches and swearing at parade-goers. Partly inspired by Tom Fourwinds <a href="page about the the Ballyedmonduff Wedge-Tomb, I decide to hunt it down, in the most awkward way possible. Which is rather apt, as it...