Year: 2010
Raiders of the Lost Farce
According to the latest reports, the site for a new deepwater port at Bremore may be moved north to avoid a pesky neolithic passage tomb complex that would most likely be more trouble then its worth to pay a shed load of money the developer probably doesn't have anymore, in order to get rid of the feckin' thing. A spokesman for Treasury Holdings, which is planning to develop the new facility in partnership with Drogheda Port, confirmed yesterday that one of the options now being considered was to "shift it off Bremore headland" for archaeological reasons. He said it had become clear at an early stage that the neolithic complex at Bremore was "very significant", and the developers would be anxious to avoid it by examining alternative locations, such as Gormanstown... More Here Previous shenanigans here
“Don’t Speak With Your Mouth Full of Shite”
"Don't Speak With Your Mouth Full of SHITE" - by photographer lurking in the toilets of the George Bernard Shaw, Dublin, last night. It's not often that we post just a photograph as a main blather.net entry, but this just begs to be shared. From davewalshphoto.com
The Worst Irish Accents In Cinema History
What's the worst Irish accent you've ever heard? Earlier this week, we asked our Facebook bots to make suggestions for a list of the worst Irish accents ever committed to celluloid. That's every 'begob', 'begorrah' and 'divil alive, musha man' ever uttered by an over-paid, perma-tanned Hollywood twat. The following are some of the findings from our extensive survey. WARNING: many of the clips you are about to watch are likely to incite you to violence. Thesp: Richard Gere Offending item: The Jackal Case against the thesp: The early nineties saw a slew of IRA-inspired Hollywood nonsense, with A-listers seemingly falling over themselves to play Provo killers. One of the worst was Richard Gere's truly shocking turn in Michael Caton-Jones' The Jackal, where Gere is a 'IRA sharpshooter' released from chokey to hunt down Bruce Willis' mono-syllabic hitman. A shit-sandwich without the bread. Thesp: Tom Cruise Offending item: Far and...
Turfs up! Early Medieval Brooch turns up in a Kerry Fireplace
In what must be one of the strangest discoveries of an archaeological object in recent times, a fantastic early medieval brooch has turned up, quite unexpectedly, in the range of a north Kerry house. After lying buried for centuries in a nearby bog, the brooch was unknowingly unearthed sometime last summer, contained within a sod of turf, cut from the finder's own bog. It was only noticed when their grate was being cleaned out one morning, lying among the ashes of the previous days fire. The sixth/seventh century object itself is a rare enough find from that part of the country and the suspected Christian imagery on it terminals is also highly significant. I for one would like to extend my gratitude and heartiest appreciation to the original finders for their their honesty in quickly reporting the find to the proper authorities. It is most likely that the National Museum...
Barah Pal: 12 Castes of Gypsy Artists from New Delhi, India
A 30-minute ethnographic documentary about a colony of gypsy artists in New Delhi, India by Jennifer Rosen. 12 castes of gypsy artists ended their nomadic tradition nearly 50 years ago to squat in New Delhi. Now the slum is being dismantled for rehabilitation. These are the last months of Kathputli Colony as the residents know it with an uncertain future ahead... Press play and click the arrows for fullscreen. Barah Pal (subtitled) from Barah Pal on Vimeo. More Barah Pal site
The Republican Party And The Obama Conspiracy Theories
(image by David Basanta, used under a CC license) Little Green Footballs, the American site which tracks (amongst other things) what seems like the increasingly more moonbat trajectory of the American right's thinking, has posted results of a poll of Republicans voters on everything from Obama's motives to the inclusion of Creationism in schools. The results are... well, you can see for yourself. But should we be surprised? Is there anything new here? Or is this just the latest manifestation of a narrative which has been growing and replicating this last sixty years or so, only now brought to a head by the presence of an African-American in the West Wing? Questions and answers The Daily Kos Republican Poll was conducted by Research 2000 from January 20 through January 31, 2010. A total of 2,003 self identified Republicans were interviewed nationally by telephone: QUESTION: Should Barack Obama be impeached, or...
The Tea Party: ‘The People Who Hate People Party’
(image by ragesoss, used under a Creative Commons license) There's an old joke about Irish politics: that the second item on the agenda of any new political movement's first meeting is the split. The Tea Party, the notional emerging third party of American politics, already seems to be heading in the same direction. The Glenn Becks and Sarah Palins don't seem to be able to string together a coherent narrative for the Teabaggers (beyond hysterical screaming about Obama's nefarious hidden agenda) and, almost as though playing out an old Bill Hicks joke about 'the people who hate people party', the in-fighting has started. And how. The following text is taken from an e-mail sent by Sherry Phillips, a leading light in the anti-bailout, anti-BigGov, anti-Obama, anti-everything Teaparty whose first convention is due to happen next week. From David Weigel at the Washington Independent: 'We have refrained from responding to many...
The Map Is Not The Territory
(image by Thristian, used under a CC license) If the internet were a town on a map, what would it look like? Alfred Korzybski said that 'the map is not the territory'. That said, sometimes a 'notional map' might help us visualise that which defies classification. This is a map showing four 'towns' in cyberspace - Cyberia: a place of infinite possibilities and anarchic fun, Cyburbia: a landscape of twitching curtains, paranoia and suspicion and Deadwood: a lawless outpost where the rules of 'netiquette' simply don't apply. Finally, we have Disturbia. Well, you'll figure out what that's about... We suggest that you click on the view larger map option so that you can see all the embedded content. View The Map Is Not The Territory: Visual Artefact in a larger map Related The Haiti Conspiracy Theories Tracking the Protocols of the Elders of Zion Blather.net's Map of the Weird
The Haiti Conspiracy Theories
(image from the UN Development Programme, used under a CC license) Would-be ethnographers of the web such as ourselves are often advised to try to take a neutral stance on conspiracy theories, seeking to take a position of 'negative capability', resulting in the publication of posts which take a reasonable, balanced and calm approach to the issue at hand. This is not one of those posts. 'If you think you know what the hell is going on, you're probably full of shit' - Robert Anton Wilson It took less than a week for the Haiti conspiracy theories to gather a head of steam, culminating in a series of claims so bizarre, random and clearly bonkers that they make the 9/11 Truthers and the Birthers look like an emminently reasonable bunch. Contrary to what the foaming-at-the mouth fundies are saying, the Haiti earthquake was not the result of the Haitians doing...
Fata Morgana: Mirage
.... with photographs by Dave Walsh, music by Dacianos. There is something unnerving about watching reality bend before one's eyes. There is what one "knows" to be true, and that which one can see through a telephoto lens or binoculars - with Fata Morgana, the two are difficult to reconcile. Something is happening on the horizon. Icebergs twist and change shape, move, disappear, elongate. Islands rise from the sea. The earth warps. The 18 images of Fata Morgana, or complex "superior" mirages, in the slideshow below were made between July and September 2009, off the coasts of both northwestern and northeastern Greenland, while I was part of a Greenpeace expedition to investigate the effects of climate change in the Arctic. Some of these photographs show the landmass of Canada's Ellesmere Island in the distance - the air is incredibly clear in the Arctic, and the only way to capture the...