Saw some new Street Art in Belfast from a new artist going by the name of Niko, so finally got the chance to get out and take some photos today.
Managed to get some other photos of newly spotted pieces in Smithfield, Garfield Street and Botanic.
Enjoy
So we have it, the greatest Father Ted episode ever.
It has everything that is the trademark of all Father Ted’s best moments : Ted’s competitive streak, Dougal being naive, Dougal being stupid, Popular Culture being parodied, Awkwardness, Jokes having the expected punchline, but not the expected victim.
We start off with Ted and Dougal bonding over their love of music. Dougal’s main passion is the Eurovision Song Contest, which plants the idea in Ted’s head that they should enter. The seed is sown when Ted learns of his arch rival Dick Byrne entering.
The best moment comes when Dougal and Ted are jamming, where Ted tells Dougal to stop being so serious. Fast forward a few hours, and a drunken Ted is furiously launching an X rated tirade at Dougal as they have what musicians call “Creative tensions”
After Dougal plays a part Eurovision song from his record collection (consisting of one record), he tells Ted of the tragic story of the band behind it, who all died in a plane crash alongside everyone at their record label, publishing company and all their families. Dougal, though having his suspicions that Ted is stealing the song, is duped into being reassured by Ted.
Ted then has a Eurovision dream, prompting another great moment, where you think you see the punchline, but get led astray, where Ted dreams an awful video and song, but wakes up thinking that all that needs to be done is to lose a Saxophone solo.
The night of the song selection arrives, and there is a great moment of awkward comedy where he speaks to the producer of the show, who refers to the presenter as “His partner”, and Ted mistaking comments that they are business partners, only to be told that hey are lovers. Ted doesn’t know how to react, providing some great awkward comedy.
As Ted and Dougal die on their arse, as they say, Dick and Cyril produce and epic Power Ballad, complete with smoke. Surprisingly, it’s the Craggy Island duo who win, prompting Dick Byrne to suggest that it was fixed, possibly because Ireland didn’t want the crippling hosting costs, causing some awkward dismissive laughter from the show’s Producer.
The show might have been over, but there was still time for one last joke in the end credits, as Ted and Dougal are backstage, sitting through what seems like a neverending succession of nil points. To add insult to injury, Jack deserts them to sip champagne with the victorious Belgian act.
Father Ted summed up there, even when he manages to achieve something, there always seems to be a crushing defeat just waiting to happen.
1. The Lumineers – Hey Ho
2. Taylor Swift – 22
3. Justin Timberlake – Mirrors
4. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Sacrilege
5. Nicole Scherzinger – Boomerang
This week, saw Razorlight announce that they had split up. The thing is, most of us thought they already had, considering they hadn’t released an album since 2008.
Personally, I think Johnny Borrell is a bit of a knob. He quoted himself when listing great quotes of history during Live 8 for crying out loud.
Anyway, to be fair, they did do some good singles.
So, um, thank you Razorlight, you did a few good songs a few years ago.
FIVE SONGS BY RAZORLIGHT
1. America
2. In The Morning
3. Who Needs Love?
4. Before I Fall To Pieces
5. Golden Touch
Graeme Souness, new Player-Manager of Rangers is the cover star, as he outlines his vision for the Ibrox club.
Having just taken Barcelona to the European Cup Final, Terry Venables now has a high profile, so Shoot gives Glenn Roeder two pages to tell readers what makes Terry Venables so special.
The appointment of then 33 year old Graeme Souness as Rangers manager caused a stir. Souness tells Shoot that “Rangers rank alongside Real Madrid and Juventus. I’d say we’re a bigger club than Liverpool”
Despite proclaiming that Rangers are a bigger club, Souness admits he will be seeking advice from former Liverpool managers Bob Paisley and Joe Fagan through his time at Ibrox.
When asked about the issue of signing Catholic players, Souness says he will, which he did.
Sent-off on his debut, signing England internationals, as well as the high profile signing of Mo Johnston, as well as laying the foundations for ‘Nine In A Row’, it’s fair to say Souness time at Ibrox was eventful.
David Cameron of Surrey (surely not *that* David Cameron?) writes in to Jimmy Greaves Letter Page to say Souness would be a failure. Three titles in the Four full seasons he was at Ibrox would suggest he was wrong.
The Editorial of this week’s edition focuses on Manchester United manager Ron Atkinson, who Shoot believe should be given more time in order to bring the title to Old Trafford. Six months later, Ron Atkinson was sacked and replaced by Alex Ferguson. I think it’s fair to say, that decision worked out well.
In news, England’s World Cup squad recorded their World Cup Song ‘We’ve Got The Whole World At Our Feet‘
Karl Heinze Rummenigge gets a player profile where he says Rolling Stones are his favourite band, and predicts Nicola Berti will be a star of the future.
A recent Old Firm game which finished 4-4 gets a full page report, while there is an advert for Shoot’s World Cup special edition, featuring Bryan Robson, Norman Whiteside and Gordon Strachan on the cover in their national kits.
I’m guessing (just a hint) that the cover might have been shot at Manchester United’s training ground. In other ads, for just 15 quid, you could have your own Mexico 86 duvet cover.
Was at Windsor Park last night for the World Cup Qualifier between Northern Ireland and Israel at Windsor Park. It was a familiar story to the other group games.
The frustrating thing about this game was, Israel were there for the taking. Israel are usually the 3rd team in most groups they play in. They give 1st and 2nd a tough game, but can sometimes slip up away to lower ranked teams.
Walking into Windsor Park, the atmosphere seemed quite subdued, and stayed that way through the game. The start of the game was “touchy feely”, to use a punditry phrase, before Northern Ireland started to get on top.
Steven Davis forced the Israeli keeper into a great save during the first-half. I was in The Kop and thought it was a bad miss, only realising it was a great save when watching a TV replay later on.
In truth, that was the only save he had to make, but he was put under pressure. Not enough pressure in my opinion, as far too many crosses were caught by him unchallenged.
When Israel got their first clear sight on goal, they finished it. There was no way back from that as the stuffing was knocked out of Northern Ireland. They never recovered.
As good as the finish for Israel’s second goal was, Jonny Evans really should have done better in stopping the corss.
So that’s it, another game where we can console ourselves that we gave it a go, and deserved more than we got. I do believe progress is being made under Michael O’Neill, and that it is a long term job, but it would be nice to get onto a winning run.
The worst part about international football is, there are so few games, so every game must be taken advantage of.
Was in the Lower Deck of The Kop and got some ok photos, nothing special.
Enjoy
In the third of what seems like a monthly series, I was out and about in Belfast getting pictures of the snow.
Pictures mostly from Botanic and Rosetta. Wasn’t the most photographic of snow, but I made the best of it.
Wonder will there be a April 2013 Snow Blog?
Technically, this shouldn’t count as it’s a feature length special, but, it’s my chart, and my rules.
An indication of how brilliant and well thought of this episode is, is the fact that this show is repeated every christmas. Like Morecambe and Wise on the BBC, people expect it to be repeated. It’s become a part of Christmas.
I’m certain that there are people, just like me, who look to see when it is on whenever they buy their Christmas edition of the Radio Times to see when it is on.
We begin, in a parallel TV universe, with guest appearances from Dervla Kirwan and Stephen Tompkinson, reprising their roles in Ballykissangel, as Ted replaces Father Peter in the parish, only for it to be revealed as a dream, as Dougal wakes him up to offer him a peanut.
Good ole Dougal, kind and sweet, but generally messing things up.
Dougal then has a fine moment when they put up the Christmas tree as he tells Ted that the lights are off, then on again, not realising they were flashing lights. He then tops it off by predicting that his advent calendar would contain an image of Ruud Gullit sitting on a shed.
Ted’s competitive streak comes out when he jealously speaks about other Priests amongst his peers, having more success than him.
The three Priests then go on a shopping trip, with Jack left behind by Dougal. Dougal then shows his kind hearted stupidity by dropping Jack in a creche, under the mistaken belief that it is a place for “People who don’t like shopping”
While shopping, they come into the main punchline of the first part of the show, where they get lost, and find themselves in a ladies underwear department.
While there, they bump into two other Priests, who are actually looking to buy stuff, but after Ted tells them they are lost, a story they tag along to, for fear of being rumbled.
They then find another four Priests. Fearing a national scandal, Ted takes control of the situation, becoming the leader of the group, as they try to escape.
A great comic moment comes up, as Ted has the idea of hijacking the PA system, to clear the shop so they can escape. Ted requests a dour voice suited to PA announcements, which he gets, before a Priest with a Shakespearean actor voice volunteers under the mistaken belief that Ted required a booming, rasping voice.
Eventually, they escape, but that isn’t the end of it, as Ted is awarded a Golden Cleric. However, this causes Ted to go on a downward spiral, and doubt his own Priest abilities.
Meanwhile, Ted encounters that awkward situation we’ve all been in, meeting someone who knows who he is, Father Todd Unctous, who makes himself more than welcome at the Parochial House.
Ted’s attempts to find out who this Priest is are thwarted by Todd’s inability to write due to a ruptured nerve, and not telling him who he is.
While Ted is accepting his award, Todd does what appears to be research on the geography of the house.
Meanwhile, all becomes clear, as Todd wants to steal Ted’s award, only being rumbled by accident as Dougal comes downstairs to watch a scary movie in the middle of the night, setting Ted up to catch him in the act of attempted theft.
Ted might have won the award, but it was Dougal who had the laughs with his one liners and stupidity. Merry Christmas.
1. Bastille – Pompei
2. The 1975 – Chocolate
3. The Wonder Stuff ft Rankin Roger – Save It For Later
4. Biffy Clyro – Biblical
5. The Wonder Stuff – Oh No!
First of all, apologies for not having a Friday Five last week. It was due to “Technical Reasons*”
* Technical Reasons, being, I forgot, as I was busy getting ready to head to Manchester on Friday morning. I know.
As a result of “Technical Reasons”, I forgot to do a St Patrick’s Day chart. Better late than never I guess.
FIVE SONGS BY ACTS FROM NORTHER IRELAND
1. Baltimora – Tarzan Boy
2. The Adventures – Broken Land
3. Relish – Rainbow Zephyr
4. The Undertones – Wednesday Week
5. Snow Patrol – How To Be Dead
FIVE SONGS BY ACTS FROM THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
1. U2 – The Fly
2. Aslan – Crazy World
3. Boomtown Rats – I Don’t Like Mondays
4. JJ72 – Oxygen
5. The Thrills- Big Sur
So, anyone watching The Big Reunion on ITV2?
No, well, you’re missing out. Pity there’s an S Club 7 shaped hole in it.
FIVE (OR, 5IVE) SONGS BY ACTS ON THE BIG REUNION
1. Liberty X – Song 4 Lovers
2. 5ive – Got The Feelin
3. Honeyz – Finally Found
4. Blue – One Love
5. B*Witched – Cest La Vie
And finally, while The Big Reunion is on our TV screens, let’s take a moment to remember Girls Aloud, who sadly split up this week.
Don’t worry though, they will be appearing on the 2022 series of The Big Reunion, performing in Qatar at the opening ceremony of the 2022 World Cup, and go on a tour which includes a date at The Venue in Ebrington, which was renamed Nadine Coyle Hall in 2017
FIVE SONGS BY GIRLS ALOUD
1. The Promise
2. Biology
3. I’ll Stand By You
4. The Show
5. Life Got Cold
A large crowd, montage the shape of the continent of South America of Iron Maiden in Brazil, as Kerrang reports from the Rock In Rio event.
Meanwhile, Kerrang does a report as they visit the set of The Tube. The accompanying photo is of Cronos from the band Venom, with a new friend he met ……… Cliff Richard.
In adwatch, there is an advert for a tour by Bryan Adams, where he will be touring the UK as a support act for Tina Turner, taking in Brighton, Bournemouth, Wembley, Edinburgh, Manchester and Birmingham.
In news, Glenn Frey recently made his acting debut in Miami Vice.
Eight pages are dedicated to Rock In Rio, mainly focusing on Iron Maiden, but also including Queen and AC/Dc.
In posters, the back cover is a poster of a singer called Ann Boleyn. What she is up to now is unkown, but it’s doubtful she suffered either of her namesakes fates of being executed, and then having her name given to West Ham’s ground.
Not sure what was the worst fate.
As I was going to Manchester at the weekend, I thought I was going to miss this one but thanks to Sky, I was able to attend. I wonder why I bothered.
When I checked the team news on Twitter, with Murphy and Douglas in ahead of Armstrong, there was an inevitability about what was going to happen.
Even though Linfield didn’t start off too bad (ie – having possession and doing very little with it) all it needed was for Crusaders to get an opportunity to attack Linfield’s weak spot, and when Jordan Owens was allowed to drift wide unmarked and get a shot in for 1-0, there was only one winner.
Declan Caddell made it 2-0, charging trough the aforementioned defence.
Linfield started the second-half like the first, possession and doing nothing with it, before Crusaders made it 3-0.
They could have made it 4, 5, or possibly 6. The same tactic every time, to attack at a weak defence and force a mistake out of them.
But Jeffrey won’t learn and stays loyal to players long past their sell by date.
It got to the point where supporters were saracastically cheering passes to a blue shirt. I couldn’t blame them, they were rare, as were crosses we looked like scoring from.
I’ve backed him in the past, but I see nothing of David Jeffrey to believe he can turn it around now. Certainly not if he ignores a problem position targeted by opponents, and stays loyal to players who are long since being good enough.
And to top it off, if Glentoran win their game in hand tomorrow night, they are only 2 points behind us in the race for 3rd.
That issue should have been put to bed a long time ago. It is a damming statement that we are fighting for 3rd, having thrown away commanding positions v Ballymena, Glentoran and Distillery.
If we finish 4th, we really don’t deserve to have Crusaders help us qualify for the UEFA Cup.
Usual phototaking arrangements at Seaview. Managed to get some arty shots. Pity I got none of Linfield attacking.
Analogue Boy In A Digital World 