Bopping with Niall JP O'Leary

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Back of the Bus Phonecalls
2007-10-24 19:13:00
'They're both from Finglas. Ye won't leave me on my own!  'She's driving a 206. Her little sister is called Betty Kiley; her two little sisters are both crackers. She's coming in to see me. You're not going to leave me on me own now.'  Or so shouts the guy on the phone at the back of the bus. (I'm near the front).   'Listen', he repeats; 'I have a bird, she drives a 206. You get stuck into her sister. Her sister kinda has a fellah. You listening, she kinda has a fellah, but she has another car.  'I just got me hair cut so I have to go home and wash it. What? You're going to the flats. Your grandda and that. Well, I'll see you when you get in.  'And listen. Don't forget some hash!'
More About: Back

I Have Heard the Mermaids Singing
2007-10-16 10:03:00
I awoke in the middle of the night to a stange singing. This wasn't a drunken anthem, but an ethereal woman's voice, a wordless chant in the darkness. But who was it and where was it coming from? I moved the curtain to look outside, but there was no one. Besides it was too clear, yet low, to be coming through the window glass. From outside my room? Unlikely. It seemed to be coming from the very air itself.  It wasn't; it was my laptop. Earlier I had be listening to music when the laptop battery died. Rather than plug it in to shut it down, I closed the lid and packed it on the floor. Spontaneously, in the night, it had switched itself back on, apparently squeezing together enough juice for one more song. So much for mermaids.
More About: Singing

Black Sheep
2007-10-15 00:59:00
For many years now I have wanted to see a 70s movie called 'Night of the Lepus'. This is not a well-regarded film. In fact it is generally reviled. However, its tale of giant rabbits terrorising the American Southwest seems so silly as to be irresistable, even though the film is apparently played straight. 'Black Shee p ' with its tale of genetically altered sheep going on the rampage in backlands New Zealand is just as gloriously silly, but this time played strictly for (gory) laughs. You know you're dealing with something special when a man tackles a giant human/sheep hybrid with a bottle of mint sauce.  Of course, animal rights activists set off the unnatural train of events in what has now become a staple of horror since '28 Days Later' at least. Seeking evidence of illegal genetic experiments, the 'do-gooders' accidentally unleash a monstrosity on the local sheep (and human) population, turning all it bites into crazed mutants with a taste for blood. With 4...

The Birds and the Bees
2007-10-12 10:55:00
I just passed two pigeons close, close together on a pipe, one grooming the other. How does that happen?
More About: Birds , Bees

Sadistic Memory
2007-10-12 10:49:00
It's a sad fact of this human's condition that I rarely recall the successes in my life, only the regrets. I suppose it's a spur to do better, but it doesn't make for happy mornings. In true Proustian tradition, a smell, a person at a bus stop, a time of year will recall past indignities, errors of judgment or lost opportunities. Lost opportunities, that's a big one. Of course, were it not for the 'mistakes' of the past we would never have the treasures of the present, chief among those, friends.  I'm also conscious of something of a misrepresentation in the above; just recently I have been remembering some good things, especially of my recent travels. What I have seen! What I have seen. Just sitting at a Bangkok breakfast table waiting for an omelette, staring at the small pool. The spaceship in the car park in Coober Pedy. Or the smell in Rotorua, waiting for the bus to bring us to a hangi. Or puffing up the Great Wall with that poor Mongolian woman smilin...
More About: Memory

Who Guards the Guards?
2007-10-11 10:34:00
I watched an interesting report on Newsnight last night. Granted it was presented with its tongue firmly in its cheek (to mask the despair, one feels), it asked the qeustion why there is no law against British MPs lying. Visiting several MPs, including Jack Straw, it first gained their consensus that a.) they represent the sovereignty of the people, and b.) they had an obligation to be honest to the electorate and in the work they did for the electorate. So why isn't there a law against a politician lying in matters of Government business, they were asked. Because you can't have a law against lying, they replied; everybody lies. To which the interviewer cited the Merchant Act, the Trader's Act, the Trade Descriptions Act, etc. There are laws against lying. For instance, a company director can be chased through the courts for lying to his shareholders. Well, replied the politicians, once a politician lies their career is over. When pushed on this, they had to admit that ...
More About: Guards , The G

Morning on the Bus
2007-10-09 10:35:00
There's a guy reading 'Timescape' across the bus aisle from me now, and he isn't too far from the end. Behind, two girls are practising the trolley-dolly thing for when they're older. An old man with a hat and a box of garden stuff has just got on and wants to sing. Snatches of song erupt occasionally. Now 'Timescape' has been given up for a loud, annoying phonecall. The call just ended. Reading continues. Old man smacks his lips between humming. Is that guy with the baseball hat blind? He has a cane. Girls get off. Fat woman with skinny schoolchild gets on, and separately a sporty, fit girl. Yes, that guy's getting off at the National Council for the Blind. And so it continues as more get on and work gets inevitably closer.
More About: Morning

After the Dream
2007-10-09 00:33:00
I had a happy-ish dream last night. I was back in primary school, although judging by the age of those around me (schoolfriends), it was more like a repeat year for the leaving cert; we were all elder teenagers. The weather was so bad out, that we had closed heavy shutters over the large windows and so the playground, creating a classroom gloom. Mr Hodgins, my teacher from 5th and 6th class, was apparently our teacher in this scenario too, but for some reason he never turned up. We were unsupervised. Still we were fairly studious, or at least quiet. I for one was studying the class beauty, Rita Hayworth no less and at a school leaving age, who was sitting right in front and to the left of me. All was peaceful, nothing much was being done, and I actually felt calm and sure of myself, not feelings I have ever associated with school. Not unpleasant though any of this was, none of it was the happy bit though. No. Apparently the only one able to stand, I got up to go to the win...
More About: Dream , The Dream , The-Dream

A Sad Loss: Irish Actor, Tom Murphy, Dies
2007-10-08 21:23:00
I only learnt today of the sad passing of Irish actor, Tom Murphy , on Saturday. In his mid-thirties, he had already featured in many Irish films ('Man About Dog', 'Intermission', etc.), and was a stalwart of the Irish stage. In 1998 he won a Tony for his performance on Broadway in 'The Beauty Queen of Leenane'. I was fortunate enough to see him onstage in 'Everyday', a play by the Corn Exchange Theatre Company, but for me he will always be immortal for his role as Paul in the brilliant, 'Adam and Paul'. Perhaps the best Irish movie ever made, he was alternately hilarious and heartbreaking. A real loss to Irish stage and screen.
More About: Loss , Actor , Dies

The Irish Government, aka the Drinks Cabinet
2007-10-08 02:52:00
It seems fairly appropriate that our Minister for Defence, Willie O'Dea (where are the little people?), should make it into the news for wanting to start a fight. (http://www.google.ie/gwt/n?mrestrict=xht ml&site=search&q=willie+o%27dea&a mp;source=m&hl=en&ei=-3kJR4CUI4iI nAPyjuyZAg&ct=res&cd=7&rd=1&a mp;u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.examiner.ie%2Firish examiner%2Fpages%2Fstory.aspx-qqqg%3Direl and-qqqm%3Direland-qqqa%3Direland-qqqid%3 D44368-qqqx%3D1.asp) Somehow though picking a brawl in a local bar is not usually what defence ministers are meant to do. (Gentlemen, please, you can't fight here. This is a war room!) Anyway considering the little git's behaviour, only one word springs to mind: gobshite! Actually several words spring to mind, the same words that spring to mind when Mr O'Dea's friend and colleague, Mr Bertie Ahern is mentioned: ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha...
More About: Government , Drinks , Irish , Cabinet , Cabin

Daywatch
2007-10-07 23:08:00
Despite the same preoccupations with destiny, responsibility and redemption as its predecessor, not to mention the same spectacular effects, 'Daywatch', the sequel to the Russian blockbuster, 'Nightwatch', just doesn't work.  The first film tried to beat Hollywood at its own game, using special effects more commonly seen in 'X-Men' or 'Independence Day', to tell a story that, though sometimes messy, nevertheless had a little more intellectual weight than its American counterparts. The new movie also provides a lot for the eyes. Unfortunately in the process it has forgotten about the brain. The storyline is a shambles. As before the forces of good and evil are locked in an uneasy truce, with the 'Dark Ones' trying to provoke a war believing that they have an edge. That edge is the boy, Yegor, a 'Great One', and the son of hero, Anton. A mysterious 'Chalk of Destiny' is added to this already heady brew.  Despite having numerous possibilities open th...

Viva Espana!
2007-10-06 22:05:00
It is very tempting to talk of work, ie. university webwork, particularly when the day-to-day doings of university personnel make for some truly absurd comedy. It wouldn't be appropriate, however, so, much as I'd like to vent my spleen on all concerned, I will not. Instead let me just write that a large project that I am involved in, a website redesign, has not yet been launched a year and a half after it was begun and two weeks after it was ready to go live. The reasons are funny. Trust me, they are. Funny, as long as you don't have to work with them.After much drinking, following much web spinning, Spidey here ain't too well. The traditional winter chest infection has set in. After last year's trip to sunnier climes for the winter (and I defintely include the South Pole in that), I'd almost forgotten the miserable ordeal that is Ireland in the winter. Still, the last day or so has been beautiful. It's just what lies ahead that bothers me.Thankfully I have four days...
More About: Espana , Viva

Rosalind's Party
2007-10-06 04:10:00
James's wife, Rosalind, was celebrating her fortieth. Under the weather with a cold, I still wouldn't miss the celebration, so I made my way out to The Dropping Well in Milltown. There was a strong contingent from work there, including the boss. Lots of drink. (James, you madman, plying us, of all people, with free gargle!!!!) Great food; picture me, wild-eyed, scooping handfuls of black forest gateau into my mouth after they took away the forks. And great music from DJs Seb and Al. I even karaoked ('House of Fun'). A great night and a great couple (James and Rosalind, that is, not Seb and Al, though they're lovely too).
More About: Party

More Music
2007-10-06 04:04:00
The thing that really bugs me about Mendelssohn's 5th is the final movement. He comes up with this really wonderful opening theme and then doesn't use it, utilising instead a whole load of Mendelssohn standards. I'm not saying those elements are bad, but he has a real meaty theme, a Brahmsian theme, and instead he falls back on the predictable. That's late Mendelssohn all over. Lazy, when he could be amazing. He always cheers me up, but he never inspires me with awe.
More About: Music

Death Proof
2007-09-30 22:04:00
I thought Tarantino could write, but now I'm not so sure. 'Death Proof ' the 'Fifth Movie by QuentinTarantino' (as the poster proudly proclaims) is a movie of two halves, both of them dull.  Stuntman Mike, a grizzled veteran of Old Hollywood, gets his sadistic kicks from running beautiful young women (of which there seem to be carloads in this otherwise deserted part of America) off the road. The first half shows him successful, the second has him meet his match. Despite good talent on show (and in skimpy skirts and shorts, the victims are on show), there is little story here, and the dialogue that usually is Tarantino's strength, lets him down here. Maybe it's because he's writing for so many women, or rather his version of women. It is ironic that the first movie in years to feature meaty roles for a multitude of women, treats them as so much meat. The only entertainment supplied is a violent climactic car chase. Even here the violence feels vindictive rather ...
More About: Death Proof

Digging for Diamonds
2007-09-29 23:54:00
Well, I had the headache if not the fully fledged handover. That will teach me to drink strawberry beer!  I read a couple of stories ghostwritten by Lovecraft; 'The Last Case', 'Two Black Bottles', and 'The Thing in the Moonlight' There can be no tension where there is no possibility of surprise, and his formula is too uniform to offer that. The only enjoyment to be derived comes from the originality of each story's horror. In that respect he has a lot in common with television shows like (the oh, so enjoyable) 'Kolchak: The Night Stalker', and its descendent 'The X-Files'. Sadly the 'horrors' of these particular Lovecraft tales weren't too original either. Only the two-page 'The Thing in the Moonlight' had a real hint of the bizarre, though 'The Last Case' with its initial prison setting did put me in mind of 'Beyond Reanimator'.  In total contrast I picked up my Edith Nesbith collection then and read 'The Violet Car'. Edith Nesbit is famous...
More About: Diamonds

It Annoys Me
2007-09-29 03:09:00
It annoys me that the very moment you are moved by something, eg. a piece of music, so much so that you feel compelled to write, that the stupid e-mail system 'fails' and the word is halted. Why?  Yes , I am drunk and yes, I walked from Phibsboro to town to hear some music (mp3 player). Tippett's 'Fantasia on a Theme by Corelli' is fantastic, even if no one else agrees. It constantly threatens to go out of control but never quite does. Fantastic! I have loved it for many a year and hope I always do.  The Registry had their annual party to celebrate the end of registration so I have been on strawberry beer all night. I know the hangover that is in store for me, but these are the sacrifices one makes for a glass half full night. Good night in the Porterhouse North even if some old (attached) friends couldn't make it. Probably as well.  Dvorak's Nocturno for Violin and Piano has just started. The Master of Melody! Can you get much better?
More About: Anno

Confession
2007-09-29 02:57:00
I love that last Schubert mass. Agnus Deiiiiiiiiiii!
More About: Confession , Fess

Some Definitions
2007-09-28 01:40:00
Diplomacy: The art of lying for one's country. Ambrose Bierce  A Lie: The shortest distance without true points. O'Leary  Sea: Big, blue, wobbly thing that mermaids live in. Baldrick
More About: Definitions , Some

Will Anyone Help?
2007-09-27 23:14:00
I really wish I could share Phil's optimism on the situation in Burma (see the comments to Crimescene 9:10 am), but it's all looking very bleak. Yes, China is urging restraint, but only because they want stability (not democracy), so that their trade and energy aspirations etc. can continue unaffected. They really couldn't care less whether there is a Junta in power or not, but given that it guarantees the current trade model, and the stability of those oil and gas sources, they prefer the status quo. On the positive side, they don't want to look bad to the world with the Olympics looming. At the end of the day though, China can handle losing face; they don't have to answer to anyone. (Personally, I don't see them as having any face to lose). And what of India? Or Thailand? Or the Koreas? No, money talks, and as is the case in Laos and Cambodia (and for that matter China), as long as it is speaking, the people will not be heard.Forget about their neighbours and forget...

A Sci-Fi Shortcut
2007-09-27 23:11:00
I just finished 'Science Fiction Cinema: From Outerspace to Cyberspace', part of the Short Cuts series on Film Studies. Not too bad. It provided a reasonable survey of the genre and the theory, though by its very nature it skimmed rather than go into any real depth. Do not expect in-depth analysis (even of the case study chosen, 'The Phantom Menace'). Often it seemed to be just name-dropping, both theories and films. Nevertheless for a nut like me it's nice to be reminded of the classics, as well as the fact that I am not alone in treasuring them. From 'Forbidden Planet', with Leslie Nielsen playing Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' in space, to Carpenter playing things true to Campbell's original story ('Who Goes There?') in 'The Thing'. A lot was left out though, particularly the mad scientist movies from the 30s (eg. 'The Man They Couldn't Hang', 'Doctor X', 'Devil Doll', the Invisble Man series). Or Germany's Alraune series of films, about the then scien...
More About: Shortcut

Time Enough at Last?
2007-09-24 23:15:00
I read today that Ahern told journalists on Saturday that he resents the Tribunal because it doesn't leave him time to read. Like the rest of us. Imagine if for three days of your presumably undemanding life as leader of a country you didn't have the time to read. The poor man!* I have completely revised my opinion of the poor recluse. To think of all that time in a public forum answering questions. Damn it, the poor man is worried that they might have him there until he's old and grey! (Well, old anyway). And after three days already would you be surprised! That's three days people! It could go to four. Maybe even five! Have a heart, Judge Mahon! Why can't you let Bertie get back to the Dail where he can stand in a public place and um, answer questions, and um, maybe even get some reading done....  I mean of course when the Dail actually opens again this Wednesday. To think that you're disturbing the poor hermit's holidays! There's only three months of ...
More About: Time

Knocked Up
2007-09-24 22:32:00
A peculiarly unfunny, if sometimes insightful, comedy. Accused of being misogynistic; it isn't. It's not even misanthropic. It just says we're all shit, celebrate the excrement. Certainly if the female characters are not always likeable, the male characters are no ideals either. Then again maybe it's just Americans. Or maybe it's just us. There is a 'crowning' shot in the birth scene that had a girl behind me exclaiming loudly, 'That's unacceptable!' It does prompt the question how some comedies (and supposed comedies) can get away with the most taboo things. Think of the zip scene in 'Something About Mary', the coathanger quip in 'South Park', the entire contents of 'The Holiday'. Now that last really should be taboo!
More About: Knocked Up

Crimescene 9:10 am
2007-09-24 10:52:00
Just passed a crimescene outside the aptly nicknamed Abraca-stab-ra. It's fenced off while a forensics guy snaps pics of the blood on the ground and measures the scene. A spilled cup of puke colours one corner.  Just this moment they have taken down the tape. People are now walking over the blood. Monday doesn't stop for a Sunday night.
More About: Rime

"A F*cking Master!"
2007-09-23 20:58:00
Last night was Killian's 30th and given the personalities involved, it was a surprisingly subdued (though still enjoyable) affair. He'd booked the upstairs part of O'Brien's on Leeson Street and between good food, a good DJ and lots of booze, everyone enjoyed things. I didn't even fight with Justin's Uncle Mick over politics! The Dell girls, who weren't Dell girls after all, were particularly distracting, though each was 'involved' as usual. Anyhow the others headed on to Traffic, I believe, but I headed off home at 2.Nice to be called a f*cking master by Francisco in reference to my PHP skills (and he should know). He was the resident programmer while I was away on my travels and the week before they (idiotically) let him go, they saddled him with a big database project. He did what he could but it was an impossible task to achieve in a week and it subsequently fell on my desk (right when I didn't need it). Anyhow it's done now and it's good to know that at least...
More About: Master , Mast , Aster

Flying Bowler Hats, Batman!
2007-09-23 18:19:00
If I had questions about the use of music with silent artfilms yesterday, then I was doubly conflicted today. With films by Duchamps, Leger, Richter, Man Ray and Dali/Bunuel, the emphasis was on abstraction. In the case of Duchamps his mad spinning spirals and nonsensical aphorisms have no narrative, shouldn't have a narrative and did not warrant the narrative push 3epkano lent through their music. To reach a musical climax was inappropriate (a Steve Reich approach of a constant tone would have been more suitable).  I have seen Leger's piece, 'Ballet Mechanique' several times before, and it worked far better with the live accompaniment, though the clue to this success was in the title. Conceived with a musical sensibility, the film was a musical experience waiting to happen. Consequently music and film worked well.  The sound original of Hans Richters' 'Ghosts Before Breakfast' was destroyed by the Nazis (as degenerate art), so this silent version did warra...
More About: Batman , Flying , Hats , Bowl

Spit on me Dickie!
2007-09-22 16:16:00
As part of the Fringe, an ensemble, 3epkano, were staging a performance in the IFI entitled 'Cinema of Silence', in which they play live accompaniment to some silent arthouse movies. I already had my ticket for Sunday's performance, but I learnt yesterday that there was a different programme today. Three of the movies were by Maya Deren, including 'Meshes of an Afternoon', the movie I had seen in the Tate. I went along.  As can be grasped from my last posting, I place a lot of importance on a film's score, but each of these movies was made to be silent. To put a score on them is to change their effect, emphasising a particular interpretation over others. As such I was wary, but there was no denying the power and entertainment value the score added. Deren's films really came alive, particulary 'Meshes' and 'At Land'. I have seen 'Meshes' several times now so understanding it should be clearer, but it seemed clear as day today. Of course, and I make no apol...
More About: Spit

Atonement
2007-09-22 15:20:00
With its mix of tragic love, World War 2 and class boundaries (not to mention a cameo appearance by director Anthony Minghella), it's not difficult to see 'Atonement ' as an Oscar-hungry pretender to 'The English Patient' throne. In many ways it's a worthy successor.  Like that earlier film, this is based on an acclaimed novel, in this case Ian McEwan's 'Atonement'. It tells of a love across class boundaries thwarted by a child's foolishness. After 'Pride and Prejudice', director Joe Wright recruits Keira Knightly once more as the female love interest, Cecelia, with 'The Last King of Scotland's James McEvoy playing the dashing housekeeper's son.  Dario Marianelli, the composer behind 'Pride and Prejudice's beguiling score, continues his reworking of old classical forms, pastiching Beethoven, Chopin and even some more modern minimalist. Ironically it is the more romantic works that I felt were out of place, though key to understanding Wright's visio...
More About: Tone

Get Wet!
2007-09-21 10:39:00
For too long Ireland has hung its head in shame at its weather. Without balmy summers or crisp snowfalls, we have seen our country as an Atlantic rock visited only by rain. This rain is a special rain though. Perpetual without being lethal, ubiquitous without being intrusive, it provides the soundtrack to our daily lives. I say no more to our shame! Let us stand up with Australia, yodel with the Swiss, and otherwise cry out our pride in the precipitation that powers our nation! Viva Irish rain! Long live the water! Get wet!

Any Which Way But Lose
2007-09-17 20:12:00
I finally saw the trailer for 'No Country for Old Men' yesterday and it looks scarily faithful to the novel (I recognised every scene). The casting, outside of Jones, is probably not what I would have made, but that doesn't mean it won't work. For instance, Javier Bardem as Chigurh is a strange choice, but the novel does indicate that he's European and I really don't know who I would have chosen anyway. It's going to be nasty any which way you look at it.