I was at a free bar on Friday night, American Apparel have opened a new shop in BCN, so they threw a night.
Every two-bit mod in the city was out - they’re so not used to free booze here - so due to the queue at the bar - it took so long to get to the bar, I only got one solitary beer all night! And if you’re wondering why I didn’t ask for something a bit stronger than a beer on that occasion, well, when I got there they reported that they had no clean glasses - I nearly said gimme a dirty one then - but anyways - tis a handy way to control free drink, with no available glasses.
When will people finally learn once and for all that Ireland is NOT part of the United Kingdom.
Here’s a screenshot from their site taken this morning:
There’s a suspected car bomb incident in London this morning. The device in question has been made safe. There was no explosion, and no injuries. For this I am relieved.
The BBC News website quotes an “intelligence source” here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6252276.stm, saying “All options, including the Irish, are open at this stage” in reference to who might be responsible for the suspected terror attack.
This shouldn’t NEED to be said, but with such a sloppy turn of phrase chosen by this “intelligence source” and then quoted by the BBC, I’d like to point out that the term “Irish” refers to the population of Ireland as a whole: old, young, male, female, north and south, catholic and protestant, muslim, jew and atheist alike. It’s a rather large brush that has been used to paint the canvas - and a bloody insult. I’m not impressed.
Over the last two years I’ve had various good web ideas. Two of which I’ve gone ahead to build and put live. One was Post Expression, the other, soon-to-launch is bicingTag.
I’m involved in web design you see. So when I get good web ideas I set about building these things myself, or working with people who have skills I don’t, to build them.
Post Expression is a fabulous idea, but the programming of it, done off-shore was torturous. The developer might take a hike for three days and leave us to just… sit there. Or some element might get added, and when we’d try it, it was full of bugs. The process of programming took so many months that all my enthusiasm for what is a novel concept just disappeared.
I find the same with bicingTag right now. It’s taking long than planned. I’m going thru page after page with the developer (different guy to Post Expression) and finding more and more to do as each page passes. I mean, basic example: there’s a photo upload button, and when you upload the functionality will accept jpg, not gif. Why Not?! When it gets uploaded there’s no option to delete the image and replace it with another image. Why not?! There has to be, for usability sake, and therefore I’ll sit here, with my eyes closing from boredom and frustration boiling in my veins, while I ensure this basic stuff gets done. He’s a good guy, the programmer, and seem interested in doing the work work well, so we’ll get through it. Again however, my enthusiasm for a good idea is being diluted to such a point, where I’m afraid that when the site goes live, I won’t have any energy left to promote it: just like what happened to Post Expression.
My advise to anyone in my position: get someone else to do it. Or else it will kill you. I can’t see myself taking on another project like this for a very long time.
(IRMA, is there anything you can do here, it might be a better use of your time?)
Albania’s tastes must be as bad as our own, they were the only country to vote for Ireland (five points) on Saturday night’s Eurovision Song Contest.
Ireland first participated in 1965, and of the 40 appearances between then and now, our previous worst outing was in 2005, when we came a lowly 14th. Last night we managed 24th and last position.
The once proud music tradition of Ireland’s Eurovision entries, seven-times-winners, lies in tatters. Damn-it, we won it three-times-in-a-row between 1992 and 1994!
With the Balkan-bloc, the Baltic-bloc and the Russian-bloc, it’s hard to imagine another western-European winning this competition again. Serbia won this year: they were awarded the competition’s maximum score by five of its eight neighbours. Political back-scratching was thinly disguised.
Dervish, who I admire (in a non-Eurovision setting), were one of the few acts on the night to brandish more than one music instrument on stage. Perhaps it’s time for a rethink on a number of issues:
1. Should we let the Irish public vote for our Eurovision representative each year, a democratic vote is evidently a poor selector.
2. The voting procedure: it needs to change. Croatia giving Serbia, who gave Croatia in return, 12 points. Come on! Do you not remember the war!?
3. Do we really need to endure such insult at all? Only because Albania’s tastes are so… dated… compared to the rest of Europe did we get any points at all.
Bah-humbug.
On May 1st 2007 I put this blog live, wrote something, published it, then took the blog down. Nah, I said, who needs another frigging blog that no ones reads?
So I took the blog down, and put my site back up, just another site, a site like it had been since November 2001.
Then May 11th 2007 came, and with it an e-mail from IRMA (Irish Recorded Music Association) demanding that 29 mp3s I was hosting should be removed. “Should this matter not be resolved to our satisfaction, further steps will be taken.”
I wrote simple stuff, nothing earthshattering, but carefully selected tunes nonetheless, like Nina Simone’s “Four Women” - I wrote “An obscure path led me to this track, the story of four women, each told in a single verse - takes a little getting used to, perhaps - but a beautiful haunting track nonetheless.”
This Nina Simone track was one of the 29 mp3s in question that “have not been authorised by the copyright owner for reproduction, distribution or any other use.”
I wonder IRMA, if you even know who Manu Chao, Kent, Vincent Gallo, Echobrain and Joy Zipper are? No, I suppose not. You’re just doing you’re job, right?
You do seem to know Aslan, Bellefire, Westlife and Samantha Mumba though - it says so on your site: http://irma.ie/irishm.htm
I wonder also do you know how many people have read my muso-ramblings since 2001 and bought and supported artists as a result of my sharing? No, I suppose not. You’re just doing you’re job, right?
For one, there’s Trisch, who had never heard of Beth Gibbons on March 21st 2003 when she mailed me, but bizarrely enough, has since started working for the PR company that promotes Beth Gibbons, and Trisch now runs that account.
Then there was Bart Postma from Holland who on July 21st 2004 mailed me to say: “thanks a lot for introducing me to all the great music! All i listen to now is 79Cortinaz, Whipping Boy and Simple Kid.”
Where else would a band like 79Cortinaz get exposure but on a site like mine, they’re from CARLOW for God’s sake! (And they’re very good!)
Then there Grace Davis from California who on September 29th 2004 wrote to say: “I have thoroughly enjoyed Christopher O’Reilly and Max Richter. As a result I’ve been inspired to return to the piano after nearly 40 years.”
And on October 13th 2004, John Beale from somewhere in England who said: “I very much appreciate your mp3 pages - it’s been a great way to find out about bands that i’d never have looked at previously. Thanks and keep up the great work.”
And the scores more of, now-that-I-reflect, pretty inspirational emails received.
I’ve now decided this blog should live, in dedication to IRMA, and to the death of my site that recommended tunes because I love music. Irish Recorded Music Association indeed.
Thank you IRMA.