I Need A Bigger Living Room...

"Why?"

I hear you ask.

Well, Fred, it's like this - today I bought a 40" Samsung LCD TV (on which I'm watching Doctor Who right now), two-and-a-half times the physical size of my old telly and about €400 less than I would have paid if I hadn't travelled north to Newry, Co. Down to buy it.

There's a story there; a story of recession, of government panic, of the sudden death of the Celtic Tiger, of government short-sightedness, of people prepared to travel to do the weekly shop for half the price...

But I digress.

It's brilliant! Picture is sharp without being eye-watering, contrast is superb, pixellation on a normal digital signal is hardly noticeable, DVD playback - Ahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaa!!!

Pretty good.

I'm going to put in cinema seats, get a popcorn machine and charge admission.

I'll be rich beyond the dreams of avarice...

Question Of The Week...

How do you solve a problem like Maria?


Answers on a postcard to the Mother Superior, Benedictine Convent, Salzburg, Austria...

Gods Bless Eva Mendes...

I just got back from seeing 'The Spirit'.


There was a matinee show at my local cinema, and I sat in an audience of about fifty people of ages ranging from 12 to about 70.

It was interesting to note that the first people to walk out were three teenagers, followed shortly afterwards (and independently) by two senior citizens. Five more people left before the end, but one returned, so given an audience of fifty that meant that eighteen per cent of the audience hated it enough to go out early into the cold.

I remained, if only out of morbid curiousity, and was never so happy to see a movie's end credits in my life. By the end of the film, I was actually able to predict the dialogue before it was spoken (and I'm good, but not that good).

But surely there were some high points? I hear you ask, your pre-booked tickets awaiting collection.

Well, yes there were, but sadly not enough. Scarlett Johansson and Eva Mendes were excellent as Silken Floss and Sand Saref, Ms. Mendes every bit the femme fatale of Will Eisner's vision, and who stole every scene in which she appeared.

Dan Lauria was his usual solid self as Commissioner Dolan; Louis Lombardi as the cloned henchmen added some good comic touches.

Samuel L. Jackson was, well, Samuel L. Jackson, only in funny clothes. Stana Katic, Paz Vega and Jaime King, though pleasing to the eye, were superfluous characters who didn't advance the plot in any meaningful way.

And then there's Gabriel Macht. Hero-shaped, he fit the role of The Spirit as well as could be expected.

If anything, the cast were let down by the material. I have the greatest respect and admiration for Frank Miller as a graphic novelist and artist, a medium to which I hope he'll return, but this story did credit to nobody. Where it should have been a darkly-comic noir, it opted instead for an almost camp tone, with occasional bouts of introspective flashback.

And I never knew The Spirit kept cats (a metaphor, perhaps?)...

All in all, it's not a movie I'll be seeing again, nor adding to my DVD collection.

I leave the rest to your judgement.

I'm On My Way...

I'm going to see The Spirit this afternoon.


I hope it's good.

It's Almost Time...

Even though 2008's going to last an extra second due to the slowing of the Earth's rotation (sorry about that, long story, tell you later maybe), I hope that 2009 is going to have been worth waiting for, for all of us.

So to all of you, from all of me, have a very Happy New Year.

And beware, evildoers, wherever you are...

Recession? Maybe Not...

So I tried to buy a PlayStation 3 today.

Shopped around, picked what I figured was the best deal I was gonna get without going to Northern Ireland (80GB PS3 with FIFA09 and Resistance 2 for €399.99), took a ticket from the display and got in line.

When I reached the counter, the conversation went like this:

Me (handing deal ticket to manager): I'd like a PS3, please.

Manager (pointing to display): 'Which deal?'

Me (thinking it should be obvious from ticket but not being a smartass about it): 'Top left.'

Manager: 'All I have left is FIFA09 and Little Big World. Nothing else.'

Me: 'Can I pick a different game to Little Big World?'

Manager: 'No.'

Me: 'Can I get a credit for when Resistance 2 is in stock again?'

Manager: 'No.'

Me: "Thanks. Goodbye.'

Obviously the recession isn't biting as hard as we're led to believe...

Psst - Is It Over Yet?

Owing to the recent quite spectacular conjunction of some airborne virus and me (my own stupid fault - went out on patrol without an insulated helmet liner, and I don't need to tell you what that means 400 million miles from the Sun), I've been confined to the IncrediCave lately, having little or no contact with the outside world.

Wouldn't ordinarily trouble me overmuch, but it is Christmas, after all, and there is a certain amount of congregation of family that happens about this time each year.

And for the first time in my life, I missed it.

However I may feel about Christmas and what it has come to signify, I do look forward to dinner at my parents' house with everyone around. It's just one of those things.

So I resolve to dress more warmly this time next year.

Sentimental? Me?

Nah...

Question Of The Week...

It appears that Gordon Ramsay has a new book on sale entitled "Cooking For Friends".


How would he know?

And We're Back...

It's been a while - a lot of long days and some technical issues - but I'm back.

For now, at least.

This time next Friday I'll be heading to Milan for the weekend - the global recession meaning nothing to the annual IT Services Christmas Weekend.

It's something we've done where I work for the last several years, and a slap in the overpriced face of the Irish tourist industry, but for one weekend in December, a group of about a dozen of us visit a European city instead of having a Christmas party at home.

It started about six years ago when we couldn't find a venue in Dublin, so we booked an overnight in a hotel in Mullingar (a medium-sized town in the Midlands) so people could drive there and not worry about having to get home the same night.

It went well enough that we decided to do it again the following year, but prices had skyrocketed in the meantime, so it wasn't looking good.

Then Dr. Invisible suggested Madrid, and when we got our minds around the rather interesting concept, we said

"Why not?"

The cost of a hotel and return flights came to less than an Irish hotel was demanding for one night's accommodation, and we had a pretty good time except for the moment when - well, maybe I'll not mention that...
We visited the Palacio Réal, formerly the King's official residence but now a museum, and the Bernabeu Stadium, home of Réal Madrid football club.

The year after that, we went to Munich, where it snowed. Really. We took a bus tour and learned many things about the city and its history, ate dinner in a traditional Munich Beerhall after which I allegedly got two of us lost trying to direct a Turkish taxi driver to our hotel in German, a language I don't speak unless drunk.

The jury (as far as I'm concerned) is still out on that one.

Year before last was Amsterdam. A fascinating city. Some of us visited the Anne Frank House, a deeply moving experience, and something that any visitor to the city should not fail to take. We also took a canal boat tour, and sampled the local cuisine, which wasn't what I'd expected. There was a bit of shopping, and my luggage was damaged on the return trip, but I'd go back...

Last year, it was the South of France - Nice, to be exact, possibly the best trip we've taken yet. The weather was 20 degrees Celsius and not a cloud in the sky. Got a bit chilly at night, but life is flawed. We took a trip down the coast to Monaco where there was a Christmas Fair - they actually imported snow - and watched as a British tourist almost got himself shot (or bayoneted, perhaps) by the Palace Guard for approaching too close with his video camera while ignoring audible (and obvious) challenges to halt.

And so to Milan.

I passed through it last year, at about 4am on a train to Rome. I'm looking forward to seeing the Duomo, although I fear we may be unable to get tickets at short notice for Leonardo's Last Supper. But there will be other opportunities. I'll be happy enough to wander about the city and absorb some of its antiquity...

Could It Be?

A young, charismatic President-Elect.

An overwhelming electoral victory placing a Democrat from a hitherto-unelectable background in the most powerful office in the US.

Dancing in the streets.

It's like 1960 all over again.

And he's even Irish - doesn't get better than that.

Well done, America - thank you kindly.

America, The World Is Watching...

In just under two hours, polls begin to close in the easternmost states of the U.S., shortly after which we should begin to get some idea whether there will indeed be change in the White House, or four more years...

My regular reader (you know who you are) will recall an earlier post in which I relayed a report suggesting Diebold inadvertently gave away the name of the winner in advance.

It'd be funny if it wasn't so scary.

I'm putting on a pot of coffee; it's gonna be a long night.

The world is watching.