iris part two

i must be a bit slow, but i have just worked out what iris is up to.

i have never heard her say anything vaguely religious before, and the day after her husband takes over from "the big man", she is gay bashing, because that is what the bible clearly says and she always does what the bible says.

it seems that it is purely a political move to reassure the religious(bigoted) voters that voted for the DUP because Ian was religious(a bigot).
she picks on a group that are never going to vote for them to keep the people who might not vote for them next time. and she uses god to do it.

very clever political move, but completely offensive and cycnical.

bitch.

don't say nothing if you ain't got anything nice to say

iris robinson - without make up

our new mrs first minister said some things which people have some issue with.

it just saddens me that this ignorance is what we get from elected officials here, but it saddens me more that she uses the bible and her protestant faith to back these things up.

makes you wonder.

eur a wanker

beard of the month - may

this feature threatens to be of the short term, or sporadic variety as sadly there are not a lot of beards around in current affairs worthy of the "botm" title.
but it is always nice to honour the greatest tv show ever made.
full of fantastic characters, but possibly the greatest and certainly the beardiest of the lot is toby ziegler.
always engaging, intelligent, funny and annoyed he is a fine ambassador of beardiness.

"were you distracted by a bumble bee?"

ken lee

i only heard about this yesterday, but apparently it's a famous you tube clip.
outstanding

james blunt

fucking cunt

melons

beard of the month - april

i'm not entirely convinced by this for a few reasons, but the beard of the month for april is glen hansard.
firstly, i am not sure if he really counts as a beardy, or if it just that he doesn't shave that often.
secondly, i have always disliked the frames, and written them off as over rated dicks from dublin.

but "once" is the best film that i have seen in a long time, and he was a legend as outspan in the commitments.
plus he says fuck a lot.
so for these reasons, glen hansard is duely appointed beard of the month.

beard of the month - march

seeing as it is easter this month it seems appropriate to appoint jesus as beard of the month. i'm not sure if it is taking it too far to call him "the original beardy bastard"

who will win the democratic nomination?

the weird mix of news stories today about political leaders at home and abroad, made me wonder...why don't the democrats choose ian paisley to run against john "71" mccain? that would be pretty interesting.

i know it sounds ridiculous, but so does the idea of paisley sharing power with martin mcguiness. you never know what the doc is going to next.

american dreamers

check me out adding a video to my blog.
at the risk of sounding racist - americans are fucking weird.
having seen a few shows recently from gordon ramseys kitchen nightmares usa. gordon ramsey's shows are usually a bit of a guilty pleasure for me (maybe just because they warn of strong language at the start of each show)but this american version is freaky.
the editing turns it into a big sensational showdown. you see some clips four times during the show as they preview what is coming next.
as for the freaks that gordon shouts at and ultimately turns around (every time - this is america)it is hard to work out what planet they are on.

the video clip which i embedded (quite proud of that one) is from "american inventor" which has all the hype of x factor or american idol, but is for people who have invented stuff. i watched 20 minutes and simply couldn't take any more. the highlight has to be george "minigrill" foreman saying yes to everyone. he seems genuinely impressed by these peoples "inventions".

there is just such a difference between northern irish culture and the us of a. i loved watching "pimp my ride uk" just to see the crap reactions compared to the over the top hollering that the americans do so well.

having said that shows like lost and west wing are just amazing, and i do enjoy lots of american things, and i am fully aware that not everyone is "fucking weird" in america.

just thought i would share that.

new feature - beard of the month

february's beard of the month is the rowan williams...keep checking to see who will win next month

music pt1

there may never be a part two, but i just didn't want to leave the impression that this was all i had to say about music.

apparently there is new u2 album due out this year. and i have to say that i am not sure if i will bother buying it - at all. this is quite a big deal seeing as i have twice queued at midnight on a sunday night to be one of the first people to own it. but "how to dismantle an atomic bomb" was shit. one or two half decent songs, but as an album it was pretty poor.

i don't want to be one of thse people who don't like u2 because they are the biggest band in the world - cos they're dicks (DMC), but i think they have released their last good album. i won't be forking out £60 to go and see them again. (when i say see them, i mean watch them on a big screen from a great distance).

the other "big" albums on my radar this year are REM and coldplay. i have heard the new REM song and it is pretty good - i like REM. i think coldplay might be doing a good album, based on the fact the first and third one was poo and their second one was great.

i suppose i should mention the brits this week.

kick out the jams, motherfucker

check out the new podcast from nvtv (belfast community tv station). it features the flagship show "kick out the jams" which is filmed, directed and produced by my bro and his friend.
you can subscribe to it through itunes here

c'mon you beardy bastard

the archbeard of canterbury has caused a bit of an uproar today by saying that we should maybe consider the views of others.
they are askng for people to text in to radio one about and they say they have got almost total opposition to this, i think mainly based on racist grounds.

i'm not sure whether the beard has got it right, but i applaud the fact that he is raising a question about someone elses's views and not just complaining about christian values not being represented in all laws and government policies.

and i applaud his beard too.

in rainbows

it's maybe a bit boring to blog about radiohead, but since when did blogs need to be interesting.
just wanted to say that in rainbows is a fantastic album. i say that about every radiohead album, but this one is so good that it makes everything since ok computer seem a little bit irrelevant. and that is saying alot because kid a, amnesiac and hail to the theif were really good albums.
i look forward to seeing the best band in the world in dublin this june. if you haven't checked out in rainbows already - you really should.

friends

i haven't blogged in a long time - since last year, but i have been doing a lot of blog reading.

i have found a few posts on different blogs really intriguing and challenging, to the point where i am sometimes left in a bit of a daze for days. and i honestly don't know what i have to say that could add to the questions that people like todger and contrary mary are asking.

i have so far resisted the facebook thing (not that it has taken much resistance if i'm honest), but the notion of how people define who their friends are is funny.

i have had an odd day today with news from two friends. one good and one not. it has kind of affected my whole day, as i try to get my head round these things and try to get back to focusing on myself.

as i get older, friendship change and mean different things.

i am not good with meeting new people and making small talk, and so find it difficult to make new friends, but when i do it is something i value more than when i was a hormonal teenager running around in packs.

but my closest friends are those who have been through harder times with me. those who were there when it really meant something. these people have changed my life and i will always love them for that. i try to be like them when others are going through tough times and try to show some love and understanding.

i don't really know what i am saying with this post, but i wanted in some way to pay public tribute to those who i am close to, without actually naming them.

as i was typing this, brian houston started singing "what a friend we have in jesus" and this added to my oddly emotional day. then party shuffle took me to some kids nursery rhyme, which kind of wrecked the moment.

i also thought i would give the blog a 2008 face lift, as i like making things look new.

anyway, this year i am going to be an amazing friend