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I wouldn’t normally be one to be too negative about things that try to bring arts, culture and music of Northern Ireland to the forefront of traditional media, such as television, but sometimes it just doesn’t work. Who am I kidding, in N.I. most ideas like this don’t work. Then again it is the BBC - they don’t provide a budget for local talent to be seen and heard through T.V. or Radio.
Yes there are exceptions, yet not enough. Those exceptions don’t have any sort of decent budget like they should either. Not to get boiled down in such a heated issue right now. The point is, they have actually gotten something semi-right.
The Show in question is Imeall Geal, the new oddly titled Irish Language show, which in English translates as ‘Bright Edge’, now into its fourth week of filming, with three shows to be aired so far on BBC 2 each Thursday at 10pm.
The show comprises of two music acts, one unsigned, from Northern Ireland, the other a big name act from North or South of Ireland. So far the unsigned acts have included Mary’s Great Idea, The Delawares and Ruby Colley - all great musicians and people. In the previous shows there was an ‘exposé’, which in the past has had some very strange topic choices that I fail to see how anyone would be even slightly interested in.
My suggestion would be to remove the crap about the physique of the Jordanstown rugby team, the couple who have trust issues, Jeremey Paxman’s need for more crotch support, and other such non-stories which have no relevance what-so-ever to the rest of the programme, and just stick to the music.
a) It’s in Irish, so few people are going to watch it.
b) There are Irish bands, leading Irish music fans to watching it - do they really care about the rest?
There is a need for a programme like this. At just under 30 minutes I believe it should revolve around the music: short introduction clip of the band, songs from two bands, followed by short chat with the band. Thats what they have.
It’s a good start.
On Sunday the legendary Henry McCullough, was on the show. This man proves that you really are only as young as you feel, Henry seems to have a has a very ‘young’ attitude to life and such passion in what he does. It was great to have him tell stories of his youth to interested parties all around him.
Having seen him perform at Glasgowbury last summer I immediately fell in love with the music. If anything this man looks like a legend.
Once he had finished playing and tucked into the selection of tea and biscuits, I asked for a photograph and so he gave me the opportunity to get a few snaps before telling us of playing guitar at 17 and suede red shoes .
After some discussion about ‘hip-hop’ between the presenters and a guest, Henry was questioned on growing up in Portstewart and playing music in the North, not afraid to speak his mind and stretch his tales drawing everyone back to the 60s with him as he recalled playing guitar with Paul McCartney.
This was followed by a discussion about the Rotterdam bar with someone [name to be filled in later] involved in the Save The Rotterdam campaign - something quite relevant. And on that, I overheard that all will be decided in June.
The guest artist, Meghan McWilliams played a song which will no doubt have credits rolling along the bottom of the screen for the last 30-40 seconds marking the end of the show - and what seemed to me to be a better show than the previously aired ‘drafts’ of what can be done.
Unfortunately Meghan doesn’t have tracks on her myspace so I can’t listen to any more of her music, nor find out the name of the track she played, hopefully she is busy recording.
This episode of Imeall Geal will be aired tonight at 10pm on BBC 2, or watch it on the BBC iPlayer the following week.
Tomorrow Belfast band Mary’s Great Idea will be on the new Irish language chat and music show from BBC Northern Ireland called Imeall Geal, which translates as ‘Bright Edge’. Last Sunday they performed in front of a live studio audience in Newry’s Sean Hollywood Art Centre along with Dublin band Director.
The idea being that each week two bands perform, one an unsigned band from Northern Ireland and the other a bigger name band from throughout Ireland. Other acts to perform in coming weeks include Ruby Colley, The Delawares, Olympic Lifts, Henry McCullough, Foy Vance, and The Winding Stair.
Click here to view a short interview with Mary’s Great Idea.
Imeall Geal is on BBC Two Northern Ireland each Thursday at 10pm
Last week I was asked to recommend a local band, and believe me it is never an easy question. I love my music and I love my local music. There is just so much good music about this land that I have to think very hard before coming up with an answer. But there can only be one this time around.
The chosen band is Boathouse, a Belfast-based five-piece with a host of instruments including a shaker and glockenspiel.
Unfortunately, with the current lineup, they have no official releases other than the session which was broadcase on Across the Line for BBC Radio Ulster in June of this year. The three tracks ‘Johnny and Ruth Story’, ‘What I Remember’ and ‘Don’t Knock’ are rarely far from the currently playing song in my playlist.
The review was published today on the Music Blog over at Unrealitytv.co.uk. The blog, which was launched in August 2005 by Lisa McGarry, is perfect for those who need the latest gossip, opinion and news on the latest UK reality TV shows.
On the other hand, Gerard McGarry has been writing the music section of the blog since March 2007 and manages to update plenty of times a day with the latest news and updates to satisfy anyone’s music needs.
Together they make a great team!
It first started about this time last year. Though it didn’t last too long thankfully, shortly into the new year the problem subsided, temporarily it would seem. But it has begun again. It has even led to one of my house-mates commenting that I “watch a lot of T.V”. I wasn’t sure how to respond. I still like to think that I don’t.
When I was a lot younger I watched a lot of tv. Even jotting in my little notebook each Saturday what I planned to watch in the week ahead. Eventually, the internet was free for as many minutes a month (dial-up), then broadband came along. Television was a thing of the past.
But then…
In the last few years good shows started being made, or I started discovering them: Family Guy, Green Wing, Black Books, Boomtown, The Shield, Will & Grace, Everybody Loves Raymond and The O.C.. But most importantly; Scrubs and Grey’s Anatomy, and up until the last year, ER, but I don’t find it so appealing anymore - Since Dr. Carter left it just hasn’t been the same.
I still stand by the fact that I don’t watch T.V. as such. I watch only quality shows. No advertising, no shite. No reality shows, no soaps, no talk-shows, no game shows. Computer, DVDs, Joost. There is no need for a Television set. Really no need.
Right now, Grey’s Anatomy is taking over. It began around this time last year. By that time I had caught up with each episode to be aired to date. Once I got my new camera it stopped. No time for T.V. But in the last couple of weeks it has begun again? Have I more time? No. Maybe it’s because my job is pissing me off more and more each day I need time to really chill out.
Grey’s Anatomy is by far the greatest show on T.V. in a long long time, and still to be beaten - though Heroes is a close runner. It is filled with such emotion, great friendships, complications, drama, humour and the occasional bit of doctory stuff.
It can sometimes be too emotional. There has been a tear in my eye on far too many occasions. I sometimes yearn for such a life, even a little drama would make things interesting. But as a friend once said with the scenario of The O.C., [paraphrasing] ‘It may seem sunny, they are rarely happy’.
Now to watch the final episode of Season 3 of Grey’s Anatomy.
The Guardian reported yesterday that the Radio Times website is getting with the times. The site is getting a full “web 2.0″ makeover. The site will not have links to services that provide legal video-on-demand services.
There was a time when I visited the RadioTimes.co.uk religiously every evening just so I knew what was on TV that night, most of the time I wouldn’t watch anything. Though I kept abreast of what was going on, I have always been very selective in my television viewing, not spending hours watching whatever comes on, instead, only sitting in front of the TV unless there is something on I want to watch (ER, Scrubs, Grey’s Anatomy, Family Guy, Documentaries etc).
Since September, however, I haven’t had a TV to watch. No big deal really, then I got hooked on some programmes (Scrubs, Grey’s Anatomy) and figured out how to use BitTorrent.
The Radio Times is now going to provide users with links to where shows are hosted elsewhere online e.g. 4 on Demand (4oD), and five.tv.
Other improvements include community forum and ways for users to rate shows, comprehensive guides, exclusive interviews, pictures, episode guides, behind the scenes footage and programme clips for top shows, and of course blogs!
Currently the website is blank.
Update: At about 22:30 the new-look RadioTimes website went live
I don’t normally read the trash that are ‘lads mags‘. My feelings towards them were once again confirmed on Friday; that they are complete bollocks. Spread over the front cover are the words “100 hot footballers’ wives”, followed by pictures of eight of these ‘wags’ as they are known. I pity those who care. Flick to the contents page and a nice pair of fake breasts. ‘News’, sport, features, ‘real girls UK’ - plenty of breasts and, of course, Paris Hilton’s latest ‘release‘ to the net.
Yes, I read a copy of Nuts - the weekly magazine for ‘lads’. It’s pretty much a magazine filled with dirty jokes, dirty pictures, football, David Hasselhoff, followed by some dead and mutilated bodies - like most of the rest of the lad mags I guess.
Though one thing that annoyed me the most was the TV Guide at the back. in short, they wrote shit one-line cynical and sarcastic opinions on the prime-time shows (BBC1 & 2, ITV, C4, C5, Sky1). I didn’t watch any television this weekend, or last. In fact I haven’t watched anything on television since the Green Wing special on 4th Jan ‘07 (which I have just found out was the last one - i thought there was gonna be a new series… kinda explains certain things I guess).
Friday 2 Feb
Grow Your Own Veg - The progress of a leeks’s growth. What next Celebrity Leek Brother, about a bunch of vegetables sharing a small patch? Sounds familiar.
DIY RIP - How blokes are turning their backs on rawl plugs and dado rails and finding more interesting things to do, like going to the pub and reading Nuts. Hurrah!
Saturday 3 Feb
Britain’s Worst Weather - Some boffin investigates extreme weather conditions. Boring.
[This one annoyed me the most!]
Tchaikovsky - Long-dead writer of dull classical music ruins Saturday night TV shocker.
Notting Hill - Talk about being hit where it hurts. Channel 4 “treats” us.
Bitter Moon - Another Hugh Grant film. Thankfully, this one has loads of sex in it HUrrah!
===========
Some people need to wake up.
I guess we’re just all different, eh. I do believe that these magazines belong on the top shelves and the people who write them get some damn education!
Since I moved house in Sept we have been getting letters from the TV Licensing Authority telling us they are aware that we don’t have a TV license and that they are going to send enforcement officers to the house soon. I eventually called them on Monday to let them know that we don’t actually have a TV in the house. They are gonna send someone round in a couple of weeks to make sure. I hate TV.
In some ways I feel bad for doing this. I’m not sure if I should…
I spent the evening playing Grand Theft Auto with my bro, crashing the Cheetah, the PCJ-600 and the Sanchez when I suddenly remembered “Top Gear! What time is it?” It was 7:30pm. “Phew.” I still had time.
Yes I was looking forward to watching Top Gear. I do thoroughly enjoy the show and would watch it if it’s on and I happen to be watching TV, which isn’t very often but thats not the point. But today was different - they were showing Richard Hammond’s high-speed crash that happened in September ‘06. So naturally we made it a family affair - even my mum sat down to watch it.
I’m assuming it did get some pretty high viewing figures, but does that make it right? I feel I should watch the rest of the series to make up for it. I’m pretty sure I won’t, but I want to. They did do a good job of keeping us hanging. Leaving it to the end of the show. The story about how they managed to fix a road in 24hrs was a bit crap and long. An interesting topic, maybe, though they could have perhaps cut it a little shorter.
Then the moment came. Before showing the clips Richard talked us through what was happening. First run. Then second run, with the afterburner. Each time I saw the clips I felt scared myself. The sound of the engine and the sound of his voice. After the second run Richard felt amazing, so much adrenaline and he felt “so alive.”
They had the track until 5:30pm. It was 5pm, so why not give it another go, eh. Then it happened. Scary indeed.
I really think Richard has handled it so well. The press, the hassle, the questions, and finally, watching it back and having to talk everyone through it.
He has even written a blog post about it on the Top Gear website. Like he said to Jeremy Clarkson after the clip was shown, “Can we never mention the crash on Top Gear again?” he has reiterated this in his blog post saying “Now that we’ve spoken about it on the programme and shown the footage, maybe this crash business will start to fade into the distance.”
I look forward to seeing Richard race around a deserted road in a fast car again soon.
For those who didn’t manage to see the show:
edit - The video seems to have been removed (surprise surprise!), Here it is via Digg Mirror
Its been a crazy weekend surfing the blogosphere.
I do enjoy the occasional few days when I end up spending far too much time online. Quite literally staying up all night, eventually going to sleep at 7 or 8am. It is very satisfying to learn so much so quickly. I don’t think there is anything right now that has me feeling super confused about the workings of wordpress. Okay, so I still know very very little about it all and php still scares me - but I certainly feel more confident in using it.
In other news…
What Happens Now is a great site, providing information on preparing and dealing with “life’s changes and challenges.” They deal with many issues and how to deal with their consequences. These range from accidents, fires, theft, theft, theft, travel. Other sections include life stages (birth, weddings, deaths), and natural disasters. Something like this should definitely be applied to the UK/Ireland.
Jake Gyllenhaal hosted the Saturday Night Live show on NBC at the weekend - and was extremely funny. Check out this clip [youtube]
Ever imagined the cast of Futurama as anime characters? I’ve never been a fan of anime - but this is just awesome!
![furturama anime [deviantart]](http://tn3-1.deviantart.com/fs15/300W/f/2007/006/0/3/Super_Happy_Fun_Futurama_Show_by_spacecoyote.jpg "furturama anime [deviantart]")
>Futurama: Super Happy Fun Show by *spacecoyote on deviantARTOr how about insane-looking Simpsons cast?
This turned out to be quite the success story for Deviantart user Spacecoyote who has been given a job working on a short anime Simpsons comic and may potentially work for 20th Century Fox on the relaunch of Futurama.