RIP Ronnie Drew

I am sad to say (for those who did not know) that the amazing Ronnie Drew has passed away after a long battle with cancer. If you are not aware of who Ronnie Drew is, then you have missed one of the most incredible musicians and voices of our time.

This was posted in a Dublin paper:
Legendary folk singer Ronnie Drew has died at the age of 73, after a lengthy illness.
It is understood the founding member of the Dubliners passed away this afternoon at St Vincent’s hospital in Dublin.
Born in Dublin in September 1934, Ronnie Drew founded the group that would later be known as The Dubliners in 1962 and he also went on to pursue a solo career from 1995.
He recorded with many artists including Christy Moore and The Pogues, and in August 2006 his handprints were added outside the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin.
Two years ago, it emerged Ronnie Drew was undergoing treatment for cancer.
As his health declined, a number of famous Irish musicians released a song called “The Ballad of Ronnie Drew” as a tribute to him.
His wife Deirdre died last year. He is survived by his two children and five grandchildren.

If you have never experienced Ronnie's singing and are even a little interested in traditional Irish music or this amazing man, check out the following links.

The Dubliners - In The Rare Old Times- A wonderful song about the decline of tradition and how capitalism and progress affected older generations.


Despite the death of his wife and fading health, Ronnie went back into the studio last year to record with my friends Dropkick Murphys for their spin on an old classic called Flannigan's Ball. (warning:This is a Dropkick at their best, so be aware that this is a much harder, rocking song).


Thanks for the the amazing music Ronnie, though I never had the chance to play with you live, rest assured I have sang my heart out and struck my Bodhrán many times to your work. Thank you again for the inspiration and the memories, you will never be forgotten.
Rest In Peace Mr Drew

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Level 16 By Ben Hawker (Short Film)

Every year the world over, a competition between professional, amateur, and part-time film people gets underway. It's called the 48 hour film competition. This year I was too busy to participate like I did last year. There are many rules and regulations that can disqualify a film. Sadly my friends' film did get disqualified because they had some DVR copy issues and ended up turning it in late. I highly recommend you watch this if you like suspense or horror films and if not, maybe watch it anyway - it's not very bloody (one blood scene) - otherwise just plain, old-fashioned scary and it's only a few minutes long, so you can deal.

Ben Hawker is well on his way to becoming an amazing director as this short film proves.

Once again, as you watch this, be aware that their small team received a genre, wrote, cast, shot, produced and cut this entire film in less than 48 hours.

Level 16 - By Ben Hawker and Company



If I didn't know how long they had, I would have sworn that it was a fully paid-for short film with a full schedule time.

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Ok now I am really worried.

Thanks to Arthur and his request for more ways to waste time when he should be working, I bring you another intriguing installment in the "why the hell would you post that" saga.

Here we have a blog posting called It's Lovely! I'll Take It!  It shows actual pictures people put in their real estate listings. Honestly, they are even linked to the listings for many of them.  I pulled out a few of my favorites for you today.

1) Yes, it's a set piece from The Cabinet of Dr Caligary.

2) Infestation, no, why do you ask.  Yes look carefully, there is a bug fogger in the middle and oh wait, yep dead bugs everywhere!

3) ET went...  home?   Seriously, I always wondered what that little guy did when he finally left Elliott.  Apparently he went on a bender with Godzilla.

4) My final and personal favorite.  This one (I swear) was actually listed as "Detached Home".

Now I won't pretend that these are as "interesting as the cakes", but there are a certainly a few on here that deserve a "what the ????" award.

Enjoy!

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Why I Like Winter Here

Even though we are solidly in winter (equivalent of mid-February in the Northern Hemisphere), looking out the window on a gorgeous sunny day in Wellington, it is easy to mistake the view for a summer day.  All the trees still have their green leaves, the birds sing, and the sun streaming in the window can give you a sunburn (yes, it's true..apparently we don't have any kind of filter on the glass patio doors...).

Granted, it is still cold outside, but when in the house it's easy to think we could skip down to the park and have a picnic.  After the crazy winters we have both endured (me in Erie, PA and Darren in upstate New York), the winter here is no trouble!

I write this the night before I'm headed out for a work function in Queenstown, where it's been snowing for days.  GAH!  

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And now for... Naked Mohawk Babies on Carrots!!

OK, so last night some how (in my sleep) I seemed to have twisted or messed up my back in my usual "how is that possible" fashion. So here I sit on the couch with my loving wife snickering at a blog with pictures of cake disasters and came across this beauty.

I swear to you it hurts a bit when I laugh right now and I was almost in tears and got light-headed from seeing this. It is truly one of the most bizarre images I have ever seen, not to mention that it is on an actual cake.

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Summer Blockbuster Movies

'Tis the season of the Summer Blockbuster.  Well, at least in the Northern Hemisphere.  The opposing seasons actually work quite well in that respect, as it's not so bad sitting in a theatre while Winter storms lash our two islands. 

So far this Summer/Winter, we've seen:

1) Iron Man  - we really enjoyed this movie! Great FX and a good story too.  Robert Downey is back, baby!

2) Chronicles of Narnia (Price Caspian) - Darren worked on this, so of course we had to see it!  I knew that he would be telling me all through the movie which things he made, and he didn't disappoint.  At the end, however, only I saw his name on the big screen.  He'll have to wait until we are on the plane.  Expect a picture of that event!

3) Indiana Jones 4 - Blech.  Horrible.  And more than just comically horrible.  The Editing Room does a hilarious abridged script of the movie.  Make sure you read the caption under the photo too!

4) Sex and the City - It was really good to see 'the Girls' (no, Ray, not the Twins) again.  The story was ok - some of it in line with the characters, some not.   Sarah Jessica's makeup was horrible though!  And at one point there was a (fake) bird in her hair.  I should say, at one point on her wedding day.  On purpose.  

5) Get Smart  - Cute, funny, no need to think.  Enjoyable fluffy action.  Steve Carell, as always, was hilarious.

6) Hancock - Loved this movie! Good action, good story and Will Smith once again did not disappoint.  Many people didn't like the twist/change from comedy to drama, but we liked the mix (similar to Man of the Year).

7) Dark Knight - Like the rest of the world, we thought this

 movie rocked.  Almost three hours long, I would have easily sat in the theatre another three if the movie had continued!  Incredible.  I love me some Christian Bale, but Heath stole the creepy show.  I giggled like a little girl when Batman popped out on the badass motorcycle.  I may have punched the air a few times during the movie too....

 

Wall-E hasn't made it here yet, and won't until September (ugh!).   Hellboy II and the X-Files have opened here, so hopefully we'll get a chance to see those soon.

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Is This Thing On....?

Hi folks!  I know it's been a while since my last post - sorry about that.  And thanks to all those who expressed condolences for the loss of my Uncle.  

Since my very quick trip to the US and back, I've been a very busy girl at work, at the gym, and having fun with our Meetin group.  I have lots of blog posts in mind, but not a lot of time to write them all out!  I will do my best to catch up shortly.

In the meanwhile, waste some valuable time checking out these links:

Ever wonder what your 'Spirit Animal' might be? Take this quiz to find out (I'm a Crow).

Watch a fun little Flash animation of an Icon War.

A New York Times article answers the question "Why do we capitalize the word 'I'?  It even delves a bit into the differences between the two US presidential candidates.

Discovered a couple new web-comics - My Life In A Cube, and  The System.  My favorite, of course, will always be Bry.  His drawings are incredible, esp when drawing his daily life.

This Cracked.com article about "7 People From Around the World With Real Mutant Superpowers" is amazing.  The part about the kid who has 'super' echolocation is one of the best things I've ever read/seen (there's a video!).

Speaking of interesting people, a guy named Matt is traveling around the world and dancing.  That's right...dancing!  And why the hell not?  Where the Hell is Matt now?  He's in Traverse City, Michigan.  Go dance with him!

Google.co.nz can now be used in the Maori language!

Finally, solid evidence that the world is ending: rolled jeans are back in fashion.

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