"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read." - Groucho Marx (1895-1977)

10.7.10

20-year-old becomes first white man to ever run 100m in under 10 seconds

There's never been a white man on the planet before to run 100 metres in under 10 seconds...never !!...until now...frenchman Christophe Lemaitre has today run a time of 9.98 to win the French National Championships.
But, with the current world record standing at 9.58 and a ton of other sub-10 second times achieved, this lad is still a way off the worlds elite...well done to him though..

The Last City

At the moment, this promo {with narration by Robert Duvall} is all the work that has been done on a film that will hopefully go into production soon.
'The Last City' is set in post-apocalyptic New York City and the gritty gangland that it has become..
It's got a wonderful film noir style and also very reminiscent of the superb 'sin city' albiet in full colour..

The official Synopsis reads:

"Set in post-apocalyptic New York City, "The Last City" is a noir CGI thriller that follows detective Michael Blake, who sets out to avenge the brutal murder of his brother Gabe and save his pregnant widow (May) from the clutches of New York City's overlord, Max White. As Blake strikes down White's henchmen one by one, street battle after car chase, his vengeance begins to takeon a new meaning. He realizes he is leading the hope of his brother's underground society to a new salvation by challenging White's grip over the city.
Blake, in all his fury, brings a full assault to White's doorstep by rousing the spirits of the underground survivors and arming them to challenge White's authority. By the time Michael reaches White, the fight brings him to the edge of hell on earth where the victor determines the fate of the human race."

9.7.10

So...What Is Google TV?

This video introduction by Google explains it best...

It's due to be released in 2011, and as can been seen in the video, it will combine freeview channels with the best video content on the web...all delivered to our existing tv's through a new add-on box...

Pamela Izevbekhai

Pamela Izevbekhai is a nigerian woman who came to Sligo a few years back. When she arrived she had shocked the community with the details of her first born daughters death after female genital mutilation at 17 months old...she begged not to be sent back to Nigeria as her remaining two daughters {who also came with her to Sligo} would have to face the same treatment,and she was afraid it would kill them too.
Pamela went very public - giving interviews to all the papers and national tv, trying to drum up public support to let her stay - and the public got behind her...there were local events and fundraisers to help her and her plight, and also hundreds of Sligo people went with her to demonstrate outside the goverment buildings in Dublin against sending her and her children back...eventually support was so strong for her case here in Sligo that she had a civic reception at the city hall.

But, all was not what it seemed, aparently....allegations arose that she had fabricated the story about the death of her baby daughter, allegations which Ms Izevbekhai totally rejected...support on the streets for her now turned against her, in a big way...

Today her case was brought before the Supreme Court where she failed in her fight against deportation, but her solicitor now says that they will appeal in the european court of human rights...the story, although nearing it's conclusion may still have one final chapter left...

todays RTE news report *here*

a report of the full story of Pamela to date *here*

YouTube 'Leanback' - Videos for TVs

YouTube's just added a new Leanback format that's supposed to be perfect for watching videos on a large screen. It loads your subscriptions and videos from your friends in fullscreen format with total keyboard control.
Not over-impressed here in the shed so far, but it's early days and it'll be developed on as time goes on...

http://www.youtube.com/leanback

UFO visits chinese airport..

A UFO on wednesday disrupted air traffic in china....at least they think it may have been a UFO...

a great quote from this linked news article -
"The thing suddenly ran westwards fast, like it was escaping from something"

more *here* {and check out the last line which is a real excitement killer :) }


8.7.10

Christopher Nolan's 'Inception'

It's got everyone talking...out next weekend....looks like a good 'un..

Exhaust Air Jack

Hows this for handy...an 'Air Jack' that quickly lifts your vehicle with its own exhaust gas...






from - *here*

"Lift your vehicle in 30 seconds without straining with an awkward, unstable jack. Simply fit the Air Jack’s hose over your exhaust, position the airbag under the vehicle, and turn on your engine. The exhaust inflates the bag, lifting the vehicle to 17″. A one-way valve keeps the bag inflated after the engine has been turned off. The durable Air Jack was originally designed for rugged off-road use and works in mud, snow, and uneven ground where a regular jack cannot. Has no negative effects on the engine. Comes in a handy carry case to fit easily in your trunk."


African solar farms could power the whole of Europe by 2050

That's according to Inhabitat..

"If just one percent of the Saharan Desert were covered in concentrating solar panels it would create enough energy to power the entire world . . . The EU has a mission to take at least 20% of their entire energy from renewable resources by 2020. Last year they announced that they would lay a series of highly-efficient cables across the Mediterranean, build a series of solar power plants in the Sahara, and import renewable energy from across the sea. The initiative is being financed by a group of European companies and is supported by the EU government. The plan is to cover 6,500 square miles of the desert in photovoltaic systems and wind parks.
European Energy Commissioner has announced that Europe will start importing solar energy from the Sahara within the next five years. The news comes after the Desertec Initiative was announced last year, which sets a long-term plan of about 40 years."



makes you wonder if it did happen, how would they clean all those solar panels?...and there will be a lot, and they will need to be clean to be efficent...in a desert without water..




The Mongoose VS The Rock

Archie Moore was 42 years old and was boxing's current light-heavyweight champion of the world when he challenged the legendary Rocky Marciano for the heavyweight title...there were only 8 weight divisons in those days, and only 1 champion in each division..

The fight took place in 1955...Moore had been a professional boxer for 17 years !! ..and going into the Marciano fight his record was 167 fights, 22 losses, 6 draws, with 111 KO's.

The largest crowd ever to see Marciano fight, 61,574 fans showed up at Yankee Stadium while hundreds of thousands crammed closed-circuit-television theaters across the country to see the fight.

The fight would gross $ 2,248,117 - at the time, the second highest grossing fight in boxing history..

Although Moore was beaten inside of nine rounds by Marciano, who retired after the fight, he was one of only two men to ever put Rocky down...Marciano retired undefeated and went on to become part of boxing folklore..


After rumors that it was all over...The Who continue on...

There were a lot of rumors saying The Who would never play again after severe hearing problems that Pete Townshend had developed....but today we get the news that there will be a new 'Quadrophenia' tour in 2011...



PIXELS

New York invasion by 8-bits creatures !
PIXELS is a short film {less than 3 minutes}...


a very clever piece of work...

Arnim Dahl

His name was Arnim Dahl.
(12. March 1922- 3 August 1998)
-Was the most popular stuntman from Germany.
-Lay more than 40 times in a hospital, and had more than 100 fractures.
-Stayed in total more than 4 years of his life in a hospital.
-Jumped from a 47 meter high crane into the water of the Hamburg harbour.
-Was the double of the moviestars in more than 50 films.


the description on the video below is wrong, it's later than 1930....i'd also love to know what the song is...

7.7.10

Ryanair to sell standing-room only flights !!




From today's Telegraph...


Michael O'Leary, the airline's chief executive, will set out proposals today that include charging customers to use the loo.
A standing area with "vertical seats" will be introduced at the back of its fleet of 250 planes.
He said that charging customers £1 to make use of facilities would encourage travellers on one hour flights to use lavatories at the airport instead of on the aircraft.
The Irishman said he intended to introduce coin-operated loos and added: "The other change we've been looking at is taking out the last 10 rows of seats so we will have 15 rows of seats and the equivalent of 10 rows of standing area."
A Ryanair spokesman said that Boeing had been consulted over refitting the fleet with "vertical seats" which would allow passengers to be strapped in while standing up, which would cost between £4 and £8 per person.


Some words of wisdom from Stephen Fry...

Stephen Fry in a recent interview where he speaks about things he wishes he knew when he was younger...as always he makes it worth listening to...

meanwhile, in westport...

where being a sex offender doesnt mean they won't give you a good send off...

Increasing numbers are owning and working in sheds

shed's are great !!...




this is my 'broadcasting from' one...


The Raven

'The Raven' is a short, home-made film that follows fugitive Chris Black, a man who “possesses a power that could lead to the destruction of the current regime” as he evades police in “an alternate and futuristic Los Angeles.”

It's only just over 5 minutes long... and has some amazing effects for what it is..

http://www.facebook.com/THERAVENFILM


THE RAVEN - 720 HD from THE RAVEN FILM on Vimeo.

caught like a fool..

some silly person posted this picture on facebook yesterday with the title "today is back to the future day" explaining that this was the day that marty mcfly arrived in the future in the delorian...i thought that was great...so i went and reposted the picture on facebook and forums that i frequent, only for it to be pointed out to me that marty landed in october 2015 !!...and to make it worse, i've seen the film maybe 20 times !!...

6.7.10

As seen at the entrance to a Sligo store one day...

i'll take a pic of that and post it on facebook i thought....and i did...




€109.99 for a hdmi cable..

€109.99 i tells ya...for one cable...





Homeless Man Speaks

I have recently been reading a blog by a guy named Tony who is 59 years old, from Toronto and is homeless.
Tony has a friend who visits him and writes down what he says and then goes home to blog it all up. The blog has been going since 2006 and it's a very interesting read, telling of the danger of being homeless at night, about Tony having spells in jail and where he is at the moment having recently developed lung cancer..

Different people have different views on the homeless and i am not trying to project any opinions, just to say it's an interesting read...

This is the first page from 2006 with an introduction to Tony...
http://homelessmanspeaks.com/2006/10/

Fred Astaire in Smooth Criminal

A good pal once told me that he explained to his teenage son to not just look at the charts for good music, look back upon 50 years, a wealth of good music, it's all there...I feel like that too..about music and films...
Here's a video, one very cool piece of work this, i'll be showing my kids...you never know, they might sit and watch an old classic fred astaire film some day after this...

This features scenes from The Band Wagon (1953) starring Astaire and Cyd Charisse.

how to house train a dog...properly..

good dog..

Willie Nile

Willie Nile i think is one of the great undiscovered songwriting talents...i have only recently discovered him when he supported one of my favourite bands - the alarm - a few months back and i saw some videos that friends had taken...i was hooked right away...

check out his website here - willienile.com


Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962)

I'm an old boxing fan me, so i'd like this film anyway...
but, considering this was '62, i think this is one of the great opening scenes..


one of my own little mashups...

while killing time here in the shed one day...
the band is 'the alarm' btw...look them up...

{beware..some bad language in this...i don't want to be upsetting anyone}

youtubedoubler.com

the idea of this site is simple, but can be effective...

choose two seperate youtube videos...any youtube videos you like....choose at start off point on each...and they both play at the same time, and maybe something humourous or interesting happens...

an example...*click here* {mind your ears :) }


my dog

thats just how he rolls..

Titanic: The Sequel

another big hollywood sequel shaping up nicely :)




1917: Danny the Activist

via - waterfordwhispersnews.com {go visit them}


















Danny Suir from Ballygunnar was a disgruntled iron-smith who was laid off by the british army in 1915. He worked for 13 long years building munitions in a local steel mill which supplied materials for the war. Deise Danny organised hundreds of activist meetings and vowed diligently to avenge his untimely pardon.

One sunny day in June, after 14 pints of Hoffman's, Danny decided he was going to take a stand against his old employers. He knew that the British army tanks and jeeps ferried out of Waterford port on a regular basis.

Mr Suir stood on the toll bridge for 5 hours waiting for the daily military convoy to arrive.

At 5:47pm, 3 tanks came slowly over the toll bridge. Danny was determined to stand his ground. He stood tall as the people of Waterford watched on behind him.

Regrettably for Danny, a tank weighs 22 tonnes and is powered by a 3000 horse power engine, and on this particular day there were three of them. His 12 stone 7 pound body could not hold back the convoy and he was horribly squashed like a plum.

Jam Made From Diana's Hair...

what a novel idea...

reading it closely the makers just say 'diana's hair'...they didnt say which 'diana' it was..it could be any diana...
who was it said...'never let a trivial thing like the truth get in the way of a good story...'

http://alturl.com/vsb36


lucky

mobile home

what more could a fella ever need..

the greatest boxing mag never made...

'nuff said..

second hand goods

er..

Iron Man IV

this looks like it's shaping up nicely...

a knockout

not a very nice thing to do to a wee fella like that...

The Martin Jetpack

These things are going to be mass produced for the public...like, this year !!...a real proper jetpac !!....amazing what you can make in sheds..

"Glenn Martin and his team have been working for 30 years on developing this revolutionary mode of transport. News broke that a jetpack factory will be formed and these babies will be mass-produced. Right now, the pack can travel a total distance of 32 miles and rise to heights equaling 8,000 feet. It can move at a max speed of 63 mph."

but, as a pal of mine pointed out when i showed him...

"Imagine how many times cars just break down suddenly.
Now imagine if almost every time that happened someone plummeted out of the sky..."


cookies

Axis Of Awesome

what better way to start of...

4 chords will let you play anything....take it away lads...