THE ONE WITH HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Amazing what 12 quid and a bit of imagination can do!

THE ONE WITH A REAL LIFE TIME TRAVELLER

Holy shit, Doc Brown was right!!! This is actually the biggest head fuck you'll see all year!

THE ONE WITH THE JACK LYNCH TUNNEL CAMERA

Check this out

http://corkcity.ie/video/jacklynchtunnel/

Think it’s only one camera, but at least it’s a step in the right direction! You could always check this before you leave, get an up to the minute idea of traffic!

And thanks to Fiona for the heads up on the south bound camera

http://streaming.corkcity.ie/tunnelsouth or just change south to north!

THE ONE WITH A POST

Nope your eyes don’t deceive you. There is actually a post here. I’ll admit things have gone on the slow here, but times are busy.

As one does these days, I took a wander with the wife and smallie into one of the big supermarkets to buy food and the like. Upon landing at the checkout, after filling a trolley with shit we didn’t need, things were scanned through by a pleasant lady.

Well pleasant until she came across 2 bottles of Curiosity Cola (which I’m rather fond of on occasion). She stopped the scanning and proceeded to hold one of the bottles and give it the once over. “What’s this like?” she says. “Sorry?” says I. “You know, is it nice? I’ve never seen that before” she continues. “It is” I grunted back and cut the conversation dead. This is something that really irks me.

Why should somebody behind a checkout engage in conversation about WHAT we are buying and more so, what’s it like. You work in a supermarket, you more than likely get some form of discount. Use that and find out. It’s almost like a criticism of sorts. The words mind your own fucking business about what’s in my trolley spring to mind. But I’m a nice bloke and wouldn’t dare utter that to somebody in public. Ahem.

Anyway, stick to the usual weather, government and how you had your other half attempt the wrong hole last night conversations. But leave my fuckin purchases out of it!

Back on air tonight from  9pm!

THE ONE WHERE THE MOVIE BIT LOSES AND WINS IN THE ONE NIGHT

So, as most people were aware, The Irish Web Awards were on Saturday night last. I set off in the afternoon and decided to use Google Maps Navigation for a change as driving blind around Dublin can be hazardous for ones petrol tank. For some unbeknownst reason I stayed in Smithfield, because in my own demented mind I figured from a traffic point of view it would be easier to get out of on Sunday morning. Regardless, it was only a fiver in a taxi to the Mansion house which suited me fine. I landed around 4 ish and besides a helpful / not entirely customer orientated check in at the hotel I landed my awards outfit bag and checked under the bed for dead bodies or ladies underwear. I found neither….unfortunately. I took a stroll as far as Forbidden Planet and bought nothing as usual. I always go into that store with the intention of buying the place out, but never buy anything there.

After yet another stroll back it was time to wash the parts and put on the game face. After much deliberation on the outfit I hit the street and taxi’d to the Mansion House for just after 715pm. I had travelled on my lonesome and stood at the bar like some weird male hooker looking for business. About an hour later I was seated up the front with Dave from Dad.ie. I was wondering in what order the awards were going to take place, and sure enough as I had envisioned on the drive up, they were done (to my best recollection) in the order that the finalist list was on the site. So I was in the second award of the night. A pretty cool video introduction for the category and my heart was pounding out of my chest with excitement. I never won anything in my life, excluding a Texaco beach ball in school, when I was 8. And when Rick O Shea said it was State.ie (well done gang) that was the winner, my heart sank. For a few minutes afterwards the brain was clanking away and what just had taken place..a loss! But then I met a nice man by the name of Jack Daniels and enjoyed the rest of the awards which, credit to Damien Mulley and co were absolutely outstanding. So, that was the loss part of it, as for the win..well in my mind, here’s the win part. The Movie Bit for me is and always will be a labour of love. Movies have been my life in more ways than one since the get go and I enjoy writing (albeit badly) about them and all the other stuff that goes on here. And It’s me here and nobody else. I do it all. The design, the typing, the photo shopping, the podcasts and so on. The amount of people who came up to me throughout the night and acknowledged that reaching the final was a pretty epic achievement for a one man show, was truly heart warming. And that was very much appreciated!!

As for the rest of the evening, well that bloke I met called Jack never left my side and he seemed equally friendly with Dave from Dad.ie When I did eventually turn up back at my hotel, I ended up in a lift with 4, drunk, horned up 50 year old ladies who kept staring at my crotch (lovingly may I add) and insisting that I should behave myself when I got back to my room.

Anyway, time for a quick bit of profoundness, which in all seriousness is genuine. While the site might have lost on the night, personally I feel I’ve won. Roll on next year!!! What follows is a seriously of badly taken pictures.

 

The one with Banksy + Simpsons

Yup, late to the partay with this, but better late than never..or fill in your own cliché

THE ONE ON A FRIDAY

Returned from Sinus infected land last night. Good to be back, but the anti-biotics have me feckered completely! Anyway, sickness is the excuse this week for shite blog updates, but on the positive side, The Movie Bit made it to the final of the Irish Web Awards.

Pat Shortt on the Late Night Interview Sunday night, Get It Off Your Chest and reviews of Wall Street 2 and The Social Network on The Movie Bit, all from 10pm.

Anyway…shite update over! Bit of a bitch and a moan coming on Monday though!!!

THE ONE WITH…

I’M BACK ON AIR TONIGHT!!!!

THE ONE WITH FFS

Out sick for most of the week. Hope to be back on air by Thursday!!! Stoooopid feckin “acute” sinus infection. So currently horsin’ into 3 antibiotics a day, being all miserable (more so than usual), feeling absolutely shit assed tired and the worse thing of the lot (which I didn’t think would be this tough), is I can’t really handle Cameron, just to be on the safe side! And not to mention the going cold turkey from workaholisim. Oh, and the side effects of the pills are just wonderful. I imagine Usain Bolt couldn’t sprint to the jacks any faster!

Anyway, blog is on the doss for the week (for the week, surely you mean the last 6 months) but things will keep ticking over on The Movie Bit to some degree.

THE ONE LOOKING BACK, TO THE FUTURE

Typed this up for the 25th Anniversary of Back To The The Future over on The Movie Bit

25 years ago, one of the few way’s I could get to a cinema was by crying. Sure, I was brought to the cinema on a regular basis, but as a 9 year old, it was when it suited my parents, not me. So that’s where the tears came in. Like a spoilt brat, with no shame, I would whinge and moan until, normally, my Dad would give in and drag me off to the cinema. And that’s how I got to experience Back To The Future all those years ago. I’ve since experienced that time travelling epic a million times over and haven’t needed any tears since.

The first thing I remember being blown away by was the opening. Doc Brown’s humble abode with it’s crazy and demented alarm / toast / Einstein feeding gadgets. At the time, I do remember wanting to construct something similar, but having the engineering skills of a dead chimp it was never going to happen. Thoughts of engineering feats quickly transpired to “OMG, I want that car” when the DeLorean made it’s first appearance on screen. Ok, maybe I didn’t say “OMG” but you get the drift. It was there and then I popped my cherry for gull wing doors and DeLorean’s. Why didn’t our family car have those doors, and could we buy them and put them on? And then, my mind melted. The idea of flux capacitors never entered my head, all I wanted to know was would our car go back in time if it went over 88 mph.  It’s funny how little things stick in your head as a kid and remain well and truly lodged there. And one of those things was time travel is possible at 88 mph. Ok, there was no trip computer in the car we had and no where to punch in what year you wanted to go, but for all I knew it could have been in the radio. That said, the car we had at the time would have also left flaming tire marks at 88mph an hour, but not for the time travelling reason you’d think.

I do always recall questioning why the hell did they go back in time. Sure, Doc Brown would have lived through those era’s, why not go forward in time instead. So I wasn’t completely enamoured with the fact, as a kid, of going back in time. I would have much preferred to be watching a movie taking place well in the future. And even though that would come at a later stage in the sequel, as a 9 year old, that was the one negative thing hanging over me, not that it mattered as I was still awe struck at what was taking place before my eyes.
Back To The Future, and this might sound sad to some of you, was a very influential movie on yours truly. I convinced myself I looked like Marty McFly as I had a similar hairdo at the time. I grew an affection that I still have today, to gilets or as my mother would call them, sleeveless jackets. Granted, my wife would send me back in time If I wore one. That said, I’ve been eyeing one up for the last few weeks, so maybe she’ll just have to deal with it. And then, there was the skateboarding phase. Thoughts of hanging onto to the back of cars entered my mind as I decided the next xmas pressie should be  a skateboard. But that came to a grinding halt when a friend of mine had one and of course I had to have a go. And when your a kid, if you don’t get it right the first time, then that’s that, well for me anyway. Having zero balance my thoughts of hitching a ride to school soon exited my mind.

Christ, I get chills thinking about the whole thing now. Writing this has certainly stirred up a few emotions.
A few years ago, I got the opportunity to interview Tom Wilson, the actor who played Biff, and having Tom dress me down as Biff was possibly one of the greatest little personal moments I’ve had on radio. At the time, being useless at archiving material, I fear it’s lost to time, but it will live on forever in my memory. One of life’s simple little pleasures. And speaking of simple little pleasures, something else I’ve done, which in one way was pretty stupid, but I drifted over the speed limit to 88 mph with Alan Silvestri’s theme blaring. I remember at the time, thinking, I’m only a few miles over the limit I’ll get away with it or I’ll get nailed and get some penalty points and a fine. Fortunately I didn’t get any fines etc. and nobody got hurt. I also remember thinking where were the sparks and flames. But to be honest, what I really wished was to do it in a car park.

Back To The Future is an incredibly special film to me. It is full of heartfelt memories and has provided much inspiration and influences. It was a truly magical experience for a young kid, and even now, as a Husband and a Dad,  it remains as magical as the first day I laid eyes on Marty McFly going back to 1955. And that’s the magic of cinema. I knew in my own, young, heart and soul that time travel wasn’t possible, but secretly I wished it was and lurking in the back of my mind, there was always a glimmer of hope that it might be possible.  And you know what, there’s still a big part of me that secretly believes, with the right tools, a dodgy ebay bought flux-capacitor and a shopping center car park, that it is all possible! Happy 25th Anniversary BTTF!