Belfast Blogs.com

So, you're an Irish tabloid editor and Grainne Seoige has finally managed to have that fella removed from her nice RTE couch and replaced with her own sister.You run the only evening national paper in the country, so you're guaranteed to have the first review of their new show.But if it's bad, and you slam it, you'll never get access to either of the photogenic, units-selling sisters again. And if it's bad and you don't slam it, then the readers will see through your vapid puffing of poo.So, like the RTE producers who gambled on the sister act, you hope and pray it works.Then it doesn't. It's a car crash, unwatchably bad. How do you review it?Well, if you're the Evening Herald, you pan it and puff it all at the same time! Genius!Front page today bills their TV critic Pat Stacey's review...

Ten days sampling the Aussie media has left me pondering the power of positive thinking.I recall how some years ago, ITN news presenter Martyn Lewis was laughed at for suggesting that British news was too negative and could benefit from being lightened up with positive stories. Images of front pages about cats saved from trees filled the heads of his cynical colleagues and they chuckled.I did too.But it is true that the British media environment is a profoundly negative and mean-spirited one. The Irish media climate is little different.I've noticed this especially here in Australia, where they are prepared to put a story about a medical discovery or a community initiative on the front page without apology.In some other places I've been, the positive news can seem seriously parochial....

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’,...

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...

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,...

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...

Some people are surprised at how little television I watch. I'm a bit like my local boozer, which has a telly in the corner, but it has a little sign underneath it that reads 'News and Sport Only.'Basically, down the pub, the box goes on if there's a big game on, or for the Six-One news. All other times, it rests in blissful silence. I've adopted a similar policy.This doesn't mean that no telly gets watched in our house. My other half is still an addict, and after a hard day's graft, like so many people, she likes to sprawl on the sofa and zone out in front of the goggle box.I've long since learnt to either leave the room or ignore the prattle of the box in a zen-like fashion when she's watching.This is not to say that there aren't things I might like to watch. But generally, those are...

Copyright Phil O’Kane © 2006-2007This feed is indended for personal use only. If you are not reading it in your feed reader please let me know....

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...

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 was filmed 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...

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....