Away, away , away...

Going away for the next week to a work conference in New Orleans.  Tomorrow I have 3 flights and 18 hours of airplanes and airports to look forward to.  I'm planning to stay up most of tonight so I can sleep tomorrow...but I doubt that will work...I find it incredibly hard to sleep on planes.  So have a good week folks and I leave you with a random image from my hard drive.

I'm a child I know...I had great fun creating this image...it made me laugh.

This looks bad...

I heard a while ago that there was a film being made about God destoying mankind because he is dissapointed in us.  It's obviously based on the Noah story and instead of a flood God will send a legion of angels.  I got excited at this idea and I have just seen the trailer and it looks really really BAD.  Wow, even for a trailer it looks naff.  The special effects are aweful and looks like Alien V Predator.  I was hoping for a good action film with a good plot and a little bit oftheology thrown in.  Too much to hope for...this one is just a 300/Sin City, shoot 'em up cash in!  Have a look and tell me what you think...

A packed day...

Last Saturday I went off, as usual, into the muddy fields around Ireland in search of eleusive stones and castles.  It had to be one of the most successful days that I have had so far.  I always set a low target of 3 sites and anything above that is a bonus.  Last Saturday I managed to get to an amazing 16 sites in Tipperary.  We weren't even rushing through them.  There just happened to be a lot of easily accessible sites on our way to various places so we made a bunch of little detours and by the end of the day I had taken over 200 pictures and had a wad of little known sites under my belt.  The destination of those pics and info about them will be my other site 'The Standing Stone' but here's a few of the pics I took.  I think after being to so many of these places now and taking so many pictures I am finally picking up some good camera habits and getting good shots.  Far from professional and don't use any software to touch up the images so the places you see are exactly as they look.  Hope you like...

Wonderful castle near Toomevara in Tipperary.  It was boarded up but I would love to get into it.

The remains of a church in Toomevara.

Stone pair in the Arra Mountains.  I was asked to go and view these and give my opinion.  They have a rough North South alignment and maybe connected to a nearby stone row...very intriguing as these two stones are not registered with the state.

 

Old church at Monsea (around 16th century...although someone has tried to make it look older in recent years)

17th century bridge in Tipperary.

Another medieval church at Knigh, Co. Tipperary.

The remains of a tower house at Knigh, Co. Tipperary.

Passage tomb at Ashleypark, Co. Tipperary.

The collapsing chamber (c3350BC)

I love this picture.  I took it at Ashleypark tomb.  There was a pile of stones (the smallest being about 2 meters long) and I took this as the sun was setting behind the stones.

Ardcroney tower house that is attached to a church (very unusual).

I noticed this face on the building at the very top.

Great shadows at the sun was setting.

Yusuf Islam - Live in Dublin...

This gig has to rank among the most unusual I have been to and anybody who listened to Gerry Ryan this morning certainly knows why!  I have been a big Cat Stevens fan for many years now and grew to appreciate his music mroe when I learned to play the guitar.  The man has such a grasp of melody it's scary.  After converting to Islam 33 years ago and quitting the music industry I never thought I would geta chance to see him live.  When he released his first album in 30 years (An Other Cup) a few years ago I became hopeful and this year he decided to do a mini-tour to back his new 'Roadsinger' album.  I was online like a flash and got myself a front row ticket!  We arrived at the Point Depot (The O2 my arse!) just as the doors were opening and had a good look around the updated venue.  Very nice indeed but a little too blue for my liking!  We couldn't go into our seats yet but could see Yusuf doing the sound checks personally.  We were then approached by an employee of O2 who gave us free wristbands to get into the 'Blueroom' bar.  It's a fancy feature of the new arena that you have to pay to get into...obviously not many have been doing this hence the free entry.  Feeling all special we sipped our pint while the 'O2 Angels' hovered around chatting to all the men with the obvious aim of luring is into becoming O2 Blueroom subscribers...they didn't say as much but that was the idea.  We made our way to the front row and Yusuf made his way on stage at 8pm on the dot alone with nothing but a guitar and strummed out a couple of songs.  After all these years he hasn't lost his touch whatsoever.  With every song arrived another member of the backing band until the full 7 piece were out in full force.  My own personal favourite Cat Stevens song, 'Where do the Children Play?' was a highlight for me.

However, I noticed that the crowd were a little rowdy for a Yusuf Islam gig.  They kept shouting out requests while he was talking and generally being disrespectful.  He is such a calm performer and takes time to explain the origins of the songs which really makes the gig into more than a simple performance.  The interval came we went back to the Blueroom with the sound of Yusuf's promises of a special surprise still in our ears.  The second half started with a new set and yusuf explained how he had always wanted to write a musical and had written one called 'Moonshadow' which incorporated many of his old songs.  We were then treated to a 45 minute preview of the full show with a ten strong cast.  This is when things turned ugly.  This was a bit of a shock to some in the crown and the boos got louder and louder as did the profanity.  A few people even tried to run backstage.  People certainly didn't like that he was offstage and that other people were singing the hits.  I didn't like it either - but not as violently as some people.  It's all well and good to have a musical but this was not the time nor the place to showcase it.  If you had paid to see a musical that would have been grand but we had paid to see Yusuf Islam.  Luckily that wasn't the last we saw of him and he took to the stage (visibly shaken by the reaction it has to be said) and carried on playing for another hour.  The crown slowly settled but continued to boo at every new song...it was hits only for some people.  The encore consisted of a duet with Ronan Keating singing Father and Son.

In all it was a good gig but the musical section was a mistake.  It needed to have been explicitly stated that there would be a musical section and that the concert would resume afterwards.  Maybe then the crown would not have felt so cheated.  I came away happy...and a little bemused by the crowd.  I can see their point but it was a clear over-reaction...the man didn't deserve that.  This morning I head reports that multiple people had to be escorted out and that one security guard was even attacked...you don't really expect this with a crowd that is mainly 50+.  I felt bad for the ten performers of the musical.  They did their job well...it was a shame it was in the middle of a comeback gig.  I would say that this will be Yusuf's last Irish gig. We let ourselves down there and let a legend walk away with a less than favourable impression. What the gig did show is that Yusuf is still a creative and evolving artist.  He doesn't just stand there and play his back calalogue.  He does something new and recreates his old material in light of his life experience showing that he is still relevant.  I would go again and would be more favourable to the musical section knowing that it was not the end...

The Hobbit...

So as you know I am a big nerdy git!  I like all the Star Wars stuff blah blah blah...I'm also very fond of Lord of the Rings and can't wait for the Hobbit to be made.  I have the occasional peak around the net to see what the latest rumours are and stunbled across and website full of joke rumours that just killed me.  I would actually like these to be true just to see such a movie.  Here are a few of the best rumours for anyone who likes Tolkien:

1. The 13 dwarves from the book will be changed to the much more popular and easier to remember 7 dwarves.  In an effort to embrace diversity the group of dwarves will consist of a fat one, a smart one, an asian one, a black one, a stupid one, an irritable one and a girl.  The black one dies at the hands of the trolls in the first 30 minutes.

2. Ron Perlman, contrary to the rumors, will not play Beorn.  He will play the female dwarf Oina who will serve as the love interest to Bilbo.  This casting decision made more sense when it was leaked that Oina will be bearded as per Tolkien’s original conception of Dwarven women.

3. Bilbo will be represented as a teenage hobbit who must return from his quest before the weekend is over and his parents get back from their vacation.  Casting has narrowed possible actors for the role down to Robert Pattinson or Shia Labeouf.  Principal photography will commence on the  ”cleaning montage” scene soon after.

4. Incorporating technology used in the film Little Man, Orlando Bloom will be transformed into “baby Legolas” and will help Bilbo and the 7 dwarves escape imprisonment at the hands of his father’s Wood Elves through a variety of wacky homemade traps.

5. After the popularity of “black-bot” in Transformers, Smaug will be portrayed as a jive talking dragon who wishes a motherfucker would try to steal his treasure.  Casting has narrowed possible voice actors for the role down to Chris Tucker or Robert Downey Jr.

6. The Battle of Five Armies will become the Battle of Ten Armies featuring Elves, Dwarves, Humans, Eagles and Unicorns vs Goblins, Spiders, Balrogs, Nazgul and Dementors.  It will take up the final 90 minutes of the movie.

7. As a nod to the newly popular (post Harry Potter) “gay wizard” archetype, an unrated European version will be released with an extended furry sex scene between Gandalf and Beorn in his bear form.  In an effort to make sure it is tastefully done the studio has contacted Zack Snyder, director of 300 and Watchmen to direct the scene.

Obviously I cannot take credit for this list!  For the original website click here.

All too true...

Devil's Gonna Get Ya...

The Standing Stone just reached 666 hits.

What does the number 668 mean?  - - - - - - - Neighbour of the Beast.