Daily Archives: September 18, 2009

Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival

  By Keleher | September 18, 2009 - 9:25 pm | The Culch
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The Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival held in Longford town is on for September 24th-27th. The festival includes concerts, including the trad Irish group Lúnasa, and workshops on traditional Irish instruments, especially on the banjo. You can see the full schedule here: http://www.johnnykeenan.com/index.htm I met Johnny Keenan for the first time during a session at O’Donoghue’s in Dublin, where I’ve joined in on the bodhrán over the years, when on hols there. I also ran into Johnny in Boston a couple of times, always had great conversations with him about the music. Johnny Keenan passed away in March of 2000, and the annual festival in his honor started up in 2002. Here is a nice video of Johnny and Brendan Keenan: Decided to add a clip of Lúnasa in concert: I have connections with the group, Cillian Vallely, Uilleann piper from Armagh, taught me flute one summer when he was part of the Boston session scene in the 1990′s, around the same time I met Seán … There’s more →

Culchie Catch-Up (3)

  By Lottie | September 18, 2009 - 3:03 pm | Catch-Up, Featured Post, The Culch
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Movies The Dark Knight: Inception, Avatar, Defendor and Soloman Kane: Dr. Manfattan’s Movie News. Two sheets to the wind: Top 5 Directorial Debuts Rick has a date with destiny…sorry Disney. “Up” - Darragh does a review…of sorts. Niamh reviews Sam Mendes’ new file ‘Away We Go’. Music Julie Feeney’s new single & gig dates. Fionn Regan’s tour dates Coldplay live up to their clean image. Ventertainment reviews Codes debut album: Trees Dream In Algebra

CODES. - Trees Dream in Algebra

  By Rob Cumiskey | September 18, 2009 - 2:24 pm | Featured Post, Infected, Music, The Culch
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CODES are a band that understands the benefit of the words ‘Gradual Progression’. In this age of instant gratification and viral culture, trends, fame and, most importantly for CODES – music, rise and fall by the day. One minute a band is on top of the world, and the next, they’re has-beens. So, it’s refreshing to come across a band that have taken 2 years, 3 singles and a long recording process with Greg Haver (Manics, SFA) and mastering by Greg Calbi (U2,Interpol,Kings of Leon), before they released their very impressive debut album.

Absolut Fringe review: Group Therapy for One

  By Steph | September 18, 2009 - 1:59 pm | Featured Post, The Arts, The Culch, Theatre
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Last evening I saw one of the most interesting shows I’ve seen at Absolut Fringe thus far. It’s Group Therapy for One by a young and exciting theatre company called TheatreClub. “Shane’s a bit fucked up. He wants us all to go to his gaff, where he’s holding an inquest into his life. With the bravado of his father and the softness of his mother, he will tell you things he doesn’t want you to know. Some say he’s comedy gold. Other’s think he’s self-indulgent. Why don’t you decide? If you’re lucky, he might even invite you to his 21st!” So we meet as directed on O’Connell Bridge where we’re then taken by bus to Shane’s house by a few of his friends, including the director of the show. We’re given an introduction to who Shane is, or rather the good side and attributes of Shane as a counter-balance to … There’s more →

To get you in the mood for Nick Cave in Vicar St soon

  By darraghdoyle | September 18, 2009 - 11:41 am | Gigs, Performance Art, The Culch, The Internet
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Steph has already posted about Nick Cave’s evening of readings and live music, with Cave joined by Warren Ellis and Martyn Casey to coincide with the publication of The Death of Bunny Munro. The tickets arrived yesterday: Coincidentally I was sent through The Cat Piano, a wonderful video by The People’s Republic of Animation and narrated by Cave. In a city of singing cats, a lonely beat poet falls for a beautiful siren. When a mysterious dark figure emerges, kidnapping the town’s singers for his twisted musical plans, the poet must save his muse and put an end to the nefarious tune that threatens to destroy the city. The film is adapted from a poem written by co-director Eddie White who envisioned Cave as his first choice for narrating the poem which blends Jack Kerouac inspired beat poetry with the romantic and haunting poems of Edgar Allen Poe. I quite … There’s more →

Free on Friday - TED proves that talk isn’t cheap

  By lecraic | September 18, 2009 - 11:13 am | Featured Post, The Culch, The Internet
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TED Talks hardly need an introduction. On the offchance that you haven’t heard of them before TED is annual conference where some of the world’s brightest thinkers and doers are challenged to give the talk of the lives in about 18 minutes. The talks are all available on the TED website and there is also a handy Google spreadsheet for easy reference. Since ‘Free on Friday’ is all about free stuff, I can’t recommend these TED talks highly enough. In the best X Factor tradition, they are in no particular order. I’ve just included 5 of my own personal favourites here and suggestions from culch_ie followers on Twitter. Sir Ken Robinson - School kills creativity Hugely entertaining and thought provoking. Sir Ken Robinson believes that creativity is as important as literacy. He makes a compelling case for changing the way we educate. Our future may depend on it. About 15 minutes into the talk, … There’s more →

Away We Go review

  By Niamh | September 18, 2009 - 10:33 am | Movies & TV
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I saw the preview of ‘Away We Go’ recently with a friend. ‘Away We Go’, directed by Sam Mendes, is a lovely, simple movie following new parents-to-be Burt (John Krasinski from The Office US) and Verona (the very pretty Maya Rudolph). Burt and Verona live in a horrible, rundown little house near to Burts parents. The same day that they announce they are expecting a baby, Burts parents announce that they are moving away for two years and suddenly the parents to be are thrown into turmoil. With Veronas parents dead and Burts parents gone away, they have no family for the baby outside of themselves. While Verona is still pregnant they undertake a huge trip around the country visiting various friends and family members scattered as far apart as Miami and Montreal, trying to find somewhere to put down roots and bring up baby with some sort of support … There’s more →

Wiitness the Fitness

  By twistedlilkitty | September 18, 2009 - 9:48 am | Games, The Culch
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“Wow, have you been working out?” “You must go to the gym a lot” These are two phrases which have never been said to me, unless with some sort of sarcastic undertone. Now don’t get me wrong, I have gone to the gym, it was a very brief affair. To me the gym seems to be full of people who were apparently born there, spotting each other and giving each other high fives when one of them bench presses the equivalent of a school bus full of terrified children. Now I know that the experience of displays of public exercise can be very different for different people. ‘When I go to the gym there are people who are as unfit as myself’, I’m very much sure there are and you know why you notice them, because they are making a show of themselves all red faced and sweaty wiping down … There’s more →