parish notes volume 2

I should mention my trip to last weekends Farmleigh Affair which was held as usual in Farmeigh in the Phoenix Park. I ventured over for the two days and had a thoroughly ripping time. There were a few showers on the first day and the only act that I can remember was Carmen Souza from Cape Verde. She was doing her best to get the crowd into a singalong but had very limited success. I tried to help her out but it was just me and Carmen against the rest of the crowd. Bad buzzers. Sunday saw much better weather, a bigger crowd an increase in the alcohol intake. Everything came up roses. I missed the first two acts, so the first entertainment of the day came from Lo Cor de la Plana, a bunch of dudes from Marseille. They belted out a few tunes a capella, accompanied by what looked like fun-size bodhráns. It was great craic for about 15 minutes and then I got bored. Next up was Iarla O Lionaird who I've seen with the Afro Celt Sound System many years ago. This set was completely different and I had a bit of a snooze during it perhaps due to the imbibement of much wine. Finishing the whole affair was Grupo Fantasma. They managed to get quite a crowd of people into their groove. Good buzz.

Elsewhere, the Analogue magazine launch takes place this Friday the 8th of August in the bar in Crawdaddy. There will apparently be special guest DJ's and a live set from Storkboy Choons.

The annual Ronty Cup 2008 takes place in Dalymount Park on Saturday 9th August. Kick-Off is at 3pm. This event celebrates the life of an old friend who passed away a few years back and it sees his mates from Bristol play his mates from Dublin. With any luck we'll retain the trophy on home soil. When I say we, in truth my efforts will most likely be limited to about five minutes on the pitch. Still for an old boy like me I reckon thats pretty good. Come down for a gander if you're in the Phibsboro area.

Then on Sunday August 10th 2008 at 4pm in the Lighthouse Cinema in Smithfield there's The Best Of The West. This event in The Lighthouse intends to showcase a number of award-winning Short Films from the Galway Film Fleadh. Amongst these shorts is one by me aul mucker and longtime whisker grower, Luke Mc Manus. It's called 'Danger High Voltage' and it managed to claim first prize in the Best First Irish Short Film category. The whole thing sounds like a great buzz and will also give the uninitiated amongst you a chance to check out the new Lighthouse. I've been down and I think its great.

I have to mention the Sea Sessions that takes place in Bundoran during September. It looks like its going to be a good buzz. A mixture of music and surfing in a part of the world i know well. The line up includes Belle & Sebastian, Kittser, Asian Dub Foundation and a host of other heads. I haven't been up that way in about 7 years so I think its time that Donegal rolled out the red carpet for the imminent arrival of Matt Vinyl. O'Donnell Abú.

no country for aul fellas

I checked out the Coen brothers new movie 'No Country for Old Men' over the weekend. The more I think about it the more I like it. It is also one of those movies that has no real ending. It reminds me of another completely unrelated Belgian movie called 'L'Enfant' where there is no conventional end. Both open a window into the lives of others, you experience a taste of their lives (or deaths) and then the window is closed again. You know that if you followed the characters there's another movie beyond the one you've just seen. What a buzz it must be to make great movies. It's a good buzz watching them anyway.

I'm not going to review it because I'm shit at reviewing stuff. If I'm writing about it then that usually indicates that I like it. If I don't like it then I'll usually state that. Luckily there are paid professionals who write about stuff so I don't have to. Here's the Philip French Review of the movie. Here's the James Christopher Review also. Or you could check out Michael Dwyer's Review. But the best review of it that I've read is this one but it makes far more sense once you've seen the movie.