Just noticed by pure chance that July 26 marked the 150th anniversary of George Bernard Shaw’s birth. Have I been living under a rock or was there very little fanfare about this? Maybe everyone is still beat out from all the recent Beckett celebrations, but I can’t be the only one who would much prefer spending time in a Shaw play than with any of Beckett’s über-boring dramas.
Anyway, no time to write much, so here is a list of Project Gutenberg’s free GBS downloads or cut to the chase and read Pygmalion, his most famous drama, or Arms and the Man, my personal favourite. Also have a look at Wickipedia’s Shaw entry. Of course, Shaw is at least as quotable as Oscar Wilde, so make sure to memorise some of these.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Friday, July 28, 2006
Reservoir Dogs Star to film in Cork
According to the "Cork Independent" Reservoir Dogs star Michael Madsen (Mr Blonde) is due to film Strength and Honour in and around Cork together with, ahem, Richard Chamberlain. (Didn’t know he is still around filming.) Written and directed by Mark Mahon from Rochestown, this film will be shot in areas such as the Mardyke, Rochestown Road. Browne’s Mills and Kinsale’s Oyster Creek Bar. Casting will commence in mid-August so expect a couple of local faces to pop up in this production.
Judging from the IMDB info this appears to be Mahon’s first film and it’s quite an achievement to see that he managed to get such an illustrious cast for a Cork shooting. In 2005 he, however, appears to have won the Action on Film award for “Best Screenplay Unproduced” for Freedom Within the Heart, a film that is now in development for 2007. He also appeared as an actor in a US short movie (Pals), so does have some kind of Hollywood credential that may have made it easier to get this project off the ground.
I have been a Madsen fan for quite some time so will probably do some star spotting when it comes closer to the production date. You never know: He may even show up at the Cork Film Fest, although I doubt it: Given that the film is just in pre-production it will definitely not be ready for this year’s schedule and will probably be an old hat for 2007.
Judging from the IMDB info this appears to be Mahon’s first film and it’s quite an achievement to see that he managed to get such an illustrious cast for a Cork shooting. In 2005 he, however, appears to have won the Action on Film award for “Best Screenplay Unproduced” for Freedom Within the Heart, a film that is now in development for 2007. He also appeared as an actor in a US short movie (Pals), so does have some kind of Hollywood credential that may have made it easier to get this project off the ground.
I have been a Madsen fan for quite some time so will probably do some star spotting when it comes closer to the production date. You never know: He may even show up at the Cork Film Fest, although I doubt it: Given that the film is just in pre-production it will definitely not be ready for this year’s schedule and will probably be an old hat for 2007.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
John Spillane on MySpace
I joined MySpace a few days ago to find out what the hell this is all on about. So far I can say: Very little. I just don’t get the fascination for viewing poorly designed personal pages for the off chance – very off chance from the looks of it - to maybe meet some interesting people.
It does seem to be an OK hangout if you’re into music. One of my favourite bands, Zombina and the Skeletones, is on it, so that’s the one consolation I got so far.
I was surprised to see that John Spillane is actually on it as well. Spillane is something of a Cork hero. Admittedly few have heard of him even outside of his native city, but here at least he has his loyal fan base. I can’t say that I really take to him. His songs are very personal and there is a distinct ring to them that have them stand out from the crowd, but his extreme Cork accent makes most of the songs borderline annoying or at least ecstatically comical. Sometimes I wish he would stick to writing songs and having others sing them.
Ah well, check out his site and judge for yourself.
It does seem to be an OK hangout if you’re into music. One of my favourite bands, Zombina and the Skeletones, is on it, so that’s the one consolation I got so far.
I was surprised to see that John Spillane is actually on it as well. Spillane is something of a Cork hero. Admittedly few have heard of him even outside of his native city, but here at least he has his loyal fan base. I can’t say that I really take to him. His songs are very personal and there is a distinct ring to them that have them stand out from the crowd, but his extreme Cork accent makes most of the songs borderline annoying or at least ecstatically comical. Sometimes I wish he would stick to writing songs and having others sing them.
Ah well, check out his site and judge for yourself.
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