So Eddie, Kev, Eoin and I finally got to sit down and record a new show last week. We’d attempted to do it about three times over the past few of months but a couple of issues popped up during the process. First of all, we had lost the privilege of using DCUfm’s professional studio… by way of well, graduating. We had also all gone on separate ventures – some of us were still in college, some were doing post-grads and the rest were working full time jobs. Just finding a single day where we could all get together and record proved nigh impossible at times.

We also had a hard time focusing on a new format. Live radio and podcasts are two very different things and we needed to keep that in mind. To be honest, I feel like there’s a tad more scope in the art of podcasting. There are no more rules left for us to adhere to. We can say whatever we want for as long as we want and no one

can stop us. (Well ‘cept Eoin. Cuz he’s the producer like, and it has to be someones job to organise the unbridled chaos that these recordings have so often become).

Oh lord I went off on one again. My apologies. Now where was I? Ah yes. So, we lacked equipment, time and true imagination. Luckily though, the stars have at

Sooo prettyful

long last aligned. We have a schedule. We have topics. We have ideas. We’re making videos (there’s 2 up on our YouTube page) and most importantly, we have passion. Something I feel we’ve been lacking for the past while. (We also have microphones! I just bought this little beaut).

Procrastination has always been one of my most prominent vices. I succumb to it quicker than  you will succumb to laughter after looking at this image of Tina Fey photobombing Amy Poehler during the Golden Globes. (Its gets funnier the more you watch it. Trust me).

Trololololol!

Did you enjoy that? Good. I’m glad. Anyway its nice to be back on track. Slowly but surely I’m sorting out my priorities and putting ‘staying up that extra hour to write a blog and promote the show’ ahead of ‘staying up that extra hour scrolling on 9gag until I’ve hit the reposts’. So this weeks episode is all about one of our favourite writers and directors, the late great John Hughes; famous for producing some of the finest teen movies of the 80′s if not all time, and for making Molly Ringwald famous, even if it was only for about 5 years, which I think is pretty good for a ginger! (I live with a ginger so I’m allowed make those jokes). If you wanna have a wee listen, all ya have to do is click here or subscribe to us on iTunes by searching ‘Boomstick Podcast’.

Btdubs, we’re currently deciding on a new logo. Which of 2 below do you guys prefer: new Green Lantern vibe, or our old retro gaming style? Lemme know in the comments.

Y U NO CHOOSE?!

I also managed to wrangle another little editing job. Tomorrow morning I’ll helping out a group of DBS masters students filming a short on ‘being human’ – the concept, not the once-brilliant BBC serial.

Creative block can be crippling at times, especially to someone just starting out in the industry, or at least trying to, because in order to be noticed, you have to be good. And I’m a big advocate of not producing anything that I’m not 100% proud off. Looking back I can barely watch any of my old videos. Listening to some of my first attempts at presenting live radio are enough to make me audibly retch. It became rare that I truly cared about what I was producing, they were just things I had to do. I’ve still to this day never shot a drama, or anything scripted. Thats something I want to rectify this year. Being creative and producing can be a surprisingly daunting task as it means exposing certain aspects of yourself on a very public level. Whenever I think of this I’m always reminded of that Syliva Plath quote, “Everything is writable about if you have the ongoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self doubt”. I just gotta nip that self doubt in the bud and then I’ll singin’. (Also, I cannot buh-leeve I just quoted Sylvia Plath in a blog post. I hate myself right now)

I shall leave you with a nice little Adele remix I stumbled upon whilst writing this post.

I hope you enjoy Boomstick. If you have suggestions or ideas for future episodes, hit up Boomstickpodcast.com.

The cast of Fresh Meat

Fresh Meat is a new 40-minute Channel 4 sitcom created by the same duo behind the phenomenally successful Peep Show. It follows the lives of six 1st year housemates studying at the fictional Manchester Metlock University. The moment this show started I was hit smack in the face by nostalgia. The shaky, pull focus camara work and alternative techno soundtrack had ‘Edgar Wright’ written all over it. A guy wearing no trousers drying peaking duck with a hairdryer; classic Peep Show humour. The cast also hosts a number of familiar faces with The Inbetweener’s Joe Thomas playing Kingsley, a geology student infatuated with roommate Josie. Jack Whitehall, Channel 4 Comedy’s current golden boy, debuts in his first acting role as posh toff JP. Even the university they filmed at is the spit of Roundview College in Skins. And I’m 90% sure the house used is at least on the same road as the one from Spaced.

Needless to say, I had formed my opinions within the first 30 seconds, the majority of which were negative. They were clearing pandering to such a specific target audience that a part of me almost didn’t want to give into temptation and enjoy it. But alas, I did. Instant gratification wins all the time with me. I’m a whore.

But I digress. After watching the first episode I was utterly hooked. Zawe Ashton is without a doubt the star of the show and her character is responsible for some of the best lines. “I’m not racist for Asians, I’m just slutty!” Vod is a drug-addled, sexually ambiguous misanthrope with a heart of gold. I mean really, what’s not to love?

Alongside her we have Oregon. (Can I just say I really hate it when writers give their characters such stupid names. She’s a middle-class girl from outer Manchester. She wouldn’t be named something like ‘Oregon’. Thats just silly.) Anyway Oregon is played by Charlotte Ritchie, whom I’m assuming is a not-so-distant relative of Jessica Stevenson (I outright refuse to call her ‘Hynes’) because she’s only the bloody spit of her! Oregons an interesting character. First and foremost, she’s a liar. But not a malicious one. A blatantly naive one. She’s ashamed of her roots and wants to change them. She wants to impress her housemates, Vod in particular and feels the best way to do so is to lie. By episode three however we start seeing a different side of her as she embarks on a illicit affair with her English lecturer. I’m sure more of her motive behind this will be revealed as we discover more about the character’s back story, but right now, she remains a mystery.

This leads us nicely onto Josie, played by Kimberly Nixon. Josie is your stereotypical girl next door. Sugar, spice and all that lovely sorta shite. She even sounds like Bubbles from The PowerPuff Girls! Y’know… if The PowerPuff Girls were from Wales. Josie likes Kingsley. Thats obvious from the get-go, and thusly marks them as the ‘Ross and Rachel’ of the group. But as we later discover, Josie has a boyfriend, one that she’s neglected to mention or even think about it seems, since starting university. I like that. I like that this sweet little girl has an air of bitch about her and I’m looking forward to seeing how that develops.

I must say I was throughly impressed with Jack Whitehall’s performance. His accent was annoying at first but I think that’s simply because I was accustomed his natural vernacular. For his first major acting gig I think he’s done alright. Howard, played by Scotsman Greg McHugh, is the “quirky/weird” one. He appears to be a strange combination of both Mike and Brian from Spaced. Howard’s cool.

Overall, I’m excited to see what more this show can bring. Its been getting a lot of negative reviews but I think at the very least we’ve got a future cult classic on our hands here. I have faith that Channel 4/E4 can make this work. With Misfits, Skins and The Inbetweeners in their backlog, I reckon these lads will do just fine.

Check out Fresh Meat on Channel 4, Wednesdays at 10pm.

We really don't.

The last show I did for the station was a nerdy, techy, pop-culture-y, internet-ey, trying to be funny-ey talk show called ‘Boomstick‘ with my mates Ed, Kev and Eoin, and we did pretty well out of it. I got nominated for a Smedia for ‘Radio DJ of the Year’, and I actually ended up winning a Hybrid for ‘Radio Presenter of the Year’. It felt so good to be acknowledged for that show. Not solely because of the work that we put into it, though the recognition did help justify that, but because it was so much fun to make. From pre-production to the live recording, Boomstick incorporated all of my interests and then gave me a medium by which to share my thoughts with a mass audience. And by “mass audience”, I mean our lovely friends that listened, and by “share my thoughts”, I mean, yelp my opinions and not have anyone answer back. (Well, bar the other presenters, but I’ve quickly learned that much like my family at Christmas, its survival of the loudest).

During the summer, the 4 of us toyed with the idea of continuing Boomstick as podcast. It was one helluva laugh to make and it provided an outlet for us all to continue seeing each other, despite having left the soothing, responsibility-shielding refuge of our respective alma maters. So that’s what we’re doing. But we also want to make it better, stronger and faster than its ever been before! We’ve gotten our own website at boomstickpodcast.com and its undergone a major redesign since we last publicized it in May. We’re still in the process putting all the pieces together, but right now its got a host of funny and interesting news and pictures, plus links to all of our previous podcasts which I throughly encourage you to listen and enjoy. In the coming months we’ll be uploading videos, themed episodes and regular articles to the site. I love this project, and I really hope you guys will come to love it too. I know we’re still amateurs, with practice and perseverance, this’ll hopefully turn into something really good.

And that pretty much sums it up. You can check out the best bits from our time in DCUfm below, I’ll be sure to link you to our latest episode once its uploaded.

Finally, I’ve started listening to some other podcasts at the recommendation of a mate, and NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour is most definitely the best I’ve listened to thus far. Featuring Linda Holmes of NPR’s pop culture blog MonkeySee, Glen Weldon, Trey Graham and Stephen Thompson; this show epitomizes the niche I’d love Boomstick to be a part of. Have a listen. Talk radio isn’t actually as dull as you might think! (Though 10 year old me would fervently disagree)

Praise the Lawd!

On Sunday Oct 2nd 2011, something wonderful happened. Comedian Will Arnett posted on Twitter exclaiming that his cancelled-too-soon TV show ‘Arrested Development‘ would return to television. Not only would fans be gifted with a new series, but the episodes are building a prelude to a feature-length cinematic release. Needless to say, devotees across the world rejoiced that at long last, after years of teasing, their wish had finally been granted.

I was one of those fans. If you’re unfamiliar, Arrested Development was a Fox TV show created by Mitch Hurwitz and narrated by the legendary Ron Howard. It ran from 2003-2006 and was composed of a highly talented comedic cast, displaying the best rapport seen amongst a group of sitcom characters in recent years. Jason Bateman starred as forlorn protagonist Michael Bluth, middle child of the once-wealthy clan and suspected heir to the CEO position of his father Georges’ (Jeffrey Tambour) retail company. Will Arnett played eldest son Gobe; a failing magician and even worse lothario. Ellen’s missus Portia Degeneres (ní di Rossi) starred as Micheal’s ironically lethargic/activist sister Lindsey, who’s unwittingly married to closeted psychiatrist Tobias Fünke (David Cross). The ‘mother-son’ quotient of the ’30 minute comedy archetype’ was depicted by the wonderfully eerie affinity between overbearing yet cruel mother Lucille (Jessica Walter) and the youngest boy Buster – aged aprrox 33 (Tony Hale). Whilst the ‘Will they, won’t they?’ paradigm revolved around Michael’s son George Michael, (Michael Cera) named after his father and grandfather respectively, and his cousin, Maeby (Alia Shawkat).

At the time of its first broadcast, HBO, Showtime and AMC were known, and still are, for producing the highest quality television money could buy: which is why you had to pay for those particular channels. FOX retaliated to their critical success with AD, and a ‘critical’ success was exactly what it became. Winning a plethora of Emmys, Golden Globes and SAG awards, AD was held amongst it’s peers as an inspiration to what good comedy can be; along the same lines as Seinfeld or Curb Your Enthusiasm. Unfortunately, FOX’s primary audience disagreed and after 3 years of poor-ratings and increasing cut backs, Arrested Development was cancelled in 2006, adding yet another casualty to the list of TV shows shelved well before their time.

"The world's first analyst and therapist."

Now as evidenced in my last post, I’m a pretty big fan of most main-stream NBC comedies, and AD is no doubt the parent show from which most of the networks biggest hits were conceived. I’ve often referred to 30 Rock as ‘Arrested Development Lite’, more palatable for a wider audience. The similarities are often quite striking. Bumbling physician Dr. Spaceman has plenty of personality traits similar to the Bluth’s failing lawyer Barry Zuckerkorn (Henry Winkler), and Jim Rash’s portrayal of bi-curious-but-no-one-has-proof-so-its-ok Community college dean is pretty obviously a nod to famed analrapist, Dr Fünke. It’s self-referential style may have made it difficult for one-time viewers to truly appreciate and “get” the humor depicted, but these ‘in-jokes’ are what made it a joy for the fans to watch and helped create such a fervent cult following.

Its writing has always been something to envy as Hurwitz and his team cram out joke, after joke, after joke. Oftentimes there were as much as 3-4 linear stories running throughout 1 episode. It never got boring. From poignant metaphors relating to our own doomed but irrevocably hilarious reality, to ridiculously camp prop comedy, narrated by Howard’s trademark uproarious commentary. Even from a director’s point of view AD was a break-through for contemporary television. From simple things like cutting to white, to their staple mock-documentary style (keep in mind this was 2 years before the premiere of The Office on US screens), to their ingenious incorporation of visual comedy. Not to mention the music! Big Yellow Joint

I won't be this cocky for much longer.

AD movies rumors have been doing the rounds online for about 3 years now with a number of different theories circulating as to why it had never happened: the most prominent of which being that Michael Cera was either unable or unwilling to do it because of other work commitments. But it turns out Juno, Superbad and Scott Pilgrim were that guys pinnacle* because after the unadulterated disasters that were Year One and Youth in Revolt, Cera’s finally on board. (Seriously dude, you had so much potential. I think thats a blog for the not so distant future, ‘How Michael Cera Broke My Heart. Over, and over and over again’.)

So yeah, after being teased for so long, this does seem like a rather small victory and that the inevitable has happened at long last. But I don’t mean that cheapens our victory in any way! I’m referencing the unfortunate but inevitable decline of Michael Cera’s career. If life really was a movie, the following 10 years will compromise on him riding on the success of AD, starring in a number of small indie roles (even more indie than what he’s doing now), maybe turning his hand to directing and writing, then making a promising comeback as a well-respected actor and filmmaker whose past mistakes have been forgotten by the public en masse. Or, he’ll start drinking, star in a litany of nauseating Lifetime TV movies and always be remembered as the skinny guy from Superbad. It can one of 2 ways, seriously.

In summation, I’m overjoyed that Arrested Development is returning, if a bit annoyed that it didn’t happen sooner. If you haven’t already seen it, I urge you to grab the DVD’s and immerse yourself in the Bluth’s ridiculous interpretation of reality. You’ll knock ‘em out in under 3 days. Seriously.

Watch me

*I also liked ‘Paper Heart‘ but it was one of those films that was so pretentiously “new-indie” that I feel ashamed to admit I enjoyed  it. Kind of the same deal with ‘Away We Go‘.

Now my online credentials weren’t always what they are now. I was a late bloomer when it came to ‘t3h internetz’, getting my first laptop aged 16 having never been online beforehand; something my friends took great joy in mocking. For example when a mate of mine tried to teach me how to use Limewire. Which y’all shouldn’t do. ‘Cause its real bad. And like, totally illegal. Cool? Cool. So I had just downloaded the program from this site my friend had linked me too and a notification window popped up asking me if I was ready to reboot the computer. Or at least I later found out thats what it said. I had barely grazed the box because I was too busy on the phone. (Yes, he was talking me through it on the phone because I couldn’t yet use Messenger. I was that bad dude. Fo’ shizz) The computer then shut down and turned off almost instantly. A trait that particular laptop lost with time. In the end, it took the guts of 20 minutes to shut down and about twice that to start up. It lost 2 keys, had a broken trackpad, and could barely connect to the net. Poor thing. Anyway the computer had turned itself off and I freaked! And proceeded to lose my shit at my poor mate over the phone until he figured out what I’d done, copped the hilarity of my reaction, and then slagged me about it for the following 3 years. Fun times. Another less innocent story involves a bored 16 year old me in a TY computer class repeatedly asking another mate to suggest websites to me. She got annoyed. She suggested some bad sites. I have never forgiven her. My eyes. Why you no unsee??

Hand-Crafted Internet Radio

But I digress. Lets get to the part of the post where the title actually makes sense. In a rather vein attempt to reconnect with my online roots, I stumbled upon this little gem a few weeks ago. 8tracks.com is a user-generated social networking site that merges the style and essence of Last.fm, with the creativity involved with DeviantArt or Flickr. Well, the good parts of Flickr. Its tagline is “Hand-Crafted Internet Radio”. Members can compose and upload their own personal playlists that they’ve compiled for a particular mood, time, occasion, person, feeling, whatever. Think of it as a selection of mixtapes, and these ones can relate to mass audience. Its has broadened my horizons in terms of new music. I hit my peak around 2007-2008 and since then have more or less stuck to artists I already knew and liked, rarely bothering to download full albums by anyone new. Some brilliant suggestions that you probably already know include Grizzly Bear, Barcelona, Radical Face and Warpaint: which if you’re interested, is the band that Josh Klinghoffer, new guitarist for the Chili’s, used to be in. The playlists featured are incredibly diverse and from my own time scouring the site, it seems to cater for any mood. Falling Asleep to the Sound of Rain, You’re Probably Supposed to be Studying, and Dark, Smoke, Sex & Edge are amongst the finest compilations I’ve found, but trust me, you can lose hours of your life wistfully daydreaming through the myriad of musical tastes compiled.

The one downside is that due to their music license, you can only skip a maximum of 3 tracks per setlist, but there’s always a little catch when there’s content this good.

Also, I realize that my title sounds vaguely sarcastic. Its not supposed to be. I do really like it. www.8tracks.com 

Welcome Home by Radical Face. Painfully familiar but I can’t place where I heard it before. Lovely track though. Enjoy.

Parks and Rec began as a “spin-off” to The American Office back in 2009. Produced by the same duo behind the hugely successful corporate comedy, (once again, the US version, this isn’t actually written by Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais) NBC then cast SNL’s leading lady, Amy Poehlr in the role of Deputy Director of the Pawnee Parks & Recreation Department, Leslie Knope – and inhale!

Welcome to Pawnee

I started watching Parks and Rec in 2010. Being an avid 30 Rock fan and having seen Poehler’s work in the likes of Baby Mama, Mean Girls, and of course her fantastic impersonation of Hilary Clinton alongside Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin, I was quite intrigued by the mockumentary project. I’ll admit that at first, I didn’t like it. I went in expecting a sister-show to 30 Rock, and during the majority of its first season, Parks and Rec just wasn’t up to that level. Although like 30 Rock and its predecessor The Office (the spin-off idea kind of ran short since they cast Rashida Jones as a different character to whom she played in The Office) Parks and Rec blossomed and grew into a wonderful contemporary NBC sitcom, with a variety of “eccentric” characters set in an everyday enviroment. (See: Commnity, The US Office, basically all of the ones I’ve mentioned already)

Throughout the first season, we follow Leslie on her quest to fill in gigantic pit situated in the backyard of local nurse Ann Perkins. (Rashida Jones) Ann’s “rockstar” boyfriend Andy, had drunkenly stumbled into it after a night out breaking both his legs in the process. Leslie then spends the next 4 years celebrating triumph after triumph, by filling in the pit, hosting a successful harvest festival (they got Lil Sebastian for frack’s sake!) and helping restore the reputation of a defamed former teenager mayor.

In my opinion, Parks and Rec is easily one of the best sitcoms airing on TV today. Like Community (seriously, NBC is producing some top notch comedy people) its not a dark or satirical comedy, which is something even 30 Rock can fall into at times. These characters, even the most misanthropic of the bunch, all genuinely care about the others. Co-creator Michael Schur was intent on straying away from the “mean-spirited” comedy he deemed to be clogging the airwaves at the time. Although there were reports that Poehler made Knope appear as a bit too ditzy in its inaugural season, the writers retaliated fantastically by crafting some the finest comedic side-characters on modern television and turning Knope into an extremely hard-to-hate character. They also did well by finally cutting some of the dead meat in the form of Mark Brendanawicz (Paul Schneider) He was quickly replaced with Ben Wyatt, (Adam Scott) a city auditor and Leslie’s new love interest, and his hyper positive boss, Chris Traeger (Rob Lowe) “Scientist’s believe the first human being to live until 150 has already been born. I believe I am that human being”. 

Use it to train your kids!

A personal favorite character of mine would have to Ron Swanson. I’ve been trying to get my friends to watch this show for months, and I know that if they sat down to fully appreciate the raw, unbridled awesome that is Nick Offerman, they’d understand my obsession. Ron is a government-hating libertarian, who enjoys meat, mustaches and not giving a crap. His pet peeves include his 2 ex-wives, both named Tammy, having to listen to the personal problems of his co-workers, and being forced to eat anything green: leafy green, not gummy green.

Although Leslie does most of the actual work, Ron is the rock that holds the Pawnee Parks and Rec department together. His father-daughter relationship with his surly assistant April makes for many endearing moments on the show, and can this attitude often speed up the development of other relationships thanks to Ron’s “No-Bullshit” approach.

Aziz Ansari seems to pretty much play himself, which is cool because he happens to be very good at it. Chris Pratt however, would have to be the break-out star for me. Andy is lovable, a tad dopey, and incredibly adorable. He doesn’t seem to have a malevolent bone in his body and I must say, I find it very refreshing. He’s gone through the most change on the show having been dumped by Ann, being forced to live in a pit, and his band went through yet another series of name changes (MouseRat is still the best) to finally falling for and marrying his wife April… after 3 weeks together. But hey, they’re making it work!

If you’re a fan of modern NBC comedies, you’ll definitely fall head over heels for this one. Its not doing too well in ratings but that seems to be a trademark with most of the best television shows being produced this decade. So if you’re looking for something to spice up this year’s already impressive looking fall line-up, add Parks and Recreation to your viewing schedule. Trust me, you won’t regret it. Its Ron Swanson approved.

Now back to our scheduled programming.

30 Day Song Challenge

Day 02 – Your least favourite song

There are a number, but after this was posted on FB by my friend Conor, I can safely say this is one song I’d be happy never hearing again.

I Like You Just The Way You Are (Drunk at the Bar) by Brian McFadden.

Stools!

Brian McFadden is an ex-member of Irish manband, Westlife. They’re kind of like an Irish version of Take That in that they sing a lot of ballads. Their signature dance move is when they get up off their stools about three quarters way through the song and make this dramatic walk towards the end of the stage. I’m trying to think of an interesting literary way to describe them, but I just can’t. They’re crap.

Brian left the band much like Robbie did back in the day, but instead of becoming a musical superstar like Williams, he married some singer chick off of Neighbors, moved to Austrailia, had a brief stint on Australian Idol and now he’s  releasing a single that sounds like a horrible mix between hillbilly rock and electronica. Its the bastard lovechild of a redneck that had disgruntled sex with an auto tune program.

30 Day Movie Challenge

Day 02 – Your Least Favourite Movie

This ain't no game!

Now I’ve seen a lot of bad movies in my time. In fact I used to dedicate an hour of my week to watching bad movies so we could talk about them on Boomstick. One of the worst from that list has to be 1993′s Super Mario Bros Movie. Yet another example how Hollywood ruined our childhood.

The intro is an animated sequence of pre-historic Earth, with Danny De Vito narrating. Also, I’ve come to the conclusion that the casting director was thick as pigs**t, since they had a Hispanic bloke and a Brit playing the lead Italian brothers.

Whats strange about the movie is that it bears no resemblance to the games. The plot primarily follows a love story between Luigi and Daisy, an archeologist who gets abducted to a parallel world where humans evolve from lizards. Um, excuse me? I thought Mario was supposed to get the girl?

Dennis Hopper plays King Koopa, and looks like a strange mix between Ivan Ooze and Dr. Evil. Koopa’s malevolent plan is to combine both dimensions in order to devolve human kind. I’d like to point out that this movie was aimed at kids aged between 8-12: ‘devolve humankind?’ Really guys?

For a child this back in the day, the most exciting part of the whole story was probably discovering Mario’s second name. I mean, they’re called ‘Super Mario Bros’, so maybe he just used his first name for the business…? Right? No. After being arrested in the weird lizard world, Mario gives his information and informs the audience that his second name is, ‘Mario’. No, you didn’t misread that. ‘Mario’. His whole name is ‘Mario Mario’, and Luigi’s is ‘Luigi Mario’.

What the f**k Nintendo? How could you allow this to happen? Ocarina of Time for the 3DS had better rock out loud.

The movie ends with the boys returning home from the alternate dimension leaving Daisy behind because she’s actually like, decended from lizard people or something and wants to rebuild society since she and Luigi brought down Koopa and left the city in ruins. But about a week after they arrive home, Daisy bursts through the door with an armful of weapons and demands the Mario Bros help her out of a jam. It ends on a cliffhanger! This movie took 3 people to write, it had some of the most unrealistic, arbitary dialogue I’ve ever in a kids movie and it looks like it was made on a budget of about $10,000. Canadian dollars! How did anyone expect this to make enough money to generate a sequel?

But don’t just take my word on this, check out the trailer and judge for yourself. Utter tripe.

At 5am my roommate, Diane, knocked on my door and told me she’d heard banging coming from the corridor and that there was an ambulance downstairs. She opened our front door and this huge cloud of smoke came rushing into our apartment.

Needless to say, I shat myself.

So yeah, the apartment down the hall from ours was on fire. We think there was something wrong with the fuse box. The woman in that apartment was forced to jump from her balcony onto the building’s outdoor terrace whilst carrying her 1 year old child. She ended up breaking a leg in the process.
The fire alarm was sounding throughout the whole apartment block, apart from our floor. We didn’t hear any alarm.

Diane ordered her boyfriend, Cormac, and I onto the balcony. There was a crowd of people outside. We were one of the last few to make it down via this massive scary ladder yoke from a fire truck. We met Cormac’s roommate’s from the floor above and were told that the alarm had sounded on their floor a half an hour before we got out and that they were initially told there was nothing wrong and to return upstairs. (I should also point out that they took 2 lost children downstairs out of the burning building. If you knew who I was talking about  you’d realize exactly how bizarre and uncharacteristic this act of heroism was!) Thankfully, no one died in the fire as it was largely contained to the one apartment. The smoke on the other hand hit the whole floor.

We left Ballymun to get some sleep nearby and came back around noon. The majority of residents had been allowed move back into their apartments, except us. Our floor was sectioned off and deemed uninhabitable for the foreseeable future due to smoke damage. Luckily most of our possessions were left unharmed, and bar some damage to the walls and in the bathroom, we were relatively luckily. However, the hallway outside our flat looks like something out of World War II. Currently, its too dangerous to live on the floor because the air is still laden in residue smoke and the electrics are clearly faulty.

Throughout the day we went up and down from thinking “We’ll be grand, we’ll be allowed back in by the end of the week sure.”, to “Oh my God, we have nowhere to live, our landlord refuses to put us up anywhere and our thesis is due in 6 weeks. We’re fucked, we’re fucked, we’re fucked, we’re fucked, we’re so totally fucked!” I can easily say it was one of the stressful experiences of my life. And its still continuing today.

Luckily though, we’re in the middle of making a contingency plan. We don’t have to pay any rent on the apartment while we’re not allowed to actually live there. So with that money I can temporarily live with a friend across the street and Diane can stay in Cormac’s apartment upstairs. We’re looking to be out for about a month.

So here’s my beef. First of all, we were treated like dirt. Since the fire wasn’t caused by our landlord’s negligence, its not his responsibility to put us up . So far we’ve gone to the Gardaí, the letting agent, the PTRB, and the CAB. And because we’re students, without a family, and since the fire didn’t actually start in our apartment: we’re basically screwed. The only institution that’s been able to help us thus far has been DCU. Thats kind of why I wanted to write this post – well, that and (let’s be honest), its the most interesting thing that’s happened to me in a while.

Within a day, DCU had offered us accommodation, the chance to defer any imminent projects, and emergency monetary support. Our Program Chair even offered us a free house to stay in in April. Seriously! Des is officially the nicest man on the planet. Luckily, we were able to figure out most of this yesterday thanks to the help of friends and family but still, I’ve never been hugely involved in college politics or the SU, but those guys really came through for us today.

I think Diane summed our situation up perfectly – “Student’s are pretty much below rats on the social food change”. We were homeless, unable to get to any of our possessions and no one could do anything to help us; bar DCU. I really hope this post doesn’t sound as preachy as it does in my head.

With regards to the actual fire, it kind of made me realize that I need to pull the finger out and be more prepared. I’m not too sure if its actually sunk in yet. I think it has… But when it happened it was kind of like watching a TV show: a really low-budget TV show mind, it is Ballymun after all. I pretty much acted as I would if it were on the telly, as in I just stood there and watched it.

(Gotta start acting like a scout. When we booked into our hotel yesterday a mate pulled out teabags, a spoon and a little Tupperware container full of sugar: now thats what you call being prepared).

Anyway I grabbed my phone and some shoes, legged it out to the balcony and I don’t really remember saying anything else till I got down the ladder. I’m also happy to report that Cormac McAdam rescued my hamster, Cormac McAdam (don’t ask) from the building and kept him on the balcony till the fire died down. Admittedly Diane did wake us up, discover the fire and get us out of the burning building alive but I feel all accomplishments should be mentioned here. =P Special mention for Eoin too as he brought the Febreeze. =P

We saw the aftermath yesterday afternoon. That hallway is feckin’ scary, yo. There was a burned pram and car seat lying on the ground and the whole place was just black all over. The fire door meant that our belongings were more or less and grand. Its quite a strange sensation walking out of an ordinary apartment into a fire zone.

In the past 3 days, I’ve slept for about 10 hours, sent 72 texts from my phone, received 101, and spent over €30 on phone credit. I went from being homeless, to being forced to move back to Dundalk after only leaving permanently a feckin’ week ago, to living in an apartment in the ‘bad’ part of Ballymun. Tenner bets that complex round by the flats is safer than my gaff on the main road. In 2 weeks there was a murder and a fire at my apartment. 2 weeks! And its right across the road from the Garda station for fecks sake! If that isn’t the definition of irony, I don’t know what is. (Mind you, I learned the definition of irony from Alanis Morrissette so I’ve always been a bit confused about it).

So there ya have it. If I’m being honest I mainly wrote this because I’m not arsed repeating the story to everyone I know. Now I can just direct them to my blog – which I know is hipsterish, and douchebaggy but I don’t care. I’m lazy and I’d like the hits. =)

I’ll update with a few pictures of the scene once I get my hands on them, until then, I think you’ll understand if I’m a not contactable for a while.

Laters,

Carly

A lot has changed over the past 12 months and I feel like you deserve to be filled in on some of the details –  I’ve moved out of my family home, I’m living and working in Dublin, I’m still on the radio (albeit with a different show this time), I filmed my video production thesis, I met the Amish, I’ve been in the same room as Edgar Wright, I’ve thrown balloons off the Eiffel Tower, I’ve met new people, lost touch with others, and am 3 months away from graduating university with absolutely no discernible plan for the future. So basically, I’m f**ked. But what the hell, right? I’m only 21 and if 90′s slacker movies have taught me anything, its that I can live quite comfortably with no money and a stolen internet connection until I’m least 25.

Anyway, its time to get down to business. Our topic of discussion today is the ’30 Day Song Challenge’. I’ve seen this floating around Facebook for months now and in all honesty, I really wasn’t that interested in taking part. All it seemed to do was emphasize the fact that my knowledge of “contemporary” pop music pretty much ends at 1998. At the same time though, I figured this would be a good exercise to help get back into blogging. Some of the tracks I’ve come across whilst aimlessly stalking random Facebook profiles have been surprisingly awesome; and most of the gems have come from those you’d least expect.

About a week ago however, I noticed that a few of my mates had started doing the ’30 Day Movie Challenge’, and I think it goes without saying that I totally had to do it!

So here’s my contribution.

30 Day Song Challenge

Day 01 – Your Favorite Song

My ‘iTunes Most Played List’ is in a constant state of flux because my tastes pretty much change depending on my mood. But I think I should a track that has stood the test of time. So I’ve chosen Today by The Smashing Pumpkins. I first heard this track when I was about 15. I was staying at a mates house and he had a VHS with all The Pumpkins music videos – a band I had began listening to a week earlier because while his mother was fixing my mp3 player she insisted on adding some of her own music because mine was, quote “shit” unquote. …To be fair, I did own a lot of Linkin Park records back then so her point may have been valid.

"Lets all go out and buy fur coats!"

After getting through Angela Conway’s hallucinogenic take on the song Siva, (Seriously dude, that video is trippy. It gives you a sense of motion sickness; like with the first Twilight movie or whenever Natalie Portman dances in Black Swan) the intro chords began to play, erupting in that crowd pleasing opening rift. Today is one of the Smashing Pumpkins few ‘feel good songs’. It’s catchiness skyrocketed them and their album Siamese Dream into mainstream pop culture. Generation X couldn’t get enough of Billy Corgan’s encapsulating lyrics and James Iha’s hypnotic melodies. Corgan managed to echo the voice of a misguided era with his songs about alienation, depression and abuse. The Pumpkins are commonly lumped in the ‘grunge’ genre, but throughout their 12 year career (I only count up until 2000) they experimented with a plethora musical styles, from goth to shoegaze, pop  to metal and even electronica with their 1998 release, Adore. (I really liked Adore… THERE! I said it.) And who could forget their appearence on ‘Homerpolooza’, a classic Simpsons gem from season 7.

So yeah, I think that sums up my choice. One day, if I ever make an actual film, with an actual budget, this song will be playing as the credits roll.

30 Day Movie Challenge

Day 01 – Your Favorite Movie

I can barely even begin to describe how difficult this is for me to answer. I can think of hundreds to choose from. I find it difficult to pick my favourite director let alone my favourite film. Sidenote: My favourite director right now is probably Edgar Wright, but thats for Spaced more than anything else. For the meantime, my choice is based on a film I feel has one of the poignant and relatable storylines ever written, despite only being loosely set in our own reality. Ir is undoubtedly Michel Gondry’s greatest feature to date with some of the most visually stimulating direction I’ve ever come across. It redefined Jim Carrey’s career, portrayed one of the most original and fantastical stories of the 21st century and is the perfect example of a cult movie done good. I’ve chosen 2004′s surrealist romantic comedy, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

This week, we’re starting off with the original class room contraband; Tamagotchis.

Not Sparky, but close

Created in 1996, this humble little toy didn’t reach our side of the pond until about ’98, which was about the time I got mine. A little blue key chain full of pixelated love. It was dog whom I had affectionately named ‘Sparky’; something I still think was pretty clever for a little 8 year old. My grandmother bought him for me from a market in Newry. I no longer remember its exact whereabouts, all that I can recall is that it was situated across the street from a Woolworths where I could get the purple Monster Munch… the best kind of Monster Munch.

He lived inside a little transparent blue pebble, which I was convinced added a certain air of coolness to him, as I was always enamoured with the see-through purple GameBoy Colors released at the time. Yet I remember being utterly devastated when my mother handed me yet another bright yellow handheld, even after the disgust I’d conveyed at the visually putrid GameBoy Pocket I had gotten a year before. (Jaysus I was right brat.)

I adored Sparky and we were rarely apart. As a youngster I used to keep a house key tied to a scrunchie that was wrapped around my wrist. My mother did it as a safety precaution because I always forgot where I left things, something I have yet to grow out of, and because my parents were too lazy to walk the 15 foot lenght of our bungalow to come and answer the door. Sparky too, was lovingly attached to my wrist.

Regarding school, the swottish tendencies I possess now were instilled into me from a very young age. Before mobile phones, Bebo or even Furbies (which I never owned because they were f**king creepy) Tamagotchi’s were the teacher’s original nightmare. And I, being the total ‘fraidy cat that I was, rarely had Sparky in school. Whilst other kids spent inordinate amounts of time with their heads bent down to their knees arousing justified suspicion, I patiently waited until I could return home for a fun-filled evening with my tamagotchi and my worn out copy of Pokémon Red. I was raising him well. He was always chirpy and I’m proud to say, very well behaved. This little thing needed me, and I liked that.

Even the most mundane chores became a thrill. Finally I understood what my childhood best friend saw in those retarded Baby Borns… poop could be fun! Though I maintain that Baby Born’s were less than a good influence. I grew up to own an adorable collie and that bitch now has a 4 month old kid; no joke!

Beaumont Hospital-Whats weird is that I now live down the road from here.

Unfortunately this tale does not have a happy ending. On a routine trip up to Beaumont hospital with my grandmother, I absent-mindedly left Sparky on a table in the canteen, only to notice he was gone after 30 minutes on the road. I was mortified. My poor granddad actually rang the hospital to see if anyone had handed in the £2.50 toy. Alas… Sparky was gone.

I eventually went on the rebound with a little black tamagatchi that to this day remains nameless. I felt it best not to get too attached in case he too abandoned me. With this new toy, I had the choice of selecting either a T-Rex or a Whale. I generally chose the whale as he appeared to have a more empathetic face, and when you think about, in comparison to a T-Rex, a whale is a much more realistic pet. I kept him for years… and yes, I still have him now. Finding batteries for those things became a real chore but perseverance paid off. However, it was never the same. Whale crap isn’t as much fun to clean up as puppy crap.

Yes you are Leo, yes you are.

A few years ago I tried to get back into the virtual pet foray when a friend introduced me to Neopets. I had this weird yellow dinosaur inspired canine called ‘Leo777777′ or something, after that blond gimp from the televisual abortion that was ‘Charmed‘. And yes, I loved that show. I was 11, (15) gimme a break. But Neopets just didn’t capture me in the same way. You couldn’t carry your Neopet around in your pocket. Sure the games where fun, but tamagotchi’s were about instilling a sense of responsibility into a kids developing psyche. Like getting someone a puppy for Christmas except shit doesn’t all out storm if this one dies.

So there you have it. Unfortunately tamagatchi’s aren’t really like a TV show or a novel, everyone’s experience with their own little pet is different; hence the narrative of this blog. So internet, tell me your story. What was your tamagatchi, and how did you fall out of love with it?

Until next time guys.