Insults and advertising
This week, I started an Italian language course which has really been helping me settle in. My pidgin Italian is starting to develop some structure (for ’structure’ read ‘actual verbs instead of grunts where verbs should be’) and I’m a lot more confident in dealing with people now that I have a better [...]
The hardest parts of living in Rome
Bread
For a nation that loves its carby, starchy foods, they really don’t have a great handle on the whole ‘bread’ situation. They’ve got the giant loaves sorted out, which is fine when you want something big and crusty to dip into soup or for mopping up the tasty, tasty juices on your plate, but [...]
First picture of Heath Ledger as the Joker
Okay, so he may not have been my first choice of someone to play the Joker in Christopher Nolan’s follow-up to Batman Begins, but I never though Heath Ledger would make a bad Joker. Now they’ve released the first picture of Heath Ledger in Joker make-up, and… my goodness, this is shaping up [...]
Battle Royale: Serengeti Style
Three way battle - lions vs buffalo vs crocodiles. Who knew nature could be SO FUCKING AWESOME?
Full trailer for Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass (nee Northern Lights) on Yahoo Movies
Pretty. Completely different to how I’d imagined the universe when I read the books, but sometimes that’s a good thing.
Shameless self-promotion
I’ve started a food blog, where I review the restaurants I visit in Rome. I dunno, it might be useful if you’re ever in the neighbourhood.
Homesick & Hungry
Trailer for “The Sarah Connor Chronicles” online
My girlfriend has a little lady-boner for Sarah Connor in Terminator 2. It’s where she gets her hard-ass attitude from. Except I can’t imagine she’ll be too thrilled about this - it’s a TV show based around the life of Sarah Connor between T2 (where she was awesome and kick-ass) and T3 [...]
Breathtaking Irish short movie released online
Nick Ryan, producer on Ruairi Robinson’s “Silent City”, has released the full version of his film “A Lonely Sky” online. Starring Keir Dullea (of 2001: A Space Odyssey) it tells the story of a pilot in 1947 trying to break the sound barrier.
As with Silent City, I’m completely blown away by the amount [...]
Danger: Diabolik
Danger: Diabolik could be the greatest movie I’ve ever seen. Click on the image above to check out more stills from the film and tell me if you don’t wanna see it immediately. Is it a spy movie with a lot of kissing? Or a softcore porno with a really good [...]
Hermione’s lady-lumps manipulated in new Harry Potter poster!
Looks like the theatrical poster has Hermione’s breasts photoshopped to look SMALLER.
Temporal Dissonance
On my first trip here, I experienced what I guess I’d call a sort of temporal dissonance. I was in a taxi, heading up the Gianicolo towards my hotel. The Gianicolo is a hill that sits in the south-west part of the city, meaning that from the top, you have a perfect [...]
Top ten Star Wars t-shirts
tcritic.com has a post on the top 10 Star Wars t-shirts. Holy shit, I think my del.icio.us wishlist just exploded.
We never got ads like this on the back of Dublin Bus
Bruce Campbell’s Old Spice Commercial
*nerdgasm*
Point - Counterpoint
Point: Wearing helmets ‘more dangerous’
Cyclists who wear protective helmets are more likely to be knocked down by passing vehicles, new research from Bath University suggests.
The study found drivers tend to pass closer when overtaking cyclists wearing helmets than those who are bare-headed.
Counterpoint: Helmet saves cyclist after truck runs over his head at Milwaukee [...]
Lowbrow movies get a highbrow makeover
The 300 one looks almost real, but my favourite is Roadhouse: "La Maison de Route"
Coping?
A couple of minor breakdowns aside, I think I’m finally starting to get a handle on life in Rome. I’m not exactly homesick, just finding some things really hard. The language barrier has been a lot more of an obstacle than I was expecting. And combined with the distinctly unique Italian [...]
Analysis of Kubrick’s The Shining
Also check out “The Family of Man“, Bill Blakemore’s extraordinary dissection of the hidden meanings in The Shining.
"zombieattack" on Twitter
A zombie attack documented, one message at a time. Like Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds, only nerdier.
When is Dublin 7 NOT Dublin 7? When it’s Dublin 8
Did you know that, despite being on the north side of the Liffey (where the odd numbered post-codes live), the Phoenix Park is actually in Dublin 8? And it’s not for the reason you might think. Thus spoke Wikipedia:
“There is a very simple, practical reason why the Phoenix Park is in Dublin [...]
