Jesus Christ "Just a Joke" Says Priest

And there never was a God. It was Derren Brown all the time.

Property prices: They're genuine, though.

Winter of Disc Content

It is a cliché that continues to be true that bad news is good news for the culture industry. Give poverty-stricken authors and musicians something new to moan about and they’ll come up with the goods every time. This year saw a bumper crop of original, innovative, ingenious, and highly amusing catastrophes, disasters, faux pas, and general fuckupperies, thanks in no small part to this fiasco of a government and its hangers-on, the Irish media commentariat, and the nation’s shitterati who adorn its niteclubs, golf courses, and pages of VIP magazine. Needless to say, those of us on the receiving end of such arse have responded by outrage, cynicism, sarcastic witticisms, resignation, helplessness, and songwriting. And the best place to hear those Terpsichorean cries of frustration are on Irish pirate radio station Raidio Siamsa (89.8 FM), where every year its listeners vote for their favourite indie tunes. Past lists can be found here, here, here, and here. Last year’s shoddy student-orientated shower has been replaced, nay, usurped by a more virulent sound, I’m pleased to say, a reflection of the harsh times in which we find ourselves, and for which we have to thank our betters. Thank you for the music, you bastards.


10: “Latte’s Not My Cup of Tea,” by The Staremaster (Finicky Mitch Records)

9: “Home the Helpless,” by Stigmigrant (Un Sounds)

8: “One Set to Love,” by Cameron Nastase (Cocknasty)

7: “We’re Dun-Dun-Drumming,” by The Frantic Consumers (Larch)

6: “Katy French Kiss,” by Snope-a-Troll (Ded Dogg Mewzik)

5: “The Meath Police Dismisseth Us,” by Corrupticop (Holy Rim)

4: “No Depression,” by The Retards (Drog Bah!)

3: “F.O. BIFFO,” by Hatechild (Rural Haze)

2: “It Could Be You,” by Job Lottery (Insipid)

1: “Looking for Closure,” by The Harneys (Regressive Degenerates)

Take to the Streets and Boogie!

Man in Dress Who Wears Lots of Jewelry Says

the blurring of gender distinctions is a bad thing.

Who Said Security Guards Don't Have a Sense of Humour?

Clown strip-searched at Birmingham airport.

It's Xmas. Let's Boogie !

Goldblade feat Poly Styrene - City of Christmas Ghosts

Cheer Up, Roy. You May Win Something Yet

Keane up for Beard of the Year award.

Beard Liberation Front spokesman Keith Flett said: "I have heard about the Roy Keane comments. This is not the first time someone has made such a comment about someone with a beard. There is a lot of anti-beard feeling out there, but I have to say Roy should be proud of what he has grown. His facial hair came to our attention a few weeks ago now and we have short-listed him for our Beard of the Year awards.

And it isn't just another SWP front organization, either!

I don't think.

Behind You!!

The Third Annual Hideout Christmas Panto: Mutiny on the Beagle

Christmas celebration, evolutionary biology, and good old-fashioned high-seas derring-do wrestle one another in this year's appropriately oddball Hideout Christmas Panto. In "Mutiny on the Beagle," a young Charles Darwin grapples with dinosaurs, Moby Dick, and a gender-bending supporting cast, all on the way to Christmas Island. With acting and directing duty handled by Mekons Jon Langford and Sally Timms, respectively, along with a slew of Hideout regulars and artists-about-town, this year's Panto is another holiday labor of love — and possibly the year's oddest night of illegitimate theater.

Outce

Paul Ince sacked after Christmas party in Dublin.

Get with it, Paul. It's Krakow or Colchester these days.

Last Christmas, I Gave You My Hearth

Christmas gift-giving advice from potlatch expert Bill Cranmer, a hereditary chief and elected leader of the Kwakwaka’wakw Indians, the world’s most experienced gift-givers.

How Could We?!

Forget Castoriadis, that is. So asks Torn Halves:

What a great guy? Why did we forget about Castoriadis? We were lucky enough to see him speak in Essex back in the 1980s, but then we stupidly forgot about him as everyone became obsessed with Derrida, Lacan and some rubbish about bodies without organs.

Cue meandering pseudo-Situationist monologue from John on postindustrial capitalism's need for the constant production of novel intellectual commodities for academia to fetishize. ;-)

A Positive News Story about Cuba (for Reidski)

Post number 1,801, apparently.

In the latest issue of Alternatives Journal, the unlikely-named Laurie Guevara-Stone discusses Cuba's success in establishing itself as the only country on the planet that is approaching sustainable development. There's a summary here (scroll down):

In "Viva La Revolución Energética," Guevara-Stone explains that the U.S. embargo and back-to-back hurricanes prompted the Cuban government to embark on an energy revolution in 2006 that has transformed this island nation of 11 million people. In two years, Cuba has reduced its consumption of gasoline by 80 per cent, its kerosene use by 34 per cent, and its LPG (liquified petroleum gas) intake by 34 per cent. Cubans have replaced almost two million inefficient refrigerators, over one million fans, 182,000 air conditioners and 260,000 water pumps with more efficient models, while substituting an astounding nine million compact fluorescent light bulbs for incandescents.

Workers Self-Management in Argentina

Football Needs More People Like This

Like a snake needs a hipflask.

Even the Comments Are Genius

666 Pack to Go*




*Written by a certain Mr. Morgan, if this is correct.

Bad Day for the Hammers

Here, here, and here.

Not to mention Hamlet.

This just in: Obama may be foreigner

"Suit contesting Barack Obama's citizenship heads to U.S. Supreme Court"

I thought he looked a bit funny.

The One to Beat

There are going to be some strange expressions on faces underneath the Christmas tree this year, if Lulu.com is anything to go by. This is their current best-selling book.

Alternatively, you could buy Homepages: The Book, a collection of pieces by Irish bloggers on the theme of "home." All proceeds from its sale will go directly to Focus Ireland, who provide services and support for people who are homeless across Ireland. On sale from December 8th.

And remember to stay away from the brandy butter sauce.

You were right about him all the time, Niall

So, from beneath the veneer of civility and urbane man-about-townness, tales of King Roy's "management techniques" continue to emerge in the press. Players blanked for weeks, tactics whiteboards kicked over in raging fits, dummies generally ricocheting off dressing room walls.

Hey, what's that I hear? Surely not the sound of a million bacon sandwiches falling to the floor?

I think Sunderland should snap up Keegan, myself.

It's Friday . Let's Boogie !

XTC - Making Plans For Nigel

No Doubt It's Empty Inside

In an attempt to restore some traditional religious values to Christmas, a German businessman is selling Jesus chocolates.

That'll be traditional religious values such as milking the poor, then.

But Does It Have a Spider Baby?

News of filming on Wide Open Spaces, from by Father Ted cowriter Arthur Mathews, directed by Tom Hall, and starring Ardal O'Hanlon, Ewen Bremner and Owen Roe:

‘Wide Open Spaces’ is a belated coming of age comedy set in a remote part of Ireland about two slackers working to pay off a debt by helping to build a Famine Theme Park for a dodgy local entrepreneur. With a classic double-act at the centre, ‘Wide Open Spaces’ is a unique take on male friendship and how it is easier to break up with a girl than with your best friend.

Packet of Smarties to the best answer: "I thought we already had a famine theme park. It's called . . . "

Psychopaths and Cartoons!

Because that's how the New Yorker likes to present its articles. John Seabrook discusses the work of Dr. Kent Kiehl with psychopathic inmates at the Western New Mexico Correctional Facility. The article also has some useful background material on psychopathy (Robert Hare, Harvey Cleckley and so on), always a favourite topic here, not to mention the usual selection of unfunny New Yorker cartoons.

I notice that the site also has a profile of Naomi Klein and the "New New Left," which I haven't read yet, but which I'm sure our readers will have some interesting opinions on.

Where Did It All Go Wrong?

Not like any London squatter I ever met, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow is profiled in the November 10 issue of New York magazine.