Shano in Seattle

2008-12-02T17:01:00.000-08:00

SILENCE BROKEN....

Usually a long stint of blog silence means the worst. This time I lost my job. My company had to let me go due to the economic disaster. The government balied out wall street and the banks. But the banks kept it and aren't lending, not to business, and in some cases not to businesses who need to make pay roll.

I was lucky to get a quick production job with Damien in Vancouver. We worked on three toy commercials. I got home in time for Thanksgiving and now I'm waiting for the next job. Hoepfully I'll continue working in production as I much prefer it. We'll see.

2008-10-09T10:36:00.000-07:00

There is Hope...

This is no joke folks. www.rednecksforobama.net is for real. Check it out.

Their opening story today highlights how military families are donating 6 to 1 over McCain. John McCain, the military man, who 'knows' the troops, who 'loves' the veterans, who has a plan, who wants to bomb Iran, stay in Iraq and treat the Russians like they are kindergarten bullies. McCain the decorated veteran of Vietnam who's forefathers have all served careers in the Navy. McCain who's campaign received 6 times less contributions from military families than Obama.

It amazes me that I have to find this story from RednecksforObama.net!

2008-10-09T10:07:00.000-07:00

He's no Cantona...

But he is Dimitar Berbatov. This notion of anyone being remotely similar to Eric Cantona is ludicrous at best. The fans know it, the players know it, the club know it. Berbatov is his own man who will bring a whole new class and style of play to the greatest club in the world. It's the media that spouts out this kind of nonsense. True, Berbatov will play a similar roll, physically he is similar and will dominate the forward position particularly with his height and strength. We've already seen him as a great holder of the ball and clinical passer that brings another great Spurs player to mind, Teddy Sheringham, before Cantona. Sure, he's volatile, unpredictable and a tad bit moody, which is perhaps the main reason why there is this comparison to the greatest Manchester United player of all time. These characteristics are what built United and something that is sorely missing in todays squad with all the talent in the world but lacking that gut wrenching engine from yester-year. So when Paul Ince claims the greatest Manchester United team was in fact the one he played on and not the one today, I would tend to agree. Not only did we have Roy Keane, but we had Mark Hughes, Bruce, Pallister, Cantona, Giggs, Schmeical, all on the same team.

Berbatov has that passion and fire found in Rooney, but lacking in everyone else apart from Vidic and possibly Ferdinand. His arrival will ignite that passion in the team and supporters. I can not wait to see how this year pans out.

2008-10-03T15:17:00.000-07:00

Dare I Believe...

"Could the quiet seed of joy that was planted in my heart the day I heard Barack Obama speak for the first time take root and grow without fear of the brutal storms of disappointment?" Courtney E. Martin

Read the rest of a great article I read at lunch today.

2008-10-03T11:51:00.000-07:00

Rush Limbaugh

Shameful fear-mongering rant. The right are getting desperate.

I considered posting a picture of this man but writing this makes my stomach churn as it is. You see, I like to check up on the out-of-their-minds right-wing lunes, as it is they that 'educate' some of the most die-hard Republican voters. Talk radio is a very powerful voice in America and when you have preachers of hate, like Rush Limbaugh, twisting the minds of good rural American's who may not have internet access or other means to make up their own minds, you are left in a very delicate situation. Limbaugh is the most listened to radio talk show host in the country. I urge you to read this regurgitated spew of hate and lies about Barack Obama from his radio show. A caller even calls in answering Limbaugh's question "what has Barack ever done for you?", and Rush continues his tirade as if the question was never answered.

It concerns me more so that a man, if you can call him that, has so much influence on lesser minds and those who need more fuel for their fire. He must have really bad karma.

And what's worse? Limbaugh can not stand John McCain, so much so that he said he would vote for Hillary if she went up against him! I mean, who takes this crap seriously?

2008-10-02T16:01:00.000-07:00

The New Corporate Part-Time Job Deal

This is unbelievable, so much so that I have to write about it. In fact I love this stuff because it's so fucking ridiculous.

Lisa has been searching for another part time job. She already has one at her college but needs another as things are a little tight these days - to say the least. So, amongst other things (book shops etc.), she applies to a half dozen places in the mall. Well she gets a call back from Bath & Body Works to work on the weekends. It's not a cutesy little bookshop or used clothes store but it will do until something better comes along. Lisa breezes through the interview and is told to start the next weekend.

Here's her inaugural first day.

1. She is trained by a dvd. Each episode on the dvd explains how she is to do her job and how to conduct herself during the day. At the end of each episode she must sign some legal jargon saying she fully reviewed the chapter and now understands what to do.

2. She is to be given shifts of no more than 4 hours at a time. This means the company does not have to give her any 15 minute breaks, lunch break or pay any kind of insurance, or allow her any kind of leverage. They say it offers a better work environment. At minimum wage what's the fucking point?

3. These lowly shifts are dealt out by - wait for it - a computer. I kid you not. A computer tells her what shifts she gets based on her sales performance the previous week. Sales in which she gets no commission. I guess the more chance of her picking up extra shifts depends on how well she sells shit. A computer also can tell her she is terminated without any reason whatsoever. They expect in return 2 weeks notice if she wants to quit.

4. They will not give her a reference when she decides to move on.

Thank you o corporate world. Fuck your staff and the people that work for you. Walmart all the way! No unions and don't vote democrat what ever you do!

2008-10-01T14:11:00.000-07:00

Check out the in-game radio stations from Grand Theft Auto IV, some of them are hilarious!

2008-09-30T15:50:00.000-07:00

It won't be long now...

So there it was as I was getting ready to leave work last night. My grey cardigan that has been on a coat hanger the past four months. As I got ready to cycle home in my t-shirt on another warm late summer evening, I wondered if I will ever wear that cozy grey cardigan again. Apart from a wet spell in August, summer has been warm and dry. Bike rides to and from work have been in t-shirts and shorts, you couldn't ask for a more perfect place to spend summer. Not too hot, not too dry, warm days, cool evenings. It's very easy to forget winter's just around the corner. I almost miss wrapping up in my hunting jacket, Doc Martens and winter hat, braving the cold and wet that never seems go away. Let's see what I have to say a couple months from now.

2008-09-25T16:34:00.000-07:00

These are historic times and I am so glad I can log events as they happen here on this blog. Yesterday John McCain said he was putting his campaign on hold to fly back to Washington in order to assist in fixing financial crisis on Wall Street. McCain claimed that he asked Obama to do the same thing and to postpone the debate due to be held tomorrow night on CNN. McCain claimed he suggested they put a bi-partisan statement out together on the economy.

What actually happened was Obama called McCain first at 8:30 in the morning yesterday to talk about a joint statement. He never heard back and McCain went on the air saying it was his idea to put out a joint statement. Once again stealing the democrats ideas. Obama gave his opinion that any president should be capable of handling two things at once and therefor the debates should go ahead.

As of late Thursday McCain's stunt has become something of a joke as both Dems and Republicans feel his efforts are completely pointless. Something akin to a 2 year old helping daddy lift that heavy couch out of the living room. It is nothing more than a publicity stunt. McCain parachuting in to save the day, 'Country First'!

McCain still won't commit to the debate tomorrow night and as of now there is a very real possibility that Obama will be there, along with the audience, the host and an empty seat where John McCain should be.

In the meantime McCain has asked that the Vice Presidential debate be postponed as well. Not even during the American Civil War, 150 years ago, did they postpone a debate. This is another ploy by the desperate Republican nutters to regroup and deflect attention away from their faltering poll numbers and embarrassing campaign.

Palin continues to avoid every media question asked of her, apart from those, correographed by her campaign in special interviews with leading news anchors. What is it they are so afraid of?

The wheels are falling off for McCain and it is great.

2008-09-24T16:04:00.000-07:00

Fox News Do it again. Biden to quit, Hillary to take his place?

More lies from the lying liers.

I found this article on their front page. Trouble make shit stirers. I couldn't find any other website proclaiming this nonsense. All the while Fox News claims the rumor is "thriving".

2008-09-16T15:42:00.001-07:00

The Leinster Gormley Critchley's

Photo by Shelly Cooke

Orcas Island August 2008

2008-09-15T12:11:00.000-07:00

Footy

I've been playing on this team the past year now. Although I spent 6 months recovering from my broken knee - which I managed to rather embarrassingly break in practice. Yesterday's game, all be it another loss, was as fun as it gets for me. I played left-back and had my position covered from half way through the first half. So much so that the other team stopped attacking my side. This is in striking comparison to the last game I played when I was double teamed by two attacking players throughout the entire game (two players that should have been playing a couple of leagues up). Yesterday, in 80 plus degree weather and with a hangover, I had one of those games that reminded me why I bother running myself ragged, getting out of breath, risking injury and so on for an hour and a half. When you can come away feeling good after a close loss then it's worth every moment.

Aislinn and Muirenn play on Saturdays. I'm coaching Aislinn's team of eight seven year old girls. I was asked to help out and after winning our second game of the season, I'm really enjoying it although a little paranoid that I may have over stepped my mark in terms of coaching! I hope not and don't think so. Coaching Muirenn's team last year left me feeling a little lost when the team disbanded during the summer. I felt I had done well as a coach and was looking forward to this year. Muirenn has gone on to join one of the best teams in Ballard. She is playing a year up, in the highest division with girls a year older than her. And she fits right in. She played a storm on Saturday, after a slow start. Running up and down the left wing as an attacker, she can out run anybody and deliver clinical crosses into the box. She's playing 35 minute halves on full size pitches. Pretty impressive if you consider the size of a soccer field.

I love this time of year and kids soccer. These ages in particular are such a pleasure as it's recreational and yet still competitive. Just a year or two from now soccer will become very serious for Muirenn as it's not so easy to get on the school teams and school teams here are taken very seriously. Then you have the groups associated with the team, the sports kids, the jocks the image. It's so easy to fall into cookie cutter moulds at that age. But it is something I don't believe Muirenn or Aislinn will fall into. They are so strong willed.

In Aislinn's game on Saturday, we had 2 minutes left and were down 3 - 2. Aislinn came on and scored 2 goals back to back. For one of them, she chased a ball from the halfway line stopped it on the line, turned and shot between the keepers legs. A very proud moment for Lisa and I.

2008-09-11T18:32:00.001-07:00

More Republican double standards, lies and help from the media. Am I the only one who to notices this crap?

Senators Barack Obama and John McCain said they would pause their presidential campaigns today on the 7th anniversary of Sept 11th 2001.

But, while Barack Obama stood silently beside McCain during a ceremony at ground zero, McCain had already been to the site of flight 93, under lavish media attention and talked after about how he knows all about sacrifice and those that have given their lives for 'freedom'. In the meantime VP candidate Palin gives a speech on this day, today the day the campaign stopped, in her native Alaska to her sons platoon of soldiers who are heading off to fight, I mean police in Iraq, today. She said the surge has brought victory when General Patraus himself said yesterday victory will never happen in Iraq. And then Palin is on the national ABC news this very evening, today, giving her first interview to Charlie Gibson. An interview every media outlet is repeating over and over, today. The day both McCain and Obama said they would not campaing on. A day in which most americans will watch something as they remember Sept 11th.

Oops, I just puked in my mouth again.

2008-09-10T11:15:00.000-07:00

THE ELKS - Sunset Tavern Gig
We played our 3rd show at the Sunset Tavern last night. A typical Tuesday with nothing much going on. I think we went on with 7 people watching us. All of whom were friends we begged to come! By our 2nd song the fringes of the club had filled out a bit and there must have been 20 - 30 people there. I was humbled by those friends who showed up knowing little what to expect. I was delighted with those friends who came to see us because they're really into our music now. It's a rare thing to hear favorable comments from people who really know about music and strengthens my belief in what I do. This is a good band and probably the most honest band I've ever been in. Older and wiser now I'm not swayed by the sounds of news bands and trends. I write what I write from my perspective and craft the sound of these songs with the guys in the band, Kevin, Scott and Todd. Funny enough it's not that far off from what I was doing in the early days of Peach and Carwash.

We played 7 songs and feel most of them are good enough to put on a record. I really got into it during the 2nd song when my friend Dave Quasha showed up. If I know for sure 1 person is really into what we do then I'll play my arse off in the same manner as if I'm playing in front of hundreds.

Two guys played an acoustic set after us and one of them turned out to be the guitarist from The Shins, which was pretty cool. Of course they weren't there to watch us so I paid very little attention to what they did. It wasn't anything to write home about anyway.

So a good night was had, even though it started off a little drab. We're putting some finishing touches on a demo and plan to get it on our great local radio station KEXP. Experience has shown that people come to watch you play if you're played on KEXP, after all this is a great music town. That's the plan and we'll see how it plays out - right here on 'Shano in Seattle'!

2008-09-08T13:51:00.001-07:00

2008-09-05T12:03:00.000-07:00

John Stewart and the hypocrisy of Karl Rove and his Republican agenda

This is classic...

John McCain made a great speech last night. But the man has been bought and I don't believe a word he says anymore. His name was destroyed by the team Bush and Rove hired in 2000 to discredit him. McCain, in all his desperation, has since hired that same team to discredit Obama. Yes, it makes me want to puke in my mouth also. Which is a shame because I had nice bagel for breakfast. As raving lunes go, McCain's not a bad sort. He's just lost the plot in his old age.

2008-09-04T11:17:00.001-07:00

God Help Us

If there ever was a time to start praying to the lord, then this is it. I watched Palin's speech last night with fear and trepidation. What a condescending load of shallow, crowd stirring, empty shite. Not once did she mention any of the real issues that this election is about. She lied about Barack Obama and harped on about McCain's service to the country all the while carrying a smug grin empowered by her super secretary hair style, the only thing missing a pencil to hold her hair in place.

If McCain thinks he's going to sweep up Hillary supporters by appointing this raving lunatic as his VP, the old man is sorely mistaken. Palin is against a woman's right to choose - even if a child is raped, even if she is about to die giving birth. Palin is against contraception. Palin believes Creationism should be taught in school. For those Euro-centric readers who aren't quite sure what 'creationism' is, it is science taught from an angle that a man with a beard sitting on a cloud us the ultimate creator and all this science mumb-jumbo is just theory. Sure, she loves to shoot animals and believes we should all be armed to the teeth, even while a mad man went on a rampage not 25 miles from where we live killing 6 people 3 days ago. Sure she believes an Alaskan energy pipe line should be built because it is "god's will", you can almost empathize and forgive her for holding these beliefs because after-all she runs a town with a population of 9000 and they probably don't have all that much going for them. Especially the Librarian she trIed to fire because the librarian believed books, that Palin deems ungodly because of inappropriate language, shouldn't be banned. Here's a letter
from someone, from her town, that has known her along time, that doesn't agree with her views. A very interesting read.

Yes, it's times like these that I wonder why people confuse god and religion with ideology and conclude we are no different as a society than we were 2000 years ago. No wonder aliens won't contact us!

2008-08-22T13:36:00.001-07:00

Trouble for Barack

In just one month Obama has gone from being clear favorite to nearly underdog. And why? McCain's campaign and the right-wing lie machine have been working overtime. While Obama has been working hard and taking a weeks vacation, they've labeled him as an elitist, vacationing in Hawaii (where his family live!) and not being around when trouble in the world flares up (i.e. Georgia). Add these issues to Obama's continued reluctance to 'go-negative' countering McCain's negative attacks with negative attacks of his own, Obama and the Dems are teetering on the edge of that slippery slope to losing the election. Again. While McCain's attack adds appear amusing at this stage and light hearted, I can barely imagine what they've got up their sleeve as the race heats up. What I don't understand is how the democrats have not learned from the past. They are proving yet again that they are weak, countering attacks with a poor defense as opposed to better lethal attacks. what easier target could they possibly have other than an aging, aggressive, pandering, lie-ing, panderer to both the right and left, who's own party members can't stand because he is too moderate, who moderates don't trust because he pals with George Bush, a man that destroyed our last known John McCain - McCain the Good - in 2000. Yes, as summer draws to a close and the real race begins I am beginning to feel pangs of anxiety unfortunately. The lies of the right, their deception and hate are taking their toll on Obama. Time will tell, and I have faith in Barrack's advisor's and campaing, certain that they have a counter plan - but the psyche of the American people is a hard nut to crack. A nut the Republicans and righ-wingers have manipulated and lied to with tremendous success over the last couple decades.

2008-08-15T16:21:00.001-07:00

As long as there is life there will always be scum...

So this is the person that wrote the book that helped in a large part to de-rail John Kerry's presidential campaign in 2004. Here he is on 'Faux' News claiming Obama's birth-certificate is a fake.

The Hawaii department of health has just stated that Obama's birth certificate is "a valid Hawaii state birth certificate" and has called speculation about Obama's citizenship "pretty ridiculous."

This person (who shall remain nameless for lack of wanting to stain my blog with his bad karma - but you can easily find it out on the interwebs) has just released a book entitled Obama Nation in the hopes of swift boating Obama in the same way he did with Kerry.

I haven't read his book, nor am I going to. He has been proven wrong time and time again. But his actions are enough for desperate, clueless and il-informed right wingers to treat as gospel, "So ya know Barack Hussein Obama is a Moo-slim right?"..."ugh, yeah I heard that somewhere, how'd you know for sure?"..."yeah, I read it in (nameless guys) book".

2008-08-10T22:08:00.001-07:00

Snow Lake Hike

Gem Lake above Snow Lake

I had intended on making this an overnight trip, introducing Muirenn to some backpacking. None of this 'drive a car to a camp site and set up your tent there' business. Unfortunately a cold front moved in last Friday and brought with it a fresh dose of much needed rain. Muirenn was off the hook, I wasn't going to introduce the wonders of the back-country to her and sleeping under the stars, miles away from the car and trail-head, on a windy rainy night that would leave her trembling with fear at the very mention of the words 'camp' or 'hike'.

So I took off by myself on Sunday morning at the crack of dawn. Drove up the I-90 to Snoqualmie Pass and hit the trail by 8:00 a.m. It was overcast as I skirted the deep switchbacks leading up to the ridge across from Alpental ski area. Despite this, the views were spectacular and the air was fresh. It felt good to be up in the mountains amongst the pines in cold morning air. I made the ridge within the hour, tagging along with a national Forest Ranger who I had a great chat with along the way, I then dropped down into the lake basin and was surprised to see so much snow still skirting the lake. I now know why it is called Snow Lake. In parts the lake is actually frozen over still which really surprises me as we've been getting 90 degree temperatures for the past two months. We did have record snow this year which explains it, but it's a sight to behold this late in the summer.

The lake was pretty much fogged in and although it was spectacular in it's own right, I had anticipated the clouds breaking up and seeing some surrounding peaks. I decided to move on, skirting around the lake and head up to Gem Lake a couple of miles further in and up. More snow on the trail and quite a bit of mud on the slow and consistent climb before breaking out at the glorious Gem lake which, with all the cloud cover, appeared to be on top of the world. With only distant voices of another hiking group, this place was blissful, even on a cold summers day. I ate lunch, took some shots and headed back down the trail. Home by four for tea, biscuits and more tackling of that dreaded laurel!

2008-08-08T15:07:00.000-07:00

Naches Valley - A lads weekend at Scott's house.

A lads weekend was had. Scott who plays bass in my incredibly great but nameless new band has a house (pictured above) on the other side of Mount Rainier in a beautiful valley near the town of Naches. I took off after work with Kevin (guitar player in nameless band and co-worker) we hit the road heading east over Snoqualmie Pass and into the dry Eastern Washington where rain rarely falls. In the three years I've lived here it was my first time on the east side of Washington state and it is every bit the opposite I've read and been told about, from the topography and weather to the politics and religion. As we wound our way deep into the desert it resembled California and my favorite drive through the Mojave Desert on the way up to Mammoth Mountain.

We got there late and hit a local bar where Kevin and I wallowed in our mistake of ordering McDonalds on the road. The other lads, Scott, Chris, Chris, Steven and Brian were sampling delicious looking plates of locally caught fish and other fresh foods. It didn't last long, we were soon well oiled on beer anyway. The locals were out in droves as they barn danced to a single guitar player with his karaoke set as he sang everything from The Eagles to Dolly Parton. There wasn't so much of the 'squeal like a pig boy' element, but we soon got bored and hit another bar a couple miles away which was closed so we went back to the house and got shit-faced there instead.

In bed by 4 a.m. and up 3 hours later due to Scott and his friend Chris' dogs and the glaring sunlight coming through the curtain-less windows. After capturing some early morning, tall shadow shots on the digital camera, I threw together a feast for breakfast, topped off by an endless supply of coffee. It was mid morning when we hit Scott's own personal single-track mountain bike trail that he's been working on. The trail stems from an old horse trail that winds it's way up a mountain at the back of his house. The ride up wasn't too bad but I regretted not taking up the fire road the entire way. The way down was fantastic.
Some of the best riding I've had in a long time. Mountain biking is all about pushing you and your bike to the limit, bringing yourself as close as you can to losing control at speed, on dirt, over rocks and between trees. On a single track that is no more than a foot wide this feeling is magnified times ten and it's as much a rush as snowboarding on a good day. It's enough to cure any hang-over that's for sure.

Back at the ranch we settled into a long afternoon of barbecued lunch and beer. By late afternoon we were all passed out or reading or like myself, crashed out in a hammock somewhere. After a hit of coffee and a fly-fishing trip of which I was supremely crap at (but I must admit, I've got the bug for), evening was spent drinking and preparing a beautiful dinner of sardines, sausage, grilled pork and an exquisite elk chilli. We spent the rest of the night getting drunk and taking turns at DJ - pass the iPod basically!

Another late night and another early morning. Both Kevin and myself were up by 8 and as the other guys were fly-fishing we decided to hit the road. After a typically massive american roadside breakfast, we skirted around Mount Rainier through the famous Chinook Pass. The scenery here is stunning. In the mountains it is still spring, and I'm sure drivers have crashed their cars or driven over cliffs as they catch views of wild flowers in meadows hugging glaciers below gargantuan peaks. We were home by early afternoon and I was out at the dump by four o'clock getting rid of some more of that damn laurel!

Life was becoming a little predictable for me and this break was exactly what Dr. Shano ordered. Made some new friends and spent time with some existing friends in the band. I was able to throw my crap on the floor, not wash and drink as much as I wanted. Which wasn't all that much - really. Sometimes a man's gotta be what a man is. A big lazy kid! Evenings spent, watching shooting stars and drinking beers outside, talking utter nonsense are priceless themselves and a reward to getting far away from the city for a couple of days.

2008-07-31T23:30:00.001-07:00

Port Townsend

Port Townsend is an old Victorian era outpost on the eastern corner of the Olympic Peninsula. Directly across a stretch of water known as the Straits of Juan de Fuca lies Canada and Vancouver Island. After spending summer weekends making trips to the dump, doing stuff around the house and not getting outside, we threw caution to the wind and went up to Port Townsend for the weekend. Not being particularly flush with cash these days, staying in a hotel was hardly the wisest thing to do but given the fact that we haven't been anywhere this year we felt we deserved it.

The town is unique in its Victorian architecture and old red brick buildings. It was once a gateway to Alaska and a business center for loggers and miners. Today it is a beautiful pleasure boat port and destination for tourists. We enjoyed local food, coffee, a farmers market and delicious locally brewed ales. The weather was perfect for an afternoon on the beach followed by ice-cream sundays and, you guessed it - more beer. The girls found great bargains at local thrift stores while I continued on my quest for that perfect froth, (found on the top of freshly poured ales!)

Our hotel was the Bishop Hotel, owned by a first generation ex-pat named Pat Flaherty, who still fly's the tri-color above the entranceway. Built in the late 19th century it was gorgeous and very comfy (although I wouldn't fancy my chances in it when the big-one hits). We all sat in one night and watched a bunch of Steve Martin movies.
We finished up our weekend by taking the ferry back to Seattle. We were home by mid afternoon with ample time to make one last glorious trip to the dump! We're clearing the largest known weed out of our garden, a laurel, and although I've been hauling it to the dump all summer - we've only just begun! Before we left Port Townsend we spotted a deer and her fawns. We pulled over and got within ten yards before sitting down in the grass for about half an hour and watching them wander and eat berry's and foliage. Such peaceful and beautiful creatures.

2008-07-28T10:24:00.000-07:00

Should he stay or should he go...
I say 'go'. That's what he wants to do and nothing in this world, not even a good old dose of maturity, is going to change his mind. Manchester United are at a level they haven't been at in 15 years. A wealth of young players, who all get along well, who love the team and are supported by the old guard, Giggs, Neville, Scholes etc. Why hold onto a player that is distancing himself from his team mates and his club, a likely cause of animosity on the training ground? After Ronaldo's comments this summer I can't help but wonder what the reaction will be upon his return to the dressing room.

Sir Alex Ferguson is the master of handling young want-a-way soccer stars, sheltering them from the evil clutches of corporatization while keeping them on track and focusing on their game. But there comes a point when you have to let certain individuals go. And mark my words, Ronaldo will be gone by this time next year. His antics this summer were a disgrace and at best showed his immaturity as a professional, let alone balls as a man. Ronaldo has a contract with the team that made him what he is today - the greatest football player in the world. The fact that he likens this contract to slavery is enough to throw him out the club door. Sir Alex, on the other hand, feels it is his responsibility to hold onto the player and bring him back down to earth. Old mother hen will groom her prize chick one last time. The worry for Ferguson is, if he lets Ronaldo go, what will become of this legendary player? Does Ronaldo have the potential to slide off the rails? Ferguson has always been a father figure to those over-exposed to the horde and willing to succumb to his guidance. He took Giggs out of the limelight in his teens, guided Cantona through the worst of times, gave Rooney support and unwavering belief (to name but three). Those unwilling to be the good son or those who craved a little more than football, were shown the door within a few short months.

As sure as Arsenal will fail at everything again next year, Ronaldo will be dazzling supporters of Real Madrid as a player within the next 18 months, and Ferguson will do everything in his power to make Ronaldo even better before he does. And that does not apply solely to his football skills.

2008-07-24T09:44:00.000-07:00

My response CNN's spokesperson Glenn Beck

When was the last time an American politician created this much fuss in any foreign country? CNN prove yet again their incompetence and inability to provide newsworthy stories today with another well timed spew of bile from 'Glenn Beck'.

We all know how media leans to the left and right, but very few powerful media outlets grant personal opinions as part of their front page headline. You usually have to dig a little, unless of course it's Fox News.... and CNN. The talk-show host and self confessed non-journalist, Glenn Beck, has been granted front page headline ops for years now. This is just wrong. Any time I've responded with criticism of CNN's decision to give this guy the town square podium, my post has been ignored. So, I've decided to fall in line and give CNN what they want, my opinion on his most recent right wing rant.

Recently Barack Obama has been touring the middle-east and making stops in parts of Europe. It's hardly news that Obama is an extremely popular person. He symbolizes the polar opposite of the current regime. Proof in fact that all Americans aren't over-weight red necks with a gun in one hand, a fast-food burger in the other and a bible lodged somewhere else. Compared to the current president, Obama has electrified not just the other half of Americans but other countries in the world. Millions if not billions of people have watched in dis-belief as George Bush made error after error, gaff after gaff, lie after lie all the while supported by the most secretive, neo-conservative government in American history who's actions so far have left the world on an edge not scene since the cold war. Okay, enough - here's my response to .Beck's criticism of Obama's recent media attention .

"Mr. Beck: Barack Obama's whirlwind tour of the middle-east and Europe is receiving massive media coverage because he is carrying the candle-of-light in this dark chapter of our nations history. Besides, why is this such a surprise to you when no other presidential candidate has embarked on a foreign tour of this magnitude so close to an election? Why such shock Mr. Beck, after 8 years of belligerent, aggressive, misguided evangel-neo-conservative, right-wing leadership that has reduced our standings on the world stage to that of an empirical bully?"

2008-07-11T10:34:00.000-07:00

The Foo Fighters
Key Arena July 16 2008

There's a reason I don't go to 'stadium' rock shows or stadium anything, unless it's a good football match or free basketball tickets, of which I won't be availing of anytime soon due to recent cataclysmic events surrounding Seattle's very own Sonics and their overnight move to Oklahoma!(?) (To my Euro-centric readers - in America, top flight teams playing in major capitol cities CAN up and leave at virtually a moments notice if the price is right. No seriously, they can).

Suffice to say, I wasn't particularly excited about seeing the Foo's the other night. Don't get me wrong I really like their music, am a huge fan of Dave Grohl and think he is by far one of the most talented musicians in the world right now. Plus he doesn't take himself too seriously which is a huge bonus in my book.

My daughter Muirenn has been dying to see them, so we bought tickets (25% of the cost going to Ticket-bastard but that's a whole other rant!), and went to the show. With a support from faded Brit band Supergrass, the Foo's didn't mess around and took to the stage at 8:50 p.m. They proceeded to play until.... 11:25 that night! The longest show I've seen since Bruce Springsteen in 1988! Not only did they play for two and a half hours, they rocked out hard and blasted through what must have been 25 songs at least. Dave Grohl's influences rub off on his stage presence with Lemmy from Motorhead and Angus from ACDC coming immediately to mind. Dave has also taken the best of 'stadium' rock 'bring it closer to the crowd' props and introduced a cat walk down the center to a small stage in the middle. It was after an hour that the band migrated to this center stage for a half dozen acoustic numbers, with a violinist, keyboard player and percussion - plus original guitarist Par Smear on guitar.

What I loved about this show was their energy and Dave's ability to have fun and share it with the audience. He joked, burped and told stories of his days living in Seattle. Every second word was an f*#% or s*%# but that didn't matter, he was hilarious. After the fifth song Dave declared they would play until they were ordered off the stage, and whether he was ordered or not, everyone got their money's worth from this show.

For me it was somewhat nostalgic as I reminisced watching Dave play with Nirvana in Dublin in 1992 and how he carried the show and reportoir with the audience even then. I remember seeing the Foo Fighters perform outdoors in Ireland years later with Queens of the Stone Age and Red Hot Chilli Peppers - who they blew off the stage. Now I'm taking my daughter to see a musician I highly respect that's my age who she will always remember as the lead singer in one of the greatest live bands today.

I still won't be going to any stadium rock shows by choice but I have to thank the Foo Fighters for proving that this type of event can still be cool and impressive, even for an old jaded musician like myself!

2008-07-03T09:40:00.000-07:00

2500 Lightning Strikes

We didn't have spring this year. It went from winter to summer over the space of a weekend with temperatures in the 90's this past week or so. This is when the locals begin to remind one another why we stick it out during autumn, winter and spring! When the sun comes out in summer and gentle breezes come off the lakes and ocean, Seattle is probably the most beautiful city in the country.

Yesterday a few clouds rolled in and by evening we had what must be tropical rain mixed with thunder. Then the lightening joined in. Nothing major, just a near constant flash way off in the distance. It was on my walk back from the pub - I needed a few frosty ales with all that heat - when I noticed how much lightening there actually was. I counted strikes every 2 - 10 seconds. And it didn't let up. At times the sky was constantly lit, almost like a strobe light. Fantastic. Especially after a few ales.

Here's some video:

It's morning now, the air is thick with dark clouds and rumbles of thunder. Lightening remains all around the city.

2008-06-30T16:00:00.000-07:00

My post on Cafferty's CNN page:

"If we, the great spreaders of 'freedom', were so keen on truly bringing democracy to down-trodden victims of cruel regimes, wouldn't we still be steamrolling our way through a couple dozen other countries around the planet?

If the Iraq war wasn't about oil then why aren't we liberating the oppressed populations of Zimbabwe, Sudan, Eritrea, Uzbekistan, Myanmar, and many more? ....oh, and lest we forget more formidable regimes like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, North Korea and China.

You, we, were sold a lie. And we all bought it - with bells and whistles."

2008-06-27T10:11:00.000-07:00

The King lays claim to his thrown

"I will return to 11-a-side football just to become the best manager in the world - and that's exactly what I'll become, I will do the job as a creator and an artist. I want to give football something new." - Eric Cantona

I wouldn't doubt him for a second.

2008-06-18T09:55:00.000-07:00

Read this amazing article about the 86 year old woman who held out against developers in my town of Ballard. She refused to sell so they built around her. Look at that photograph... we watched them build around her house and yard for the past two years. She died yesterday.

2008-06-16T17:21:00.000-07:00

SWERVEDRIVER

A couple months ago I couldn't believe it when I read the mighty Swervedriver had reunited for a US tour. So, just like thirty-year-ago when I were a wee lad awaiting the release of new star-wars action figures (namely Bobba Fet the bounty hunter), I almost wet my pants when I learned the Swerves were to play Seattle. Not just Seattle, but Neumos - the intimate club where I last saw Bob Mould sonically blow my mind with his new band that blasted out his new album along with the very best of Husker Du and Sugar.

It was amazing to finally see Swervedriver live, although I was left feeling like they'd had better days. No doubt the apparent heroine addictions of the past have had some residual effect on these four men but they did seem like shells of their former selves. The music was impeccable - note for note, they played their songs to a tee. The whole set however just lacked that urgency and thrilling dynamic of yester-year. Of course, being part of the shoe-gazer scene of the early nineties hardly put them on a par with energetic stage dominators such as Nirvana, Dinosaur Jr,. Teenage Fanclub, Sugar and The Afghan Whigs, but you wouldn't know it from listening to their stuff. Swervedriver blessed us, me in particular with some truly energetic life changing sounds. One of the most influential bands of all time.

A quick word about the support act Film School, they SUCKED. They are huge and they SUCK. I didn't want to waste any time talking about these guys, but I have to state for the record that they suck. They are a prime example of how NOT to get influenced by a band like Swervedriver or My Bloody Valentine.

2008-06-16T10:54:00.000-07:00

Euro 2008 - help!

Although I am blessed with the ability to watch at least half the games live without Budweiser commercials, I feel compelled to share the fact that America's interest in the greatest tournament in the footy world - outside of the world cup - amounts to the babes of Euro 2008.

That's why I turn my reading attention to the brit papers and the Guardian in particular where I found this amusing article.

I have also pledged my full support to Croatia, who's manager Slavan Blic passes his time by playing guitar in a Croation metal band. The Dutch are playing some nice football though, the only team in fact that seems capable of playing beautiful passing football. They may have had some luck but as Andy Gray will tell you, you make your own luck in football. That said, we've been blessed with Andy Gray supplying commentary over here in ESPN. I can't tell you how refreshing it is having someone who know the game and is not a reject from Britain and Ireland who couldn't get a job back home.

2008-06-10T16:36:00.000-07:00

The season of blughhhh!

This is a picture take today from Snoqualmie pass, 45 minutes from Seattle on June 10th 2008. Two years ago we visited a lake near-by in 85 degree weather and caught frogs and baby snakes with the kids.

Since I started cycling to work in February of the this year, the weather has got progressively worse. Month after month it has gotten colder and wetter, until a brief respite in May when we had a few days of sun in between the rain. June has been the coldest month since records began.

It doesn't help matters now that the economy is in the toilet, petrol is sky-rocketing, no-body's shooting films in the region and there's no spare money in the coffers. God help me if the car breaks down. Not to mention it is looking increasingly likely that Bush will attack Iran before his term is out.

Still, Obama's finally the Democratic presidential candidate, summer is around the corner, I'm in good shape cycling 13 miles a day to and from work, work is picking up and my band recorded an awesome demo last weekend.

The Elks put down 5 tracks and I just have to follow up with the vocals in the next week or two. I'm very happy with how they are sounding. It was the first time I've recorded ANYTHING without old friend Tim Boland at the helm, so it was weird and invigorating at the same time. We worked with a young (23) engineer who came up with some fantastic sounds for drums and bass in particular. This guy's going to go a long way as an engineer if he keeps at it. The studio was cool, Andre from OutKast was in there the week before recording. All the gear was originally owned by Duff McKagen from Guns'n'Roses. In fact they recorded some of 'Yours Your Illusion' there. The tracks will be available on our myspace page in a couple of weeks. www.myspace.com/theelksrule

2008-06-02T11:40:00.000-07:00

Elks at the Sunset.

We played our first real show at The Sunset Tavern in my 'hood, a couple weeks ago. We got a respectable turnout and opened up the evening at around 9:00. As shows go it was just okay, bad stage sound, no sound check etc. but we made up for it in energy and sheer delight in playing a show after a year almost in a rehearsal room.

If you want to keep up with the band happenings bookmark our Myspace page, www.myspace.com/theelksrule

The week we played was also the week of my birthday and the week that Man United won the Champions League! Needless to say I consumed even more beer than usual and have been on the dry ever since, does wine count?

2008-05-07T11:29:00.000-07:00

WHY CAN'T SHE JUST GO?

Hillary won Indiana last night thanks to radio talk show leach Rush Limbaugh. To those of you not familiar with Rush, he is a neo-con talk show host who preaches to gun holding, racist, right-wing, christian fundamentalists and republicans who need a lift when they begin to doubt themselves (in short the largest listenership in the country). He started 'Operation Chaos' earlier in the year, asking republicans to cross party lines and vote for Hillary because he believes Hillary will be the easier candidate to beat. The margin of victory was so slim that it proved his tactic worked.

I can not understand why she won't let it go. She is behind in both delegates and the popular vote and has won half the number of states Obama has won. At this stage she appears beyond desperate, is damaging her party, letting McCain get ahead in campaigning for president and proving that she has only ever wanted to be president not for the greater good of the country, but for herself. Her comments last week about obliterating Iran has given me final reason to not vote for her if she gets the nomination. I certainly won't vote for McCain but Hillary doesn't bring any tangible change to the current foreign policy failure.

Read the story John Kerry: Limbaugh's 'tampering' gave Clinton IN Victory

2008-05-05T16:23:00.000-07:00

The Elks - First show

Okay, first of all - we are not entirely sold on the name but we'll live with it for now until something better comes along.

We called ourselves Over the Hill for our first show and then changed it to 40 Still Horny half way through. It was Scott's (bass player) 40th birthday party in the Elks club. We played four songs, "Collide", "Next Time Around", "The Look" and "Miles Away". (And no Darren, those weren't Peach songs, just the titles). It was a really enjoyable affair to tell the truth. We gelled together really well and had a lot of fun, for those short 15 - 20 minutes. Kevin's a really established guitarist who is into Gibson guitars and Marshall amps. Scott's got his Ampeg bass rig and 70's Fender Precision. Todd the youngun's only played in one band before but he's solid, reliable and inventive for variation in parts. I'm glad to say we make a really good team - which isn't easy to find starting from scratch I can tell you.

We've got out first proper show coming up on May 20th. A support slot in one of my favourite venues The Sunset Tavern - in Ballard, my neighborhood. We're going to play a good half hour to forty minutes. Sure, it'll be mostly to our friends but it gets a foot in the door at the Sunset Tavern, and will help us get more gigs when the songs get on the radio. At least that's the plan anyway!

2008-05-01T09:46:00.001-07:00

REPUBLICAN SPACE RANGERS

This is a t.v. show in Grand Theft Auto IV. In the game, you can take a break from stealing cars and watch t.v. in the lead characters apartment. I've only watched this one and it's hilarious!

2008-04-30T16:29:00.001-07:00

GRAND THEFT AUTO IV is out!

Yes, I have it and Yes it's amazing.... and yes I'm pathetic!

2008-04-24T10:10:00.000-07:00

redstateupdate.com - Classic!

Red State Update: Hillary Wins Pennsylvania
Uploaded by travisandjonathan

2008-04-18T16:07:00.000-07:00

New band - The Elks

I have been playing with a band since last August. I haven't mentioned it until now as there was nothing to really tell. Not that there's anything particularly amazing happening now but we are starting to venture out of our rehearsal room.

We checked out a studio downtown today where we're going to record our first demo. The studio is old school, dark and dingy but has a really good vibe. Tommy Stinson recorded there, Tom Petty, The Posies, Greg Dully and a whole slew of other musicians. The studio is called Orbit click here for a looksy. So we're planning on getting in mid May to record four songs. We've written twenty and have picked a solid ten songs that are all in the same vein / vibe. Style is somewhere between Teenage Fanclub, The Walkmen, Rival Schools and Lemonheads. It's very much me and my style though, more Peach than Petrol, slightly more mature I guess but definitely very rocking!

The demo will be used to get us on the local radio station, KEXP (which is also broadcast in New York and has the largest online listenership in the world kexp.org) and to get us gigs. Through radio exposure we hope to get interest at live shows and build up a local following. We don't want much more than that, other that to tour the world and elsewhere of course... nah, if we could play around the state and maybe Portland we'd be very pleased indeed.

We've agreed to debut at the bass player, Scott's 40th birthday party, in a couple of weeks. It's at the old Elks club where we've stolen the band's name from. We are, for now at least, The Elks.

2008-04-17T11:12:00.000-07:00

NO SPRING!!!

So I've been riding my bike to work since early February. Then it was cold and not too rainy, the usual end of winter weather. Since then, it has got progressively colder, wetter and even colder. It's meant to snow tomorrow - Friday 18th April!

2008-03-17T12:02:00.000-07:00

Baghdad - The Surge / City of Walls

Very interesting read in the Guardian today. Take a look at the short video here

2008-03-06T15:34:00.001-08:00

Moose Drool
From Montana, currently my favourite micro brew - although I'm sure next week I'll have something else to rave about. This golden brown ale has a rich and almost chocolatey taste. It's unique from the first sip and can take a little getting used to, I keep finding myself going back for more to be honest. Although I can see a new flavor of the month taking it's place now that spring has sprung.

I firmly believe there is no where in the world that offers such a variety of local beers as the Northwest. It's almost like a secret or something, perhaps locals simply take it all for granted - so for them / us it's no big deal. It's only when visitors come into town, from LA and New York and Europe do you realize just how great the variety is. They simply are amazed at the variety and the quality. There are four breweries between my house and work alone!

2008-02-26T13:32:00.001-08:00

2008 Academy Awards - A feather in my cap!

I am walking around with a little extra strut in my step this week after two of my clients won the Academy Award in their respective categories of Best Documentary Feature and Best Documentary Short.

'Taxi to the Dark Side', blew me away the first moment I saw it in New York back in May. The film exposes US torture policy and builds upon the story of a young Afghan taxi driver who died in US custody. After the military coroner wrote 'homicide' on his death certificate an investigation followed that lead all the way to Rumsfeld, Cheney and the "president" himself. I immediately made contact with director Alex Gibney, met him in his office and asked him directly to do his filmout with us in Seattle. He was a perfect gentleman to work with. A visionary filmmaker. Look out for his new documentary 'Gonzo' on the life of Hunter S. Thompson. Interestingly and of far greater concern, Discovery Channel, are refusing to show it after paying a handsome price for the film. They consider it too controversial to air. Now if that isn't censorship of the greatest magnitude then I don't know what is.

'Freeheld', won best short doc. I met director Cynthia Wade in Columbia, Missouri during the True False Film Festival. We became friends and she eventually worked with us on her film in May when she attended the Seattle Film Festival. Her film exposes how a twenty five year veteran of the New Jersey state police could not transfer her earned pension and her possessions to her gay domestic partner after becoming diagnosed with terminal cancer. Although I no longer work at the old job, Cynthia and I stay in touch. I'll wait for the dust to settle before giving her a congratulatory call (and Alex Gibney).

The irony to all this is, nobody in my new job at Modern Digital knows (or would even care all that much) and nobody at my old job has anything to say to me after I specifically went out of my way to work with those films. Films that give my old company some serious clout in the business now. I don't really care all that much, but it would be nice to receive some sort of appreciation in work every now and then!

2008-02-21T13:38:00.000-08:00

Feb 21 Update

Winter this year dragged, partly due to the fact I'm sure that I haven't been able to snowboard with my broken knee. Getting out into the snow at least breaks up the monotony of not seeing the sun for three months. However we have been blessed with a week and a half now of near spring like weather. Last weekend the sun came out for the first time since November and it was beautiful. I've also started riding my bike to work. 12 miles a day should help keep the beer fat off!

Four of my clients from Alpha Cine got nominated for an Academy Award this year, they're all documentary films. Another friend of mine got nominated for a short documentary called 'Saris' Mother'. It's the missing chapter from his previously nominated film 'Iraq in Fragments'. Now that I'm with Modern Digital I'm some what removed from that circle of films and filmmakers but it's still a feather in the cap so to speak.

2008-01-08T10:51:00.000-08:00

New Year, New News

Happy New Year to all of my readers!

I type this from my new office at my new gig. I now work for a post production facility called Modern Digital (just around the corner from my old job!). Needless to say it hasn't been 'easy' moving to the competition but I'll keep that to myself.

They've given me the rather fancy title of Director of Business Developement. This basically means I have to find new business for these guys or it's bye-bye fancy title (oh and food on the table for my family too!).

So there's the update. Christmas was fantastic. Lisa's mum came over from England along with Andy and our niece, Ava. All had a wonderful time of eating, laughing and drinking way way too much. I'll try post again soon.

Sunset on Orcas Island August 07'

2007-11-22T22:07:00.001-08:00

Sunset on Orcas Island 07'
Originally uploaded by leinsters

A pic of me enjoying the last rays of sun whilst sipping on some of the finest wine known to man....

Flickr

2007-11-22T22:05:00.001-08:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

2007-11-22T11:29:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving

The day that is bigger than Christmas in the U.S. is upon us. It's a beautiful crystal clear-blue-cold day out there. We're not all that into it but are going to cook a turkey dinner more so for the kids. If we don't, they'll start getting invited to other people's houses as they start getting older knowing we couldn't care less if they come home or not!

I've come to really like the idea of Thanksgiving now. In the past I just couldn't get into the idea. It just stunk of American hypocricy. Starving pilgrims take food from native's to get them through their first winter only to exterminate the majority of the natives across the country in the years that follow - lovely.

Nowadays though, I'll take it as an opportunity to get the family together and appreciate what you have - which I do almost every day. Hmmm, doesn't everybody do that already? I'm not making it easy on myself. Maybe I'll just enjoy the days off.

I'm up and about now walking again - all be it slowly. I walked for what was probably no less than a quarter of a mile yesterday and by the end of it I was wiped out. I mean completely head spinning exhausted. I never thought something as simple as a fractured knee would take so much out of me. Which is a concern especially as the doctor was not encouraged by my inability to straighten the leg out entirely when I visited last Friday. It may need an operation yet if the tendons don't repair.

Three weeks at home have been fine with me though. Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 have certainly helped with the rehabilitation!

2007-11-09T10:02:00.000-08:00

Unlucky November....

The string of unfortunate events continue with my resignation from my job (which they haven't accepted yet).

So here's the re-cap.

1. Belle (our eldest cat) get shot by a pellet gun (most likely scenario according to the vet as the puncture wounds were too far apart to be teeth or claws, oh and that will be $500 please).

2. I fracture my knee in a ridiculous soccer related accident (running head on into my team mate - and fellow coach for our daughters team).

3. Get rear-ended at speed on a bridge, freaking the hell out of Muirenn who has been in three car accidents now. None of us were hurt as the car took the full impact - my poor beautiful Scooby (Subaru)!

4. Resign from my job.

5. Today, Muirenn has come down with a bug two days before the biggest game of our season. She's bed ridden, throwing up and just sick. With luck it's just a 24 hour thing and she'll be back for the game.

2007-11-03T13:08:00.000-07:00

Broken Knee....

I was involved in a direct collision with a team mate last Thursday night which resulted in a non diplaced fracture of the patella - aka my knee cap. I can not walk on it for two weeks at least. After two weeks I will still be in a brace, that helps support the leg giving the knee a chance to heal. I consider myself lucky that I didn't tear any ligaments and the doc thinks my cartilage is fine. We'll know for sure in two weeks.

With winter fast approaching and snow about to fall I was worried I'll miss out snowboarding this year entirely but I hope I'll be back to normal by the end of January.

I'm walking around on crutches now. Even making a cup of tea requires a massive amount of effort, as any weight I put on the leg causes me to wince with pain. The night I came home after the injury I nearly passed out from climbing up the steps to my house.

2007-10-30T11:24:00.000-07:00

Been a while...

Wow Halloween already, my last post was in August. A lot has been going on for me these past few weeks.

Late in August we managed to get a few days on Orcas Island camping. We had beautiful weather, the girls had free reign of the camp site on their bikes - allowing them to venture off on a private road to the dock, shop and beach. It was the first time we could relax and let them go off and explore - they loved it! We canoed and came in very close contact with a minky whale which surfaced less than ten yards away! Camping photos available here.

Summer ended rather abruptly though. Within days of the girls being back at school we had rain and grey sky's for about a month. It was during this time that Muirenn played some of her soccer matches.

I was asked to join her team as assistant coach. Working with the girls and the coaches has been an amazing experience. Muirenn has come on as a player in ways I never imagined. Playing on a full size field for the first time was a huge step up for her. Starting in defense, none of us had any notion that within just a few short weeks she'd be running up and down the entire Left Midfield for each match, terrorizing the opponents defense. We have won our last three games.

I too have joined a team, and played my first full game of football in 20 years. They put me, a left footer, in a right midfield position. After the first twenty minutes I was more tired than I ever imagined I could be! Eventually I got into the flow of the game, but defending and attacking?! that's a role for the fittest of the fit! I made some good and bad passes, I shied away from some air balls and left the field feeling like crap. The second half was marginally better, but only just. I have a long way to go but believe I will improve quickly. Talk about being thrown in the deep end! Sometimes it's the only way though.

Music: I am playing again. I won't go into the how's and who's of the band other than to say I'm really happy with each of them. We have our own room and practice about once a week. We've recently started to get that 'sound' that happens to bands once they get into the groove of playing with one another. Needless to say I'm really excited about it.

I'm quite the pro at music and practice and crafting a song with other musicians. Football on the other hand, I'm a complete amateur but it's great to feel out of my depth and have a new personal goal to aim for. Just don't tell anyone on my team. I reckon I can get by on my accent alone for a few more weeks!

2007-08-17T11:12:00.000-07:00

100 Degrees plus

I'm in Los Angeles. It's got to be over 100 degrees here right now. I'm here for a work trip which translates to hanging with Tim and drinking a lot of Corona's.

It's always great to get back to this town, where I became myself. I know that sounds a bit weird, but my life in L.A. shaped who I am today. Sure I left the place in a hurry, but I was young and had one thing on my mind at that time - doing what was right for my family.

Tim's doing great. I regret to say I won't be seeing his band EJECT tomorrow night as I leave in the a.m. but that's okay, I'll see them again. Gary's also playing with them. He hasn't changed a bit. It's amazing how some people don't age.

2007-08-01T15:49:00.000-07:00

Some other films we're working on that I scored for the company.

CHICAGO 10 - A film by Acadamy Award Winner Bret Morgan.

This film is a perfect example of my job. I first started talking to them in July 2006. All I knew then was that it was going to be 'big'. Kept in touch with the post team, Edgeworx in N.Y. and come December, I learn the film has been selected to open the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. As we were going to be doing the transfer and the film lab work, you'd think I'd get a ticket to 'a' screening right? Wrong, there weren't even enough tickets for the crew to see it at Sundance. After the festival, the buzz around the film is out of control, "Great!" I thought, we'll be working on this in no time and I'll be getting a nice fuzzy commission check within the month. How wrong I was. The more I bank on something, the further away it always becomes. They need to make changes, re-edit, add credits, do more tests, and then the post supervisor started a new film and the filmmaker, Brett Morgan, wasn't sure about using my company as the post super' wasn't there to push him our way. So we did more tests, which he told me he was blown away by when I met him at the True False Film Festival in February (just after I nearly got killed by the airport roof bit, nearly falling on my bald head). And then it went dead. Never heard from Brett again. So I met with Edgeworx in New York, in May. Got the project back on track for us, booked them in to start in June and then they changed dates. So I insisted they sign a contract and give us a deposit, just to lock them in, so they don't lose the spot during our busy time (which is now). This is the hardest part of my job. Trying to get them to commit to working with a company on the other side of this huge continent. It's delicate work, what with 3 or 4 labs already in New York. Low and behold, we finally started working on the film today, One year and one month after my first meeting. At least it's a good film.

2007-07-31T16:15:00.000-07:00

Closed that deal! (in reference to my post from last week)

ANGELS IN THE DUST

Yep, just got a phone call that they're gonna go with us. This film is powerful and an Oscar contender if I ever saw one (which is as far as it will go because Michael Moore has that wrapped up and if he doesn't then Leonardo DiCaprio's new documentary will - I'm so jaded and bitter;^) ).

2007-07-30T20:15:00.001-07:00

I know I know, it really sucks living with sunsets like that all summer long. Picture taken down at the beach the other night.

I'm going to make a concise effort to take and post more photos for y'all! starting with these....

Muirenn, Aislinn and Leah on one of our local trails earlier this spring.

When Grandma came to visit last winter. Braving the Alaskan air for a family photo... why didn't we just go inside?

Oh, and me doing my best to embarrass Muirenn in the Japanese gardens!

2007-07-27T14:19:00.000-07:00

Another week over, another Friday afternoon. Took the afternoon off to "work from home" and post on my blogg. It's sunny warm and quite lovely today after a few days of unseasonal rain. Work has picked up suddenly this past couple of weeks and I am epxecting a call on a big job this afternoon. In fact it's really hard to type with your fingers crossed.

So I took Muirenn on her first mountain bike trail last weekend and she loved it. She struggles a bit on the up-hill parts, but for the most part she's really strong and very confident. In fact she followed me down a very steep run that would give anyone the heebyjeebee's and loved it so much we had to do it again. Tomorrow we're going to pack the bikes up in Scooby-do (the Subaru) and tackle a 7 miler in the Issaquah Alps.

As work has been so busy, we didn't have the chance to get a band practice together. Next week hopefully. I'm itching to WRAAAAKKKKK!!

Oh yeah, I just went to buy 3 tickets for ARCTIC MONKEYS from a pre-sale link I got from a friend. Lisa and I wanted to take Muirenn to see one of our favourite bands. Check this out; each ticket is $25 making a grand total of $75, when I got to the checkout stage of the online purchase from 'Ticketmaster', the grand total had jumped up to $115.85!!!! 'Ticketbastards' more like! No way in hell am I giving those c*#ts my money. So, I'm going to try and buy tickets from the door tomorrow morning. I mean seriously, why is there no competition out there for these Republicans??? Rant off!

2007-07-11T16:33:00.000-07:00

No air conditioning in my office. It's hot, sticky and.... eh, hot?

2007-07-10T14:19:00.000-07:00

Summer's started with a second heat wave. Tomorrow's supposed to be 95 degrees which means 100 at least here in downtown. Yuck.

The prior heat wave was last week during our first family camping trip. It didn't get out of the nineties and we were eaten alive by freshly hatched mosquitos! We escaped the mauling and the heat by hopping in the lake every half an hour or so. Lake Kachess is filled by snow and ice run off every spring and it is COLD. Surprisingly everyone wants to go again soon, but next time, we're going to the coast for a constant breeze and no mosquitos!

2007-06-22T10:56:00.001-07:00

Two Year Anniversary...

It has been two years since our mad journey to the northwest. Looking back I often wonder, how did we do it and what were we thinking!? Two kids, two cats and a dog. A strange city, no family or friends. Not to mention a job! Man, things must have been desperate! Well they weren't, but Dublin wasn't for us either.

Sometimes you have to trust your gut instinct. That alone got us here. And for the first time Lisa and I are in a place the FEELS like 'home'. Sure, we have our challenges, mostly job related, but apart from that, things have worked out. Hardly a day goes by when I don't look around and appreciate my surroundings.

The kids finish school today for the summer. Lucky them. I haven't taken a holiday for more than a long weekend since I got here! I am planning on taking as many long weekends as possible though this summer. Our first camping trip is in two weeks.

2007-06-13T10:52:00.000-07:00

Only in Seattle....

...will you hear the legendary Television playing in the supermarket.

So apparently some people read my blog, well two that I know of - Darren and Mike. For you and anyone else out there I am restarting my on line diary.

Since February things have been all over the place. The family are all great but the job has been a roller coaster ride with far more downs than ups. Sundance was great and I got a couple of films for the company out of it. What sucked was, most of the films I saw got picked up by a distributor that is already a client of the company, therefore leaving me without commission - not good. I continued to travel around the country, Austin - Texas, North Carolina, New York and so on - but to little avail. Either the business is changing or I am a complete loser. I'm tending to lean to the second conclusion as I should really be making a living out of music as we all know!

I hit rock bottom at this job after losing a $100,000 deal after courting the filmmaker for 5 months and meeting him all around the country. He shook my hand at one point and agreed to work with us. I just lost another similar deal due to no fault of my own. Ideally I would work somewhere else but finding a job at my age in a hi-tech town without hi-tech skills is impossible.

Lisa, on the other hand has been studying relentlessly and has achieved top marks in all her classes this year. If we can just get through the next 2 years - she will be back working and the pressure will be off my shoulders.

This will do for now. Will keep you posted!

By the way, I was nearly killed in St. Louis airport in February. I was talking on the phone outside waiting for a bus in the middle of a storm. I moved two feet to try and get better reception. With in two seconds I heard an almighty crash that sounded like a cannon going off. A 6ft x 4ft piece of iron that was part of the airport roof - 50 feet above, landed where I was just standing. Lucky is an understatement.

2007-02-01T13:26:00.000-08:00

SUNDANCE 2007

Back now five days from the Sundance Film Festival in Utah. I was there a week and worked every waking minute of it. Apart from a half day I managed to get up on the slopes for a spot of snowboarding, I was out the door by 9 a.m. and not in bed before 3 the next morning.

The festival itself was the best I have attended. Because 30,000 filmmakers and industry people descend on a tiny town in the mountains, everybody you meet, standing in line for coffee, waiting for a bus, is involved in film - and therefore potential business!

The festival's greatest strength however is in it's variety of independent film. I saw great narratives, great documentaries and great short films. They were all good. Ones to watch out for include 'The Signal', 'Weapons', 'Manda Bala' & 'Crazy Love' to name but four!

Although Utah was beautiful, nowhere has been able to compare to Washington state for me. Flying into Seattle always puts a smile on my face.

2006-12-31T17:46:00.000-08:00

6 Hours to go...

2007 will be here soon. A year in which life for us in the northwest hinges. The past few months have been stressful to say the least. As it has been put, I am in the wrong town for my particular choise of career. (I have been offered jobs in New York and L.A.) The notion of crossing over to a software based, new media business has proven to be near impossible. However, the job I am (www.alphacine.com) has the potential to offer an incredible career for me. The problem has been weathering the storm of sales famine! As the saying goes in sales, feast or famine. I'm feeling confident about the next year however. I'll be busy travelling starting with Sundance in a few weeks. Alpha Cine has an incredible reputation. There is every reason why it should all come together. I could not imagine having to leave Seattle. We all love it here so much.

Happy New Year to whom ever reads this!

2006-12-15T12:12:00.000-08:00

Wicked Winter Weather

So, the schools were closed again today - the last day of school before the break. A huge storm blew through sparing our neighborhood but hitting every other part of the county hard. Aislinn jumped for joy as we heard the news from another parent outside the school this morning. Schools are run by districts, so although our areas wasn't hit too bad, other schools near-by took the full brunt of the storm. Now the temperatures are dropping the questions remains, will we get a white Christmas?

2006-12-12T10:36:00.000-08:00

Bits of my letter to CNN about Glenn Beck (this idiot)

In early August Glenn mentioned something about Muslims and a plot to unleash an attack at the height or Ramadan in late August. I watched in amazement as this self confessed conservative who admits "I am not a journalist", was allowed to speculate on prime time television. The weeks went by and nothing happened. However if I were to have paid attention to Mr. Beck, I would have been living in fear that entire month. He convinced himself that something was going to happen and I'll be honest with you, he had me ever so slightly concerned. But nothing did happen. This is when my opinion began to solidify.

Glenn Beck constantly attacks Muslims. His recent 1 hour special was a practical rallying call to the Christian religious right in this country. Where is the integrity in this? Where have CNN's standards gone?

Glenn likes to consider himself, an average American. Glenn does not speak for the average American. His conservative views are opinionated, radical and completely un-professional. He belongs on talk-radio at best where he can rant and preach his prophetic rambles in the hope that some day some thing he predicts might come true - just so he can say "I told you so!".

Please take him off your network and restore what little integrity CNN still has.

2006-12-07T11:25:00.000-08:00

What better way to re-start this blog with this amazing shot of Seattle taken this morning with the Olympic Mountains in the background.

Work has stagnated and it's been really tough getting anything into the lab. It's that quiet time of year and hopefully things will pick up now after the Sundance film announcements.

We've already had a week of snow and ice with the girls off school and it's not officially winter yet.

With the early winter storms I kick started snowboarding early with a trip to the heavenly mecca of Mt. Baker. An amazing day was had to say the least.

We're all looking forward to Christmas or the 'holidays' as they like to say here. I could really do with a break. Since I started working here in Seattle over a year ago, I haven't take any vacation time, apart from the odd day here and there.

2006-10-26T14:11:00.000-07:00

Life continues here in Seattle. Still working the same job. Lisa's deeply engrained in her study's. Both Aislinn and Muirenn are loving school and Muirenn has a new passion for football - or soccer is they call it. She's been playing in a league and her team has done rather well. She's really quite the little player.

I've been working on updating the photo page and really must get that together.

2006-09-27T16:44:00.000-07:00

Where's Shano?

I've been way to busy for my liking to be quite honest. I went to the Toronto film festival, which was interesting. Caught up with some old acquaintances, saw a bunch of movies and closed a deal for Alpha Cine. I then flew home for a few days where friends Bob & Crystal came to visit from L.A. To say the weekend was a little mad would be an understatement. I then hopped on a red-eye flight to New York, arriving at 8 a.m. for the IFP Independent film market. I hooked up with my old friend Eric Murray and had a few drinks on one of the nights. I can only 'work' so much!

Back in Seattle, Muirenn's joined the Ballard Youth Soccer team 'Scrambled Leggs' and they are remarkably good for their age. I've been appointed the stand in coach and will be managing a full game in November.

Steven's still here and leaving tomorrow. I'll pst an update with pictures some evening this week!

2006-09-06T12:31:00.000-07:00

Out with the old in with the... brother in law.

Lisa's Mum and Andy departed in time for me to pick up Lisa's brother Steven on Sunday. Our first set of guests had an amazing holiday apparently. Their previous image of the states was Los Angeles and occasional excursions to Las Vegas. Not even Santa Monica left them with a positive impression of the country. One visit to Seattle in the height of summer has changed all that, so much so that they want to retire here now. I'm not convinced they'll feel the same mid winter after three weeks of round the clock rain!

2006-08-29T15:49:00.000-07:00

Orcas Island
Just got back from an incredibly beautiful and wonderfully relaxing weekend on Orcas Island. We rented a cabin on the beach. Lisa's Mom and Andy came with us. The trip started with a stroke of luck when the mini-van I rented wasn't available so Hertz upgraded me to a Lincoln Navigator - the largest gas guzzling SUV on the market. I felt kind of sick driving it at first but I must say - it grew on me. Average gas mileage on that thing, 11 miles per gallon!

The cabin was situated on a stretch of beach between two bluffs facing west. The weather was perfect and the sunsets were to die for. With a thin a crescent moon that was out for an hour or two after sunset, the nights produced more starts than any of us had ever seen.

Muirenn and Aislinn paddled in the water all day, collecting baby crabs in rock pools outside our cabin. After sufficiently relaxing for a while rented a kayak and paddled up a bit. It was more tiring than I remembered but amazing fun.

The girls made pottery in a house next door run by an elderly lady. $5 each to make, paint and ship the pottery. I'm sure she hadn't raised her prices in 20 years.

We've found one place we'll be going back to year after year. Absolutely amazing.

2006-08-23T16:34:00.000-07:00

Producing a job...

I'm in the middle of producing one of my own jobs as our producer is on maternity leave and her replacement is on vacation. I've just been yelled at and reminded that I promised they'd come away happy. They inevitably will go away happy but there's no need to get all emotional about it. One thing I learned recording literally hundreds of demos over the years was, 'you can't polish a turd' especially in this game of transfering home video to big screen 35mm glory...

2006-08-18T09:46:00.000-07:00

Inlaws, iPods & Boise, Idaho

Lisa's Mum and step-father arrived yesterday afternoon. The weather couldn't have been better and Seattle was looking prestine for their first visit. They managed to stay up until 9 o'clock which was amazing considering their journey started at 4 a.m. - U.K. time! We've got plenty to do over the two weeks they are here. It's great to see them and just to have visitors!

We were given an iPod and I must say, I love it. Now I know there are a lot mp3 player fanatics out there and I have no doubt they are better, but this is my first experience with either. I'm really impressed with the sound through the earphones that come with it. Listening to songs I haven't heard in years is so refreshing. Now I want the car adaptor and home stereo gadgets....

So I went to a film festival in Boise, Idaho. It was the last thing I wanted to do last weekend to be honest, but it ended up not being too bad and I met some great young filmmakers who are working on great independent films. Nice to see many of them shooting on 16mm film which is my favorite format. It was more of a P.R. thing for my company as we are the closest lab to Boise. It was nice though, being back in the high desert. I had these pre-conceived notions that it was going to be red-neck Bush country but it was quite the opposite. If only the rest of the world could see the good side of the country...

2006-08-07T16:07:00.000-07:00

The House That Took Away Summer!

So I finally got the cement counter tops poured for the kitchen. I hope to get them out of their molds Sunday after I get back from Boise, Idaho's film fest' (how exciting - not). We've been living in a kitchen without counter tops for 6 months now. It has been a little testing to say the least! (Although I've mastered the art of balancing plates on cabinets with no tops). Lisa has been painting away like mad. She's done half of the cabinets now which needed full restoration to boot. I've been dry walling in the hall and we're ready to paint the hall just in time for Lisa's Mum to arrive. I'm half way through our front garden fence which I had intended to have finished by now. Looks like it won't be done now until the girls are back at school. Oh well, there's only so much I can do... Before and after pictures will be posted soon.

2006-08-02T11:31:00.000-07:00

IDA Docuweek in Los Angeles

A great week of documentary film starts August 18 in Hollywood. The week is structured to allow the films to qualify for the Academy Awards. Each film must screen four times in either New York or L.A. to be accepted for qualification.

Alpha Cine has worked and continues to work on about half of these films. The short 'Phoenix Dance' was my personal deal for the company. So anyone one in L.A. reading this should go see any of the films I mark with a *. These are really good independant films. Go see them.

Feature Films

Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story
Directed by Chris Sheridan and Patty Kim

Black Gold*
Directed by Nick Francis and Marc Francis

Deliver Us From Evil*
Directed by Amy Berg

The Ground Truth
Directed by Patricia Foulkrod

Iraq in Fragments*
Directed by James Longley

Jesus Camp*
Directed by Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady

Purvis of Overtown
Directed by David Raccuglia & Shaun Conrad

So Much So Fast
Directed by Steven Ascher & Jeanne Jordan

The Trials of Darryl Hunt*
Directed by Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern

This Film Is Not Yet Rated*
Directed by Kirby Dick

Toots
Directed by Kristi Jacobson

An Unreasonable Man
Directed by Henriette Mantel & Stephen Skrovan

Short Films

The Blood of Yingzhou District*
Directed by Ruby Yang

Half Life: A Journey to Chernobyl
Directed by David Bickerstaff & Phil Grabsky

Phoenix Dance*
Directed by Karina Epperlein

A Son's Sacrifice*
Directed by Yoni Brook

2006-07-29T22:27:00.000-07:00

Jewish Center Shooting - Killing in the name of...

I left work early on Friday. Wandered up to my bus stop as I normally do noticing three choppers stationary in the sky. I knew there was something up as you never see stationary choppers in this town. As I got closer I could see the flashing red and blues of police and ambulance lights. As I reached the corner of where my bus arrives, I noticed the cross section blocked off and beyond that half a dozen police cars with armed officers hiding behind their vehicles. There were ambulances everywhere. It had all just happened. The accused, a Pakistani man, went into the Jewish Center shooting a woman outside Starbucks first and opened fire once he got in, killing one woman and wounding another five. One woman was pregnant. He said he was mad at Israel and surrendered within minutes. I got a bus after waiting for what seemed like an eternity, not knowing what exactly was going down at the time.

I remember as a kid, growing up in the 'cold war'. When quite literally everybody thought the threat of global nuclear annihilation was inevitable. However there was some comfort in that. Comfort in knowing that neither side would dare. Who ever pushed the button would have sealed his own fate knowing a counter strike would have been launched immediately unleashing total and complete destruction of the entire human race. Today, the fear of nuclear war has been replaced by the something far more sinister and unnerving. The current state of our planet leaves nobody safe anywhere. If I were a nervy chap, I'd think twice before hopping on a bus each morning, taking my kids to school, flying on planes, walking on the streets of any city in the world.

We are a sickening race of beings. All this hate. Intolerance due to differences of opinions. It's actually quite amusing really to think, these disagreements are over religious points of view. When will the world wake up and realize religion is a fable, a superstition for the feeble and weak. These fundamentalists, christians, Muslims, Jewish are as backward today as they were two thousand years ago. I'm embarrassed for the human race. I look at the Christian fundamentalists here and shake my head in disbelief every single time. I remember the headless hordes traipsing up Croagh Patrick mountain in Ireland, barefoot, by the thousands. All in the name of what exactly? A church, a religion that has been proven time and time again to take complete and utter advantage of its followers, be it lies, deception, scandal and unspeakable acts of sexual depravity. How can people be so stupid? What desperate lived do they lead? Ripe for the picking. Perfect cherries to be taken advantage of. Sheep. Lambs. Pathetic.

On the other hand it amazes me how wonderful and interesting people can be. I love meeting new people. People from all over the world and all walks of life. Sharing cultures, music, art, literature and films. We have so much to offer one another. What causes hate to seep in? Paranoia? Is it just a neighbourly thing? or is it oil, money, greed? fear? or just intolerance of others. How could the U.S. and U.K. not demand a complete and immediate ceasefire in the middle east? Instead they chose to let them fight it out a bit in the hopes that a meaningful ceasefire could be reached at a later date. In the meantime Israel killed sixty people in the village of Qana, 34 of them children, talking shelter in a bunker. I've heard talk radio hosts of the Fox News variety saying things like, Israel told them to get out of town, planes dropped leaflets warning people to leave. Leave? how? the roads are destroyed. Taxis are charging exorbitant prices. Convoys and cars are being shot at and bombed as they try to escape. The outrage to this attrocity was globally condemned after watered down news reports made it into our safe little worlds where any real images would affect news ratings. Imagine the outrage in the Muslim communities where television isn't censored for sensitive viewers.

So what we have now are martyrs. A new generation slain for others to kill in their name. And so the cycle continues. Killing in the name of...

2006-07-27T09:46:00.000-07:00

Tim sends his love from L.A.

2006-07-26T14:57:00.000-07:00

Yahoo! new home page

Has anyone noticed their new home page? Well I wasn't sure about it at first and now I've decided that I don't like it at all. So I told them, and this is what I wrote:

Is your new home page intent on focusing towards the teenage sub mature / completley immature adult market? If that is the case then you've done a remarkable job - well done! but as a long time Yahoo! user I find your new home page disturbs me greatly. Over the past two days I have been subjected to two main page headlines, Justin Timberlake followed by some complete knob 'has-been' from...N'Sync, urgh I can barely type the letters without nearly puking all over my keyboard. Look, I know the world is going down the toilet and you probably think we could all do with a little light refreshment from the never ending barage of bad news, but don't try to sugar coat things with trivial nonsense about complete twats. Give us the Associated Press headlines FIRST, let the N'Sync (Ohhh jesus, I just regergitated my lunch!) plebs read about ex-members at the bottom of the page, NOT as the main article or better still leave it to the search engine. I know what you're going to tell me; there's a way for me to 'customize' my page so I dont have to put up with the bile. Well here's an idea, stop contributing to the 'head in the sand' mentality of the world. Justin Timberlake....jeez!

2006-07-22T17:09:00.000-07:00

102 degrees Fahrenheit / 39 degrees Celsius

It's 5 p.m. and 102. I'm drenched in sweat from just typing. We managed to escape the heatwave that's gripping the rest of the country (and Europe) until yesterday. We've also got high clouds pushing in moisture creating high humidity. Lovely! Tonight we're going to a bar-b-cue down the road which should offer a distraction to the fact that our house will remain at 90 degrees indoors througout the night... How much is that AC unit?

2006-07-18T16:48:00.000-07:00

FOX NEWS WATCH!

unbelievable as it may seem but over the past week I have witnessed 'Fox News Alerts' for the following, 'North Korea missile was aimed at Hawaii'!!, 'Israel - Lebanon Crisis: The start of World War III'!!! and most disturbing of all, the same 'Fox News Alert / Breaking News' slogan was used for a race horse that got sick and died. No, this is true.

Now, I'm sure you're wondering to yourself what exactly am I doing watching Fox News in the first place? and rightly so. The way I look at it is like this, if we choose to ignore the propaganda knowing it is just that, then how do we know what and how they're brain-washing the idiots? Aand the idiots are swiftly becoming the majority. This is the most watched News channel in the country and they are very proud of this fact. However, I wonder if like myself and a viewer who wrote into the Bill O'Reilly show and was swiftly rebuked by the right wing bully, if most of these viewers aren't watching for the absolute hilarity in their broadcasting technique. I mean, it's literally out of that 'B' rate sci-fi film 'Starship Troopers'. It fascinates me, it really does.

2006-07-10T11:43:00.000-07:00

My first job for Alpha Cine tells the tail of a complete nobody with no money, who goes up against political oponents, almost beating them at the polls and eventually learns the truth about the power of nepotism in modern politics. Not anybody can become president anymore!

2006-07-07T11:47:00.000-07:00

4th July Fireworks again...

Spent 4th of July having a curry with some English people we've got to know who live near Lake Union where the fireworks display was held. Needless to say the display was spectacular. The kids loved it of course, but it was hard for me to appreciate considering how American patriotism has been exploited over the past few years...

2006-06-27T20:33:00.000-07:00

Winter 2005/06 Video

Here's a wee video I made of some of our winter trips last season.

2006-06-23T15:52:00.000-07:00

'Here comes the summer...'

The first official day of summer brought clear blue skies and 80 degree temps due to stay with us for the next while. Hmmm... think I'll nurse a beer on my porch this Friday evening!

2006-06-20T15:01:00.000-07:00

Silverdocs - Washington D.C.

Just got back from this festival. I saw a variety of documentary films and made more contacts than I could have imagined. Alpha Cine sponsored the Audience Award, which went to a film called 'Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore.'

I can not wait until this weekend - it will be the first free weekend for me in over a month. There are a ton of things to do around the house of course, which I'm sure will keep me busy. Or perhaps I should put it this way - Lisa will be keeping me busy!

2006-06-09T10:20:00.000-07:00

WORLD CUP FEVER GRIPS SEATTLE!!!

The kick-off the worlds greatest sporting event has got more attention this year than at any other time in the sports history. One only has to look past the under-5's little league section of the Seattle Times alternative sports supplement to find news about this international extravaganza. Buses stopped and traffic came to a standstill as die-hard soccer mom's peered in through unsuspecting living rooms to catch glimpses of the opening ceremony. Yes indeed this is an event of biblical proportions here in the land of the free, the worlds role model extraordinaire. So much so that when I asked a local if they are intent on watching 'U.S.A.' play the Czech Republic this coming monday they looked at me like I had three heads and said "...Hockey season over!"

2006-05-31T14:49:00.000-07:00

SOME of my old articles for virginmega.com are online again I've found. They can be viewed and read right here! http://www.virginmegamagazine.com/default.asp?p=29&cid=12

2006-05-26T10:51:00.000-07:00

Portland and Seattle Film Festival

This week is nuts. A whirlwind trip to meet producers and Oregon film office folk in Portland, only to return to Seattle in time for opening night of the Seattle Film Festival. My boss, Don Jensen received an award from the mayor of Seattle for his work in getting film production back into Washington state (and to help stop the flood of work going north to Vancouver BC). Ed Norton's new film The Illusionist premiered followed by coctails and rushing home to the baby-sitter. Now, I have screenings and meetings seven days a week until June 19th. How I love to work weekends!

2006-05-22T22:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Shano!My first birthday in Seattle. 36 years young today! I took off out of work and got home to my beautiful girls who had baked me a 'death-by-chocolate' birthday cake. They each gave me a home made card. Seeing the excitement on Muirenn and Aislinn's faces is what this day is all about from now on. We went out for a curry where Imistakenly tried the hottest thing on the menu - a five star chicken vindaloo. I have to say it is the first time a curry has been too hot for me. Still, I'm not sure if was the right choice to have as I'm getting up at 5:00 a.m. tomorrow for a 3 hour drive to Portland with my boss!

2006-05-15T10:36:00.000-07:00

Six Feet Under - the final moments
Here it is, live and direct via You Tube. The song by the way is "Breathe Me" by Sia. Has anyone got a ARC?

2006-05-10T22:10:00.001-07:00

Drive-By Truckers and Son Volt at The Showbox
The Drive-By Truckers are fast becoming one of the best bands to come out of the states in many a year. They've just returned from a European tour including a date at Whelan's in Dublin. The fact that Son Volt and frontman, Jay Fahrer, the godfather of 'No Depression' / 'Americana' (from his days as co-lead singer in Uncle Tupelo sharing vocal duties with Jeff Tweedy now of Wilco fame), supported the 'Truckers' - says it all. Just a few months ago it could easily have been the other way round.
The night opened up with Kirk Kirkwood, formely of the infamous Meat Puppets. I'm ashamed to say I missed him entirely due to an extremely comfortable bar stool across the street and some frosty pints of Alaskan Amber.... It was my first time in the Showbox, and I was impressed mightily. It reminded me some what of the Tivoli in Dublin, but with a bit more depth and a total of four bars. I guess you'd fit a thousand in there easy enough. Son Volt came on and were predictably subdued until about half way through when they began to get into it. Their new stuff is pretty good but still not up to the standard of their classis debut 'Trace'. After a rendition of one of my favourite songs ever, 'Tear Stained Eye', they finished with a new number that can only be dubbed as Sonic Country. Awesome.
The 'Truckers' came on and completely ruled. These guys (and gal on bass) are the real deal. From the South, hard living, with songs about living on welfare and getting trucks out of ditches. Yeah, we've heard it all before - but not quite like this. For the uninitiated their sound is something between Willy Nelson, AC/DC, Johnny Cash and Crazy Horse. They rocked for about an hour and a half and put on one of the best shows I've seen since... Bob Mould actually. Point is, these guys are great and after their tour with The Black Crowes this summer, destined for great things.

2006-05-09T16:22:00.000-07:00

Bob Mould at Neumos
This gig was a while a go. Found this pic on my phone. What a show though. More than half of the set consisted of Husker Du and Sugar songs. Amazing night of good old rock and roll.

2006-05-06T19:58:00.000-07:00

Six Feet Under - Final Episode

I'm a year late with this one, but with the move and all that we never got to see the last season of my favourite t.v. show. Last night Lisa and I finally made it to the last episode after renting the final season on Netflix. This may come as old news to some, but I have never seen a more powerful and moving piece of television. I literally can not stop thinking about it. The t.v. show built around death, that explored the complicated (and often comical) lives of it's characters, finally ends with absolute finality for everyone involved. The final scene is the most moving piece of television I have ever seen and am ever likely to see. If I wasn't such a man I'd admit to balling my eyes out!

For those of you that haven't seen this show, rent Six Feet Under from the beginning. Nothing comes close.

2006-05-02T21:21:00.000-07:00

Tribeca Film Festival - NY

My first jaunt in the film festival world found me in New York at the Tribeca Festival. As Alpha Cine was one of the sponsors, Tribeca put me up in a super swanky hotel - the Millenium Hilton. My room was on the 33rd floor. I got there as the sun was setting and marvelled at the view out my window for a couple of minutes. Something didn't feel quite right at the time, as if something was missing. Sure enough I looked down and below me was 'the pit', Ground Zero itself. Like a gaping hole in a giants gums (click picture above). The Tribeca film festival came about directly after 9/11 in order to bring back a sense of community to that part of New York that was hit so hard.

My days were filled trudging from screening to screening and from meetings to film launch party's all over Manhattan. As we go primarily for documentaries I got to see a number of really good films. I started the ball rolling on a deal for us and the film "The War Tapes". This will be a great score if we get it as this film is going to do really well.

New York is such a great city, especially Manhattan. There was a massive war protest last Saturday. It brought the city to a standstill. If only the rest of the world could see the passion and resentment towards the current regime. It's a shame the media won't show you the real story. Okay, I'll stop before I go off on a rant!

2006-04-15T17:59:00.000-07:00

SHANO'S GOT A NEW GIG!

www.alphacine.com

Yesterday I was offered (and accepted) a new job at Seattle's leading film lab, Alpha Cine. I am going to be working sales, drumming up business for the company by attending as many film festivals as possible and working closely with filmmakers who need to transfer their (digital) video film to 35mm print for screening at festivals or general release. This is a really exciting opportunity for me and one I only dreamed about this time last year.

2006-04-11T21:48:00.000-07:00

Olympic Mountains in spring

Took this photo the other day of the Olympics in early spring. This is just across the street from our house.

2006-03-30T21:45:00.000-08:00

Spring has Sprung

During my mid afternoon strole out of the office I was given the first taste of the approching summer today. With clear sky's and no breeze, the sun was roasting hot. Something I hadn't felt in six months. It is a relief to know the darkness and perma-rain season is behind us. At this rate I'll be lucky to get up snowboarding again this year. The resorts close in a couple of weeks as the snow melts fast.

2006-03-27T12:14:00.000-08:00

Mass shooting in Capitol HIll.

The whole city is in shock after this gruesome incident last Friday night. I overheard an old lady at the coffee shop this morning ask outloud "what's a rave?" Apparently the young victims met their killer at a rave and invited him back to their house where they partied until dawn. It was only after he left that he returned - armed to the teeth. Seattle is normally a quiet town with very little gun related violence (as opposed to many other U.S. city's). The last time anything like this happened was in 1983. And that was gang related.

It's another case against gun advocacy groups and the NRA. It's all well and good to expect the right to protect your family and to defend your constitution, but what happens when you start thinking everyone's out to get you, little voices started screaming in your head and you decide to take your psychotic state of paranoia out on a half dozen completely innocent people. Last Friday night is what happens. What will it take to make the gun lobbyists realise we as a society have a long way to go before the majority of us can be trusted with guns?

2006-03-21T10:46:00.000-08:00

Our Neighbours....

Ahhh - isn't he cute? NO! After much internet induced panic about potential diseases and parasites carried by these furry rascals we have come to the conclusion that there is nothing much we can do other than co-exist with them. We've got two living in the small forest that is our garden. The problem is, these guys have babies between now and June and that's when they get territorial and pose a risk to dogs, cats, squirrels (we have armies of these guys) and humans. They are also far bigger than they appear in photographs... Still, friends here have grown up with them. Just the other day a lady we know found one in her kitchen after leaving the back door open. After coming out of the shower a neighbour was surprised to find one sprawled on her couch eating peanuts while channel surfing between the Disney Channel and Animal Planet. So we'll trim back the undergrowth this spring in the hopes that these real-life cartoon characaters will move on.

2006-03-07T12:56:00.000-08:00

Tim's stag night in L.A.

Spent 24 hours in L.A. for Tim's stag night extravaganza. A good portion of those hours were spent in a limo driving around my old haunts while drinking copious amounts of alcohol in between bars, strip clubs, racing car tracks and impossibly steep angles in the Hollywood hills. I didn't tell Tim I was coming which was quite the surprise considering how much he hates me!

2006-03-03T12:03:00.000-08:00

Dublin Riots

Priceless image taken from a live webcam shortly after the riot

2006-02-27T20:16:00.000-08:00

A Weekend in the Life....

Friday - Took the day off to dry wall one side of Muirenn's room, the side that literally 'fell off' when Lisa started painting (long story). Finished at midnight.

Saturday - Up at 6 to finish the dry-wall before starting the move. Job done by 10:00 a.m. just in time for Mikel to drop his truck round. Moved our stuff over to the new house until 11 ... collapsed at 11:30pm.

Sunday - Started work on finishing Muirenn's room at 7am. Then continued with the move (beds etc.) until 1pm when Mikel needed his truck back. How much junk can 4 people collect! We still have stuff in the old house! Worked on readying the house for our first nights sleep until 11:00 p.m. when I couldn't physically move any more. Crashed out on the couch with a beer to discover 'Dirty Sanchez' has finally made it over here, all be it 'Americanized' with no nakedness and a new name - Team Sanchez!?! Still, took a certain amount of pride in knowing I was one amongst only a few dozen in this entire country who could understand their accents!