Filed under: Radio | Tags: Belfast, Bombs, Cliftonville Road, Falls Road, Ireland, Jordanstown, London, Marks and Spencer, Nervys Young, North Belfast, Northern Ireland, Northern Irish Accent, PSNI, Queen's University Belfast, RUC, Sectarianism, Shankill Road, University of Ulster
Belfast past midnight
Thriteen years ago, Nervys Young came from a village outside of London to Northern Ireland. She intended to stay for a three year degree program and has not left since. Ned talks about how totally naive she was when she first moved here, whether she’s ever considered herself a local, how people react to her accent, and why she hasn’t run for the hills yet.
Filed under: Radio-Video | Tags: Baltimore, Bar Sub, Belfast, Chess, Egoism, Nervous Breakdowns, Northern Ireland, Queen's University Belfast, Sheep, Sports, Student's Union
Filed under: Radio | Tags: Belfast, Cranes, Film, Independent Filmmkaing, Michael MacBroom, Queen's University Belfast, Redevelopment, Stuart Sloan
Michael MacBroom
It’s all about local independent filmmaking this week, with conversations with two young filmmakers, Michael MacBroom & Stuart Sloan. Michael wrote and directed a feature film, finished earlier this year, called I Wanted To Talk To You Last Night, and is now working on a second feature to begin shortly.
Stuart Sloan
Stuart worked on the feature too, and has completed his own film recently, a short documentary on cranes and redevelopment in the city.
You can see Stuart’s crane film, Counterweight, at his YouTube site, http://www.youtube.com/ user/sloanowski, and there you can also find a short documentary with Michael MacBroom about the making of his first feature.
Filed under: Radio-Video | Tags: Belfast, Cafe Krem, Capitalism, Chapters Cafe, China, Coffee, Manchester, Northern Ireland, PFC, PFCafe, Queen's University Belfast, Student's Union, Students, University, Work
Filed under: Radio-Video | Tags: Adonis, Adulthood, Beautiful Things, Befuddlement, Big Questions, Bizarreness, Bodies, Books, Caffeine Addiction, Clements, Coffee, Confusion, Distraction, Ego, Enlightened Dictatorhood, Fantasies of Megalomaniacal Power, Fool, Friends, Greek Gods, Holes in Shoes, Hygiene, Idiocy, Intellectuals, Irritability, Islands, Jobs, Lack of Discipline, Long Hours, Lotto, Mental Health, Midgley, Mobus Strip, Nicotine Addiction, Panic, PhD, Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Postgraduate Degree, Property, Queen's University Belfast, Reading, Regret, Respect, Serious Jobs, shoes, Sport, Strange Pressure, Stress, Two Headed People, University, Vices
Filed under: Radio-Video | Tags: Actions, Alice in Wonderland, Ambition, Annoying People, Anonymity, Apocalypse, Applied Amnesia of Difference, Architecture, Art, Artists, Arts Council Northern Ireland, Attitude Change, Bands, BeBeyond, Belfast, Belfast Blitz, Belfast Courthouse, Berlin, Bland Centralism, Boats, Bottle tops, Braids, Bread, Brooklyn, Buff Club, Businessmen, Caff/Flick, Call Centre, Cameraman, Cameras, Car Parks, Catalyst Arts, Cathedral Quarter, Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival, Catholics, City Centre, City Planning, Civil Service, Cliques, Clothing, Coffee, Collectives, Cologne, Compromise, Condescension, Conservativism, Conversation, Corporation, Counterweight, Craft, Cranes, Crap, Creative Unplanned Situations, Creativity, Crescent Arts Centre, Cutting-Edge, David Timlin, Dead Bumblebees, Death, Deformity, Diversity, Documentaries, Doll Corpses, Doll-making, Dolls, Editor, Elephants, Europa, Experiment, Festival of Fools, Filmmaking, Films, Freestyle, Germany, Hilton, Hollywood, Hotels, Housing Crisis, Indie Films, Insularity, Internet, Interventions, Irish Bread, Jonathan Lesbian Seagull, Keyboard, Knitting, Laganside Corporation, London, Making A Stand, Margaret Hagan, Mariachi, Masters Degrees, Mediocrity, Mishapen Eyes, Money, Monsters, Movies, Music, MySpace, Neil Brogan, Non-space, Normal People in a Complex Modern World, Northern Ireland, Obsession, Older Female Relatives, Ormeau Road Bakery, Outsiders, Performance Art, Play, Politics, Pretentiousness, Property Developers, Protestants, Public Art, Public Space, Puddles, Queen's University Belfast, Record Label, Recycling, Redevelopment, Religion, River Lagan, Royal Antedeluvian Order of the Buffalo, Sampler, Sand, Sandcastles, Scissors, Self-Sacrifice, Serious Points, Sewing, Sewing machines, Shopping, Sinead Breathnach-Cashell, Skyline, Soda Bread, Sound Man, Space, Starvation, Stuart Sloan, Success, Survival, Tea, The Best Kind of Music, The Kids, The News, The Past, The Troubles, Tourism, Umbrella, Up the Buff, Victoria Square, War, Wellingtons, Wheaten Bread, Work, Yarn, Zombies
Sinead Breathnach-Cashell … (for more: http://www.myspace.com/draw_in)
Neil Brogan … (for more: http://caff-flick.com)
Margaret Hagan … (for more: http://penelopebox.etsy.com)
David Timlin … (for more: http://www.creativematch.co.uk/portfolio/david_timlin/ or d_timlin@mac.com)
Stuart Sloan … (for more: http://www.youtube.com/user/sloanowski)
Filed under: Radio-Video | Tags: Accent, Age, Alcoholism, Art, Belfast, Belfast Wheel, Body, Body Image, Botanic Gardens, Chinese, Drinking, Drunkeness, East Belfast, Education, Family, Feminism, Foreigners, Gender, Generalizations, Hair, Image, Immigration, Independence, Language, Latin Culture, Life, Life Plan, Locals, London, Make-up, Mediterranean Culture, Mockery, Nationalism, Northern Ireland, Perfect Women, QUB, Queen's University Belfast, Relaxation, South Belfast, Spain, Stereotypes, Stress, Students, Superficiality, Teenagers, The Bot, The Eg, The Parlour, Turkmenistan, UK, Ultimate Frisbee, Weather, West Belfast, Women, Work, Working Class
Filed under: Radio | Tags: Academia, Adaptation, Agricultural Run Off, Ballinderry Fish Hatchery, Belfast, Bill Oddie, Brown Trout, Cattle, Conor Wilson, Crows, Dipper, Electrocution, Electrofishing, Environment & Heritage Service, Environmentalism, Extinction, Farmers, Fertilization, Fertilizers, Filter Feeders, Finland, Fish, Fish counting, Fishing, Flood, Freshwater Pearl Mussels, Genetics, Germany, Gloucadia, Gray Wagtail, Hall Sensors, Hermaphrodites, Inbreeding, Intensive Agriculture, Invertebrates, Julius Caesar, Lagan, Larva, Magnets, Margaritifera margaritifera, Metal Detector, Mussels, New Zealand, Nightmares, Nitrates, Northern Ireland, Otters, Overfishing, Oysters, Parasites, Pearls, Pesticides, PhD, Pit tag, Pollution, Queen's University Belfast, QUERCUS, Reproduction, River management, Rivers, Russia, Salmon, Scotland, Siltation, Sweden, Unappetizing mussels, Waders, Wales, Water Quality, Wet Suit, Wildlife
- Conor in the River
Freshwater pearl mussels may be the most boring things some have ever seen — as Bill Oddie alleged — but they are the stuff of Conor Wilson’s study + life. In Northern Ireland freshwater pearl mussels are under threat, from agricultural run-off, overfishing and pearl hunters. The mussels are big and boring, with gills, a stomach, and a foot, but no brain or personality. No matter their dullness, they matter a great deal to river life.
Conor explains his work with mussels — which he does for Quercus at Queen’s University Belfast. He’ll be spending a good time alone in the rivers of Northern Ireland, tracking down mussels, reintroducing new mussels into the environment, zapping fish, and avoiding the temptation to search for a fortune in pearls.
Mussels...!
Filed under: Radio, Radio-Video | Tags: Activism, American optimism, Androids, Aristotle, Atheism, Belfast, Britain, Christianity, Conservatives, Creationism, Cults, David Cameron, Debauchery, Democracy, Denmark, Depression, Economists, Education, Egoism, Environmentalism, Epicurius, Eudaimonism, Family, General Well-Being, God, Graeme Watson, Gratitude, Happiness, Hatred of Motherly Virtues, Hedonists, Hippie Lovefest, Humanism, Ibiza, Introversion, Ireland, L. Ron Hubbard, Libertarian Socialism, Lord Richard Laird, Low-grade hedonism, Marriage, Mental Health, Middle Class Lefty Guardian Readers, Narcissism, New age, New Economics Foundation, Northern Ireland, Nutrition, Patriarchy, Pessimism, Philosophy, Physical Education Teachers, Pleasure, Political Theory, Politics, Post-Humans, Prospect Magazine, Public Policy, Queen's University Belfast, Rationalists, Richard Dawkins, Scientology, Secular Society, Social Justice, Social Science, Social Virtues, Socialism, Souls, Sweden, The Enlightenment, Theory of The Good, Tony Blair, Tories, Tragedy, Twee, UK, USA, Utopia, Voting Behavior, Welfare, Well-being, Workplace Democracy
Graeme's Chosen Image of Happiness: Picasso's Joie de Vivre
Episode 27 has Graeme Watson talking about the philosophy of happiness and the politics of well-being. He’s finishing his PhD in political theory at Queen’s, examining different approaches to achieving happiness and how politicians (especially those in the UK) have brought the notion from twee to power.
Graeme discusses the ascendancy of the notion ‘Well-Being’ into a watchword of Tony Blair’s New Labor and David Cameron’s New Tories, as well as predictions that it will be one of the ‘Big Ideas of the 21st Century’. He explains how the personal is being made political and how the consumer industry of happiness is feeding into a new kind of politics — attracting Middle Class Lefty Guardian Readers, among others.
Plus, Graeme offers some visions of our coming post-human future, his low-grade hedonism, some secrets to happiness, and his planned cult.
Filed under: Radio | Tags: Amsterdam, Austin Brown, Belfast, Belfast Bicycle Workshop, Bicycle Repair Man, Bicylces, Bike Pirates, Bike Tours, Blind Bicycling, Botanic Avenue, Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival, City Planning, Community Bicycle Workshop, Critical Mass, Cuba, Derry, Drunk Cycling, Environment, Flann O'Brien, Foreigners, Funny Hats, Glenchain Pass, Holland, Holylands, Hooliganism, I Fix Bikes, I Think Bikes, Lifecycles, Monty Python, Mother Teresa, North Belfast, Northern Ireland, Paddy Bloomer, Pedestrians, Queen's University Belfast, Recycling, Sam Ruscica, Sammy the Seal, Smithfield Markets, South Belfast, Stag Parties, Students, Sustrans, Tandem Bikes, The Third Policeman, The Workshops, Toronto, Tourism, Unprovoked Abuse, Vandalism, Vegetarian Chili, Yellow Bike Project
Sam, at I Fix Bikes
This week, bicycling in Belfast.
Sam Ruscica, the ‘Mother Teresa of Broken Bikes’ in Belfast, talks about his shop “I Fix Bikes” in the Smithfield Market, as well as his plans for the future. He’d like to move from rescuing all the abandoned and abused bikes in town to managing a community bike shop, teaching people how to build and fix bikes for themselves. Sam also talks about Bike Pirates of Toronto, the abuse and flying objects he encounters while riding through the city, and the DIY Wednesdays he hosts at his shop.
Austin, at Belfast Bicycle Workshop
Then Austin Brown of Belfast Bicycle Workshop talks about his work repairing and selling bicycles, as well as leading bike tours of the city. He is located in ‘The Workshops’ on Lawrence Street in the Holylands, after having run Lifecycles down in the Smithfield Markets for many years. Austin explains why there’s not a critical mass in Belfast & how he’s trying to generate a bike culture here. He can be reached at 028 9043 9959, or at info@lifecycles.co.uk.
The ‘Bicycle Repair Man’ skit from Monty Python, from which Sam derives his job title.
Filed under: Radio | Tags: Adidas, Architecture, Ardoyne, Battle of the Bone, Belfast, BMX, Cave Hill, David Belle, Extreme Sports, Film, Fire Service, Football, Free Running, Gary Whelan, George Clarke, Graffiti, Hollywood, Hooliganism, Jump London, Parkour, Peace Walls, PSNI, Queen's University Belfast, Sculpture, Skateboarding, Stuntmen, Supercriminals, Superheroes, Team Bacteria, Traceurs, Victoria Square, Waterfront Hall, Yellow Fever Productions, YouTube, Zombies
Gary at City Hall
Parkour Jumps & Vaults
Filed under: Radio | Tags: Bacon, BBC, Belfast, Cabbage, Cereal, Champ, Curry, Film, John Vance, Queen's University Belfast, Restaurant, Spuds, Stephen Bleakney, Students, The Troubles
Spuds
Episode 13 goes to Spuds to talk with its owner John Vance about the restaurant’s place in Belfast. The second half features an interview with Stephen Blakeney, the head of Queen’s Movie Society, about the society’s short films and the state of film-making in Northern Ireland today.
Filed under: Radio | Tags: Activism, Afghanistan, Belfast, Derry, Ethnic Minorities, Gay Culture, Homosexuality, MI5, Politics, Puppets, Queen's University Belfast, Sesame Street, Sesame Tree, Terrorism, The Troubles, USA
Episode 4 starts off with Colin Wililams, an executive producer of Sesame Tree, the new local version of Sesame Street. Then it turns to politics, with a conversation with Mary Alice Clancy about the international dimension of post-agreement politics, and the Bush administration’s involvement here. Finally, Aidan McGarry speaks about his research on the situation of ethnic minorities in Northern Ireland and his activism within the lesbian/gay community here.
Filed under: Radio | Tags: Buster Keaton, Death, ETA, Exchanges, Film, Fire, Michigan, Politics, Projectionist, QFT, Queen's University Belfast, Santander, Spain, Stereotypes, Terorrism, Ugly Americans, USA
This week’s program goes to Michigan for an interview with David Sandahl about his time studying in Santander, Spain this summer. He discusses whether he and his fellow students fulfilled the Ugly American stereotypes, and what happened when ETA called off its ceasefire and launched attacks in the city they were staying. Then we return to Belfast for a tour of the Queen’s Film Theatre’s Box 1 with projectionist Jonathan Greer. He names his ten favorite films in under fifteen seconds, explains why life in the projection box is not so miserable, and the fatalities & headless chicken moments possible in the job.
