mr smyth at christmas

There's not much to say really, other than we did have to twist his arm a little after the last time... but he's always game to parody himself, the political situation, and in this case, Christmas messages. ("Parody"... hmmm. But I have to write that in case his boss is reading.) That, and the original - with "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas" over the start - got pulled immediately from d'Tube. So congrats to them for their apparently now automated detection.



For more on the GSFTW Campaign, click to the facebook Page.

Well done, sir.

the drums, the drums...

Whilst numbed of mind and lacking any motivation, I've stumbled across some I lost the link for in April (and despite my best googling efforts, I couldn't recall.) Jimmy Eat World's twitter gave us Ron Winter's Electro Drum Kit and I'm posting it here merely so that (a) you too can have this much fun, and (b) it's saved in as many places as possible.

Enjoy!

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Shoeboxes and Stripes

The videos from a week ago are starting to make their way up to t'interwebs, and can be found over on their own Vimeo channel, loosely entitled "Shoeboxes and Stripes". If you've no idea what I'm referring to (and you may not, and that's fine!) then head that way to check out some great wee tunes; don't let the one-camera capture put you off some fantastic (and award winning) musicians. If you are familiar with it all, or even were there, then I hope the stuff put up over the next few weeks will go some way to faithfully record the stories and songs shared - all feedback appreciated.

Anyway, in the meantime, here's my favourite so far.

Shoeboxes and Stripes - Part 11 - Pete MacDonald - Yellow Raincoat from Peter Huey on Vimeo.

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low rising

Good week for music videos I guess; on the downside, it contains 100% less people from Bangor than the previous post. However, on the upside, I can't remember seeing a non-performance Frames/Swell Season video (if we disregard everything lifted straight from Once since 'People Get Ready' - which seems a lifetime ago. Good to see them back in action; is there something wistful in their ultimate embrace? Or do we just want there to be? (Or do we still even care...)



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movements

For a couple of years, it seems like half the country has been waiting with baited breath to see what would become of Rend Collective Experiment. There's never been any doubting the talents involved; as a teen I was in in awe of Gareth Gilk's drumming, for example (and made a right arse of myself the first time this came out when we were supporting Numinous back in the bad old (read: MNC) days!) There was just too much quality shining out of the first two ORGANic Family Hymnal EPs. (In fact, for two years consecutively we somehow managed to get them to keep donating their wares to the church 21 promo videos. Add to the fact that they're some of the nicest folks in the industry, and it meant there was basically automatic euphoria whenever the news came out last year that they had finally been snapped up by a label. And not just any label, but Survivor Records, best known as one leg of the behemoth that is Kingsway Music. (Kingsway has many legs; if it were a minibeast, it would probably be a short centipede. But anyway.

The album seems epic already; take, for example, the revamp of original Rend track "Faithful". How to make it a full-throated reworking? A genius bit of inter-label management and the pulling in of a guy who's sure to shift a few thousand copies: Mr David Crowder (check it out on their myspace.) You'll remember that we love the Crowder around here so much that we think nothing of insulting his whole band to their megastar faces. So that call works for us.

Anyway, all this is merely a HUGE build-up to the highlighting of their first biggish budget video for (the single?) "Movements" off the new record (released in the New Year, which is, I believe, quite soon.) The pretty colours. HD loves well turned out girls and boys, eh?



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upcoming dates: dec-jan '10

I always swore I'd never do it here, but then I thought... I never get to see many people anymore that are (I hope still) casual readers of this particular corner of the t'interwebs. (And if you're not, then me analytics have a lot of explaining to do...) There's no Pet Polar gigs planned in the next couple of months (mind you if you're looking, we're willing if it can be fitted in) but I've a couple of worship-leading appointments coming up which I would recommend. If that happens to be your inclination, anyway.

Having worked with the CIYD folks in the past I can heavily plug their upcoming Reflect conference for Young Leaders - ideally if you volunteer with a church or community group and would love a retreat aimed squarely at you, then this is the one, details after the jump above. It's 8-10th of January and is something like £30 for the entire weekend's bed and board - bargain.

Also, Sunday week (that's Sunday December 6th) I'll be (as is growing less frequent as we age, folks) dropping in to the evening happenings at the Church of the Res at Queen's. It's always a little weird returning and not knowing anyone there (such is the turnover of residents at the COISC) but having loved the atmosphere for praise for three great years, it takes all of thirty seconds usually to slip right back in to the vibe. I believe it's a couple of sessions with a load of coffee and buns etc. in between, so should be fun.

Hopefully see you there!

stick it in the five hole!

Sometimes, Lego is still just as awesome as it seemed fifteen-odd years ago.


Fleury or Shanahan? I can't decide.

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now i can talk

Let's be honest here: an awful lot of Northern Irish indie bands sound the same. Scratch that: they nearly all sound the same (the "Belfast sound" as it was referred to as a few years ago, still going strong.) And fair enough in some ways - we're all the sum of our creative influences, and if we all spend all our time playing with everyone around us etc. etc...

Two Door Cinema Club have repeatedly skirted this definition carefully. And you know what? The new single is great. But it's the video that is particularly epic. First 30 seconds are outstandingly mind-destroying in particular.



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oh my god

Filmmaker Peter Rodgers is asking just one question: What is God?



This is my first encounter with this upcoming film, but there's a really interesting interview with the documentary maker over at Rainn Wilson's home of left-field existentialism, Soul Pancake. I'm already looking forward to finding out more about this project.

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ah, nostalgia

Not being in the city anymore is really kicking in again; feeling out of the creative loop a bit, more than anything else. But anyway. Was reflecting on listening to half of the fabulous Maguire & I talking about their next wee bit of recording (unsolicited shameless plug for them, see right, be there or miss out.) Was wandering about on myspace and ended up on the MNC page, and took the time to watch the below video for the first time in a very long time. It made me chuckle, I must admit - last ten seconds in particular.

The current song set (of the longrunning acoustic-y project that has finally been tentatively named Pet Polar) couldn't really be any further stylistically from the MNC stuff if I had deliberately tried, but I do get a little regretful when I think about how damn good we were, how many great opportunities we got, and how we more or less blew the whole thing. Yeah, we shifted a few hundred records, played a lot of great gigs, a (thankfully lower number of) few crap gigs, got to team up with some great bands and artists, and had a couple of years of on-off mayhem. But we could've done so much more. We pushed ourselves quite hard when we wanted, but it just wasn't ever as much as we could have. I wonder if it was that we didn't take it seriously enough; who knows.

I'm regretful further because no matter how much it is talked about, it's been a few years since I seriously sat down in a studio setting as an artist and actually laid anything down, beyond recording crap multi-instrument demos in our back room at home. I'm fearful of forgetting how to play songs; I know there's MNC songs I've forgotten, and any time I do manage to churn a good one out now I have the same fear; that it'll never make it to being recorded, and so be forgotten.

Anyway, the video made me laugh. Coincidentally, the song in the background - Walk Away - came from a test recording we did in the first hour in the studio, hence how appalling it is - but I think I included it just because it never made it to the setlist for the fateful EP.



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play that funky... eigenharp?

This post is more or less entirely for the pleasure of Jonny Kirk - but I'm sure others may also appreciate it. This BBC Online report has David Sillito interviewing a group of musicians about the Eigenharp - a "revolutionary" new musical instrument that does sound pretty cool. A little too cool. Wait a minute. About thirty seconds into their demo and I closed my eyes... and all of a sudden, it's the last level and Mr X is asking me to choose!

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it's just part of the job

I guess this clip is a few days old but I just caught it over at Joseph Gordon-Levitt's tumblr. It's Barack Obama's straightforward answer to this kid's question: "Why do they hate you so much?"


Watch CBS News Videos Online

Well fielded, sir. Jed Bartlet wouldn't have done it much differently, I hope.

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Frank's story

A brilliant two-minute anecdote from @Glinner - posted originally here - as told to him by Frank Kelly, better known to non-islanders as Father Jack Hackett. I find Linehan's storytelling is enhanced even further by closing your eyes and pretending he's actually a deadpan Gerry Ryan!

losing our religion

Just finished watching last Monday's BBCNI doc Losing Our Religion, presented by the excellent William Crawley and knocked out by Belfast's own champions of one-offs, DoubleBand Films (ever see their Maradona one? Google it, it's a cracker.) The one-hour documentary dealt with the issue of religion in Northern Ireland, why and how it had come to dominate life, and why now it seems to be increasingly fading from significance. With more emotive language and OTT photography than you could shake a stick at, this was clearly a piece that was prepared to not only deal with it's topic, but both channel it and tear it apart as well. And whilst Crawley's own nostalgia and wonder at the faith he questions seemed to ensure he remained respectful, he managed to tease out an awful lot of food for thought.

Crawley, previously a philosopher, theological lecturer, university chaplain and now in his own words a "lapsed Protestant" and his journey were very much a focal point, but all around was a wider discussion, between the gods of tradition, the god of the adapted 'church', the unknown god and... well, humanism. So whilst I'm not even going to begin to give a weighted version of my two cents, here are two or three lines that sat with me.

A little way in, Crawley visited the Belfast Islamic Centre (down behind the Welly Park, lads, where I recall spending a while sitting one night while Dave's row of flats were evacuated during a fire alert.) Against, whilst there's a whole discussion on why increasing numbers of Northern Irelanders are turning to the Islamic tradition, an interesting line from future Imam Malachy Moustafa was his assertation that (to paraphrase) "we won't change our fundamental beliefs to suit the times." In contrast, I got the impression that up at Causeway Coast Vineyard (which came across very well) Crawley felt there whilst the delivery method had been adapted to suit the times, there was perhaps a question of whether the language and theology might have been also - which I would probably disagree with (as a very irregular Belfast City Vineyard frequenter), but could accept as an impression.

It's a point worth noting though: as Barry Moore, the Canadian Evangelist (whose altar call had led Crawley to faith as a teenager) stressed at the conclusion: you can "poke holes" in the hypocrisy, the human failings, the cult-like natures, the demands of Christianity as acted out by its followers - but "you can't poke holes in Him (Jesus)" I don't claim to work for the most emergent of churches (being Anglican in Mid-Ulster) but by the same rod, like many forward thinkers we seek to outwardly demonstrate inward faith in as many relevant and contemporary ways as possible. But is there a danger in this that we change the Message as well?

Astronomer Terry Mosley came out with another great thought:

You cannot believe the Genesis account when you look at our universe; it is so big, so vast, so many stars in it... it just doesn't make sense to have all that out there, just for our benefit. (What is the point?)"

But then he himself started off the answer:

The sheer majesty of it all, the size, the beauty of it all...

I'm about to do something quite dangerous. This is a blog about many things (once described as "Dali-esque!") It was originally about film production. It is sometimes about current affairs. Occasionally, it is personal. Most of the time it is links to videos. But something I've always been careful about is talking about faith. It's no surprise to most that I work in Christian Ministry (capital letters!) and so faith often comes into my common conversation (as it does for most people - whether they realise or not!) but I don't preach verbally. I'm very careful about it, and I'm very conscious of it. This is because I don't consider myself a preacher, but a ranter. And ranters turn people off - for reference, see the legalistic Judaism that one particularly famous rabbi came up against in Israel a couple of millennium ago.

However, I shall break this self-enforced axiom for once. For as Terry Mosley questions, what would be the point in a universe that is so large and so majestic, that proves the laws of physics only to break them, that baffles and astounds... what is the point of all of that if it is created entirely for man's benefit?

Mr Mosley, that is ENTIRELY the point.

'God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground... God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.'

Whether you take the Genesis account of creation as literal or figurative, the message there is clear; that creation was made, and given over for stewardship, to man. And throughout the OT this imagery continues, of a creation which God constructed for man to reflect on and steward over. But why? Why purpose does this amazing tapestry of life serve?

I could (and am willing to) give a straight answer to this, but we're on food for thought talk here, remember? So instead, I refer you to Rob Bell's Nooma 'Whirlwind' - find Parts One here and Part 2 here. (Aside: Job FTW.) Creation both honours and displays YHWH to us - as in the book of Job where, for example, God himself uses it to answer and comfort his tortured but loyal follower.

"I began to understand faith as a set of questions, rather than a set of answers," says Crawley wistfully. With some joy I would argue that that is entirely the point. The hole in the human condition is Jesus-shaped, and God is indeed that fabled refuge and strength; but many Christians are shaken and perturbed that, on exploring faith, they are instead left with a whole set of new and seemingly unanswerable questions. Perhaps the biggest faith killer, the greatest sin of our churches, the entire key to this debate is this: whenever a question is asked, the easiest thing to do is say, "We don't ask questions, we're supposed to believe." NO! A hundred thousand times, no!

For if you are not asking questions, you are not thinking. If you are not thinking, then you are not engaging. If you are not engaging, then what is this faith you profess other than something you store up in your ivory tower and defend against all assailants - and there will be many, because your faith is not alive and active, but rather a steady and rather small rock you cling to. You might make it in the end, I really genuinely hope and pray that you do, but what a waste. What a waste.

Faith is ENTIRELY about questions. And whilst I would not demean you, dear reader (if you're still with me - and it's brilliant if you are) or insult your intelligence by simply trying to enforce mine on you, I would encourage you to reflect on these things. Most of us have been to that place where it just doesn't seem to make sense, and that's fine. Most of us have also been at the point where we are adamant that life is nothing more than what we have, and it makes absolute sense that there can be no god but Man, if that is what we should call it. But the dangerous thing is to stay in one place. I admire Crawley in that sense: he had no faith, he found religion, he resigned from it, but continues, as he says, on a journey - open and inquisitive, and maybe even a little amused, as to where he will end up.

Whatever you do, remember this: it is never wrong to ask questions. And if I catch you not doing it, I'll have your guts for garters.

Here endeth the lesson.

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no such thing as too scary

Blog-tastic day today: @djlowry tweeted this at me earlier, from Daring Fireball:

Reporter: “What do you say to parents who think the Wild Things film may be too scary?”

Maurice Sendak: “I would tell them to go to hell. That’s a question I will not tolerate.”

Reporter: “Because kids can handle it?”

Sendak: “If they can’t handle it, go home. Or wet your pants. Do whatever you like. But it’s not a question that can be answered.”

Damn right.

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no fee for 3D

A healthy mixture of congratulations and sarcastic only-too-rights for Northern Ireland's own Movie House Cinemas, who have just announced their decision to drop any excess charge for viewing films in 3D at their multiplexes, becoming the first major chain in the UK to do so. And whilst this film graduate is still heartily in the "3D's-not-new-the-industry-has-tried-it-several-times-before-and-no, it's-not-the-future-of-cinema-no-matter-what-Disney-try-to-tell-you" camp, I might finally go and see a 3D film now. Maybe. Let's face it, with Up, Where The Wild Things Are and Fantastic Mr. Fox all out this month, there'll be plenty of opportunity.

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rockabye baby, don't say a word...

This is just too mental for words...

I can just imagine a team of guys sitting around, silently doubled over with laughter as one of their number painstakingly whacks out "Sweet Child O' Mine" on a xylophone.

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up

Who was it would originally hypothesised that there are only seven storylines in all of literature? Whenever I see a new Pixar trailer, I always think the same thing: there's seven boxes of plot for us, and one secret one that John Lasseter keeps all for himself.

New Pixar "Up" Trailer
Uploaded by crimfarstein. - Sitcom, sketch, and standup comedy videos.

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"get him tied down, dear..."

Spare a thought for Belfast's own Jonny Evans this week. Evans' star is still on the rise at Old Trafford, not to mention that he's becoming a reliable presence in the Green and White Army's defence to boot. However, there was literally nowhere he could hide his face when the Gaffer started doling out relationship advice at this week's UEFA pre-match conference. Bless.

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forfey

Haven't got a chance to get down to Forfey yet, was a little disappointed this year but all my holidays were spent on Camp. Having seen this wee mini-doc from Babysweet, I now wish I'd been there even more.

FORFEY (fawr-fee) from Gregg Houston on Vimeo.

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"sorry we were going to eat you..."

..."we didn't know you were a King!"



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help! iDVD won't open! i'm ruined!

Every now and again - and they really are few and far between - I do bother to blog about something technically useful. So here's this term's attempt.

A while ago, to my horror, I received feedback from a client that noted how pleased they were with their product (in this case, a double wedding DVD - wedding and reception, full day of shooting plus ridiculously time-consuming cutting.) However, there was one minor complaint - I had made a common spelling error with the bride's name, not only on the printed skin of the DVDs themselves, but also on the menu of both DVDs. I was pretty horrified, as you can imagine, so set about to rectify the problem. That is to say, it went on the page stuck to the side of one of the machines with "Unavoidable problems" on the top. A couple of weeks ago, I went about trying to rectify the problem, only to discover - to much deeper, further horror, that iDVD - which I had cheated a bit and used to compile the DVD designs together - was refusing to speak to me. Icon would jump, 'iDVD' would appear in the menu bar for a few seconds, and then it closed.

What a situation - many arghs later, I began trawling the 'net for solutions. I was originally running IDVD 6; iLife has never been a priority upgrade for me, particularly in this case as I've been forcing myself to use DVD Studio as much as possible. Two weeks later, and the situation has been solved.

Apparently, this is bit of a common glitch that appears from iDVD 6.0 right through to 7.0.2. No-one seems to know where it came from or what it's doing. All they have are several different ideas about how to fix it. Honestly, you'd think we were talking about Vista here.

One of the most common starting points is to Repair Permissions for the drive, which takes 2-3 minutes via Disk Utility. It's probably a good idea to delete the Application preferences from your Home>Library whilst your at it. However, in this case, nada.

Next up, into Home>Library again and to locate the very fiddly 'com.apple.iDVD.plist' file. Out the window with that, and we were at the point where iDVD would stay open until the menu appeared.

In frustration, I nabbed a Family pack of iLife '08 and install the upgrade. However, as the error was already know to be common to iDVD 7, it persisted! However, having located an Apple Support post that was actually written by someone who understood the problem, I upgraded all the way to 7.0.4, and by a miracle, the issue has disappeared for now.

It's the first time I've encountered such a problem with Mac software. I've come across some random crashed before - Safari is the most obvious culprit, but grown-up programs like Compressor and LiveType have also been know to topple down pretty quickly in my presence after a long day. However, for a complete shut down to be caused by something as simple as a preferences tweak or a misplaced font (so says the gospel according to DJ anyway) is really a bit irritating. But I guess it's the small price we pay for using an OS structured the way it is. It could be worse. It could be Vista.

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professional envy

Right McConnell, that's it. Whenever my regime take power, you and your success will absolutely be the first against the wall. Z1's at the ready...



Read the entire post and download the videos over at the Bandwidth site.

I swear this is the last time you're getting a mention for a while... seething, I am...

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