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Tune Of The Week: 11/09/09

I think when I look back at Summer 2009 there will be a couple of songs/albums I will immediately think of: David Guetta’s When Love Takes Over, The Black Eyed Peas, I Gotta Feeling.. album Red Light Company’s Fine Fascination.

This song has been used on everything this Summer. Sky Used it to promote the new Premiership season on Sky Sports, Channel Four used it on the finale of Big Brother.

It’s a grower, definitely. I really like it but I don’t think it got the attention it deserved.

They are an Australian based band and will support Florence and The Machine in The Olympia in December.

This week’s song of the week is The Temper Trap and Sweet Disposition.

Check them out :

http://www.thetempertrap.net/

http://www.myspace.com/thetempertrap

Image taken from http://www.thetempertrap.net/

September 11, 2009
David LaChapelle in Dublin

Stuff happens on the outside world when you’re sick in hospital.

The fantastic David LaChapelle, whose Retrospective exhibition I went to see in Monaie de Paris in April is coming to Dublin, Ireland.

I think the man is a genius, I’m so glad I saw this! I hope a HUGE deal is made of this in our fair city! If you can go!

He’s bringing his American Jesus Exhibition here. You can look at David LaChapelle’s work in a book, no problem but its only when you see his lifesize work, that the enormity of his talent becomes apparent!

One of his pieces that really stood out for me in Paris was Holy War, I really like the way LaChapelle turns his photographs into 3D sculptures. He added LEDs and TV screens within the piece to really bring it to life.

Its quite a strange feeling, having seen these photos in a book, looking at them and almost being able to touch.. (obviously I wouldn’t).

I think David LaChapelle is the most influential photographer of recent years.

He has photographed everyone from Madonna and Kanye West to David Beckham and videos he has made include those for Christina Aguileria (Dirrty), Robbie Williams (Advertising Space) and Moby (Natural Blues) for which he won a MTV Europe Award.

Check out David’s website Here

I used his picture of Courtney Love: Pieta (from his Heaven to Hell collection) for one of my college projects last year – you can read it HERE!

I also wrote about my visit to his exhibition HERE!

Has Dublin copped on ? I hope so – I have such a buzz just thinking that his exhibition will be here, too often us Irish folk have to leave our isle to see talent of this magnitude!

Flyer image taken from Fabricmag.com

Update: 11/9/09

OH MY GOD! Fanhead on, I rang John in http://sebastianguinnessgallery.com who are curating the exhibition and I’m going to the launch night!.. Amazing!

This the kind of thing I really want to cover in the Arts Show in DCU!

Can’t wait!

Now how do I get tickets to the Masterclass on Friday? Anyone help a damsel in distress?

September 10, 2009
Snapshot 09/09/09

This is what I saw at nine minutes past nine on September 9, 09, from my Hospital bed in the beautiful Transition Unit in St James’ Hospital, Dublin 8.

I was in again, this time with the other leg.. but all is good! Scans, xrays and all sorts of fandangled tests show its only minor!

It’s probably best that it’s a bit shaky… to protect the innocent.

…nessy out! (of hospital)

It’s 9/9/09. September has 9 letters. Wednesday has 9 letters. It’s the 252nd day of the year, add that up equals 9!

[I updated this post on 10/9/09, just as I got out of hospital for the second time in two weeks]

September 9, 2009
9/11 Eight Years On…

I was watching TV last night. A documentary was on about 9/11. It was made from all sorts of footage compiled to give a real-time account.

It’s strange. It was a horrible thing to have happened but it was also compulsive viewing.

Eight years on, its one of the questions people ask ‘Where were you when you heard about the Twin Towers?’

I was at work in Dublin, just back from lunch (which I had sneakily taken longer than I should) and was sitting down to an afternoon of inputting CD orders into the company database.

Lar, he who always had the news first, (he had a sneaky TV set up because he needed it for fixing the video recorders) went round the building informing everyone. It was about 14.15.

I immediately ran to the TV, not believing the images I was looking at on the TV.

I emailed a friend who lives in New York, wanting to make sure they were OK. I also felt the deepest guilt ever.

The day before I had sent my friend an email. I had been caught in a fire 11 months before and nearly died. I had sent an email which was almost a soul cleaning or acceptance of what happened me. I had thought this was terribly important until I saw the TV.

The horror, shock and human suffering I saw that day will never take away from what I had gone through, but it made me realise I literally was a tiny dot on the planet.

A lot of people lost their lives that day. A lot of people are still feeling the effects of September 11, none of them will ever be forgotten.

September 8, 2009