Star Trek Predicts A United Ireland; The 8th Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival

Special thanks to listener James who spotted this on a BBC News site:

Star Trek predicts a united Ireland

Hopefully we can get Erin to go and have a look.  As part of the 8th Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival the Trek episode is showing at the Black Box Monday, the 7th of May at 8pm - and hey it's free, always a big plus to us here at LTA.

From the Black Box website:

Star Trek - The High Ground
(The Banned Episode)

Beverly Crusher, who is trying to help wounded based on a terrorist attack on a non-aligned planet, is taken hostage. Based on what she learns, she comes to see what terrorism means first hand.

In his study of terrorism, Data notes that Ireland would be reunified in 2024 as a result of a successful terrorist campaign. Due to its content (and specifically its mention of Irish reunification), this episode has never been shown on free-to-air television in the United Kingdom or Republic of Ireland, and initial airings were edited when shown on Sky One.

The Black Box previously on the site:

'Fresh Meat' at the Black Box

Belfast - City of a Thousand Festivals

(Photo above taken from the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival website - I'm such a Trek nerd that I instantly realised that the pic is not from the TV show but from one of the movies...man, I gotta get out more)

'Fresh Meat' at the Black Box

If you're looking for something to do in Belfast on Thursday nights you can't do better than Fresh Meat at the Black Box.

I must admit Dear Reader that I was initially put off by the name of the event which conjured up visions in my mind of some horrible amateur comedy night; but boy was I pleasantly surprised.

Billing itself as an 'avant garde music miniature open-mic' experience the evening was a delight from start to finish - highlights included the gentleman above communicating through some sort of water-filled device, a Russian soprano and group piano playing.

I loved the surreal and whimsical nature of the proceedings that evening - in this world of constant advertisement, that is driving us to consume I find that Surrealism / Dadism is an extremely viable aesthetic, moral and political response.

I left Fresh Meat suitably refreshed Dear Listener and walked around night-time Belfast with a spring in my step.

Unpaid Intern Erin's Guide to the Belfast Film Festival - Part 9

Nearly bankrupt and fighting back a nervous breakdown, documentary filmmaker Peter Whitehead wandered the streets of Edinburgh on a summer evening in 1969 shortly before the premiere of his latest film, The Fall.  A flock of birds surprised him and caused him to pause in a square.  There, he saw an elderly man pull food out of his pocket and start feeding the birds, calling them individually by name.  Whitehead, who over the previous four years had chronicled an era of excess, energy, anarchy, and angst with unparalleled access and acumen, left filmmaking and bought his first falcon. 

While Whitehead did not entirely abandon filmmaking in the 1970s, making a Led Zepplin concert-pic in 1970, Daddy in 1972, and Fire in the Water in 1977, the passion of his past three and a half decades has largely been devoted to majestic birds-of-prey.  The film that served as the catalyst for his dramatic life overhall, The Fall, chronicled the descent of the student protest movement from a legitimate political force to what Whitehead described as “calculated political anarchy.”  The film that resulted was a genre-bending experiment mixing a fictional political assassination with real-life footage of the protest movement.

Nearly forty years after beginning filming of The Fall, Whitehead told Sight and Sound, “I’ve never been on holiday, never wasted a single day.  I would consider it a waste if I’m not pursuing my myth in some form or another.”  Don't miss the myth of Peter Whitehead this Saturday at Studio Cinema, where The Fall begins at 7:00 PM.

Also on Saturday…

Two documentaries on the difficulties and disenfranchisement that occurs when people exert their right to vote are playing together at QFT on Saturday.  No Umbrella: Election Day in the City follows the experiences of voters in one of Ohio’s poorest voting precincts during the 2004 presidential elections.  Enemies of Happiness tells the story of a 27-year-old woman running in Afghanistan’s parliamentary elections in September 2005.  Celebrate Northern Ireland's upcoming power sharing scenario with a Saturday afternoon of election woes starting at 2:00 PM at QFT.

As if our lives weren't scary enough, on Saturday afternoon, you can witness a dystopian future in which only Jett Loe and Martin Sheen’s brother can save the day.  The Patrol is just one of many short jewels on display at the Jameson Short Film Competition, starting at high noon at the Black Box.

(Image above:  still from the film Enemies of Happiness)

Unpaid Intern Erin's Guide to the Belfast Film Festival - Part 8

While women have made great strides in reaching parity in both levels of participation and payment in many fields, cinema would not be included on the list.  Seven percent of films are directed by women, a statistic only slightly less shameful than the number of female candidates fielded in the last Northern Irish assembly election.  Friday’s film fest line-up, however, highlights female-made short fiction and non-fiction films.  Coming off the back of their week long-film festival in London at the Barbican, Birds Eye View, an organisation supporting women in film, brings six short films made by female directors to the Belfast Film Festival.  These films screen Friday night with the short documentary, Like a Ship in the Night, about three Irish women taking the boat to England for an abortion.

Although abortion is legal in Great Britain, it remains illegal in both the North and the South of Ireland.  Perhaps not coincidentally, Northern Ireland also has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in Western Europe.  Like a Ship in the Night explores the story of three women from very different backgrounds sharing in a journey that 8,000 women a year make.  Director Melissa Thompson will introduce her film and lead a discussion following the screening.  Enjoy an evening of female-driven programming at the Studio Cinema beginning at 8:30 PM on Friday night.

Also on Friday…

Before James Cameron became the intrepid explorer, expert archaeologist, and self-proclaimed finder of Jesus’ tomb, he used to make some pretty flipping frightening films.   Aliens is appropriately playing at the drive-in at the Titanic Quarter Paint Hall at 9:00 PM.

In what is apparently a regular club night fixture, RINKA offers a mix of screenings of independent films and live music.  Jim Jarmusch’s ode to Coffee and Cigarettes begins the night, followed by electronica/avant-rock instrumentation from the Bangor-based group When Pilots Eject, finished off by what is described as “deviant acid turntablism” provided by DJs Sinister Industry with visuals from Chewie Films. RINKA kicks off at 8:00 PM at the Black Box.

Note:  Hi folks,  Jett here; the photo above was taken at the Queens Street Studios this Saturday past during the Cinemasports event - unfortunately I didn't have the time to participate, (the challenge: make a short film in one day - show it the same evening), maybe next year!  If you're interested in making media in Northern Ireland definitely check out the QSS - they've got all sorts of stuff that would come in handy!

Note 2:  Jett here again; I see I've illustrated Erin's post about the shameful lack of films directed by women with a photo of a bunch of guys who are off to make a film.  Hmm.

Unpaid Intern Erin's Guide to the Belfast Film Festival - Part 7

Last year around this time, I went to New York with my boyfriend.  We had breakfast with friends of his, one of whom is a poet. One of her poems, “The Spirit of 34th Street”, had been included in an anthology of poetry about New York City.  She read it out to us over coffee and pastries:

“Doors opened with a silent scream.
like photographs of anguish;
the subway paused, shed cargo
and raged on.
She lurched aboard,
sagged into a vacant seat,
frail weight of her gray years
hunched with cold.
Numb fingers plucked at rags,
drawn close against raw misery.
Knuckles, cracked and swollen white,
clutched into a plea for warmth.
He, dark and lithe,
swung down the aisle,
taut jeans dancing
rhythmically.
With Latin grace
he, sidling past
her patient form,
in one smooth gesture
disappeared through subway doors,
leaving in her lap,
like folded dove wings,
his black leather gloves.”

After finishing the poem, she remarked, “life in New York City is filled with misery and majesty.”  Filmmaker Jem Cohen uses this polarity of the urban landscape as his muse in the two films, Lost Book Found and This is a History of New York City.  Both are mosaics of city life cobbled together from years of Super-8 and 16mm filming of the streets of the city.   Lun Sante says of Lost Book Found, “Its beauty is quite ineffable.  It’s the sort of visual experience that transforms everything seen by the viewer for several hours afterwards.”  Such high praise might just warrant the price of admission.  Check out the films of Jem Cohen at the Studio Cinema (above Belfast Exposed) on Thursday at 7:00 PM.

Also on Thursday…

Polarity takes centre stage once again in John and Jane, a documentary about the experience of working in Indian call centres.  Employees leave their Indian identities outside the walls of the office, where inside, the dominance of American culture reigns supreme.  John and Jane is playing along with The Intimacy of Strangers at QFT at 6:45.

A day without a mention of totalitarianism during the Belfast Film Festival would be like a day without an alcopop during a vacation to Ibiza.  Get  your cinematic fix of state control with the Academy Award winning film, The Lives of Others, about the experience of state surveillance under Communist-run East Germany.

(Photo taken by Jett of a Tough Guy at the Belfast Film Festival Quiz, the John Hewitt Pub)

What to do in Belfast Tonight; the 6th Annual World Pong Championships

Dear Listeners:  If you find yourself in Belfast tonight than you have ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE not to go to the 6th Annual World Pong Championships at the John Hewitt tonight at 8pm.  I went last year and had a ball:

Drama - Thy Name is Pong

They take their Pong seriously here in Belfast; historically it was one of the few activities that Protestant, Catholic and Muslim could do together in Northern Ireland and many people will tell you it helped them through the tough times. 

Why not commemorate the event by cheering on the participants - the John Hewitt is a fine pub and worth going to even if no Video Game related activities are occurring.  I was there last night myself as it was the famous Belfast Film Festival Quiz.  Our team came in second Dear Listeners, and I have a decorative 'Jameson Key Ring' to prove it.

(Photo above:  Daniel Jewesbury, Esq., one of the organisers of the Pong Evening, as seen last night officiating in the Film Quiz - that's Dr. Gareth Higgins taking up most of the right frame).

Unpaid Intern Erin's Guide to the Belfast Film Festival - Part 6

In the small town of Rheims, France, three skinheads were looking for an Arab to bash.  Instead, on a September night in 2002, Francois Chenu had the misfortune to cross their paths.  Because Chenu refused to deny the fact that he was gay, the three men beat him, threw him in a pond, and left him for dead.  The story of his family, their grieving process, and their quest for justice is the subject of Olivier Meyrou’s documentary, Beyond Hatred. 

QueerSpace, a Belfast-based organization serving and advocating for the needs of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Community of Belfast and Northern Ireland, has worked in conjunction with the festival to present the film. While the festival has included a wide array of programming around same sex themes, Beyond Hatred stands out for its poignancy and topicality for a society recently bestowed with the dubious moniker of “the most bigoted place in Western world.”  Beyond Hatred is playing at Studio Cinema on Wednesday at 8:30 PM followed by a discussion with our very own Dr. Gareth Higgins.

Also on Wednesday…

The Black Box might do weird better (or at least classier) than anywhere else in Belfast.  While I’m not exactly sure what a double bill of a Turkish remake of the Wizard of Oz and a 1960s Japanese children’s television show re-scored with live electronica would look/sound/feel like, I’m sure it wouldn’t fail to be an interesting and maybe even unique experience.  Check out Turkish Wizard of Oz/Gimme Gimme Octopus at the Black Box at 8 PM.

If you’ve always felt there weren’t enough documentaries on the protracted conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the contested region of Nagorno-Karabakh, watch A Story of People in War and Peace fill that niche at QFT at 9:10 PM.

(Photo taken by Jett of woman sitting alone at the Queens Film Theatre)

Unpaid Intern Erin's Guide to the Belfast Film Festival - Part 5

In the summer of 1971, Stanford social psychology professor Philip Zimbardo conducted the now famous Stanford Prison Experiment in order to observe what happens when ordinary individuals are placed in roles of authority and submission.  Twenty-four college students were divided into two groups—guards and inmates.  Originally designed as a two-week study, Zimbardo ended the experiment on the sixth day due to the increasingly sadistic manner in which the guards treated the inmates and the rapid psychological deterioration of the inmates as a result of the simulated prison environment. 

The film Buenos Aires 1977 takes place in a secret detention centre run by the military junta who ruled Argentina from 1976 until 1983. The literal translation of the Spanish title of the film, “Chronicle of a Fugue” points to the dreamlike state in which both captive and captor exist.  The Zimbardo experiment shows how quickly individuals can slip into experiences or actions that were once relegated to the stuff of nightmares.  In a world in which law and order now includes the vocabulary of stress positions, extraordinary rendition, dietary manipulation, and coercive interrogation, Buenos Aires 1977 can be viewed not only as a reminder of a dark page of one nation’s history but also as a cautionary tale for the future we are in the process of creating. You can listen to Dr. Zimbardo on Radio Open Source this Tuesday and you can watch Buenos Aires 1977 at QFT at 6:30 PM.

Also on Tuesday…

The Monastery: Mr. Vig and the Nun wins the best lead in a festival brochure blurb prize with the following description: “Mr. Vig, an 82-year-old virgin, realizes a 50 year-old dream—to turn his castle into a monastery.  Then, love and the Russian Orthodox nuns arrive.”  Watch those Russian monastic sparks fly at QFT at 8:45 PM

The 6th Belfast World Pong Championships show the world that unlike cheese rolling, this sport is here to stay.  Watch out for “young fresh faced joystick jamming pretenders” and the cunning linguistics of such clever people as Richard West and Dan Jewesbury.  If for some unfathomable reason you find yourself not able to attend what is sure to be a cultural jewel you can soothe your soul with vintage pongage courtesy of LTA.

(Image above from 'The Monastery:  Mr Vig and the Nun; Image at top from Buenos Aires 1977)

Unpaid Intern Erin's Guide to the Belfast Film Festival - Part 4

In the poem “Nothing to be Said,” British poet Philip Larkin writes, “For nations vague as weed, for nomads among stones, small-statured cross-faced tribes and cobble-close families, in mill-towns on dark mornings, life is slow dying.”  For many traditionally nomadic cultures, however, the opposite would be true.   Millennia marked by movement are quickly being replaced with a forced and often uneasy stationary lifestyle.  Spanish filmmaker Raul de la Fuente travels to some of the last bastions of transience in the documentary, Nomadak TX.  He confronts the extinction of a lifestyle armed only with a camera and a little-played Basque instrument, the txalaparta.

This ancient instrument, made of wooden boards and resembling a xylophone, requires two players.  From the deserts of Morocco to the lushness of India to the frozen tundra of Lapland to the grassy steppes of Mongolia, the filmmaker offers the txalaparta as a conduit for communication that transcends culture, geography, and language.

In our modern day versions of nomadism, in which we solitarily criss-cross the globe untethered by territory and emboldened by technology, the concept of shared creation from materials as simple as wood, sticks, and even ice is a welcome reminder that if we hold a way of life to be dear, then we can slow down the dying process and perhaps even offer it a proper resurrection.  Nomadak TX is playing along with On the Road at QFT at 9:00 PM.

Also on Monday…

My Country, My Country is the story of a Sunni Muslim doctor and political candidate in Iraq.  The director and cinematographer, Laura Poitras, met the protagonist, Dr. Riyadh, while he was conducting an inspection of Abu Ghraib.  Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary and described by The Village Voice as “indispensable, heartbreaking, and ferociously wise,” don’t miss My Country, My Country at QFT at 7:00 PM.

If you’d only watch Seven Samurai at the cinema because Kurosawa is too sacred to be shown on the small screen or if you salivate at the thought of a new addition to the Criterion Collection, why waste your time watching movies on Monday when you could show off your knowledge of cinematic minutiae at The John Hewitt?  Scurry on over to the BFF Film Quiz at 8:00 PM to strut your cinematic stuff.

(Image above from Nomadak TX)

Unpaid Intern Erin's Guide to the Belfast Film Festival - Part 3

In my family, we collected stray people like some people might collect decorative porcelain figurines.  Even today, when I come home, I still never know who I might run into in the bathroom when I’m brushing my teeth. Normally, I liked the revolving-door nature of our home but at times, especially around the holidays, the mass of strangers in the house could prove to be a bit much.  One Christmas, I snuck away from the pack and sought refuge in my room.  Providence allowed a four-hour long epic film to be starting just at that moment.  Nobody else wanted to watch a historical epic set around the Russian revolution.  By the time the movie had finished, everyone had left the house.  I’ve been a fan of Dr. Zhivago and its female lead, Julie Christie, ever since.

This Sunday, Christie will be in Belfast to introduce her latest film, Away From Her.   This is the directorial debut of Sarah Polley, who worked with Christie on the under-rated film, The Secret Life of Words, which also happened to be filmed in Northern Ireland.  Sarah Polley is a gorgeous and under-stated actress who doesn’t shy away from films with difficult and dark subject matters.  Away From Her, which centers around a couple dealing with Alzheimer’s, is no exception. If she brings the same level of sensitivity to her directing as she does to her acting, the result will most likely be both nuanced and heartbreaking.  There’s a definite dearth of female directors, especially young ones.  Sarah Polley is a welcome addition to a very small club. Go and check out what Sarah Polley and Julie Christie have created at Storm Cinema at 8:00 PM.

Also on Sunday…

There are three choices of music documentaries highlighting three very different genres—punk, rock, and pre-fab.  The John Hewitt is showing a documentary called Love Story about the band Love, who Labour backbencher Peter Bradley described as “the world’s greatest rock band”, in the afternoon at 3:00 PM.  Loud Quiet Loud, a documentary on The Pixies, is on at 7:00 PM.  And if you’d prefer to watch the comings and goings of Beatles rip-off band, The Monkees, you can see the eponymously titled documentary at the Black Box at 7:30 PM.

(Photo taken by Jett: Woman behind a counter, Film Festival Venue Queens Film Theatre)

Unpaid Intern Erin's Guide to the Belfast Film Festival - Part 2

Shortly after returning home from the Peace Corps, I found myself in Haiti with an evangelical Christian men’s prayer group as the official videographer for their short-term mission project of digging a well in a schoolyard.  Since I am neither an evangelical Christian nor a man and had never used a video camera until that time, I still am rather unsure how I ever ended up there.

Cast in one of my favourite roles—Erin Parish, girl reporter—I tried to do justice to the khaki, pocket-filled photographer’s vest I was sporting.  I badly filmed what I saw, had a knife brandished at me, was involved in a rescue operation of a girl whose mother had covered her burn wounds with goat dung, and was involved in a semi-high speed pursuit that found us weaving through UN tanks.  In the week I was there, I saw a bonfire of garbage rage out of control and block a main thoroughfare, a freshly shot body lying in the road, and a child drinking water from a stream which had rotting pig corpses floating in it.  And I stayed in the good parts of town.

Port-au-Prince is a teeming, largely lawless metropolis; the most anarchic neighbourhood in a city filled with bandits is the sprawling slum of Cite Soleil.  This forms the backdrop of Danish filmmaker, Asger Leth’s, documentary The Ghosts of Cite Soleil.  Filmed in 2004, shortly after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide fled the country, Leth documents the lives of two Haitian gang leaders, 2pac and Bily.  Todd McCarthy of Variety says of the film, “If only due to the access achieved, there has never been anything quite like Asger Leth’s film; it’s amazing it even exists and that the director is still alive.”

The UN gave Cite Soleil the dubious accolade of being “the most dangerous place on earth.”  Whether or not it has subsequently relinquished this coveted title to the Baghdad slum Sadr City, Cite Soleil remains one of the closest realisations of the often hyperbolic description “hell on earth” that exists.  You can get a little taste of what life in this bleak environment is like at Queens Film Theatre on Saturday night at 7:45 PM.

Also playing on Saturday…

In what might very well prove to be this year’s 3 Needles, Guatemalan prostitutes trade in their stilettos for cleats as they take on female police officers in a game of soccer.   Take one part Bad News Bears, one part El Norte, throw in Remember the Titans, garnish with Pretty Woman, shake it in Spanish and you’ve got The Railroad All-Stars.  Playing at QFT at 3:00 PM.

Moving on to the southern hemisphere, Ten Canoes is the first film to be made entirely in an Australian Aboriginal language.  Set a thousand years ago, interweaving stories of the cinematic present with narratives of the characters’ ancestors, it looks like it could be just luscious,.  If Haitian slum-life is a little too much for a Saturday night, go see Ten Canoes at 7:00 PM at QFT.

(Photo above taken by David Robertshaw, Guatemala)

Unpaid Intern Erin's Guide to the Belfast Film Festival - Part 1

The 7th Belfast Film Festival kicked-off Thursday evening with what I’m sure proved to be a light-hearted, flute-filled romp with Kenneth Branagh’s interpretation of The Magic Flute.  Since I’m not a big fan of mirth, I’m starting my festival experience tomorrow with the Spanish film noir Night of the Sunflowers and Peter Whitehead’s documentary of the titanic 1965 clash of Anglophone beat poets, Wholly Communion, washed down by another Whitehead contribution, Tonite Let’s All Make Love in London, which is billed as “a time-capsule from the London Psychedelic Underground,” All of these films are playing at the Queens Film Theatre, starting at 7:30 PM.  Check the website for exact times.  Those looking for their Friday fix of socially constructed fear can partake in the docudrama, The Road to Guantanamo at the Black Box, followed by a question and answer session with Northern Ireland’s favourite accused terrorist triad, The Tipton Three.

The film festival is a veritable cinematic cornucopia of seldom touched topics, offering a selection of films and documentaries highlighting diverse issues such as Alzheimer’s, Azerbaijan, authoritarianism, addiction, androgyny, abortion, aboriginal life, and Austrian artists.   And that’s just the beginning of the alphabet.   The film festival offers a mix of the acclaimed and the obscure.  There’s something for everyone - our very own Jett Loe even makes a cameo appearance in the festival itinerary in the short film The Patrol on Saturday, March 31st as part of the Jameson Short Film Competition.  I'll be writing about my choices of films for the festival, but if little-known Basque musical instruments and short documentaries aren't your cup of tea, check out the festival website for the many other options to meet all your viewing needs.

(Photo taken by Jett: Film Festival Revellers outside the Queens Film Theatre)

Unpaid Intern Erin's Guide of Things To Do in Belfast This Week

Thursday, March 15th. Shortly after arriving in Belfast, I was sitting in a coffee shop pondering why I was here and what there was to do around town that would make me forget the fact that it was pissing rain outside.  I was routed out of my self-pitying reverie by the sight of a young man in a maroon crushed velvet smoking jacket carrying a ukulele case.  There seemed to be no other option than to pose the latter of my questions to him.  One of his suggestions was not to miss a chance to see The Delawares.  You can follow our ukulele wielding friend’s advice this Thursday at the Empire.

Friday, March 16th.  We really like Ruby Colley here at team LTA because, frankly, there just aren’t enough female experimental violinists in the world today and we’re glad she’s trying to fill that niche.  You can check her out at the Pavilion this Friday.  Doors open at 9 PM.  Hopefully, she might just pop up again on LTA.

Saturday, March 17th. I’ve written enough about St. Patrick’s day, at least for this year, so go find yourself a fake orange beard and make yourself an ethnic stereotype, for WKD’s sake.

The cryptic suggestion of the week is to check out “Spectrum City Was the Name” at Catalyst Arts Gallery.  This exhibition, if that’s what it is, is produced by Bad Beuys Entertainment, a French collective from the Parisian suburb of  Cergy-Pontoise.  I tried looking on Catalyst Arts website to find out more about their latest show but they’re still clinging to the glory days of the much celebrated work “The Bath is Hot”, and haven’t managed to update their website.  Dipping into the ever-so reputable world of the blogosphere, I found this description of the artists in question: “Bad Beuys Entertainment is: a political party—a rock ‘n’ roll band—a ham-fisted team—a company producing works of art—a zulu’s mob.  They could be interesting or they could just be French.  Either way, “Spectrum City Was the Name” wins the prize for the cryptic choice of the week.  It’s on till April 7th, I think it's free, so why not go check it out?

And finally...the Belfast Film Festival starts next week and I'll be posting about the upcoming films each and every day of the festival.  So, if you want to know what I'll be seeing--think documentaries and little known war zones--then check out the posts.  Better yet though, check out the film festival website to find films you might like and book your tickets in advance.

Unpaid Intern Erin's Desperate Plea Plus a Few Fun Things To Do in Belfast This Week

Friday, March 9th.  The Black Box is my new favorite venue because of their truly eclectic programming.  This Friday at 1:15 PM, Jigsaw Theater is putting on a lunchtime double bill.  The first showcases the maddening bureaucracy one must suffer in order to renew your driver’s license; the second features a protagonist who’s a funeral gatecrasher.  You could spend your lunch hour queuing up for a sandwich at Centra or you could mosey on down to the Black Box, have some fair trade coffee, and enjoy what the website describes as “a comic double bill from the warped mind of American satirist Chris Durang.”

Sunday, March 11th. According to a friend of Chris Murray (see photo above) at Hallion, Electric Eel Shock are “visually fucking amazing.”  I don’t really know what Chris’s friend meant by that but if that sound’s intriguing to you, check them out.  They’re at Auntie Annies at 9pm.

If that isn’t your cup of tea or if you aren’t down for shelling out six quid for amazing visuals, you could go to the John Hewitt where they have just started a Bluegrass night.  I’ve never been to this, nor do I have third-hand information about it but I love bluegrass so this is where I’d spend my Sunday night.  You be the judge. 

Now, I could write more.  I could fill up space about the Metallica Tribute band, playing at the Spring and Airbrake on Friday, but I am sick of writing about tribute bands.  If you want to spend ten pounds to watch some people rehash Metallica’s greatest hits, go for it, but I’d much rather write about local bands who are playing their own stuff.

So now, the desperate plea.  If you are a local musician or artist or actor and you have an upcoming gig, exhibition, or performance, write to me and let me know about it.  If you know of anything cool going on in Belfast, write to me and let me know about it.  There is so much more to Belfast than tribute bands and a touring show of Cats and I would love to write about it but I can’t do that if I can’t find it. 

Don’t forget to book your tickets now for the Belfast Film Festival and don’t forget to write me  (and I know I sound pathetic here, I sound like a kid at summer camp, but that’s all part of a desperate plea) and let me know about all these hidden Northern Irish gems that I know exist. 

Unpaid Intern Erin's Guide to this week in Belfast

Friday, March 2. A man so sure of himself that he turned down an opportunity to be part of the Rolling Stones and so influential that Eric Clapton credits him with introducing him to the blues, the legendary Rory Gallagher, while not back from the dead, is imitated by tribute band Double Vision at Morrison’s tonight.

To get you in the Rory Gallagher tribute band mood, you can start your evening off at No Alibis with an atmospheric evening of poetry at their Candle and Mirror Poetry night.  Held every first Friday of the month at 7 pm.

Saturday, March 3.  What I liked about the Alternative alternative club night, Bop Yestrum, at the Pavilion was that they advertise the play list so that you can decide ahead of time if you feel like listening to Brian Eno on a Saturday night.  You make the call, but if the answer’s yes, head on down to the Pavilion

Sunday, March 4.  Our favourite transformance artists, Ikon, once described as “365 days of lent,” are showing us what doubt is all about at their monthly service at the Black Box. Starts at 8 pm.

Tuesday, March 6.  If you’ve been looking for a good place to wear your togs in public, search no more ‘cause artist Joanna Karolini has kindly created a tog-friendly environment in her installation, “The Bath is Hot” at Catalyst Arts Gallery.  This traditional Finnish sauna is free and open to the public as long as you “bring towels, togs and flip-flops.  Karolini says of her creation, "I wish a broad audience to use the gallery as a meeting place and the sauna to be a catalyst for social exchange, discussions and a warm platform where other events can take place."  Tuesday from 6 to 9 pm is nudes mixed.  If you don’t want to be naked in an environment of co-ed strangers, it’s a ladies only sauna experience on Wednesday, and gents only on Thursday night.  This exhibition leaves on March 9th so catch this warm platform where other events may or may not take place while you can.

Thursday, March 8. If there’s a fragmented version of a play just dying to get out of you, Tinderbox Theatre’s Writing Workshop offers adhesive assistance from 7 pm to 9 pm.  The first of three spring workshops claims they will “make use of the canon,” helping you to structure that staggering work of heartbreaking genius into something that will finally let you quit your day job.

So, those are my picks for this week in Belfast.  From candle-lit poetry to Finish saunas, the world's your oyster here in Northern Ireland.

(Photos at the Top and Above from 'The Bath is Hot')

Unpaid Intern Erin's Guide to Events This Week in Belfast, Northern Ireland

Hi guys.  This is Erin, the unpaid intern here.  Inspired by the crushed velveteen self-portrait of Jett as a sad clown (which even sports a bit of bling with a solitary cubic zirconium tear frozen on his cheek) that now adorns the wall of his new flophouse, I thought I might partake in a little self-indulgent whining regarding the fact that no one cares about my pithy and informative postings on what to do in Belfast.  And then, I thought better of it.  So, while I can’t vouch for the substantive quality of all of these events, this is what sparkled in a quick perusal of what’s on in Belfast this week.

Friday, February 23.  Lyric Theatre.  This weekend is your last chance to watch this creative cross-dressing interpretation of the Shakespearean comedy, Much Ado About Nothing.  The all-male cast camps it up in costume jewelry and cloaks, offering a fascinating portray of gender roles and repressed sexuality in 16th century Sicily.

Queens Film Theatre.   QFT kicks off its “Stella Artois Oscars Fever” season, which runs from Friday the 23rd until Thursday, March 22nd with Clint Eastwood’s Letters from Iwo Jima.  The film, nominated for four Oscars, is on at 6:30 and 9:30.

The Front Page.  Winning my own prize for the most cryptic suggestion of the week, I saw a flyer with an abstract picture of a fish advertising something that looked intriguing at the Front Page on Friday the 23rd.  I don’t know when it starts or what it is. I can’t tell you anymore than it looked like it could be weird and wacky so if you’re looking for a surprise, go to The Front Page at an undetermined time.

Saturday, February 24.  The Empire.  I’m a sucker for both alliteration and bands that rip off 80s metal.  As I was leafing through the latest edition of Fast and Modified Magazine, the following description caught my eye: “Not many bands deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as the mighty Guns and Roses and AC/DD, never mind be compared to them, but Rattlesnake Remedy certainly do.”  With the Fast and Modified seal of approval, there’s no excuse to not check out Rattlesnake Remedy at the Empire.  Doors open at 8:30.

Sunday, February 25.  The Black Box.  While I mentioned this show in the last entry, this man deserves the repetition.  You may have heard his work on Scrubs or been wowed by his solo acoustic album, aptly entitled Man @ Work.  That’s right, the man who comes from the land down under himself, Colin Hay at the Black Box, 8 pm.

You can enjoy the Belfast art scene on Monday and Tuesday.  The Eikon art exhibit, based on the five uplifting coordinates of Ikon—iconic, apocalyptic, heretical, emerging, and failing—is in the Gallery Space at the Waterfront Hall until Wednesday, February 28th. The portrayal of the religious landscape of Northern Ireland as a monopoly board is worth the trip alone. 

If you’ve ever wondered what it was like to be a gay Indian man living in Europe, the photography of Sunil Gupta might shed some light on this issue and much more.  Two of his exhibitions, Homelands and Tales of a City are on display at Belfast Exposed until March 23.

Wednesday, February 28th. Northern Ireland’s own Duke Special is playing at the Ulster Hall.  If you can’t afford the fourteen pounds to hear Duke’s dulcet tones, you can saunter down to the Queens Student Union for what Eddie Mullan of Future Shorts assures us will be an evening of cutting edge entertainment.  We think that means short films but you’ll have to see for yourself to be sure.

And finally…

Thursday, March 1.  The Black Box.   Just what you needed to get your March going with a bang—a one woman show on running which tells the story of four female runners and a man who vaguely resembles Tony Soprano.   What’s not to love?    When to Run is at the Black Box sometime on Thursday.  It didn’t say when but I’m assuming it follows the open mike night entitled “Fresh Meat,” which starts at 6:30.  Why not show up early to showcase your talent?  Maybe you’ll leave inspired to either create music or run.

And that’s the week in Belfast according to Erin’s ceaseless scoring for fun to be had here in Northern Ireland.

Epilogue...

After further research, I realized that Rattlesnake Remedy was actually here in January.  A group called The 4 of Us is at the Empire on Saturday.  This band sports neither alliteration nor a positive recommendation from Fast and Modified Magazine.  Who knows, though?  They might rock. 

Belfast - City of a Thousand Festivals

The rebirth of Belfast apparently couldn’t be achieved without a magical grab bag of festivals.  The next six weeks offers festival-goers the option to celebrate songwriters, St. Patrick, and cinema through the diverse media of Irish reggae (in Irish), dodgeball, and documentary filmmaking.    The fact that the most established festival, Belfast Festival at Queens, is fighting for survival hasn’t stemmed the proliferation of thematic explorations of Belfast’s renaissance.

Although the financially strapped Belfast Festival has been running for forty-five years, the majority of the festival upstarts are children of the post-Good Friday Agreement era.  This week features the 3rd Annual Belfast-Nashville Songwriters’ Festival, which allegedly occurs simultaneously in Nashville.  Events begin on Wednesday, February 21st with concerts and songwriting workshops running until Sunday, February 25th as well as a photography exhibition documenting Belfast and Nashville musicians that will be on display at the Black Box until March 3rd.

When I read about this festival last year, it intrigued me, but not enough to go to any of the events.  This year, however, I will be going to the Nanci Griffith show (she’s at the Black Box on Friday and The King’s Head on Saturday.  My picks for the five-day festival would be as follows:

Wednesday, February 21st:

A Diamond from a Piece of Coal:  This is a song-writing workshop with Shay Healy at Madison’s Hotel Cellar, 59 Botanic Avenue, from 7 to 8pm.  Even though I don’t know who Shay Healy is, I really liked the peppy, inspiring copy describing the event in the festival brochure, which assures the four pound charge will offer: “A pro-active session to write a full song with whoever shows up and keep on pushing it around and refining it until it is a diamond.  The session is about learning to stretch as writers.”  Who could turn down the opportunity to leave Madison’s both literarily limber and with their very own four-carat song?

Thursday, February 22nd:

Bluegrass Legends Concert:  Lord love the luthier that created the mandolin.  I just love it.  Everything sounds better when played on a mandolin.  And then there’s the banjo.  Don’t even get me started.  The festival brochure reminds readers that the Scots-Irish settled in Appalachia and thus are responsible for bluegrass and so much more, such as Andrew Jackson.  But since he’s not showcased here, we’ll have to settle for Thursday’s homage to the Scottish influence on music with the locally-based Broken Strings Band, Scotland’s very own Rod Paterson, and 2004 winner of the Best Song in Ulster Scots at, of course, the Belfast Nashville Songwriters’ Festival, Pauline Nelson.  Check the show out at Madison’s at 9pm.

Friday, February 23rd:

Bréag :  Although I already have tickets to Nancy Griffith on Friday, I would almost give those up to hear what reggae sounds like in the Irish language.  If you’d like to experience what is sure to be a unique musical event, check out Bréag, part of Belfast’s “small but loyal reggae scene” at the Basement of McHugh’s Bar, 29 Queens Square, at 9 pm.

Saturday, February 24th:

Lee Roy Parnell and Nanci Griffith:  Since it’s a weekend and you have plenty of time, why not pick up some slide guitar skills from Lee Roy Parnell at the Belfast Guitar Emporium from 5:30 to 6:30.  Or just say you did cause it sounds pretty cool.  If you’re still into country music, go see Nanci Griffith, one of the voices of the three sirens from O Brother Where Art Thou, at the Kings Head at 8pm.

Sunday, February 25:

Lee Roy Parnell and Colin Hay:  If you didn’t get enough of Lee Roy Parnell when he was teaching you everything he ever knew about the slide guitar in one hour, go hear him at the John Hewitt Bar, starting at 3pm.  Afterwards, you can mosey on down to the Black Box to check out the photography exhibition and find out the answer to the question that has surely been plaguing you for months, “Whatever happened to Australian recording star and former front-man for Men at Work, Colin Hay?  Ponder no longer cause he’s at the Black Box at 8 pm.  If you’re really really lucky, he might even sing “Who Can it Be Now.”

Click here to go to the Official Festival Website

(Photo above taken by Jett at the Black Box, one of the festival venues).

The Belfast Christmas Continental Market - Part 2

As promised in this post:

The Belfast Christmas Continental Market

here's a pic of an actual food booth at the fair.  Have to be honest with you Dear Readers - I kinda overindulged.  But how often to get to have a churro in Belfast.  I'll tell you how often:  NEVER.

For more photos of Belfast check out the LTA Flickr Page.

Belfast Christmas Lights Switch On

Good Lord folks - it's time for the great Belfast Christmas Lights Switch On!  As seen previously on Letter to America:

Rachel Stevens Lights Up Belfast

According to the fine folks at Celebrate Belfast 2006 it should be a fine time.  Their email press release to me included the following pics of the celebrities attending.  I couldn't identify any of them.

She looks happy enough but I'm worried about her defensive body language.

This guy looks OK; satisfied - think he might have actually achieved something.  Judging by the way he's outfitted I'm thinking something sports related.

This guy is not happy.  Some thing is wrong there.

Luckily Celebrate Belfast had this to say about the folks above:

Come along and see the celebrities!

Liz McClarnon (formerly Atomic Kitten),
David Healy (Northern Ireland’s record goal scorer)
Calum Best (son of the legendary Belfast born George Best)

You know there's a problem when they have to identify who the 'famous people' are.  And that line 'Come along and see the celebrities!'; Christ.  It's like saying come to the zoo.  Which I think explains the expression of Calum above.

Of course we've talked about his father George before:

George Best - Coming Home to Belfast

And we attended George's funeral on this podcast:

Letter to America - Chapter 11

As for last years' celebrity - we tried to capture some of the magic here:

Letter to America - Chapter 10

Ok, that's enough self-promotion -  come along this Tuesday Dear Listener; I'll be there taking snaps and hoping to grab some interviews.  What's the worst that could happen?

(Oh, and when did the council starting using that horrible woman with the hoop sculpture in their logo?  Look at the graphic at the top of this post and you'll see she's replaced the 'L' in Belfast, even though the shape of the sculpture does not form an 'L', unless you rotate it clockwise 180 degrees.  Guess that's why I find Belfast so appealing some times, it's full of WTF moments).

Iraq For Sale: The War Profiteers

Our fine friends at No Alibis bookstore, (it's the best bookstore in Belfast - really, it is!), are having another screening this Thursday night at 6.30pm:

Iraq For Sale: The War Profiteers

From the press release: "Acclaimed director Robert Greenwald (Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, Outfoxed and Uncovered) takes you inside the lives of soldiers, truck drivers, widows and children who have been changed forever as a result of profiteering in the reconstruction of Iraq.

Iraq for Sale uncovers the connections between private corporations making a killing in Iraq and the decision makers who allow them to do so."

If you're feeling too calm and happy about the world why not head over to No Alibis for the film this Thursday?  You'll probably see me there, my face about to explode.

Here's some more info:

No Alibis Bookstore
David Torrans, Proprietor
83 Botanic Avenue.
Belfast
Northern Ireland 
+44 (0)28 90-319601

'American Blackout' at No Alibis

Our favorite bookstore here in Belfast:

No Alibis

is hosting a FREE screening of the award winning documentary:

American Blackout

tomorrow at 6:30pm to commemorate the U.S. Midterm Elections.

The LA Times says American Blackout is "a muckraking indictment of the systematic disenfranchisement of African American voters."

Damn-it, we need muckraking - now more than ever.  So even if you've got plans, cancel them, and go over to No Alibis to see the flick.

Contact David Torrans for details:

No Alibis
83 Botanic Avenue
Belfast
Telephone:  +44 (0)28 9031 6901

Halloween Action in Belfast City - Part 2

Yes, it was Halloween last night Dear Listeners, and your fearless reporter went out to see the action. 

I like the guys pictured above.  In my younger days I woulda hit them up for a cigarette and joined them on the night's adventures.

A lot of folks set off fireworks in the streets on Halloween here in Belfast.  While taking the snap below I was thinking,  "Hmm...Am I bit too close?"

Holy Crap!  The firework explodes before launching!  Almost as dangerous as the time Barry practically kicked my ass for talking to his girl.

Here's my favourite costume of the evening.  I'm a big fan of Sascha Baron Cohen's 'Borat' - nice to see it represented here in Belfast.

Many people ask me:  "Jett, where can I go these days to see a proper blackface pimp?"

You now know the answer.

Wait a minute - it's another 'Borat'!  And he's brought a couple of his wives!  I feel sorry for the other guy.

Wait, change that.  Here's an old Sacha Baron Cohen character, Ali G.  D00d, get with the times.

I like the photo below the best of all.  Seems like a lit bit of fairy magic was captured in Belfast last night;  Halloween's my new favourite holiday.

(Special thanks to Rory and the whole team over at the Botanic Inn for welcoming me so warmly).

Halloween Action in Belfast City

Yep, that's right folks, the Americanisation of the World continues.

Like the people mentioned in the article linked to above, I also have been freaked out by the SPEED at which Halloween has erupted on the scene here in the U.K. 

We are not immune to it here in County Northern Ireland as evidenced by this colourful flyer emailed to be by those fine folks at Celebrate Belfast 2006.

Quoting from the Press Release:

Be prepared to be wowed by an array of street entertainers, fire performers, drummers and stilt walkers.

With live bands ‘The Delawares, Afrobrazilia and the Cinemagic Band’, on a night which is sure to be SPOOKTACULAR from start to finish.

FREE SHUTTLE BUSES PROVIDED BY OUR SPONSORS METRO ARE AVAILABLE FROM CHICHESTER STREET EVERY 15MINS FROM 6PM, PARKING RESTRICTIONS WILL APPLY

For more information contact the Belfast Welcome Centre on 028 9024 6609 or go online at www.belfastcity.gov.uk/events

Yep, nothing says Halloween more to me than Stilt Walkers and Fireworks.

Still, am sure it's gonna be fun and you could do a lot worse - I've been trying to get featured band 'The Delawares' on the Letter to America Podcast for AGES.  Let's hope they finally say yes.

As for myself Dear Listener - am going on a pub crawl with friends this evening - hopefully I'll have some interesting snaps to post tomorrow.

Belfast Festival - Part 2

The Belfast Festival continues.  The pic above is one of the busy workers from The World Famous; the pyrotechnic group that opened the Festival. 

People seemed to have a good time.  The teens photographed below were drunk, loud, obnoxious; yet I am sure the fireworks had some effect.

Official 2006 Belfast Festival Site

Belfast Festival previously on LTA