Ormeau Baths Gallery Shock

Since 'Letter to America - the Podcast' is shortlisted by the Irish Blog Awards in the 'Arts and Culture' category we here at LTA thought it was a good idea to hot-foot it to the only real gallery in town:  The Ormeau Baths Gallery on Ormeau Avenue - right around the corner from us here in the heart of Belfast's Red-Light District.

I went in - the gallery was deserted - and admired the installation above.  I wandered into the office to ask if it was alright to take photos and inquired about the 'Kitchen Piece' - told them I thought the gallery was really picking up - really solid work on display.

Imagine my surprise when they told me that they were hiring the gallery out for some sort of 'Home/Office Product Show' and that the piece I liked was just a 'Store Display' item!  Well, I laughed at my own foolishness as you can imagine - and also really liked the piece below as well!

But here's the thing Dear Listener.  As I was talking to the two very nice ladies in the office, the director of the gallery, Hugh Mulholland, locked the doors of the gallery and informed me that I was the last official visitor to the place - after 10 years the Ormeau Baths Gallery was closing down! 

Apparently all funding by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland was withdrawn several days before and the gallery had no choice but to shut its doors for good. 

Now, I don’t know any of the individuals involved - either at the gallery or at the Arts Council so I have no opinion as to the legitimacy of the withdrawl of funds and the closure - but am stunned that this leaves practically no venue for contemporary art here in Northern Ireland.

I feel it's my duty at here at LTA to report on this issue and will try to speak to the folks involved - as well as document the silent vigil at the gallery tomorrow at 1pm.

Pray for My Immortal Soul

As listeners of 'Letter to America - You Can Not Stop the Love' will know Wayne and I headed out to find a Northern Irish Woman that I could treat to a good time - something did happen that evening which I will describe in an upcoming chapter of the show - but in the meantime here's a pic of a Goth Girl that we ran into on the way to that evening's adventure.  As you can see in the picture below I was affected  - and decided to pray for her immortal soul.

There are a lot of Goths in Northern Ireland - they tend to congregate here.  Perhaps Letter to America will do some sort of 'Goth Special' Podcast in the near future.

Letter to America - You Can Not Stop the Love

Be-still our beating hearts!  It's Letter to America - the Special Love Edition!

In which we hang with Joe Estevez, discuss Irish Blog Award Nominees Twenty Major, the Sigla Blog, Fustar and the El Paso Times, discover Wayne's Big Northern Irish Story of the Week, they know about Fritz Lang at the Belfast Exposed Gallery, hear about the Worst Blogs in Ireland competition, and Marcus Valentine is the man of the hour.

All this and more on your Irish - Northern Irish 'they may be fighting down in Dublin but up here we're making up in Bed' Podcast.

Littlewoods in Belfast

As mentioned before, due to the loss of my camera in this incident I've had to go through the remnants of old pics to find something to post.  Here's one of the empty floor of once thriving department store, Littlewoods, located in Ann Street, Belfast.

An elderly security guard minding this now closed store very kindly let me mosey around and take a few pics.  I was hoping he would have few entertaining, wry anecdotes about his time at Littlewoods during the glory days but he had nothing to say.

Chapter 23 - the Vidcast

I've always wanted to do a Letter to America Vidcast but never found the right episode - until now.  Yes, it's Chapter 23 - the Vidcast!  Think of it as like one of those FIREPLACE VIDEOS.

Watch the Vidcast (90mb)

FutureFear - Plastic Not So Fantastic

Oh yes, Dear Listener it's that time again!  I won't reveal any of the details of this week's episode other than to say that even though it was shot in my old flat back in London that was not my bedspread.

FutureFear - Plastic Not So Fantastic

Night-time Posing

Since I'm waiting for my camera to be fixed after getting water logged in THIS INCIDENT there are no new photos to post here at Letter to America - there are however the dregs of stuff I haven't posted before cause they didn't seem up to snuff.  Actually I kinda like this photo - am bemused by the look on the boy's face as he sees the surroundings illuminated by the disposable camera's flash.

Taken on the same night as these photos.

Letter to America - Chapter 23

Oh, you've got to be kidding.  Yes, Dear Listener, it's Letter to America - Chapter 23!

In which Richard P. Feynman gets a shout-out, we look forward to hearing from Marcus Valentine, Tony Devlin is called a professional actor and we realise that this is the most action packed chapter of Letter to America yet.

All this and more on your Irish/Northern Irish 'Join Me As We Contemplate The Infinite' Podcast.

Oh, you've got to be kidding.  Yes, Dear Listener, it's Letter to America - Chapter 23!

In which Richard P. Feynman gets a shout-out, we look forward to hearing from Marcus Valentine, Tony Devlin is called a professional actor and we realise that this is the most action packed chapter of Letter to America yet.

All this and more on your Irish/Northern Irish 'Join Me As We Contemplate The Infinite' Podcast.

Server Issuses

Hey there Dear Listener - how you been?

I'm having 'Broken Pipe' server problems unfortunately and can't upload anything onto my virtual Podbus Servers at the moment, not 'Letter to America - Chapter 23' which is ready to go, nor a whole new bunch of photos.  Gosh darn it - it makes me feel cut off from the world!

Anyhew - just to let you know, my server guys hope to get everything up and running as soon as possible.  If you want to look at some pretty pictures why not visit this old favourite:

Christmas Day in Belfast

And if you want to listen to a podcast why not this one?

Letter to America - The Lift

And how 'bout a movie?

Belfast City Essay No. 1

Don't Make Me Go All Dick Cheney on Your Ass

Yes, Dear Listener - you only have one day left to vote for Letter to America in the Irish Blog Awards.  I'm not saying I'm gonna bust a cap in somebody's ass if you don't vote for me, but let your conscience be your guide.

But if the threat of violence isn't enough, how 'bout this.  Charlie Sheen's uncle wants you to vote for Letter to America.  That's right.  Joe Estevez, CHARLIES SHEEN'S UNCLE, wants YOU to vote for LTA!

Click Here to Vote