What a beautiful way to go… // Pringles are evil AND amazing

Posted on June 6, 2011 by wheatln2

The Man Buried in a Pringles Can [time.com – June 04, 2008]

“In 1966, Baur came up with a clever way for Procter & Gamble to stack chips uniformly rather than tossing them in a bag. He was so proud of the achievement, he wanted to go to his grave with it. So when Baur died last month, his children buried the 89-year-old’s ashes in one of his iconic cans.”

Pringle's Newfangled Potato Chips, 1970 & 1973 tubes. (flickr user Roadsidepictures)

So I have vague recollections of hearing about the death of Fred Baur in 2008, the organic chemist who created the first ever Pringles crisps, came up with the original tubular can concept and then asked that his ashes be buried in one when he died.

But now through the magic of the internet I can happily spend an hour reading about the world’s most popular crisps and compile my findings.

In this time I have…

  1. Learned that Proctor and Gamble no longer own Pringles. They sold the brand they’ve developed since the 1960s for $2.35 billion to Diamond Foods in April.
  2. Found this lovely guide to building an iPod dock out of your old pringles can.
  3. Gotten quite excited (maybe a little aroused?) by this flickr pool “I Love Crisps“
  4. Discovered that they’re not crisps – “Pringles ‘are not potato crisps (4 Jul 2008)”
  5. Oh no wait… they actually are. – “Pringles lose Appeal Court case (20 May 2009)”
  6. Discovered the Jackson Generals minor league baseball team play their games at Pringles Park, 4 Fun Place, Jackson, Tennessee. [view picture of the depressing carpark…]
  7. Been bemused by the company’s current promotion for free speakers that attach to the top of the can “amplifying whatever sound is coming from an attached MP3 player“.
  8. Realised I never saw the episode where Ally McBeal was arrested over a can of Pringles – “Ally comes down the potato chip aisle, and sees a red-haired lady putting a can of Pringles back on the shelf (the last can, of course)…” [Ally McBeal Season 1, Episode 5 – One Hundred Tears Away]
  9. Had fun reading the Beaver County Times from Dec 20, 1975 using Google News Archive tool – “The Case Of Pringles, Or When Is A Potato Chip Not A Chip?“
  10. Concluded that Pringles are addictive and evil and you’re better off smoking or developing a heroin habit. A lot of their flavours contain Monosodium glutamate (MSG / E621), which is the work of the devil. But then I look at this picture and all is forgiven. How cute!

Once you pop...

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ANOTHER sad day // Paul Scholes @ MUFC: 1994–2011

Posted on May 31, 2011 by wheatln2

Previously: February 2nd 2010. A sad day.

The boy who would go on to be honoured with the flamboyant nickname Scholesy

The man who gave hope to red-heads all over the world has retired.

It was hardly a surprise considering his loss of form, the media coverage over the last few weeks, the fact he has a testimonial match in August and the autobiography release lined up for later in the year.

But still, sad news. And any sad news gives me an excuse to post a tangential story from my childhood, some amusing pictures, enlightening external links and a snazzy video.

For reasons I still don’t really understand we were without BBC for random periods in the mid 90s. Our local transmitter had decided to stop sharing the stations (no joke, one day UTV was actually replaced with live camcorder footage of a piece of paper on a table saying “this service has been stopped due to lack of funding“) and so we eventually got a massive aerial which meant we could pick up signals from the Hill of Tara or the Mourne Mountains or something. My brief tenure as a 2-channel-child was at at end.

Des Lynam. What a tache.

For this reason I didn’t see Paul Scholes’ league debut or his first goal against Ipswich on September 24th 1994.

But it’s a double away to QPR (a 3-2 win over QPR on December 12th 1994) which came a few months later that sticks in my head. I have great memories of watching Match of the Day (the Des Lynam era) the night after Scholesy scored the two goals thinking… this guy didn’t really look like your traditional footballer… there’s hope for us all!

I remember Lynam said something typically smooth along the lines of “aaaand looks like Fergie’s got another one of these special kids on his hands. Where are they coming from Alan?” Continue reading →

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This one goes out to the one I love…

Posted on May 31, 2011 by wheatln2

Sufjan Stevens, Live in Manchester, May 19th 2011:

Sufjan covered R.E.M.’s The One I Love a few years ago (here’s one from Chicago in 2004) but it lay in his big briefcase of tunes unplayed for years.

But it made a welcome and surprise re-appearance at a show in Manchester the week before last, and then again a few days later in Essen, Germany and finally at his first Primavera show last Friday. But Manchester would be the one I’d have loved to be at as it also featured a beautiful acoustic rendering of the usually bombastic full-band slow-builder Sister which you can watch here. (And besides being in Manchester in the week before United won their 4th European Cup would have been cool too. Oh wait, what? They lost? Again?! Are you Messi-ng? D’oh).

The One I Love was R.E.M.’s first big hit and even though it’s such a simple melody and the lyrics are only really 6 lines long, it has still managed to inspire endless amounts of song-writers. Listen below if you’ve managed to forget how it sounds.

This one goes out to the one I love
This one goes out to the one I’ve left behind
A simple prop to occupy my time
This one goes out to the one I love

Fire (she’s comin’ down on her own, now)
Fire (she’s comin’ down on her own, now)

This one goes out to the one I love
This one goes out to the one I’ve left behind
Another prop has occupied my time
This one goes out to the one I love

So looking at all these videos, reading reviews and hearing friends’ reviews of shows of this European tour, and the Australian tour from earlier in the year, has made me a little bit jealous. Soof-yan seems to be confirming his status as the man.

I remember reading an NME review of Michigan thinking this 50 states project sounds gas. A while later I bought the album on mail-order from his Asthmatic Kitty label and loved it, and it was then followed a few months later with the Illinois release. I was officially smitten.

Throw in the wealth of extra material you could find online back then – unreleased Christmas EPs, earlier electronic experiements. I’ve only seen him twice but that’s really only due to geographical and financial considerations. Because if I was into superlatives I’d be inclined to describe my Sufjan experiences as…

AMAZING!

LIFE-DEFINING!!

TRANSCENDING!!!

SMASHING!!!!

Continue reading →

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The revolution will not be televised

Posted on May 29, 2011 by wheatln2

Gil Scott-Heron // 1949-2011

So bear with me. This was quite a strange way to be introduced to an artist. There’ll be no mention of Jamie XX, New York State prison or “bluesology”, but you’ve been able to read those kind of obituaries and tributes all over the web and in the papers over the last 48 hours.

In first year of my multimedia degree we completed a module called Social and Economic Studies, which was a whirlwind tour through a few centuries worth of international policy and social change.

The module allowed me the opportunity to be taught by one of DCU’s more interesting lecturers, Mr. Des McGuinness. We liked him so much we made badges with his face on them.

Anyway, that is neither here nor there. As with many of these modules, the lectures were great but the seminars sucked.

Continue reading →

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Can Manchester United score? They always score…

Posted on May 27, 2011 by wheatln2

90th minute… Losing 1-0. 92nd minute… Winning 2-1.

Wednesday 26 May, 1999 may have been one of the greatest nights of my life. Not just in sporting terms but in y’know, “general living” terms… On the eve of Manchester United’s third Champions League final in four years I’m thinking about that night a lot.

With the Benfica goalkeeper Jose Enrique stranded, George Best shoots... and scores.

In 1999 I was 14 and had spent the last 7 or 8 years devouring Manchester United history. I knew the significance of the 1968 European Cup final, and what it meant for Sir Matt Busby to win the European Cup just 10 years after having one of the most promising teams in footballing history ripped apart by the Munich air disaster.

While seeing the blurry black and white VHS footage of Georgey Best leaving the Benfica goalkeeper José Henrique for dead (and yes it is still as good as I remember) to put United 2-1 up four minutes into extra time felt pretty special but that wasn’t my team, it just felt like watching icons from another era.

Continue reading →

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Guess who also celebrates a birthday today?

Posted on May 24, 2011 by wheatln2

How did I not know this already?

Eric Cantona and Bob Dylan share a birthday. Eric turns 45 today, with Bob hitting the big 7-0.

OK, so we all know it’s Bob Dylan’s birthday today (and I went on an epic ramble here), but I had forgotten that May 24 also marks the birthday of another hero of mine from another era, Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona. Continue reading →

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Bob Dylan at 70 // a personal reflection…

Posted on May 23, 2011 by wheatln2

“At times in my life the only place I have been happy is when I am on stage.”

Bob Dylan gets about as excited as he can these days at the 53rd Grammy Awards, Feb 13 2011

So today, May 24th, Bob Dylan turns 70 years of age.

Wasn’t really sure what to post for his birthday. I figure 70 isn’t a massive landmark by any stretch of the imagination, but the media seems to have gone mad for it so who am I not to play along. But 2011 marks the 50th anniversary of his first shows in New York City, which is a real landmark event worth celebrating.

So I’m only 26 and and in the grand scheme of things, a relative newcomer to Dylan. I don’t have any of those real inertial stories like the people who were breastfed his music growing up. As best as I can recall, my first exposure to him was seeing Jenny playing Blowin’ in the Wind butt-naked in 1994’s Forrest Gump. I was 10 at the time and thought it was a pretty catchy. And the fact she had no clothes on was probably what really got my pre-pubescent attention.

Forrest Gump and Jenny Curran - both clothed

Over the next 6 or 7 years, I only have fragments of memories. I’ve a pretty solid recollection of seeing a news item of Dylan meeting the Pope in 1997. The story goes that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, later to become Pope Benedict XVI, didn’t want him to perform, but JPII over-ruled him. Cool, eh. Other than that weird encounter between two old guys who didn’t mean anything to me at the time, nothing ever really stuck out. Continue reading →

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The end of the world as we know it? Me arse.

Posted on May 21, 2011 by wheatln2

Seems like we survived so.

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OH YEAH! “Macho Man” Randy Savage // 1952-2011

Posted on May 21, 2011 by wheatln2

A new addition… [Previously: Top 5…. Dead wrestlers.]

Miss Elizabeth chooses her side prior to Wrestlemania V, with real-life husband “Macho Man” Randy Savage set to face challenger Hulk Hogan for the WWF world championship (watch match here).

Elizabeth Hulette died of a drug and alcohol overdose in 2003. Earlier today, Randall Poffo (Macho Man) died after suffered a heart attack while driving in Tampa, Florida. His car veered across a concrete median, traveled through oncoming traffic and crashed into a tree. He later died in hospital.

In a world in which enormous, half-naked men hurl their bodies at one another in front of thousands of people — complete with elaborate story lines, sequined costumes and theme music — Savage managed to stand out, perhaps because he spoke and dressed more loudly than most, or perhaps because he was equally successful playing a villain (known in the industry as a heel) and a good guy (a face).

Colleagues who knew him at the height of his success, when he wrestled alongside Andre the Giant, Hulk Hogan and Ricky the Dragon Steamboat, said he had charisma and a knack for spontaneity.

more : Randy Savage, Pro Wrestling’s Macho Man, Dies at 58 (nytimes.com)

Continue reading →

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14 summer movies to get a lil excited about… [pt2]

Posted on May 20, 2011 by wheatln2

previously… 14 summer movies to get a lil excited about… [pt1]

ANOTHER EARTH - July 22nd

A documentary maker, Mike Cahill, and a trainee investment banker, Brit Marling, combine to write a screenplay. Cahill directing, producing, shooting and editing and Marling acting as co-producer and lead actress. Hmmmmm.

But… apparently Another Earth turned out pretty special. Before it debuted at Sundance, no one had heard much about the film, but it came out of those Utah mountains with the kind of buzz that big studio dollars just cannot buy. Plus the whole “leave Goldman Sachs and drop out of university to make movies” is a pretty bad-ass tale.

It’s got everything I like in a film. Science. Grief. Pretty girls. Parallel universes.

Here’s a summary from the Hollywood Reporter…

Brit Marling‘s Rhoda Williams is a brainy young New Englander, recently accepted into MIT’s astrophysics program. Distracted while driving one night, she causes a terrible accident that kills the entire family of a celebrated music composer, John Burroughs (William Mapother – nigel note: ETHAN FROM LOST!), leaving the man in a coma.

The distraction is crucial here. She was gazing out her window at a blue object in space. It seems astronomers had just discovered another planet hidden until then behind the sun. During her four years in prison, further scientific inquiry reveals this planet is a duplicate Earth. In other words, man is confronted by the existence of a parallel reality. A scientist attempting to contact Earth 2, as it is dubbed, is shocked to find she is talking to her other self.

Sounds pretty special.

DRIVE - Sept 16th

What happens when you combine Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, fast cars and the director of mental British crime film Bronson?

Continue reading →

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Garret Fitzgerald’s glasses // 1984 – 2011

Posted on May 19, 2011 by wheatln2

A sad day for all spectacle wearers.

So today I arrived into work to read the news that Garret Fitzgerald, Ireland’s 7th Taoiseach, had died. Reports surfaced two weeks that he was gravely ill, but the news will still have come as a shock to a lot of people, young and old.

Being brought up into a Fine Gael family and because he became Taoiseach in the year I was born, I’ve always had a real soft spot for him.

To most, Fitzgerald will be remembered as the leader of two Fine Gael governments in the 1980s, a true statesman, an advocate for better relationships between Ireland and the UK and one of the few truly credible blueshirt leaders of the last 40 years.

In recent years he had became one of the highlights of any Irish election or referendum. Whatever the hour of the day he’d invariably end up on TV3’s Vincent Browne program or in the RTE studio putting university economists and political scientists to shame with his succinct, idiot-proof arguments. And when he wasn’t on TV you could find him in the RDS keeping an eye on the latest tallies.

There will be lots of eulogies and tributes paid over the next few days, but I’m going to go slightly left-field and pay homage to his spectacles. Yes. Weird. I know.

There aren’t many people who wore glasses with as much confidence, class and panache as Garret. Some are a bold fashion statement, some emphasise function over form.

From what I can work out (I like to think not many people have spent time thinking about these things…) he started using reading glasses in the late 1970s and then gradually began wearing specs all the time in later life.

Here are 21 highlights from a brilliantly bespectacled career…

1984 - Makes his debut as Taoiseach wearing this fetching pair of plastic frames.

Continue reading →

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Were you this AMAZING when you were 9?

Posted on May 18, 2011 by wheatln2

Back in 1993 I was too busy ODing on tayto sandwiches, ice burgers and lilt…

Japanese luchador wrestler Mister Roku Go.

Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Bridesmaids

Posted on May 17, 2011 by wheatln2

previously: 14 summer movies to get a lil excited about… [pt1]

Bridesmaids – ★★★★½

125 minutes | America | Language: English | Rating: R

Weddings and cinema are a match made in heaven. Whether it’s in drama – imagine the Godfather saga without its most famous scene – or in comedy – take your pick from Four Weddings and a Funeral, Father of the Bride or Wedding Crashers – no event can really anchor a film like the life-changing process people go through when getting hitched.

But it’s not often that the happy couple is left to one side to let another interested party shine. In Bridesmaids, writers Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo (both of whom cut their teeth in the LA-based Groundlings improv company), director Paul Feig and comedy-producer-supremo Judd Apatow realise how much more fun can be had by focusing on the supporting players (did someone say The Hangover?). They take this rational to a whole new level by leaving our groom, Dougie, without a single line of dialogue. Just the occasional toothy grin.

Continue reading →

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Terence Malick’s “The Tree of Life” – first impressions & reviews… (woos and boos)

Posted on May 16, 2011 by wheatln2

Magnificent. Mental. Preposterous. Pretentious. Amazing. Bollocks.

Terence Malick’s fifth film premiered at Cannes at 8.30 this morning and, as expected, it is getting fantastically mixed reviews. It was on almost everyone’s most anticipated lists, including mine, and living up to those ridiculous expectations was never going to be easy.

And while it was always like to alienate some and seduce others, the initial reactions make it seem like it will be even more polarising than you could ever have expected.

Reports suggest the film was aggressively booed and then counter-cheered (?) in almost equal measure. No one can ever doubt the French people’s passion when it comes to cinema!

Brad Pitt at the Tree of Life's Cannes press conference

Malick didn’t show up to the film’s premiere.

Considering he disappeared from public life for nearly 20 years between 1978’s Days of Heaven and 1998’s The Thin Red Line, this isn’t that much of a surprise. His absence left producer Sarah Green and a bespectacled Brad Pitt to face the media’s questions and defend their director’s absence – “He wants to focus on the making of and not the selling of the real estate”.

So let’s take a look at what people are saying as the first reviews start to flood in. The Huffington Post has since started a similar post, but they’re evidently copying me (tsk) and they don’t have as many up yet anyway. So here are the woos, the boos and the indifferent mehs.

.

The “Wooooos”

“Prehistoric and cosmic visions aside, Terrence Malick’s film is an unashamedly epic reflection on love and loss.”

“Terrence Malick’s mad and magnificent film descends slowly, like some sort of prototypical spaceship: it’s a cosmic-interior epic of vainglorious proportions, a rebuke to realism, a disavowal of irony and comedy, a meditation on memory, and a gasp of horror and awe at the mysterious inevitability of loving, and losing those we love.”

“…this is visionary cinema on an unashamedly huge scale: cinema that’s thinking big. Malick makes an awful lot of other film-makers look timid and negligible by comparison.”

Continue reading →

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