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Art II

Political murals are a pretty big thing in Northern Ireland; almost 2000 have been documented since the 1970s, and there's always plenty of political graffiti to accompany them. Today we'll be grading examples found within a 50m stretch over the Boyne Bridge (just behind the Europa Bus Station).

Sandy Row



Unoriginal from the outset, being a poor facsimile of the "Free Derry" mural (which in itself is not a true mural as it is merely words not images). Erratic emboldening, creating the impression of non sequitur sub clauses, and an inconsistent choice of font and font size hinders the reader. A pair of acromegalic red fists and a wobbly-headed UFF caricature that appear to have been drawn by a child finish off what is a most unsatisfactory mural. D minus: must try harder.

FARC



The graffiti reads "FARC OFF GERRY KELLY". Here FARC is employed with dichotomous connotations: on the one hand FARC is synonymous for Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, a militant guerrilla group that three Irish Republicans were accused of training; on the other hand it almost sounds a little bit like "fuck". Gerry Kelly, Sinn Fein's spokesperson on Justice issues, visited the accused Republicans when they were held in prison in Columbia. Thus the graffiti simultaneously associates a member of Sinn Fein with an illegal terrorist organisaton and an insult. Unfortunately for the artiste, associating a member of Sinn Fein with an illegal terrorist organisaton is nothing new, and if you're going to write graffiti, make sure you know how to spell "Gerry". You may think you have gotten away with covering a misplaced 'R' with a well sprayed letter 'E', but these things get noticed sonny. C minus.

(Note the "IRA" graffiti on the pillar to the right. A young Republican, most likely from the Falls area has encroached as close as he dare to Sandy Row and placed his tag. I'm sure that makes for quite the yarn among his peers).

Blair Kelly

Hmm... a more complex issue is broached with this writing on the wall: "BLAIR GIVES IN TO CHILD KILLER SEAN KELLY 'NO JUSTICE' SANDY ROW". Sean Kelly blew up a fish shop on the Shankill Road, Belfast in October 1993. With the exception of another bomber who was also killed, the rest of those who died were Protestant civilians. Sean Kelly went to prison to serve 9 life sentences, but was released in 2000 after The Agreement (aka the Good Friday Agreement, the Belfast Agreement or the Peace Agreement). However, in June this year Peter Hain, the Secretary of State for Wales (and Northern Ireland) said “I am satisfied that Sean Kelly has become re-involved in terrorism and is a danger to others and while he is at liberty, is likely to commit further offences. On the basis of security information available to me, I have decided to return Sean Kelly to prison with immediate effect". Sean Kelly was then freed again on temporary release on the 27th of July; the IRA formally ordered an end to its armed campaign on the 28th of July. The writers of the graffiti think the release of Sean Kelly and the IRA statement are related, so the peace process is taking precedence over the rule of law (hence 'NO JUSTICE').

Anyway... the graffiti is clearly legible and without spelling mistakes, and maintains a level on difficult sloping terrain. Furthermore, it's clearly visible from all the rear facing rooms in the Europa hotel, sending its message to a wider audience than could be hoped from placing it further down Sandy Row. Grade B for effort, topicality and exposure.

Art

One of the advantages of working in a provincial capital instead of a principle town is that you can spontaneously decide to visit an art gallery when you are allowed home early after a bombscare.

And if you happen to be in Belfast, the Ormeau Baths Gallery makes an excellent choice, especially the current exhibition, "Perspective", which includes a healthy dose of Northern Irish related, um, art.

The standout piece was Amanda Dunsmore's "The Portraits": videos of David Ervine and Martin McGuinness staring at each other from separate monitors. You can download a (pixellated) video of it here.

A good exhibition leaves the viewer feeling fresh upon exiting the gallery; like pickled ginger for the mind.

Bricks

Some more pictures of bricks that were once flying through the air, now sadly squatting upon their brethren or tarmac.



The pictures of these bricks were taken long after they were used as weapons, but now that The Unemployment Adventure has relocated to Belfast, you may be lucky enough to see pictures similar to these.

Dance

Dylan Quinn presented his new solo work "Fallout" in the Ardhowen Theatre tonight, a naive and laboured modern dance (think a Netto version of the Baileys advert), clumsily hammering home the author's views on the war in Iraq, because heh: that's a liddle bit political folks, all set to an embarrassingly clichéd pumping 4/4 substandard techno.

The support act was 10 Down's Syndrome kids flopping around in some kind of freeform jazz ballet, with occasional, albeit accidental flashes of co-ordinated choreography. The highlight? the kid who started playing with his fly and looked in danger of getting his cock out.

The Down's Syndrome dancers win, but at an unknown cost to health: suppressing laughter for over half an hour is bound to cause some kind of internal damage.

Wake

Me ma was at a wake the night, her ma's cousin's husband. Fed on rounds of triangular sandwiches with the crusts cut off and wee cups of tea served in the best china, time came for the morbid ritual of viewing the body. They all traipsed in to have a gawk and stood in silence for several seconds.



"He's like himself so he is"



"Aye"



And they all traipsed out for another round of triangular sandwiches with the crusts cut off and a wee cup of tea served in the best china.

Movies

Your Movie Database

Satisfy your Hornbyesque desire to list your favourite movies and wank your ego when random internets (yes, internets) people leave messages congratulating you on your taste.

Azerbaijan

You can download Warren Feeny's 85th minute penalty against Azerbaijan from Gigashare by clicking here.

The video will try to play in the browser, but it's probably quicker to download it using the link further down the page.

As usual, taken from the kop end. Unfortunately, the macro filter was absentmindedly left on, but the reaction was fairly well captured.