The Sigla Blog

*Why doesn’t Martin Amis (who looks remarkably like the mercurial Momus) write good fiction anymore? House of Meetings is badly structured, unemotional and disappointing. He gave a rather dry interview on Pat Kenny yesterday, focusing on his recent essay on Islam, The Age of Horrorism. I’d highly recommend reading a response to the essay […]

Found via Music for Robots, ‘Stick Magnetic Ribbons on Your SUV’ has completely usurped Dawn’s 1973 track in my head. Check out the Asylum Street Spankers’ website here:

As if I haven’t mentioned Kelley Stoltz enough, here’s a reminder about his Crawdaddy gig tonight. Below the Branches is definitely one of my favourite albums of the year and given the amount of CDs that clog up my house, it’s one that I constantly gravitate back to.
Ok, so you could go to The Bluetones […]

Over the weekend, I’ve had my head stuck in Edna O’Brien’s new novel The Light of Evening.
As usual with her work, it’s beautifully written, but there’s something else; a vibrancy and warmth, that’s not as close to the surface in her other novels, In the Forest and Down by The River. I read […]

Thanks to Empire State View for introducing me to Hoovers and Sledgehammers. Feel free to classify their comedy/music hybrid yourself but the track ‘Joyridin’ reminds me of Rats and Tomo from RTE’s excellent Paths to Freedom. Who can forget the immortal golf conversation between snobby barrister Jeremy and our hero Rats?
Jeremy: “What’s your golf […]

Myself and my brother are both Top Gear fans so we’re wishing Richard Hammond a speedy recovery after his horrific crash. In the meantime, I missed a classic show first time around, so the bro dug out the youtube clip of Paul McKenna hypnotising Hammond into forgetting how to drive a car - there’s no […]

Apologies for the tumbleweed state of affairs around here, RSI was the initial culprit but then a holiday kept me absent, even though I spent most of it wishing I was at home due to an illness in the family. Thankfully things are looking good on that front, so when the mountain of work and […]

Between racking up reviews before going away and lots of driving last weekend, there’s a ton of new stuff on the horizon that is seriously worth checking out.
Liking lots:
* We’re Smiling by Ann Scott - her myspace page has the new single ‘Mountains’ up there, which is available in Road. The album is out […]

Oh dear. Poor San Marino have been hockeyed 13-0 by Germany in their Euro 2008 qualifier. Podolski, one half of their World Cup scoring duo (with Klose), knocked in four. In one way, the result makes Ireland’s 1-0 loss last Saturday seem very dignified; in another it puts the fear of God in me […]

I don’t usually dare moan about the fact that sometimes I have to read books for a living. BUT.
It occured to me today that it is literally a couple of MONTHS since I read a book that wasn’t work-related.
A sorry state of affairs indeed, especially when too much time is spent reading newspapers, magazines - […]

The following was overheard when I was in St. James’ hospital last night. If anyone has any idea who they might actually be referring to, I’d love to know.
Woman: Do ye know Padre Pio?
Man: What, yer man who drives the taxi?

Here’s the final Electric Picnic installment in today’s Times (pasted below for those without subscription). I’m sorry to bid farewell for another year, but I have never been so glad of running water, a warm bed and flushing toilets - I would’ve made a very poor Neanderthal. Oh, and will someone please tell those fantastic […]