Tuesday, July 5 2005
A Stateless Passport, Please
Pipe dream or realistic potentiality? Thoughts on the merits of universal citizenship and the freedoms it could, in an ideal world, generate.
Friday, June 10 2005
Take Out the Eurotrash, or, TV Is Reality
Television's rules of engagement have blurred the distinction of real vs. unreal for viewers. From camera friendly political campaigns to glossy televised hype-fests, the principle of Style over Substance reigns supreme.
Wednesday, May 4 2005
We Love You, Bill Hicks
Imitation is one thing, but Emmet Quinn's comedic impersonation of Bill Hicks? Now that is the highest form of flattery.
Wednesday, April 6 2005
St. Patrick’s Prime
Nothing like being the only sober one surrounded by the madness of St. Patrick's Day. To help him sort it out, Breebaart calls upon the ghost of James Joyce for his assessment of the proceedings.
Wednesday, March 23 2005
My Love is Belgian
Belgium is a paradise of beer. The life-long quest to find that one beer whose unique flavour resonates with you is well and truly worth the effort. And chances are you'll make many new friends along the way.
Wednesday, February 9 2005
More or Less Moore Street
Breebaart provides a walking tour of a special place in Dublin. In its brief 250 metres, Moore Street inadvertently draws the best portrait of modern and diverse Dublin that can be drawn; it mixes the banal and plain elements of small business with the unexpected contiguity of being surrounded by gaping commercial wealth.
Wednesday, January 5 2005
Pop is Porn
These days, it's possible to have a porn website on the computer screen and an MTV video on the telly, and lose one's ability to distinguish one from the other.
Wednesday, December 15 2004
Theo van Gogh: Words and Reform
Muslim women, the very subject of the film that resulted in van Gogh's murder, may ultimately be the force that invoke proactive change within Islam.
Wednesday, November 3 2004
Youssou N’Dour and African Islam
The broad tar-brushing of Islam has meant westerners have generally lost sight of the varieties and subtle differences of the many cultures to be found within Islam. In these times especially, Youssou N'Dour's music needs to be heard.
Wednesday, October 13 2004
Brussels Fair
The best literature on the world's great cities becomes massive solidifications of cities as enlarged physical characterisations; maps of the full gamut of human expression and suffering. Breebaart sees much-overlooked Brussels as next up for such great literary work.
Wednesday, September 15 2004
Medals Über Alles
Still feeling good about the Olympics? Spare a thought for those who didn't make it to the medal podium.
Wednesday, August 4 2004
The Neu! Deal/It’s a Neu! Day
Music is transportation, and this little window of German instrumental music has the wide-open road at its heart. Nothing else sounds so much like driving, like the passage of blurred or streaming vistas seen through fast moving windows.
Wednesday, July 7 2004
Internet Saved the Radio Star
Listeners hungry for quality radio are tuning in to Internet stations, which offer more choice than free-to-air radio, and for the time being, anyway, more independence.
Wednesday, June 23 2004
Bloomsday 100, Dublin 2004
Of the Bloomsday revellers in Dublin, only some have actually read Ulysses, but somehow, it seems, James Joyce wouldn't mind one wit.
Wednesday, May 12 2004
Pub Cause and Effect
Since the smoking ban in Ireland took effect, Breebaart noticed he could detect smells in pubs he never noticed before, including something vaguely musty with a hint of parmesan... And then it him like a punch in the nose: he could smell old people!
Wednesday, April 14 2004
Mel’s Collection Plate
Easter in Ireland 2004 finds the faithful flocking to the blood-spattered screen; this is how many people want their kids to process a religion based on love and charity.
