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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
