Things To Do In Belfast

Recently, my friend Marianne and I took an epic trip to Ireland. This included a visit to the city Belfast, in Northern Ireland. Despite the fact that Belfast is best known for its somewhat tumultuous history, we immediately fell in love with this place. In case you've never been and were wondering, "Gee, what does one do in Belfast?"...I've created a few brief tips and suggestions.

First, you could visit the headquarters of Sinn Fein, which apparently has a gift shop (closed unfortunately on Sundays, when we went to scout it out).

You could go see the Peace Wall, which is a bit ironically named, considering it acts to separate/segregate Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods. Apparently there are over 20 of these "peace lines" in Belfast. Some have gates which close every night, effectively locking people in...and out. You can sign this wall, though, which tons of people have, which is kind of cool.

"Our divided society can be a better place to live."

In a similar vein, you can see the many, many interesting (and some slightly unsettling) political murals, which line many a wall in Belfast. The following two are on Falls Road (Catholic/Republican neighborhood). This one is from the "Solidarity Wall", which has murals of the Palestinian conflict, Fredericks Douglas, and Che Guevara.

This one is right outside the Sinn Fein office. It's of Bobby Sands, a famous IRA volunteer who died on a hunger strike in 1981.

This one is on Sandy Row, a Protestant/Loyalist neighborhood. It's helpful in case you've forgotten what neighborhood you're in.
From around Shankill Road, another Protestant/Loyalist neighbor. We saw this one while on a "Black Cab" tour, where a cabbie takes you around different parts of the city and talks about the conflict and The Troubles and all that jazz. The cabbie stopped and let us look around and see all a bunch of the murals in the area. When we came back, he asked "Did you see the gunman that was following you?" We immediately freaked out a little bit, but it turns out he meant the gunman on this mural. It's a bit creepy because it's like those paintings with the eyes that follow you - no matter what direction you're facing or where you're looking, the gun is indeed always pointed at you.

Also in Belfast - you can learn worthwhile lessons about products from bus stop advertisements, like this one. Apparently Tango causes hair loss AND casual sexism.
So, after you're done walking around segregated communities, listening to this city's (still) depressing history, well...you might need to go get some drinks. Lavery's is a good place for this.

And of course, while traveling in Belfast (or really, anywhere for that matter), you must declare metal with random foreigners!

This has been an edition of Lindsey's travel tips. Goodnight, folks.

Top 5: Favorite Movies

I'm sure you all are on the edge of seats waiting for stories and photos from Ireland. But you'll just have to hang tight a little while longer. In the meantime, I'm been watching Current, which is a terrific channel. On it, they have the Rotten Tomatoes Show, which is like the website...in TV show form. They bring on a celebrity every week to give their Top 5 favorite films. So, in case you were curious, here are mine. Despite the fact that I like and enjoy more "serious" film, if you asked me what would honestly be my five favorite movies...these would be it. Counting down!

#5 - Wayne's World

Hey, for movie based on a Saturday Night Live sketch, it actually works. Party time, excellent! it's not a perfect movie, by any means, but it's so much fun and has so many quotable lines. Which I'll spare you from now, because I like you. But really, the Alice Cooper cameo alone is reason enough to watch this movie.

#4 - Beauty and the Beast

As far as Disney movies go (pre-Pixar), I don't think you can find a better one than Beauty and the Beast. Told with sensitivity and heart, it's a beautifully crafted story with a good message. Also, the heroine is a book nerd, which I'm personally ALL for. And the Gaston song? AWESOME.

#3 - Quills
This movie has many things going for it. These things include 1) Geoffrey Rush, in a commanding performance, 2) Kate Winslet's cleavage (the rest of her is fantastic too), and 3) Joaquin Phoenix as a sexually frustrated priest. It's also a deliciously wicked and witty, as well as gruesome and disturbing tale of sexuality and censorship. Oh, did I mention it's about the Marquis de Sade? Yea.

#2 - Amelie
This is just an overall amazing movie, full of whimsy, romance, great cinematography and the adoreable Audrey Tatou.

# 1- Some Like It Hot
A classic. I could watch it dozens of times and never get bored. Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis in drag and Marilyn Monroe being her most...Monroe-ish. Could you ask for more? Also, rated AFI's #1 Comedy of All Time.

Top 5: Female Rappers

Let's just admit it right now - it's a man's world out there. I was listening to some grime on the way home from work today, which got me to thinking about hip-hop/rap in general (which I admittedly, am not terribly knowledgeable of), which led me to the random thought of the role of women in rap. Which made me realize that I couldn't name very many female rappers/emcees off the top of my head. Which made me a little embarassed. I mean, isn't that sad? Because I know there are plenty of good ladies in hip-hop that probably don't get their due, with all the Kanyes and Lil Waynes out there. However, I was inspired to create this list. Because even in a very male-dominated musical genre, these ladies are BOSS. Therefore, I bring you...my Top 5 Favorite Lady Rappers.

#5 - Shystie

Shystie is a grime artist from the UK, where she's toured with The Streets and also stars in a TV series called Dubplate Drama, which is all about how hard it is to be a bad-ass female emcee. Rumor has it she eats the testicles of Dizzee Rascal for breakfast every morning. Don't worry. He re-grows them. Like that Greek myth where Prometheus steals fire from the Gods and is punished by being chained to a rock and having a giant eagle eat out his liver every night.

# 4 - Queen Latifah
Sure, she hasn't been doing much musically lately, but she is and always will be The Queen. She's awesome enough that I'll forgive her for Bringing Down the House. Which, if you've ever seen it, hopefully you'll agree with me that it's a terrible terrible movie. Also "Ladies First" is the one of the best Girl Power songs of all time. Fo sho.

# 3 - Lady Sovereign
What can I say about Lady Sovereign? Another export from the UK, she is, by her own admission, "the biggest midget in the game". She's loud, in your face, rude, and could probably out-drink and out-swear your crazy, alcoholic Uncle Phil. Also, she might not have the biggest breast-esses but she writes all the best disses! There is something about her crassness that I find utterly captivating and strangely adoreable.

# 2 - MC Lyte

MC Lyte has been rapping since the late 1980s and was a pioneer for women in hip-hop. Many female rappers today probably owe her a great debt. She's a phenomenal lyricist. She also appears to have a blog, I've discovered! Check out "Ruffneck".

# 1 - Missy Elliot

Do I really need to explain this one? Nah, didn't think so. Instead of a brief explanation on why Missy Elliot is so frickin' awesome, I will instead offer this quote from my AP English teacher, Mr. Ketch:

"Missy Elliot and Busta Rhymes need to get married and have babies. And those babies will be the best rappers EVER."

Top 5: Michael Jackson Videos

As I'm sure you're all aware (unless you, literally, live under a rock), Michael Jackson passed away this past week at the age of 50. Like a lot of people, I was shocked and saddened by his sudden death. Because, despite everything, the man did create some of the best pop music ever, tunes that I grew up with and still enjoy getting jiggy too this day.

But, along with awesome tune-age, Mr. Jackson was a master at the art of the music video and it was, undoubtedly, a medium that helped make him a cultural icon. So, with that, I bring you my Top 5 Favorite Michael Jackson videos. And yes, I realize "Thriller" is not on this list. But, honestly, that video scared the living bejeezus out of me when I was a small child, and I still haven't quite gotten over it.

# 5 - "You Rock My World"

The song is so-so, coming around at a time when Jackson was trying to make a sort of "comeback" in the era of Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys. However, the video is classic MJ, and is humorous and entertaining. As is typical, it's a kind of mini-movie, with Jackson and his pal, Chris Tucker, fighting over a girl, who's involved with some gangster (played by Michael Madsen), escalating into some crazy dancing and hijinx that occur in a sketchy bar, owned by Marlon Brando. Say what you will about Michael Jackson, but if he can convince Michael Madsen AND Marlon Brando to be in his video, I'm sold.

# 4 - "Beat It"

Obviously this is an iconic music video, with an appearance by the famous Orange Jacket. But I love it mainly because it shows that any conflict between rival gangs can all be solved through the POWER OF DANCE. Possible a lesson that Michael learned after watching "West Side Story" one too many times. Either way, awesome video.

# 3 - "Smooth Criminal"

Fedoras, awesome 1920s gangster style outfits, tommy guns, and the impressive, defying-gravity lean (shown above). What's not to love? And, again, the problems of mobsters can be solved also through the POWER OF DANCE. Really, that's the main lesson to be learned from Michael Jackson videos, people.

#2 - "Leave Me Alone"

This video shows Michael Jackson riding through a rollercoaster/rocketship car through a crazy, animated, amusement park while being confronted with headlines and reminders of all the crazy rumors about him. Along with dogs in suits, iguanas, and all manner of bizarre things. I thought this video was incredibly cool when I was a little kid. I still think it's a neat, creative video and shows MJ's ability to poke fun of himself and be a little tongue-in-cheek.

#1 - "Remember the Time"

This is another one of those epicly long, mini-movie kind of music videos. It starts off in Ancient Egypt with a Pharoah (played by Eddie Murphy) and his Queen (played by David Bowie's wife Iman), hanging out in their...pyramid/palace or whatever. The Queen proclaims that she is bored and Pharoah Eddie Murphy summons one of his henchmen (played by Magic Johnson) to bring in all manner of performers to entertain her. She is unimpressed with the first few, ordering them to be executed, until..at long last...Michael Jackson shows up to save the day! Of course, Iman starts giving MJ lustful looks, and jealous Eddie Murphy orders his henchmen to chase MJ around the palace to kill him. But it all ends happily with a kick-ass dance number. But not before Jackson and Iman share an awkward kiss...only to be rivaled by Jackson's even more awkward kiss with his then-wife Lisa Marie Presley at the MTV Video Music Awards.

Still, awesome video and who doesn't love Ancient Egypt and excellent celebrity cameos?

Top 5: Dogs From Movies

Here's where I'll bring you my first installment of my White Hot Top 5! I've become keen on making Top 5 lists lately. Pointless as they are.

This week's top 5 will be my top 5 favorite movie dogs of all time, inspired by Megan's tweet about Dug from Up being the best movie dog ever.

And here they are...Top 5 Movie Dogs!

#5 (tie!) - Chance and Shadow from Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993)

I realize that the cat walked a gazillionty miles too, but this list is about dogs, people, OK? And these dogs walked REALLY freakin' far. And they miraculously made it home without getting eaten by mountain lions.

#4 - Perdita from 101 Dalmations (1961)

Perdita was also featured on The Rotten Tomatoes Show's list of Top 5 Bitches of all time. So I'll sorta steal their justification - She gives birth to a huge litter of puppies...which, you know, doesn't sound like an easy thing to do, then she rescues an even larger group of puppies and pretty much adopts them! What a great bitch!


# 3 - George from Bringing Up Baby (1938)
That little terrier caused so much mischief. You know, stealing priceless dinosaur bones and all. But in the end, he helped bring Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant together. Jackpot! Interesting trivia, the dog who played George, Asta, was also in The Thin Man and quite a few other big movies around this time. Quiet a famous movie actor dog, he was.

#2 - White Fang from White Fang (1991)

My dad used to watch this movie quiet a lot, so I have fond memories of it. I suppose White Fang doesn't really count, since he's part wolf and all, but he's so bad-ass that I'm just gonna stick him on this list anyway.

#1 - Dug from Up (2009)
Yes, Megan, I'm stealing this from you. But, in all seriousness, I feel like if my dog had the ability to speak, he would sound like Dug. "My name is Dug. I have just met you, and I love you"

Near-Cult Experiences

It is hard to describe The Mountain Goats. The Mountain Goats usually refers to a man named John Darnielle, a former nurse in a psychiatric ward who started out writing an recording songs on his boombox. These eventually evolved into something closer to an actual band, though it still is mostly just Mr. Darnielle and his guitar. Sometime during my freshman year of college, Mallary introduced me to The Mountain Goats, through the classic songs "No Children" and "International Small Arms Traffic Blues". After falling in love with these songs, I bought the album Tallahassee, an incredible 14-song affair chronicling the destructive relationship of a couple who will eventually drink themselves to death. I was hooked. I moved onto the gorgeously beautiful and fragile songs of The Sunset Tree (I might have to do a write-up of later, because I love it so much), then We Shall All Be Healed, then All Hail West Texas, then anything else I could find. Mallary was a huge, invaluable help in this regard, having a near-complete collection of Mountain Goats songs...probably somewhere around 300...I never really counted, but it's a good guesstimate that they constitute 1/4 of the content of my iPod, easily. That same freshman year that I got hooked on TMG, Mallary and I trekked all the way up to Haverford College in Pennsylvania one adventurous Sunday night just to watch Mr. Darnielle and Peter Hughes play a show in the basement of a dorm.

Let's fast-forward to about...now.

A little over a month ago, Mallary told me that it was confirmed that The Mountain Goats would be playing a benefit for Farm Sanctuary near the tiny lakeside town of Watkins Glen, New York, called Zoop II (there was a previous Zoop in 2007). A brief description of Farm Sanctuary - FS tauts itself as "the leading farm animal protection organization". It rescues farm animals from abusive situations, rallies against factory farming, advocates a vegan/vegetarian lifestyle - all that jazz. The festivies of Zoop II would ibe a weekend long extraganza with shows by John Danielle, Peter Hughes, and John K. Samson of another of my favorite bands, The Weakerthans. And, of course, since in the past Mallary and I have proven ourselves dedicated fans of The Mountain Goats, it seemed only natural (i.e. completely batshit crazy) that we drive up to Watkins Glen to camp out for the weekend with 200 or so other rabid Mountain Goats fans.

So here's a brief pictoral run-down of the weekend.

Here are the cabins where John Darnielle and company stayed in.

And here is our little tent village directly across.

The evening started off with an excellent set by John K. Samson (who I later sat next to briefly at the post-show bonfire)


Here's John's bandmate Peter Peter Hughes, who did a most energizing solo set with a lot of danceable disco-opera songs about Aregentinian race car driver Juan Manuel Fangio (look him up). They caused Zoop-goers to randomly shout "Fangio! Juan Fangio!" for a good chunk of the rest of the weekend.

And here's Johnny!

It was great, epic set. The crowd got very rowdy during "This Year".

Cultimating in John Darnielle probably very nearly getting hit by this broken beer bottle.

A bonfire followed the concert (not pictured in this blog entry)...30 or so Zoop-goers gathered around, guitars were brought out and people drank and sang Mountain Goats songs til the wee hours of evening. John Darnielle made a surprise appearance to join the sing along and Peter and John K. Samson also stopped by. I have to tell you, it was kind of surreal. The next morning, Farm Sanctuary gave Zoop-goers a free tour of their facilities, and an oppurtunity to meet all of the animals. Including adoreable, huge cows.

Roosters.

Turkeys.

And Goats! (hehe) This goat here is Zoop, whom the event is named after. She only has 3 legs. She also likes to head-butt.

I see you.

A goat named Jerry Lee who most people simply call "The Pope".

This sheep fell in love with Mallary and wouldn't let her go.

And then a random goat escaped, causing staff to have the chase it and wrangle it back in.

This awesome woman and her husband made free t-shirts for everyone.

Now this here...is the infamous "Request Only Setlist" board. People were asked to write down any songs they wanted John to play during the Request Only show that night. They also were asked to donate money (which would go to Farm Sanctuary) in order to encourage John to play their song.

It rained a bit, then cleared up, causing an awesome and gorgeous sunset over the hills.

People gather around for the Request Only show.

I love John's enthusiasm and unabashed joy when he plays. It gets me every time.

The second, Request Only show was my favorite of the weekend. It was here especially that encapsulated the ...for lack of a better word,"specialness" and surreal, magical quality of the weekend. It's hard to really put into words. Maybe it was the environment, the setting, the people, the fact that everyone had travelled hundreds of miles just to see this guy that we all admire play songs that we all love in a barn in beautiful upstate New York. It was just incredible. I'd say you'd be hard-pressed to find someone happier to play in front of an audience that couldn't be happier to see him. Having everyone sing-along to even the most obscure of Mountain Goats songs...at one point John jokingly referred to himself as a cult leader (Mallary and I and others were also joking about a vague "cult-like" atmosphere to the whole Zoop experience. Anyhoo, during the show a sort of boundary between artist and audience was broken briefly. Like when John's guitar string broke right before the encore and he came out and led everyone in a sing-along, a cappella version of "No Children". Just...incredible. What amazing people. What amazing music. What an amazing frickin weekend. I'm afraid I'm going to find going to normal concerts at normal clubs and bars and typical concert venues really disappointing after this.