The Revels Eviction – My Opinion August 15, 2008

 

The Revels eviction is undoubtedly the most important political event to have taken place this year, maybe even in history. And so we must treat it as such, placing what care and reverence we can into this life-altering decision. There will always be a place in our hearts for each of the Revels, whether we like them or not, but no matter which sweet gets voted out, they are all winners…except for the loser. 

 

Coffee 

One of my favourite of the Revels family. The fondant doesn’t taste strongly enough of coffee for non coffee-drinkers to complain about the taste, but there’s that unmistakable aroma which makes you feel like you might be a cowboy leaning against a fence with a cup of Maxwell House after a hard day herding cattle. Sorry where was I? Oh yeah…Coffee is nothing but deliciously mild fondanty treat whose inoffensive flavour can be enjoyed by all. 

 

 

Orange

The most delicious of all revels. Sweet and just a little bit tarty. All of the other revels are lacking in comparison to orange’s tangy goodness. Part of the excitement of Orange is not knowing if its going to be a coffee or an orange one. Toffee tries to look like them but he’s all bobbly. Coffee and orange are a double act, keep them together *If you leave me now, you take away the biggest part of me…ooooh noo baby please don’t go…*

 

Chocolate

Arguably the most useless of all Revels. Why if all the other Revels are coated in the stuff do we need one that is solid chocolate? It’s just a Minstrel with no skin. I’m not saying don’t like this flavour but to be honest if it means sacrificing coffee, the chocolate is the most expendable flavour. If you need the chocolate that badly why don’t you just gnaw it off all the other sweets put it into a big pile and eat it separately. Or buy a bag of sweets that isn’t marketed as having variously flavoured centres.   

 

Toffee

I like toffee. It takes me back to my childhood days of cruising sweetshops looking for anywhere that sells poppets. Poppets may I add now only seem to be available in bathroom vending machines. The less said about that the better. 

 

Raisin

Fruit has no place within a bag of sweets! However tasty it is, I voted for raisin, but I did so tactically knowing it was in second place behind coffee. I saw my chance to save coffee and dammit I took it. I stand by my choice and if I had the chance I’d do it all over again!

 

Malteaser

I have nothing against Malteasers in Revels. Except for a vitriolic hatred that gurgles at the back of my throat at the mere thought of them. They’re the only brand name Revel, and because of this, thinks it’s better than the other Revels. Malteasers are delicious, but If I want a bag of Malteasers I’ll go out and buy one. They never taste quite as good when they’re mixed in with the other sweets. I love Malteasers, really I do but they just taste bland when your taste buds are already over stimulated by the other flavours.  

Many is the time I bit into what I was expecting to be an orange or coffee sweetie only to hear that distinctive crunch. With only a split second to react I have no choice but to bite into what I thought was going to be a soft sugary centre. I don’t mind crunchy things, hey I love crunchy things, some of my best friends are crunchy things. But it’s the trauma of expecting one thing and getting another. Malteaser Revels are liars. Given half a chance they’d deceive you and everyone you care about. 

 

Final thought: I like Parma Violets so really should you be listening to me about this? 

 

My suggested Revel replacements: 

1. White chocolate centre covered in milk chocolate. 

2. Lemon

3. Nougat

4. BRING BACK PEANUT

Styrofoam March 29, 2008

 I’ve been listening to them quite a bit since I saw them supporting Jimmy Eat World last month. Now I’m not normally a huge indie fan but I’ve decided that everyone needs to listen to this band! I wont rest until they do and no you don’t have a choice. They have a very Moby-esque feeling to them which I like since Moby is a King. This video isn’t the best quality but it’s definitely worth checking out their MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/styrofoam). Couches in Alleyways is one of the best new songs I’ve heard in a long time. I’d place it up there with No Cars Go from Arcade Fire and if you know me at all you’ll know hoe much I like that song and how much sentimental value I place over it. Either way I hope you enjoy them and if you don’t, don’t shoot the blogger. 

Jimmy Eat World, but first…Dublin! March 27, 2008

Jimmy Wat World – Olympia Theatre Dublin, February 27th

Jim Adkins: guitar, vocals

Rick Burch: bass

Zach Lind: drums

Tom Linton: guitar, vocals

 

It has been six years since Jimmy Eat World played their first Irish gig and February 27^th saw the clean living, nice guys of rock return to Dublin for an explosive performance in the Olympia. The band who are touring behind their newest album Chase This Light (Interscope Records) played a variety of songs from their six albums ranging from the upbeat new singles Big Casino and Always Be to some of their more sedate and melancholy tracks. The band seems to have two sides. One a heavy hardcore punk inspired side and a softer melodic side; it’s hard not to be moved by tracks like My Sundown or Hear You Me. The first makes their thousands of fans to jump hypnotically up and down in excitement and the second reduces them to tears. It is their gift for switching so flawlessly between the two that make Jimmy Eat World stand apart from other punk or indie bands. It is a genuine raw talent that always leaving the audience guessing what’s coming next and expectantly wanting more.

The band is quite unique and difficult to place into any one genre. They have been described as anything from hardcore punk, indie and even emo. It doesn’t matter how you describe them though the fan’s reaction in the Olympia was enough to tell that whatever they’re doing they’re doing it well.  They wowed crowds with celebrated punk tracks The Middle, Sweetness and Pain all of which helped them shoot to fame in the mid 90s.

Singer Jim Adkins remarked during the evening how the band have come a long way from their small town roots and from their banter with the audience it was easy to tell they are genuinely happy to be there.       

Styrofoam was the perfect opening act for the show. Their arpeggiated and sometimes haunting melodies sounded like a mixture of the punk rock style which influenced Jimmy Eat World with just a touch of Moby. The frantically melodic Belgian newcomers were hugely well received by thousands of fans lucky enough to get a ticket to the sold out show. 

 

Rambo Review March 27, 2008

You need to see past the exploding corpses and the outright exploitation of the struggle of the people of Burma to get to the heart of what Rambo is really about. Unfortunately when you do get there you realise that it is mainly about exploding corpses and exploitation. The inclusion of real news broadcasts at the start of the film seemed like a cheap way of setting up the plotline. It was a thinly veiled attempt at being political which just seemed contrived and tacky.

 

Taken at face value however Rambo isn’t a bad film; it’s certainly in keeping with the tradition of the Rambo series of being gun-toting, testosterone fuelled fun so if you liked the previous instalments this one is worth going to see even just to tie up the loose ends from the previous films. The plot is fairly linear though so the only lose ends are at the end of Rambo’s trade mark red bandana which should be due a wash some time soon. It’s the quintessential action movie and if that’s what floats your boat Rambo is like a trip down the rapids.

 

Stallone does very little talking in this film, it seems the years seem to have caught up with him. Instead he does most of his talking with landmines, grenades and in one case a makeshift a-bomb. He manages to recapture some of his former glory when he gets behind a mini gun and single handily takes out an entire platoon of the Burmese military. Incidentally this is the first scene in any of the Rambo movies where he has had to reload his weapon. Even the guns are ageing.