Irish film maker Robert Quinn grew up in the Cinema. That's not a clichéd way of saying that he liked movies, and spent all his pocket money going to the local cinema. No, Robert Quinn actually did grow up in the Cinema. His father, film maker Bob Quinn, in the 1970s set up the independent […]
The horror, the horror. We fall out into Arezzo’s football stadium, yet to cool from the day’s intense heat. Shell-shocked and lost for words. Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the British Sea Power interview experience. It starts with the introductions, which are perhaps the most comprehensible element of the encounter. Yan, the singer, dressed with […]
Northern Irish band Ash formed in Downpatrick in 1992 while its three members were still in secondary school. The band, comprising Tim Wheeler (guitar/vocals), Mark Hamilton (bass) and Rick McMurray (drums), ploughed the usual indie furrows of gigging and releasing demos for a couple of years until their debut album Trailer was released in October […]
“Two centuries ago no one could have imagined that something as valuable as cochineal, ranked alongside gold and silver as one of the great treasures of the Spanish empire, would eventually be forgotten,” explains historian Amy Butler Greenfield, author of A Perfect Red. Cochineal, for the uninitiated is a small insect that when dried and […]
Liz Jensen’s latest book, The Ninth Life of Louis Drax, finally seems to be getting the English author some of the credit and profile she deserves. The cynics may suggest that the book’s prominent placing in bookshops has as much to do with the fact that it has been snapped up, cinematically, by Anthony Minghella, […]
Ever since, as James Joyce remarked, we have become “Jung and easily Freudened” it has become necessary, when dealing with a writer, to refer not only to his work but to his private life as well. This is particularly true in the case of Seán O'Casey, one of Ireland's great literary icons. In fact, O'Casey […]
“The real issue is not whether the Lancet figures were right, or whether we were right. The real issue is why are the British and American governments not doing this themselves?”, questions John Sloboda, one of the founders of the Iraq Body Count (IBC). “Why are they leaving it to small underfunded studies, volunteers and […]
The 2nd of August is a sad day, here in Bologna, at least for those who still remember or force themselves to remember. Twenty-five years ago the city was the 'location' for a tragic event that changed for ever the lives of hundreds of people, an event organised and then covered up by hidden forces, […]
This week my blog has been about as fresh as RTE’s summer schedule. In my defense, an interview that John Banville graciously agreed to do should be appearing ASAP on the main Three Monkeys Online site. In the meantime, I offer up links to these two interesting, meaty articles, both of which make rather startling […]