What Would You Do?

If I had the power to run the country and change things around as I saw fit, I would first begin with the wages and pensions that the government receive. I believe that politicians and persons in government receive way too much for what they actually do. The entire country is suffering financially while they receive a huge pay check. People are losing their homes and their jobs and as a result due to them not having enough money, many are taking suicide as an option to getting out of their problems. The government ‘address’ it but they do nothing to prevent this by taking pay cuts or smaller pensions. They would still live a comfortable life with a pay cut but they wouldn’t be able to live in their huge houses or go on 5 holidays a year. I would have them on a smaller wage and a much reduced pension to better our country.

I would also ensure that people get back to work. There have been too many people in the country that have been out of work for far too long. Many of them are able and wanting to work but unable to get a job. I would get in touch with upcoming businesses and ensure that they will be offering a substantial amount of job openings to the public. Those that are on the dole and are just not wanting to work, I would have them take a cut in their weekly allowance to entice them into getting a job and contributing back in taxes. I would have the welfare visit them at irregular intervals to see that they do have a valid reason for not being able to work. There are far too many people in this country that are getting a free ride and taking full advantage of that.

Also, I would ensure that grants are made available to all those students that would require them to get an education. There are too many young people leaving the country and abroad to Australia, England etc to seek education and work as they can simply not get it here. There are so many times that it is said that education is so important for the country but it is not an option for many as they cannot afford to go to college without the assistance of a grant. They also cannot afford to pay the astronomical fees that students are now expected to pay for their education. It is difficult as it was going to college and get qualifications without now having to pay fees. I would have the government pay the fees as they did before and make grants available to students in need of them.

I would also put the Garda Siochana into regular training sessions to better their work. At the moment, their efforts are not up to scratch with public issues. They begin something and do not follow through with it which is just unacceptable. How are we supposed to trust and believe in our Garda if they do not put their words into action? In connection to this I would also not have cut back in hours available to the garda as it is already hard enough to get the necessary work done by them without them being cut their hours to do it in. They need to do better and if they had monitored regular training and assessment I believe that things could be improved.

I would not put a fee on a dog licence. I think the reason for having so many animals in shelters and being abandoned and mistreated is due to people unable to afford to pay for the licence each year or that they find it a nuisance. I would abolish the fee so that animals could be taken into a good home without them being hurt in the first place.

Lastly, I would have there be harsher punishment for people that are prosecuted for animal cruelty. Animals are living and breathing creatures that do not deserve to be harmed in any way. If a person abused another person then they would be facing prison time and a lengthy prison time at that so I believe that animal cruelty should be taken a lot more seriously in the country.

The Hunger Games. Good or Bad?

The Hunger Games is now out in cinema. It came out on the 23rd of March after a and anticipated wait. After the books were a huge success, the film had a lot to live up to so i was interested see if they did.

The Hunger Games is a televised show where one boy and one girl from each of the twelve districts. They are chosen at random selection. They shall be ‘tributes’ and there is only one survivor. The Hunger Games began as punishment when there a rebellion with all the districts and where one was destroyed. It became popular for those that lived in The Capitol, who are rich and enjoy viewing others killing one another to survive.

Katniss’s sister is chosen and so to save her, she volunteers herself up as tribute. Katniss and Peeta Mellark are chosen from district 12. After loving goodbyes to her family and best friend Gale, Katniss and Peta are taken away from their district on a very impressive train to the Capitol where they will be dressed and trained as winners for the games. Their mentor, Haymitch, trains them how to impress the sponsors to help them win. When the games begin, all the districts are watching while all 24 tributes kill each other to win. Katniss runs to safety and soon finds out that Peta has joined forces with other tributes.

Katniss and Peta find themselves in a romantic situation and the audience are loving it. Due to this development, the hosts decide that the rules will change and there will be 2 winners instead of one, but only if they are from the same district. After a lot injuries and tears, it comes down to just Katniss and Peta. Just when they believe that it is over and they can go home, a surprise is announced that they are returning to the old rule of having just one winner. The pair decide not to live by their rules anymore and agree to eat poisonous berries at the same time so there will be no winner. The hosts rapidly change their minds when they realise this would have dire consequences and so Katniss and Peta winner The Hunger Games. Katniss reveals that they will forget everything that happened during the games, meaning their romantic time together. They return to their district champion.

This film is incredible in all aspects. The cast was very well-chosen and played their parts down to a tee. There was an incredible story line to it and i am fully confident that the next two films will be great additions to the first. Katniss is played by Jennifer Lawrence, Peta is played by Josh Hutcherson and Gale is played by Liam Hemsworth. Suzanne Collins is the person we need to thank for writing these amazing books and the phenomenon directing of Gary Ross who has done the heart warming film of Seabiscuit.

http://youtu.be/RNxb28j5C1w

Deputy Luke “Ming” Flannigan on Miriam Meets on RTE1

Luke “Ming” Flannigan and his father Luke Flannigan are on the show together. The intro to the interview is very good as it gives us the background information that we would need to understand the men and why they are being interviewed. For the sake of understanding easier, I will refer to the son as Ming.

We learn from the introduction that they are both from Roscommon, they are father and son, Luke was a carpenter and is now retired. Ming is an independent TD for Roscommon in South Leitrim who won a seat in the Dáil in last year’s election. This interview was pre recorded.

They first began talking about Ming’s 40^th birthday on the following Sunday and about when he was born. They also spoke about his family and how he got his name. they spoke about what Ming as a child. I quickly realised this was going to be a very personal interview. It felt as though I was listening in on a family personal conversation and not listening to an interview on the radio.

Ming wanted to talk about his idol, John Kinneely and how he was an incredible teacher to not just Ming but also to every student that came through his door. Ming revealed that he dedicated a speech he made to Dáil to John. It was John that would have the radio on in class to hear election results and they would discuss it in class so it was John that got Ming really interested in politics at just the age of 9.

Miriam tries to then move onto talking about Father Michael Flannigan who was involved with Sinn Fein, however Luke didn’t remember him. Ming spoke about what he knew about him but you could tell he was saying a story he was told about but did personally remember it. Miriam clearly just brought this up for the sake of people knowing the family history but has nothing to do to do with Ming as a TD.

They went on to tell about Luke cutting turf as well as being a carpenter which brought about memories of Ming’s mother. Luke spoke a bit of him going to England to work as a carpenter and then Miriam brought up about how Luke and his wife met and the love Ming has for football. This brings about Ming speaking about his love of running and this led to him revealing he began running for his mental health.

They return to recollecting their family memories. Ming then dedicates a song to Michael Fitzmorris who is the chairperson of turf cutters and contractors association.

Ming tells how he met his wife and how she got his address to send him a Valentines Day card. He then sucks up to the family as he goes on about his ‘amazing’ in-laws.

Luke and Ming spoke about fatherhood and how the times are different now a day. Ming tells that he was a terror as a teen and how he looks back at it now and how he was charged with cannabis. They speak quite openly about his drug use and having it all in the newspaper. He was eventually put in prison for his use.

Ming wrote a poem for his mother’s funeral which he read out on air. They speak of their relationship with each other which is quite positive. Miriam wanted to know about Luke’s life growing up. He spoke so beautifully about it. They finally spoke about Ming’s political career and how he got to that position. Miriam was also curious about whether he has changed since he became a TD. Luke then gives his son some advice for his birthday and then they end with a song.

I found this interview to be very different to a normal interview. Most interviews that I would listen to would be on a certain topic and have a main focus; however this interview was very broad and very personal. I was shocked at how open they pair were about their lives and drug use even. Both men spoke passionately about everything they said and that kept us engaged and you could tell by they way they spoke to each on air that they have a great relationship which I found quite comforting. Overall, I enjoyed this interview and would now recognise the names if I heard them in the media. You can listen to the interview yourself on the link below.

http://www.rte.ie/radio1/podcast/podcast_miriammeets.xml

Occupy Dame Street Gone???

On the 8^th of March of this year, the Occupy Dame Street site was dismantled by gardai in the early hours of 3am. This operation was carefully planned by senior gardai members and was carried out with vast numbers of the Gardai Siochana. Protesters were taken from the site right outside the Central Bank, involuntarily by the gardai and were kept away from the site. Only one member of the protesters was arrested that night.

The entire camp was dismantled within 2 hours. Once the camp was taken down, council workers came in and cleaned the area.

The gardai had gone to the protesters beforehand to ask that they move from the area for St Patrick’s Day as the parade would be going down Dame Street. They refused and it was at this time the planning for the dismantling of the camp came about.

Later that day, the protesters marched from Dame Street to Pearse Street Gardai Station claiming that their rights had been violated. They were a peaceful protest and they were forcibly removed from their site.

When they reached the station, they were greeted by a group of gardai that were not permitting them access to the station. This march soon turned ugly and protesters were injured. One of the protesters was taken away by ambulance and others sustained minor injuries. The protesters were demanding that their belongings be returned to them. They had personal belongings such as laptops and phones etc confiscated from them during the dismantlement. Later in the evening, three of the Occupy Dame Street protesters went into the station to demand they have their belongings back, however there has been no agreement as to whether they will receive them back yet.

Gardai remained outside the Central Bank around the clock until St Patrick’s Day to ensure that the protesters did not put up another camp. One of the protesters says they will be putting up another camp in the future.

How Do You Break Into The Film Business??

I found an interview online about how to break into the film industry. There were many interviews to choose from however none of them were as engaging as this one.

This clip was done with the hosting of Jared Drake, who is a graduate of UCLA and does many short clips on how do conquer things in the film industry. This clip that I found on him is my favourite one; this one is about how to be a film director.

He is filming this on what looks like a film set or even maybe a studio to learn in at UCLA.

He starts by saying that to be a film director all you really need is a camera and an actor to film. Due to the fact that director is such a lose term, if you have the camera and actor then you are a director. He puts this across with humour which I liked. He then explains that there is a difference between being a film director and being a good film director. If you want to be a good one then you need to, like most things, practise. Get your camera and film a story; it can be anything at all. If you’re bored, then pick up the camera and film something as a story and then edit it.

A way to improve your skills as a film director is to go to film school. You go to film school to learn the ropes and skills need to succeed. It is a great place ad time in your life that is invaluable to you and your career as you learn who it is that you are as a film director. You can see what kind of films it is that you will want to work on in the future. The key to becoming a success and a much wanted film director for major productions is to have your name in credits with a well received film in festivals and such. You can do what is a called a ‘sleeper’ movie. This is an independent film that you have made with friends or family and it well received in the festival circuit or you could have a feature film that has been bought for big money by a distributor.

The biggest thing is to have good critically received film. Once this happens and your name is out there then you have your agent if you have one or if you don’t have one then get one, they get in touch with production companies and get your name out there further.

I found this clip interesting and helpful and look forward to seeing more of Jared’s clips in the future. I believe his voice was his down fall as it was quite low constantly and so that could potentially lose the audiences attention at points but overall I enjoyed it.

Scott Belsky Interview on RTE1

Scott Belsky interview on the show, The Business, entitled Making Ideas Happen. The show took place on the 29^th of October 2011 at 13.00.

 The first thing that I noticed about this show was that the presenter introduced Scott but did not say who he was or why his opinion should be heard. I know that Scott is an entrepreneur and the author of the book Making Ideas Happen; however this was not mentioned at the beginning. I found this out by reading it on the link to the interview.

I listened to this show and to be honest I found it to be all over the place. In my personal opinion I did not like it as I found it be going in so many different directions and not speaking about the main topic of making ideas happen. I could be wrong; however this is how I found it to be.

Scott has a very engaging voice which kept you listening and able to focus. He used different tones with his voice and you could tell that he was passionate about what he was speaking about. Due to this is enjoyable to listen to him.

The title of that day’s show was ‘Making Ideas Happen’ and the point of it was to tell people on how to go about making their ideas a reality. However I found that Scott focused so much, and the majority of the show was about dreamers and doers. I felt he needed to give a definition of these terms when discussing a topic such as this but not to constantly repeat himself.

Again, the presenter asked if he had spoken to Steve Jobs about the dreamers and doers, but does not mention who Steve Jobs is or how he is relevant to the conversation. Yes, we all know who he is but what has he got to do this conversation? They talk for a few minutes about Steve Jobs and his business and maybe he speaks about him in his book but if not, why talk about it.

It was not until a couple of minutes through the interview, that I found out that Making Ideas Happen is a book that was written by Scott.

They continue speaking about dreamers and doers and people should look at themselves as businesses.

It was not until around 11 minutes into the interview that they begin to talk about making a product viable and how to keep a product out there and something that people want to have. This is the type of conversation is the type of interview that I thought it would be and should be. It was at this point that people would be truly engaged in it.

Also I found it ended quite abruptly, there was no real ending to it. It straight in the middle part and went straight out of it, there was no beginning or ending.

Overall, I found the interview only worked from half way through. It was only at this point that they began talking about the topic of conversation. The first half was a waste of time. I would not recommend to anyone to listen to the full interview. Be sure to listen to the interview yourself using the link below.

http://www.rte.ie/radio1/podcast/podcast_thebusiness.xml

Guilty Pleasure!!!

Everyone has a guilty pleasure and for most they will not admit the truth to people. As for myself, my guilty pleasure is going to the cinema every Sunday. I know that the price of everything involved with the cinema is has gone up dramatically and that it is extortion with what we pay for it, but I cannot help it, I love going.

With the price of the ticket to the concession stand, you can spend 20 euro without even realising it. I love going to cinema and getting to see all the big blockbusters on the big screen. No matter what the genre of the film, the atmosphere is perfect for it. With a horror, sitting in the dark adds to the anticipated fear of it. With a romance, sitting in the dark with your loved one and having couples around you, no matter what the genre is, it just works.

My favourite time going to the cinema is when there is a huge film coming out and there is a midnight showing of it for the first time. Everyone gets dressed up and there is an excitement in the air that you cannot describe. When you are sitting in the seat and everyone is holding your breathe in anticipation for it to start and when it is over there is a huge applause. It is so much fun.

The odd thing for most people is that I go with my dad around 95% of the time. Every Sunday evening we go to the cinema to see a film and we take turns to pick the film. We do keep score on who picks the better films and currently I am in the lead, however when we go see a film that both of us would like to view we debate on you said to see it first. I love going to the cinema and do not think I will stop that habit any time soon, although my bank account doesn’t thank me!

 

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THE COLOUR OF THE WIND…………POCAHONTAS

One of the best princesses there could be. What makes it even better is that is based on true events. Nothing better than a happy ever after.

Pocahontas is the daughter of the Chief of a tribe of indians in Virgina. She is a free-spirited type of girl who loves to explore. One day she goes to Grandmother Willow who is a talking tree and tells her about a dream that she had about a spinning arrow and she doesn’t know what it means. She goes running after hearing something and sees that it is ships coming to their shores.

She goes back to her village and her father tells her that she is to marry Kocoum but she does not love him or want to marry him. Pocahontas being the wild one that she has always been goes to look at the settlers and she follows a man who is named John Smith. John has the same type of spirit as she does so they have an automatic connection. They begin to talk and learn more about each other. John reveals that they are there so they can dig up gold but Pocahontas says that there is nothing like that there.

They begin to sneak away from their people to see each other. Radcliffe is the man who brought John to Virgina along with the rest of the crew and is a very cruel man who cares for nothing and no one but himself. He refuses to accept that there is no gold there and is convinced that the indians are hiding it from him. Pocahontas and John meet to discuss how they can get their people to understand one another. Kocoum follows Pocahontas and John’s friend Thomas follows John. When Kocoum sees John kiss Pocahontas he loses it and attacks. Thomas panics and shoots Kocoum. It is then that John gets Thomas to run and then the indians capture John and sentence him for Kocoum being shot.

At dawn, The indians lead John to rock cliff to be killed by the Chief and Radcliffe and his men charge to the same point to retrieve their man. Pocahontas makes in time to put herself down in front of John to save him. She explains that she loves him and that hatred  brings nothing but war and pain. The Chief throws down his stick and accepts his daughters words. Radcliffe looks at this as an opportunity to attack but his men see that the indians are not there to fight. Radcliffe takes a gun and shoots at the Chief. John sees this and jumps in front of him and gets shot. The men grab Radcliffe and tie him up.

The men load up the ships to go back to England to put Radcliffe up for trial and to get John back for medical help. John asks Pocahontas to go with him back to England but she says that her place there with her people. And they lived happily ever after.

A truly beautiful and inspirational film. A must see for everyone, child and adult alike. Full of great music and great characters. 10 out of 10.

THE MOST FAMOUS LAUGH EVER IN……………A GOOFY MOVIE

Who doesn’t love Disney’s famous Goofy. He is one of the most comical characters ever created in my opinion. He is part of the Fab Five and he is definitely fab. I love that he was given his own movie.

Goofy’s son, Max, is a young teenager who is trying to get the girl of his dreams to notice him. Goofy feels that his son is growing further and further away from him so to fix things he decides to bring Max on a fishing trip to Lake Destiny just as his dad had done when he was a kid. To Max’s dismay, he is made go on this fishing trip after promising the girl of his dreams Roxanne, that he would take her on a date. He goes by Roxanne’s house before leaving town and tells her that he is actually going to Los Angeles to the Powerline concert and will be on stage with him.

Max and Goofy head out on their trip and it is already a disaster as Max makes it clear he doesn’t want to be there and Goofy tries to make it like it was when he was a child. Hr plays the same games and plays the same songs. The trip is not going how Goofy had planned so he takes Max to a opposum theme park where Max is humiliated. They go camping where Goofy shows Max how to do the perfect cast. They run into PJ, Max’s best friend and his dad Pete at the campsite. PJ tells Max that he should change the route of the map to LA, since he was made navigator for the trip he could trick Goofy into going to LA instead of Lake Destiny. Max does that and Goofy finds out.

On the continuation of their trip Max makes the final decision on what way to go and takes the turn to LA. Goofy is angry and they get out of the car and the car ends up rolling down a hill. They go run after it and end up floating down river. They come to waterfall and goofy falls down it but |Max saves him  by using the perfect cast and they go to safety. Max explains why he had done what he did and Goofy understands. He tells Max that he will get him to the concert and get him on stage so he won’t look like a liar to Roxanne.

They get to Los Angeles and they sneak into the concert. They both accidentally end up on stage with Powerline and doing the moves for the perfect cast which turns into a very popular dance. Roxanne and everyone at school sees Max on tv while watching the live performance of the concert. They get back home and Max goes and tells Roxanne the truth about his trip and they agree to go out on a date together. Goofy and Max gained a new and better relationship.

This film is very good and would be loved by all children. I wold give this film 8 out of 10.