Ragtag Giggagon

In the latest of a long line of celebrities to change his image, Prince William Duke of Cambridge has a great new hairdo! Like crue-cut Miley Cyrus and an inky footed Harry Styles, the second in line to the throne has a radical image change that is perfect for the summer months. His Majesty has been keen to develop the new look for some time, trimming back his hairline over recent years. Now, what experts refer to as "a monk's tonsure" might just mean that Wills is keen to show that he isn't intimidated by the thought of becoming Head of the Church of England when he becomes King. As you can see in this one quarter royalty-free picture, Wills is being greeted by a bishop, indicating he's got some tough work ahead of him! Meeting bishops and high churchmen of all kinds is par for the course for HRH Wills, and he seems keen to show that he appreciates what his future duties will be! Even though most Protestants don't take their religion too seriously, Willia...

There's a performed reading doing a bit of a tour in the east of Ireland at the moment. It's a play called Guaranteed! and its timing is perfect, with the release of the Anglo tapes, where bankers are heard laughing. Guaranteed! is about the banking crisis in 2008, and the bank guarantee that locked the Irish exchequer to the failing financial institutions. Fianna Fail was the dominant party for the last century in the Irish Republic. They were the main party in charge back in 2008 when the poopeedoo hit the air ventilation system. To give you a brief idea of the competence of Fianna Fail, parties to the immediate left and right of them might manage to scrabble and hold onto power for a few years before FF are returned to rule (often with a smaller coalition partner - a runt that usually gets hammered come the next election for being associated with the FF brand) for a decade or more. In the brief time periods that the other parties gain power, you might get flashes of good stu...

A 46 year old man has died after cinema management switched the regular Coca Cola beverage that he had purchased at the theatre's front of house snack-shop with a Coke Zero. He was among some fifty movie goers who fell for what was intended to be a "healthy jape" - employed by cinema staff - who had replaced all of the Cokes served to the audience - with the diet alternative. Coke Zero has been running the cinema campaign for some time, using audiences as guinea pigs in their taste tests. The diet drink is one of the big success stories in the history of the cola wars. Coke Zero has been chipping away at the market share of the more sugary Coke since the younger brand's launch in 2005. Using clever advertising to highlight that Coke Zero is nearly identical in taste to Coca Cola seems to be working so far. Coca Cola management are trying to find a reasonable advertising response - but they seem desperate. "I want Coke Zero DEAD! I want his family DEAD! I want his...

An Early Childhood Chapter 26 Part 3: A Visit to Middlesex An Early Childhood by Paddy Flanagan is a mock surreal autobiography, narrated by a fictional Irish war hero, champion bodhran player, and television presenter. Its first chapter is here . It parodies misery memoirs (such as Angela’s Ashes by the late great Frank McCourt), as well as time travel adventure, pop culture, and literature of various kinds. Continued from Chapter 26 Part 2 .                 “Better?” asked the drummer.                 With a smile and the transformation complete, Dyll clicked her fingers, the band started up again, and she sang huskily into the mike:                 “Bippity bop bip bop bamboozle!”             ...

An Early Childhood Chapter 26 Part 2: A Visit to Middlesex An Early Childhood by Paddy Flanagan is a mock surreal autobiography, narrated by a fictional Irish war hero, champion bodhran player, and television presenter. Its first chapter is here . It parodies misery memoirs (such as Angela’s Ashes by the late great Frank McCourt), as well as time travel adventure, pop culture, and literature of various kinds. Continued from Chapter 26 Part 1 .                 Outside of the jazz club, didn't I only see a consumptive little fella, with a bad skin ailment as he spent all his time out of doors. He was a scruffy ruffian of a thing, coughing and wiping his scrabby, scabby face and hands. He had a little tray in front of himself, with matches and cigarettes for sale. He looked at me and coughtered.                 My heart went out to the little chappy, and I had some oint...

I don't know on which comic book series Man of Steel is based (none, apparently), but there is much to like as well as plot elements that are questionable in this damn piece of vile blasphemy. Henry Cavill is a very good lead, with a face that looks part Tom Welling, part Christopher Reeve. Amy Adams is a strong Lois Lane, Costner and Crowe are great father figures. According to the movie's plot, on Krypton, there is a seeming unwillingness for most of its inhabitants to accept that they could leave if they chose to do so - before the planet's demise. The movie also features a death toll on Earth that must be in the tens of thousands. Now, Superman wouldn't have allowed that to happen in the early 80s, Shirley? On Krypton, there's also a caste system coupled with a jingoistic dogmatism of which Zod appears to be the prime manifestation. These faults in Kryptonian society can explain Jur-El's noble willingness to accept the planet's destruction, as daft as i...

Hey folks! I'm off to the British and Irish Lions' Tour where I'll be commentating from the box! Do you know what nickname they have for the Lions Down Below? "The Briddish un Oirish Loins!" But first a quick round-up of what happened at the last match I seen! It was out at a club near Donnybrook and UCD and RTE, and just a short taxi journey down the road from Doheny & Nesbitt's! Anyway, folks, spoiler alert - I wrote up my report and dropped it into RTE so it can appear in next issue's RTE Guide! Here it is: "At the end of the match, that line was being formed again now with the two teams lining up in a queue. And one of those lads might've skip the queue like what happened last time and jump up and snatch the ball. Folks, the queue, it was at the far side of the club house, way up the pitch. And to think, just thirty seconds ago, they were playing with the ball down the other end where the digger is parked just off the pitch, a good bit to ...