Eoin Butler

“Yeah right. Last Irish box you saw the inside of had a number 5 on the lid…”

Went through the Magic Door, did he?

We both crease ourselves laughing.

“Special offer at Saver’s Supermarket, wha?” Read the rest of this article here.

This is funny [SECOND UPDATE]

Yay, Zach Galifianakis presents SNL for the second time this weekend. Last time he described his look to the audience as: Read the rest of this entry »

Hey Joe (1974)

“I really admire any game that can go on for five days and not produce a winner”

EOIN BUTLER talks to Neil Hannon about cricket, Britpop and “Father Ted”.

What are you listening to these days?
I listen to far too much music that is not considered cool. I’m a lifelong fan of Cole Porter and Noel Coward. I also love Maurice Ravel. As far as pop music is concerned, it tends to be strangely commercial stuff. I’ll find I’m just mad about a Sugababes song or something. The new Jarvis Cocker album is brilliant too, much better than his first album. I was always a massive Pulp fan.

Do I recall that you and Jarvis once had an argument about an anorak?
That has a basis in truth. Jarvis and I once did a joint cover shoot for a French magazine. I turned up wearing an anorak, basically, because I had no clue. It got back to me afterwards that Jarvis had been outraged. The phrase he used was “You’ve got to live it” [referring to being a pop star, presumably]. Afterwards, I thought “Hmm . . . He was probably right.” But we never had a face-to-face argument. Read the rest of this article here.

So I hear you’re a racist… Is this the new thing?

“Ah for Christ’s sake… Who told you?”

“I met Tina in Tescos the other night.” Read the full article here.

“I’m not necessarily making the comparison, but don’t Page 3 models usually say the same thing…?”

I’m sure they do and I’m sure they enjoy what they do, otherwise they wouldn’t do it. But their work is primarily oriented to a male audience and it’s done to elicit a sexual response. Burlesque is all about the trimmings, the sets, the costumes, the storyline. It’s about feeling sexy, but also showing the personality behind it.Read the rest of this article here.

“It melts on my tongue like a snowflake, with a taste that is like hearing music for the first time…”


There aren’t many onerous tasks associated with taking a luxury ski break in Chamonix Mont-Blanc. The trickiest, perhaps, is deciding which of the highlights best to rub in the noses of jealous friends and family members at home. Heli-skiing down the spine-tingling Glacier d’Argentiere? Husky sledding at La Vormaine? Lunch at the two Michelin-star Albert Premier restaurant?

Winter sports are the main attraction, of course. But if you happen to be preposterously wealthy, the boutique chalets are well worth a visit in their own right. They’re not cheap. A week in Argentiere’s Le Marti costs €16,000 off peak, rising to well over double that amount at peak season. Read the rest of this entry »

When I’m in charge, this scene will be replicated in classrooms the world over:


Ideally, the teacher wouldn’t look like she was being forced to sing the song at gunpoint. But sure you can’t have it all. Read the rest of this entry »

“We all remember the bad days – bored crocodiles, listless giraffes, monkeys indulging in recreational activities of an adolescent nature…”


Elephants in the wild spend 70% of their time looking for food. Now, just between you and I, and the readers of the Irish Times, if we gave the entire Phoenix Park to our elephants, but fed them in the one spot, they would just stand there. They wouldn’t move. They’re very careful about expending energy. So we hide the food on them. The elephant is never conditioned to look at his watch and say, it’s seven o’clock, where on earth is my dinner? Read the rest of this article.

Gee Baby, Ain’t I Good To You? (1944)


This song was written in New York in 1929 and still sounds just as good today.