irish times

“I’m loving these numbers”

New figures published this week show this magazine’s circulation holding steady at 36,898, down slightly on 36,938 last quarter. But when seasonal and other miscellaneous factors are allowed for, that amounts to an impressive 5,924,094 readers per month – an exceptionally strong performance in a country of just over four million people. (The balance is thought to be made up by immigrants and undercover al-Qaida operatives entering this jurisdiction illegally in order to read the trendy magazine.) Read the rest of this entry »

Stop me if you think that you’ve heard this one before

“It’s like a cross between going back to university and joining a religious cult,” reckons Steve Berry from Hertfordshire, as he surveys the scene. I’d have said a “rockabilly Star Trek convention” myself, but we won’t split hairs. Read the rest of this article here.

Salinger Dead

I won’t attempt to eulogize the guy, but for the record (from this blog) here’s a funny letter he wrote to a fan, Maeve Binchy, Shay Healy and myself talking about him on the radio and that unfortunate run-in with my Auntie Geraldine.

Fuck your coloring book!

I’ve said it before, but I don’t mind saying it again. I would do anything to be friends with Kanye West. The guy is (in the best way possible) completely and utterly insane… and he wants the whole world to know it.

If you haven’t seen it already, his latest all-caps, stream of consciousness online hissy fit (culminating in that surprise denunciation of colouring books) is really a hoot: Read the rest of this entry »

Faith Alive

1. What’s the difference between a saint and a masochist? Not a whole lot, provided you’re the Pope.

2. “The Lord directed that I go to the sun tanning salon and get sun tanned more evenly on their suntanning beds.” A fascinating (and, on balance, pretty sympathetic) snapshot of life inside the polygamist Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints from this month’s National Geographic. Read the rest of this entry »

Karl Spain Wants to Eat a Woman*

Been getting a bit of flack over my interview with comedian Karl Spain in last Saturday’s Irish Times last summer. “So mean to poor Karl Spain,” says one of his distraught fans. “He’s a lovely guy.” My friend Mark takes the opposite view. “Jesus, Butler,” he writes. “You could have gotten away with calling Karl Spain fat a few more times… ‘Fat-faced funnyman Karl Spain’… ‘Karl Spain Wants to Eat a Woman’… Something subtle like that…” For the record, there was no offense intended or, I hope, taken. Besides, Karl Spain is big enough to stand up for himself. Ba dum kssht. (*allegedly)

You can read the interview here.

Yeah, if it’s okay with you Batman, I might get out at the traffic lights?

Batman: “Best put put 5c in the meter.”
Robin: “Come on Batman, no policeman’s going to give the Batmobile a ticket!”
Batman: “This money goes to building better roads. We all must do our part.”

Batman: “I know. Hieroglyphics self-taught are a chore, Robin. But it’s the only surefire way to unravel the secrets of the ancient mystics.”

Robin: “Where’d you get a live fish, Batman?”
Batman: “The true crimefighter always carries everything he needs in his utility belt, Robin.” Read the rest of this entry »

Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall (1944)

COMING IN FROM THE COLD

Partying While Haiti Burns

Should wealthy cruise-goers be allowed to party in Haitan waters while bodies are piling up in the streets? To be honest, I really don’t see why not. If the journalist was asking asking whether wealthy retirees at Labadee Beach should party or go to the aid of the stricken population, that would be another matter.

But the question seems to be simply whether they should party there, or up anchor and go party somewhere else. Well, what’s the difference? Read the rest of this entry »