Ireland's Miracle Bank Debt Deal!

Enda Kenny's Irish government can do no wrong - forget no government apologies for the Magdalene Laundry scandal, forget hospital closures, patients on trolleys, the closure of rural garda stations, Fine Gael cronyism within the cabinet and a raft of new taxes on all citizens (but especially on the poor). Enda's riding high (on our backs). He's secured his deal on Anglo promissiory notes and is now in Brussels, fixing the European Union's budget!

Next stop, a General Election - time to ditch those pesky Labour parasites!

The Sequel - Folk Furniture Name Change!

Tony Donoghue, still reeling from his Sundance win, has requested that I change the name on my first 'Folk Furniture' video, where battered wardrobes and dressers discuss dryrot, woodworm and big screws. Tony says that people, searching for his film on Youtube, were finding mine. Apologies! These are the perils of internet Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)! Though my cutbacks video views seem to be relatively flat, the cutbacks series remains relatively prominent on search engines. No Problem - I've renamed my video 'The Sequel - Folk Furniture'.

Tony's request to makes changes to my video also points to the need for some form of 'video update' feature on Youtube. In this instance, there was no way to change the title on the video itself, except by using the rather unsatisfactory annotations-label function (which is not designed for retitling videos). The Youtube Video Editor can do text but it won't blur off an area of the screen to obcure the original titles.

We need occasional access to a Youtube video update feature.

Here's the second Folk Furniture instalment, in which a dresser shows her drawers... Barry O' Donoghue says that they seem to be 'floating in space' - my mistake (messing with the greenscreen)...

 

 

Twitter Hacked!

As 250,000 Twitter accounts are hacked by 'China-based hackers', Google chairman Eric Schmidt calls China "an internet menace", "the world's most active and enthusiastic filterer of information" and "the most sophisticated and prolific" hacker of foreign companies!
The New York Times quotes Schmidt's new book 'The New Digital Age' - "The disparity between American and Chinese firms and their tactics will put both the government and the companies of the United States as a distinct disadvantage." Never mind the United States! The entire world will lose this cyberwar against the massed Chinese hackers if things stay as they are! Who's teaching the next generation of western internet hackers? Where are our government-sponsored hacker training programmes?

China dismisses such hacking accusations as "groundless" and "totally irresponsible".
Meanwhile, Rinky revels in The Twitter hack! Every cloud has a silver lining!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21304049

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21307212

500th Cutbacks Episode!

Jazis! I've just noticed that yesterday's video 'More Folk Furniture' is marked as the 500th episode of cutbacks! 500 episodes since September 2009... I feel it!

Irish Folk Furniture - The Sequel

With apologies to Tony Donoghue, (and continued congratulations on his Sundance win), I present as a cutbacks homage, 'Irish Folk Furniture - The Sequel'! Wardrobes and dressers discussing woodworm, dryrot, loose knobs and big screws...

Lovingly made over five hours on a Sunday, using cardboard and masking tape...

Jazis, the threeamazingmen point out that 'it seems a little Sminky inspired'... True enough, the wardrobe does sound a bit Sminky...

 

http://cutbacks2010.blogspot.ie/2013/01/irish-folk-furniture-wins-at-sundance.html

 

http://cutbacks2010.blogspot.ie/2013/01/irish-folk-furniture.html

Late Night Work Club

Nice Tweet from Eimhin McNamara about his Late Night Work Club project...

Late Night Work Club is a loose, rotating collective of indie animators. That is, animators who do independent, non-commercial work. It’s an excuse to bring a whole bunch of us together and make something great, and also to promote the work of the artists involved. Some of the best, most personal, experimental and vital animation going right now is happening on the internet. It’s being made late at night when other people have gone to sleep and on weekends when everyone else is out. It’s being made by students, freelancers, full-timers and folks with unrelated day jobs. It means something to us. It’s our scene.

We like to make things, so let’s make things together. Grab a seat and stay up late with us.

Direct all comments, inquiries, bribes and threats to LateNightWorkClub@Gmail.com.

http://latenightworkclub.com/

Eamonn O’Neill

Thanks to Eimhin McNamara for tweeting a great Bafta blogpost on Eamonn O’Neill, proud Arklow man and IADT graduate, who's been nominated for a Bafta for his RCA film 'I'm Fine Thanks'...

The Bafta blogpost is a really honest insight into the precarious nature of the personal film making process. I love this quote from Eamonn...

I can say that making films does not get easier. I am constantly filled with self-doubt and always questioning what I am doing. Thankfully, being nominated for something like a BAFTA helps to quell those fears and doubts and replaces them with a whole new set to contend with. Until the next film at least. Nonetheless, it’s become clear to me that you have to keep making things; you get itchy if you don't. You have to keep writing, keep drawing, keep shooting, keep thinking and keep feeling your way through. After that you can show it to people. You never know, maybe good things will happen.

Best of luck to Eamonn in the Baftas! Fingers crossed!
 
Full blogpost available at...

http://guru.bafta.org/blog/short-stuff-im-fine-thanks-1

http://www.eamonnoneill.ie/