The Complicated Futility of Ignorance

Phantom FM gets green light at last from Supreme Court

2006-04-07T13:13:00.000+01:00

Finally!

Courtesy of the Irish Independent.

http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=184&si=1594661&issue_id=13899

Ailish O'Hora

THE Supreme Court has cleared the way for new alternative rock music radio station Phantom FM to begin broadcasting in Dublin.
Phantom FM, which is backed by a number of high profile individuals and companies, including U2 manager Paul McGuinness's Principle Management and promoter Dermot Desmond's Gaiety Investments, got the green light after the court dismissed an appeal by Zed FM against a High Court ruling regarding the award of the licence to Phantom FM.
Zed FM is backed by Bob Geldof. The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland welcomed the outcome. "We have consistently held that the process for the award of the licence was fair, open and transparent, and that the best applicant, Phantom FM, was awarded the licence," it said in a statement. "We now look forward to re-establishing contract negotiations with Phantom FM, with a view to providing Dublin listeners with an alternative rock music service."
Zed challenged the granting of the licence to Phantom FM on a number of grounds, including a claim that members of the consortium had wrongly benefited from illegal broadcasting in the past.
When dismissing the Zed challenge in November, the High Court held that it was for the BCI, not the courts, to consider what weight it would attach to the illegal broadcasting matter when considering the character of Phantom.

Podge and Rodge popular

2006-03-23T11:37:00.000Z

The puerile puppet’s chat show Monday and Tuesday nights on RTE2 is proving to be very popular. The ratings types guess is 383,000 viewers tuned in this week. I wonder if RTE will cancel the show - since that's what they seem to do with their most successful shows.

Dredging the archive

2006-03-20T11:08:00.000Z

Thought i better post something - since nothing went up last week.

Did this with MS paint and a mouse as opposed to a wacom tablet and photoshop.

Webstrip #2

2006-03-08T00:55:00.000Z

Oh - the discipline! Still gotta colour this one and give it a title

Standardised taxi fares to be introduced nationwide

2006-03-07T15:51:00.000Z

After reading this piece of news I wonder if taxi fares will be increased to Dublin rates nationwide - or if Dublin taxi drivers will strike over the fact that they can't rip us off anymore:

The taxi regulator has announced plans to introduce standardised fares throughout the country (Ireland for any of you foriegn types) later this year.

The move is part of a series of reforms announced by Ger Deering today.Mr Deering said there were currently 36 different taxi-fare structures in place, but these would all be replaced by new nationwide standardised rates in September.The other reforms include a new complaints system for customers, a centralised licensing system and extra training for drivers.

http://www.unison.ie/breakingnews/index.php3?ca=9&si=88138

Webstrip #1

2006-03-06T23:38:00.000Z

It Rubs the Lotion on it's skin

2006-02-01T13:23:00.000Z

This twisted piece of music video was sent to me by JohnnyG.

http://www.transbuddha.com/mediaHolder.php?id=23

It helps if you've seen Silence Of The Lambs - watch soon before it's pulled for infringement of some kind.

Phantom vs Geldof

2006-01-31T17:45:00.000Z

Well,

That (former) [Boomtown] Rat and his Zed FM is bringing the whole Pahntom FM decision to the Supreme court... I'll be sick if those bastards get their hands on the licence.

Phantom FM was a really good pirate station - they were alway a true alternative when the other Dublin stations were like clones of each other, spewing out the same lowest common denominator excrement. Phantom had a massive following - testament to the fact that there was and is a vast swathe of radio listeners who are not catered for.

http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqid=11040-qqqx=1.asp

www.phantomfm.com

I just hope going commercial (if they win the case) doesn't make them turn to crap.

2006-01-31T17:42:00.000Z

Last night I went to a market research group. When you go to these gigs you get between €25 and €60 and a couple of free drinks - since i was on the battle damaged scoot - I wasn't pushing my luck with a stout - so I opted for coffee.

The best of these are the focus groups on alcoholic drinks - a subject i could talk about for hours...last night's was on probiotic yoghurt drinks.

I got a slagging from one or two of the other lads when I said my job is a "Network analyst". It was like being back at school getting stick for being knowledgeable - jaysus, some people should pull their heads out of their asses and take a breath from time to time - although for some, ignorance must be bliss. Besides - what I do isn't rocket science!

Oh, my ass!

2006-01-31T14:52:00.000Z

Took a slide up the road on my ass coming out of the estate yesterday due to back wheel slipping on ice - it looked ok to ride on - a light frosting - however it was the frozen muck underneath that was the problem.

A bit stiff today - and the scoot's off the road pending a bit of repair (RH mirror smashed, RH front Indicator smashed - Rh pannel rightly scuffed to bits, though it's the third time that pannel's bitten the dust - i'm glad i held off on the respray. Oh yeah - the headset needs to be straightened out)

Translapping my way up today - and the road looked a heluva lot cleaner than it did yesterday - someone must've got the roadsweeper in - whether it was a reaction to my mishap or pure coincidence I don't know.

Oh! The Stench!

2005-12-21T16:26:00.000Z

A putrefied stench hung in the canteen yet again today - as someone apparently lacking any sense of smell microwaved a rather fishy lunch during the busy lunchtime period. The reaction of the other 40 or so diners to this olfactory assault was uniformly negative - many choosing to return to their desks than to inhale said vile vapours.

I wonder if she's any relation to Dr. Zoidberg?

7000 Chickens

2005-12-15T11:17:00.000Z

"CAVAN: A truck is no longer obstructing the N55 at Ballineagh, however the route should still be avoided as up to 7000 chickens are loose in the area. Some of the hens are laying eggs on the road and conditions are quite treacherous all drivers are asked to reduce their speed. "

UPDATE:

CAVAN: The N55 at Ballinagh has been cleared of any obstructions. Most loose chickens have been moved into adjacent fields. Temporary lights will be in operation and minor delays can be expected.

http://www.aaroadwatch.ie/

Phantom FM beats challenge to radio licence

2005-11-02T08:51:00.000Z

Good News from Today's Irish Independent:

http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1498156&issue_id=13211

A NEW Dublin radio station has finally been given the green light to go on air.
The High Court has paved the way for Phantom FM to begin broadcasting early in the new year.
The station, which was awarded an FM licence by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) on November 8 last year, was forced to delay its start-up date after being challenged in the High Court by the consortium Zed FM, which is backed by Niall Stokes of Hot Press and Bob Geldof.
It unsuccessfully challenged the granting of the licence to Phantom FM on four grounds, including claims that the BCI was unfairly biased towards Phantom FM, and that members of the consortium wrongly benefited from illegal broadcasting in the past as a pirate station.
Dublin Rock, trading as Phantom FM, is backed by a wide range of entities, including Paul McGuinness's Principle Management and Denis Desmond's Gaiety Investments.
Mr Justice Philip O'Sullivan said yesterday: "The involvement of some individuals with Dublin Rock who had been involved in illegal broadcasting was known to the commission", and they had ceased their illegal broadcasting prior to the application being made.
"It is well established that it is a matter for the commission and not for the courts as to what weight they would attach to this element in their consideration of the character of that particular bidder," the judge said. Judge O'Sullivan referred in his judgment to the affidavit sworn by Zed FM director Dermot Hanrahan regarding the several references Phantom FM made to its past performance in its application for an FM licence from the BCI.
These included a reference to the building on a solid foundation and reputation and the fact that there was a recall amongst Dublin listeners to the Phantom FM radio brand. The court dismissed the challenge of Zed FM.
Ann O'Loughlin

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Pahntom FM's URL is http://www.phantomfm.com/

When I find myself in times of trouble / Hybrid children come to me

2005-11-01T11:46:00.000Z

Ever listened to the Beatles?
Ever listened to Metallica?
Listen to Beatallica!

http://www.beatallica.org

Toffee Scorpion Candy

2005-11-01T11:28:00.000Z

Mmmmmm - gotta try these :-)

http://www.edible.com/Site/main_sec.asp

A Toffee flavoured Candy, which contains a real edible scorpion!The Scorpion is specially bred in Chinese Scorpion Farms for human consumption and they are heat treated to remove toxins, so that they are safe to eat. Scorpions are said to have many health benefits. This candy looks like a piece of ancient amber, but it also a tasty candy and its even good to your teeth because its also sugar-free. Comes presented in its own smart white card box.

Pastor electrocuted as he grabbed mike at baptism

2005-11-01T11:23:00.000Z

http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1497483&issue_id=13207

PASTOR has been killed by an electric shock after grabbing a microphone while performing a baptism in water.
The Rev Kyle Lake (33), was partly submerged at University Baptist Church in Waco, Texas - only 14 miles from President Bush's Crawford ranch - while baptising a woman in front of 800 people. He reached out to adjust a microphone when he was killed.
The church, co-founded by David Crowder, one of the biggest "rock stars" of Christian music, is popular with students from nearby Baylor University, the largest Baptist university in the world.
"He was grabbing the microphone so everyone could hear," Jamie Dudley, a church business administrator, said. "It's the only way you can be loud enough."
FATAL JOLT
Doctors in the congregation rushed to help Mr Lake, who collapsed after being struck by the fatal jolt of electricity.
An emergency medical crew tried to revive him.
Church colleagues described him as a charismatic religious leader. Blair Browning, a former church leadership team member, said: "I think we all gravitated to him because he looked cooler than all of us, but he was really smart. People that would never have darkened the doorstep of a church felt comfortable talking to Kyle."
"At first there was definitely confusion just because everyone was trying to figure out what was going on," the Rev Ben Dudley, the community pastor of the church, said after he saw his colleague die. "Everyone just immediately started praying."
In Waco in 1993, a stand-off between federal agents and a religious sect, the Branch Davidians, resulted in their compound being destroyed by fire, with the loss of 76 lives.
Chris Ayresin Los Angeles

Great blog, dude

2005-07-14T17:26:00.000+01:00

Some blog - keep saying I have interesting things to say in my blog - whatever they were I forget now.

Will try and have more regular entries in future.

We were laughing in work recently that a character in He-Man is called Fisto. He's got this big metal hand - kinda like Hellboy's big stone hand. Someone was having a laugh when they were coming up with He-Man - Ram Man? Fisto? I can just picture that meeting!

Anyway - there's a book on how they all came up with it:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1578602238/qid=1121358927/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-7074109-8268633?v=glance&s=books

Not that I've read it - I just stumbled across it here:

http://www.he-man.org/

Anyway - I was at home the other day and the new He-Man cartoon was on Toonami - and i was guessing that they'd have let a character called Fisto go - but no, towards the end of the episode he-man's exclaiming "Fistooo!" Although he just looks like he has this big stonking fleshy hand now rather than a metal one.