How Hugo Chávez survived the coup

Thu, Dec 04, 2008

IN APRIL 2002 there was an attempt to overthrow the president of Venezuela Hugo Chávez, but 48 hours later he was back in power.

Emotionally charged Eastwood flick has Oscar written all over it

Thu, Dec 04, 2008

The powerful true story of the courageous woman who was the first to stand up to the corrupt Los Angeles Police Department in the 1920s, Clint Eastwood’s Changeling, is an intensely emotional experience that is hard to watch and hard to stop watching all in the same breath.

A flurry of clichés

Thu, Dec 04, 2008

IN TRUE seasonal style, Four Christmasses combines a romantic comedy with an attempt at a heart-warming holiday story. Reese Witherspoon reprises her trademark blonde perkiness as Kate, happily cohabiting with boyfriend Brad (Vince Vaughan) in San Francisco.

Madagascar style fun @ The Eye

Thu, Dec 04, 2008

TOMORROW SEES the release of Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa and The Eye Cinema has planned fun activities for children coming to the movies this Saturday and Sunday.

In Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe and Gloria the Hippo manage to leave Madagascar and land in the vast plains of Africa. Africa seems like a great place...but is it better than their Central Park home?

Win Saw Doctors’ CDs and DVDs

Thu, Dec 04, 2008

THE SAW Doctors have just released their new album Live At the Melody Tent and documentary DVD Clare Island to Cape Cod - and we have six copies to give away.

You havin’ a laugh?

Thu, Dec 04, 2008

PJ Gallagher, (pictured) the undisputed star of Naked Camera, and creator of the memorable characters Jake Stevens and The Dirty Auld Wan, plays the Laughter Lounge in the Róisín Dubh on Wednesday at 9pm. Support is from Bob Hennigan and Cathal Murray. The guest MC is Paddy Courtney. Tickets are available from the Róisín Dubh and Zhivago.

Corsetless @ Nuns Island Theatre

Thu, Dec 04, 2008

Corsetless, written and performed by Catherine Eaton (pictured), comes to Nuns Island Theatre tomorrow at 8pm, following a sell out run at the Andrews Theatre in New York. In the play Eaton becomes Olivia, a woman committed to solitary confinement because she refuses to speak anything except lines from Shakespeare. Eaton has appeared in Training Day and Sex In The City. Tickets are available from the Galway Arts Centre on 091 - 565886.

Coyote Factor continues

Thu, Dec 04, 2008

THE COYOTE Factor - the singing competition at Coyote’s on Forster Street - continues tonight at 9pm.

On stage competing tonight are Cathriona Cloherty, Sarah Riordan, Marta Zientala, Nicole Frawley, Patrick O’Cuabin, Gillian Murphy, Hannah Butt, Laura Marigliano, Philip Lonergan, and Natalie White.

Biblio - A monthly review of Irish Books

Thu, Dec 04, 2008

IN A curious way, Barack Obama’s recent presidential campaign has some strange parallels with Daniel O’Connell’s battle for Catholic Emancipation in the 1820s.

Biblio - A monthly review of Irish Books

Thu, Dec 04, 2008

OLIVER CROMWELL is a hugely divisive figure. In Ireland his opinion poll ratings remain even lower than those of soon-to-be-former president George W Bush and only slightly higher than those of that famous Austrian advocate of a very different type of European unity: the late Adolf Hitler.

Biblio - A monthly review of Irish Books

Thu, Dec 04, 2008

AMONG THE estimable authors to ‘make the cut’ in Des Kenny’s recent lively compendium of 101 Irish Books You Must Read, is Sligo-born Jack Harte.

Kenny described Harte’s 2006 novel In The Wake Of The Bagger as “one of those beautiful books that you pick up and simply cannot put down until you have finished the very last word”. Kenny was not alone in lavishing praise on Harte’s novel and the author’s latest publication, Reflections In A Tar Barrel (Scotus Press) has recently been released to an equally enthusiastic reception.

Alabama 3 prove they have the rockin’ ‘Ability’ to help

Thu, Nov 27, 2008

His name is Larry Love, and despite his husky voice and somewhat vulgar tongue, his name says a lot about the man. I am enthralled as he expresses, with unashamed passion, why he and his band, Alabama 3, a group you may have heard of once or twice, are coming to Galway next month in aid of the Irish charity Ability West.

Boy from the Black Country

Thu, Nov 27, 2008

THE BLACK Country in the English West Midlands - so called because of the Industrial Revolution and the outcroppings of the coal scarring the soil black - is concentrated in and around the cities of Birmingham, Coventry, and Wolverhampton.

Fundraising concert for Luis Asturias

Thu, Nov 27, 2008

LUIS ASTURIAS is a Spanish musician who has been living in Galway for the last 12 years. He has played with many local bands and songwriters and has been a member of some of the city’s most exciting original rock outfits.

The many comedic identities of Jason Byrne

Thu, Nov 27, 2008

AS PART of the Irish comedy explosion in the 1990s Dubliner Jason Byrne emerged as a high-energy in-your-face new act. Over he next decade he was to become one of the biggest touring acts in Ireland and Britain and his RTÉ series Anonymous - which featured Ronan Keating, Glenda Gilson, Hector, and Samantha Mumba in various disguises - proved to be a big hit with viewers.

Shakers Restirred returns to Town Hall

Thu, Nov 27, 2008

LOCALLY BASED Blue Pig Theatre Co are in the Town Hall studio next week with a welcome revival of their hit staging of John Godber and Jane Thornton’s uproarious comedy, Shakers Restirred.

Flamenco superstar Jose Parra to perform in Black Box

Thu, Nov 27, 2008

THE INTERNATIONALLY renowned virtuoso flamenco ‘cantaor’ José Parra returns to Galway for a concert at the Black Box on Saturday December 6 at 8pm.

Detroit punk’n’soul from The Dirtbombs

Thu, Nov 27, 2008

DETROIT HAS given the world sweet soul music through Motown and the genesis of punk with The Stooges. For The Dirtbombs, it was natural to combine the two musics spawned by their home city.