USA and 'soccer'

Let's be honest, all jokes aside, the USA had a pretty good World Cup tournament. While I might muse that three players- Donovan, Dempsey and Howard- are the entire team, they did infact top the group England called EASY (lol). The USA proved they were a decent team, and seemed to attract the support of the US public, even if it is a sport they call 'soccer' and remain highly suspicious of.

But if the USA ever wonders why the rest of the world refuses to take it seriously in footie terms they might be well advised to avoid printing headlines like this...

The Obama Jacket

I meant to write about this over a month ago but I'm only remembering to do it now. It's interesting so still worth writing about!

When I spotted this ad in Times Square early in January it struck me that something was a little off... Obama looked quite relaxed and casual so it didn't seem like the government had erected this billboard. Closer inspection revealed this billboard was actually an advertisement for a clothing company!

Located at the corner of 41st and 7th Ave in the centre of Times Square this billboard created it's fair share of controversy. The billboard showed a picture of President Obama at the Great Wall during his November 2009 visit to China. He appears to be wearing a Weatherproof jacket, which the company called the 'Obama jacket'.

When this advertisement went up over the door of Red Lobster on January 6th it instantly attracted attention. The main question being: can a company really use the President for advertising purposes? That question doesn't have a definitive answer it seems. The White House commented there is 'a longstanding policy disapproving of the use of the president’s name and likeness for commercial purposes'.

Still the Weatherproof dragged their feet on the matter for a few days, presuming to lap up the ensuing publicity the affair was creating. The New York Times reported Weatherproof President Freddie Stollmack as saying 'not being an attorney — I’m being, really, a designer, merchandiser guy in the apparel business — I would leave that to the attorneys or whatever. We’re not saying President Obama endorses Weatherproof apparel'.

Discussions held the following week resulted in the company agreeing to take the billboard down, as a goodwill gesture to The White House.

However, the ad proved it's worth even in one week and Weatherproof got even more than they'd hoped for. And really it's a publicity stunt even audacious Micheal O'Leary would be proud of.

IRISH TIMES GO SUPPLEMENT 13 FEB 2010

Some advice if you’re heading for New Orleans

HAVING CELEBRATED its first Super Bowl win last weekend, New Orleans is on a high that will make this year’s Mardi Gras even more colourful than usual. This weekend the city will be decked out in the traditional festival colours of gold, purple and green, adding even more vibrancy to the Big Easy, aka Nola and the Crescent City. (Whatever you call it, you should pronounce it Nu Orlins if you want to sound like an authentic southerner.)

The Big Easy is extremely compact, and you’ll likely stay at a hotel within walking distance of everything you will want to see and do. We stayed at the Country Inns Suites, on Magazine Street, and paid a very reasonable $400 for four nights.

Canal Street marks the entry point into the French Quarter for most visitors. It’s also home to a place many visitors will recall: Louisiana Superdome. In the weeks after Hurricane Katrina destroyed the city, in 2005, thousands of locals sought refuge in the arena. Half a decade later it’s clear that New Orleans is making a strong recovery. What’s more, sports such as rugby and lacrosse are growing in popularity, as young people return to the city with skills learned in the places they temporarily relocated to after the devastation.

Your first stop in the Big Easy should be Café du Monde, to taste New Orleans at its best. A stone’s throw from the Mississippi, in the French Market area, this cafe has been serving coffee and beignets since 1862. Served three at a time, beignets – pronounced ben-yay – will tantilise every taste bud. These square doughnuts are reportedly best with milky coffee, but I found hot chocolate a good complement.Visitors to New Orleans will find a lingering urge to revisit Café du Monde, so it’s good to know it’s open around the clock every day except Christmas Day.

The French Market sells everything you might want to own or eat in a Mediterranean setting. The oldest city market in the US, it has been in operation since 1791.

Across the street you’ll find artists lining up their work on the railings of Jackson Square, and if you ask nicely they might even do a piece of work for you while you wait. A statue of Andrew Jackson, seventh president of the United States, is the main focus of this square, which is overlooked by the impressive 18th-century St Louis Cathedral, the oldest continuously active Catholic church in the US.

A walk back towards the Mississippi will bring you to the waterfront area. The steamboat Natchez stands in its red and white finery at the nearby dock. The oldest original vessel of its type on the Mississippi, it now offers lunch and dinner cruises. Having taken the $64.50 (€47) dinner jazz cruise, I would guess that the lunchtime cruise, at $24.50 (€18) – and an extra $10 for lunch – is likely to give you more bang for your buck.

In New Orleans you need to think more about what to eat than where to eat. Besides beignets, seafood dishes abound, as does Creole cuisine. Dishes you’re likely to see on menus include thick, spicy étouffée stew, gumbo seafood stews and po’boy sandwiches. If you’ve space left, try bananas Foster; the fruit is fried in butter, brown sugar, dark rum and banana liqueur, then topped with vanilla ice cream. Good stuff.

As New Orleans is the home of jazz, you should catch one of the free performances in the French Market. The jazz scene is just one aspect of the city’s vibrant nightlife; Bourbon Street throbs with revellers on weekend nights. Make sure to try a strong, fruity hurricane cocktail – first mixed in Pat O’Brien’s French Quarter bar.

I’m not normally a fan of guidebooks’ further-afield pages, but just a few minutes outside New Orleans lie the natural wonders of the bayou. We took a Grey Line tour with an experienced guide who pointed out alligators, turtles and raccoons from the safety of our flat- bottomed metal boat. I won’t spoil it by revealing the guide’s final card, but let’s just say you get a chance to experience the creatures of the bayou up close and personal by the end of the tour.

Go there

Aer Lingus (aerlingus.com), with its partner jetBlue, flies to New Orleans from Dublin and Shannon via New York. Delta (delta.com) flies via Atlanta from Dublin. Its Shannon routes opens in May.
mardigrasneworleans.com

To tell us where you’ve been, e-mail go@irishtimes.com

(my own photo is above, a different photo was used in the supplement)

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/travel/2010/0213/1224264307022.html

Bye Coco... it's been great

Conan O'Brien has ended his run as host of The Tonight Show, after a mere seven months in the hotseat. O'Brien took over the role of host in the summer of 2009 when Jay Leno stepped down and took an earlier slot with his 'Jay Leno Show'. But ratings soon began to slip for both the Tonight Show and the Jay Leno Show.

Rumblings of problems within NBC became public several weeks back, with a nasty battle airing all over the airwaves. The issue of O'Brien's hosting of the Tonight Show emerged following rumours that NBC affilates were threatening to pull the Jay Leno show from their schedules, due to the dismal ratings. Feeling trapped, NBC apparently decided to throw the decision to the public and allowed the nasty tit for tat battle to work itself out in the US media. Ironically though, both Leno and O'Brien remained professional throughout the mess, preferring to take shots at NBC rather than each other. However, it became increasingly clear as the weeks progressed that O'Brien was not going to emerge as the winner.

O'Brien agreed an exit deal with NBC on Thursday, gaining $30 million in his back pocket for this straining experience. His also made sure that his production team were well compensated. O'Brien was reportedly concerned his staff should be well compensated given that they had all moved themselves and their families from New York to LA just seven months ago. His deal paved the way for $12 million dollars to be divided between his 200 strong team.

Despite the ongoing negotiations this week, the Tonight Show proceeded, but with a sense that the end was very near. Celebs dropped to show support, but there was the added backdrop of the disastrous situation in Haiti as symbolic of 'real problems' outside of this entertainment bubble. Nonetheless O'Brien, Leno and guests of the shows have thrown a fair few jibes NBC's way. Thursday night guest Robin Williams got in on the act, telling O'Brien, "You've only been host for seven months, It's an annulment. Except you got screwed."

Tom Hanks, Neil Young and Will Ferrell joined O'Brien on his last night as host of the Tonight Show. Steve Carell of the Office joined O'Brien for an 'exit interview'. A clearly emotional Conan gave these parting words as the show closed at 12.30pm EST on Friday night;

'Making this choice has been enormously difficult.. I do not regret one second of anything'. Despite the extremely difficult time O'Brien has had at the hands of NBC in recent weeks he remained upstanding and professional, and most of all genuine;

'I've worked with NBC for over twenty years... I'm enormously proud of the work we've done together and want to thank NBC for making that possible'. He continued "this is the best job in the world, I absolutely love doing it ... I did it my way, with people I love and I do not regret a second. I've had more good fortune than anyone I know."

Getting increasingly emotional he urged fans of the show, especially younger viewers, not to be cynical stating 'Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen'.

Will Ferrell closed out the show with a singing/comedic performance, as Conan and the house band accompanied. Leno will resume hosting of the Tonight Show on March 1st. O'Brien is free to begin work at any network from September 1st, and early reports suggest he may move to Fox.

It remains to be seen whether NBC can recover from the disastrous publicity it brought on itself in recent weeks. While it's often said any publicity is good publicity, this might just prove to be the exception to the rule.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Avatar and UP win at the Globes

8.02pm
The 67th Golden Globes are officially underway in Los Angeles, in the international ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Unusually for LA, rain has been plentiful on the red carpet tonight. Ricky Gervais, creator of the Office is hosting tonight's festivities! He's just pointed out that Steve Carell gets all his ideas from Gervais ideas. The NBC fiasco of late has already been mentioned by the not so subtle wit of Gervais 'let's get on with the show before NBC replace me with Jay Leno').

8.07pm
Nicole Kidman presented BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE, it goes to... Mo'Nique, for Precious... who said 'thank you God for this amazing ride'

8.11pm
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES, COMEDY OR MUSICAL goes to...
Toni Collette, for United States of Tara

8.20pm
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION goes to...
John Lithgow, for Dexter

8.22pm
'Animation is not just for children, it's for adults who take drugs' says Paul McCartney as he presents the award BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM... it goes to...
UP

8.33pm
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES, DRAMA goes to...
Michael C. Hall, Dexter (seriously competitive category; the other nominees were Simon Baker for The Mentalist, Jon Hamm for Mad Men, Hugh Laurie for House and Bill Paxton for Big Love).

8.37pm
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES, DRAMA goes to...
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife (her first win, but previously nominated six times for roles including her long run as Nurse Hathaway in ER)

8.42pm
Harrison Ford (looking decidedly uncomfortable) introduces Up in the Air

8.45pm
Cher and Christina Aguilera present the award for BEST ORIGINAL SONG.. it goes to...
"The Weary Kind," Music & Lyrics by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett (Crazy Heart)

8.48pm
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE goes to...
Michael Giacchino, Up

8.55pm
BEST MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION goes to...
Grey Gardens

8.58pm
Tom Hanks introduces Julie and Julia... and makes a jibe at Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci and Alec Baldwin and then says 'hey everybody can take a joke!'

9.00pm
The lovely Colin Farrell presents the award for BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE, COMEDY OR MUSICAL, it goes to...
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia (she was also nominated in this category for It's Complicated)

9.10pm
Helen Mirren introduces 'Precious'

9.12pm
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION goes to...
Kevin Bacon, Taking Chance

9.13pm
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Drew Barrymore, Grey Gardens (she was seriously flustered- acting maybe?!?!?!)

9.21pm
Cameron Diaz introduces It's Complicated

9.24pm
Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston present the award for BEST SCREENPLAY... it goes to... Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air

9.26pm
Ashton Kucher and Jennifer Gardner present the award for BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES, COMEDY OR MUSICAL.. it goes to...
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock (not present to collect award)

9.36pm
Samuel L Jackson introduces Sophia Loren (who gets a standing ovation). She presents the award for BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM which goes to...
The White Ribbon (Germany)

9.37pm
BEST TELEVISION SERIES, DRAMA goes to...
Mad Men

9.45pm
Taylor Lautner introduces the most realistic movie of all time '500 Days of Summer'

9.47pm
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION goes to...
Chloe Sevigny, Big Love

9.51pm
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

10.04pm
Leo DiCaprio and Robert DiNiro present Martin Scorsese with the Cecil B Demille Award

10.13pm
Jodi Foster introduces the Hurt Locker

10.15pm
Ricky Gervais 'I like a drink as much as the next man, unless the next man is Mel Gibson'
Mel Gibson presents BEST DIRECTOR
James Cameron, Avatar

10.20pm
BEST TELEVISION SERIES, COMEDY OR MUSICAL goes to
Glee

10.25pm... The Hangover boys and Mike Tyson introduce The Hangover

10.27pm... Reese Witherspoon presents the award for BEST MOTION PICTURE, COMEDY OR MUSICAL... it goes to...
The Hangover

10.33pm
Arnie introduces Avatar

10.36pm
Mickey Rourke presents BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA... it goes to...
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side

10.40pm
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE, COMEDY OR MUSICAL goes to...
Robert Downey Jr., Sherlock Holmes

10.48pm
Kate Winslet presents BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA... it goes to..
Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart

10.57pm
Julia Roberts presents the big one - BEST MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA - it goes to...
Avatar

James Cameron 'this is the best job in the world, give it up for yourselves, we make entertainment for a global audience, that's what the Golden Globes mean'.... 'Avatar tells us all human beings are connected to each other, and we are all connected to the earth'

Spotted:
The Edge, Justin Long, Pierce Brosnan, Joshua Jackson,

Funny how some people are rushed off the stage in seconds, and others (like Meryl Streep) can ramble for as long as they want! Equality but much!!!

NOW TO THE OSCARS!!!!!!!!!

Devastation in Haiti

Many New Yorkers have been left reeling from this morning's earthquake in Haiti. Some sources estimate there are 122,000 Haitian's living in New York City alone. New Yorkers have been attempting to contact relatives in Haiti, but reports say telephone coverage has all but been wiped out due to destroyed phone towers.

The earthquake, measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale, hit about 10 miles southwest of the capital Port au Prince at 5pm on Tuesday. It was followed by a series of strong 4.5 aftershocks. The quake was the worst to hit the region in 200 years with initial reports suggest thousands have died with no upper limit on the potential loss of life.

Trusted and reliable organisations that spring into action are being challenged in the face of this disaster. The UN's office in Haiti was destroyed in the earthquake, with up to 140 staff missing and others confirmed dead. Among the confirmed dead are chief of the UN mission, Hédi Annabi.

This video was aired by CBS news this evening and shows the aftermath through amateur video



Doctors Without Borders have said their and other medical facilities are badly damaged and non functioning. Make shift clinics have been set up to cope with the surging demand for medical care. MSF's Stefano Zannini, on the ground in Haiti, said 'I visited five medical centers, including a major hospital, and most of them were not functioning. Many are damaged and I saw a distressing number of dead bodies. Some parts of the city are without electricity and people have gathered outside, lighting fires in the street and trying to help and comfort each other'.

Meanwhile Denis O'Brien owned Digicel, which provides mobile telephone services in the Carribean island, has pledged $5 million towards NGO's involved in rescue and relief efforts.



(map from New York Times)

How to Rest in Peace

CSI, Law and Order, Criminal Minds etc are all extremely popular shows on Irish and American television. This is a really great documentary from NPR in Chicago which was aired as part of This American Life in 2007. It tells the story of people for whom murder has been all too real in their lives. Well worth a listen.

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1331