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29 Feb 2012

No going back now for the worst name change in the history of theatre

When it was frst announced that the Grand Canal Theatre had signed a sponsorship deal that would see it's name changed to the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, I winced. And perhaps in a couple of years, we locals will have gotten so used to it that we won't notice any more and it'll only be tourists who wince on hearing it (and can't you hear American tourists pronouncing it the Bored Gays Energy Theatre) but for now, this doesn't improve my image of Bord Gais, it actually diminishes my image of it as a company. It's such a horrible name it seems disrespectful to theatre in general. Our name at all costs! Couldn't they have found a compromise name that acknowledges their sponsorship but doesn't sound so awful?

But anyway, this is what Penny and I saw on our walk today.

theatre | dublin
Comments 10

29 Feb 2012

Banksy on advertising

I'm often in two minds about Banksy - or at least about the kind of status he has aquired. I like his work generally but sometimes I'm a bit cynical about the way his fun work gets elevated to "high art" and the ensuing squabbles over money and who owns what bits of whose wall etc.

However, sometimes I want to shake his had, for example after reading this spot on piece about advertising:

(via thisisnthappiness)

people | ideas | ads
Comments 1

29 Feb 2012

This year's Oscar winning animated short

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, which won the Oscar for Best Animated Short at the weekend, blends stop-motion with computer and traditional hand drawn animation in an homage to the power of books.

animation | short film
Comments 1

28 Feb 2012

Anyone for tennis? OK, how about a quiz then?

Dublin's gay tennis network, Out2Tennis, is holding a pub quiz tomorrow evening, Wednesday, in Pantibar so if you're a leg man...

The quiz is part of the fundraising effort for the GLTA (The Gay & Lesbian Tennis Association) Masters tournament that is happening in Dublin over the May Bank Holiday weekend, May 5th to 7th. This is the third year that Out2Tennis has hosted a GLA tournament in Dublin and this year is one of only two European Masters events on the GLA 2012 calendar.

Quiz starts at 8pm, and costs €40 per team of four... ish!

To book a table in advance e-mai info@out2tennis.com, or else just turn up.

pantibar | sport
Comments 1

28 Feb 2012

Penny for your thoughts

She hates being interrupted when she's multi-tasking.

penny for your thoughts
Comments 4

28 Feb 2012

Australia - equal parts brilliant and fucked up

This ad for Australia's Central Institute of Technology is brilliantly not at all what you expect from an ad for a third level educational institution. And its dark comedy is what made it go viral - nearly two million views in two weeks. Apparently the two comedians in it are graduates of the college and are already popular on YouTube. Watch it through to the end.

(thanks Declan)

ads | world
Comments 0

28 Feb 2012

My hometown is in the news again

The last time my hometown of Ballinrobe Co Mayo was in the news was when a bull ran amok in a local supermarket and the video went viral around the world. But this time Ballinrobe is in the news because a dozen men armed with "slash hooks" ran amok in the local church this afternoon during a Confirmation mass for 90 school kids, chasing and attacking a man in who was attending the Confirmation.

The report in the Mayo News says the incident is "believed to be the result of an ongoing feud between two families in the area" and though it doesn't say so, I assume it's a feud between two Traveller families. Ballinrobe has a large Traveller population, but I assume it's a Traveller feud simply because of the reference to "slash hooks". I have never ever heard the term "slash hook" in my life except in reports of Traveller feuds. What exactly is a slash hook anyway, and why would someone have one? I think settled families would be more likely to use baseball bats or a shotgun or something. I know a few queens who could do you some serious damage at a Confirmation with a stiletto, but I don't think most queens would know a slash hook if they sat on one.

The other thing in the report that jumps out at me is the fact that "armed Gardaí were on the scene within minutes". What were armed Gardaí doing hanging around near a Confirmation mass? Unless they suspected there might be trouble maybe.

Jaysus. Ballinrobe has gotten fierce wild altogether so it has.

Slash-hook attack causes chaos at Ballinrobe Confirmation

(thanks Donal)

random | crime | personally panti
Comments 2

28 Feb 2012

I haven't used soap in over a year and my skin has never been better - and I don't smell!

This weirdly feels like I'm admitting something shocking when in fact it's the most natural thing in the world - we've just forgot.

I haven't used shampoo or soap in over a year. I still have a shower every day of course, but I don't use any soaps or detergents.

Well, with some small caveats. I still use soap on my hands for hygiene reasons - especially when it comes to preparing food - and very very occasionally I have used a little to remove, say, sticky suntan lotion after a day at the beach, or maybe paint after a bit of DIY. I also occasionally use a face scrub or face cleanser, especially after drag make up. And twice I couldn't bring myself to refuse the head massage and the touch of his fingers that comes with a shampoo from the drop-dead-gorgeous junior at my hairdresser's. He's so dreamy.

It shouldn't, but it felt like a big thing to do. We are so bombarded by ads for huge multi-nationals who make money by playing up our fears of being smelly that the thought of simply washing every day with hot water is terrifying. We've been made paranoid that we'll be pungent social outcasts, surrounded by a cloud of our own fetid stink. But of course the truth is that most of those fears are groundless.

As soon as I gave up soap my skin improved almost immediately and has never felt and looked better, and my hair too is as clean and healthy-looking and manageable as it ever was. In fact it's noticeably more managable than it's ever been. A shower takes half the time it used to and instead of bottles of shampoo and conditioners and body washes, my gym wash-bag contains a single cloth.

And once you stop using them, all soaps and shampoos - even the fancy ones - smell over-poweringly chemical and cloying and sweet.

So why did I try it? Well, mostly it was on a whim. I had read a few times over the years the supposed benefits of giving up shampoo and had tried it half-heartedly a couple of times, especially when I was wearing my hair very short because shampoo always seemed a bit redundant then anyway. The theory is that shampoo strips the natural and necessary oils from your hair - the very stuff that makes your hair shiny and healthy and glossy looking - and we than immediately try to replace it by using conditioners. And it's unnecessary. If you stop using shampoo and simply rinse out the dust or any other accumulated environmental dirt with warm water, in a couple of weeks your hair will regain it's own natural balance.

Of course if you are addicted to using thick wax or other extra-sticky styling products in your hair you may not be able to give up shampoo.

But more than the shampoo it's the giving up soap that I have found most remarkable. One day, just over a year ago now, I stumbled across a blog post (I wish I could remember where so I could link to it but I have no idea now) from a guy who had given up soap and was extolling it's virtues, and without giving it much thought I just stopped using soap that day and have never felt a need to go back.

First let me dispel the obvious worry - no, I don't smell! When I first kicked the soap habit I didn't tell my boyfriend of the time because I wanted a totally honest opinion on whether I did start to smell and not one prompted by his - or my - expectations. I didn't tell him for almost three months, and during that time he never complained about a Panti-pong and in fact on a number of occasions he commented on how nice I smelled. And neither have any of my no-bullshit friends who would just love to tell me I smell! The truth is we don't need to slather ourselves in chemicals to be clean. Hot water is enough. I do sometimes use a little deodorant because it's hard not to be a little paranoid and better safe than sorry. I figure it's a small compromise. And of course if I'm going out and want to smell special I'll use perfume.

Like your hair, your skin needs the natural oils it produces, and those same oils are stripped away by soaps and washes - which we than try to replace with lotions and moisturisers because we get dry skin. As I said, I gave up soaps almost on a whim, and if you had asked me previously if I suffered from dry skin, I'd have said no. But as soon as I stopped using soap I realised I had suffered from dry skin. Suddenly I noticed that those tiny patches of rough or dry skin that I had always assumed were totally normal and natural and unremarkable and simply part of having skin - I used to have them at the tops of my arms especially, and occasionally on my hips - were not in fact normal and natural and part of having skin, because they disappeared almost immediately. It wasn't until they went that I even really registered that I' had them in the first place. And now, my skin feels smooth and soft and totally clear. And clean. And so much more kissable! No more tongue coated in greasy pungent chemical goo for the lucky fella who's tonguing me.

Now giving up shampoo and soap does take some getting used to. At first I missed that just-out-of-the-shower-and-smelling-all-floral-and-zesty feeling. But like anything, after a while you don't even notice - and as I said already, after a while all soaps smell cloying and fake.

Also, I imagine if you have long hair it would be harder to deal with the couple of weeks it takes for your hair to find it's balance. And I don't know about chemically treated hair.

But apart from the better skin, there are other benefits. For starters there's the cost - apart from a couple of bars of soap for my hands and a scrub for my face I haven't bought any shampoos, conditioners or body wash - and a lot less hair products - in over a year.

Showering is a much quicker, less hassle affair. My gym wash bag contains a scrubbing cloth, and a face moisturiser. I still want an SPF on my exposed and girlishly delicate visage!

Anyway, I'm not telling you all this to proselytize or convince you to try it. It may not be for everyone. But if you suffer from dry skin, or just don't like the idea of lathering yourself in chemical concoctions every day, then maybe you should consider giving it a go. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

P.S. I also these days rarely use shampoo on Penny anymore. She never liked it anyway, but I also noticed that her coat also doesn't really need it. Even if we go for a walk in the rain, and I towel dry her after, I notice her coat is immediately cleaner and glossier. So now I usually just give her a rinse with warm water rather then shampooing her. And she's happier about that too.

personally panti
Comments 19

28 Feb 2012

Have you seen Steven Spielberg watching the 1976 Oscar nominations?

And discovering that he wasn't nominated for Jaws.

What strikes me - despite Jaws being overlooked, which is crazy because it's magnificient - is the quality of the movies from that year that get mentioned. Do you think The Artist, The Help, The Descendants, Hugo or The Iron Lady or any of this years big movies will resonate thirty five years from now the way Dog Day Afternoon, Nashville, Amarcord, Jaws, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest do now? I don't think so.

movies | people
Comments 2

28 Feb 2012

Kylie's orchestral rerecording of On A Night Like This

Celebrating 25 years in the music business, Kylie rerecorded some of her biggest hits in the famous Abbey Road studios with a full orchestra, and she has released a video to go along with On A Night Like This.

people | music
Comments 1