Interesting question in the “Notes & Queries” section of the Guardian today.

“Why do we enjoy re-reading books and watching films we have seen before, even though we know what the plot/ending is?”

It provoked a number of interesting answers but they were mostly observations on the person’s own experience. For example :

“I enjoy re-reading books…. Each time I re-read a book the characters become better drawn as do the relationships between them”.

One person replied that :

“Some of us derive more pleasure from books and films that we already know than from those that are new to us. This is because time is a condition of existence that can be difficult or problematic, involving as it does perpetual transition from a known past to an unknown future..

Experiencing a creative work with which we are already familiar lifts the condition of time from our existence, by allowing us to enjoy a sequence of events that moves from a known past into a known future… so, revisiting our favourite entertainments can feel like a glimpse of heaven.”

I think it’s a bit more basic than that. It’s the pleasure/pain principle. If reading a particular book or watching a particular film lifts us to a different level, the pleasure and reward part of the brain releases chemicals that make us feel good. It makes sense that we will seek out the thing that gives us pleasure.

Not everyone re-reads books or watches the same film time and again. I can only hazard a guess that those who do so have an addictive personality.

Or maybe that explanation is a load of hogwash too - and we do these things “just because”? Who knows…

I rarely re-read books. Other than Danny the Champion of the World and Diving Bell and the Butterfly, I really can’t think of any others.

When it comes to films and tv - I definitely have an addictive personality as I’ve watched (among others) Star Wars, Lord of the Rings trilogy, Shawshank Redemption and The Office a good number of times and enjoy them all.

One of the respondents in the Guardian suggested the question should have read : “Why do men enjoy re-reading books and watching films they have seen before”.

She said that:

“men cannot multitask, so any distraction, however small, while reading a book or watching a film will send their minds into a spin… Think about it - do you know any woman who regularly buys box sets or watches the ‘director’s cut’ at the end of a DVD?”

Don’t think the phenomenon of watching a good film a number of times bypasses the female of the species. Or, maybe it does, and the ladies are too busy eating chocolate which satisfies the pleasure part of their brain

So, are you a re-reader/re-watcher and what film, tv show or book do you return to for some nice familiar comfort?

Looks like you might be a new visitor to le craic. If you like what you see here and fancy some daily diversions delivered to your favourite feed reader, why not click to join Club le craic. Go raibh maith agat! Thanks a thousand!

I meant to post about this a week ago – better late than never though.

Pix.ie partnered with the Festival of World Cultures in Dun Laoghaire towards the end of August and set up a special group on the site for all the photographs taken over the course of the festival.

This blog post on the site shows a sample of the many wonderful photographs. The colours literally burst off the screen and are a sight for sore eyes. Even though I wasn’t at the event, I can almost hear the drum beats and feel the rhythm of the music.

The winning photograph of all those taken is this one:

A wonderfully captured image by Barry Delaney, with many more superb photographs on his blog too.

New blog on the block

Yes, we’ve all survived the big meltdown, but will your business card?

Remember the last networking event you attended? When you handed your business card out, did you get that sinking feeling it would just end up as a toothpick?

Or how about the first visit to a client you wanted to impress. Did you arrive to meet them groomed to perfection, oozing with confidence only to feel slightly sheepish about handing over a less than impressive card?

Maybe your business card already rocks around the clock, but you’d like to have a few extra special ones for really special events.

I might just have the answer for you. Metal business cards. I’m testing the waters to see if it would be worthwhile offering metal business cards for sale.

If you’d like me to make you some FREE sample cards (pack of 10), all you need to do is leave a comment below. I have 10 sample packs to offer. You will get 5 gold cards and 5 silver ones. They are regular business card size, with diamond cut edges (so you won’t cut yourself!), and they are lovely, shiny and impressive.

You will need to provide me with a scan of your current business card so I can make up the samples for you (I’m not designing cards for free too!).

If there are more than 10 comments I will do a random selection. If there are less than 10, well that will just beat the can of shite.

Happy end of world survival day

UPDATE 1st October 2008 : The results are published here

What’s your favourite TV show of all time?

That’s the question the RTE Guide is asking at the moment. They are on the hunt for Ireland’s 100 Favourite TV Shows as voted by you, me and everybody else.

As the blurb on the website says :

Over the past few weeks, the RTÉ Guide office has been the scene of much feverish activity as our entertainment team, with the aid of contributions from industry insiders, has been compiling the following long list of programme titles. Battle lines were drawn according to taste, age and gender but when the dust had settled, we were left with almost 350 TV shows that have made their mark on audiences over the past few decades.

If a show you like isn’t on the list, there’s an option to add it – so there should be no complaints about it being representative of the Donnybrook mavens.

For the record here’s my nominations.

Comedy:

The Young Ones, The Office (UK), Some Mothers Do ‘Ave Em, Father Ted, The Royle Family, Only Fools and Horses, Scrubs, Family Guy, One foot in the Grave.

Oh – Black Books isn’t on the list – if you like it, add it in. I think it’s a bad oversight.

Drama:

The Sopranos, Pure Mule, Prison Break, Ballykissangel (stop it now, guilty pleasure), The West Wing, This Life (loved that show)

Soap:

Meh – gave a nod to Glenroe as I used to watch it and remember the theme tune heralding the end of the weekend and school the next morning.

Sci-Fi/Fantasy:

Star Trek, The X Files, Planet of the Apes, The Twilight Zone

Sport:

PASS

Detective/Mystery:

CSI, Starsky and Hutch, Magnum PI, Moonlighting, Hart to Hart, NYPD Blue, Miami Vice, Hawaii Five-O, The Streets of San Francisco

Mini Series:

Jesus of Nazareth, Roots, Holocaust, V, The Lakes

Documentary/Factual:

Today Tonight, Prime Time, The Full Circle with Michael Palin, Tomorrow’s World, Planet Earth, Life on Earth, Around the World in 80 days

Lifestyle:

The Restaurant

Entertainment:

Reeling in the Yers, X Factor, Gladiators, Six Million Dollar Man, Parkinson, Charlie’s Angels, Top Gear, MacGyver, Noel’s House Party.

Quiz:

Blackboard Jungle, WWTBAM, University Challenge, Weakest Link, Krypton Factor, Quicksilver

Kids:

So many choices but opted for just one – the legendary Blue Peter - still have all the annuals.

The remnants of Hurricane Hanna will skirt by the Northwest coast on Thursday, but the wind today makes me think it’s already here! If I was Michael Fish, I’d say something like “don’t worry your pretty little heads, there is no hurricane coming”.

Image from Stormpulse.

The Weepies just might be my new favourite group. Watch/Listen. The definition of Catchy.

Wow, I’m stunned. TV3 have a competition that doesn’t involved sending a text to enter + it’s actually a great prize.

Welcome to the Ireland AM Book Club.

Each month Mark Cagney and Sinead Desmond will sink their teeth into a featured novel, chewing over its storyline, dissecting its characters and weighing up its style and entertainment value.

Helping them to get to the heart of each book will be two expert panellists, the award winning Irish novelist Anita Notaro and the outspoken broadcaster George Hook.

Viewers will also be treated to author interviews, background features and a terrific monthly prize. The Ireland AM Book Club aims to be Ireland’s best all-year round Book Club.

The competition each month asks viewers to write a 100 word review of the book choice. One winner will get to visit a Hughes and Hughes book shop and pick out 100 of their favourite books. There is a * on the website that says ‘terms and conditions apply’ – so I’m assuming you can’t walk in and pick out expensive hardbacks when there is a paperback available too. I don’t know, I’m just guessing.

This months book is ‘The Private Lives of Pippa Lee’. Think I’ll give this competition a go as it’s a fabulous prize.

More at the Ireland AM website.

And for a bit of gas. Here’s Jim Jim of Colm and Jim Jim fame talking a load of gibberish to Mark Cagney when he had a chat show.

Maybe you’ve found yourfaceblog already but if not, take a shufty on over there and take a look.

The blog’s owner says:

Real people don’t read your blog.

A fact that I wasn’t made aware of when I signed up for these things; It now seems so obvious.

If you are reading this and you do happen to be a real person then why not send me a photo (one which includes your real face) and I will draw a picture of you and post it here to serve as everlasting proof that sometimes facts are wrong.

It’s a real gem. I sent my photo ages ago but I’d say he is swamped with faces, so it hasn’t appeared.

You might have better luck if your face is more interesting than mine! It’s worth sending a photo anyway.

Let me know if your face appears on the blog!