Found this great iPad app for those times when you can’t think of what film you’d like to watch. It’s on the App store as Discovr Movies. Recommended.

Once upon a time in Ireland (1962 to be exact), it was the theft of Christmas trees that made headlines. In the Ireland of 2011, it’s the theft of a baby Jesus statue that grabs our attention.

Love this old video, especially halfway through when the Sergeant says “element of surprise”…

There’s a big debate on The Journal about Fine Gael hosting their new cybertastic website in the USA. Brian Dobson asked Enda Kenny all about it on the Six One news this evening. I couldn’t believe that this got an airing on prime time television to be honest. All things considered, it’s hardly of national importance and certainly not a question to ask the leader of a political party. What Fine Gael really need to do is publish a breakdown of costs for the new site and show exactly how much is being spent outside Ireland on hosting. I’ll bet it’s a pretty small percentage of the total spend.

What’s that saying again? Something about fiddles and Rome?

A number of years ago I sang the tenor part in the local choir’s production of Stainer’s Crucifixion. I don’t have a recording of me singing it, so here is someone else singing “The Majesty of the Divine Humiliation” instead. I get butterflies in my stomach any time I hear it, recalling how I felt before singing it in front of a 400 strong audience.

Listening to it now and reflecting today on a lot of things.

Here’s the video

I’m taking a guess that it’s for Disneyland Paris which has a New Generations festival running from April 2^nd. Seeing as lastminute.ie are promoting it on their website and the the young_kubrick is Sean Og LAST – they might be asking youngsters to make a video to win a trip to Disneyland Paris.

Probably totally wrong though. What do you reckon it’s for?

Watch this. 37 minutes you won’t regret. Stumbled on it earlier. It is amazingly relevant to the top news story today and the reaction to it.

Video above I posted on my posterous account earlier. The guy at 21 seconds is clearly Irish and does an impression of Borat for the camera. RTE crew had to have copped on that he was taking the piss. Funny guy though.

I stumbled on a post by Big Mental Disease about the parade in Durrow. Blink and you’ll miss it but it looks like the guy playing Tiger Woods for the day has “blackened up”. Is this a total no no nowadays? Is there not a free pass for it on a day when the world goes round wearing leprechaun costumes and shouting “top o’ the mornin’ to ya” ?

This new ad from Fáilte Ireland has grown on me. The music, by The Heathers, is a great choice – dynamic, energising and different from what you’d expect in an ad like this. With hotel prices in Ireland now the cheapest in Western Europe, there’s never been a better time to take a break at home. The fun definitely starts here.

Trocaire’s Lenten campaign this year has a clear message :

“A hungry child cannot learn. A hungry aduly cannot work. But it does not have to be this way. Over the years, we have seen first hand how a little can make a huge difference.”

Don’t know about anyone else, but the above ad running on Television at the moment has to be one of the most powerful I’ve seen in a long while.  It is a simple, unexpected, concrete, credible and emotional story. That’s the SUCCESs Chip and Dan Heath talk about in their book, Made to Stick. (PDF of the SUCCESs model here )

The TV ad is backed up by equally effective online banner ads such as this one on the Irish Independent website.

One user left a reply on the TV ad on YouTube saying :

This ad has to be one? of the best ads not only Trócaire has ever made, but of any Irish charity. The reason I say this is because it was the first of these ads that actually made me give a donation.

Can there be any higher praise for a campaign than that?