Ken McGuire

Author: Ken McGuire

  • Collusion & The Great Hunt

    I’ve mentioned at some venture before that (or at least I’m pretty sure I have) that I’m delighted to be surrounded by and work with a bunch of very creative individuals in Kilkenny. Two of those individuals and some more friends got together recently under the banner of Thankless Films to great the two shorts below.

    Both were filmed and directed by Dave Minogue with whom I’ve shared the stage with once or twice over the last ten years and both were also scored by Alan Dawson who I’ve been working with through Kilkenny Music over the last four years and have collaborated with on many a musical project. If you’re interested in having your film work scored, I’m sure he’ll only be too happy to speak to you. The results, are below.

    Disclaimer: Be advised, some content in the videos may offend. Questions and comments to Thankless Films on YouTube.

    Collusion

    La Grande Chasse De L’aÌ‚ne Amende

  • Beaten Up For My Love Of The Arts

    Ken McGuire plays the Superintendent

    If you believe the above photo, I’ve been beaten up for my love of the arts. Or more for the honour of performing with the DTC actors again in our production of Accidental Death Of An Anarchist which opens next Wednesday night in the new Set Theatre on John Street, Kilkenny.

    We’re (as in The Devious Theatre Company) taking our next production to the new 252-seater space for a five night run commencing Wednesday December 2nd and wrapping Sunday December 6th.

    Written in 1970, Accidental Death Of An Anarchist was inspired by events that took place in Italy in 1969 when an anarchist, Giuseppe Pinelli fell – or was thrown – from the fourth floor window of a Milan police station. He had been accused of a campaign of bombing, of which he was later found innocent. The resultant scandal uncovered a system rife with corruption and intensified public rage at the government. Intensification of public rage is something that Dario Fo is a master of with his work challenging church, government and the authorities in Italy for over 50 years.

    Accidental Death Of An Anarchist takes place as an enquiry into the anarchist’s death is causing the policemen involved to have some difficulties remembering the details of the event. That is, until a nameless deranged madman shows up and proceeds to tie the authorities around his fingers in a master class performance of utter logic. The cast includes Alan Butler, Sean Hackett, Simone Kelly, myself, John Morton and David Thompson playing the famed role of the shape shifting Madman. Having previously donned the director’s hat for Trainspotting (2008), John finds himself wearing it again for this production (and also the followup with Fo’s Can’t Pay? Won’t Pay! next spring)

    As is usually the case with adaptations of Dario Fo, this production will look at the events of the play through the prism of modern Ireland and the corruption and scandals inherent in our own political systems. Employing the comedic methods of commedia dell’arte and slapstick as used by Dario Fo, Accidental Death Of An Anarchist is an uproariously funny farce which rallies against political injustice and corruption.

    To mark the occasion of the opening of the new show I’ve got two tickets sitting here on my desk that I would like someone to have. They’re for the opening night of the show on Wednesday coming and if you would like a chance at winning the tickets, leave a comment and tell me which Italian playwright penned Accidental Death Of An Anarchist. We’ll leave things run until tomorrow evening perhaps, say 5pm tomorrow (Friday) to try get a winner.

    The show itself runs nightly at 8pm, doors open 7:30pm, we’ve priced tickets at €12 for some very affordable theatre and they can also be bought from Langtons on John Street, Rollercoaster Records on Kieran Street (Kilkenny) and online via DeviousTheatre.com.

  • The Day I Scored For Ireland

    I haven’t enjoyed a Fifa game in a while, that is until Fifa 10 came along. It rekindled my interest in the game, rekindled my interest in Xbox Live, and furthermore introduced me to the social side of the game with the ability to upload videos and screenshots to the EA Sports World site.

    Following last night’s defeat against France in Paris, I continued my Be A Pro first season, earning a callup to the Ireland reserve squad. Taking to the pitch away against Slovenia, it’s nice to bang in a goal on your international debut. Particularly one that hasn’t been taken from inside the box. Long distance goals just seem to be a rarity.

    It is a pity though that the sharing side of the game is only available to Xbox Gold members but it’s not bad encouragement to work on your skills and then show them off online. By the way, I’m @mcguireken on Xbox Live.

  • Kilkenny Open Coffee November

    Creme De La Crepe 101509Th
    Creative Commons License photo credit: vmiramontes

    The November meet of Kilkenny Open Coffee takes place tomorrow morning at 11:30am at the Kilkenny Cafe in Market Cross Shopping Centre. (Map here). I’d missed last month’s outing, being away with Devious Theatre, but you can read John Keyes’ writeup here to give you an idea as to what took place.

    Kilkenny Open Coffee has been running since January this year; we’ve had some great discussions, some very busy mornings, some very quiet mornings, but no matter what the topic, it has constantly made for a great way to spend a few hours on a Wednesday morning. The gathering has grown in terms of regular attendees over the course of the year with matters business, technology, web, social and otherwise on the table for discussion. We’ve heard new business ideas, seen new product demos, listened to and shared advice and experiences, all the time making new contacts and new introductions.

    If you’re in business, considering starting your own business, have a product to show off, a new idea to run by an interested audience, or you just want to get out of the house or office for a coffee and meet people in a similar workspace, then join us at the back of the Kilkenny Cafe tomorrow morning from 11:30am. The tea is plentiful, the wifi is free and you’ll be back in the office in time for lunch.

    Visit KilkennyOpenCoffee.com or check out Kilkenny Open Coffee on Facebook and Twitter.

  • Stags, Hens and Copy Cats

    If imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery, then I’m guessing we should be very flattered by the following.

    The Original – Devious Theatre Company

    Stags and Hens by The Devious Theatre Company

    The Copy – Waterford 2009 Production

    Stags and Hens (rip off)

    Myself, John, Paddy and Kev had spent the full day working on this photoshoot with the photography, artwork, colour scheme, actor setup, the whole shebang coordinated by our own (as in Devious Theatre’s) Paddy Dunne. Did they rip off his name too (note photographer: Paddy Dwan, too funny)?

    Genuinely amused, albeit pissed off at seeing something ripped off.

  • Even The Sheikhs Are Tweeting

    Sheiks on Twitter

    How do you, as ruler of Dubai, send your congratulations on the launch of an e-library? By tweeting, of course.

    His Highness Shaikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai (very long title) is keeping people updated on government issues, business issues, a recently taken photo of Dubai from NASA, videos of the Dubai metro launch (was under construction the last time I was here but has opened as of last month), which are also available on his Facebook account.

    I’m impressed.

    “The Istanbul-based Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA), which is affiliated with the Organistaion of Islamic Conference (OIC), has one of the most valuable references on the Islamic civilisation. This includes 65,000 rare reference books and 200,000 historic documents and images on the Islamic civilisation dating back to many centuries.

    The project which was launched in 2008, aims to digitise all of the library’s contents, making its valuable resources available to the public through a multi-lingual portal.”

    The turning of the library into a full e-library is being made possible with a grant from the Sheikh. (via Gulf News)

  • Flickr Unavailable

    Flickr Surf Safe

    Guessing the holiday snaps won’t be going up on Flickr this time around. I’m convinced I was able to upload them this time last year but but the TRA and its Internet Access Management Regulatory Policy has outfoxed me this time. (If you’re in the UAE and try to click the Flickr link above you’ll be presented with a very large version of the above graphic)

    I was wondering as much when I spotted some of my daily blog reads with vacant real estate on screen. Signing into the Flickr uploader won’t work either.

    Thankfully it looks like there’s no problem with Pix.ie. Looks like that’s where the holiday snaps are headed this year.

  • Is On Holiday

    Dubai

    After a hectic weekend between Sligo and Dublin (for the Irish Web Awards), on Sunday night I hopped on a plane to Dubai, a holiday long talked about but only booked a week ago today. The opportunity to get away and do nothing doesn’t arise all that often.

    I managed a long weekend in Amsterdam this March, a precursor to “the wedding” in Portugal, where I hadn’t told anyone I was working with at the time that I was going and as a result continued to work for all but one of the days I was there. This time around, it’s a bit different.

    Coming to Dubai for the ten days or so gives me the chance to do nothing. I’ve been here before, covered a lot of the tourist activities so if all I get to do is sit around the apartment for the day and watch TV or read through Gulf News or The National, then that’s perfectly fine by me.

    It’s been a serious transition year for me work-wise, it’s been an incredibly busy year for me theatre-wise. I had to stop ordering books from Amazon as I haven’t read more than the first chapter in each book since the beginning of the year. I’ve stopped one magazine subscription and I’m close to stopping another as it’s taking me a month to get to taking the magazine out of it’s plastic postage wrapper. This past weekend was also the first in at least six months that I’ve been able to see the family en masse in Sligo such is the way things have been going.

    Of course in the rush to get out of the country I left behind my headphones, sunglasses and camera. I actually can’t remember a break I’ve taken away where I have remembered to bring headphones with me. I’ve sourced a new camera here, a nice Canon Ixus 120IS so I can grab some photos so (to the family), I’ll have shots to bring home with me.

    I’m letting things slow down, slow right down as in ten days time there’s projects to finish and launch, two theatre productions to oversee and a whole lot more on the cards.

    But they can wait a week or so, right?

  • The Long Goodbye To Vultures

    Here’s the final installment of the current Vultures series, The Long Goodbye. Whether or not it’s the last we’ll ever see of the Vultures gang remains to be seen but needless to say, it’s been an entertaining two years to get the show to its current stage.

    The trailer can be seen here or immerse yourself for 40 minutes or so and enjoy episode 7.

    For more on Vultures, and all previous episodes, trailers and character information, check VulturesPI.com.

  • The Long Goodbye

    The trailer for the final installment of Vultures has just hit the web. We were treated (we as cast and crew) to the screening of the final episode last weekend and followers of the series online only have to wait until next Sunday (October 4th) to find out how everything comes together…

    …or will it?

    Check out VulturesPI.com in the build up to the release or follow the VPI crowd on Twitter.

  • That’s A Wrap On Vultures

    On Saturday night I went along to The Left Bank in Kilkenny for the private cast and crew screening of Vultures episodes six and seven, Attack Of The Pinkertons and The Long Goodbye.

    After two years of work, it’s great to see the series come to its conclusion. I could be slightly biased in that I’ve been involved in some of the episodes either on-screen or providing locations for shooting but behind the scenes when you look at the mammoth amount of work that was done, the minimal budget that was used to produce the entire series and the talents of those involved, you can’t help but be in awe. Vultures is produced here in Kilkenny by Mycrofilms.

    Above is episode six, Attack Of The Pinkertons, featuring a cameo from myself (“Got any change?”), with episode seven set to hit the web early next month.

    For this and all previous episodes along with trailers, character development notes and more, check out VulturesPI.com.

  • NFL Game Pass Falls On Week 1

    NFL Field Pass

    Outside of prepping Devious Theatre for two productions still to come this year, returning to the autumn podcast schedule and work in general, I’ve been spending the last week or so getting set to return to football blogging. American Football that is. Of all the things I’ve written about and taken an interest in over the last four years, the NFL is the one I felt I shouldn’t have stopped on, but did.

    Flash back to last week and the 2009 season just a few days away from kick off (it officially started on Thursday night), I subscribe to NFL Game Pass HD, the NFL’s answer to video on demand for all games, every team, including access to the NFL Network and their new Redzone TV channel, and all for the princely sum of around €190 or so.

    Day one, no problem. Day two, no problem. I get to watch some NFL Total Access shows over Friday / Saturday. I dip into the 2008 archives and stream the Steelers and Titans from Week 16 of the 2008 calendar, all in full-screen high-definition streaming quality. Impressed – most certainly.

    Then comes yesterday, I settle in to watch Game Day morning TV, the show streaming in advance of the lunchtime starts in the US (6pm Irish time). Bengals vs Broncos my game of choice before switching to Redzone TV to geet flash updates and footage from all games. I’m five minutes in, click to switch to Redzone TV and the console crashes. Hmmmm. Possibly the Windows machine at fault, so I reload, get myself back in the game. Two minutes later, it crashes out. And thats it. 7pm rolls by, 8pm rolls by and nothing. Whatever about US users having the luxury to watch the games in the evening, we’re five hours ahead and the rest of Europe heading further into the night.

    No video access, no radio access (I’ve a Field Pass radio account as a back up) – nothing. No explanation either apart from an eventual graphic, displayed above. Boards.ie users weren’t too happy and I’m hoping, having made a season-long investment, that the NFL have some serious backup plan and this isn’t the level of service on game day we can continue to expect.

    That said, when service was restored a few hours later (late enough for me to catch the final TD score in the Bengals and Broncos game), uptime was maintained and quality never suffered. But for an organisation the size of the NFL, with subscribers paying a fee of that size in advance for their services, on the opening day of the season, surely we’re allowed to expect better.

  • That New Home Workstation

    New home workstation

    So there were a few people asking for a photo for the recent DIY job I did in the house, namely in putting a new workstation into one of the rooms here.

    Et, voila.

    Moving office late last year I wound up with a large desk (one I had originally custom made to fit the first office) that wound up be recycled to construct this one. The desk itself went up in a day, the shelving and stands on the desk itself cut from the old desk top (made to order by a gifted Sligo carpenter) and the rest was down to myself.

    I’ve been producing a series of podcasts for the Kilkenny Arts Festival this week so fitted the retractable mic stand to the desk this week to finish things off. Turns out to be a great workstation for the audio / video combo, with the PC (right) used more on the entertainment front (music, streaming video etc.)

    The artwork on the walls are pretty much all from Devious Theatre productions.

  • Turn Around (Short Film)

    It’s been a summer of media and arts and video work for me, particularly of late, and Ross Costigan is no different. Having released his special fx test shoot / short The Game earlier in the summer, he’s gone and produced another one entitled Turn Around featuring himself and Dave Minogue.

    If you like what you see, let him know by leaving a comment at YouTube.

  • Blogging The Arts Festival

    Xi and Si

    The Kilkenny Arts Festival, now in its 36th year, opened on Friday night and for the duration of the festival I’ll be hiding out over on the festival blog, with myself and John Morton making contributions to the festival content manning the blog / Twitter and video output until Sunday the 16th.

    For me personally it’s a fantastic way to see the festival, having missed out on much of last year’s offerings due to our own (via Devious Theatre) commitments to producing Smitten (2008). Friday took in Aleksandar Madzar, Aka Moon and Black Machine opening to a weekend featuring RSAG, Julie Feeney, Amiina and much more. Throughout the week I’ll be attending a myriad of theatre, music, visual arts, crafts and literature events and working on bringing those to the web for the festival.

    If you’re attending anything at the Kilkenny Arts Festival or talking about it on Twitter, there’s also the #kaf hashtag that’s currently being used to track festival chatter online. If you do manage to spot me at an event, be sure and say hello.

  • Kilkenny Open Coffee Wednesday August 5th

    IMG_6537.JPG
    Creative Commons License photo credit: jwalsh

    The August outing of Kilkenny Open Coffee takes place tomorrow morning (Wednesday August 5th) at 11:30pm and we’re back in the Kilkenny Cafe at Market Cross for tomorrow’s gathering.

    Last month we had a nice sized meetup in the Kilkenny Rivercourt Hotel but given recent unreliable twists in the weather, we’re taking to The Meeting Room at the rear of the Kilkenny Cafe.

    For those of you traveling from outside Kilkenny City, check here for a map.

    You can now follow Kilkenny Open Coffee on Twitter.

  • The Janine Drew Agency Opens

    So, the Janine Drew Agency has opened its doors, the wee junior detective looking to make her stamp on the industry by competing with the likes of VPI and the Pinkertons. She’s even on Bebo.

    The above is the Janine Drew trailer, a precursor to Vultures episode six which should see a release within the next fortnight. After that, there’s only one left. So if you’ve got problems with people robbing your bike, saying stuff about you or shams throwing things at you, Janine is your woman.

  • One Down, Four To Go

    Stags and Hens

    So, the past few weeks heave been spent getting ready for Stags and Hens with The Devious Theatre Company. I’m a co-founder of the company, a producer on the show and play the role of Eddy (the violent best man), so the last few weeks have been testing to say the least.

    Last night though, it all kicked off. One down, four to go.

    The only problem with doing this part time is that you spend six weeks in rehearsal for a show, maybe another two months of top of that in pre-production, and it’s all over in under a week.

    So for the next few days, you’ll be able to find me enjoying performing in Stags and Hens at the Watergate Theatre in Kilkenny. If you would like to join myself and the rest of the Devious Theatre crew and check out the show, tickets are available from the Watergate box office on 056-7761674 or by calling in person to the theatre from 10am each day. If you want to find out more about the show itself, check out the DeviousTheatre.com blog or follow @devioustheatre on Twitter for daily updates and snippets from the wings during the show.

    We’re back on the stage tonight at 8pm.

  • Stags And Hens Trailer

    More video for you this week (with more likely to come at the weekend). This time it’s the trailer we’ve just release for Stags And Hens, taking place at the Watergate Theatre in Kilkenny from Tuesday July 21st to Saturday July 25th. Next week we’re going to start giving away a few tickets for the show as well so if you want to be in with a chance of winning, you best get to following @devioustheatre on Twitter. Facebook ads kick in this week, more character promo posters get released, more mentions in the press, it’s full steam ahead.

    The first of our video diaries went live earlier in the week as well, you can check it out here or keep an eye on DeviousTheatre.com for all the developments on the show.

  • A Peek Into Stags & Hens

    The above was cut together last night for The Devious Theatre Company, the group (of which I’m involved in running) currently up to their neck in rehearsals for Stags & Hens at the Watergate Theatre, opening on July 21st. The video and audio were captured on a Sony HDR-SR10 with 5.1 audio, all shots captured last Thursday night (July 2nd) and woven together in Final Cut Express on the Mac. Title screens and name overlays added as PNGs to the process. Music underscoring the piece is a recorded instrumental version of Superstition by Stevie Wonder. Running time is just under three minutes.

    We’ve also cut together a nice teaser trailer which will hit the web this week, thanks to Alan Slattery at Mycrofilms.

    You can find out more about Devious Theatre by visiting DeviousTheatre.com. We’ve got a few more of these diaries to release over the next two weeks and when I’ve got more, you’ll have more.

    If you’re in Kilkenny this weekend, join us for a Devious Theatre 70s night party and fundraiser (fundraiser being there will be buckets doing the rounds if anyone wanted to make a contribution to the theatrical cause). We’re taking over Cleere’s in Kilkenny, the entire place, adding some serious 70s music, fancy dress, food, disco ball, the lot. Kick-off is 9pm.