what is flagrance?

Fla´gran`cy . The condition or quality of being flagrant; atrocity; heinousness; enormity; excess.

Flagrance is good! Once upon a time Barra and David decided that if we were to create our own fragrance, we would call it 'Flagrance'. The idea being that it would be flagrantly expensive and flagrantly nice smelling. Well, we don't know how to develop, manufacture, and market a fragrance, so we have made a blog instead. Deal with it!

Friday, March 30, 2007

Catchphrase



What a great show. Just say what you see!

Crrrrrrazy Commies

Che

EmbassyIn Cuba, the name of the game is full-on, unabashed, flagrant propaganda. Cuban television stations are mostly political. Apparently Castro used to go on television regularly and make 6 hour long speeches. According to our tour guide, Castro is in the Guinness Book of Record for the longest speech! I saw President Chavez of Venezuela doing the exact same thing on television while I was there. The museums are all very biased, telling how Castro single handily won battles etc.

FlagsThe most interesting propaganda is, of course, about the United States. Around the US embassy they have erected big billboards. One says that Bush + an anti-Castro Cuban terrorist living in Miami = Hitler. Another shows an American trying to scare a Cuban and the Cuban laughing at him. There was a billboard for a fake movie called The Assassins starring a hilariously photoshopped George Bush and the same terrorist guy. The U.S. Embassy which was near my hotel was surrounded by police, we weren't even allowed to stand around outside for more than 30 seconds.

Vampire BushNot to be outdone, the U.S. is getting its own propaganda in. They have cheekily erected a scrolling text screen on the top of the embassy building which comes on at night. Apparently it tells 'the truth' about Castro, such as how he is making large investments in Venezuela while Cuba suffers.

EvilOf course, Castro was not about to just sit by and let the Americans pollute the Cubans minds with this nonsense, so he erected a load of huge black flags on on enormous flagpoles which fly in front of the embassy and block the text screen when looking from a distance. As a result apparently many Cubans climb onto the rooftops of their buildings to read the screen.

Lifestyles of the Rich and Flagrant

Toronto
I guess I'll give you guys a quick guide as to how the holiday went:

Toronto was alright. The highlight of Toronto was probably seeing 300 on a 6 storey imax screen in high definition. It was an experience of such flagrant sensory overload that it pretty much literally blew my mind. They really need to bring the imax back to Dublin (but no more fish documentaries narrated by Sting!). I arrived in Toronto on a Friday night, but the downtown seemed to be pretty dead at night, there was no buzz around the place.

Small Havana SquareCuba is where the real action is. The place is so feckin good. People are great, Havana is great, it's just so much more interesting than Toronto. Old Havana is beautiful but crumbling. Even though they have restored some of the buildings in Old Havana, they seem to mainly only restore buildings in the tourist areas.

VinalesCuba has the friendliest people I've ever met, they seem happy and look healthy but in reality are ridiculously poor. The rations the people get are a joke, e.g. 5kg of rice a month, enough meat for 1 meal per month, 1 bar of soap a month, 1 tube toothpaste per family per month, and anything between 5-10 dollars a month depending on job. In 1992 a second cuban currancy was created, which US dollars/euro etc is exchanged into. These Cuban dollars can be used in the various shops, hotels, restuarants, supermarkets. There is basically a very small capitalist economy within the communist system. The problem is that the only way for a Cuban to get Cuban dollars is either to have relatives in the US sending money, or working around the tourist industry getting tips. A 2-tier society has been created, consisting of those who have access to Cuban dollars and those who don't. Everybody needs to have them in order to supplement the useless rations that they get, so people in rural areas struggle the most. Remember farmers aren't allowed to eat the food they produce. They live on rations just like everyone else.

National HotelAs a result of this crazy situation, all the well educated people have tried to move into the tourist industry. For instance, apparently there is such a shortage of teachers that they've cut the training period for a teacher from 6 years of University in-order to teach 1 subject, to 6 months training to teach 8 subjects. Apparently today many of the teachers are poorly educated 18-20 years olds, so the standard has really dropped. The average Cuban seems very well educated though, and I couldn't believe how much English was spoken, considering the countries political isolation. One can still get their child a decent education if they secretly send them to an ex-teachers house for private classes. But of course people have to pay for it with scarce cuban dollars.

VinalesWhat really made the holiday though was that we met a guy named Carlos. He was our private tour guide of Havana on our 2nd day there, he was really interesting and honest, he even showed us his own house. He's a former state prosecutor who has moved into the tourist industry. Hes a cool guy and he really helped us out. Carlos basically became our personal guide for the whole holiday. Thanks to him and his 'contacts' we saved money in pretty much everything we did, like moving into the National Hotel (which has had a ridiculous amount of cool celebrities stay there since 1930, Marlon Brando, Fred Astaire, Nat King Cole, I can't remember them all. Strangely they seem to most cherish Michael Keaton. Can't argue with Batman!!), saw Bueno Vista Social Club, and he and his wife took us on a trip out to an amazing part of the countryside called Vinales. Vinales was probably the most beautiful place I've ever been to, it was full of glaciated valleys. I felt like I was in Jurassic Park.

Randomly staying in my hotel was that dude Ade Adepitan. he's the black guy who does the wheelchair hiphop dancing on the BBC between programs. I think he was also a paralympic basketball player for Britain.

Old CarI had a great time, especially in Cuba, probably one of the best holidays I've been on. I'd recommend it to anyone. Although its definitly not a perfect place, my opinion of communism has improved a lot (from a very low base!). There is a strong community, its safe, the people clearly have an easy going lifestyle, and in fairness its by far the most stable country in the carribean. Oh and I have to mention the cars. Many of those old 1950's cars were in fantastic condition. What I was suprised by was the amount of the old Soviet Ladas, they were EVERYWHERE. And I have to admit, the Ladas don't even look that bad anymore. Infact, I'd love to have a lada. In my opinion they were so legendarily shit that they now should be regarded as the musthave retro-icon of 1980's flagraliciousness.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Flagrant Fighting



This is the best unedited fight sequence ever. Its four minute clip where Tony Jaa kills people in his newest movie The Protector. I'm pretty certain that at least four stuntmen die in this scene. And hey, If you are going to commit homicide, why not throw them off a balcony just like your hero Tony Jaa. Enjoy!

Monday, March 26, 2007

Flagrant Footing.



Its been a long while since I've posted anything, uploading videos has been problematic to say the least, when david gets back it will be sorted. I've got some sweet clips to show you, think ninjas.

In the meantime I'm happy to annouce that they finally made a real Justice Jogger (check the earlier post on this site called 'Power Stepping Acion'), now you too can look just like superman when you stomp all over villains, this beast easily dominates the footpaths and is a sure thing to attract the Lay-deez. The HUBO-FX1 is controlled by a joystick and can carry anything up to 220lbs. Anyone fatter than that will have to use their real legs.

(I edited the photo just a little, somehow they forgot to put on the superman insignia).

Friday, March 16, 2007

Flagrant Flying.



This post has nothing to do with anything interesting, you probably should'nt even be reading this. Nevertheless i feel that it is important that i share this video with you.
Notice anything odd?

Thursday, March 15, 2007

The old switcheroo!

I don't think I need to explain how global warming is an issue surrounded in flagrancy. The idea of being willing to destroy our own planet in order to achieve short term gain is a deliciously flagrant attitude and I can't help but love it.

Unfortunately, even the most flagrant of people (i.e. David and Barra) will admit that the planet is probably worth saving. So I have happily jumped on the Al Gore bandwagon in his mission to save us all from evil greenhouse gases.

However, some rebels have created this documentary that basically says its all gravy and lets just continue partying. Its called "The Great Global Warming Swindle". It was shown on Channel 4 last week and got a reasonable amount of attention. I have not yet seen the documentary but since I'm going away I thought I'd post it now rather than wait. You may or may not agree, and it may just be a gay distraction from the real issue, but its always fun and flagrant to be a skeptic, am I right? Yeh I'm right!

You talkin' bout kooba?


This is just a post to let you guys know that I'll be gone for the next few days. This weekend while you are on Grafton Street, having glass bottles lobbed at your head by some poverty-stricken cetlic-jersey-wearing yobbo, I will be sippin' mojitos on the beach with my Cuban comrades (flagrancy!). Unfortunately for me, this means I will have to spend literally all of Friday either in a plane or an airport.
As if that wasn't bad enough, these lovable commies are already trying to hustle us so we will more than likely be looking for a new hotel as soon as we arrive in Cuba. You would think we could do this before we leave, but the Cuban tourist industry has yet to fully embrace the internet.

Luckily, I will be able to cleanse my mind of any nasty socialist ideologies that I pick up, because on my way home I will get to spend some time in one of the great bastions of capitalism, O Canada.

I'm gone from Friday 16th to Tuesday 27th. Barrie will hopefully keep on bloggin', and I'll let you know how I get on.

The Flagrant Future



What future am I blogging about? Why, the future of your Home Entertainment System, of course!

OK, this may be a random one - but I find it interesting! Let me tell you why I'm talking about it. I recently set up a wireless network between my laptop and my PC. It was suprisingly easy. The network allows me to do various things wirelessly, but best of all, it gives my laptop access to all the music and videos on my pc. My music library is fully accessible, yet not a single music file ever gets stored on my laptop. I can even play the same song on the pc and the laptop at the same time!

Alright. So What?
Well, all this got me thinking - what else could I do with a network? I realised that if I were able to hook my laptop up to our main television (which I cant), then I could watch the episodes of Prison Break and Heroes that I downloaded on a proper television. Which I'm sure is something a lot of people would like to do! And its also the point of my post - because I think 2007 will be the year that the barrier between your computer and your television is broken.

This machine is basically a massive hard drive that is connected to your TV. The sweet thing is that it also connects to your wireless home network, so you can transfer all your music/pictures/videos/movies onto this hard drive and it becomes your home media hub. If you had surround-sound, you could listen to your music using those speakers.

Similarly, AppleTV will be a set-top box that stores the music and tv shows you buy and download from the iTunes store and lets you watch them with your TV. Apple aren't the innovators though because such media hard disks are already common and you may already have one! The Xbox 360 IS a home entertainment centre! Theres nothing stopping Xbox live becoming another iTunes, and the 360 connects to wireless home networks.

There will be more and more of these boxes, and more and more online stores. Wouldnt it be cool if you could download full movies? That would be true TV on demand. You could use little hand held devices to play your music in any room. Anyways, I can't wait to set up my first home entertainment system! Flagrance coming out the yingyang!

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Power Stepping Action


Superman is undoubtably amazing, he is super strong, has vision powers (x-ray, heat, telescopic, infra-red, and microscopic vision), super hearing and superbreath, finally, he can fly so fast that he can actually make the earth spin backwards and go back in time. He sounds great doesn't he.......
Superman, however, lacks the the will power to walk or even break into a jog to chase down villains, and so the Justice Jogger was born.
Theres not much more i can say about this, the picture really is self explanitory, its a perfectly Flagrant example of when toy designers run out of ideas, so much that they create a toy that defeats the purpose of the character that they are based on.

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Movies Movies Flagrance

I've found a sweet website today - www.movinflicks.com

It's basically just like alluc.org except that it is dedicated to movies and it is much better organised. It does have a TV section but it is tiny compared to the TV stuff over at alluc.org.

And since this is the blog that keeps on giving, theres another site I found at www.peekvid.com. Peekvid is exactly the same as alluc and movinflicks. Its probably good to know more than one site because if an episode of a show is missing from one site, it'll more than likely be on one of the others.

Friday, March 9, 2007

Flagronomics

Okay, at first glance economics and flagrancy may not look like easy bedfellows, but I think the excellent MP3 interview below shows us how economics are often used in an atrocious and heinous manner.

The interview is with John Perkins who has written a book called "Confessions of an Economic Hitman". He basically tells the story of how he was complicit in a policy of corrupting and indebting developing countries. The interview is long; more than 20 minutes but its interesting right from the start.



If there is a problem with the embedded player above then click here to download/listen.

Flagrant Paintballing.

Thats right folks, a new era has dawned upon the art of war, or in this case the art of hitting your opponent with high speed paint. The thought came to me after I had gone Paintballing at 'Skirmish' in Roundwood. I realised that I hate that shitty forest. If it so much as drizzles, the ground soaks the water up like a sponge making the worst kind of mud possible. Losing your shoes to the mud is the least of your problems when paintballs are flying past your head. Its the same thing everytime you go to any paintball game, this is because they are always in the woods in the middle of nowhere. you have to battle the elements as well as your opponents, and so, i have the solution.......Urban Paintballing.

It would be perfect. In a huge warehouse, numerous indoor scenarios could be made, with tight corridors and different entry points to small housing like structures. There would be no problem of stray paintballs hitting any passers by because it would all be enclosed in a warehouse. This also gives the owner a chance to locate near or on the outskirts of a town, for example, Bray would have tons of space (and by tons i mean square miles). No more hour long drives out to the middle of nowhere. This would be the ultimate form of Flagrant Paintballing.

Thursday, March 8, 2007

Wastes Rejoice

Its Sonic Bitches

Ladies and gentlemen I have just found the holy grail of flash games! You know what its like when you've got an essay to do or an exam to study for - you find yourself playing the most retarded online flash games, desperately avoiding the shitty work. Well from this day forth, we wastes will no longer have to resort to the lowly depths of pacman and miniputt...

You know, I think Sonic is an appropriate first 'proper' post on this blog, as he may just be the epitome of early-mid 1990's flagrancy. He's a blue hedgehog, moves really quickly, collects gold hoops (knacker), and just doesn't give a damn how many monkeys and crabs he has to kill along the way. Hero!

To play: click on sonic, or click here (both open new window).

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

Complete Flagrance

Here is the first post on our new blog. At the moment I'm trying to figure out how I might customize the blog to make it more sexy.