Entertainment

Music, Cinema, TV

Through Irish Eyes, A Year On.

After 9 episodes of Through Irish Eyes, the series is now coming home.

The brainchild of Georgia TV producer William Collins Parker and Videographer Ashley Henderson has led me as the only Irish news reporter in local US television on many an adventure.

From Line-dancing to shooting guns and red-kneck wrestling to College Football, “The South” has shown itself to be a rich and diverse haven of culture and humor.

Next Month the series will focus on Irish Culture rather than that of American.The aim is to showcase Ireland at Christmas to the viewers in North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama. Albeit 4200 miles apart their are many similarities and differences between both worlds.

Christmas is both a religion and family focused occasion for both societies yet the focus on materialism in the US as recently highlighted by “Black Friday” differ from that of the west coast of Ireland, famous for its “12 pubs of Christmas” and seasonal drinking and music.

For More Information On Our Adventures check out,

http://www.wdef.com/content/primenews/irisheyes/default.aspx

Florida’s Dolpin Paradise on Key Largo

Further along from Key West on nearby Key Largo, Dolphin Plus says that they have had a British Intern. The unique dolphin sanctuary and exhibition center is at the heart of dolphin preservation and support. With visitors from across the world, Nancy Cooper is delighted to welcome visitors from Europe who are often not exposed to the creativity and abilities of dolphins.

With millions of visitors and dozens of music requests from Scotland as well as stunning scenery, it is no wonder the small islands only 90 miles off the coast of Cuba are attracting attention among the home nations.

Chattanooga Aquarium

Chattanooga Jellyfish

Decided to see what this famous Aquarium was all about.

It’s divided into River and Ocean sections and features specialist areas for Butterflies to Penguins.

Bit pricey but you do get a whole days enjoyment and wonder out of the place.

Worth the hype I must say, impressive feature piece to add to a stunning waterfront.

The otters seem to attract significant attention and are highly energetic.

I did interviews in both areas one with Turtles.

The other with penguins who seemed uninterested in my presence.

Their entire focus seemed to be on attaining food from the wall behind them.

Smoky Mtn Wood Carving

Spent time at a Flea Market on way to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburgh in Tennessee.

One local crafts man tells me why his form or making a living is dying in the US and across the developed world.

Where once people took up wood turning and carving he has found over the 40 years of working in the field he has less and less competitors for his goods yet interest is still high.

Made in the USA: A 30 Day Journey, The Film

When documentary maker Josh Miller’s father-in-law lost his job he responded with the intriguing film, Made in the USA.

The film is a response to those who say that industry is dead in America, with the global recession swallowing job after job across the heartland of America and sending Europe into turmoil, Miller feels that the “American Dream” is still alive.

The film charters 30 days of his life where he will live off just American produced products and speaks to industry heads and those who are now jobless about how to stimulate employment in rural America.

One of those industry leaders is Michael Araten CEO of toy manufacturer K’NEX. Mr Araten informed me in a recent interview that he feels that being featured in the documentary will raise hopes and spirits regarding the state of US manufacturers. The plastic toy is on the rise and Araten believes that it will also inspire the next generation of American scientists, engineers and designers.

With Made in USA currently in post production it emphatically states that it is a film that is neither Republican or Democrat but for the jobless regardless of political affiliation.

The film has significance for those of us in the UK as employment hits record numbers and possibly lessons can be learned from Miller and his film from across the water.

New Software IdeasLog planning to succeed

An application that helps to plan your life, your business commitments and act as a social networking tool, this surely cannot exist!

Yet one young Irish web developer is the driving force behind a piece of software that promises to do just that.

Finn Krewer a Phd student at the University of Ireland in Galway is co-creator and developer of ideasLog.

The concept behind the planning application is to enable managers and those with significant personal, business or commercial strains to plan effectively and maximize their time.

Sample plans are provided as templates and are easy to follow and utilize and users can also offer their own planning models. ideasLog is available cross platform and described by Mr Krewer as “lean, smart and highly adaptable to everyday life”.

There are 200 active users already with over 2000 plans created and the team behind ideasLog spear-headed by Krewer hope that in the next twelve months the number of active users will reach well into the 1000’s.

Only time will tell if the application that claims to make your life and work easier and more effective can potentially plan our futures.

Full interview at http://www.mixcloud.com/james-p-mahon/ideaslog-creatorwebdeveloper-finn-krewer-interview/

Youtube Sensation: Fishing Under Ice: Exclusive Interview

Fishing Under Ice

Many Youtube videos in the past few years have been popular but none
have captured the world’s imagination quiet like a Finnish video
uploaded on Jan 4th. The clip shot at Lake Saarijärvi in Vaala, shows
what the name suggests which is three men Fishing Under Ice. The
sub-aqua shoot is just under four minutes long and has been viewed by
over half a million people around the world per day since its upload.
In an exclusive interview the director Juuso Mettälä told me that the
idea came about during lunch break chats with his friend Eelis Rankka
who plays the underwater fisherman. He said that it was a simple
decision who would fish as he was the one with the camera. Mr Mettälä
said that the optical illusion of the entire shoot having the
fishermen walk upside down feet to the ice “takes a while for some
people to realize what is happening”. They shot the video in March and
April of 2011 and Juuso says “two videos were made and there are more
coming”.

Juuso is surprised by the huge interest in the video as diving under
frozen lakes is normal in Finland and admits that both himself and the
divers are flattered by the comments that Youtube viewers have left.
He also would like to add that he is grateful for the comments from
talented photographers and said that it would take a lot of time to
respond to all requests and viewer’s comments so he doesn’t do it. The
polite Finn and his remarkable video has drawn a world audience to the
remote area that has a population density of just 8 people per square
kilometre. The people of Saarijarvi can already claim Baywatch’s
Pamela Anderson as a descendant but for now the worlds audience is
awaiting more marine videos of a different from the talented Mr
Mettälä and his diving fisherman Eelis Rankka.

JPMTV UK Beginning.

The Interviews. Lives Less Ordinary

After twenty odd written articles to this blog site and collection of rants i have decided to go slightly more visual and now

on youtube.com/JPMTVUK will show a series of interviews i am conducting in the UK with people who live lives less ordinary.

Currently on the page is a two part interview with two Mormon missionaries sent to England to spread the word of their church.

Recently added is a short interview with a former Kashmir Tv presenter currently living in the UK. I will slowly push the boundaries with the interviewees as the weeks and months go by and if you have any ideas dont hesitate to drop me a mail on either

Facebook: James P Mahon

or twitter: @JamesPMahon

I am also aware the editing and audio visual quality is not mind blowing but bear with me and i will improve on the technical side, the interviewing ability and the quality and strangeness of the interviewees.

Thank you all once again.

New written articles to come on http://www.jamespmahon.com and weekly on the www.thenufcblog.com

James P. Mahon

Irish TV Anchor/Reporter, Lecturer and Author