PRODS AND POM-POMS

Prods and Pom-Poms from Höoptedoodle Films on Vimeo.

Trailer for PRODS AND POM-POMS
To be released in 2009
55min Digi-Beta/DVCAM

This the story of a group of cheerleaders from Sandy Row, a loyalist area of Belfast, Northern Ireland.
The film traces the lives of the coaches, parents and members of the cheerleader squads, as they prepare for a regional competition in Glasgow 2008.

Directed by: Ben Jones & Paul Hutchinson
Producer: Paul Hutchinson
Camera: Ben Jones
Interviews & Sound: Paul Hutchinson
2nd Camera: Chris Beck
Additional Sound: Andy McDonagh
Music by: Stray
Höoptedoodle Films © 2008

A year in the making, many late nights filming cheerleaders screaming, laughing, crying, eating, performing, fighting, smoking, swearing, parading, traveling and a bit of dancing thrown in.
The film is being screened in 10 days at the QFT Belfast, mainly a private viewing for the cheerleaders, the coaches and families and a few own family, friends & colleagues.
The end of the road as far as production is concerned but hopefully just the start of the journey for the film itself as we will be sending it far and wide across the globe to enter in film festivals and hopefully broadcast.
So if you haven't had a personal invite don't take offence, we only had 40 seats left once we fitted in the Cheerleading clan.
Hopefully coming to a screen near you anyways and there will be a DVD release.

Vinyl Update

Artist> NEBRASKA
Album> MIXED UP MUSIC FOR MIXED UP PEOPLE
Label> DOWN LOW US
Format> VINYL
Release> July 2008

Key track> 'Vicarious Disco'

Definitely a favourite for the moment, fits in with the onset of autumnal colours, dusky trips home from work dreaming of European winter destinations and glass shrouded architecture.
Most of the music is constructed as filtered cut and paste disco without the OTT production, but grafting the best breaks, basslines and snipped strings into abstract house and instrumental hip hop.
Actually bought this by mistake thinking I'd just bought a 12" cut of 'Vicarious Disco', probably the most dancefloor friendly track here.
Really its the soundtrack to Saturday nights bound indoors as the wind whips the chimney pots, this record will keep you warm.

Listen here

Mispelt Youth

Bloomfield Avenue, Belfast, May 2008

JOHN O'DONOHUE 1954-2008

For those not aware of the work of the great man of the West of Ireland, maybe its time to catch up with some of his beautiful words.
The Belfast based group IKON (above) have dedicated this Sunday nights service to tribute his work.
For those who read of his sad passing this week, a sense of deep loss has been echoed across blogs and websites worldwide.
I can't pretend to be an expert, I've never got round to reading any of his books I just heard him speak 3 times over the last few years, the last as I departed for the plane at Greenbelt this summer, but I never left his presence without feeling deeply moved in thought and action.
His Poems, words and writings probed the spiritual mystical conscience that exists in us all, questioning our belief systems and planting new ways of thinking along the journey.
A body has left this world but a voice has not been silenced.

Other blog tributes
godisnotelsewhere.blogspot.com

Johns website
www.johnodonohue.com

ce n'est pas un appareil photo numerique!!

In the age of digital technology and obsession with instant imagery I have taken a step backwards into a less accessable but glorious past by buying a new 35mm film camera.

(

I first discovered 'Lomo' Cameras in 2002 and bought the solid built LC-A which came with me everywhere untill on a holiday in Germany in 2004 the shutter jammed and wiped out 8 films.....aaaaaggggghhhhh!
Needless to say my trust was broken and the camera ended up in the 'bottomless abandoned objects box' never to return.

So recently while everyone around me seemed to be splashing out on digital cameras I decided to re-invest in a 2nd new Lomo.

The originally Russian designed and built Lomo L-CA camera has no adjustable lens, no optical zoom, no aperture or shutter speed and is highly unpredictable, but the results while hit and miss can be spectacular.
It has a unique depth of field which depends on 4 crude distance settings you can adjust. The lens is fixed at 28mm resulting in a nice wide angle. The colours if developed correctly are saturated and intense almost like the dreamlike quality of super 8 movie film.

It is hard to deny that in giving in to the shiny new technology of digital we have lost something of the element of surprise in photography.
I have been taking photos since I was 12 and never lost that anticipation of the film arriving home without knowing what I had captured or how well, or years later standing in my dads darkroom developing a negative laboriously and watching my 1st print appear in the developing liquid.
Instead we shoot photos self critiquing and editing as we shoot, sometimes without even using a viewfinder, the images loaded onto a laptop minutes later and pushed out onto the swarming sea of the web.

I'm not knocking the newfound oportunities digital cameras have created or the time saving devices that contribute to creativity in photography, but there is something refreshing about a crudely built device like the Lomo that creates a different kind of freedom digital cannot satisfy.
By throwing away all the distractions of brightly lit displays, custom menus and instant playback the Lomo cries out.
"Don't look, just shoot".
www.lomography.com

P.s the above photos were taken with a digital camera....see!!!!

Jellytopners

Definitely one of my favourite christmas presents of 2007, friend phoned me just before christmas to borrow a camera rig for an aerial video shoot in a chopper and said there was a free seat if I wanted to join them.
Having got the shakes riding belfasts shiny new big wheel 2 days before I hesitated, two hours later we arrived at Newtownards airfield for an hour long flight to the glamorous destination of Cokes new plant in lisburn.
The chopper was a 4 seater R4, kind of like sitting in a fiat 126 with..well rotar blades attached.
We had to take the doors off one side so mike could shoot directly at the plant, thankfully I had the door side and wrapped myself up in scarves and coats to stay warm.

I have to say it was an amazing experience floating above County Down in such a small craft, the cold air blasting through the cockpit. Got to see in detail landscapes that would blip by in a plane if you were lucky to get a clear day,
patterns of rivers, a field surrounded in a circular hedge, secluded manor houses and farms.

DESTINATION DUB / Dec / 2007

Oh Yeah So I Got Married....

...2 months this week since we set off in the 'green smartie' aka Micahs green Fiat 126 to the Church for the main event. Had good send off the night before in the back garden, whiskey and Bonfire with the lads, Weekster, Franco And Micah, yes did I mention I slept my last night as a singleton on the cold earth of County Down and darn near froze to death!

So what can you say about such a momentous day. After photographing countless other weddings over the last few years, being at the centre of attention was pretty strange. Aly only kept me waiting 30 min at the church, got a bit lost in the vows but it was blissful and surreal, walking out to Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot, smack up dinner at AMPM round the corner, great speech from Micah, man of many words,good dancing tunes from Kwame, Brasilia & Liam..gets a bit hazy after that...

So yeah we hit the road/airways bright and early the next morning and by evening where hurtling through the dark mysterious red streets of Marrakech.
Morocco is tripped out, never seen so much busyness crammed into such confined spaces. The Medina we stayed in is the old part of town, the Riad a haven of quiet, cool and serenity walled away from the scream of scooters and bartering salesmen.

Armed with Wallpapers magnificant Marrakech Guide we explored the city over the next 4 days, eating lunch in mini palace like open air reaturaunts, shopping for vibrant fabrics hand made in the smoky medinas,



>p>

Le Staglio Weekendo

Ah tis been quite a while ago already, set off with the lads for the stag weekend to the infamous 'Jigs n Reels' festival on Rathlin island.
Pretty much a loada tents in a field, a bunch of stages & army tents hosting all musical types from Drum n Bass in the crusty top to turgid raawk in the wonky tent at the bottom of the field.
Onsite amenties consisted of a tap in one corner and 4 portaloos in the other, but rough and rootsy is how we like it.
Prob wasn't the best idea tae camp 4 metres in front of the main stage since mister technowotnot from Frankfurterland played a marathon set from 12 midnight to 9 the next morning. I can still hear the crazy beats echoing in my head some weeks later.
Highlight was def Kwames high energy 'Bounce' set for Homespun with Francos all night turf speranza keeping the troops warm.


Fat harry imitates the foreland of Rathlin with his big noose!

The crusty revellers migrate

Mojos beard gets out of control

No sleep till monday....let the dancin' begin

Francos work of art

Kwame lets rip in the Homespun tent with some latin beat classics

Buckfast master on the loose

fires still going at 2 in the morning and attracts peoples from the murkness of the night much like moths around a lamp

A wet, tired and bemused German
Aye a good fish supper can do wonders after all that sleepless-ness
L-R, Mr Magoo, Hambo, Franco, Mojo, Mad Max, Fat Harry & Neilio

It is........worldwide!

My 1st love.....the old Citroen Hy, its a beauty!




Gilles Peterson and his kids watch Sebastien Tellier knock out the anthemic 'La Ritournelle' against the backdrop of boats floating in the med...ah yes.




Theatre de la mer, just before RJD2 take to the stage.





Great beach, scorching sand, cool sea, constant sun,just what the South of France was made for.

Baby I'm Board

Sbeen too long since the old board's been taken out for a decent run, took her out down the Holywood rd the other night to get to a party.
Reminded me of a reccuring daydream i have, harking back to my year in Australia, (1999/2000) back in the days when 'Young Weeksie' 1st introduced me to longboards.
It couldn't have been more than a few runs round a floodlit carpark but 6 months later I returned home & bought 'Mojo'(a 3ft9"Sector nine from Boardwise in Glasgow).

Ever since I've had this mental picture in my head, of revisiting Oz, board in hand, stepping off the plane, heading straight to Newcastle.
Somewhere down by the main beach theres a sweet little tarmac strip that runs its length with just enough gradient to get some decent speed.
In my head, I'm on the board carving down the hill till the wheels sing with the smell of hot rubber and humid summer air.
I get to the bottom of the hill, take one more run and head back to the airport.
Spun.

BEATS 'N PIECES

Wee hoose (nae moose)

Its been a while in the waiting but finally 'we' are the proud owners of a wee house. But don't be thinking this is the bit where I grow old and weary and start wearing ill matching pullovers while pondering over pastel tones in B&Q.
Well trips to DIY mania are probably inevitable. I did however manage to skate from my present abode on my longboard down the hill to the house in Sydenham the other day, whilst maintaining a youthful presence and make like I had something un-important to do other than pollyfill miscellaneous holes in the plaster.

There is something unnerving about the world of home improvements that you have to fight hard not to get sucked into. Our house is in relatively nice condition save from some mind boggling orange and pine colour schemes and a few scattered faux-antique light fittings.Yet there is almost some unspoken expectation that you must be in some hurry to transform the place in the time it takes to make an episode of 'Changing rooms'.
As the old song goes, 'we have all the time in the world'...just as long as you can make it to B&Q before 9pm.

Spaced out

Interesting challenges on a project I'm working with at the moment. I recently recieved a commission to produce photographic work which will be permantly installed in the new Health & well being centre, opening on the Antrim rd.
Its quite an interesting building and I certainly feel encouraged to be selected amongst a number of local artists.
I have been given two spaces to work with. One is a ground floor cafe with two seperate walls to work with, which is fairly straightforward. The 2nd is a top floor beautifully designed staff canteen with views overlooking Cave Hill & West Belfast through a series of simple but elegangtly placed windows.
The areas I have been given are the spaces between the windows around the circumference of the wall. This creates several issues, as the space is already in a way a work of design/art in the way it has been architecturally created and presents the outside landscape to the viewer. Any added visual material will not only contend with the view but also break up the continuity of the entire wall.
It is an interesting predicament to overcome before I can create the piece/pieces and how they are be mounted on the wall.
In some way the work needs to respond to the space itself but also the world outside without intruding but sit comfortably within it.
Answers on a postcard too.....

Careful now

Boop me up baaby!

BOOPY DOO I DO! 01/01/07

Well I said life was gonna change in a big way soon, just didn't know it was gonna happen right now!

Went to Jonny & Susan McEwens New Years Eve party to spin some tunes and wing the New Year in with a chilled night of good tunes, a bit of craic and a few friends.
I ended up proposing to Boops in front of everybody on one knee about half one in the morning, my headphones plugged into the mixer as a rudimentary mic.

I near well shat myself as I uttered the imoratal words of 'will you marry me' and all wee boops could do was bawl her wee eyes out for an hour as people danced on the backround and I made some attempt to play on into the wee hours.

So she never said yes, as she had always said I had to ask her dad 1st, so mr mojo here had to traipse round to the McElroy household bright and early on New Years day and do the honours.

Thankfully we cleared promptly off to Barcelona for 10 days where we recovered from the shock and found a wee ring and needless to say we are now happilly engaged!

R.I.P The Soul Godfather 03/04/33 - 25/12/06

A sad day for music heads everywhere. The Originator, the soul power, sex machine, funky drummer is gone to the great gig in the sky.

Time for thanks for one of the greatest musical legacies and uncompromising musical influences the world has ever seen. He's black and he 's proud in Belfast N.I as much as in Brooklyn NYC.
Respect from all the hip hop samplers, funk soul bruddas, Drum n' Bass heads and every DJ that spinned his tight ass soul tunes to a dance hungry crowd.
Respect J.B
Sofa Kid
26/12/06

Space between

Just been away for short break to Vienna, emphasise the short here; Left Fri night, returned Sunday night. Somewhere in between 'we', (Boopy doo and I) found enough time to explore some groovy boheme clothe shops, have a wee trawl through BLACKMARKET RECORDS - a treasure trove of German house/funk/deepsoul/beats delights where I disappeared for several hours & experience the 'real christmas market' - with hot mulled wine and charcoal cooked wedges. Forget City Hall christmas market guys, these are the people that invented it! Apart from that we lazed in supercool austro-germanic cafes and watched the wooly attired pensive Austrians swan by..

Heard 'Pepe Bradocks - Deep burnt' epic deep house tune in one of these and spent the rest of weekend with it in my head.I memorised the sound and didn't find out what it was till I got home.

Was a press trip for Boops, so while she gathered some info all I had to do was take the odd photo and stay in a 4 star hotel ( shucks someones got to do it, Definitely a place worth more exploration, would like to have uncovered some real life Hundertwasser and checked out some vienna nightlife of the Kruder & Dorfmeister variety. Save that for next time.
By the way they have some of the best transport systems in Europe, for example you can check in your bags at the railway station and you don't have to lift them again till you step off the plane back in Belfast. Comon Ulsterbus!!!!

A TIME FOR...

There was a time, when there was time for, blogs, books, walks in the rain, long lost photography trips on a sunday afternoons, late evenings looking for something to do.

Things have changed around pretty fast, funny I didn't even notice. Some tiny part of me laments it but thats quite ridiclous cause I hated it. Not going to go into details but life may never be the same again and its a freeing yet daunting thought.
The challenge now is to live life as it happens. Makes me think of one of my favourite quotes from HAGAKURE - Book of the Samurai (the narrative basis of the brillant 'GHOSTDOG' by JIM JARMUSCH)

"There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the present moment. A man's whole life is a succession of moment after moment. If one fully understands the present moment, there will be nothing else to do, and nothing left to pursue."

'Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai' by Tsunetomo Yamamoto

I mean we should celebrate the cold, hard, empty times as much as the dreamy fulfilled good times right?