Irish Bond

Staying with our Irish theme, it was recently announced that the next James Bond flick may be filmed in Dublin. Ever quick to the fore, my compatriots leaped into the Twittersphere and made all sorts of suggestions for what such a movie could be titled, including such gems as Quantum of Bollix and On Yer Man's Secret Service. The Journal compiled the 9 best ones here, and the hashtag on Twitter is also worth a peek!

Movie: The Intouchables

I recently had the chance to watch The Intouchables on a long flight. It's a French movie about two impossibly different people and the unlikely friendship they discover.

I LOVED IT. I don't say that about very many movies. It has everything I like. It's not action-thrillery at all, so I appreciate that it might not be everyone's cup of tea. Plus, I speak French, so it may be less tedious for me to follow along than if I could *only* read the subtitles. I don't know. But I think it's worth the effort.

If there were such a thing as a literary movie, this would be it. It focuses on poignant, hard-hitting scenes, gently twisted humour, the real grit of life, and lovely glimpses of Paris. There is a certain amount of swearing in it, however, I have to say that I'm not convinced the translation does it justice :P

There are many beautiful surprises best left for your own discovery. Anyway, it very nearly made me cry, there high above the Pacific. Highly recommended.

A Visit to Rotorua

Rotorua's got to be one of the smelliest cities on the planet. And no, it's not due to any unwieldy rubbish dump or suchlike. The entire area sits on a thin planetary crust, allowing all sorts of sulphuric minerals and other hot things to bubble up to the surface. I made a couple of videos there last weekend - hope you enjoy these amazing landscapes!





My article last week in the Colorado City News provides a textual introduction to this rather...aromatic city. In the next couple of days I'll be doing another article on Waimangu and Tikitere which you see in these videos, so keep an eye out for that.

I hope this will be the start of a true series of globetrotting videos and slideshows set to music. Next up: Ireland!