Dossing Times is moving.

There comes a time in every blogs life that is must change. Sometimes the change is to stop other times the change is to move to a new home. We are doing the latter. The new home of the site is www.thedossingtimes.com

This post will not contain any long goodbyes because this is not a good bye this is just a move down the road. So if you have any book marks please update them. The achieves of the dossing times will remain here. Frozen for ever. They are also on the new blog so don't worry. So to everyone that read us here at blogspot.com thanks hopefully you will continue to read us over on www.thedossingtimes.com

The reason for the move is two fold one wordpress and your own domain is better then blogger and there is new and exciting features coming to the dossing times that require our own domain so stay tuned.

Thank you and see you on the flip side.

Fight Club Musical?

This sort of thing could have potential for a Top 6 Friday - a tongue in cheek, list of films that could potentially be made into musicals. That Fight Club be made into a musical is just the type of suggestion that could be made yet never taken seriously. Well not in the mind of David Lynch, who has raised the prospect of bringing the violence fuelled mind mess to the stage, not in an angsty drama with barren stage settings but in the form in the form of a musical. I reckon 'Sweeney Todd' will work wonders for musicals street cred in the coming weeks and this won't seem such crazy talk!

Good Night for Hilary, Not So Much for Pollsters

This story has echoes of the predictions our media made of the results of last years general election, plaguing us at every turn with opinion pools each ultimately turning out to be out of tune with public opinion. The transcript I have linked to here is one where media analysts correctly question the use of the analysis they carry out before hand and the methodologies applied. The excerpted transcript went as follows, it's an exchange between MSNBC news anchors.

MATTHEWS: We’re going to have to go back and figure out the methodology, I think, on some of these.

BROKAW: You know what I think we’re going to have to go back and do? Wait for the voters to make their judgment.

MATTHEWS: What do we do then in the days before balloting–

BROKAW: What a novel idea–

MATTHEWS: –We must stay home then I guess.

BROKAW: No, no, we don’t stay home. There are reasons to analyze what they’re saying. We know from how the people voted today what moved them to vote. We can take a look at that. There are a lot of issues that had not been fully explored in all this.

But we don’t have to get in the business of making judgments before the polls have closed and trying to stampede and affect the process. Look, I’m not picking just on us. It’s part of the culture in which we live these days.

But I think the people out there are going to begin to make some judgments about us, if they haven’t already, if we don’t begin to temper that temptation to constantly try to get ahead of what the voters are deciding, in many cases as we learned in New Hampshire, as they went into the polling place today or in the past three days. They were making decisions very late.

Some Music

So my housemate just managed to lose a load of music by syncing her i-Pod to a new laptop, Silly buttons! Only two songs survived and quite the gems they are. A wonderful piece of music from Bjork called 'Play Dead' and 'For What Its Worth' from Buffalo Springfield, which I haven't heard since I saw 'Breakfast on Pluto'. Enjoy.

Golden Globes Cancelled

It was wartime the last time such an awards show was cancelled. Read the story here.

Irish Blog Award Nominations

So its that time of the year again when readers get to nominate and vote for the posts and blogs that made their browsing time that little bit more enjoyable this past year. With the Golden Globes and Oscars in doubt with the ongoing writers strike its looking like these gongs will be the ones to watch! Tuathal ceased posting last year but not before lending thoughts and words to some well written posts and Simon's writing here and on Irish Election is consistently excellent and the Irish Election team put together coverage of last years general election comparable to that of any other media outlet and such an achievement should not go unmarked. Nominations can be submitted through the following link.

2008: 80 Years of Superman

Superman has a tough time surviving in our cynical world, he is a creation of a black and white world of good and evil while we have evolved as a people more openly admitting to the light and shade that guides our characters. This is a symptom of the character being a first and so too a symptom of being such a distinctive cultural icon associated with such outright values. I am reading Watchmen at the moment, by all accounts a ‘graphic novel’, full of adult themes and more readily categorised amongst the pulp novels which pre-dated Action Comics and Superman. Nevertheless, a character in Watchmen, in explaining his decision to seek change by donning an alter ego and take to the streets cites Superman as his inspiration. Indeed Superman has this revered aura to him, one that comes from his struggle for ‘truth, justice and all that stuff’, and in some senses a holier than thou evocation of clean living, sacrifice and nobility with aspirational rhetoric and comparisons with Christ fitting perfectly.Unfortunately the general consensus is of Superman being a character that’s unappealing. His invulnerability makes the character difficult to empathise with and ultimately he is viewed as a big boy scout far removed from the cooler and more layered characters such as Batman which followed only two years after Superman, intentionally designed as a balance to the virtue of the Man of Steel. Little can be done to counteract that perception, an argument based on an analysis of the 80 years of comic book storylines I want to celebrate this year is not going to impress or sway those who know him through the actors who have played him on screen. Nevertheless it does deserve mention that there is a hugely rich legacy behind the comics, with month long stories of Superman going through multiple crises, his identities, his rivals, his responsibilities and his feelings each challenging him as he struggles to balance how he can act as an objective guardian of peoples safety and all the while construct a life where the woman he loves looks through the real him and idolises his created self.

Such huge amounts of power, a power he fears and in most instances holds back on has of course corrupted him in his time and been abused by enemies. The stand out decision though is to choose to do good with this power. His power is a part of him, not a creation of his wealth or the consequence of an accident, and his human upbringing moulds him into a man that wants to help. As soon as Simon invited me to contribute to the blog I never doubted the identity I would choose to construct, one that ties together ideas of anonymity and a hope of writing well. Clark Kent living in Metropolis is a tangle of excuses and appearances. However the one constant has been the use of his role as a reporter to achieve almost as much as Superman. His powers gone the week before his wedding to Lois Lane, she aptly reminds him of what Clark Kent can accomplish. Superman: The Movie doesn’t open with a shot of the exploding planet Krypton, it opens with a boy opening his comic book and reading of the Daily Planet, its globe acting as a beacon in the skyline of the great city of Metropolis and its paper acting as a record that could be trusted in.

To think that we’ve seen him rescue a plummeting plane and lift an entire country into the sky and still be able to say that Superman’s potential has never been fully realised on screen is something substantial. His is such a small story, it is one of what a single person can achieve but it is capable of being told on such an epic, awe inspiring scale. These are the times when limits and imagination have no bounds and Superman is such a case - to give in to the wonders of believing a man can fly and yet watch him choose which of the cries for help he should serve first in the cities below him is the beginning of great story telling and the basis for inspiring tales of heroism and courage. I plan to mark this anniversary with a number of posts during the year, I’m looking forward to the opportunity to re-appreciate the character.

Nomines will not be attending the Golden Globes

The Screen Actors Guild announced Friday that, to maintain solidarity with striking Hollywood writers, none of this year's 72 acting nominees will attend the 65th Annual Golden Globe Awards.

"After considerable outreach to Golden Globe actor nominees and their representatives over the past several weeks, there appears to be unanimous agreement that these actors will not cross WGA picket lines to appear on the Golden Globe Awards as acceptors or presenters," SAG President Alan Rosenberg said in a statement.

NBC are still intending on airing the awards show, though what such a show - with no nominees in attendance - will actually entail is beyond me. Reports say the most likely outcome is that she show will be postponed.

I Am Legend

Do go See 'I am Legend' - every movie deserves a subjective appreciation though don't expect the intelligent blockbuster you may have been lead to expect by the astronomical performance of the movie in the States. Some of the poorest CGI I have seen in quiet a while and ultimately a lacklustre impact to the film left me dissatisfied. A highlight though is a movie poster worth keeping an eye out for as Will Smith walks though a deserted, grass strewn Time Square - the Superman and Batman logo meshed, suggesting a point in the future where the oft suggested Superman v Batman movie becomes a reality. I know who I think would win, the Man of Steel could possibly take out the Dark Knight with his pinky. Nevertheless, Empire brings bad news today with the suggestion that Brandon Routh may not return as Superman and also suggests a sequel may not be even be made to 'Superman Returns'. Sad news indeed. This shot however is a nice touch.

Comic Relief

I had forgotten about this - Ricky Gervais came up at lunch today and so too this clip of him and a number of high profile celebrity campaigners was mentioned. A sketch from Comic Relief 2007 with Gervais, Bob Geldof, Bono and Jamie Oliver each taking jibes at their proactive approach to various issues, the clip makes for great watching and impressive green screen backgrounds.

Surprise Wins for Obama and Huckabee in Iowa

Irish Times Coverage

'Mr Obama, an Illinois senator, captured the first Democratic prize on the road to the White House with a comeback triumph over former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, who edged out one-time front-runner Ms Clinton for second.'

The Huffington Post Coverage

'A victorious Barack Obama portrayed his decisive first-place finish in the Iowa Democratic caucuses as a "defining moment" that he said would lead the way to change in Washington and an end to the war in Iraq.'

Top 6 Friday: The Alternative Movies of '08

Incoming blockbusters like Indy, Batman and Iron Man have been mentioned here a plenty and along with these, movies like the next Narnia and Harry Potter are in no need of pre publicity. My selection today is movies you may not have heard of, though nevertheless sound promising whether it be the talent or premise and all too often are the gems that restore our faith after the promise of the action laden trailers and huge budgets falls flat.

6. Where The Wild Things Are - we will be kept waiting for this one, it has an October release however you can't but be excited about the new Spike Jonze. Starring Catherine Keener, Benicio Del Toro, Forest Whitaker, Lauren Ambrose and Catherine O'Hara the film is an adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic children's story, where Max, a mischievous little boy, creates his own world - a forest in habited by fabulous wild creatures who crown Max as their ruler.

5. Fanboys - Starring Sam Huntington (superman Returns) and Kristen Bell (Heroes), I lilke the comedic potenial in the story of Star Wars fans travel to Skywalker Ranch to steal an early copy of Episode I: The Phantom Menace for their dying friend!

4. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Brad Pitt and David Fincher (Fight Club) reunite to tell the story of Benjamin Button, a man who starts aging backwards with bizarre consequences.

3. I recently rewatched 'Monster House' a great little movie - its director has gone all live action on us in telling of 'City of Ember' where once powerful generator is failing, and the great lamps that illuminate the city are starting to flicker. The major selling point for me? - Bill Murray.

2. Surely the best line up of '08 - George Clooney, John Malkovich, Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand and Tilda Swinton are directed by the Coen Brothers 'Burn After Reading' in a film about a disk containing the memoirs of a CIA agent ending up in the hands of two unscrupulous gym employees who attempt to sell it.

1. OK so I have previously mentioned the No. 1 entry but 'Be Kind, Rewind' just has too good a premise - A man (Jack Black) whose brain becomes magnetised unintentionally destroys every tape in his friend's video store. In order to satisfy the store's most loyal renter, an aging woman with signs of dementia, the two men set out to remake the lost films, which include Back to the Future, The Lion King, and RoboCop - and so too is directed by Michael Gondry who bought us 'Eternal Sunshine' and 'Science of Sleep'. I just don't think an 'alternative' choice of movies would be complete without its inclusion.

The Israel Factor: Ranking the presidential candidates

There is no denying the strength of the Jewish lobby in the States, though said influence has rarely been analysed despite the anomaly of 2% of the US population actually being Jewish. It is by all accounts a lobby and indeed a people who seem to excel at self preservation despite their small numbers. I find the biggest impact the lobby has is one of censorship - reading just a selection of topics on the power of the lobby, it seems anyone at all who dares to ask a question or broach the topic of their power has an anti-Semetic label thrown at them. This is a brandishing a Presidential nominee could not afford at any cost to have associated with them. A daily newspaper in Israel is undertaking a project ranking the candiates based on how good or bad they wil be for Israel and her interests. A select panel of Israeli analysts and academics discuss and vote anonymously each month with some analysis by the papers US correspondent. It will definitely be a page I return to in the following months.

Currently Guiliani with some choice words for Yasser Arafat in his profile is leading the table with Clinton coming in second, with comments on her defence of the security wall and objection to the International Court of Justice finding the wall illegal. Barack Obama is finding himself in the lowly position of being 'worst' for Israel with a score of 5 out of a possible 10. None of the selection of comments for any of the top 3 candidates mention a 2 state solution and the emphasis throughout is on recognition of Israel and its right to defend itself against terror. Obama's comments are certainly the weakest, his inexperience in issues of foreign policy has followed him around the campaign trail and it will be interesting to see how positions he presents on such topics. Of course there is no denying these are snapshots of what candidates say removed from context, however previous remarks and voting records inevitably come back to haunt candidates. Find the ranking here.

The Year of Indy

The January edition of Vanity Fair gets some access to the much shrouded in mystery 4th installment in the Indiana Jones series. I am equal parts worried and excited and you can expect any number of posts on this movie in the lead up to its may release. The Vanity Fair article is available online in full, as well as some Q&As with Spielberg and Lucas.

A New Year of Posting

Happy New Year Everyone! So its a return to work, routine and posting for 2008. It seems apt for my year to kick into gear the day of the Iowa primaries, with what has been a long gestation period of campaigning coming to bear as the first round of elections are cast. Commentators are quick to point out the Iowa votes will not have huge bearing over all, though there is no denying the momentum and claims of leading the race that can be garnered from winning this first nomination contest. The Democrat contest is getting perhaps the most coverage but the race as a whole is made the more interesting by the fact no sitting president or vice president is seeking the nomination of their party, a first in almost 50 years according to Reuters. It all kicks off tonight, with Iowans to leave their homes in what is expected to be sub-zero conditions, and join their neighbors at a community gathering spot to publicly declare their support for a candidate.