Stonehenge moves up a gear

Our pal Kevin McKiernan sends us two images from his trek across the badlands to the Pine Ridge Reservation in North Dakota.

One is 'on the Res', the other as he headed west through Nebraska.

And a final thought on the hurling final which I had the pleasure and privilege to attend on Sunday — as fierce and fairly-fought a contest as you're likely to see in your life, over one per cent of the Irish population were in Croke Park, 81,000-plus, A similar event in the US then would have had two million plus spectators. That puts in perspective the enduring appeal of the GAA, long may it reign in a country where so many other national institutions are broken.

When I Stop Talking, You'll know I'm Dead

Not a bad title that for a memoir and the content of mega-producer and superstar manager Jerry Weintraub isn't bad either.

He managed Elvis and everybody else who mattered in the seventies before going on to produce a string of major movies, including Nashville and Karate Kid. There's a line in his book where he explains what exactly it is that a producer does. In fact, it's how genius director Robert Altman describes a producer. Seems to me to be the type of career they didn't tell us about in careers' class at Scoil Mhuire back in the mid-seventies (nor at Queen's where the careers' officer asked had I consider a career with the forces. Yes, thought I, but not the forces you're thinking about.)

He (Robert Altman) asked if I had ever produced films. I told him I had not. "Well, you should consider it," he said. "You would make a great producer. You have just the right personality."
"What kind of personality does it take?"
I was trying to figure out if I was being complimented or put down.
"It's temperament," he told me. "Smarts and all that, but also the ability to sell an idea, attract talent to the idea, bring out the best in the players, while, at the same time keeping everything in line. If you can talk to people, get them to do things because they think it's their own idea, you will be a great producer."

Just the sort of job I'd love to do when I grow up.

Light at end of tunnel or is that a train coming?

Great to see some action in the publishing business in the US where Tom Allon of Manhattan Media, who was very supportive of our own initiatives in New York, has just acquired Dan's Papers, a 50-year-old publication in the Hamptons, which is a vacation paradise outside New York.

Hardly a week  goes by without news of another household business name going under. And the newspaper industry isn’t immune to the economic crisis. Last week, UUP kingpin John Taylor shuttered some papers in the midlands and several weekly titles across Ireland have recently closed which were part of the Irish News-linked River Media group.

Likewise, yesterday in the Irish Times, we read that Thomas Crosbie newspapers (Irish Examiner, Sunday Business Post and Newry Democrat which is supposedly up for sale) is seeking a 10 per cent pay cut from staff who have already agreed to a wage reduction this year. According to the Times, "staff at other national media groups such as the Irish Times, Independent News and Media and RTÉ have also had pay cuts over the last year or so."

Not to labour the point, but it's tough out there though I take great heart from some of the positive feedback from online initiatives of the Belfast Media Group, especially John Ferris's excellent Food and Drink blog (John is our internet guru...and much more) and twitter page as well as the new Twitter feed from Grainne McWilliams for the Andersonstown News. The big question has been, now to 'monetize' the internet but it now seems to me that in fact this type of online activity does put you front and central as a media group when organisations wish to spend money to promote their services or wares.

At the Belfast Media Group AGM yesterday (not a stuffy company AGM but a gathering of our colleagues from all our publishing businesses), we heard from Terence Brannigan, Chair of CBI NI about how he sees a clear link between profitable businesses and community commitment. He was joined by Harry Harpur, possibly the best business trainer in Ireland today, who makes beneficial change happen in organisations. Both were optimistic about the medium-term economic outlook and after a successful year for the Belfast Media Group, I'm confident we can repeat the trick this coming year but as one person said yesterday at the AGM, "we'll have to work like hell to make it happen".

Hopefully, we'll have some pics up tomorrow of the presentations at our AGM where our sports journalist Ed McGinley got a special mention for winning the Cardiff 5k at the weekend.

I can see light at the end of the tunnel for newspapers as the weaker titles leave the stage, but as they say, could it be a train? We will see.

Our picture shows some of those in the spotlight at our agm, including, back left, freelance lensman Jim Corr who swept the boards at the recent photographer awards event, with Harry Harpur (front, second from right) and Terence Brannigan, back row, middle.

Titley ar cuairt

Sa tír seo amháin a mbeadh rath ar scríbhneoir a bhfuil an t-ainm Titley air. (Cuidíonn sé ar ndóighe gur scríbhneoir den scoth é.)

Is fíor tráth dá raibh go raibh comhairleoir againn i mBéal Feirste a raibh Herbie Ditty air ach creidim go raibh gaolta dá chuid a d'athraigh a sloinne in áit dul tríd an tromluí a bhaineann le banaltra ag scairtí amach 'Ditty' sa seomra feithimh ag an doctúir. (Is cuimhin liom go moch ar maidin ag dul isteach chuig an Aonad Timpistí agus Éigeandála (a bhuí le Dia le focal.ie) san RVH agus fadbh agam a bhain leis an chuid íochartach den Mhuilleoireach. "Ní bheidh muid ag léamh fá seo ar an Andersonstown News," arsa na banaltraí, agus an ceart acu.)

Cibé ar bith clúdaíodh Bóthar na bhFál le bláthanna inniu le fáilte a chur roimh an Chorcaíoch Alan Titley go dtí an Chultúrlann. Bhí sé sa chathair le giota scannánaíochta a dhéanamh do dhá chlár, uair a chloig an ceann, ar stair na Gaeilge a chraolfar ar an bhliain seo chugainn ar TG4. É féin a scríobh an scriopt agus tchífear iad go mall i 2011. Mar a deir sé féin, ní dheárnadh a leithéid ariamh. Beimid ag faire amach dó mar tá sé ar dhuine de na scríobhneoirí is éirimúla dá bhfuil againn sa Ghaeilge; bhí píosa sármhaith aige fá na buamadóirí féinmharaithe ar an Irish Times ina cholún breá (oohh, Matron!). Nár trioma a pheann go cionn i bhfad — ar a laghad go gcríochnaíonn an scriopt do na cláir seo ar an Ghaeilge.

Seo an tUasal Titley (ar dheis) taobh amuigh den Chultúrlann leis an léiritheoir Diarmuid. Tá a chuid súl druidte aige mar shíl sé go raibh ar tí é a scaoileadh sa tseantráidisiún Feirsteach, go raibh slán don am.

Jay jogging

Ní fhacha mé aon cheann amháin nó fiú dhá cheann ach trí scréachóg coille, éan párrthas na hEorpa i bhforaois Belvoir go moch ar maidin.

Visitors to the Balcony have asked me, did you learn anything on your journey to TG4. The answer is, "yes". The three most lucrative areas of TV, 'the three Fs' are now in the full control of the satellite broadcasters. And they are, "films, f..ing and football". At least that's one 300-mile journey which wasn't wasted.

Apologies for that.

On a more wholesome note, my interview with Kalena Silva and Keola Donaghy of the University of Hawaii Hawaiian Studies department is now online.

And we're up on the Irish Echo site as well.

Big Apple Feis to step out in New Belfast!

UnaTeresa Gormley who runs the magnificent Big Apple Feis in New York landed in Belfast this week to drive forward a series of ideas which she has been mulling over since attending the high-octane New York-New Belfast conference in June.

I met her in the Cultúrlann at lunchtime today (she's pictured with, left, Cultúrlann director Eimear Ní Mhathúna, and two interns on the Big Apple Feis initiative Carl and Stacy, right) on her way to bend Jake Mac Siacais' ear about a reverse direction Project Children idea: have young Irish Americans come to Ireland to learn about our culture while undertaking summer activities. Now if we could make that work, we would all be in clover. And she's also resolved to take the Big Apple Feis idea — which filled five ballrooms in the New York Hilton in March of this year — to Béal Feirste.

The really good news is that she hadn't been in the Cultúrlann before but found herself immediately at home and surrounded by people who have the same ambition as herself for Irish culture and dance. Look out for UnaTeresa's dancers at the Discover Northern Ireland, Titanic and More festival in Grand Central Station from 23-30 September.

Gaillimh mo ghrá-gheal

Sa Spideal inniu, ceardlann anseo, 3 uair 50 bomaite as Beal Feirste go Conamara, gan solas trachta o Bhaile Andarsan go Gaillimh.

Agus anois tá mé i gCeaintín TG4 ag Baile na hAbhann, meán-aois na n-oibrithe, 22 nó mar sin. 

Three more titles lost

Many moons ago, I was involved in discussions to buy the Athlone Voice, a troubled newspaper at the time but with a considerable readership.

I walked away from that deal because of internal wrangling between the owners at the time. However, I was impressed when John Taylor of Ulster Unionist fame took over the Athlone Voice in, what I thought, was a clever way. He took the title only, leaving the indebted company and its warring shareholders behind in the company.

I see tonight however, that the Athlone Voice has been closed down along with two other midlands titles. During the boom, so many new newspaper titles were set up in Ireland that none — bar, perhaps, those with over a hundred years of tradition behind them — could make money. At one point in Athlone, there were four papers serving the town. Perhaps the other three will now make a profit. Though I doubt it.