9lives profile picture

9lives

Why does trust equal suffering?

About Me


9 Lives http://gman737.bebo.com/
Playing on my Winamp recently were...
Don't you just hate MySpace? If it were a human being I'd be bashing its error-laden skull off a wall repeatedly. But yet I'm addicted. It reminds me of Ryanair. I hate them but yet I need them.
Needed to throw that out there.
I was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1973. I have one very likeable brother, Ian , a couple of parents and a pair of cats. You should contact my brother because he tends not to try and make friends on MySpace but he really is the friendliest guy in the world.
I went to school. Didn't like it much. Finished that in 1991 and then spent a year getting a Diploma in Information Technology in Dun Laoghaire Senior College. With no job on the horizon I half-completed a COBOL programming course in Bolton Street in Dublin. That sucked so I kinda flunked the exams on purpose.
In 1995 I returned to the education arena but with a new focus. I completed a 3-year degree (2.1) in Management Information Systems in Dublin Business School and went on to work for Allied Irish Banks IT department from 1998 until 2006.
In the middle of all that I spent a year travelling in New Zealand and documented it all here .
I now work for a company called Brandmail Solutions , a new set up who are ready to take over the world. Half the guys are based in California with the rest of us split between Dublin and Germany.
I've done a bit of travelling - Singapore, New Zealand and Fiji, Spain, Norway, Belgium, France a good few times, Switzerland, all over the UK and about three visits to America where I've taken in San Fran, Palo Alto, Vegas, all over Virginia and Chicago. There's loads more travelling left in me I reckon.
Music-wise I am fairly straight-on with my love for rock as you can see from the list down and to your left. I still have an unhealthy passion for those wonderful Norwegian popsters, a-ha, Seattle's finest, Pearl Jam, and the Boston bad boys, Aerosmith. I change my music selection on my page every fortnight and make it as thematic as I can. Scroll down to see what's on the player.
From an education perspective I've just finished my post-graduate diploma in Journalism and Media and I graduate in October.
I've written a huge number of reviews and sports columns on my site www.nearvana.net and of course I make an effort here with some occasional blogs.
I like to think I'm funny, approachable, good natured and all that good stuff but I'm also a fussy, stubborn, extremist when I want to be. But you got to take the bad with the good. Ok, dismissed.

My Interests

The new Megadeth video - a re-recording of "A Tout Le Monde" featuring Lacuna Coil's Cristina Scabbia.


A new start for mankind in "28 Weeks Later" - or, as the saying goes, is it?


Brilliantly edited "episode" of Seinfeld that builds around Michael Richard's recent troubles.


The excellent "Whalebone" from Savoy


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Part 1 of my alcohol-induced 30th Birthday Speech

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Part 2 of my alcohol-induced 30th Birthday Speech

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Part 1 of a best man speech I did for my mate

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Part 2 of a best man speech I did for my mate

I'd like to meet:



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This week on the flash music player ... Strange collection this week with more pop than usual although there is still some room for classic rock. Seventies impersonator Lenny Kravitz joins real-life seventies rocketeers Led Zep in battling the evil pop machinations of Kylie Minogue, The Lightning Seeds and those charming young lads from East Sussex, Keane.

Let Love Rule - Lenny Kravitz
I can't remember where it all went wrong for Lenny Kravitz but he used to be a hugely relative fashion and music icon a little over ten years ago. The psychedelic-funk of "Let Love Rule" was a minor chart hit in 1989 but it laid the foundation for massive hit singles like "It Ain't Over Till It's Over", "Are You Gonna Go My Way" and "Fly Away". The latter was his last chart contribution in 1999 but I wonder if perhaps his musical strength went when he had the dreds chopped.
See the video

Lessons in Love - Level 42
You have to look back to 1994 to see when Level 42 last troubled the charts ("Love in a Peaceful World") although one might say they outstayed their natural lifespan given that their best material started to dry up in 1987. A loyal fan base have kept them recording and touring and of course they left us with a decent back catalogue, one of which is their biggest UK hit "Lessons in Love" (#3) from 1986.
See the video

In the End - Linkin Park
This is about the only Linkin Park song I can listen to more than once without getting uberly-bored. "In the End" manages to stay this side of the grating hip-hop/sampling fixation that the band have, creating a sort of post-post-grunge sound, if you know what I mean. I saw them support Metallica in Dublin back in 2003 and they were totally out of place, hardly appreciated by 20,000 Metalheads who saw them as nothing more than a rap-metal boy band. However, in fairness to them, they came across as being very appreciative to be there and won the crowd over to the point where they avoided having bottles tossed at their heads.
See the video

Change - The Lightning Seeds
One of the most prolific UK pop/rock bands of the 90s, The Lightning Seeds cranked out 13 Top 30 hits in a decade which reached a pinnacle with the 1996 #1 football anthem "Three Lions" with British comedians Frank Skinner and David Baddiel. They then reached #1 again when the song was re-written for the 1998 World Cup and reached #16 in 2002 when it was re-issued again. And, uh, they reached #9 in 2006 when it was re-issued yet again. Apparently they've sold all the original CDs now so we won't be getting another version. Possibly. "Change" is one of their groovy pop hits that reached #13 in 1995.
See a crappy live version

Fairytale Sandcastles - Lifehouse
"Hanging by a Moment" was the hit that catapulted Lifehouse to international fame for a brief time in 2001. Their double-platinum debut album "No Name Face" reached #6 but "Stanley Cimbfall" and "Lifehouse", despite reaching the Billboard Top 10, fell quickly off the chart. "Fairytale Sandcastles" was a catchy non-album track featured on their "Hanging by a Moment" single.

Paper in Fire - John Mellencamp
You might know him better as John Cougar or John Cougar Mellencamp. These days he's plane old John Mellencamp, the rock n' roll singer responsible for "Jack and Diane", "Hurts so Good" and "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.". Although never a big name in the UK and Europe he was well known for his 80s chart hits and some radio success with the likes of "Cherry Bomb", "Check it Out" and my personal favourite, the country-rock of "Paper in Fire".
See the video

Immigrant Song - Led Zeppelin
Alright so I don't really care for Led Zeppelin very much - although I do think they are better than Linkin Park. Considered one of the first heavy metal bands, their influence has touched dozens of top acts over the years and with 300 million albums sold, my opinion of them is not going to matter very much. But I certainly admire their musical vision. They did not believe in releasing singles (only one single was released in the UK: an edited version of "Whole Lotta Love") and they did very few TV performances as they preferred their fans to see them live. "Immigrant Song" was released against their wishes in the US and reached #16.

Everybody's Changing - Keane
I would best describe Keane's "Hopes and Fears" album as a pleasant listen (unlike their darker and heavier follow-up) - however it is not something that gets the blood flowing. "Everybody's Changing" was the first track I heard that made me prick up my ears; Tom Chaplin's impassioned vocals particularly impressive. Keane have almost mirrored one of their peers, a-ha, in finding success with a lighter album before moving in to the darker music that they feel more at home with. It will be interesting to see if they make the same mistake as the Norwegians and try to "pop" things up for their next release.
See a live performance

Other Side of the World - KT Tunstall
You know, I bought in to this whole KT Tunstall thing at the start. My friend Pam sent me the link for the above video and I thought it was terrific. My girlfriend at the time was already in to her so I bought the album and stuck it on repeat for a few days. By the end of the week I had gone through the emotions: this is cool, love it, um that one is a bit forgettable, kinda bored with that bit now... Eventually it became an album I could easily do without. However this song is neato and probably the best track on the album.
See the video

Can't Get You Out of My Head - Kylie Minogue
It's no secret that I'm a Kylie-ite as my 2005 and 2006 Kylie calendars will attest to. Her music career has been divided in to three distinct parts: the bubblegum pop of the late 80s/early 90s ("I Should be So Lucky", "Locomotion"), the post-Hutchence indie period ("Confide in Me", "Some Kind of Bliss") and the incredible disco-chic comeback ("Spinning Around", "In Your Eyes"). I liked bits of each period and was surprisingly hung up on this song during my "disco days" in 2001. I could even be found on the dancefloor sometimes!
See a live version

TOP FRIENDS: Those of you with new pics have the pleasure...

Music:

AC/DC
Aerosmith
a-ha
Alanis Morissette
Anthrax
Bush
Def Leppard
Faith No More
Foo Fighters
Dave Matthews Band
INXS
Live
Mark Knopfler
Megadeth
Metallica
Motley Crue
Nirvana
Pearl Jam
Poison
Reef
Savoy
Skid Row
Soundgarden
Supergrass
Terrorvision
The Black Crowes
The Darkness
Therapy?
Tracy Bonham

Movies:

Aliens
Big Lebowski
Fargo
Hudson Hawk
Kuffs
Naked
Terminator 2
The Naked Gun
The Sixth Sense
The Stepfather
Wayne's World

Television:

Alan Partridge
Blackadder
Black Books
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Family Guy
Fawlty Towers
Little Britain
Phoenix Nights
Rockstar: Supernova
Seinfeld
The Simpsons

Books:

Reading at the moment

Heroes:

Anthony LaPaglia
Kurt Cobain
Paul Gascoigne
Steven Tyler

My Blog

The inevitable Blacksburg blog

BlacksburgThe horror perpetrated at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA on Monday morning is beyond the comprehension of someone like me.  Thirty two people were killed at the hands of Cho Seung-Hui,...
Posted by 9lives on Wed, 18 Apr 2007 08:22:00 PST

When art influences real-life actions

The police described it as "extremely unusual" and they are not far wrong.  Jason Moore, a 37-year old horror movie fan from England, was jailed for life for attacking his friend using a home-mad...
Posted by 9lives on Tue, 10 Apr 2007 01:50:00 PST

A Tout le Monde

After my last unsuccessful foray in to blogging about football I think I'm playing with fire once again by discussing metal music.  But I beg your indulgence for just a minute or two.In 1994 Mega...
Posted by 9lives on Mon, 12 Mar 2007 04:35:00 PST

Soccer is dramatic: the evidence!

I realise that football (or "soccer" as I've indentified it in the subject line for those more familiar with that tag) is not everyone's cup of tea.  It is widely recognised as the most popular s...
Posted by 9lives on Mon, 05 Mar 2007 10:23:00 PST

Hang ups and how I deal with them (or not)

I'm as open a book as I possibly can be but there are some things in life I disguise all the same.  You've got to have some pride in yourself, right?  Not me.  Here are my top five hang...
Posted by 9lives on Fri, 02 Mar 2007 04:52:00 PST

Two Steppin' with Dave and Tim

As myself and my friend Lesley left The Waterfront in Belfast last night to catch my bus home at the tail-end of Dave Matthew's acoustic gig, I thought to myself "if he plays 'Jimi Thing' now and I mi...
Posted by 9lives on Wed, 28 Feb 2007 08:57:00 PST

My Ideal Woman

Lying in bed the other night (curled up like a cat, it was a bit nippy), I started reflecting on the world around me.  Everywhere I look I see happy couples building sandcastles together, familie...
Posted by 9lives on Fri, 23 Feb 2007 08:24:00 PST

The 9lives US Tour: Update 5, Days 10 & 11 & 12 & 13

The final night of what has been an odyssey of ... odysettic* proportions.To be quite honest with you it has been an uneventful week so I'm not going to bore you with the ins and outs.  We did ge...
Posted by 9lives on Fri, 09 Feb 2007 10:45:00 PST

The 9lives US Tour: Update 4, Days 7 & 8 & 9

Day 7While Palo Alto wasn't exactly boiling hot it was positively tropical compared to the polar temperatures in Chicago.  From 60F to -26F in the space of the four hours it took me to reach the ...
Posted by 9lives on Tue, 06 Feb 2007 11:10:00 PST

The 9lives US Tour: Update 3, Days 4 & 5 & 6

Day 4It was an old boys night out on Wednesday as myself and Noel hit the local Thai restaurant and rolled back the years with some amusing anecdotes and references.  Obviously they would be lost...
Posted by 9lives on Fri, 02 Feb 2007 08:40:00 PST