Sharon O’Donoghue writes:
B.A. commuting on the M50 this morning. He AIN’T getting on no plane!
Commander Riker’s signature leg-over chair mount and dismount, observed and compiled by WeirdHat.
Big Willie style.
Damn thieving fixie-heads.
Al Graham writes:
I realise you don’t normally do this but two bikes were stolen from my rear yard last night [Donore Avenue, just off Cork St , Dublin 8]. Taken was a pink Planet X Carbon Road bike (above) and a green Mercian fixed gear conversion (frame, top) with White, Deep V rims on it.
They’re both unique to Dublin, and the fixed gear in particular has massive sentimental value, so if you could ask folk to keep their eyes open for them I’d be mightily grateful.
Director Mark O Rowe and Love/Hate’s ‘Nidge’ actor Tom Vaughan-Lawlor hold a photoshoot to promote O’Rowe’s Howie The Rookie, in which Tom will play both Howie and Rookie.
It will open at the Project Arts Centre, Dublin on June 17, before heading to various venues across Ireland and the UK.
From the Project Arts Centre website:
“Howie tells a story. Then Rookie takes it up. Mark O’Rowe’s electrifying, epic tale is a wild, urban odyssey through a nightmare landscape, hilarious and grotesque by turns.
“Meet the enormous Avalanche, monstrous on the bar stool in her white skipants. Meet Ladyboy, a dangerous gangland thug with Siamese fighting fish and – it is rumored – three sets of teeth. Meet Mouse, Howie’s younger brother. Meet the Howie. Meet the Rookie.”
Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland
The controversially out-sourced logo for TG4
Annie West writes:
Dear Ministers [Pat[ Rabbitte, [Jimmy] Deenihan and [Richard] Bruton
I’m writing to ask if you are aware of the fact that TG4 commissioned three UK based Companies to design the motion graphics and new Logo in 2012.
Many people, rightly, commented on Social media that because of EU rules, TG4 would have had to tender this work and whichever company came up with the best/cheapest pitch would win the commission, regardless of location.
However:
Further enquiries showed that in fact tender is not required for “creative” work. This means that TG4 (and, as it happens, RTE) do not need to advertise any work for commission and therefore, any Irish Companies who specialise in this kind of work (and there are many) might not even be aware that work is available.
It seems odd to me and many others that, in particular , designing a Logo that reflects *characteristics of traditional Irish Fonts that’s both modern and steeped in heritage* needs to be sent to three UK companies.
I personally do not work in this specialised area of design but I do know plenty of people who do. I also know people who will be graduating from IADT and other design Colleges who find this news demoralising and disappointing.
One might have assumed that , with TG4’s commitment to Irish heritage, language and creativity, every effort would have been made to find a company in Ireland (and perhaps even in the Gaeltacht areas) to do this work.
Ireland is bursting with creative talent, in all areas including motion graphics, typography and design. For the life of me I cannot understand why this lucrative job could not have been offered to an indigenous company.
Annie West
Previously: An Raibh Fios Agat?
Whistlin’ Paddy Doran yesterday.
Raised by chaffinches from Celbridge, Co Kildare.
Unless YOU can do better.
Thanks Victoria Mary Clarke
“Meanwhile, Ireland, already an attractive destination for multinational companies, is making it even easier for them to avoid taxes.”
“Last year, for example, Irish revenue authorities agreed to let Google make billions of dollars in royalty payments directly to a Bermuda subsidiary, helping to cut the company’s tax bill by at least $2 billion a year, according to U.S. and overseas securities filings. Previously, Google had routed those payments through a shell company in the Netherlands to avoid a 20 percent Irish withholding tax on payments destined for island havens. According to a person with knowledge of the arrangement, Ireland agreed to accept an additional tax well below 20 percent in exchange for the favorable treatment.“
Jesse Drucker on Bloomberg.
Europe Eases Corporate Tax Dodge as Worker Burdens Rise (Bloomberg)
Previously: Anything Good Behind The FT Paywall?
How Google’s Double Irish Tax Scheme Works
Mark Stedman/Photocall Ireland