Belfast City Council is holding two months of events to mark the 100th anniversary of the launch of RMS Titanic. Exhibitions, talks, plays and special commemorations all will be part of the ‘Titanic 100’ programme, which culminates on the centenary of the ship’s launch, on Tuesday 31 May.Many of the events will be free of charge. The centrepiece of the events programme will be two major new exhibitions.
The ‘Titanic 100’ exhibition will celebrate the building of the great ship from its inception to launch, focussing on the photography of RJ Welch, the official photographer for Harland and Wolff.
Through Welch’s lens, visitors will be given a remarkable glimpse of life at the yard, its scale and that of the ship, as well an insight into the life of 1911 Belfast. ‘Titanic 100’ will remain on display in the City Hall grounds until mid-May.
The second exhibition, in City Hall itself, will focus on the story of the SS Nomadic, also launched in 1911, telling her story from construction to the current restoration programme. The Nomadic exhibition also will feature rare artefacts from both the tender and the White Star line, and will open at the beginning of May. www.laganboatcompany.com Throughout April and May, there also will be a series of tours, both on land and water, visiting key landmarks associated with the Titanic story.
These will include bus and walking tours of Queen’s Island and guided walking tours of Edwardian Belfast, as it would have been known to Titanic’s designer, Thomas Andrews, and of the SS Nomadic. Tickets for all these tours are available from the Belfast Welcome Centre.
There will be special tours of the Thompson Graving Dock – officially opened on 1 April 1911 and once the beating heart of Harland and Wolff’s operations in the building of the huge White Star liners – and the adjacent Pump House and visitor centre. Tickets for these can be booked via www.titanicsdock.com
The Lagan Boat Company also will be offering their ever popular selection of Titanic-themed boat tours. For more details, visit Susan Millar – great-granddaughter of engineer Thomas Millar, who was one of the 22 Belfast men lost their lives on the fateful night of 15 April 1912 – offers a very personal tour of her Titanic Belfast for groups of up to five people. For more details, visit www.titanictours-belfast.co.uk
For those who wish to follow the Titanic story for themselves, the award-winning Titanic Explorer Trail is now available, free of charge, as part of the ‘Go Explore NI’ smartphone app, for both iPhone and android, while the Titanifacts iPhone app is also available for download.
Looking further ahead, over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend (Saturday 23 – Tuesday 26 April), City Hall will be the focal point for a four-day ‘Titanic 100’ festival, featuring talks, tours, exhibitions and plays.
Tickets are available now from the Belfast Welcome Centre.
In addition to the centenary of the launch of Titanic, a number of other anniversaries are being marked throughout the period. These include the centenaries of the opening of the Thompson Graving Dock and the launch of SS Nomadic, the 150th anniversary of the opening of Harland and Wolff – and the 99th anniversary of the sinking, on 15 April 1912, of Titanic.[i1]
Bikini babe Katie Larmour has been snapped by a top agency which has A-list celebs such as Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton, Carmen Electra and Lindsay Lohan on its books.The FHM’s High Street Honey for 2011 — has signed up with Jonathan Lipman International Group in London.
Katie said: “I absolutely love Kim Kardashian, I’m Kim crazy at the minute, and couldn’t believe it when she was on the front cover of my FHM issue,” said Katie.
“She did a really sexy, fun shoot in the same March issue that I was in. Now I’m going to be on the same books as her, it’s unreal.” “The agency represents Lipsy clothing and Caprice underwear and so hopefully will match me up with some cool campaigns. I love my life in Belfast so I’m not thinking about moving but I’d definitely travel for work if the right opportunities came up.
According to numerous sources (Incuding PWI) the WWE have released the highly regarded backstage producer from Northern Ireland Dave ‘Fit’ Finlay.Known as simply Finlay during his ten years with the WWE, the third generation Belfast native wrestler has been a key factor in the success of the divas division, wrestled many memorable matches on Smackdown and been instrumental in developing new/young talent for the company.
Full details of his release are sketchy, but many believe he has become a fall guy for the company over a house show incident this past weekend (where Miz caused uproar by interupting the US National Anthem) & may return down the line, once things have died down.
Finlay’s career streches back to 1974 and saw him headline events in Ireland, the UK, Japan and Europe, before ‘The Belfast Bruiser’ hit the big time in the US and joined WCW and later the WWE.
The veteran grappler semi-retired from in ring competition last year, but is still known to fans today as the storyline father of Hornswoggle and still commands respect whenever he makes appearances for the WWE.
His loss will be felt my many with the locker room and fans across the globe who appreciated his no nosense style and in-ring attitude. BY PHIL ALLELY
Ladytron have begun to reveal information about their upcoming 5th studio album. Gravity The Seducer, the follow up to 2008′s Velocifero, will be released on September 12th in the UK (September 13th in the US).“The title is a lyric from the track “90 Degrees,” which comes towards the end of the album, and is one of the most definitive moments in terms of the album’s overall feel,” says Ladytron’s Daniel Hunt.
After the March 28th release of Best Of Ladytron: 00-10, the new studio album is another chapter after a decade’s worth of evocative, instinctive yet deliberate electronic pop music.
Ladytron recorded the album in Kent’s countryside, with co-producer Barny Barnicott (Artic Monkeys, Kasabian, Editors) at the helm.
For Gravity The Seducer, the band wanted a grander sound, incorporating more baroque elements. Fans can expect the new tracks to be dreamy, romantic, beautiful, and lush.
“‘Gravity the Seducer’ is more of a jump than the last album was, more ethereal & melodic, a touch more abstract in places than we’ve gone before, baroque ‘n’ roll. It was a pleasure to make, took us right through last summer. It’s our best record in my opinion,” continues Hunt.
Stayed tuned for more information in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the band will be touring Europe, and Mira Aroyo will be DJing in several cities. Ladytron play The Forum in London on June 8th, and The Arches in Glasgow on June 9th. www.ladytron.com www.facebook.com/ladytron
Sometimes things just spiral out of control, you make a track solely to use as a club tool, something to liven up your own sets. But then a couple of friends hear it and start asking for it so you give it to them too and the next thing you know it’s become one of the anthems of 2010.Ok it helps if you’re one of the most respected house producers in the UK and your friends just happen to be Norman Cook and Annie Mac, but still despite all the best planning some of the biggest success are the most unexpected.
The track we’re referring too is of course Hervé’s massive ‘Together’ which makes spine tingling use of the chorus to Primal Scream’s original Balearic classic ‘Come Together’, throwing in some of Hervé’s trademark heavyweight bass and beats for full effect.
Since ‘Screamadelica’ was itself exploring the, then, new art of the remix to provide a ‘Sgt Pepper’s for the E Generation’ this remake is just one logical step on and Hervé’s nod to the UK originators of the art like Weatherall and The Orb. Following a very limited release last year has now been completely re-recorded, replayed and remixed by some of the best around including DJ Fresh and C.R.ST.
With a new generation of clubbers looking back to those early Halcyon days of Acid House and Rave, Hervé has skilfully produced a bona fide acid house anthem for 2011. www.myspace.com/hervespace
Tinchy Stryder and Jameela Jamil emerged from the wreckage of a crashed helicopter set at the Xperia™ PLAY Rooms at the Old Sorting Office on New Oxford Street in London to launch Sony Ericsson’s groundbreaking new handset Xperia™ PLAY.Other celebs attending were : ex-Sugababe Keisha Buchanan, stylist Jason Boateng, model Alice Delhal, Branson heiress Holly Branson, comedian Dom Joly and Radio 1′s Tim Westwood.
Kesha Buchanan
Alice Delhal
Holly Branson
The Xperia™ PLAY Rooms popped up for one day only to immerse consumers in a surreal fusion of gaming genres. Visitors were subjected to a world that featured everything from a fluorescent blue forest, burnt out helicopter, American muscle car and a Shanghai street bar.
Commuters arrived bright and early to be among the first in the world to try out their gaming skills on Xperia™ PLAY, with some gaming enthusiasts swapping their suits for Spiderman or Stormtrooper costumes. A select few also got their hands on tickets to Sony Ericsson’s private launch party, with performances by Tinchy Stryder and The Nextmen.
Tinchy Stryder commented, “I’m a big gamer so it’s great to be involved with the launch of Xperia™ PLAY. I spend a lot of my time on the road, so to have a mobile with a PlayStation gaming pad is cool.”
Jameela added, “I got to launch an awesome gaming phone and hang out with Tinchy, although he needs to learn to be a little bit less competitive when it comes to playing games.”
The Xperia™ PLAY went on sale globally from Today 1st April 2010. For more information about Xperia™ PLAY, visit www.sonyericsson.com/uk
The lovely Katherine Jenkins will be performing with The Ulster Orchestra in Belfast on Sunday 29 May at the Odyssey Arena. She will perform live in concert at The O2, Dublin on 28th May as well.
Katherine Jenkins in Concert
The O2, Dublin, 28th May 2011
Tickets priced from €49.80 including booking fee
The O2, Dublin: Tel (01) 8198888
Book On-Line: www.theo2.ie
The Odyssey, Belfast, 29th May 2011
Tickets priced from £55.00 including booking fee
24hr hotline (NI) 0844 277 4455
Odyssey Arena Box Office 028 9073 9074 www.odysseyarena.com
In person: From 100 Ticketmaster Outlets Nationwide
By Telephone (24 Hour):
ROI – 0818 719 300, Northern Ireland – 0844 277 44 55
Buy Online: www.ticketmaster.ie
Elbow, Primal Scream (Screamadelica) and The Specials will headline Belsonic 2011 in association with ABSOLUT. Also confirmed: Plan B with Katy B, Dizzee Rascal with Wretch 32.Building on the overwhelming success of the 2010 run of shows, BELSONIC in association with ABSOLUT returns to Belfast’s Custom House Square this August.
One of the largest and best Northern Irish outdoor music events in history, many of the 2010 events sold out some weeks in advance, with in excess of 40,000 people in attendance.
This year, Belsonic in association with ABSOLUT promises to up the ante yet again, providing an array of world class acts.
Elbow, Primal Scream (performing their critically acclaimed Screamadelica LP in its entirety) and The Specials will be headlining artists at this years events, joining British superstars Dizzee Rascal & Plan B.
Werewolves are finally getting the love they deserve! Vampires have ruled the airwaves for a while now (think “True Blood” and “The Vampire Diaries”), but 2011 is shaping up to be the year of the wolf.And Tyler Posey, star of MTV’s upcoming “Teen Wolf” (loosely based on a 1985 Michael J. Fox movie of the same name) is the hottest new addition to TV’s growing wolf pack.
Topping the list of Things That Are More Difficult When You’re a Paranormal Wolfman? Dating (sure, lots of guys turn into animals when they get excited, but you know, not literally).It’s also tough when your girlfriend’s dad moonlights as a werewolf hunter and is kind of out to put you down—permanently.
On the bright side, there are those heightened wolf senses (read: super sight, smell and hearing). If the trailer is any indication, the stakes are going to be high from the first howl on “Teen Wolf.”
If sexy werewolves are your thing (and really, aren’t they everyone’s?), catch the premiere Sunday, June 5 right after the 2011 MTV Movie Awards. www.mtv.com
Forensics: Producer of moody, haunting dubstep. Runs Methodology Recordings. Releases on a range of other labels, including Eight:FX & DubKraft.Tracks played by Aquasky, Plastician, MRK1, Horsepower, Macabre Unit, Joe Nice, Bobby Friction, Pathaan, Jus Wan, Kion, Crises. Tracks by Forensics
Co-founder of the Ruffnek Diskotek club night.
Collaborated with Kulture, Phaeleh, Indi Kaur, Juakali, DZ, Atki2, Threnody, Demon, Kuoyah, Substep Infrabass, Alien Pimp, Wrexile, China~, Two Oh One, Grooki, This One, Tommy Lexxus, Not In My Name, Paul Domino, MrJo, Rhythmical Thinker, Patchwerk Man. Involved in a number of other projects, including A Bridge Far Away & The Divided Circle. DJ’d alongside Loefah, Benga, Kode9, Plastician & Skepta, Hatcha, Distance, MRK1 & Virus Syndicate, Joker, N Type, Geeneus, RSD, Gemmy, Elemental, Pinch, Scuba, Ital Tek, Peverelist, V.I.V.E.K, Drop the Lime & Mathhead, Bass Clef, Headhunter, Appleblim, Rossi B, Cluekid, Synkro, Oneman, Jakes, Mungo’s Hi Fi, Moving Ninja, Sukh Knight, Geiom, Milanese…. www.myspace.com/forensicdubstep
Many of the events will be free of charge. The centrepiece of the events programme will be two major new exhibitions.
Throughout April and May, there also will be a series of tours, both on land and water, visiting key landmarks associated with the Titanic story.
“The agency represents Lipsy clothing and Caprice underwear and so hopefully will match me up with some cool campaigns. I love my life in Belfast so I’m not thinking about moving but I’d definitely travel for work if the right opportunities came up.
