Homepages, a unique collection of stories and photographs, the first of its kind in Ireland, has hit the virtual shelf this very day.

All proceeds from the sale of the book, compiled on an entirely voluntary basis, go directly to Focus Ireland, a very worthy cause who provide services and support for people who are homeless across Ireland. I contributed a photograph I took a while back to the collection and am very proud to have done so. I really hope it sells a shitload of copies.

Catherine Brodigan is the curator of the project. So hats off to Catherine for having the imagination, the initiative and the will to make it all work.

Catherine describes Homepages as “a unique collection of stories and photographs, the first of its kind in Ireland”. The contributors are a motley crew of Ireland’s best bloggers who “hold forth on the theme of ‘home’, covering everything from pets and expat life to parenting and the Kellogg’s Variety Pack. By turns hilarious, heartbreaking and thought-provoking, it promises a captivating read and showcases some of Ireland’s best undiscovered writing talent”. The list of grade-A contributors is available here. I personally can’t wait to get my mitts on a copy.

Oh and it’d make a most excellent Christmas present for those you hold dear! It’s available online at Lulu on a print on demand basis for a mere €14. To buy your very own copy or one for a loved one go here.

Catherine will be virtually launching the book with a couple of drinks from 7pm this evening at Le Cirk on Dame Street – all are welcome to come along. She’ll be the redhead in the corner with the double espresso!

Also at Le Cirk this evening some fine folk will be live blogging to cover the final of The Apprentice. Excellent stuff. What a combination!

Absolutely positively plenty.

Things we learned while watching Raw last night…

- alcohol is the root of all things sexual, be it homo or hetero
- Tiny still can’t speak but he can fill a lunchbox with his custard-like “jizz”
- JoJo drinks like a bastard but does a mean dessert
- oral sex and full frontal male nudity have a place in indigenous Irish drama
- women are crap at fighting in bars
- Australo-Czech relations are heating up
- there is a time and a place for La Femme D’argent by Air, that, however, wasn’t it
- a bar somewhere in Dublin serves absinthe by the tray. Really?
- next week’s show will involve lots of stuff being smashed by a variety of characters

And just one more thing as the baul Columbowas wont to say…

One wonders did RTÉ change the timeslot for Raw (from 9.30pm to 9.55pm) to avoid clashing with The Apprentice (9pm) on tv3? Probably a wise move. The Apprentice was, again, slick and engrossing, particularly the last part of the show where they squirm like eel/weasel/worm hybrids. When a format works it works. And Dr Bill rocks. But the blatant product placement is shameful. Isn’t that illegal??

The splendid La Femme D’argent in all its glory.

Raw, Image (c) rte.ie

So episode 3 of Raw was on last night. I thought it was the best yet. The writing was/is very sharp. Some cracking one-liners and put downs. The tension and drama are coming along nicely, narrative arcs are well on the way with new twists and turns to complement them.

The setting for last night’s episode, the customer-less empty restaurant with the rain and wind lashing outside, gave the scenarios a real claustrophobic feel, they were almost trapped within the restaurant. And this worked a treat.

The performances have been generally quite good. Keith McErlean as Shane is excellent. Understated and subtle. Charlene McKenna as JoJo is always close to the edge but never over the top, a fine actress. And the rest of the characters are well cast, well directed and well played. A well chosen, on form ensemble.

Something I questioned earlier was the chemistry between Bobby and Rebecca but even that is developing nicely. And even Geoff has become less of a one dimensional, stock character. He has more depth now which is no harm. One downsight was Mal’s post-cocaine high. It was way over the top in forcing home the point. A bit of easy plotting from the writer’s, as a character device it was a little stereotypical and could’ve been handled in a more subtle way.

Raw still proves to be quite divisive with audiences, particularly over at LouderVoice. Some love it, some can’t stand it.

I was wrong about the look of Raw. It looks really good. Nicely shot, smooth grading work, peaking not an issue as I previously thought. So hats off to those involved.

One last thing on Raw, I wonder do they give away a little too much with their “on next week’s show” teaser?

The Apprentice, Image (c) tv3.ie

The Apprentice on TV3 was much slicker than I expected in truth. Very nicely shot and lit. Lovely aerial shots and tightly cut for the hero and villain approach. The contestants are very aware of themselves and how they are portrayed. And businessy type people can be highly irritating, full of buzz words and morkeshing speak. They all know the format and how it works. But the real drama is watching them squirm and blame each other for failing to close the big deal. The deal in question, selling a few bananas.

And sometimes it’s hard to take Dr Bill seriously; Tom Dunne’s fault really.

But all in all The Apprentice is somewhat engaging. And again, like Raw it’s always more engrossing when the accents are familiar and local. I reckon it’ll do very well ratings wise and about time TV3 produced something home-grown to such a high standard. Their website is quite nice too, fairly comprehensive.

Last night I also watched Massive on BBC 3. It’s an alleged comedy starring Ralf Little and Johnny Vegas but it’s neither original nor funny. In fact I’ve seen it before, every scenario, every character, the bigger picture. It’s not big and it’s not clever as Bryan Boyd might say.