James Joyce Awards: Please take one

Mr.Nice Guy

Does anyone else think that these awards are being given out far too cheaply by the college? I saw a poster today saying they were giving one out to 'Jon Heder' who apparently was in the Napoleon Dynamite movie. I've never seen the film myself and so I'd no idea who the guy was before today. Can he really be regarded as a worthy recipient?

I'm not trying to knock this guy, perhaps he's quite talented, but Will Ferrell got the same award with a whole body of work behind him. Eddie Izzard likewise. I really don't see how this chap merits the same accolade. No doubt fans of his will disagree but I'd like to hear the explanation.

It seems like these awards are simply being used as carrots to lure famous faces to the campus. Considering there have been many worthy recipients of the award over the years I'd be worried that this is a 'dumbing down' of the honour if you like and that in future it might mean less Will Ferrells and JK Rowlings and more Rob Schneiders and Katie Prices.

Your thoughts?

Alyosha

Dewey got one too. Nearly had tears in his eyes.

I'm not sure what sort of prestige, if any, used to be attached to the award but in my time at UCD I've always seen it as a tool to get some famous people on campus.

scop

Well first of all its not really an award. It's just a gimmick to get people to come. I don't think there is any value attached to it.

Zounds

On a point of information: It's not awarded by the college, it's awarded by the L&H.

Riamfada

Say what youwant its a fantastic way of getting larger names to come to UCD.

Tom65

There was never any prestige involved. As far as I know, the L&H needed something to get famous people to come and talk in UCD, so they invented an award and stuck Joyce's name on it.

If it had ever meant anything differnet, then maybe they'd be given out too cheaply. As it stands, that's their only purpose.

Stepherunie

The James Joyce Award only started in my second year here, before that they used give Honorary Vice Presidencies or Honorary Life Memberships.

dyl10

Jesus, making a bogus award with a legends name on it is genius :eek:

Breezer

I always wondered about this myself. I mean fair enough that a 'literary' society names an award after a famous alumnus, but ideally I'd prefer it to be restricted to people who have made a noteworthy contribution to literature. An Honorary Life Membership as Steph said would be a better idea to attract famous faces (which there's nothing wrong with doing). Pity. I doubt the L & H really care about my opinion though, since I'm not even a member, so meh.

Riamfada

:pac:I bandied the idea about having the Adolf Mahr award for excellence in archaeology and giving it out to get the janitor from scrubs to come and give a society talk. Might have to name it after someone else tho.

boneless

It's just a way for all the celebrity whores in UCD to increase their photo collection of themselves with famous people .

Stabshauptmann

dyl10 wrote: »

Jesus, making a bogus award with a legends name on it is genius :eek:

QFT. Fair play to who ever came up with it!

seraphimvc

Tom65 wrote: »

There was never any prestige involved. As far as I know, the L&H needed something to get famous people to come and talk in UCD, so they invented an award and stuck Joyce's name on it.

If it had ever meant anything differnet, then maybe they'd be given out too cheaply. As it stands, that's their only purpose.

mystery solved :pac:

i was always wondering where the hell is that money/human resource come from to give a prize to nobody...

Riamfada

They do bring alot of money and positive attention to the entire UCD Society structure. Its good to see one of the larger organisations doing something with their power than another generic alcohol orientated sex themed slappers night in Tramco or simular booze up that unemaginitive students seem to cling to.

+1 L&H

bnt

While searching for something else, I found more news of the next recipient: Brian Schweitzer, the current Governor of the state of Montana, will receive his award on Wednesday, according to a report here. I might go to that one to hear what he says about "The World After Oil".

Dave!

I agree with the above..... BTW I was only thinking yesterday that the L&H have some fantastic guests this year. Much impressed. Maybe next semester I'll actually get to see one of them......

mac123

Dave! wrote: »

I agree with the above..... BTW I was only thinking yesterday that the L&H have some fantastic guests this year. Much impressed. Maybe next semester I'll actually get to see one of them......

Yeah true, there the only society that does anything entertaining in UCD. Neil Flynn was quality during the week, mans a legend!

OpenYourEyes

mac123 wrote: »

Yeah true, there the only society that does anything entertaining in UCD. Neil Flynn was quality during the week, mans a legend!

Damn right! was gutted when he didnt appear last year as promised, but well worth the wait!

And in fairness to the L+H they seem to have a nice balance of famous people and more intellectual people. Considering it is a college with an average age of 20 and theyd probably do just as well if they left out all the debates and politicians and whatnot

gubbie

YEA L & H
I love them. There couldn't be a harder working group in the college. They spend a huge portion of their summer's writing letters to these people and they deserve every bit of praise that's aimed at them.

FockRoysh

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

Considering it is a college with an average age of 20 and theyd probably do just as well if they left out all the debates and politicians and whatnot

Well said, here here.

meliadaeddagold

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Does anyone else think that these awards are being given out far too cheaply by the college? I saw a poster today saying they were giving one out to 'Jon Heder' who apparently was in the Napoleon Dynamite movie. I've never seen the film myself and so I'd no idea who the guy was before today. Can he really be regarded as a worthy recipient?


quote]

for you who dont know about napoleon dynamite, he was in fact in it. Napoleon Dynamite is a cult film and the reason he was brought to ucd was to acknowledge the memoriable character that he played. I was delighted to hear that he was comin as he really made a name for himself in this movie. with napoleon dynamite you either know if or you dont.
l and h are a great society. you must remember that they also brought george martin to the college, he is another person that you either know him or you dont. In case you dont know he was in fact the producer for the beatles. again, a wothy recipient of the james joce award.
its very difficult to get people like these to come to colleges and all i can say is hats off to l and h for bringin them.

Dave!

What is the award for, meliadaeddagold? Outstanding achievement? Lifetime achievement? Limited achievement (ie. Napoleon Dynamite)?

The L&H have brought some well-known and sometimes quite talented guests to UCD, but if the award implies that the recipient is on par with James Joyce, then it is being grossly abused. If it's just a made-up award, then fair enough.

Brimmy

Actually out of curiosity what's the deal with the talks in the evening? I've never stayed around late enough for one but do you have to show your society card when entering the lecture hall? Only one I've ever been too was for Salman Rushdie and they didn't mind then as the lecture hall wasn't very full..

I'm actually really impressed with the L&H lineup this year, it's rather ecclectic... if only the Lawsoc held true to their promise for the last 2 years and brought Patrick Stewart

Mr.Nice Guy

meliadaeddagold wrote: »

for you who dont know about napoleon dynamite, he was in fact in it. Napoleon Dynamite is a cult film and the reason he was brought to ucd was to acknowledge the memoriable character that he played. I was delighted to hear that he was comin as he really made a name for himself in this movie. with napoleon dynamite you either know if or you dont.
l and h are a great society. you must remember that they also brought george martin to the college, he is another person that you either know him or you dont. In case you dont know he was in fact the producer for the beatles. again, a wothy recipient of the james joce award.
its very difficult to get people like these to come to colleges and all i can say is hats off to l and h for bringin them.

I'm not knocking L & H. I've joined the society every year I've been in the college. I appreciate their efforts in livening up the campus. I do however think it's fair to query what criteria is taken into account when giving out this award. I do know who George Martin is and I would certainly regard being the producer of The Beatles as an outstanding achievement. Being in the Napoleon Dynamite film? Not so much.

I would personally prefer to see those giving out the award, which is attached to our college's greatest name after all, be more selective in terms of who they give it to. It seems at the minute to be a way to coax any well-known name to the campus. It works for them sure but I think it cheapens the college's image in a way to throw out these kind of awards so easily. Just my opinion.

As Dave put it if we're to believe the recipient is on a par with James Joyce in terms of excellence then it's taking the piss really. I'm guessing that this is the kind of thing recipients of this award are being told in order to get them to visit.

Pride Fighter

Dave! wrote: »

What is the award for, meliadaeddagold? Outstanding achievement? Lifetime achievement? Limited achievement (ie. Napoleon Dynamite)?

The L&H have brought some well-known and sometimes quite talented guests to UCD, but if the award implies that the recipient is on par with James Joyce, then it is being grossly abused. If it's just a made-up award, then fair enough.

I fully agree. This guy does not have a substantial enough body of work behind him. They better not give Russel Brand the award, that would be just a disaster.

princess-sprkle

Its nice to see some famous people coming to campus though, even if the award is a total crock. Napoleon dynamite though?

If the society that promised me Seth Green doesn't follow through, i won't be a happy camper :pac:

I love the debates with politicians and stuff, they're always quite interesting. I'd rather go see one of those than will ferrel/ russel brand anyway.

wolfpawnat

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

It seems like these awards are simply being used as carrots to lure famous faces to the campus. Considering there have been many worthy recipients of the award over the years I'd be worried that this is a 'dumbing down' of the honour if you like and that in future it might mean less Will Ferrells and JK Rowlings and more Rob Schneiders and Katie Prices.

I completely agree, I mean there are many people worth the award but he really is not one of them, my boyfriend and I went to see Niall Quinn and the lecture theatre was tiny and not very full but I feel he was far more deserving. He has achieved great things even if not all people support him they have to admit that.

I also went to see Neil Flynn (the Janitor from Scrubs) and Lecture Hall P in the Arts block was nearly packed and that is a big letcure hall. but as good as he is and all he has only achieved a tv show and a movie with Linsey Lohan, hardly the same calibre as Niall Quinn me thinks, am I wrong???

Tom65

wolfpawnat wrote: »

I also went to see Neil Flynn (the Janitor from Scrubs) and Lecture Hall P in the Arts block was nearly packed and that is a big letcure hall. but as good as he is and all he has only achieved a tv show and a movie with Linsey Lohan, hardly the same calibre as Niall Quinn me thinks, am I wrong???

I dunno, I mean, let's be honest, Mean Girls is a great film.

mac123

wolfpawnat wrote: »

am I wrong???

I think so...

Chinafoot

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Being in the Napoleon Dynamite film? Not so much.

It's not like the guy has only ever been in Napoleon Dynamite. Perhaps you should do a quick search. He's been in more than just one.

As for the recipients thinking the award is for excellence....please! Do you really think they take it seriously? It's hardly an honourary degree from Harvard. It's a mutually benficial arrangement. The college gets some high profile names and the high profile names get some more publicity.

Mr.Nice Guy

Chinafoot wrote: »

It's not like the guy has only ever been in Napoleon Dynamite. Perhaps you should do a quick search. He's been in more than just one.

I did check up on him. I couldn't find anything of real note beyond that movie. I don't see many people acclaiming his excellence.

Chinafoot wrote:

As for the recipients thinking the award is for excellence....please! Do you really think they take it seriously? It's hardly an honourary degree from Harvard. It's a mutually benficial arrangement. The college gets some high profile names and the high profile names get some more publicity.

Do I think celebrities take things seriously? Uh yeah! No ego on those guys though right?! I've been to a few of these things before and they always crawl up the backsides of the people they give it out to.

'This award is very prestigious, the recipient is so deserving, etc. '

That's fair enough - when the recipient IS actually deserving. Anyway I've made my point on this already. I'll shut up about it because I'm hoping I can receive one of these myself next month.

The James Joyce Award for excellence to boards.ie.