Marian Finucane

Lapin

CountyHurler wrote: »

What did you make of what Constantin Gurdgiev said yesterday on with Marian?

Missed him too.

I'll have to listen back later.

Harry Angstrom

Roger_007 wrote: »

I don't think Colm O'Gorman is much of an asset to Amnesty. He always come across as a pretentious git !

Amnesty is more of an asset to Colm O'Gorman, what with the €99,000 per anum salary that goes with the cushy gig.

Raspberry Fileds

CountyHurler wrote: »

What did you make of what Constantin Gurdgiev said yesterday on with Marian?

I can't find that part. It hasn't been given its own section like most topics are, and a quick skip through the full show was fruitless too. Is it possible that it was withheld?

The page gives a link "to the article Marian mentioned about Putin" (:rolleyes:). What is the reason for that? Did she talk about it for long?

CountyHurler

Raspberry Fileds wrote: »

I can't find that part. It hasn't been given its own section like most topics are, and a quick skip through the full show was fruitless too. Is it possible that it was withheld?

Oops, my apologies... Constantin was on The Gathering with Sean O'Rourke on Friday (podcast below)...

http://www.rte.ie/radio1/today-with-sean-o-rourke/

I thought I heard Constantin on the radio as well though... It may have been with Claire Byrne.. after Marian... the podcast for yesterday's show is not up yet, so I cant check for sure. I could, of course, just be losing my mind completely...

Raspberry Fileds

In the last few months, my consumption of Radio has drastically reduced, so it was for the first time in a while that I listened to MF today. My god, she was just as appalling as I remember - nay, worse!

I know it is always unfair to take one thirty-second clip from a 100-minute plus programme, but I think this one is not unusual and demonstrates much of what I dislike about her style of presenting; it was said as a prompt to one of the guests (Telegraph journalist Tim Stanley):

"One of the things, a point was made by a guest on the programme a couple of weeks ago, that when The Wall came down, you know, and compared it to what had happened after the Second World War where there was the Marshall Plan and all that, but when The Wall came down and people said, "Well there you go…Communism was a disaster" - mind you, since then, we know Capitalism isn't that brilliant either, but that's another day's story - and that, you know, by Europe cosying up to Ukraine and by expanding Nato and all of that, it was kind of like rubbing the Russians' in general, but most particularly, Vladamir Putin's nose in it, and that he also has to, as it were, defend Russian pride and dignity."

I think the style of the never-ending sentence, replete with sub-clauses and asides, which concludes with a rather banal point (and let's be clear, saying that Russia feels intimidated by EU expansion is decidedly banal after the Ukraine crisis), will be familiar to regular listeners. But, what irks me most is unquestionably the way she has of finishing an aside or point with a phrase that invariably begins with "But" - "...but anyway"; "...but that's just my opinion"; "...but that's another day's story"; etc.

I admire several RTE presenters (almost exclusively radio) - Byrne, Lawlor (when doing serious stuff), O'Rourke, O'Mongain, Carville, and others - so this rant isn't rooted in anti-RTE sentiment. Just that, IMO, Finucane is sub-standard by any objective measure.

CountyHurler wrote: »

Oops, my apologies... Constantin was on The Gathering with Sean O'Rourke on Friday

I thought I heard Constantin on the radio as well though... It may have been with Claire Byrne.. after Marian... the podcast for yesterday's show is not up yet, so I cant check for sure. I could, of course, just be losing my mind completely...

Thanks for that! I'll check them out.

Harry Angstrom

Michael "last sting of a dying wasp" McDowell :rolleyes:. I wonder how's he's getting on with his crusade to reform The Seanad??

I wish somebody would tell him to fcuk off, permanently.

CountyHurler

I'm just tuning in to see if I won the Garth Brooks tickets.. Yeeeehaaawwww!

Roger_007

Harry Angstrom wrote: »

Michael "last sting of a dying wasp" McDowell :rolleyes:. I wonder how's he's getting on with his crusade to reform The Seanad??

I wish somebody would tell him to fcuk off, permanently.

Michael has, if it is possible, got more arrogant with age......"everything was perfect when I was in charge.....".
If there is a prize going for the most arrogant and obnoxious politician ever to grace Leinster House, it would be a close run thing between Mc Dowell and Lowry.:eek:

CountyHurler

My God, do the researchers not even tell Marian the name of the interviewee when they are handing her the questions... Really sloppy, yet again... How does she persist with this facade that she spends the whole week working on the show when she doesnt even know the names of the people she's interviewing..

washiskin

Roger_007 wrote: »

Michael has, if it is possible, got more arrogant with age......"everything was perfect when I was in charge.....".
If there is a prize going for the most arrogant and obnoxious politician ever to grace Leinster House, it would be a close run thing between Mc Dowell and Lowry.:eek:

With John O'Donoghue & Alan Shatter slugging it out for 3rd place.

I know it's summer & the quiet time of the year but surely this is the time to try out new voices & opinion on this show instead of the annual trawl through the speakers list at the various Summer Schools.

CountyHurler

This is dull...

Harry Angstrom

Ah, here we go. Banville's essential holiday reading probably consists of a lesser known Finnish writer from the 12th century.......

Harry Angstrom

Yeah, Hemingway loved life so much that he blew his brains out.

Onthe3rdDay

CountyHurler wrote: »

My God, do the researchers not even tell Marian the name of the interviewee when they are handing her the questions... Really sloppy, yet again... How does she persist with this facade that she spends the whole week working on the show when she doesnt even know the names of the people she's interviewing..

See who the producer is at the end of the show. There are a few usual suspects in RTE that don't appear to be very good at the job. Even liveline has been tainted with their input or lack of it in the past. (and liveline facts and figures aren't exactly something you should bet your house on) Remember there's a full team behind Marion. Of course it could just be Marion's Unique style:D

Roger_007

Harry Angstrom wrote: »

Ah, here we go. Banville's essential holiday reading probably consists of a lesser known Finnish writer from the 12th century.......

I always find these book reviews crushingly boring. Also, I wonder why authors and publishers get so much free advertising in the media. A book is just a commercial product. Same with movies. They should have to pay for their advertising like any other commercial venture?

Harry Angstrom

CountyHurler wrote: »

My God, do the researchers not even tell Marian the name of the interviewee when they are handing her the questions... Really sloppy, yet again... How does she persist with this facade that she spends the whole week working on the show when she doesnt even know the names of the people she's interviewing..

I feel that I have to defend Marian's reputation here. In my opinion, her brain is fried because of all the research in which she fully immerses herself during the week. Time, Newsweek, The New Yorker, The Irish Times, The Irish Independent, The Star, The Mirror, The Sun, The Examiner, The WSJ, Le Monde, La Stampa, The Times of London and The Dundalk Leader are all on her prescribed reading list for the week. The woman is simply overworked.....

Harry Angstrom

I'd give anything to hear Banville recommend something by Jackie Collins

Raspberry Fileds

Harry Angstrom wrote: »

I feel that I have to defend Marian's reputation here. In my opinion, her brain is fried because of all the research in which she fully immerses herself during the week. Time, Newsweek, The New Yorker, The Irish Times, The Irish Independent, The Star, The Mirror, The Sun, The Examiner, The WSJ, Le Monde, La Stampa, The Times of London and The Dundalk Leader are all on her prescribed reading list for the week. The woman is simply overworked.....

And alongside all that, she needs to find time to plan her summer holidays.

Onthe3rdDay

Harry Angstrom wrote: »

I feel that I have to defend Marian's reputation here. In my opinion, her brain is fried because of all the research in which she fully immerses herself during the week. Time, Newsweek, The New Yorker, The Irish Times, The Irish Independent, The Star, The Mirror, The Sun, The Examiner, The WSJ, Le Monde, La Stampa, The Times of London and The Dundalk Leader are all on her prescribed reading list for the week. The woman is simply overworked.....

Plus you left out all the Sundays... which no doubt she'll start reading this evening and not sleep tonight. Good to know that between her and her production team each show is costing about 5 grand... you can feel the quality.

Onthe3rdDay

Roger_007 wrote: »

I always find these book reviews crushingly boring. Also, I wonder why authors and publishers get so much free advertising in the media. A book is just a commercial product. Same with movies. They should have to pay for their advertising like any other commercial venture?

I remember Marion interviewing someone who had self published a book a year or two ago and had gotten 9 or 10 thousand in sales and had made a decent profit. In one book they had sold more than many guests on the show do in a lifetime. However, Marion while being polite was a little snobbish because it's hadn't been approved by a publishing house.

There are quite a few decent Amazon authors that are good writers, Irish and have decent sales, However they're not in that special place (first page of the researchers notebook.) So you're unlikely to hear them.

CountyHurler

Harry Angstrom wrote: »

I feel that I have to defend Marian's reputation here. In my opinion, her brain is fried because of all the research in which she fully immerses herself during the week. Time, Newsweek, The New Yorker, The Irish Times, The Irish Independent, The Star, The Mirror,...

Immerses herself in a bath of milk with a flute of Champagne and Joe O'Connor's latest book more like..

CountyHurler

Could they not run across to Studio One and borrow one of Ryan Tubridy's clip playing machines... He has about ten..

Onthe3rdDay

Marion proving timing is everything when it comes to comedy, Introduces a clip.... a few seconds wait ..... we seem to have a problem... Then as I type this "I'm sorry we had clips but those damn gremlins have gotten into the system again."

Does anyone check anything before the show??? I know things can go wrong but it's an everyday occurrence with Marion.

Callan57

Harry Angstrom wrote: »

Ah, here we go. Banville's essential holiday reading probably consists of a lesser known Finnish writer from the 12th century.......

I will not have a word said against John Banville ... one of my absolute favourite authors as both himself & Benjamin Black

Harry Angstrom

The person operating Marian's tape machine previously worked for Dublin City Council...

Onthe3rdDay

S people credited with bringing you that shambles. Marion makes it sound like she just drops into the studio with no prep at all...

dvcireland

Brendan O'Carroll never played the Edinburgh Festival as it was too commercial for him

Harry Angstrom

Callan57 wrote: »

I will not have a word said against John Banville ... one of my absolute favourite authors as both himself & Benjamin Black

The Sea and The Book of Evidence are two favourite books of mine, but I wish he'd be a little more unpredictable and spontaneous when he does interviews.

CountyHurler

Callan57 wrote: »

I will not have a word said against John Banville ... one of my absolute favourite authors as both himself & Benjamin Black

I only read biographies and educational books.... I dont see the point in reading a book that you cant learn something from...

CountyHurler

They had to evacuate the prisoner as the 9mm of water was threatening to damage his flatscreen TV and playstation..

roran

Week-end is never the same without listening (and enjoying) Marion Finucane. One of the best broadcasters in the business. Really looking forward to her programme tomorrow. Anyone know how the programme performed in the JNLR? She must be consistently one the longest most listened to broadcasters of all time (in the Alistair Cooke mode :pac:). Really wipes the floor of all other commercial stations :D:D

Jimmy444

Once again the monumental challenge of playing a wav file of one of their own previous broadcasts on air has eluded the engineering capabilities of our august national broadcaster. I see our licence fee is well spent.

Never ceases to amaze me how many times RTE has a problem playing sound clips, either they can't play it or they play the wrong one. Do they have any sound engineers in there who know what they are doing? Does the producer after the show just say "ah sure 'tis grand, don't worry about it, sure who would even notice it."

Callan57

CountyHurler wrote: »

I only read biographies and educational books.... I dont see the point in reading a book that you cant learn something from...

IMO there are very few books you can't learn something from if you think about what you are reading.

CountyHurler

Callan57 wrote: »

IMO there are very few books you can't learn something from if you think about what you are reading.

Let's see you defend this one... :pac:

Onthe3rdDay

Jimmy444 wrote: »

Once again the monumental challenge of playing a wav file of one of their own previous broadcasts on air has eluded the engineering capabilities of our august national broadcaster. I see our licence fee is well spent.

Never ceases to amaze me how many times RTE has a problem playing sound clips, either they can't play it or they play the wrong one. Do they have any sound engineers in there who know what they are doing? Does the producer after the show just say "ah sure 'tis grand, don't worry about it, sure who would even notice it."

I don't know if that many actually would. Her figures are slightly down this time around but not enough to cause any issues for her or the production team. However, if you broadcast anything at that slot you'll get the same listenership figures. A certain section of the population aren't capable of switching off Radio One.

For example Pat hasn't done too badly on Newstalk (not as good as they assumed but still nothing to be ashamed of) However, very few of his listeners followed him it seems. He's made gains off of Ray Darcy, Tubbs and various other stations. Sean O Rourke on Half his Salary basically has the same numbers.

Luckily when Marion's Next Contract comes up she'll be offered a lot less. (Sean O Rourke has burst the bubble it seems) She'll have to take it or leave it at that time. However, terrible Production values will still linger on even if she retires.

roran

CountyHurler wrote: »

Let's see you defend this one... :pac:

What's this? Compulsory reading for ex- CountyHurlers :D:D

Callan57

CountyHurler wrote: »

Let's see you defend this one... :pac:

Well, lets see now ..... I'd learn that there's no substitute for sheer brass neck & if you can convince yourself you've got talent you'd be surprised how many may actually believe you.

Dan Jaman

Onthe3rdDay wrote: »

Marion proving timing is everything when it comes to comedy, Introduces a clip.... a few seconds wait ..... we seem to have a problem... Then as I type this "I'm sorry we had clips but those damn gremlins have gotten into the system again."

Does anyone check anything before the show??? I know things can go wrong but it's an everyday occurrence with Marion.

Too busy lighting up another fag.

Dan Jaman

Callan57 wrote: »

IMO there are very few books you can't learn something from if you think about what you are reading.

Callan57

Just listening to the interview with McDowell & it reminded me of the comment from the Harland & Wolff engineer in relation to the Titanic "It was all right when it left here".
Lord but that man loves the sound of his own voice

Oops69

Must get abit boring for Micael mc Dowell down in the holiday home in Roscommon in August, just Mary mc Aleese for company and a riveting discussion on Canon law .

honeybear

Was this water guy on Marion's show talking about his usage of water before?-I'm sure I heard him (might have been another show)

Oops69

I'm not going to be able to take Lonergan for an hour or more

CountyHurler

honeybear wrote: »

Was this water guy on Marion's show talking about his usage of water before?-I'm sure I heard him (might have been another show)

Yeah, I thought the same... And it was just as riveting last time.. Why in God's name would they start with this topic, and the Jewish representative in the studio with them.. Should they not start with the discussion of Israel?

CountyHurler

Five LIVE guests in studio and she gets a contributor on the worst phone line possible before talking to two of the ones in studio...

EEEEE-Bola

Oops69

Marion pronouncing Ebola in a way she feels the 'Africans' pronounce it , she really is a blast from the past .

constitutionus

I've never heard anyone pronounce ebola that way .

Mental .

Keep thinking the other guests are gonna point it out during a break

CountyHurler

"We segregated the prisoners and this was a disaster"...

The sale of drugs and mobile phones was seriously hurt during this period..

Oops69

Ebola is a lot less infectious than influenza, does Marion get the experts on , no , she gets big eejits to comment on its infectivity.

CountyHurler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikNZ83FoefA

Seems like Marian might be right... No doubt during her week's research she came across the above video..