TheCity

Tag: youtube

  • The Runner taking on Dublin Public Transport 

    The Runner taking on Dublin Public Transport 

    By Aidan O’Boyle 

    Daniel Toal is a Dublin runner who can run faster than the Luas. Kind of. 

    His YouTube channel Craic and Kilometres shows him take on unique challenges while exploring Ireland’s finest trail running destinations as well as doing the country’s best and worst races. 

    Since Toal started the channel 5 months ago, he’s amassed over 1,740 subscribers, with his videos gaining over 138k views. 

    Toal has been running for six years, taking it seriously the last four and more recently got into trail running about two years ago.  

    Speaking to TheCity, Toal said: “Ireland has such stunning landscapes and trails, and I really wanted to share that with people. Starting the channel with those POV trail races felt like the perfect way to kick things off.”  

    Toal remarked that he always had a “huge passion for running” and loves watching running content. However, he felt like there wasn’t much Irish running content. 

    “I felt like there wasn’t much Irish running content out there. That really motivated me to start my own channel and share fun races and crazy challenges in Ireland,” he said.  

    Toal was also inspired by popular Swedish runner Goran Winblad who he watches regularly. “My favourite running YouTuber would definitely be Goran Winblad.” 

    Toal’s most viral video ‘I Raced Dublin Bus to the Airport (POV)’ highlighted just how slow Irish transport can be. Toal races the number 16 bus from O’Connell Street to Dublin Airport. 

    “I got the idea from using that bus myself to get to the Airport. I thought to myself I’d easily beat this running! It took about an hour to drive 11.5km but it felt like an eternity.   I also thought it could be a fun challenge for runners and also non-runners.” he said. 

    “I knew it would be a bit too easy if I didn’t have any rules.” 

    “So, I put a couple of rules in for myself, ‘I have to stop at all the traffic lights, slow myself down, and follow the exact route’,” he added. 

    In an enthralling watch Toal leads the bus at many stages, with his friend Niall on the bus watching giving us a rather amusing view of Toal trying his heart out to beat the bus to the airport. 

    Ultimately, after sitting at traffic lights for five to six minutes of the run, Toal arrived at Terminal 1 at 55:57, which was heartbreakingly close to the Dublin Bus arrival time of 54:10. 

    The video got a great reaction, with 1.5k likes and many comments praising Toal for his great effort. 

    Many comments exclaimed how it showcased just how bad our transport can be at times. “Really sums up the inept public infrastructure in this country,” said one viewer. 

    Another user said: “You can see why we really need that metro to the airport now haha, well played anyway, amazing video”, while another suggested that Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary should watch the video. “Send this to Michael O’Leary when he says Dublin has adequate airport transit…” 

    Toal said the video had a great impact on his following. “My YouTube channel doubled last month from racing Dublin Bus.  ‘The Irish Independent’ and ‘Dublin Live’ got in contact with me which also helped to boost the video.” 

    He agreed with many of his followers on Dublin’s transport issues. “The transport isn’t great in Dublin compared to other major European cities. I wanted to highlight that during the race to the airport with Dublin Bus.” 

    A week later he took on the Luas, racing from Connolly train station to Heuston train station, and to his delight comfortably won. 

    “I ran the lights when the roads were safe. I thought that was going to be difficult, but I ended up overtaking another Luas on the way. It was much, much easier than I thought.” 

    Toal doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon and he happily told me he has a few more transport challenges lined up. “I want to take on the E1 Dublin Bus from Dublin city to the airport, and I’ll also take on the dart for a few stops around the city.” 

    Toal’s enthusiasm is clear in all of his videos but none more than his video a few weeks ago ‘Can a Pint of Guinness Survive Croagh Patrick’. 

    His infectious energy is shown clearly in this video with his quick-witted responses to fellow hikers a staple of the video. 

    One of the first interactions shows this when a passerby exclaims “Is that a pint of Guinness fair play to ya”. Toal’s prompt response is “I swear to God it was water when I started”, which draws a laugh from the bemused lady. 

    Seeing all the positive reactions to Toal’s absurd but great challenge makes it a wholesome and enjoyable watch.  

    So, it was no surprise that when I asked Toal what his favourite video to record was, he was quick to say: “ ‘Can a Pint of Guinness survive Croagh Patrick’ was definitely my favourite to record, everybody along the way had funny reactions and was cheering me on.” 

    There’s a notable absence of “hate” comments under any of Daniel’s video which is a nice change to the sometimes toxic nature of social media comment sections. 

    When I quizzed Daniel, he agreed saying “I haven’t really paid attention, it’s been mostly positive comments.” 

    His channel is an example of the positivity online creators can bring to our screens. 

    To finish off our chat I asked Toal his favourite moment since making the channel and his response sums up the character he is. “I’ve a small channel but I love the impact it’s having, people have come up to me to say they’ve starting trail running because of the channel or it’s helped them get back to running again, so I love that I can inspire some people.” 

  • The Drop Movie Review

    The Drop is a thriller set in Brooklyn, which sees Tom Hardy play the role of Bob the barkeeper alongside his cousin Marv, played by James Gandolfini, who owns the bar. We learn from bitter conversations that the bar has now changed ownership to the Cechen gangsters of the neighbourhood, who took the bar over to act as a “drop bar.” This means that the bar is used as a location to drop and exchange dirty money out of sight of policemen.

    Hardy proves himself to be an extremely versatile actor, starring alongside the late James Gandolfini, in Dennis Lehane’s first adaption of his very own short story. As we are brought into a spiralling world of crime and violence, we learn that Marv seems to fancy himself as a tough guy while Bob is more the unwilling partner. But as they say blood is thicker than water and Bob stays beside his cousin but isn’t as innocent as he seems. He attends the local church, but never takes communion, letting on that there is more to his story then just being a simple barkeep.

    As the characters’ own stories begin to unfold, a robbery takes place at the bar. And Chovka, the leading gangster, is not happy. He wants his money back immediately, and indicates that the responsibility of this stolen cash is now on the two cousin’s heads.

    Whilst all this sets up the main action plot, another sub plot unfolds.  Bob finds a beaten-up pit-bull puppy in a woman’s trash can. Bob and this woman, Nadia, played by Noomi Rapace, strike up a friendship. As he learns about the animal and begins to love it, the original owner shows up and demands his dog back, but Bob refuses. The stranger starts harassing Bob, pranking him and threatening him, leaving Bob in a fragile and watchful state.

    As all these different plots begin to thicken and all the characters begin to tell their own stories, we learn that everything is not as it seems. Some things are connected in unexpected ways and Hardy, in probably one of his best roles to date, has no problem keeping the audience guessing. As Bob’s character begins to darken Hardy’s performance is captivating.

    The Drop gives the audience a strong, gritty, dark atmosphere where a sense of dread is felt at all times. This is a film that where the plot twists and turns in unforeseen ways. As for James Gandolfini, plays Marv, the man who feels he had his big dreams ripped away, perfectly. As Gandolfini’s last acting role before his death it he showcases his pinnacle of talent when it comes to playing what he knows best as the misunderstood tough guy who will keep you on your toes. The combination of Hardy and Gandolfini together brings nothing but pure movie magic.

     

  • Your favourite YouTube video of 2013

    Your favourite YouTube video of 2013

    Sminky Shorts? What does the Fox say? The one with the cat in a shark costume riding a roomba? What was your favourite YouTube video of 2013?

    http://youtu.be/GRymg9P8GAQ

    Reporter/video editing-Diarmaid Murray

    Camera-Greg Synnott

  • Hungarian Students Strip in Protest of New Dress Code

    Hungarian Students Strip in Protest of New Dress Code

    A class of Hungarian undergraduate art students and their professor have stripped down to their underwear in protest against new university dress code rules.

    The president of Kaposvar University, Ferenc Szavai, issued a letter to students featuring strict new uniform rules to be enforced on every student of the university.

    Female students have been forbidden from “blatant use” of accessories, excessive make up, over powering perfume, and short skirts.

    Instead, they are to opt for a blouse and jacket, with a long skirt or trousers.

    Male students are encouraged to dress in a dark suit, and to avoid dressing in shorts or flip-flops.

    Unkempt hair and fingernails are banned for both sexes.

    The students first voiced their dismay on October 1st,  but students have been donning beach towels and flip-flops to class as recently as this week.

    Two female students during their protest against harsh uniform rules
    Two female students during their protest against harsh uniform rules. Image via YouTube

    The students have documented their process in YouTube videos and posting images to social media.

    Despite the students’ protests, many other universities from around the globe have long established, and strict, dress codes for their students.

    These protests come at a time when Hungary is battling the authoritarian style rule of its current Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, a figure who has been likened to Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

    Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán
    Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán

    Since his election, Orbán has dominated every aspect of public and private life.

    Orbán has made several controversial decisions throughout his time in office; he has ended press freedom, outlawed homelessness, and abolished an independent fiscal council whose purpose was to scrutinise budgets.

    Last month, protests against the Prime Minister power reached a new extreme when a group of individuals staged a hunger strike outside Orbán’s residence.

    On another occasion, a riot culminated in the toppling of a statue depicting his likeness.

  • Hozier video goes viral

    Hozier video goes viral

    Hozier playing The Button Factory for Hard Working Class Heroes - Photo by Sarah Buckley
    Hozier playing The Button Factory for Hard Working Class Heroes – Photo by Sarah Buckley

    Hozier is a name that’s starting conversations all over the place lately following the release of the Dublin singer-songwriters debut EP “Take Me To Church” in July. What’s making waves though is his recently released video for the track of the same name.

    ‘Take Me To Church’ is the most complete song from Hozier’s nascent career, a soulful high-spirited track which seeks redemption in the flesh through metaphors around church worship – “if the heaven’s ever did speak / she’s the last true mouth piece”, “I was born sick but I love it / command me to be well”.

    Feel Good Lost’s black and white video for the track also addresses that issue: by showing what can happen to a gay couple who face the violent homophobic backlash that ensues when the community learns of one of the man’s sexuality.

    Hozier told State Magazine recently that the video:

    “references the recent increase of organised attacks and torturing of homosexuals in Russia, which is subsequent to a long, hateful, and oppressive political campaign against the LGBT community. The song was always about humanity at its most natural, and how that is undermined ceaselessly by religious organisations and those who would have us believe they act in its interests. What has been seen growing in Russia is no less than nightmarish, I proposed bringing these themes into the story and Brendan liked the idea.”

    Frantically shot with a palpable sense of dread, the narrative explores homophobia, violence and oppression with the harsh unforgiving eye of the camera capturing the fear and aggression portrayed with a real feeling of precision communicating the subject matters all too real relevance.

    As of writing the video has recieved over 239,385 views on Youtube.