Half A Giraffe

The comedy stylings of the pleasantly deranged

Monthly Archives: January 2011


The lazyman’s guide to exercise

Monday, 31 January 2011 by Kevin Dowling

exercise: exert: put to use; “exert one’s power or influence”

We all know it’s good for us. We all know it’ll help us live longer. We all know it’ll make us sexier, more virile and better in bed, but we also prefer to eat pizza that someone else brings us while sitting on chairs that will lift our legs up for us.

And as such, the team at HaG have asked me, a recent Ph.D graduate in the field of humanoid laziness leading to exercise to write an article to tell you fatties how to get thin, sexy and awesome with a minimal amount of effort. These tips could save your life. But then again, you’ll have to do more then read this article to gain results. As such, this paragraph acts as a disclaimer… no, this article won’t actually help you and yes, if you try these you will do yourself some good.. but not much. And no, it’s not scientific.

Exercise One: Like Xenu, you’ve been too lazy to strike down other worlds or religions that don’t recognise you, so the best way to build up the energy to do this is by doing some stretches, lunges and drinking an egg smoothie. But you’re lazy, so you won’t do this. Instead, just lift your hands out of your crotch region and stretch. Raise your hands up, manually, and then stretch your legs. Do it lying down if needed. That’s a lot of energy used up, so be sure to put on an exciting TV show afterwards to keep your heart rate going.

Exercise Two: No one expects you to run on a treadmill, or run anywhere for that matter. So, rather then walk up real stairs, walk up escalators. Not only is this modicum of effort useful for your health, it’ll get you closer to the food court in a shopping centre. After all, one man once said that a man can be judged by which he takes in doses of two, pills or stairs. In this case you’re doing neither, as you’re kind of only taking the stairs half a time!

Exercise Three: Get a games console. It is known that the Wii and Xbox Kinect have fitness peripherals/software but we don’t care about that. Merely owning one of these consoles (to play Goldeneye or Halo) will mean you’ve made the leap to actively lose weight. Of course, you’ll be sweating over teenage boys who are better then you online, rather then your work-out ethics.

Exercise Four: One of the huge parts of diet and exercise is that, once you’re fit & healthy, you’ll get women. So, post a profile photo (neck up) on match.com, cupidsarrow.com or something similar. This gives you a goal, and a target. Based on the women who contact you, you can decide what kind of woman to go for afterwards. How is this exercise? Well, you have to move you fingers to take the image!

Exercise Five: The final tip we have for you budding thin-folk is very simple. Buy a relaxation tape, or download an MP3 of a story about a man who runs around a lot. If science is right, then you’ll burn off calories in your sleep simply by moving muscles as your mind pretends it’s doing something it hasn’t done in years.

Posted in Featured Writer |

Oscar Predictions!

Thursday, 27 January 2011 by Rory Cashin

With the Oscar rehearsal (aka the Golden Globes) done, and the Oscar nominations released, all of Hollywood is looking forward to February 27th to see who’ll win what, who’ll wear whom and, more importantly, who’ll get it on at the after-parties. Here are some HaG predictions.

James Franco and Anne Hathaway

Right at the start of the technical awards, just as everyone famous gets up and leaves for the open bar, the podium collapses and falls of Franco’s arm, pinning him to the stage. Anne Hathaway uses this to her advantage by stealing all his best lines on the teleprompter. Eventually, fifteen hours later when the technical section of the awards is nearing its end, Franco announces Reece Withespoon the winner of Best Sound Mixing, and when she comes up to the stage to collect her award, he uses her scythe-like chin to cut himself free.

Gary Busey

Showing up with Courtney Love as his date, she wearing a simple black dress, everyone the world over is expecting some kind of tele-visual fireworks. Instead, they remain sober and coherent throughout the entire evening, making absolutely no kind of uncomfortable scene at all. Ryan Seacrest, during his interview on the red carpet, is driven mad by their lack of insanity, and kills the next interviewee he comes across. Which happens to be Justin Bieber, so nobody really minds.

Award Winners

There are no major surprises across the night in terms of winners, except when Sandra Bullock comes out to present the Best Actor award. She announces the nominations with her usual mix of charm and grace, but then once it comes to reading whats inside the envelope…

“A- A- A… An- An… A- An- An… And… t- t-t… the… wi- wi- wi… win-win… WINNER… i- i… i- i- i… is… Colin Firth!”

The audience is flabbergasted by Sandra’s total lack of tact, but they promptly fall back in love with her when she tells everyone that her adopted baby has been cheating on her with a different adoptive mother.

Fashion

Never one to miss a beat, all the major fashion designers try to re-capture the magic of GaGa’s meat dress, but get beaten out of the market when McDonalds releases their McDress (which is worn by both Natalie Portman and one of the Wachowski Siblings… embarrasing!), Burger King show off their Whopper Gowns, worn by Kathy Bates and that chick from Precious, and KFC announce their Zinger Wraps, which, while look great, make you feel like shit the whole next day.

After Parties

As is the case every year, the after parties are madness; Some hot new couple will hook up, but it being Hollywood, they can’t tell anyone about it, so they both find beards to cover up the truth. Someone will die at Elton John’s party, but nobody notices because they’re not quite famous enough to be missed. In lieu of a “key party”, all the winners put their Oscars into a big bowl, and whichever they pick out, they go home with that person, with the Best Visual Effects winner being considered the boobie prize.

Join me in a drinking game during the Oscars, any time someone says any of the following words, take a shot: God, partner, agent, privilege, nominated, or any mention of “our boys over seas” and “Barack Obama is amazing”. See you in the ER!

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Posted in Staff Writer |

Holiday Tiem!

Tuesday, 25 January 2011 by Ben Keenan

Welcome to the future, and not just any future, YOUR FUTURE! Below is an account found in a REVERSE TIME CAPSULE from the future. It seems to be a holiday journal. ENJOY!!!!111!!11!!

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Featured, Staff Writer |

Half A Giraffe at JDIFF 2011

Friday, 21 January 2011 by Rory Cashin

Following on from last years great successes at Galway and Cork, we’ll soon be hitting up the Jameson Dublin Film Festival.

We’ll be attending the Festival Launch in TriPod on Tuesday the 25th of January, and can be found at pretty much any of the events throughout the festival from the 17th to the 27th of February.

Please do not hesitate to approach us (with arms up, palms out, to show you’re not in an aggressive position) so we can banter and chat and discuss things at length.

And as much as we’d like to say that the festival is the perfect melting pot of culture, film, intelligence and class in which people can meet others in the industry, swarm up to important people and generally get your schmooze on, we all know this festival exists for one reason, and one reason alone…

Have a gone one!

Tags: , , , ,

Posted in Announcements |

How to clothes shop like a hipster

Thursday, 20 January 2011 by Kevin Dowling

For those not in the know, stop reading now. Seriously. Stop it. You’re passé and over. Piss off. If you don’t know what a hipster is, or why they like to shop, then you’re just not worth knowing.

Those who use apps on phones to degrade the experience of using modern technology (because the 70s had much better cameras) while wearing ludicrously large glasses, rimmed hats and striped clothing – read on.

Smoking copious amounts of cigarettes while looking subversive is a difficult game, and obviously 90% of this “hipster” vibe is all about not admitting to being a hipster. Thus, you cannot go shopping for clothes in the same way that a hipster would.

Note the tattoo. It is not made with ink, but the dreams of people not as cool as this...

Being a hipster super cool guy/gal means being totally devoted to whatever is hip, before it becomes hip. This means owning the next Apple product before Apple announce it, only breeding within the subculture that you aren’t a part of (at the risk of creating new hipster babies with incestuous deformities) and being devoid of good taste and a sense of colour. This also means being on the cutting edge, without being aware of it. As such, super cool guys/gals must notice what is popular and trending with the masses, and use the “What would Olivia Newton John do?” theorem (WWONJDT);

hipness / notoriety(popularity)+John Travolta’s homosexuality

When getting clothes, obviously the very first thing that springs to mind is odour. While most fashionista’s and popular folk (who are not super cool guys/gals) will wear smells with monickers like “ocean breeze” and “Atlantic Zephyr”, this means using the WWONJDT to inversely counter-act these hideous natural smells by replacing them with “Au de Marlboro”. If you don’t smoke already, it’s time to start. We’ll get into the natural health benefits soon, but smoking will permanently burn away your nasal abilities and thus, make you immortal to the smells of the peasantry who spend billions on nice smelling things. Therefore, you win.

Since you are a hipster super cool guy/gal, you are most likely perpetually unemployed. Fret not, as your endeavours to find super cool clothes will not be hindered by your lack of income.

The first issue to tackle, as we said earlier, is diet. Since you’re on a break from your media career, you’re probably on a budget. Ignore the tactile uselessness of eating food, and replace it with smoking. While, yes, smoking isn’t cheap, it can also be seen as charitable as 40% of the cost goes to tax, which helps poor people buy houses next to people who paid full price, and also helps them replace their drug habits with methadone. Your new diet is as follows:

Breakfast: Coffee from a Nespresso machine (this is important, as it is a lifestyle choice – not a coffee) & a cigarette.
Lunch: Whatever you can find in your mothers kitchen.
Dinner: Red wine & cigarettes.

Now that you’re losing an alarming healthy amount of weight you can squeeze into 70s children’s clothing from your local Freds Fashions thrift shop!

You'll always be unlikely to ascend to this guys level of cool.

The tighter the clothing the better, particularly when it comes to pants. This is the one time that the WWONJDT rules are thrown out, as any flairs or bagginess is far too post-modernist rocker for you. Once you get past the dizzying pain that comes as a result of blood clotting in your hips, you’ll be walking at an awkward pace with your arms swinging violently to propel you forward in no time.

Chequered, laced and floral design shirts are a must, but be sure to never, ever wear a t-shirt. Only wear polo shirts with stripes (of any colour, the more questionable the taste the better – as that’s the only way to counter-act the delirium of society). Girls are best to show a little mid-drift and shoulder here, to show how askew you are in the world. Men should show as much chest as possible – regardless of whether you can grow chest hair or not.

Remember, this isn’t fashion – it’s irony. Do not, under any circumstances try anything on. If it’s too tight – it’s perfect. Wearing clothing with slogans and band names you hate is the best way to project your new found sense of cool guy/gal-ness. For example, wearing a t-shirt with an old-school 80s ‘Transformers’ logo is ironic, because you hated those awesome laser-shooting robots as a child, and now you’re giving Michael Bay – and all of Hollywood – the finger. Thus, you are winning.

Use this guide as just that – a guide. But be careful not to fall into the world of culture. This is counter-culture.

Tags: , ,

Posted in Featured Writer, Staff Writer |

Stay Healthy with Dr. Gemma “Deadly” Creagh

Monday, 17 January 2011 by Gemma Creagh

Dr. deadly

Now, I’m no expert. But my online Mexican Doctorate in “Medical Areas, Thought Heeling & Reiki” does provide me with the skills to cure 99% of illnesses (even if it doesn’t allow me to prescribe my own antibiotics for my headaches). I thought I’d share some of my not-getting-sick abilities will all of you.*

*Also note that these must be followed to the letter, or you will almost certainly die at some stage.

1. Swine flu

A horrible illness; among my medical circles, this is actually known as double flu – as it is actually a person catching two flus at once. Although quite severe it can be easily avoided, all one has to do to avoid it is NOT make out with pigs. 97% of cases in Ireland last year were contacted in Copper Faced Jacks. Stop snogging swine. Done.

2. Colds

It’s quite simple really, the best way avoid colds by being in the cold! I recommend spending a few minutes in the fridge each morning. It works so well because your body gets used to it, and it tricks the cold germs into already thinking they’re already working. This means they don’t cause any symptoms and they die happy, leaving you well enough to go to Copper Faced Jacks.

3. Diarrhea

This is one of the healthiest and most natural ways to lose weight but it can, at times, be an inconvenience (ie. On a plane, long car journey, job interview). So in the unlikely event that you want to banish it, my prescription is the REVERSE PHYCOLOGY method. This means doing things that would actually cause Diarrhea in the first place, in order to trick your body into stopping the poops. My top two methods are drinking 7 liters of OJ or eating in Abrekebabramacs.

4. STDs

It’s sciencely proven that if you rub vodka on your privates before engaging in cloitus, you reduce your chance of contacting all STDs by 110% (Except for clymidea – that only works with whisky). I’m also pretty sure it also it works just by drinking a lot; as the alcohol seeps out through your genitalia when making sex. However I don’t recommend this, as the physical application of the spirits also cures pregnancy (sperm get too drunk and crash on the way to the ovum).

5. Chest Infections

A common ailment in the bad weather, a lot of people mistakenly believe this is an infection of the chest. They would be wrong however as chest infections are actually your nose malfunctioning and putting snots (or phlegm; as they’re known as by medicine practitioners such as myself ) in your chest instead of your nose. To avoid getting chest infection again is easy; just make sure there are no snots left to get down to your chest by picking them. I also recommend eating them as you build up a snot immunity.

Some important health facts to remember:

– Garlic cures clubfoot.

– People from outside Dublin statistically carry 99% more germs

– Northface jackets repel radio activity

Stay healthy!

xxxx

Dr. Deadly

Posted in Featured, Staff Writer |

Sexy Monsters!

Thursday, 13 January 2011 by Rory Cashin

Up until recently, cinema was a man’s world. Explosions, gun fights, boobies, gangsters, more explosions, violence, exploding boobies… fantastic. Women would come in now and again to catch the latest “Jennifer Aniston Can’t Find Real Love” movie or “Colin Firth Is Another Adorable Man” movie, but by and large, men owned the cinema. And then Twilight happened.

Women came in their droves, and in one fell swoop, vampires and werewolves were no longer scary, and cinema was swiped from under the noses of men. And as the Twilight films keep being knocked out at a rate of one a year, along comes Red Riding Hood, due out in 2011, a re-telling of that story, but with a werewolf, being played by this dude:

And without doubt, that movie will make a butt-load of money too. And if Sexy Monsters is what you want, then Sexy Monsters is what you’re gonna get. Here are some Half A Giraffe suggestions:

Frankenstein’s Monster!

In our version, Frankenstein would be played by Dr. Jessica Simpson, and she would make her “monster” by piecing together various parts from the world’s most handsome men, who would then be played by Ryan Reynolds. The local village folk would be disgusted at this example of human perfection, and demand it be destroyed. What will Dr. Simpson do; will she follow her brain and destroy this unparalleled specimen, or follow her heart and fall in love with “it”? In cinemas, July 4th 2013.

The Mummy!

Explosion At Toilet Roll Factory. Man Missing, Presumed Dead...

Professor Lindsay Lohan, head of the field of Egyptology, discovers the mummified remains of a former Pharaoh, and accidentally brings it back to life. After a slight misunderstanding wherein the mummy kills all of her team, she brings it back to America in hopes of rehabilitating him for modern life. And as the mummy learns to live (and possibly love?) in the 21st century, more and more of its bandages fall off to reveal… Paul Walker! This movie is to be directed by Oliver Stone.

Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde!

Schizophrenia is Sexy!

Psychologist Pamela Anderson has just agreed to see a new patient, Doctor Alex Jekkyl (played by George Clooney), who might be suffering from bi-polar disorder. Then, in the middle of one of their sessions, Dr Hyde takes a fit, and turns into Mister Harrison Hyde (played by Brad Pitt). Over the course of their sessions, the psychologist finds herself falling in love with both sides of this person, and she must decide whether to cure Jekkyl of his problems, or continue having the weirdest ménage à trois in history.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Posted in Staff Writer |

An Open Letter from Enda Kenny to The People of Ireland

Monday, 10 January 2011 by Ben Keenan

(dictated but not read)

Mo Cara’s,

Eh, or should that be “Mo Charaí”? Shit, I dunno, doesn’t matter. OK. Add it to the list, Nathan, Irish classes. Where were we?

Dear people of Ireland, my friends. Conas atá tú? I am fine. I have noticed a bit of malaise and reticence in the run up to the impending General Election and just wanted to make sure we were on the same page, politics-wise. I’m not an idiot, I get it. Nobody likes ol’ Thicko Biffo anymore, but I’m not everyone’s cup of delicious Barry’s tea either, and you’re all thinking “WTF’re we gonna do” or whatever it is you kids say these days OMFGLOLGTFOTBH and all that. And hey, I get it, I’m hip to the max. Top dollar and that. I’m bad, but in a good way, like Michael Jackson, but better because, well, you know why. Actually Nathan, add that to the list, put all of Michael Jackson on my High Pod. High Pod. “iPod”? That doesn’t make any sense.

Mr. Kenny (right) pictured with a man


The opposition’s taken a bit of a beating lately. It’s like everyone realises the prettiest girl at the ball has an STD, but even though you’re the only other one of age, no-one will touch you, ’cause they think you’ve got massive B.O. or something, even though you’re clean as a whistle, and eager to please, though you’ve never really had much experience at it, but you’ve hung around the other girls and they talk about it all the time and it can’t be that hard, right? Then some anonymous internet group  called anonymous, which is what I would have taught my students is called an OXYMORON, btw, go ahead and hacker us. Hacker US!? They don’t know what they got themselves into. I’m reliably informed by the POLICE that they’re going to follow the cables back to their houses and get Eircom to kick them off and then they’ll be really Michael Jacksoned.

Let’s talk brass tacks for a bit. Let’s be level at one another. Politician to person. We’re all screwed. Serious trouble, and it’s your fault. Ye didn’t listen to me. I was forecasting all this shiz going down and wrecking our collective deadlybuzz for years, while ye were all enjoying ye’reselves. You need to elect me as an act of attrition. I’ll bring back the Catholic backbone- sorry, poor choice of words there. Evokes the wrong image. What’s better than backbone? Spine? Fuck off, doesn’t sound right. CATHOLIC FORTITUDE (much better, ye feckin’ eejit) born of guilt and self-loathing, and through this scourge of emotional fire and ice shall we be cleansed as a nation. I am the switch with which ye all need to flagellate ye’reselves. Ye can get a real proper taoiseach – some fella (or, god forbid, some doris) ye don’t all want to punch in the face, but not ’til ye feel like ye’ve paid for ye’re mistakes.

Do the right thing, it’s us or Labor,
Peace agus cáca milis,

Enda (have a Honda) Kenny

Posted in Staff Writer |

Jacinta’s easy guide to the recession

Friday, 7 January 2011 by Gemma Creagh
Jacinta

Fuck Off Recession!!

Howare yes? I hope yous all had a fuckin ride of a christmas and a deadly New Year. It’s back to the aul grind now it’s 2011 what with the recession stealing all our jobs.

Incase yizzer don’t know the recession is a really mad yoke that has been a pain in our collective holes for the past tree years. My child allowance’s been cut so much I can barely affored my illegal smokes. Now they are even gonna tax me dole. The shower of basterds. I thought the dole WAS TAX.

To help yizzer all out with makin the most of tings for the new year, I’ve come up wit’ my 10 top tips for surviving the downtern:

1. Lidl

Yeah it’s cheaper for booze and the like, but it’s a deadly place to hang out with your mates/kids. You get to scare the shite outta the cheapskate poshos who shop there AND get to collect all the euros from the trolleys. You can even tell the spanners from the welfare that you’re tryin to get employment there or whatever; killing three birds with one firework.

2.Forget the gym

Shoplifting. It’s a great alternative to losing your baby weight or the fatfrog spare tyre. It forces you to outrun the mad fit Eastern European security guards. Plus you get the added bonus of a free Man U top at the end. Rapid!

3. The Luas

Forget about the pub. Too fuckin’ dear. The Luas Red line is where it’s at. They don’t kick your bratty kids out when they try and set it on fire or it’s 9 O’Clock like they do at your local. You can ride it all day and there’s no eejit conducters, and it goes to all the hotspots. Just watch out for the feckers in their stabvest. If they catch ye, just give your ex’s new girlfriend’s name and address. Stupid Fathead bitch will get the fine.

4. Joyridin’

The PS3 costs loads… save yizzer self the price of video games by doing your own real life Gran Turismo! Plus you have the added bonus of leaving a poo under the seat, so if you decide not to burn it there’s a nasty surprise for the owner.

5. Get a job

Ah ha ha ah… I’m only messin.

6. School your chiselers

Not the boring load of shite it sounds like; if you make sure the little whingy basterds make it in for their home economics classes you can get them to go out cleaning houses. Not only can they earn their keep, they’ll be outta your face for the whole time. Just make sure the devious cunts don’t hold out on you.

7. Go to the Music Festivals

They are a great little earner… I usually sell oregano and lumps of dogshite to the thicko hippies and students. When all their weirdo bands are playing and they’re off watching them you can rob their real drugs and beers from their tents.

8. Learn the internet

Ebay is a great place to sell all the shite the thankless little shites rob from the houses without the shades giving ye grief. The W. W. web is also a good place to pick up older married men, who almost always buy you jewelry and then when you get sick of the aul creep on top of ye, make some cash with blackmail!

9. Use protection!

Pregnancy is a pain. People give out to you for drinking and smoking, no fellah will touch you and kids cost a load of money. I recommend the withdrawal method. Which is accompany him to a banklink and make sure he has cash BEFORE you get up the duff! Sorted.

10. Just have a laugh

Don’t listen to all that wingey bollix on the news; when things get tough or whatever, have a few scoops and chill. Then go after who’s really to blame… David McWilliams and Eddie Hobbs, who started this whole shite in the first place. Dirtbags the both of them.

JACINTA WAS HERE – 2011

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted in Featured, Staff Writer |