This week we were

A look at what we were doing this week

. . . listening to

Solar Bears debut album She Was Coloured In.It sounds like the soundtrack of a 1980s sci-fi film. Something starring Dolph Lundgren, perhaps. And it's a real grower.

. . . watching

Vincent Brownehaving the time of his life at the Dáil protest on Budget night, made all the more entertaining by following #vinb on Twitter at the same time. Now that's why we pay our TV licence fee. Oh no, wait . . .

The live action Wile E Coyoteand Roadrunner on YouTube. Four minutes of joy. (Search "Wiley vs Rhodes".)

. . . cheering

The news that Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood) looks set to adapt Thomas Pynchon's Inherent Vicefor the big screen. Will the great unfilmable author finally make it into the multiplexes? And will PTA also have a crack at the phone book while he's at it? It'll sure be fun finding out.

. . . revisiting

The splendid original version of True Grit(starring John Wayne in his Oscar-winning turn) in anticipation of the Coen brothers' remake.

. . . reading

Neil Jordan's forthcoming novel, Mistaken, about two men whose physical similarities but differing backgrounds lead to intertwined lives. It's published next month.

. . . looking forward to

Eddie Izzard playing Vicar Street on Tuesday night in aid of St Vincent de Paul. His O2 show last year was very weak, but he’s still a comedy great.

. . . admiring

Philippe Chancel’s striking photographs of North Korea’s capital city, Pyongyang, showing at Istabraq Hall in Limerick. The exhibition runs until December 23rd.

. . . quoting

Apres Match’s recent

Late Late Show

performance – not their impressions of Brian Lenihan or Fintan O’Toole, but Barry Murphy’s creepy Fianna Fáil hack. “If you get rid of Fianna Fáil, you may as well say goodbye to the FCA, the GPO, Joe Duffy, free cheese, Bagnalstown, Golden Maverick, the greyhounds, Crystal Swing, Blathnaid Ní Chofaigh, Daithí Ó Sé, Opal Fruits, barm brack, a bucket of apples, the sign of peace, the smile on a pig’s face and a kick up the hole in the winter . . .”

. . . happy we went to

Arcade Fire at the 02 in Dublin. The ideal riposte to a nasty spell of bad weather, foul budgets and the lurgy. Support from Vampire Weekend and Devendra Banhart also made the icy trek worthwhile

. . . saying

Most recipients of arts funding are relieved the cut has not gone much deeper. It could be said that the ‘Farmleigh factor’ and the recent National Campaign for the Arts had some effect

Gerry Smyth on the arts cuts in the Budget in Friday’s Life & Culture