Vinyl Photography - A Penny For Your Thoughts

Okay, last time! The moratorium begins tomorrow morning (Thursday), when Ireland goes to the polls to decide the future of the Lisbon Treaty. Fellow Irish blogger No Ordinary Fool has already made his subtle last post. I don't even know if many Irish people read this blog, but really at this stage it's just about personal expression, in addition to my ballot. Or in this case, artistic expression (my inner amateur graphic designer).

A lot of people argue that the Yes side lacks a positive central message, and has been pushed on the defensive against the claims of the No side. Lisbon is a reform treaty, designed to modify institutions, and it's hard to 'sell' to the public compared to previous treaties. Not that it's without benefit - for a more efficient, more effective and more democratic Europe - and at least the benefits outweigh the dangers. Maybe 'don't let the record skip' is a little negative as a message, but believe me when I say I feel positive about this treaty.

The coin at the visual centre of the picture is an Irish euro 1 cent coin. It shows the reverse side of the coin, with the Irish harp surrounded by twelve stars to symbolise the EU flag (which only has a symbolic number of stars, unconnected to the number of member states, which currently stands as 27), the year of mint and the Irish name for Ireland, Éire. My friend, mr. x indeed, told me about this trick, and putting a penny on top of the stylus really does stop the record skipping (It does reduce the sound slightly, however).

The record, incidentally - and obviously it has no connection to the political statement, of course - is Shooting at Unarmed Men's latest 7" single, 'Sometimes the Best Thing You Can Do Is Die', from the excellent Triptych album which I've been bigging up in the last post, below. Like their previous 'Girls Music' single, it's very sparse on graphics although the reverse and sleeve have some identifying markings. I also picked up Foals' 'Red Socks Pugie', so expect a 7" post on those sometime this week.