James punches well above his weight
Eighteen-year-old James Delaney is no ordinary teenager. Inspired by a lack of facilities for young people in Kilkenny, he talks to Laura Keys about dedicating his time and effort into creating a resource for people like him.
WHILE most 18-year-olds are taking it easy at this time of year, relaxing after their exams and enjoying some free time before they head off to college, Clogh's James Delaney is busy working on a project dedicated to the youth of his home county.
James is the creative force and mastermind behind online portal PunchTheSphinx.com - an online blog "by the youth of Kilkenny for the youth of Kilkenny", which launched on Sunday.
The site will feature everything from music, movie and theatre reviews, to band interviews, blogs and opinions, written by anybody between the ages of 13 and 25 who wants to get involved.
While James, who has just finished his Leaving Cert at Castlecomer Community School and is heading off to study Graphic Design in Dun Laoghaire later this year, will remain webmaster for the site and will contribute occasionally, he's hoping the youth of Kilkenny will take on PunchTheSphinx. com as their own.
James, who has a strong interest in website and graphic design, was inspired to create the website after realising there was no online resource for young people in Kilkenny.
"I just saw there was no online site, other than the likes of Bebo for the youth around here. So I started one up where it's written by youth, for youth about things we're interested in," he said.
"There's so many things going on in Kilkenny for youth, and there's no outlets dedicated to letting people know about them that I could see.
"Young people will listen to someone their own age saying "this is savage" or "this is crap"," he continued. "This website is for youth, by youth, but without all the lame cliches."
Anyone with any interest in writing, websites, blogging or who just wants to contribute is welcome to post material in any kind of format.
"There's no restrictions on what people can or can't say, language or anything like that," James said. "They can write about anything they like, as long as it's related to Kilkenny youth, and if they're good writers, then all the better. There will be something for everyone on here and if you have any kind of interest in something, you can write about it or read what someone else is writing about it. It's all about honest, humorous writing. We are the promoters for anything to do with Kilkenny youth."
The idea for PunchTheSphinx.com grew from James's desire to start a blog of his own. "It was just going to be my own blog, but you really need a niche and that's when I decided on Kilkenny youth," he said.
The intriguing name came about during a search of weird and wonderful band names and it immediately got James's attention.
"It's fun and it's setting us apart from the rest," he said. "There was nothing else like it."
To celebrate the launch of the website, James organised a huge urban game of old-time favourite, Capture the Flag, around the medieval city streets on Sunday.
With the City Hall on the High Street acting as headquarters for the game, the Blue team had its base at Kilkenny Castle while the Red team was stationed at the Black Abbey.
About 20 young people turned out to play on the day and luckily the weather held off for the afternoon.
Playing under rules similar to tag rugby, each team had to try and capture the other team's flag and return it to headquarters to gain a point in the first-to-three competition.
Each player wore a tag and if their tag was caught by the opposing team, they were out of the game.
James, who has always been a fan of the game and computer games which operate under a similar system, said he was inspired to organise the event after seeing a group in Toronto, Canada hold a Capture the Flag game in the middle of the city, attracting 2,000-plus people.
A Bebo account for the game was set up prior to the day and attracted nearly 100 'friends', proving that Kilkenny's youth were eager and willing to get involved in activities that interested them.
"I decided to run Capture the Flag to kick everything off," James said. "I know what I like, so I'm just hoping other people will like it too. There's tonnes of stuff to do in Kilkenny if you just go and look for it," he continued. "I hate when people complain there's nothing to do, then do nothing about it.
"There's lot of the 'youth' activities run by religion-based groups in Kilkenny, so I wanted to do something different that had no affiliations at all."
James has received no funding or grant aid for the creation or advertising of the website or the urban games - it has all been paid for out of his own pocket, demonstrating the intensity with which he believes in what he's doing.
He has spent more than two months designing and setting up the website, writing HTML code and sourcing contributors. Once he heads off to college, he hopes to take a bit more of a back seat and let the contributors take control.
"If people get involved and participate, I'll be happy," he said.
A mere three days after launching, the site is already attracting news, reviews and blog posts. There's a review of Devious Theatre's latest offering Stags and Hens, a review of the Museum of Broken Relationships art exhibit and a guide to bleaching t-shirts.
Next up for James is a campaign to get more young people "off their a*ses and out into Kilkenny". The 'Increase Your Flow Of Purpose' campaign will feature posters, stickers and anything else that James, for whom it seems the sky is the limit, manages to dream up in the meantime.
For more information on PunchTheSphinx.com visit www.punchthesphinx.com or contact: james@punch thesphinx.com “There was nothing else like it.”
To celebrate the launch of the website, James organised a huge urban game of old-time favourite, Capture the Flag, around the medieval city streets on Sunday.
With City Hall on High Street acting as headquarters for the game, the Blue team had its base at Kilkenny Castle while the Red team was stationed at the Black Abbey.
About 20 young people turned out to play on the day and luckily the weather held off for the afternoon.
Playing under rules similar to tag rugby, each team had to try and capture the other team’s flag and return it to headquarters to gain a point in the first-to-three competition.
Each player wore a tag and if their tag was caught by the opposing team, they were out of the game.
James, who has always been a fan of the game and computer games which operate under a similar system, said he was inspired to organise the event after seeing a group in Toronto, Canada hold a Capture the Flag game in the middle of the city, attracting 2,000-plus people.
A Bebo account for the game was set up prior to the day and attracted nearly 100 ‘friends’, proving that Kilkenny’s youth were eager and willing to get involved in activities that interested them.
“I decided to run Capture the Flag to kick everything off,” James said. “I know what I like, so I’m just hoping other people will like it too. There’s tonnes of stuff to do in Kilkenny if you just go and look for it,” he continued. “I hate when people complain there’s nothing to do, then do nothing about it.
“There’s lot of the ‘youth’ activities run by religion-based groups in Kilkenny, so I wanted to do something different that had no affiliations at all.”
James has received no funding or grant aid for the creation or advertising of the website or the urban games - it has all been paid for out of his own pocket, demonstrating the intensity with which he believes in what he’s doing.
He has spent more than two months designing and setting up the website, writing HTML code and sourcing contributors. Once he heads off to college, he hopes to take a bit more of a back seat and let the contributors take control.
“If people get involved and participate, I’ll be happy,” he said.
A mere three days after launching, the site is already attracting news, reviews and blog posts. There’s a review of Devious Theatre’s latest offering Stags and Hens, a review of the Museum of Broken Relationships art exhibit and a guide to bleaching t-shirts.
Next up for James is a campaign to get more young people “off their a*ses and out into Kilkenny”. The ‘Increase Your Flow Of Purpose’ campaign will feature posters, stickers and anything else that James, for whom it seems the sky is the limit, manages to dream up in the meantime.
For more information on PunchTheSphinx.com visit www.punchthesphinx.com or contact: james@ punch thesphinx.com
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Thursday 17 May 2012
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