things i love......................

This post is inspired by one that i read on another blog.......thanks kat for making me think of things i love!

Cherith. Is that an obvious way to start? i don't care! I love when we go out for a meal or go shopping together but i also love that we can sit quietly and read without having to be busy..........sometimes she will just glance over at me and smile and its then that i know just how much i love her.

Music. if im happy, sad, angry, mad or just crazy........music. what can i say. I rememeber being totally obsessed with Nirvana and having the songs in my head for months, the joys of buying the whole Beatles back catalogue in a week, the tingle in my spine when i first heard tommy emmanuel, the shiver i get when my bass and i are in perfect unison with other musicians...ahhhh music is a force i do not understand

Recently as we enjoyed several trips to the beach i realised how much i love the ocean. I don't swim, surf or do any of that stuff but the crashing waves just humble me, sometimes scare me but always catch my attention

Discovering things is so cool. I loved it when i discover a new singer or guitarist or a new restaurant or shop or a new blog.............i wish i could discover something more important though!!

I have an obsession with watching people. Now, not in some pervy way but if we are in a restaurant or if i am in a busy street i love to just watch people. The crazy images, mad hair, paranoid people, old people, young people, punks, posh people etc etc it is fascinating

I love when i pour the half frothed, half steamed milk into a double shot of freshly ground coffee and the two blend beautifully to produce the perfect cappucino

I love many other things...............i will continue to think of and post what drives me and inspires me

please visit Rob&Kat's blog to share some of their's...............(in my links)

Songs of great importance..........

here are some songs i just love..............

tangled up in blue: bob dylan
can't you hear me knocking: rolling stones
the dock of the bay: otis redding
caravan: van morrison
in france they kiss on main street: joni mitchell
the heart of saturday night: tom waits
smudge: oscar peterson
those who wait: tommy emmanuel
birdland: weather report
something in the way she moves: james taylor
the world is what you make it: paul brady
king harvest has surely come: the band
amoreena: elton john
electrical storm: u2
in bloom: nirvana
summer moved on: aha
heroes & villains: the beach boys
vicious: lou reed
glory days: bruce springsteen

Its a random list that just came to mind.........................

More Bono................

"At the age of 12, I was a fan of David. He felt familiar, like a pop star could feel familiar. The words of the psalms were as poetic as they were religious, and he was a star. Before David could fulfil the prophecy and become the king of Israel, he had to take quite a beating. He was forced into exile and ended up in a cave in some no-name border town facing the collapse of his ego and abandonment by God. But this is where the soap opera got interesting. This is where David was said to have composed his first psalm -- a blues. That's what a lot of the psalms feel like to me, the blues. Man shouting at God -- "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me?" (Psalm 22)

Church Solidarity.......................

There has been a gesture of solidarity by members of a Ballymena Presbyterian church following loyalist attacks on two Catholic churches in the town. On Friday, people from High Kirk church handed out roses to Massgoers at All Saints church which was smeared with paint earlier this week. They also scrubbed sectarian graffiti off the door and walls of the Church of Our Lady in Harryville on Thursday. The church has suffered graffiti and paint attacks in recent weeks.
All Saints priest, Fr Paul Symonds, said the High Kirk members' actions were "their way of saying 'we are sorry for what has happened and the way you have been targeted by these paint bomb attacks' and they were disassociating themselves from that. "It was an absolutely lovely gesture, one of sheer love. It was a very gracious gesture and I felt it was a very much a mirror of God's love." The priest was present at the Harryville church when High Kirk members used paint thinner and brushes to remove the graffiti. "The graffiti was obviously done as an attack, as an expression of evil, and this cleanup is very much the opposite," Fr Symonds said.
Jeremy Gardiner, youth pastor at High Kirk, said his church is in the middle of a community service week where they carry out "random acts of kindness". "Because of the attacks on the Catholic churches we wanted to show our kindness to the Catholic community. This is a show of solidarity," Mr Gardiner said.

Story taken from BBC news website
Well done Jeremy........visit High Kirk website in my links (my church)

The Words of.................................

"I never liked jazz music because jazz music doesn't resolve. But i was outside the Bagdad Theater in Portland one night when i saw a man playing saxophone. I stood there for 15 minutes and he never opened his eyes.
After that i liked jazz music.
Sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself. It is as if they are showing you the way.
I used to to not like God because God didn't resolve. But that was way before any of this happened."

Donald Miller: Blue like Jazz

endurance...............

who better to define endurance than these guys eh?? I been listening to them a bit recently and i have to say i am looking forward to the new album "A Bigger Bang"...........
Described as "an ambitious collection of hard-hitting, high-powered rock and blues songs", A Bigger Bang has 16 tracks in all - making it the Stones' longest album since 1972's Exile on Main Street.
The Stones' world tour includes 35 dates in the US and Canada, moving on to South America, the Far East and finally Europe before summer 2006.
Rock on lads...........you only as old as the woman you feel!!!

A Bigger Bang is released 5th september

Breaking news.................

The Irish Republican Army announced today that it will abandon its "armed campaign" and resume disarmament in a long-awaited declaration designed to revive the Northern Irish peace process. The IRA, which has observed a cease-fire since 1997, said it would end all armed activity from 1600 BST today. But it said that it would not - despite Unionist demands - formally disband. In an historic statement, the Provisionals appealed to the Britain and Northern Ireland’s Protestant majority to accept the IRA's new position as sufficient to renew negotiations on power-sharing, the core goal of the 1998 Good Friday agreement. The statement begins: "The leadership of Oglaigh na hEireann has formally ordered an end to the armed campaign. This will take effect from 4pm this afternoon.

good evening.......................

12 friends at a new, much talked about restaurant.................................

It was pretty good, i do always feel that a large table does not get just as much attention and sometimes the overall dining experience can suffer as a result.........but the food was good, my steak (boring) was tasty chewing and the place looks fantastic.
It was cool to hang with our friends for the evening and chat about "stuff"................i was blessed with a seat that looked out to sea and could not watch the staff! Its what i do since i been working in a restaurant..................like i need to keep an eye on their ability or something!

here we all are........all fed and ready for home!!

check the bigger picture!!
a nice night was had by all.......................Richard & Hazel (far right) get married in 2 weeks and Paul (cheriths bro, 5th from right) just came back from Moldova so we had much to talk about!!

gosh darnnittttt.............

Oasis return to Belfast for 2 shows in December and yep you guessed it.....................i have missed out! Tickets sold out in 2 days and i was a little slow of the mark im afraid!!
Ah well, the fabulous Tommy Emmanuel returns to Belfast, also in December but this time at the Waterfront hall which should be a great venue for him. So i will be keeping a close eye for the tickets to that one........must not miss the legend...................i wont rave on though! i'm drooling just thinking about it!
Some news i liked...........................
Big Brother is still throwing up surprises with Turkish "male diva" Kemal up for eviction with Orlaith this week. Orlaith from belfast is facing her second possible eviction in a row but kemal has yet to face the public vote so......................ooooh what will happen!!!
Will Orlaith continue to fondle her Jugs? Will Kemal still be............"Kemal"

Paul McCartney is trying to be cool again by suggesting that George Harrison aided him with a new song from beyond the grave...........................what can i say! Hope its a good song!! aint he old looking??

Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness have announced that they have left the I.R.A. army council..............its a "political hot potato" ........................ouch it burns just mentioning it!!!

p.s. I reckon Gerry and Martin are the 2 smartest politicians this land has so once again i say.....hope your intentions are good and honest. (my how martin looks like art garfunkel)

join the big noise...................

www.maketradefair.com

stop by and add your support.......................

ouch..............

right, this is one of those stories that initially makes you giggle a bit but then...................ouch!
read on to see what i mean!
"Chelsea Davis was trying to pull off an inward somersault when she crashed her nose into the board.
Coach Lutz Buschkow pulled the 17-year-old crying and with a bloodied face from the pool.
Despite the injuries, her nose was not broken and she just needed a few stitches to a swollen nose."

But the drama was not quite over. Having seen her competitor in the 3m springboard bounce head-first into the board, Mexican Jashia Luna began to get the shakes.
she calmed herself before climbing up but a quick glance down triggered the trembles again and on the dive down her fingers hit the board. They were not broken.
The championships in Montreal, Canada, were Chelsea's first senior games and she had been 14th at the time.
Team coach Bob Rydze said she never lost consciousness and hoped to continue in the tournament.
He added: "It could have been a lot worse. We're very, very fortunate."

So i say......................do not take up diving!

Downhere sign to label..............

Congratulations on the new label lads.....................i now cannot wait for the album.


The following is from www.cmcentral.com
GMA Music Award-winning rock band downhere has signed an exclusive recording agreement with Centricity Records, it was recently announced. downhere's Centricity debut is slated to release in 2006.
"The opportunity to work with John Mays and the Centricity team is something we've been looking forward to for quite a few months now," said downhere's Marc Martel. "We're due for some new material out there, and Centricity really resonates with us on how to go about doing that."
"We have worked as a band to stay small in the right ways and big in the right ways," added downhere's Jason Germain. "A grateful thank you to Centricity for understanding that and believing in us."
Based in Seattle, Centricity Records is an independently owned recording company working to nurture and expand the influence of Christian artists.
For further information, visit www.centricityrecords.com.
if you want to say congratulations or wish them well go here www.downhere.com/msgboard/index.php?board=11;action=display;threadid=4551 but if you have no idea who i'm talking about check out www.downhere.com and see what all the fuss is about, they are a great band and great guys

the above picture is from the downhere tour of Ireland last year, for more pics visit www.atigevents.com

forced break..............................

I was forced to take a break from the blog for a couple of days as my net connection was being a pest. It was perhaps a good thing to not be at the screen for a day or two. So, im back and had a good weekend with some more good weather to relax and enjoy. Yesterday, we went for a walk to the park and talked about what we had heard in church among other things. Our assistant pastor Jim Waring talked about being "clean" on the outside and looking good but beneath it and deep within us we are not always so "clean" or even close to how people see us.....................was good. He started his message by telling us about when he was a missionary worker in Jamaica, one day he spotted this huge building that he'd never seen before. To cut a long story short, he discovered upon a closer look that it was the film set of Papillon and he had been fooled into thinking it was a real building when in fact it was a wooden set!! cool!
Anyway, we walked in the sun..........

watched a couple of planes zoom overhead.........i swear i can see a face in the clouds above it!!

As we tried not to watch a middle aged couple crawling all over each other in the park we were considering how people abandon themselves in "hot" weather.......................as Jim Morrsion said "People down there, really like to get it on" ................but not in broad daylight. The funny thing was their kids showed up and interupted. Obviously the kids had been sent to play on the other side of park while "mummy" and "daddy" re-kindled their youth...................ah how we laughed!!
Needless to say i didnt take pictures of them....................

its nice to be back.........

Big Brother Update....................

Science is out..........

ah well, here he is in a quiet moment with his cool hair.........

People Watching..........................

BIG Brother contestant Orlaith McAllister is threatening to walk off the programme even if she survives tonight's eviction programme. The Belfast model has become increasingly emotional in the past week and last night she revealed that she "just can't take it any more" and will leave the house if she is not voted out by the British public. However, Science, who has replaced Orlaith as the most hated housemate, is favourite to go after a series of shouting matches between the pair, which has left Orlaith in tears on more than one occasion.
The housemates' opinion of Orlaith has thawed in recent days and even Derek, who led a hate campaign against the surgically enhanced model and branded her a "self-loving flasher", has said he would prefer to see the back of Science tonight.

You wanna know what i reckon? Orlaith is undoubtedly an attractive girl but she is always groping her silicone enchanced breasts and checking them out in the mirrors. I just cant handle seeing it, every time a camera homes in on her she is twiddling with her baps!! She may be from Belfast but na.....................i am on the side of "citizen science," the outspoken urban poet from leeds!! He just makes me laugh, look at the pic above, cool brother!!
Over the last 57 days these people have shown that the confined surroundings and some colorful characters are a bad combination, with endless rows and bickering it has been the most entertaining Big Brother in the u.k. yet! I have to admit we have watched it quite a lot this year and it has not failed to entertain us and make us laugh whilst also raising my awareness of just how mad people of my age can be.................these kids are by and large unstable, insecure, self-centered, arrogant, rude etc etc etc................the world is mad and i live in it so i must be a little mad!!!! i like people watching........................i am a person so that figures i suppose!
Oh.......wee bro stevo is back at his blog, wee tube!! go visit!

enough of the politics and bombs..........

Maybe, just maybe i had lapsed into a political and news report blog for a day or two.......Big Issues though!
Today at work we conceded to the fact that cafe REd cannot open now until september......ok so we have more time to make sure all is just as it should be for the launch night. thats a good thing!
Work is a little quiet right now anyway so today was a bit of a bore really and as i posted about the London scares earlier i stopped for a second and just thought about how totally blessed my life is.........even as i looked at the post before that and considered the tensions that continually surround this little land i live in i thought........."whoa, God........you are good to me."
So, if you are reading this and you are not a Christian DO NOT switch off and think "here goes the God stuff"
Just do as i have done today and think about the good stuff in life, i thank God, you can thank whoever you want but be aware of the blessings you have..................my thinking is if you have internet access and can view this then you have at least that to be happy about!!
Right................think. 10 things some people do not, did not or never will have.........
but i am thankful for:
1: my health
2: the roof over my head & the bed 2ft across the room
3: food in the fridge
4: my job
5: friends & family (they say they are......im still skeptical)
6: being able to read & write
7: taste.........(the carbonara was good tonight)
8: a childhood
9: education (i am ashamed that i made little effort at school)
10: good taste in music

Ok so i threw in a silly one at number 10 but you get the idea....................do this and see if it makes you smile!!

more terror in London......................

London's Tube network has been plunged into chaos with stations cleared after minor blasts on two trains and a bus. Met Police chief Sir Ian Blair said three Tube lines were suspended but it was time London returned to normal. The minor explosions - two weeks after blasts killed 56 - involved detonators only, a BBC reporter said. There was one injury. Police sources say the blasts may have been near simultaneous and that they are being linked with the 7 July bombs. They say a number of fugitives are being sought. Two people have been arrested in Whitehall. Detectives are recovering a lot of evidence from the sites, and believe the latest events may either be a repetition of the 7 July attacks or may help with a breakthrough in the investigation.
Eyewitnesses heard bangs and saw abandoned rucksacks at the sites of the incidents at Warren Street and Oval tube stations as well as the number 26 bus in Bethnal Green.
There was an attempt to cause an explosion at Shepherd's Bush Hammersmith and City line, police said.
Police told reporters that a man had threatened to blow himself up and then ran off.
At Warren Street and Oval a man was seen running away from the scene.

I didnt hear about this until i arrived home from work. These guys went unnoticed today...........there was no warning at all but thank God the bombs did not go off in the intended fashion................but how can we prevent this? short answer........................i dont think we can!!
Unfortunately nobody in any major city of the U.K. knows when or where these attacks could next take place..................

tensions rise in town............

Its another political post im afraid..............
Folks, this is a huge deal in Town and could have drastic repercussions for the whole town.
"THE Parades Commission" is set to make a ruling next week on a controversial republican parade in Ballymena which has sparked warnings of violence. Unionists have warned that if the parade is given the go-ahead there could be "open violence" on the streets. Around 650 participants are expected to take part in the parade, which has been organised by the William Orr Commemoration Committee in memory of the United Irishman.
If given the go-ahead it would reportedly be the first ever republican parade in the town.
The Parades Commission is expected to consider the application for the August 9 parade next Wednesday.
PSNI chiefs were warned by a DUP delegation the peace in the town will be "shattered" if republicans are allowed to hold the parade. Ian Paisley Jnr said the proposal is nothing more than an attempt to "stoke up" tensions in the town. He warned that if republicans attempt to provoke this tension it will end in "calamity" for someone who will be made a victim of a criminal attack. Mr Paisley added: "Now we have a real concern that such a parade will lead to open violence in our normally peaceful town."
Sinn Fein recently had its first ever representative elected to Ballymena Borough Council.
Police patrolled Ballymena Town Hall when 51 year-old Monica Digney attended her first council meeting.
Sectarian tensions in the mainly Protestant town were heightened recently following an attack on the Catholic Harryville Church, which has been the scene of loyalist pickets in previous years.
In the 1990s protesters attempted to stop worshippers getting to the church.

My oh My when will the nonsense end???????

The I.R.A...............................

Will they stay or will they go? This is the question..............................
For two months now the IRA has been talking to itself - talking to itself in "disciplined and systematic briefings" right across its organisation. The leadership has been consulting the men and women in its ranks in a discussion about the future of the IRA, or more accurately, a future without the IRA.
It is a debate that has the potential to open up another negotiation and the possibility of another deal in the Northern Ireland peace process.
Almost exactly two months ago, Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams spoke directly to the IRA organisation.
He sketched out an alternative to "armed struggle" and posed this question:
"Can you take courageous initiatives which will achieve your aims by purely political and democratic activity?"

So what will happen? The three pictures above are the three political players of the last 30 years in this country...............
the "gunman".................will he give up his arms? where did he get his gloves?
Gerry Adams..............Is he genuine? is this what he wants? can he make it work? will he ever shave the beard?
Ian Paisley..................will he talk to sinn fein if the I.R.A. gives up its arms? how old is he really?

To find out more and to encourage Mr Adams to push for a decision that will affect our future please email
info@sinnfein.org

check this out............

61% of teenagers believe "doing good will get them into heaven.......
Only 6% of teenagers believe in absolute truth..........
These and a few other revealing stats greeted me as i wandered into www.brockgill.com after reading a post on a blog i link to (ethos).
"My purpose for what i do is to present the Gospel clearly" Brock Gill
BUT...............he is an illusionist and an evangelist.............................Now this i want to see with my own eyes.

My first reaction to this is "oh yea, typical American" but you know what, the more i read about this dude the more i think he may be just a totally new breed of evangelist that the world needs to hear and see. Sure, the message is the same but i would love to hear the guy tie it in with an escape from a coffin filled with water...??
yep, he does that............cool or what!

stop by his site folks, see what you make of it and if you have heard of him, seen him etc etc please give some feedback.......................

The Beach.........................

Yesterday after church we went to the beach but i shall refrain this time, from the "we had a nice day" or "it was fun" comments. I say this, not because we had a bad day or anything like that but because while we sat peacefully in the sun the world turned upside down for a few folks who shared the sand with us.
Not far from us a woman just started to go hysterical and at first we were kind of baffled cuz we were not close enough to really get what was happening but after a few minutes we figured it out. Her son was out for a swim and had just went out way too far.................like nearly beyond sight. So we watched as she grabbed a guy in a wet-suit and frantically phoned for help but it was all ok in a few minutes as he started to get back towards the beach..................the guy in the wet-suit was a bit of a hero really.
Shortly after this we saw to our left in the distance, another sea rescue. This one was more serious though, with the ambulance etc etc required.

The picture above shows people going over to see what is happening! We were far enough away from both incidents to not be able to really see what was going on and for us that was good......................later we found out that 2 young boys were rescued and had to go to hospital...........they were ok. A man died though, on the beach that we had a "fun day" on. Apparently he had got into difficulties in the sea and was rescued but later died in hospital...................................you know as i sat and watched the waves and considered how powerful they are, how powerful God is i just wondered why people think they can mess with him. You wouldnt go into the ocean and have this cocky attitude that you were bigger than the sea and its waves..........................would you? I guess some people do.......

Restaurant review..........................

Today we went to belfast.....................chilled out in the sun, checked out shops etc etc
we ate lunch here (below)...........the potthouse, was very nice www.potthouse.co.uk

The whole place is very industrial, almost an unfinished interior. It works tremendously well, looks great and the food was "a-ok". It was only lunch so was not totally spectacular but the service was fast and efficient, friendly without being a pain in the ass, which is how i like it! I like to be left alone to eat in peace but i also like the security of knowing that the staff are watching everything and they know exactly when i need to be spoken to..haha its a fine art.
I liked the really heavy tables and chairs as well.............

Had a fun day out, except for lunch and some blank cds i didnt buy a thing..........tight with my money.
Lunch was only 15quid!!!!hehe

huh???????

" A U.S. parents group has accused a TV network of violating decency standards by broadcasting swearing by The Who in their recent Live 8 performance. The Parents Television Council wants a fine to be levied on US network ABC after it broadcast the Live 8 concert from London's Hyde Park on 2 July.
The group said the event was shown with a delay which would have given ABC "ample time" to edit out swearing. ABC said "one inappropriate phrase" was broadcast but subsequently edited out."
full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/4685415.stm

Oh come on folks, seriously? Who are you is a great track that often nearly catches me out with the "who the f@*k are you" part..........................give the veterans a break. Hyde park was memorable and i guess it annoys me that someone has to try and overshadow a great performance by a legendary band by complaing about "the word that mustnt be said."
Madonna said it before she even started to sing......................at lunchtime on national british t.v. and nobody said a word about it. huh???????

anyway, im off to belfast now.....................................later

quick disclaimer................

The views posted on this blog are purely from my tiny mind and are not intended to offend or influence any of the readers. If however you are unable to cope with me just letting off steam and airing some opinions about literally naything at all then supersimbo's lawyer's suggest that you leave the site immediately and shut down your computer. At this point you should take an aspirin and maybe a glass of water before visiting your doctor...............
some useful tips for the readers...........

Do not under any circumstances drink alchohol whilst viewing this blog
Do not expose this blog to a naked flame
Please do not take my advice on anything at all
Do not attempt to understand what is going on in my head
Do not read this blog whilst barefoot (if possible wear safety boots)
DO definately laugh at my stupidity
DO feel free to not like me or my blog
Definately wear sunscreen at all times
Do not eat fried foods
Stay away from McDonalds
Drink Guinness
Stay awake
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Iv bored myself now........
this last tip goes out to "my mate" al...............i aint met you but you stop by my blog and share your wisdom
"man,,,,,,,,, chill out"

attention please............

On 6th august at the "upper room" where i work we are launching a new saturday evening coffee shop with live music. The aim is to draw in people in the 20-30's age bracket who are always complaining baout a lack of places to hang out at night. We are not just doing this for "christians" though and would love it to be a place where young people can hang out, drink coffee, listen to quality music and just chill out with their friends..............we aim to make it as relaxed as we can...
look out for my new blog dedicated to this new adventure........

cafe RED opens 6th august
@the upper room
ahoghill
every saturday night
7pm-late

Check out the official blog in my links..........

yesterday part2....................................

what the heck.............
i was looking at the post from earlier and thinking "whooo bit heavy"
i really dont like posting about political stuff unless its really on my mind so i suppose it was ok this time.............then i was looking at my photo's from yesterday and thought i would post them anyway..........i love my new camera and have had so much fun with it so i feel like sharing what we saw and what i snapped........



there now..............thats that!!

In response to Terrorists........

Ok so i have yapped on about the fact that i have lived in a "mild" war zone all my life...........to me that sounds crazy but the world views N.Ireland as a war zone so as such it is. I can honestly only ever remember a couple of times when i was scared of terrorists and threats by them.........i had relatives who were in the Police and i can remember before getting into a car with them they would check below it, i dont need to explain why or tell you how scary that was. I also rememeber being caught up in a "Bomb Threat" in Belfast but we were with an aunt and uncle who were veterans at getting out of the city center real quick...........scary!
I found this site in response to the London Bombs
www.werenotafraid.com
People are NOT afraid in the way you would expect.............why? Some folks just get angry and resiliant i reckon but for the people of London who are determined not to let these fundamentalists ruin their way of life.........then good on you.
It really does become a part of life though so this attitude is right........



So say NO....................we are not afraid

peaceful day.................

today we wanted to go out and actually do something so we went to Glenariff and ate lunch at the forest before going for a walk down to the waterfall that will appear in some photo's below.......we had a really good day out, it was really grey and misty up at the car park but as we went further into the forest it got warmer and brighter.......beautiful, just enjoying the scenery.
So........we ate lunch

we gazed in awe at the lovely surroundings (and at my really bald head)

green green green

on the way back out of the forest........sorry bout the mist!

and i felt nostalgic about the day so here's a black&white pic of the love of my life and a newly "bald" me........

So..........phew long day finished with me cooking dinner and some relaxing, watching big brother.........cherith is back to work tomorrow so i will get stuck into some uni work all being well
Coming soon.........photo journal of a day shopping in belfast!! ooooohh

a-ha.............

I have been listening to a-ha again in the last couple of days so i thought i would share my passion for their music on my blog.......
When i was about 8 years old, i was introduced to the now famous keyboard-tastic "Take on me" by Norwegian songsters a-ha. I cannot remember how i heard it but soon i discovered that my neighbour and good friend David was also becoming a fan. David, or Herbie as we then called him was a little older and wiser in the ways of music so when he endorsed it i had to agree. This guy had "tapes" coming out of his ears...........the beginning of what is now a huge music collection.
So, Fast forward to now. David lives in Munich, he plays in a band (Tomintoul, see my links) and he appears home a couple of times a year. Well, by means of modern technology we recently exchanged some music.........sorry, correction, i sent him a couple of songs and he sent me a truck load of albums! Right in the middle of it was some a-ha that i had not heard. To be honest i lost track of them for a long time and i was so chuffed to listen to "minor earth, major sky" and hear that they are still great. It really is a fantastic album and man they look even better than they did in 1985..............i dont often comment on mens looks but i make an exception with these "beautiful" scandinavian genuis songwriters.................mmmmmi will stop now!!
heres a pic.......

see???????????
heres a link also, though the site aint too up to date in some quarters
www.a-ha.com

p.s. thanks "herbie" for the music, both 20 years ago and now!

a blinding day.................

wow what a day it has been.............when i got up, around 10am, it was hot as.........so we just lazed all day, went into town and got some shorts cuz i didnt have any........No need normally!! It was too warm to do anything so lying in the garden was spot on. Bought some lemons, nectarines and some "Canada dry"........not really sure why but saw it and always liked it so heck why not?
as you can see it looks good...........even in black & white!! my brother stevo is the big object behind the cool drink!! Spot him in the stem of the glass as well?

Then this evening we went a little drive around to see if there were any riots! No seriously we were just bored and went a quick trip out before cherith went home so as we journeyed back towards civilisation we spotted smoke on the other side of town.........so zoom we went to see what was happening. Some dudes had lit a "small" fire beside this "slightly larger" bonfire.................. the smoke from this baby will be mad!

Anyway...........we came home, NO chance of us going out to a bonfire tonight im afraid. When you hear about guys getting shot in Belfast today, a women being forced out of her home a few miles from where i live because she is from a different religious background etc .........na i think i will keep my distance from that section of our culture. Yea i realise by making that statement i have nailed my feelings down but i cannot be dishonest, and these people may only be lighting a fire and carrying a tradition on that is in their family but they are part of something that is often rotten to the core, however i am not on any one side but people on both sides of our communities in N.Ireland need to catch a grip of themselves and grow up. Nuff said! phew
So, as the sun disappears behind the trees and the night falls i pray that trouble will be minimal this evening and that over the next couple of days "peace" will be evident in this beautiful land.

new paul weller single...........

Sorry.............2 posts in quick succession again! Couldnt not mention this today...........just heard it on telly and then stopped by his website to watch the video. Great stuff!
www.paulweller.com
The man is a legend and hot contender for the coolest "middle aged rock star" in the universe..........go check out the "Modfather"



"From the floorboards up" is released on July 18th

Birmingham threatened.............

So how serious is the threat of continued terrorist attacks on the U.K.? I could not believe it when i saw the news headline about the evacuation of Birmingham.....it really is a scary situation.
20,000 people had to be evacuated from the city center in what has been described as a "real and very credible threat." Below is an image of the hundreds of people who had to spend the night in a local university.

So, Tony and George..............what you doing?


And, what about me? I had a pretty bad night............threw up a couple of times at about midnight and then was in the bathroom every hour until about 6am......not sure if i ate something dodgy or what but it was pretty good fun! I am one of those people who just does'nt vomit..........it is a loud and traumatic experience. I don't know why but i could wake up the whole street with my horrendous wretching! ah well i feel loads better now..........i was kind of thinking it might ruin my week off but think im ok now.......phhhewww.

ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz......

Man i was so tired today........just shattered. We had kind of planned to go to belfast and do some shopping but i just was not up to it and its been really warm today and blah blah we decided to give it a miss.
We just went into town for lunch then rented a couple of films tonight.
First up was Napoleon Dynamite...........what a great movie, we laughed so much. I feel like i just spent last week serving food to a load of "Napoleon" type kids.

great great movie that you must see..............the character is at first a real weirdo who you cannot quite understand but by the end he is a cool guy who has some neat "skills"..........just like some of the 15yr old kids i spent the week with!!
next is The Assasination of Richard Nixon but we will watch it tommorrow....................... we are both shattered like i said!
Ive spent the day in a daze................its all good!

is it a coincidence?

Bookshop Waterstone's has pulled adverts for a novel called Incendiary about a "massive terrorist attack" in London, which came out on Thursday.

The bookseller told the BBC News website of its "great concern" at the timing of the adverts for the novel, by debut writer Chris Cleave.
Cleave told The Guardian the timing was "macabre and a horrible coincidence".
The novel focuses on a woman whose son and husband die when 11 suicide bombers target Arsenal's new £357m Emirates Stadium.
Published by Chatto and Windus, it is written as an open letter from the woman to Osama Bin Laden, the leader of the al-Qaeda network.
Waterstone's said they took immediate steps to try to stop the adverts from being printed, although some have already appeared as posters on London Underground.
One has also appeared on the inside cover of The Guardian's Saturday edition of its listings magazine The Guide, describing it as a "twisted powerhouse of a novel".
However the newspaper said it was unable to prevent this from being printed, adding it allowed Waterstone's to take out a free advert "explaining the situation and expressing sympathy for all the victims of these attacks".
"We tried our hardest to pull the adverts - we are printing apologies for any that got through," Waterstone's said.

this week..........

the week was mad...........great but mad....
check out my sonshine2005 blog..............in my links!
On thursday night Darrell Scott brought a wonderful presentation about his daughter Rachel who was murdered in the Columbine High School shootings. His message was moving and powerful.
www.rachelscott.com

so ive posted twice in quick succession today but i forgot what i was saying before and ahhhh i dunno, its been a long week.
im off now until 19th july so............................yea

The Festive season..................

I'm Back to blogging.............
So we are now in the marching season here in pretty N.Ireland, lots of orange-men marching and lots of young hooligans drinking and oh yea...........the 11th night bonfires! Here is the one in ahoghill (behind the washbasin)......its a bit big! They actually used to have it out front but it got so hot that it burnt the washbasin sign down so the local "lads" kindly moved it to the rear of the building.
You have to understand that these guys who do this are to a large extent and in some way involved in paramilitary activities............they just are not nice folks but anyway they have their bonfires and they get drunk and half the country goes out to see it.
Personally theres nothing i love more than watching a big pile of crap and junk being set on fire!!!NOT!
heres hoping its a safe couple of weeks across the land.

quick post...............

I thought i would post this because i am well bored like you wouldnt believe..........i had to stay tonight because there is a speaker in the upper room and someone just assumed i would be here cuz i work in the place....im tired, i aint smelling too good cuz i been working since 7.30am this morning and im a bit pissed off.....there you are, i am being honest as i often try to be!! there are about 70 women in the place right now and about 3 men so i feel like a pratt. expected to get away early but................grrrr i also realise that someone who works here or knows me may read this..........may be offended by my honesty.........may even dislike me as a result of what i said. forgive me, i am what i am.
last sunday we watched some power boat racing at the coast and yea it was fun................cold.........but fun!! wish i was there now.
heres the best pic i could manage with my new toy!!

Diversion.....

ok so i reckoned for a day or two i would create a diversion and put my "sonshine week" pictures on a seperate page so supersimbo will be down and out most of the week but i will be back and please please hop over to sonshine2005 (see links) for a peek at what im up to......

Saturday..............................

its been 3 days since i posted..........darn! i have been real busy and my computer at home will not go onto the net so drat! Its been a cool week, busy at work and looking forward to next week even though it will be crazy.
My new camera arrived so i am having fun with that.
this is a quiet peaceful restaurant before it goes mad!!

And here goes some of our great food......think it was chicken!!

p.s. it actually looks burnt in my pic but i can assure its not!!haha

next week, it all kicks off so more photos will follow and the following week i will be off so we will catch up then!!