Spring blooms,the birds sing and I finally get some work:)

Good afternoon,party people,
I hope everyone is doing well.I'm deeply sorry for missing your birthday bash,kev.I just didn't have the funds to make it.I hope it was spectacular though.
So I finally found someone willing to hire me.Woohoo!!!Its only part time barwork.Yes,even with all my shaking someone hired me to pull pints.Its going alright.I start a second job tomorrow.As a kitchen assistant.Yep,they expect me to cook.This should be interesting.The good news is that combined I should be getting between 30 and 40 hours a week.Thank god.
So what else?We went down to Manchester for the day on Saturday.Dang!That city loves to shop!It was frickin chaos.Beautiful city though.It has a good vibe and some nice record stores.Went to this shop called Afflecks place thats 5 or 6 floors of second hand and vintage clothing and weird stuff.Indie designer clothes and stuff.Very cool.Saw this wicked corderoy dj record bag.Then had to convince myself it was a waste of money since my record player is in Canada and oh yeah...I'm not a dj.It was sweet though.They also had one made out of old star wars sheets.I know what your thinking...how cool is this guy?I know,i know.
I worked my first hectic shift at the Vickerstown Institute(the pub I'm working at) Saturday night.A do for 120 people.They were all such nice people.Nice enough to wait at the bar for every last penny of change.Not one single s.o.b tipped.Lovely.
Sunday was what the english call Super Sunday.It was a long weekend,Monday was a stat holiday.So on sunday everyone in the country went out to the pub and got pissed.Myself included.Well,we went to a great barbeque first.Then about 5pm we hit the pub.I hit the stella,or as they call it here,the wifebeater.Classy name.Its 5% and thats strong here apparently.Then I started dancing and never stopped til we hit the chinese take away for a curry and chips.Thing is I don't think anyone else was dancing.Just me.And I was getting down.All the way down to chinatown.At least I seemed to amuse everyone else.And the strangers I danced with were kind enough to laugh instead of punch me in the head.Good times.
Well,my times running out here.So I'll talk to you soon:)

Song of the week: Lets build a home:from the white stripes destyjl album.Go home put it on turn it up and try not to dance.I dare you.

Notes on England

So,it turns out the rumours were true,the sun does occassionally appear over England,bathing all the land in its heavenly glow.Albeit for a very short period,but I was beginning to believe it really did rain all the friggin time.
I've been watching a fair bit of english television and have realised this country only has four kinds of celebrities. Television presenters(hosts),people that have won big brother(yeah,apparently people actually watch that show here and when someone wins people care.I don't understand it either,from the clips I've seen its just as bad as it is home),people that are in boy/girl bands and finally people that used to be in boy/girl bands. Funnily enough the people who win big brother usually become tv presenters.And sometimes the people on big brother used to be in boy/girl bands.Its one big vicious circle of talentless people with no personalities making careers out of nothing.And the thing that really hurts my head is the average family here in the uk only has four friggin channels.How many tv presenters do you need?
I've also noticed theres only four types of show on tv here.Gardening shows,home repairs shows,travel shows,bad soap operas,sports(I use the term loosely),and shows about super nannies that come to the rescue of bad parents who can't control their little bastard children.Really you can reduce this list down to two catagories:reality tv and bad soap operas. They don't really show sitcoms.They do show the occasional episode of friends and 3rd watch and without a trace and the occasional good film.But the only quality british television shows I've seen are Little Britain and League of Gentlemen.Though the former is far superior to the latter.It is in fact far superior to pretty much anything else on tv.But maybe I'm being a bit too harsh.I did enjoy the snooker world championships and the liverpool v chelsea match last night was very exciting.
But lets face it,I really shouldn't be spending so much time watching the ol boob tube.I should be seeing as much of this beautiful country as possible.We did drive up to the lake district the other weekend.Its gorgeous up there.All green hills,lakes,cobblestone streets,tiny(and I mean tiny)winding,country roads.We went over to Piel Island on a ferry that was really just a small row boat.There's an old castle ruins over there that was beautiful.But the real treat was visiting Furness Abbey.A monastery from the 11th century.Its one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.Apparently I have a real appreciation of old ruins that I wasn't aware of. I've been reading up on all the old castles and monasteries and cathedrals spread over England.There's hundreds of them and I want to see as many as possible.I also want to check all the old birthplaces that spread over england. I want to get to Stratford to see Shakespeare house and hopefully catch a play.I want to get down to Portsmouth to see where charles dickens was born.Over to Oxford,where I believe Wordsworth was born,also the birthplace of Radiohead.I want to get over to see where the Bronte sisters were born,the list goes on and on.There are so many galleries and museums and places bursting with culture.Oh yeah,and I really want to get down to Stonehenge,and the lesser known Woodhenge next to it.
Anyway,I'm very excited to hear Tash and Christy are finally getting ready to purchase their tickets to Europe and to unknown adventures.We will definately have to meet up in London.How weird and awesome will that be?
So whats left to mention?Uhhhh....I'm still unemployed,still jobhunting...ummm...I'm going to start doing some of that indoor rock climbing where you try and scale those big walls.Ummm...I'm bitterly disappointed that I can't watch the world hockey championships...and uhhh...I miss everyone.

Song of the week: Jurusalem by Royal City from their lovely third album Little Hearts Ease.

Film of the week: Touching the Void. An incredible documentary about a 1985 mountain climbing expedition gone horribly wrong.A beautiful example of the power of the human spirit.Man,is that me typing this stuff?

Book of the week: Last night a dj saved my life by ummm?two guys whose names I can't remember right now.Its the definitive history of the disc jockey from 1914 til now.Fascinating.

Quote of the week:'Wicked and weird I'm a road hog with an old dog,singing slow songs,trying to hold on.Wicked and weird I'm a ratfish trying to practise doing backflips on your mattress.'
Buck 65 from his song Wicked and Weird found on his masterpiece Talkin Honky Blues.

A final note:English politics is dirty, vicious, petty and disgusting.I used to think all this about Canadian and American politics until now. Tony Blair and Michael Howard make George bush and Jean Chretian look like gentlemen.Hell they make Stephen Harper look like a gentlemen.Ok,that last line is a lie but the rest is true.And The Times and Daily Mail and Guardian newspapers make the star and the national post seem completely unbiased.It really is ridiculous.Thank god the election is tomorrow,then we can focus on important things like May 19 and the final Star Wars film!Yeah!!!!!

Ode to Ciarans dog Rollo

Good evening ladies and gents,
I must apologize to Ciaran for my grievous error.You see last time on here I said Ciara had a lovely dog, but failed to mention what a lovely dog Ciaran has as well. His name is Rollo. While I'm on the subject I would like to add that Lee's two cats are great,Keiths dog is lovely,you should see her when his dad does the dishes, and his two cats Whiskey and Garfield are adorable. Tomas' mom Mary has a nice dog that seemed like it was going to bite my face everytime I attempted to pet it.I hold no grudges though,he'd been outside all night and he doesn't know me very well.I like to believe that if he had the opportunity to really get to know me,that we would get along just fine,and he wouldn't have the animal urge to bite my face or neck. Having said all this,I have to say that as nice as all your animals are,and they really are lovely,that they all pale in comparison to my favourite cat fluffy. Just last week she had a cist removed from her liver,she's back and recovering nicely from what I hear,getting back to her controlling and demanding self.God bless her.
Anyway, England is lovely,all though everybody asks me how I'm finding Barrow(Nics town).They say 'so what do you think of our little town?' I say,with sincerity,'its great,really nice.' They say,immediately afterwards,'its a shithole.' But it really does seem nice to me. I went out for the first time Saturday with Nic and her girlfriends for a real Barrow night out. I told Nic I was going to get really drunk and make an ass out of myself in front of her friends. Guess what? I got really drunk and made an ass out of myself in front of her friends. I would have made you proud Lee. I was dancing with random strangers,unbeknownst to them.They had their backs turned. Apparently one big fat guy turned around and was about to punch me in the head(I was oblivious to this) but Nic stepped in front of him and told him to go away. And the leg was bent all the way to the floor.We sang Living on a prayer and summer of 69 again,and that horrible song by Peter Kaye.How many friggin times can they play that a day? It was a blast. We ended it at the chinese take away,munching on a curry and chips.Delicious.
I've also started the ol jobhunt.Can't pull a Melbourne this time.Work first,party later. Hopefully I can snag some barwork.Well,thats all for now,I'd just like to add that Tashs cats are lovely too.Especially her sweetheart of a grey cat.I miss the black cat.

Song of the week:A rare tie,between No ecstasy by The Constantines from their self-titled album and Bigtime by the Soundtrack of our lives from their brilliant new album Origins Vol.1.

Book of the week: 31 songs by Nick Hornby. A book of essays about the songs that matter to him and why.But the songs don't matter.Really its just an honest,funny brilliantly written love letter to music. If you get a chance please read it.

Quote of the week: 'you no good biscuit eating son of a bitch.' from Law and Order Criminal Intent.

Later Skaters:)

Journey to the Emerald Isle

So we flew into Dublin Wed evening and were met by my good friend and champion,Keith.On the drive to his place Keith asked 'Fancy a pint?'.And so it began.We picked up the lovely Ciara and headed to a nice pub in Wickalaw(forgive the spelling of all Irish places and names).There was great band playing covers,and I tasted my first pint of proper Guinness and fell deeply in love.We laughed and talked and when the band(the lead singer is a Garda you know) played them,we sang along to Living on a prayer and what may very well be the most played song in the world,Summer of 69.
Thursday morning we awoke and headed over to Ciara's,where her lovely mom prepared what has to be the best fry up in Ireland.And she timed it perfectly for the moment we walked in the door.God bless her.So we ate and sighed in ecstasy and talked and played with her sweet sweet dog and left for Dublin.Once in Dublin we watched the St Patricks parade or what we could see of it and soaked up the electric atmosphere.We wandered over to Temple Bar,the pub and party district of the city and found a place,whose name I can't remember,that sold good beer and played good music,and there we stayed,and danced and laughed and sang Hey ya.
Friday we waited with baited breath for the arrival of the french men,Lee.He was due at Keiths around 3pm so naturally he strutted in about 7pm.We hugged and laughed and headed back into Dublin to meet up with Ciaran and Tom and Ann Marie and a few of the frasier girls,and eventually we found them in another bar whose name I forget,and we shook hands and hugged and laughed and posed for photos and sang and danced and cheered and spilled drinks and bent the leg all the way to the ground and somehow never got thrown out.It was a night to remember.
Saturday we hopped into Ciara's jazz blue convertible and dorve up to Glenlough monestery and through the surrounding hills and towns,the sun was out and it was beautiful.We stopped into his excellent local pub,where aside from the Guinness storehouse,I had the best pint of Guinness of my trip to the country.We sat outside and watched families kicking the football around and soaked up the fresh country air and watched a couple of dodgy looking pikies get thrown out, spit on the pub door, kick the local dog in the ribs,mutter something unintelligible and speed off in a rusty red hatchback.Luckily the dog was a thick muscular little bull dog,so no real damage was done,nut it did put a gey cloud over our otherwise brilliant day.The bastards.That night we went back over to Dublin for the fireworks.We went out for a great tex mex meal where me and Lee ate far too much.Ummm,yeah,we'll each start with the babyback ribs,then have the steak dinner.Stop the press...say again?Fat bastards.Afterwards we managed to just catch the last five minutes of the fireworks,they were spectacular.Then headed for the pub and barely forced down a pint before heading home,where Lee put on the Pelican Brief and we crashed for the night.
Sunday,Tomas's lovely parents Liam and Mary were kind enough to let us tag along with them down to Limerick and Ciaran and Tomas's hometown of Ballyhahill.A quaint friendly place.We met up with Ciaran and went out to his local for a pint and a little conversation.There we met Ciarans friend Elaine.She had just recently shaved off her long curly locks for charity in the very pub we were in and raised a very impressive 1500 euro in the process.An incredible feat.We also met Ciarans uncle and chatted about Ireland and Canada and history.Monday and Tuesday Ciaran drove us down around the south west of the island,to Dingle and the Cliffs of Mohar and Killarny.I introduced him to the sounds of Joel Plaskett and he introduced me to the sounds of Paddy Casey.A fair trade I think.
Wed we caught the train up to Belfast and met up once again with Lee.We stayed at his beautiful home and met his lovely mom and had many bowls of her delicious Irish stew and met his beautiful cats,whose names I'm deeply sorry to admit,I can't remember.That night we went round to Lee's local Grace Neills,the oldest pub in Ireland according to the Guinness book of records.It was established in 1611,I believe.there we met up with Adam and over many pints remeniesced(that can't be how you spell it.) about the good ol days of Echuca and Oz and Beeker.It still makes me laugh til it hurts when Adam tells the story of Beeker taking the meet out of Paddys burger.Sorry Paddy.Hopefully Beeker doesn't have internet.
Thursday Lee drove us up to the north coast to The Giants causeway,a group of cliffs and rock formations thats hard to describe.Among the cliffs and along the walking path is a long rope bridge.While waiting to cross back over the bridge to the mainland me,Nic and Lee stood by and watched as a french guy slipped and almost did a header right over the side.As Lee would say ha he ha he ha,push bikes and garlic.I don't think he appreciated our laughter.
On the friday we left for Galway.On the way through Belfast Lee took us by a few cop stations/fortresses.I wanted a picture so as we came up on them Lee would say here it is on your left,get ready,I'd role down the window,there it is,go,go,and I'd snap a picture as we sped by.We were half convinced we were going to get pulled over and arrested or shot at by snipers.We must have looked pretty dodgy,a car speeding by a Belfast cop station with a camera lense stuck out the window.
Then we were off,to Galway and the big reunion.6 and a half hours later we entered the Galway city limits,the bee gees blaring from the car stereo and a back seat full of booze.It was a weekend I'll never forget, that went by far far too fast.

Quote of the week:'Those are Uri Gellers.He loves his spoons.Take away his spoons and he cries like a baby.Motherf£%$&*! spoonlover!'
Michael Jackson
from Bo Selecta

Departure/Arrival

Hey party people,I apologize for the delay(and am especially sorry for making Muntz wait all this time).
So I shared the plane ride over with a couple of bare naked ladies.Two members in fact,the dark afro haired guy and the pudgy lead singer,who's actually quite slim in person.The in flight film was The Princess Diaries 2.And they wonder why incidents of air rage are on the rise.
Upon arrival I was met by a very small,very stern,very unhappy british customs agent who grilled me for 20 min and shouted at people behind me to stay behind the line.He asked me if I understood all the rules of my uk visa.I said yes.He said tell them to me.I said...ummm...yeah,ok I don't understand all the rules to my uk visa.The nice man that he is,he explained them all in very minute detail.I love customs agents.When I got to the luggage belt everyone else on my plane was gone and no baggage was on the belt.The security dude came over and asked what flight I was on.I said chicago,he said oh yeah,your bags are probably still back in chicago.The information lady confirmed it and they delivered them to my door the next day.So it was a bit of a blessing really.
Finally I was reunited with the lovely Nicola and we kissed and smiled and said hi and hugged and kissed and left the airport.Upon arrival at Nic's house I discovered Cathy was right.The english have very tiny fridges,no closets and no basements.On the otherhand they do make a mean cup of tea and have the funniest comedy show I've seen in years.Its called Little Britain and anyone who hasn't seen it, should finish reading this excellent journal then go watch it.Its on in Canada now,on bbc canada.It is utterly brilliant.Last night one sketch from the show,Lou and Andy,was voted britains greatest sketch comedy bit on the 50 greatest comedy sketches of all time.It even beat out Monty Pythons dead parrot bit(voted second place).
Before I talk about Ireland I want to thank some people for making our trip so incredible,I probably already thanked you in a drunken stupor,but just in case.I have to thank Keith for going so far out of his way for us.If it wasn't for you calling me up out of the blue in Brisbane the trip wouldn't have happened.Your an absolute champion.Thanks to Ciara for being so good to us,and thanks to Ciara's lovely mom for making us the best fry up in Ireland.I have to thank Ciaran and Tomas(my two irish brothers) and their families for everything.Thank you to Lee and his lovely mom for everything,including the best irish stew in Ireland.Get in,mother habbard,av it!And I have to thank everyone who made it to Galway,Ryan(my scottish bro),Kev,me ol china(come on Israel!),Matt,Dave(brilliant effort,mate)Anne Marie,Jo,Sharon,Ellie,Donnel.Hopefully I haven't forgotten anybody,if I have I apologize profusely.Ireland was everything I could have hoped for.I had the time of my life.I have to cut this short,times up,but I'll get back soon.I love all you guys.

Song of the week:Green and Red of Mayo:the sawdoctors.From the album Live in Galway.

Later skaters:)

Pre-departure

So,works finished,the ground is still covered in snow and I leave in one week.The arduous task of selecting the music for my trip is almost complete,I only have room for four more selections and you can cut the tension with a knife.And yeah,thats right I said arduous.
I have batteries,spongebob band aids and a comfortable pair of shoes and I'm good to go.MacGyver's got nothing on me.
For those of you here in the great white north,I hope to see or talk to all of you before I leave.For those of you waiting with baited breath for my arrival,I hope to see all of you soon.

Song of the week:Love this town by Joel Plaskett from the album La de da.

Quote of the week:"I'm Rick James,bitch."from Chapelles Show.

halfman halfmachine.