Kong made me cry

I'm talking "Fiona get a grip, you can't sob in the cinema" crying.

I'm such a freak sometimes that I even amaze myself!

Review to follow on my review page cause that's what it's for!

Life and Near Death

I gave blood yesterday. Which was good.

I nearly got run over by a kid on a tricycle this morning. Which was funny.


Tike on a trike

I came very close to being wiped off the road by a driver taking a right hand turn against the lights. Which pissed me off.

In The News # 2

I was musing in the linked post previously about the story surrounding Michael McDowell v Frank Connolly. Last night the tale took another turn with McDowells address to the Dáil and Ahern's defence of McDowells position and his assertion that McDowell has been acting with the full consent of the cabinet in relation to this matter.

McDowell is still asserting that Connolly is/was involved in subversive activity including travelling to Columbia on a false passport, the application for which he was able to produce, and being associated on that trip with a known IRA man.

The other side of the coin is that Connolly's Centre for Public Inquiry have recently being investigating the purchase of land in North County Dublin for the location of a new prison site. The coverage on that story indicates that the land may have been bought over value, but McDowell denies this.

So it appears that McDowell is concerned that a public body with funding like the Centre for Public Inquiry and the subsequent powers of investigation that it has access to should not fall into the control of subversives who could use it to undermine the authority of the state. That sounds like a fair argument to me. What is really strange about this story, however, is Frank Connolly's unavailability for comment.

He has denied the accusations previously but since the story hit the headlines again he has consistently refused to provide evidence of whereabouts in April 2001 or offer any defence apart from denial. Surely at this stage it's time for him, if he has been the subject of a witch hunt, to stand up and address the issue. The longer he fails to do this the worse it looks for him.

Hard Lessons Learned

1. Budweiser and Budvar are not the same drink.

The girlies and I hit the town last night with a vengenance. I am alive this morning but in great need of more sleep and antiacids! We ate in the Dandelion Café and the food was lovely but the waiting staff were a bit weird. I was discussing this with a colleague in work this morning and she said that she had heard something similar so at I don't feel too bad about saying it here.
The waitress was very bubbly and friendly but seriously didn't have a word of English. Trying to order the beer turned into a bit of a pantomime, us going 4 Budvar please, her reply 4 vodka? No, Budvar please, etc etc. In the end Bex resorted to Budweiser which was understood, but we had to dispatch her off to correct the order after a very ernest discussion about how they were definately not the same drink! We got the right ones in the end, but what an effort!




2. Computer programmers are very hospitable.
We completed our night in a private members club after being begged by one of the girls, boy to please come and double the female to male ratio at the party. There was free booze so of course we went! It was Margarita's for me all night.



3. Margarita's taste lovely on the way down but repeat on you all the next day.
Uuuurrrrrgggghhhh. I feel yucky.

As a classic dame I would be....

Katharine Hepburn You scored 19% grit, 23% wit, 42% flair, and 23% class!

You are the fabulously quirky and independent woman of character. You go your own way, follow your own drummer, take your own lead. You stand head and shoulders next to your partner, but you are perfectly willing and able to stand alone. Others might be more classically beautiful or conventionally woman-like, but you possess a more fundamental common sense and off-kilter charm, making interesting men fall at your feet. You can pick them up or leave them there as you see fit. You share the screen with the likes of Spencer Tracy and Cary Grant, thinking men who like strong women. Find out what kind of classic leading man you'd make by taking the Classic Leading Man Test.

Still Grinning!

Well I survived the wait for the results, receiving them, and the Christmas party and I'm still grinning like the Chesire cat!


Me!

It feels like the weight of a thousand worlds has been lifted from shoulders, I feel younger, lighter and oh so so happy. The relief of knowing that I will never have to sit those horrendous de-humanising and horrific exams ever again is the best Christmas present I could ever have received!

I comfortable passed Equity and Property, I had a fair idea that they had gone ok at the time, but my real worry was Tort. And I just got it! There was no room for error there it seems but, boy oh boy, I don't care!

As per my previous post I had a ball celebrating on friday, lay on the sofa all day saturday, grinning! And went to see March of the Penguins last night. All in all a very good weekend.

I'll be out on the town again tonight with the women for food and laughs, and will undoubtedly feel some pain tomorrow but I can nearly guarantee that I'll still have that smile on my face!

P.S. My opinion of March of the Penguins has just been published on the other page if you're interested!

Celebrate! This party's over...

I had four lines by the end of the night in response to all questions posed to me.

1. I passed my exams!



2. I'm being a good girl!

3. I won a teddy.

4. I have a balloon.

I was a very drunken Trixibell!

Catfights & Handbags

I'm like a cat on the proverbial hot tin roof today and consequentially am not that interested in doing any actual work, as such I have only today become aware of the level of interest and excitement in the "blogosphere" (I won't apologise for using the term as I quite like it) concerning women and blogging and feminism.

From what I can see Sinead kicked off the discussion with a post , which then developed into a debate about Feminism and who is and who isn't a feminist and why. I won't list everyone who has entertained this topic as I would undoubtedly mess up the links so I've linked to Sinead and you can do your worst from there!

For my two cents, I was quite amused by the debate on feminism as it has always been my opinion that however much a woman denies being a feminist, by the mere fact that she has received a certain level of education, has chosen to work, choses to use contraception, drive a car, vote etc. she supports feminism. Without the hard work of generations of women none of these things would be options to us modern day women, and in my opinion they should not be taken for granted but celebrated and built on by all of us today.

I think it is also important to note that with these freedoms we have encountered other problems as women which were not immediately apparant when the fight for equality began. And that is children. Biologically we have to bear to children because men can't. This makes us different to men in a very fundamental way. However in today's society, where equality has been the key phrase this difference hasn't been fully acknowledged. Because we have so many more opportunities available to us we are now faced with the obligation of having a career that is fulfilling and also bearing the next generation. This leaves many women in a situation where they either have to make a choice or they engage in the most phenomenal balancing act in history.

As for myself, I am currently working towards hopefully one day qualifying as a solicitor, that means that if I chose to have children I will one day have to decide to either juggle both and become superwoman or chose between just having a career or just being a mother. It's not something I'm relishing having to consider.

As for women in blogging, I think my blog roll is dominated by female bloggers, but that wasn't by choice! It just happened that way! There quite a few male bloggers I enjoy reading and I think its important to be able to appreciate all aspects of interpretation and opinion. But I don't think I would have bothered getting into this lark if I hadn't seen women like Sinead so comfortable and at ease in what I would have previously considered a male dominant arena. I learnt by participating on discussion boards and reading Sigla's blog that there was nothing to be afraid of and could actually be very rewarding.

So thank you Sinead for showing me the way and opening up new possibilities for me!

Feck it anyway

I have been informed by my mafia network that the FE1 results are out today.

Feck.

I also have to go to my Christmas party tonight....




Methinks there will be one drunken Trixibell loose in Dublin tonight one way or the other...

The long slow decline

It was painful to watch United play Benfica in the Champions League last night, really painful.

They are now out of European football for the first time in 10 years. I can only imagine that it will also now herald the end of Sir Alex Ferguson's tenure as manager of the team, though when he goes and how will be up to the powers that be, unless he decides to cut his losses himself.



Listening to Dunphy and Giles last night on RTE, they were recounting how they were able to trace the decline of the team to gave against Porto 2 years ago. Others would argue that selling Beckham was the beginning of the end. Regardless of when it began there can be no doubt that losing the game last night is a huge blow to United and whatever and whoever comes next will as Dunphy put it "Have a dog of a job".

A stitch up? A frame? A conspiracy???

So Tom Parlon reckons Ivor Callely has been the subject of a conspiracy. It's very unfair the way he's been targeted you know? I mean anyone could let painters into their home and not pay them, couldn't they? Anyone could offer their PA a car in order to keep them in their job. Anyone could be Ivor Callely...

Except we're not are we? We pay our bills and treat people with respect.



I have no sympathy for this man. Pride comes before a fall they say. It looks like this guy is falling fast.

The update on the Frank Connolly last night is that the funding has been withdrawn for the Centre for Public Inquiry... Curiouser curiouser and curiouser.

In the news

I opened my eyes this morning to the dulcet tones of Cathal Mac Coille delivering the news as is my routine every morning. I find it is a good way to introduce myself to the day and only really backfires when the alarm comes on in the middle of a Morning Ireland screaming special between Aine Lawlor and some other individual who doesn't like the cut of her gip!

However this morning I found the news especially intriguing. It would appear the Michael McDowell our esteemed Minister for Justice, published a written response to a parliamentary question on the eve of the budget announcement. As a result, in my opinion anyway, today is turning out to be a very interesting news day.

The gist of it is that McDowell has accussed Frank Connolly, brother of Niall Connolly one of the
Columbia Three of travelling under a false passport with known IRA men to Columbia to engage in dirty dealings with Farc rebels. Curious, thought me, who is Frank Connolly when he's at home?

Frank Connolly is the CEO of a group calling themselves the Centre for Public Inquiry, a privately funded body who is charged with keeping an eye on governement accountability and ethics. It rang a bell somewhere in the back of my mind but nothing concrete and besides where do they get their money from?

They have been funded by Chuck Feeney, reknowned Irish American philanthropist who also liked to support the IRA.

McDowell doen't like Connolly. He doesn't like IRA men, and he really doesn't like being questioned about his ethics. This is a very interesting story and I hope we hear more about it.

I have linked to some stories I found online which I think are very informative about who we are dealing with here. I hope the links work!

In my opinion

I feel I've been a little off my game recently, which is due to various different reasons, some discussed here and others pointedly ignored!

This blogging game can be a little exhausting after a while. You feel obliged to be funny and interesting and readable on a regular if not a daily basis, and there have been plenty of days recently when none of that has appealed to me. It has occurred to me that it might be easier to have a blog with a dedicated theme like United Irelander at least there he knows what his boundaries are! Here, because this site is dedicated to my inane ramblings I get to throw a bit of everything at it, with no real structure to anything that I'm doing. It's probably a good indication of how I approach life. And I find that pretty frustrating at times as well!

I would love to say that I have now come up with a theme or a structure for this blog, but I haven't. Instead I have decided to tackle the stuff in my life that is frustrating me. The wheels are now in motion and I hope, all fingers and toes crossed, that I will soon be more fulfilled.

Also the exam results should be out in the next 2 weeks and with a bit of luck that chapter will also be closed as well. Oh how I long for closure on that one!

Small Girls, Big Bags...

I'm realtively small compared to most people these days, which makes buying trousers a pain in the posterior and has meant that I have learned how to hem to save myself a small fortune on tailors!

However there is one thing in particular I really just have to grin and bear, and work around as best as possible and that's rucksacks.



Today I carried a huge one in from home, in the rain. It's full of christmas gifts for the family that I have decided to transfer back to the parent's house now rather than having to lugg them onto a packed train 2 days before Christmas. Clever me eh? However the trek nearly killed me this morning, I had to use the biggest bag I had today to fit everything into it properly. It's at least 2/3 the height of me! Ah well at least I'll have that job done!

Redemption and Rain

I have been reinstated onto the hallowed list of contributors to Irish Blogs! Three Cheers for the banishing of gremlins!

On the other hand, Weather Pixie says:



I don't know what she's looking so cheerful about it's one of the most miserable days in months and months.

That's all I have to say today.

The War of Independence

I'm not an expert on the War of Independence, I leave that to the lovely boy who has boundless knowledge in that field, and would no doubt put me to shame if I tried to spout on about it!My own field of knowledge is Gaelic Ireland in Tudor times and the demise of the culture and the rise of colonialism, in case you're interested!

However, I watched a fascinating programme on RTE last night, called Hidden Histories, The Burning of Cork. The programme documented how Cork city went from being a city that strongly supported the British Empire and regularly decked the city out in blue white and red to celebrate royal marriages etc. (and I thought the Dubs were the Jackeens because they hung out the Union Jack to welcome Queen Victoria on her state visit... this was definately a new one on me) to having the city centre completely destroyed by arson set by British Auxilliary forces in November 1920.


It reminds me of scenes from Dresden or London in the Second World War.

The viciousness of the Auxies (as they were known) is legendary at this stage, and the volunteers reaction to their attacks in my opinion were entirely justified. The Auxies were trained and tested soldiers, some of them are known to have been still shell shocked from serving in the first world war, and as a result their service in this country was marked by its violence and cruelty. The burning of Cork occurred in retaliation to Volunteer uprising in the area which occurred due to the Auxies treatment of local people, i.e. taking pot shots of people working in fields, humiliating people, maiming them etc.

It was a truly brutal time in our history, one of many unfortunately, but this episode in particular hasn't received much coverage, which I think this programme has gone some way to rectifying.

The programme last night I felt gave a very balanced and complete account of what occurred in the Cork area in the time leading up to the burning and if it's on again I would recommend you spare an hour to sit down and watch it.

Over-Tiredness

I can't get enough sleep at the moment and it's driving me mad.

Waking up is nearly impossible, and getting up is actually near on impossible.

As a result, I'm cranky, lethargic, and sleepy for most of the day.

It's not a good way to be.


This is my favourite view as of the last few days.

I need to stop drinking beer and stay in my pj's all weekend, but I won't because it's party season and this is what it does to me!
Bah humbug.

Play it again Bob...

I saw the legend that is Bob Dylan play live this weekend in Dublin.

He really can't sing anymore , and in fairness to him he was never the best vocalist out there, but it was still really cool to be there in his presence as he croaked out the classics.

It was a very pared down show, red velvet cutains, a band (who were really brilliant) and Bob on a piano facing to the side, croaking away! There was no support and he played for 2 hours exactly. And I enjoyed myself!



We then went and got hammered on Erdinger and I am now sworn off pints for the rest of my life.

Re-Visitation

Back in August during the height of my studying/working madness I did a psychometric test based on what movie you are. I got the Godfather and was amused and a bit worried by the result. I then vowed to revisit the test once I had put some distance between me and the exams. So here goes....

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Classic eh?!?

Severe Weather warning eh?

According to those in the know in we are going to get snow on friday....

I'm going to be sceptical about all of this and say I bet here in Dublin we get a small drop in temperature and some wind. We just don't get exciting weather here.


This is the graphic from RTE's site for tomorrow. It doesn't look all that scary does it?

The thing is though in this crazy country we all (and I include myself in this) get very excited at the prospect of weather extreme's be it warm weather with sunshine or cold weather with snow! We then go abroad where people are used to it and fry or freeze depending on what is necessary. Oh yeah and lets not forget how the country just grinds to a stop once snow comes!

I've come to the conclusion we're all just soft and need to toughen up in the face of a bit of cold!

P.S I wonder have I tempted providence with my scepticism.....

Mario Rosenstock is a Genius

I always listen to Today FM on my walk into and home from work in the morning and evening. I'm a fan of the station, love their programming and talk shows and wouldn't have it any other way.

Most mornings you will find me on my route to work creased up with laughter at the antics of Bertie Ahern (our esteemed Taoiseach), Ronan Keating, Gerry Adams and my favourite the Boy Roy (Keane), on Gift Grub (the link is to Wikipedia's definition of gift grub).

This particular morning I didn't know whether to laugh (which of course I did) or cry (which I was close to doing). The Roy Keane leaving Manchester United story has been big news as we all know since last friday. I have to admit I was genuinely shocked when I heard he had left so abruptly as I really thought that at worst he would go in the January transfer window and at best in the summer. But in typical Roy style he leaves under a cloud of rumour, mystery and drama.


Rosenstock in I Keano playing Keane.

Gift Grub has been suspiciously quiet on the subject until this morning....

This morning it was an all time classic. Keane sang the Will Young song "I think I'd better leave right now" with his own words of course. When it appears on the web site I'll drop the nod if you haven't heard it already. I think it should be released for christmas to cheer up everyone! I'm still laughing!

Mystical Nights and Gruesome Sights

As I have already documented I went to see the Goblet of Fire last night with friend Gil, and have made my thoughts public knowledge on my review page if you are interested.

We had a great laugh last night. Mooched round the shops, gossiped and stufed our faces. Actullay to be fair I stuffed my gaping gob, Gil showed remarkable restraint!

However, I was faced with an apparition last night, which almost put me off finishing my chocolate malt. Now it takes a lot to put me off my food, so let me just stress that this was a traumatic event!

The vision involved, a young wan, not exactly a supermodel (in fact she was a big girl to be frank), a pair of very loose, low hipped jeans, a spotty backside, and lots of flab. The image went something like this....



This cartoon from here is amusing. The reality of it on a young wan, was not. I blame her friends, why oh why did nobody tell her? I think I'm scarred for life.

A Mighty Weekend

That was one busy weekend and as a result of a lot of posing and posturing, and admittedly some hard word I am now Trixibell BA(hons) H. Dip Arch, BA LS. That's a lot of letters for one little lady! The BA LS is the latest addition to my name and was earned on Saturday from DIT Aungier St.

I had all my family and friends with me over the weekend. The In-laws finally met the Out-laws and so that embarrasment has now been dealt with and it all went well, thankfully there were no daggers at dawn between the fathers!


We ate our yummies at The Trocadero, and the food was gorgeous. They treated us really well and even joined in when we got boisterous!

So although I'm still wrecked I'm happy and am off to see Harry tonight! Yeaaahhhh!

Friday Funtime

Ok funtime this week is another guessing game. This might be an easy one for some but I'm interested in hearing the response anyway.

I took the above shot at home a few weeks ago. Can anyone tell me what album cover this place was featured on?

Trixi points going a begging here!

Ooops

Maca has just pointed out to me that Irish Blogs have removed him from the list of contributors....

They've also removed me. Have I done something to deserve it?

I think they should now be boycotted anyone with me?

Secret Shame # 3

I am part woman....



part gorilla...



Which part is which will not be disclosed.


P.S this is a very cathartic exercise, I think it's good for me to be honest.

Oh Thanks be to God

Ok that might be a little excessive but Irish Blogs have finally become unstuck! No more cringing with embarrassment for this Trixibell!

My life has been consumed by...

THE BEST GAME EVER!!!
I've been playing The Movies obsessively since the Lovely Boy bought it on friday. It has literally taken over my every free moment in the evenings! If I'm not playing my own game I'm helping him voice charcters for his! It's deadly fun!



So far I've created war epics, sci-fi thrillers, comedy's and my latest production is an off the wall romance between 2 vampires who get killed by an avenging priest... Movie magic!!

The aim of the game is to become a movie mogul by setting up running and developing a movie studio from the 1920's onwards. As you move forwards you unlock new technology and features develop new stars and directors and then you have to manage them all! It's great! If you fancy seeing parts of your day just disappear I recommend you invest in this game!

Where to go and what to do?

I'm in a bit of a hiatus at the moment. I'm in a job I don't particularly like and definately get absoloutely no job satisfaction out of, and where my supervisor is more concerned about punctuation than the fact that I am so obviously bored.

Don't get me wrong punctuation is very important and I try to be careful, but when I just can't bring myself to care, I get careless. What can you do?


Very important stuff.

Yet I have plans that mean moving on right now wouldn't be the wisest of moves from a CV point of view, which leaves me kind of stuck here looking forward to being even more bored in the future.

I could cry and I wonder whether temping would be such a bad idea. At least I might have some letters to type or dicta phone to take every day, rather than just sitting here processing the odd query and filling out information on poxy forms.

I'm having a bad day.

I could have been a contender...

The company outing took place on Friday. It consisted of 5 a side soccer on an outdoor pitch in driving, freezing rain. It was more of a wet T-shirt competition than a football game (or three) to be perfectly frank. The boys were happy.

I discovered something new about myself that night. I discovered that if I had played football from an early age, had developed skills and practiced regularly I could have been quite good at it.

I'm serious!

Fionaldhino...? (thanks to the boy for this play on words)

I could see all of these wonderful plays taking place in my minds eye while I was on the pitch and even managed to pull one off, and scored a goal on the half volley. It was impressive, believe me (well I was impressed anyway!) However as a rule my lack of skill let me down, consistently. The sad part is that, I feel that at this stage of my life, any chance of a career has passed me by. But I will always have the memories of how I could have played to keep me going...

Pulling on the Red Chord

I got a free ticket to The Frames last night! Was dead excited!

I know many people out there hate them and I also know that many people think they're alright! Me, I've been a proper fan since I was 15!

In fact one of the most pressing reasons why I decided to come to Dublin for college was so that I would have access to see bands like The Frames, Lir, An Emotional Fish, Juniper, play in the mythical magical Whelans! And I wasn't disappointed! And now of all of those bands only the Frames have retained their original shape, though I think Lir still play from time to time, but I'm not sure.


I was down the back last night with seated tickets but am not complaining as I didn't know I was going to be there at all until 4.30 yesterday afternoon!

It was a great night they played favourites new and old and nearly broke my heart when they played Fitzcaraldo and Red Chord. They also had a nod to Mic Christopher without over doing it too much, I think they've finally found a balance in how to remember him.

Oh and the special guest was Damien Rice! He played 3 songs, 2 of which I heard after scrambling to sink a pint and sprinting to our seats!


Joe and Glenn at Vicar St ages ago!

I'm a bit tired today I have to gather the energy to play an inter company football tournament and drink some more later. Oh yeah and do some work of course! Busy me eh?

Trixibell Bocht

I discovered to my horror yesterday that The First Irish Exam for Blackhall place takes place on the 12th and 13th of January next year.

So what you ask? The 13th is my birthday. Crap.

I have picked up my booklet for the course from Griffith and will be plodding my way through it all over Christmas. Am not best pleased!



I'm also thinking of getting one of these courses cause my Gaeilge really isn't what it should be, even after 14 years of learning it in school! I mean technically we should all be proficient after that amount of time spent learning a language.

I wish they would start teaching it like a living language not a dead one. I learned more German in 6 years and could hold a half decent conversation in it still, after all this time than I could with Irish. There's something seriously wrong there!

A wee rant

I'm not being cranky right, in fact I'm in pretty good form this fine November morning, but I do find myself more than a little irritated. The irritation has been growing since Monday evening and reached a climax this morning in my own mind. It was a slow burner, as they say.

My problem this morning concerns Chuggers The link is to Sigla Mag where Sinead wrote about this phenomenon about a year ago. I laughed and nodded when I read it and I find myself laughing and nodding again now. However I encountered a new breed of chugger this week and hence the slow burning anger.

I was sitting merrily (what other way is there to sit, one asks?) in the sanctity of my own home. The blinds were drawn the heating was on and my dinner was being consumed in front of Corrie, what bliss. Then comes the knock on my door. I answer it hesitatingly as it might be Johnny next door requesting milk for his cup of tea or it might be someone less pleasant you never know what the rain will bring out. What was I confronted with? Flippin Chuggers.

Needless to say I was not/am not impressed. Running the gauntlet on Grafton St is something you can prepare yourself for, finding yourself face to face with the begging bowl at your own door on a wet and windy night is quite another. And then when they went through their choreographed spiel and I told them that I already gave to charities, that I had a budget and that it had reached its limit, they got thick with me! The cheek! I do give, more than I can actually afford to as it happens and these upstarts have the front to tell me that I won't miss an additional 2 euro a week! Whether I will or won't miss it is not for them to decide excuse me. But of course I did get that pang of guilt anyway after they had left. And then the anger began to sink in.

And now I'm really cross and I wanted to see has anyone else encountered this new form of terror and annoyance?

Things to note

I received my three thousandth visitor to my blog today! That's a lot of people who have been exposed to my ramblings inane and otherwise! Thanks to everyone who keeps coming back and leaving comments, I am finding the whole experience highly amusing and entertaining!

I have reviewed a book on the other site if you're interested.
It's good to be back reading again and I might even get to the cinema this weekend so you can expect a bit of waffle about that as well!

And in other news there is only 10 days to go to the Harry Potter premier! Say no more...

The Gym

They have offered us the use of a few gym machines here in work for free, and the opportunity to have an assessment with a personal fitness person to make sure that we were using the gear in the proper way. So I put my name down. I mean free gym use and a session with a personal trainer is not to be sniffed at is it?

So I had my session last night. I have some pain already. I believe the pain should increase and take hold properly about lunch time.

And what did I learn? That I look awful standing in front of mirrors trying not to cry out loud. That I don't like scary weights machines and that realisticly, free or not, I probably won't be able to motivate myself to go there too often.

But I want to get fitter and so I'm going to try. If I mention it again it means I've gone. If I don't it means I've chickened out and this is never to be mentioned again!

Home

My Dad was making lots of noise banging and cursing things on Saturday morning so rather than lying in bed wasting the day I got up and got out.

These are some images I captured from the area where I live.


This is known as Ladies Walk.


The swing.


This is the approach road to the castle demesne.


The Church Yard


This is my mother's favourite tree taken last christmas


I just liked the look of this!

Two Many Pints...

Delicate. I'm feeling very delicate this morning.

I went on the lash with my Mad Auntie Joan last night. I hadn't planned it.

She's some savage when it comes to guzzling pints.

I'm not.

I thank God for the chips and sausages that saved my life.

I was drinking Stella Artois. I thought I would be home after 2.

Foolish me.

P.S. You get Trixi Points if you can name the pub in the photo!

Irish Blogs

Would it every bloodly move on!

I don't even like that post that has been sitting proudly on top of the list for a week now it was meant to be said and then forgotten.

Jesus, it's annoying me badly at this stage!

Secret Shame # 2

I recently admitted to my friends that I thought "Harry was looking well".


Looking good...

Princess slammed me in the most damning of language. I am most unclean according to her.

On the other hand my other friend agreed with me, so all's not lost...

All the same I feel bad about admiring a 16 year old. It's just not right.

Things to love about Winter

United Irelander had a little rant yesterday about why he hates winter, which made me think about why I don't hate winter! It's not my favourite season because of the darkness but there are lots of things that make it bareable, and this is my list:

1. Christmas Trees - I love the smell of real christmas trees as they dry out in your living room. I also could watch the flashing lights circuit all day without getting bored!



2. My birthday! It comes after christmas in January and breaks the bleak days of January up very nicely thank you!

3. Extra blankets on your bed - makes the bed clothes heavier and cosier and I always sleep better when I'm all tucked up!

4. Fresh, crisp, bright mornings, where the air feels clean and makes your skin tingle.

5. Snow days! When the country shuts down and you can't feel guilty for not going to school/work cause you live at the top of a very steep hill that it just would be too dangerous to attempt to drive on! I love this country!

6. Cozy winter open fires to warm your toes beside.


7. Hot soup for lunch and porridge for breakfast that as you eat can you can feel warming your tummy. Yum.

8. The stark beauty of the countryside stripped bare and waiting for new growth.


9. Hot Whiskeys and or Hot Ports.

10. Wooly jumpers to hide in and cuddle up in, in complete comfort and disregard of whether you have eaten too much lately or not!

So there you go, the days may be getting shorter and darker but it doesn't have to be all bad!

Tribute to Trick or Treaters

It has been brought to my attention that my previous post may have come across as a little negative in relation to the whole Hallowe'en phenomenon, and believe me that's the last thing I intended! I love Hallowe'en I was just a little amazed at the amount to fireworks available last night tis all!

Anyhoo we had a small but friendly group of monsters and super heroes visit us last night which I knocked great sportout of my only complaint being that not enough turned up! I'm going to have to go children hunting tonight to force the remaining sweets and treats on them as otherwise I'll eat them and that's bad for me! Hopefully they won't be too sickened after last night's feast! Though I was assured by one of my visitors last night that there was no doubt he would be very ill and he seemed to relishing the prospect!

Check out the link for cool trick or treat photo's on flickr...

Did you know that fireworks are illegal in Ireland?

Hallowe'en has come and gone and so the build up to Christmas will now be thrust into full gear. But I'm not ready for that yet so I'm going to dwell a little longer on Hallowe'en and hope the rest will take care of itself!



I came back to Dublin last night early enough inorder to feed the neighbourhood monsters and protect our house from bangers and such like as is necessary at this time of year. It turns out that we were also treated to the most amazing pseudo professional firework displays throughout the whole night from our kind and law abiding neighbours!

It was, to be honest, stunning in the real and not the figurative sense. I timed one display that lasted for 30 minutes. That's 30 minutes of constant, and simultaneous rockets and what have you going off over our house in a very residential area. That means there were loads and loads of fireworks in the estate. It was all a bit crazy and I felt really sorry for the animals they must have been petrified.

What I really want to know is where do they get them from? Does everyone indulge in cross border trading at this time of the year? Where are the guards? And why can't they be legalised so at least there can be some sort of qulaity control to make sure people won't be hurt unnecessarily? Oh and nearly as importantly how much does it cost to buy enough gear to put the sort of spectacular show that we witnessed last night on? Some people have more money than sense!

Beer Snobbery

I was out last night with my good friend doing girly things like shopping, giggling and buying the same clothes, you know yourself how these things go. And we also went for a bite to eat.

At dinner we had pizza and beer, the pizza was delicious and the beer was Budvar and was gorgeous, as you would expect. We then decided to have another drink before we went home and headed for Neary's just off Grafton St. Great pub, brilliant atmosphere but I still feel the loss of the peacock wallpaper in the ladies toilets, it will never be the same for me since they cleaned the place up.

Howandever, Neary's would not be a trendy pub and so choice of beer on draught is limited to Budweiser, Carlsberg, Heineken, Guinness and Smithwicks. All very well when you haven't been drinking yummy Czech beer. I ordered a Budweiser on the basis that I was interested in the compare and contrast of drinking one after the other.


The King of Beers?

Let's just say it was not a good experience. Actually minging is the term I would apply to the taste of my pint. I couldn't finish it.

Then I started thinking about beer and my likes and dislikes. I have developed a strong preference for imported beers, especially Czech and German beers, in recent times. Miller, Bud, Carlsberg, just aren't acceptable to me anymore. I have become a beer snob!

And to think 20 years ago your choice of beer was Guinness, Smithwicks or Harp! And we were happy with it!

I made butterflies

Picture me grinning proudly at my computer screen.

Yep I made butterflies and I did it all by myself!

Seeing as I have no clue about stuff like this and am basicly learning by doing can you tell me please if it looks ok?

Cheers!

Trixibell in the Middle

I had a little ego boost sitting in my email account this morning and all I had to do to access it was to sell my soul to the spam devil!
I signed up ages ago to Tickle Tests to elleviate my boredom through self examining tests! And did loads before I got bored! But one of them was an IQ test which I did and didn't really think much about after that! However it turns out that if I was an American school child I would be in the gifted class - like Malcolm!


Trixibell in the Middle

It's a load of nonsense really but I liked reading it, it made me feel clever!

The Ferns Report

It's hard not to address this issue today in light of the revelations yesterday in the Report on child sexual abuse in the Diocese of Ferns over a period of 4 decades.

The coverage last night on Today FM's The Last Word was harrowing to say the least. The extended coverage on RTE's Radion 1 while not as graphic was difficult to listen to and disturbing. Today I find myself continuously thinking about the children who were abused, the irretrievable damage that was done to their innocence, confidence not to mention faith. And I feel sick and angry, no doubt like most other people who are following the story.

I am a Catholic. I have faith that there is a God. But I have no faith in the Catholic Church. I call myself a Catholic because that was the faith I was raised in, I go to mass occasionally and I think that the parish I come from at home is a good place, a safe place and I enjoy the sense of community when I visit there. I've never found that sort of comfort in Dublin churches and so I don't generally attend them. It's not the mass that attracts me to the church its the community.

What happened in Ferns ripped the community apart. It robbed people of that sense of belonging somewhere, it destroyed the lives of young people and it was let happen by the higher authorities. It would appear from what I heard this morning that the cycle of abuse started in the Seminaries. The Seminarians themselves were abused or were shown that it was ok to abuse without consequence, and the cycle began.

The report apparantly maintains that there was no organised paedophile ring in the Wexford area but it would appear that because of the lax attitudes of both Bishops Herlihy and Comiskey during the period when the abuse took place. Because although they had knowledge that some of the priests involved were not fit for the priesthood, they were allowed to practice in communities and interact with young children. The whole thing is appalling. It's sickening and it's depressing.

This is just one report one diocese in one small country. How widespread is/was this sort of abuse? What can the Catholic Church do to repair the hurt and heal the pain caused by some members of their priesthood? Will the church do what is necessary?

One of the saddest aspects of this story is the bad light that the priesthood has now been cast in. There are undoubtedly bad men in orders who need to be weeded out and punished, but we have to remember that there are also very good people, kind people who have chosen to sacrifice so much to shepard communities. Those people should not be punished for the sins of those who did so much wrong. There needs to be a balance in our reaction to this report. We need to remember that although we should expect that people in positions of responsibility and respect should be of unimpeachable moral goodness, that those who behave badly represent themselves and not the group as a whole.

Saying that though I have no doubt that the Catholic Church has been badly damaged by the proof of allegations of abuse against children and I for one really don't know how it is going to regain the confidence of people without a major fundamental change in the way the church is run and organised. That change is not going to happen in the near future, not with the current administration in the Vatican. That to me is a pity and a great loss to people like me who just like belonging somewhere.

Whey hey! I'm in the money!

Red Mum over here introduced this little doo hickey! And my blog is worth summat! Quelle Suprise!

My blog is worth $6,774.48.
How much is your blog worth?

Preoccupations and Boredom

I find myself in a strange sort of twilight zone at the moment. I feel sort of disengaged from everything like I'm on the outside looking in, and it's a very odd feeling.

I don't know if its because I'm at a bit of a loose end due to the finishing of the exams or if it is due to other factors which are playing on my mind at the moment but not really formulating themselves into ideas. I know I'm frustrated. That is one emotion I can identify. I also feel a little uptight and anxious and very restless. It's not very pleasant.

I thought that once I had spare time that I would relish the opportunity to veg out. But I'm not. I'm bored! I can't watch T.V., can't keep my focus long enough to read properly, can't listen to music, don't want to talk to people... In fact all that I want to do is move. I enjoyed being at home last weekend. I can't wait to head off again this weekend... maybe I've just got an intense dose of itchy feet! Oh I don't know even writing about it hasn't helped, I'll just have to keep going until I identify what the hell is bothering me, and then I'll deal with it!

Just to Annoy You....

It's two months to Christmas today!!



I know I'm not ready for it, Are you?

Living Life once more

As a result of finishing the exams and rediscovering the joys of living once again I have started reading real books and watching new movies over the past week or so! It's bliss! I have posted my view on a film I saw recently over on my review site if you're interested! I will be putting my opinion on other books I've read and albums I've heard recently over the next few days, so while there is no doubt my cultural section was looking very abandoned in the last few weeks I will be endeavouring to fix that problem over the next while!
Oh and comments are always welcome whether they are constructive or not!

By the way what's the take out there on my new colour scheme? I'm just proud of the fact that I figured out how to change the colours! I'm still learning! Oh and I get bored very easily!

The Curious Incident of Liam Lawlor in Moscow

There can be no doubt that the passing of Liam Lawlor this weekend was untimely and a huge tragedy for his long suffering family.


But you have to admit the whole incident is very curious indeed. Lawlor goes to his grave now with the secrets of many tucked away with him. The Planning Tribunal cannot hope to be able to uncover exactly what took place in this country in regards to anomalies in planning and building in the 1980's and 1990's

Friday Fun Time

Har Har Har! I couldn't have asked for a better result! Let me know how you get on with The Muppet Test!!!


You are Fozzie Bear.

Happy Friday!

I'm off home to get mothered by my mother! Yippee!

P.S. click the link to get the quiz!

Shameful Secret #1

I really really like that James Blunt song You're Beautiful.



I know its over played. But it makes me smile every time I hear it.
I know its really sappy and a bit nauseating. But it cheers me up.

I'm sorry.

Poor Brian, Poor Ireland, Poor Germany

I'm torn over who deserves the most sympathy following Ireland's uncermonious exit from the World Cup qulaifiers.
Is it due to Brian Kerr, who lost his job as the Republic of Ireland manager last night?
Is it due to the legions of us loyal fans and to those ubber loyal fans who never miss an International live game?
Or is it due to the German nation as a whole and their current economic crisis? As I have no doubt countless SSIA accounts were earmarked for hard core spending by Irish fans on the beer and the footy trail all over Germany.

There are a lot of losers as a result of this result. But the bottom line remains the same. Our team are not good enough. We have individually brilliant or potentially brilliant players but this team under Brian Kerr just did not seem to work as a coherent force. Maybe a new manager is the answer (if they can find anyone) but at the end of the day its the players who have to be capable of stepping up and playing decent inciteful, passing football. I'm looking forward to that day, may it arrive soon!

A Tribute to the Irish Mammy

Following the trials and tribulations which were the FE1's the Lovely Boy and I hit the high road and retreated to the loving arms of his familial demesne which is far from Dublin.

Oh the joy of not being in the city. The bliss of being cared for and looked after by the Boy's lovely mammy. The forgotten forbidden delight in sleeping past 8.30 a.m without guilt, and finally and most importantly the pleasure of the Irish fry every single morning!

I had the most fantastic rest and relaxation for 3 days and even after the gruelling return journey which was not short, I still feel great! I tell you, you can't beat the loving administrations of the Irish Mammy! And the Boy's Mammy is one of the best!

We were both exhausted, emotional, stressed and sullen by Thursday evening and just the mere act of getting out of this fecking city seemed liable to break us. The six pm bus didn't leave until 6.40! It really stretched us to our limit and we finally reached our destination the next day, after a short stop over in my home place which currently resembles a building site! It was a long journey and to be honest we were only fit for lying around and trying not to cry by the time we got there, but now all is well and I am ready and willing to get stuck into living life again as opposed to watching it pass me by from behind a load of stuffy text books! As such I would like to pay tribute to Mary for helping me regain the ability to speak, laugh, think and feel again!

I've got my life back!

I have returned to the land of the living once again! And have survived the latest round of Fe1's as was hoped! A brief word on the exams, as I don't want to really think about them at the moment, 2 went well one didn't go as well as I had hoped so I may have to resit it. Yes it's disappointing but its not over til the fat lady sings and until then I'm going to try and not brood on it. I said I'd try though I'll probably be obsessing about the results silently in my head and publicly here on my site until they arrive, but I will try not to!

Thanks to everyone who admired my pics! I'm gald they were enjoyed!

I have loads of thoughts swirling around my head about potential posts. They include my abject disappointment at Ireland not qualifying for the world cup, mad spending sprees by the Government on computer systems that don't work, Katie Holmes being up the duff and loads more besides but I reckon its all being said and done already by everyone else so I don't think I'll bother now! So seeing as I have been absent from work for so long I will go make an effort at clearing my desk and when things are quieter later will write more later. I've missed musing on stuff here!