Thursday, August 30, 2007

My finger is on the button!



Well, I'm off to Electric Picnic (we'll be together, together in electric dreams!)...my my, how the excitement builds!

Obviously there's all that cinema milarky below, but I might stop by a few bands! Top of my list is Bjork, closely followed by Chemical Brothers and Beastie Boys. Then, in no particular order, Modest Mouse, Manic Street Preachers (for old time's sake!), Jarvis Cocker (please play some Pulp, skinny man!), The Go Team, Primal Scream, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Undertones (just for THAT song), Unkle, Duke Special (on Jon's nudge) and Kila.

Then there's the comedy tent! I'll try catch some of Des Bishops set, and Tommy Tiernan, and Jason Byrne.......and whatever else takes my fancy!

I'll also pay a visit to some of the worthy groups popping in - those campaigning for climate change, the Amnesty tent, and those amazing people at War Child. Can't have a festival without a conscience, can we!

Countdown is over - preparation begins!! Woo and, indeed, Hoo!

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Another Zombie nightmare...


Why am I so afraid of Zombies?

They freak me out so much, I even give them a capital 'Z' when talking about them! It just terrifies me, the thought that it could really happen.

And I know what you're gonna say - that it could never happen...but that's what they all say, until the re-animated corpse of your next-door-neighbour sinks his putrid teeth into your neck and starts to chew.

I have the same recurring nightmare - I wake up, and everything seems kinda normal, I go about a few of my normal morning tasks, when out of the corner of my eye I see something unusual. This is where the nightmare can vary....sometimes it's a slow moving shuffle Zombie (like from the original Dawn of the Dead), and sometimes it's a speak-freak bastard (like from 28 Days Later). And then it's just all-out panic, as I try to get to my family, and escape from the oncoming surge of Zombie hordes sweeping across the fields/streets (depending on where I am in the dream).

BUT - I always wake up before anything happens to me. What does this mean?

What does any of it mean?

Is it a completely irrational fear? It doesn't FEEL like a stupid fear (even though I know it must be). I am genuinely afraid of Zombies.

Genuinely afraid! And I had another dream about them last night, which means that all day today I feel like a dark cloud is over me - because I'll spend the whole day worrying about Zombies.

Monday, August 27, 2007

Hen night - t'was alright!

Hen night turned out to be loadsa fun!! Had a great laugh with Grainne, and sent her on her merry way with a final fun night out with the girls!! Full photos are on the beeeb page.

The only downside was the nightclub....what a kip!! And bunch of knackers outside pushing girls around...but how and ever, my ire had just begun! The poxy taxi driver who brought us in and out wanted €20 per head for the trip. €140 for a 36km round-trip!

I, of course, told him that I'd be happy to give him the money, if he'd give me a receipt and his license number so that I could contact the Taxi Regulator on Monday and check on his pricing. He, of course, conveniently couldn't give me a receipt, but said he'd post one out. HA! Then he got really mad at me for 'accusing him of overpricing' (which I was) and wouldn't take any money off me! Ah well - not my problem if his quilty conscience is eating him up inside...and I got to keep his thieving hands off MY moolah!

So I checked the taxi regulator website this morning, and the return journey (which would be the most expensive, as it's a late pick-up) should have been €32.50, and the journey out couldn't have been more than €30. That means that the entire trip should have cost a maximum of €65!

What a bastard!!

So I'm filling in my complaint form now for the Taxi Regulator. Scammer, eh?!? Thinking he could take advantage because (1) we're a bunch of drunk girls who don't know a €20 from a €5 note (he didn't reckon on the fact that no matter how drunk I am, I'm poor enough to REMEMBER how little's in my wallet, and how hard I worked for that measly sum), and, (2) we live in the country, so he's the only bloody taxi guy around and we have to pay whatever he asks, because we've no other option but to use him??!!

Not on my watch, baby!!!

Friday, August 24, 2007

Hen night my shite.....

Have to organise and keep jollies for my bezzie mate Grainne's hen night tonight. As bridesmaid, I'll have to be fun and shiz-n-giggles for the whole night!! *Sigh....* What an almighty effort!

Love her, though, so guess it's all just part of frienship. Oh, she'll pay if I ever tie the knot, though!

On the upside, it's now only 40 days until we set sail on a South American adventure, so everything in life is gooooOOOOOOoood!

Plus, Alan still loves me despite me being a pain in the ass a lot of the time, so that's always a secret worthy of celebration!!

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Reason to be excited number 7,247


There's me missing a kiss with my double chinned drunk-butt boyfriend at New Years Eve!! And in a couple of months, we'll be missing kisses all over South America!

Yes, yes - it's official! I've applied for and been granted my career break....

Hi Sarah,

Your request for 8 months Career Break has been approved.

We have calculated your annual leave entitlement from 1 April to 30 September 2007 which is 10½ days + 1½ carried forward from 06/07 = 12 days.
Leave taken up to the 23 August 2007 is 7½, leaving 4½ days until 30 September 2007.

Sarah please let me know if you will be taken the 4½ days or if you wish to get paid for this Annual Leave.

Please ensure that when you are leaving on the 30 September that the balance on your Flexi clock is at Zero.

Also please return your Flexi/Security Card and ID Card to HR Unit on your last day.

Sarah enjoy your Career Break.

If you have any queries please give me a ring.
%&*££

So there we go - I'm now written out of the Civil Service from the winter months!

Coupled with some great news on my Mam's health, and Alan's Dad's continued improvement - I'm on cloud nine!!!

Plus, for New Year's Eve 2007/2008, I get to smooch that glorious bastard up there!!

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Besides all the fantastic music........

.....how ridiculously exciting is this???

Friday
1-4pm: Woodstock The Movie
4-5.50pm: Stranger than Fiction
5.50-7.40pm: 28 Days Later
10pm: Dawn of the Dead
10-11.40pm: The Lost Boys
11.40pm-2.30am: Lord of the Rings

Saturday
2.30am-4.20am: Dark Side of the Rainbow - Wizard of Oz synchronized to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon
4.20am-6.15am: Blade Runner
6.15am-8.10am: 24 Hour Party People
8.10am - 10.05am: Something About Mary
10.05am-12.20pm: V For Vendetta
12.20pm-1.35pm: Human Footprint
1.35pm-3.30pm: Darwins Nightmare
3.30pm-5.10pm: An Inconvenient Truth
5.10pm-6.35pm: Borat
6.35pm-8.35pm: Hot Fuzz
8.35pm-10.45pm: Glastonbury
10.45pm-12.35pm: Irish Film Board presents...Live Action shorts
12.40pm-2.10am: The Aristocrats

Sunday
2.10am-2.25am: The Wednesdays
2.30am-3.45am: Daft Pink's Electroma
3.50am-5.20am: Blazing Saddles
5.20am-6.55am: Stand By Me
6.55am-8.20am: Muppets from Space
8.20am-10.15am: The Incredibles
10.15am-11.45am: Irish Film Board presents...Animation Shorts
11.45am-1pm: Daft Punk's Electroma
1pm-3pm: Scanner Darkly
3pm-4.30pm: First Blood - Rambo
4.30pm-6.35pm: The Karate Kid
6.35pm-8.35pm: 300
8.35pm-10.10pm: Leonard Cohen: I'm your Man
10.10pm-11.45pm: Hedwig and the Angry Inch
11.45pm-1.30am: Footloose
1.30am-2.50am: Borat

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the cinema tent at Electric Picnic!!

God, it's gonna be fantastic....and all reports indicate that it might even be SUNNY!!
***Girly squeal of delight***

http://www.electricpicnic.ie/

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

The way things were!


Well, photos are up on my bebo page of the trip to France to visit Sarah! She's doing really well, and building a proper wanker&bitch-free life over there (something we should all try to do - separate that chaff from our wheat of life, eh?!?!).

Anyway, all is well with the world. Liverpool had victory snatched from their jaws by a moronic ref, but he's admitted his mistake, so at least Jose can't go on and on and on about how 'pure' and 'naive' his team are!! He'll have to admit they're a bunch of diving, scummy, lousy, bastards! Or something to that effect....

The ref clearly made a mistake - "Having looked at a video and seen a better angle and a better view, clearly he (Styles) now recognises that he got it wrong and he's deeply apologetic for that. I think, in fact, he too will be making contact with Liverpool in order to offer his apologies."

So, I would have been happier with our deserved win, but I'm content in knowing that we don't play dirty, we just play! We have the best players and the best supporters - and here's a little letter Luis Garcia sent to the team website that goes a long way towards showing what it means to be truely RED!


Dear Reds,

First of all I'd like to apologise for not having been back in touch sooner, but I needed to take some time to take on board all the recent changes and then to put down these words for you.

I'm sure you will understand.

I would rather this be a letter of thanks and gratitude, not simply a goodbye.

Yes, thats right, gratitude, because that is the word that best sums up my feelings for you all.

Taking the decision to change clubs hasn't been easy. Not easy at all.

I've experienced three fantastic years at the club and in the city. Three years in which together, the fans and the team, we have accomplished some fantastic achievements, and I'm sure that these successes will continue to be repeated in the near future.

You know that I like a challenge and that I don't just settle for second best.

Back then Liverpool Football Club gave me the opportunity to be part of an ambitious plan to put the Reds back at the summit of the game.

I think that together we managed to achieve that.

As I said, I do like challenges and in spite of the fact that at that time I was playing for my home town club, one of the biggest in the world, I wanted to be a part of that project that was being presented to me by Liverpool, and so I accepted the challenge.

Now, after three seasons in the Premier League and having won some major trophies, the chance came up for me to return to La Liga and be part of a new project at a club I already knew.

The idea of enjoying things in a Spanish club like we experienced together at Liverpool over these last three years appealed to me, and thats why I accepted the offer.

I want to thank everyone working at Liverpool Football Club for how well they have treated both my family and I, making us feel at home from the very first day to the last.

I also want to thank the management, coaching staff and directors for the opportunity they gave me back then to be part of such an important and well-loved club as Liverpool. A club which has helped me to grow as a footballer and where to date I have enjoyed the biggest success of my career.

Without a doubt, this success has been possible thanks to the outstanding group of players with whom Ive been able to share a dressing room over the last three seasons.

I'm not going to mention anyone specifically, because I think that the secret of this team's success has been exactly that: nobody wanted to stand out above the rest and there has always been a great togetherness in the squad, which made it into something more than a group of players, it was a group of friends.

Thanks to all of you for your help and your friendship.

I've left until last the thank you which for me is the most important: Thank you to the supporters.

Your support allowed me to settle quickly at both the club and in the city, and you made me feel really at ease with you all right from the word go; that's the kind of help that you notice most of all during the difficult times, of which there have been a few during my time here.

I'd like to especially thank you for making up a song for me and you should know that every time I heard you singing it, it was like an extra injection of strength and motivation, even helping me to overcome pain occasionally during a game.

Your unconditional support is the thing that ensures that this team manages to pull through in the most difficult circumstances; and I can assure you that the whole squad is aware of this and thanks you for it.

A football club isn't just made up of players, coaches and directors. More than anything else it's the supporters who make a club, and that perhaps is the ingredient which best distinguishes Liverpool Football Club from every other team. The supporters.

Because if one thing has remained obvious to me after these few years, it's that with supporters like you, Liverpool Football Club will never walk alone.

I really hope that the club wins lots of major trophies in the future; I'll be following it all from a distance, with the pride that you can only get from having been a Red and played for the home team at Anfield – a ground that every football fan must visit at least once in their life. Thank you for everything.

Yours most sincerely,

Your friend,
Luís García

Monday, August 20, 2007

Some balance in the world?


Israel vows entry ban on Darfur refugees

Laurie Copans, Associated Press in Jerusalem

Monday August 20, 2007
The Guardian

Israel yesterday said it planned to turn back refugees arriving from Sudan's war-torn Darfur area, prompting arguments over whether the Jewish state had a duty to take in people fleeing persecution.

David Baker, an Israeli government spokesman, said people from Darfur would not be immune from Israel's ban on unauthorised migrants.
He said: "The policy of returning anyone who enters Israel illegally will pertain to everyone, including those from Darfur."

Late on Saturday Israel handed over 48 Sudanese, allegedly including Darfurians, to the authorities in Egypt, security officials in Egypt said.
For months Israel has been concerned about how to deal with the flow of Africans, including some people from Darfur, who have passed over its southern border with Egypt's Sinai desert.

The decision to turn back asylum seekers from Darfur contradicts the pledge of Israel's prime minister, Ehud Olmert, to "absorb" the newcomers. Mr Baker said that those already in Israel would be allowed to stay, the turn back policy affecting only new arrivals.

Fighting between pro-government militias and rebels in Darfur has led to the deaths of more than 200,000 people and displaced 2.5 million since February 2003. Most of the displaced people remain in Darfur, but the UN estimates that 236,000 fled to Chad. Tens of thousands of other asylum seekers have sought refuge in Egypt. Israel's response to the arrivals has been contradictory: threats to expel them have clashed with humanitarian sentiments inspired by the memory of Jews trying to escape Nazis. Eytan Schwartz, an advocate for Darfur refugees in Israel, said about 400 refugees had entered Israel in recent years. "The state of Israel has to show compassion for refugees after the Jewish people were subject to persecution throughout [their] history," he said.

But Ephraim Zuroff, of the Nazi-hunting Simon Wiesenthal centre, said the Jewish people could not be expected to right every wrong just because of their past. "Israel can't throw open the gates and allow unlimited access for people who are basically economic refugees."

Asylum seekers found sanctuary from mass murder by going to Egypt, Mr Zuroff said, and the desire to enter Israel was "motivated primarily by the difficult living conditions and bleak economic prospects in that country".
Israeli law denies asylum to anyone from an "enemy state", which includes Sudan - whose Muslim government is hostile to the Jewish state and has no diplomatic ties with it.

About 2,800 people are estimated to have entered Israel illegally through Sinai in recent years. Nearly all were from Africa, including 1,160 from Sudan, and many had first spent months or years in Egypt. This June, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, as many as 50 people were entering illegally each day.

Egypt, which has been urged by Israel to step up surveillance of the border to prevent the illegal transit of goods and people, has increased its efforts recently. However it denies any obligation to take back refugees. Many Sudanese find life difficult in Egypt where, two years ago, riot police killed nearly 30 people when clearing a refugee encampment in Cairo.



____________________________________________________

A poem by Theodore Roethke, and a painting by John Squire - to remind me that 'though there are murderers in this world', there is also art.

The Waking

I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.

We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.

Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me, so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.

This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.

Theodore Roethke

John Squire