At the bottom of Ireland (or near enough)

A few weeks ago I spent the weekend in Cork visiting a friend I had gone to school with. I cheated and flew down rather than doing it in the car and on the way down had a really clear view of the east coast, including the Mournes, before the plane cut cross-country. It was my first time in Cork, the furthest south I’ve been is probably Galway or Bray. When I arrived Wendy took me for a wee wander round the city, it’s a pleasant place, if you’re into shopping I guess you’d enjoy all the usual high street stores. Wendy showed me the English Market which floated my boat more than the other shops – we got some lovely fresh bread, some salami, some cheese and a selection of olives for supper – mm-mm. For lunch Wendy took me to a wee café within the Crawford Art Gallery – it was a really lovely place and I had the tastiest chickpea salad ever. On the Saturday we took a drive to Cobh – famous for being the last pit-stop of the Titanic before it headed across the Atlantic. To be honest there wasn’t much to Cobh so we hopped back in the car after a wee cup of tea in the local heritage centre (heck I was on my holidays, so there was no need to rush things!), and drove to Kinsale. I have to say I really liked Kinsale – a cute wee harbour town, with its houses painted a variety of bright colours (some more tasteful than others it has to be said) and lots of wee nooks and crannies to explore. We found a couple of nice galleries – one with paintings by a guy called Eoin O'Connor which were really bright and cheerful, and the other showcasing the stunning black & white landscape photography of a local guy, Giles Norman.
Kinsale

The rest of the weekend was spent lazing around, catching up on each other’s news, watching DVDs etc. Oh and we went to the cinema and enjoyed watching Matt Damon kick some butt in Green Zone (good movie). All in all I think I’m more of a Donegal or West Coast girl – I need hills and mountains. The area around Cork is a bit flat and I kind of felt like something was missing. Although you’re never far from the sea geographically, it’s really hard to get a good view of the sea – we drove to the other side of Kinsale to find a beach. But all in all it was a great weekend break and i must get down to planning my next one!

The beach at Old Head

Merlin's Keep, Kinsale

Movie Afternoon

Public Achievement is holding a movie fundraiser on Sunday 31st January - we're showing 'Divorcing Jack' at the QFT at 2pm. The exciting news is that Colin Bateman, the author of the book on which the film is based, will be present to introduce the flick, how cool is that?! There will also be a raffle and the prizes are rather impressive including:
- 1 year subscription to QFT
- A ‘pamper evening’ for 10 at Space NK, Lisburn Rd
- Tickets to The Absence of Women, The Lyric
So if you want a ticket for the event then give us a bell on 9044 2813!

Julie & Julia

I went to see Julie & Julia last night with a friend. Pretty good – in fact a real feel-good film. It’s certainly not the best film I’ve seen this year (Looking For Eric takes that accolade for me in ’09 so far) but I just loved Meryl Streep’s character, so off-the-wall. She is an amazing actress and actually if she hadn’t been in this film, I think it would have dive-bombed, but she totally made it, I just giggled at all her mannerisms every time she was on the screen. She’s one of the few actors around that acts all the time if you know what I mean, she’s totally that character. The film is a little slow-moving in places and is near enough 2½ hours long, but if you’re looking for something light-hearted, go for it. Oh and it’s the kind of film that makes you hungry, in fact you kind of salivate watching all the food getting cooked, so if you’re a bit of a foodie you’ll appreciate this film too.

Image courtesy of The Film Chair.

I Miss Communism

A couple of weeks ago I took the opportunity to go to the theatre at the Island Arts Centre, Lisburn with a friend to see a show called I Miss Communism. I’m not often at the theatre and this doesn’t sound like your average production but it’s a funny and heartwarming one-woman show which I’d been wanting to see for a while because 3 years ago I met the actress herself through Couchsurfing! Ines had been performing her show as part of the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival that year and had surfed my couch for a couple of nights. I didn’t get to see the show then but we seemed to click and stayed in touch. We managed to catch up very briefly in ’07 again whilst she was touring Ireland and the UK and then she got in touch last month when she reached Irish soil for another tour.

I’m really glad I’ve had the opportunity to see the show now, it is different and quirky, comical and touching. It’s amazing how one person can carry the audience’s attention for an entire hour and a quarter. Ines is off to spend some time in her native Croatia now but plans to return and should be touring Ireland again in the autumn, so if you get the chance, check it out.

The night after her performance in Lisburn, Ines and I got to hang out over good food (al fresco at Victoria Square with the good weather – even better!) and we also went to see Angels and Demons (Ewan McGregor’s accent was rather duff, but he played a great character. I couldn’t be bothered with the book but enjoyed the action as translated on the big screen and really liked the soundtrack - decent entertainment for a Friday night.)

Incidentally it’s International Couchsurfing Day this Friday. I haven’t received any couchsurfers in quite a while – I’m just not in the right place at the moment – but I definitely recommend it as a great way to meet people from all over the world and show that Irish hospitality hasn't totally gone away! Since I signed up 4 years ago I've met Virginie - a Quebecois, Ines the Croatian actress, Mirko - the chocolate-lover from Germany, Joanne & Lee from Australia, Anne - an American living in Seoul, Cate & Chris from Washington DC who came to Belfast just before Christmas '06 then returned the favour and hosted me when I was passing through their city 6 months later, Mike - a Canadian physiotherapist living in Germany, Ben the Aussie, Chris from Tasmania, Matyas from Hungary, Yorkshireman Pete, Wolf the German tree surgeon competing in the Irish Tree-climbing championships (really attractive bloke, but unfortunately very bad BO!), Anais the Parisian living in Berlin, Hisham from Egypt, Amanda, Brittany, Joanna and Andrea - all from the USA, Diego - the Italian chef who cooked me an amazing risotto, and finally Larry who hosted me in Phoenix, AZ, and Michal Lisa who let me stay for a whole 5 days in Flagstaff, AZ! Couchsurfing definitely makes the world feel a little bit smaller!

On Friday night I got the chance to watch In the Heat of the Night for the first time along with the other first aid course participants after our evening training session. I’d always heard great things about this film but never actually watched it. I was not disappointed, it’s definitely a classic. Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger are brilliant and I can’t think of a recent film which displays the level of tension that was so palpable in this film. Definitely worth checking out if you haven’t seen it already.

Saw Ghost Town last week and I have to say I rather enjoyed it. I had heard James King's review on Radio 1 which was pretty positive and I wasn't disappointed. There were places were Ricky Gervais' character was very Ricky Gervais if you know what I mean but I don't think that was necessarily a bad thing. I thought the film didn't feel like your average rom-com and had a lot of depth so if you want an evening's light entertainment that isn't completely one-dimensional then go for it!

NB. If you haven’t seen the film and want to, don’t read my comments on it here, as I might spoil it for you!

I went to see The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian the other night and to be honest I was really disappointed. I’m a bit of a Narnia devotee as I’ve loved the books ever since I read them when I was about 10 years old. I still give them all a regular re-read and I hear God speaking to me time and time again – His character and nature constantly leap afresh from the pages (excuse the pun!) and there’s a part of me which hopes that when I meet my Maker one day he’ll look like the Aslan of my imagination: immense, golden, awesome and full of love.

The first film instalment – The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe – wasn’t a bad interpretation but I’d give it a ‘could do better’ (I know I’m harsh eh?!). Maybe if you haven’t read the books (and where have you been all your life?) you’ll be able to assess The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian for what it is – a film, but my main gripe is that the spirit of the books is missing and as a result the motion picture is just another summer blockbuster, lacking heart. It therefore stands in direct contrast to The Lord of the Rings trilogy in which case it was obvious that the director and many of the main actors had the essence of Middle-Earth pretty well sussed.

There is a good review here and further interesting comment here so I’m not going to do a major dissection of Caspian suffice to say that (spoilers coming up now!) Peter’s character hasn’t improved since the first film – he’s less of a wuss but has no notion of leadership, the timing of key events is all wrong, Aslan hardly features and comes across as seemingly impotent or at best indifferent, Caspian’s speech to the Narnians exhorting them to follow his leadership left me uninspired – I wasn’t convinced he was a true believer in Old Narnia, and the whole ‘let’s storm Miraz’s place’ thing is sheer fallacy adding a good 45 minutes to the film when the time could have been better spent on details missed elsewhere. The one bit I did like that wasn’t in the book was the physical appearance of the White Witch as I thought that scene demonstrated the strength of temptation to reject Aslan’s way. But I also felt sorry for David Walliams’ Bulgy Bear because he only got one line and anyone who hasn’t read the book wouldn’t appreciate the humour of seeing him standing there sucking his paws. Maybe the editing team got carried away and cut out earlier scenes featuring the Bulgy Bears (yet more sacrilege!). So overall The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian showed promise at the start but I think there’s a danger that like the first film, its soundtrack will be more satisfying than what happens on-screen. The long and short of it is that you’ll fully discover the Deeper Magic if you get your nose stuck in all 7 books!

Iron Women

A few weeks ago I went to see one of the films shown as part of the Belfast Film Festival. It was entitled ‘Iron Women of Liberia’ which didn’t sound overly promising at first but it turned out to be a real gem of a film. It was all about the first female president of Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, with the camera following her during her first year in post during 2005 as she faced various challenges particularly in relation to the country’s recovery following conflict and huge debts. The way that she dealt with people was really inspirational. She’s the kind of woman who just rolls up her sleeves and gets stuck in. I was impressed by her leadership skills and in particular the fact that she didn’t feel she had to lead like a man in order to be a good leader. In one scene she meets with a group of retired policemen who had taken to the streets in protest because their pensions had not been paid, treating them with dignity and respect and without avoiding the issues at hand. They addressed her as ‘Old Ma’ which I guess in the African context would not be unusual, but to me it reflected the fact that she did not deny her femininity but embraced that as part of her identity and used it to help her be a good leader. Some women scare me when they get into positions of leadership, it’s as if they feel they have to be like men in order to succeed (anyone been watching the Apprentice lately?!) whereas I feel that as a woman I will lead a little differently to my male peers and that is no bad thing, we need to play to our strengths. Another great character in the film was the female Chief of Police who also demonstrated great leadership of a police force desperately lacking in resources. The best bit was when she received a shipment of firearms and gets to open a package with a brand new handgun in it and she says, “I feel like a real woman now!” Then after a pause she winks at the camera and says, “Just kidding!” It’s brilliant stuff so if you get the chance, watch this film and be inspired!

Just discovered a taster video for the next Narnia film - Caspian. Looks like it's got potential.

Right, I really should do some work now!

Saw Shrek 3 last night - good film, produces a good few laughs. I think it was actually better than the second one.

Today John & I cycled out to his parents-in-law's place to get the benefit of cable tv so that John could watch the FA Cup. Commiserations to the boys in red. That was probabaly the first time ever in my life that I watched an entire football game from start to finish - how good a friend am I? The bike ride was 8 miles each way so I feel like I got a really good workout. Thankfully it was mostly flat and the weather was just perfect - not too coll, not too hot.

Tomorrow I head to N Carolina for the kayak school - woo-hoo! Just over a week left in the States now.

PS Apologies for the lack of chronology with this blogging, still need to do an update on what I got up to last weekend...all in good time!

Well Mark has tagged me, so here's 5 things you may or may not know about me:

1. I once made it onto the front cover of the Farming Life – I think I was about 5 years old, my brother was farming at the time and one of his sheep lambed extremely early, so they took a picture of me holding these two wee lambs one under each arm. High cute factor!
2. I got my tonsils out when I was 17 and came out of the anaesthetic talking to a nurse about a German textbook.
3. My first ever album (an LP – yep, one of those big black round shiny things) was A-Ha’s Hunting High and Low. Morten Harket was my pin-up in my early teens.
4. My other pin-ups in my teens were Philip Schofield and Tom Cruise, oh and I quite liked Michael J Fox too (yes, those were the days of Gordon the Gopher in the Broom Cupboard, Top Gun and Back to the Future!)
   
5. My first ever CD was U2’s Achtung Baby album. When I got stressed out practising the piano I used to play tracks 2, 5, 7 & 8 to get the rage out of my system then moved onto the more mellow tracks before finishing up with ‘One’ and ended up perfectly calm and serene!

Ok, let's spread the love and see if Peter, Pointy, Will, Emma & Dave will divulge some personal trivia!

Standing by instead of standing with...
Tonight I watched Hotel Rwanda with a friend. A really powerful film, pretty heavy-going and traumatic, but a film I think everyone in the West should watch. How could we stand by and let this happen? How could we watch this on the news on our TV screens and then go back to our dinner? In 1994 when the Rwandan genocide happened I was sitting my A-levels (yeah, I’m that old I admit) and to be honest I can’t remember much about it. I remember that it happened but I don’t remember being overly aware of it as it was happening. That’s pretty shocking really. But then there are so many atrocities and injustices happening all over the world and on our doorsteps all the time. My lack of compassion and my selfishness frustrate and disgust me. Too often I just shake my head, maybe utter a prayer, then go back to my own worries/problems and carry on with my own life…"Evil is not perpetuated by bad people doing bad things, but rather by good people doing nothing." – Dan Haseltine

Traveller's notes continued...
Still having a great time out here. America is a place that I find fascinating, mainly I think because its culture impacts the rest of the world so much, especially in the media. It's kind of cool to see that lots of people do actually drive big gas-guzzling pick-ups, steam does rise from the ground in cities, the Stars & Stripes do fly from lots of front porches etc...

John & I went for a 3-mile walk on Friday afternoon...man it was flippin' freezin'!!! Couldn't feel my fingertips after 10 minutes and it became extremely difficult to pronounce 'm'-words, 'p'-words, 'b'-words etc! When we came back it took me a full hour to thaw out. There was quite a bit of ice on the pavements (sorry, sidewalks!) too so John disappeared from my peripheral vision at one stage landing flat on his back, and I almost did the splits.

The 3 of us headed out on Friday evening to a Christian event held in Holland’s Hope College chapel which was part of a Veritas Forum. The speaker was Mary Poplyn (just made me think of Mary Poppins!) and she was really good. She lectures in education and is obviously highly intelligent, but it was really funny because every now and then she would go into a fit of tittering and tee-heeing. Not annoying in the slightest, just quite endearing really, especially from a high-brow academic! She had a lot to say, maybe too much and kept referring to whatever point-number she was on. But by the stage she mentioned ‘point number 19’ the 3 of us were desperately hoping she would conclude with ‘point number 20’!

On Saturday afternoon I took a little wander round the town of Zeeland - the main street is pretty much the size of the one in Broughshane. Cute enough little place. Came across an antiques shop which was totally fascinating - it had everything and anything in there from old 1960's kitchen utensils to old children's toys and hardware implements.

Saturday night we went to see "The Aviator" - a great film though a touch on the long side. Made us all want to find out more about Howard Hughes and feel ashamed of our previous ignorance! Was very impressed with Leo's performance. He's not my favourite actor but he seems to have acquired a lot of maturity and has moved on from those babyfaced days of Titanic!

Yesterday morning I went to church with John & Abbey. Haven't been to church much since I went off on sick leave so I find worship a bit hard to handle. But it was a nice place. It was Pro Life Sunday which I found a little strange - just shows how much more 'full-on' Americans are in dealing with big issues. The pastor dealt with the issue really well demonstrating a lot of compassion and bringing a lot of hope.

Then last night we spent the evening with Abbey's parents watching football (American of course!) and eating pizza - v relaxing. Though I really couldn't understand why the game seemed to keep starting and stopping all the time - a lot of faffing if you ask me!

Today is John & Abbey's first wedding anniversary - congrats! So they've taken off for the day and I decided to do a little exploring. However I was rather nervous setting out in their car because loads of snow fell during the night (I woke up at 5.30am hearing snowploughs on the street outside) plus I'm not exactly known for being able to find my way when driving in the States! But by 12 noon I got my act together and set off to Saugatuck, a town right on the Lake Michigan shoreline. Cute little place, but not too many places open because of the Martin Luther King holiday today. Fascinating to see so much of the harbour area frozen over and snow blowing along the surface. Spent a lot of time over lunch, trying to avoid the cold and blizzard-like conditions, and simply reading with a hot chocolate - it's a hard life eh?!

Random stuff:
Saw "The Last Samurai" last night - flippin brilliant! Strongly recommend.

Check this out, pretty cool!