A Mighty Night

Last night I saw the mighty Mumford and Sons once again. They were playing the Open House Festival for the second year in a row, in contrast to a year ago they were headlining the festival, and they did not disappoint, in fact they were awesome! I think they get better and better every time I hear them, and on this occasion I didn't have any drunk people falling on top of me, always a bonus. It felt like they gave us a really special gig last night, they played lots of their new material which I really like and one or two unexpected wee numbers like 'After the Storm' from their album which they don't often do live. Their new material seems to continue what they've started in the sense that it's full of heart and soul and the deep and meaningfuls of life. I think what I like most about this band is that they give the impression (and I hope it's the reality) that they're not in this thing to be the flash in the pan latest hot thing in town but rather that they're in it for the music and because they believe in what they're doing from the core of their beings. More power to their elbow.

Sigh no more

Last night I went to see Mumford & Sons play Mandela Hall with Ruth & Whitney. What a band! They are completely amazing! I have to confess that the lead singer’s voice is such that if he said to me, “Marry me Debs”, I’d probably say ‘yes’ purely because he’s got such a gorgeous voice! I’m hoping Whitney got a few good photos (please post some on your blog girl!) Unfortunately there were a couple of prats (and that’s putting it more politely than they deserve!) standing in front of us who were completely blocked and kept falling on top of us and Ruth got beer spilled round her, so to be honest that kind of spoiled the evening for me, I was ready to clobber them! I shouldn’t have let it because Mumford & Sons were just so good, but I think I had a bit of a sense of humour failure so I didn’t really do as much foot-stamping as I would have liked. When Ruth & I saw the band in September it was quite a different kind of gig – not many people knew them at that stage, the venue was a bit smaller, we got really good spots very close to the front and didn’t feel overly encroached upon. I think that night I was able to enjoy their music a lot more. Anyway last night was a different scene in the sense that these guys have become really popular and everyone knew all the words to the songs of their album and were singing along full blast, so the atmosphere was something else. I think even the band were a bit taken aback with the reception they got. I’d love them to do a live album at some point because I think they really come into their own when they play live. They played some new material as well last night and I was really liking what I was hearing. I don’t know, there’s something about their music which only comes along once in a while, it’s full of heart, I think that’s the only way I can describe it. In fact sometimes their music is so stirring and soulful and profound and joyful that it’s actually painful – and I mean that in a good way, like when you love someone so much it hurts. And you can tell when you watch them how much their music means to them. Incidentally Stocki has written a great liturgy inspired by one of their songs. The good news is that they’re promised last night that they’ll be back in Belfast!

Editors in Belfast

Ruth & I have been doing well for going to gigs these days – on Wednesday night after some tasty Spanish tapas and a takeaway hot chocoloate to warm our hands, we saw Editors at St George’s Market. We were a bit disappointed with the acoustics and the support act weren’t overly inspiring (just too loud for our wee delicate ears!) but Editors were brilliant!!! Tom Smith’s vocals were so good live – intense and powerful like the music they create. They played all their great tunes from the first two albums and a lot of their new material. I hadn’t been so sure about the new single, Papillon when I’d heard it the first few times on the radio, but on Wednesday night I was sold on it and I’m looking forward to getting the new album, the new stuff is great.

...All Ruth and I need to do now is some research and suss out what's going to be our next gig and all-round good night out!

Awake my Soul

Ruth & I headed to the Open House Festival on Sunday night to see Mumford & Sons. Laura Marling was headlining the event with support also from The Lowly Knights but it was the 4-piece from London which I was really keen to see. I happened to catch them one day on Radio 1 back in the spring I think, and I had been instantly grabbed by their ‘New Folk’ sound and also the huskiness of the voice of lead singer, Marcus Mumford. About a month ago I noticed from their MySpace they were playing Belfast and made a beeline for the tickets. We were not disappointed – they were awesome! Moving lyrics, voices blending beautifully to give you chills up your spine, passion and flair…this band creates great music which at times makes you want to stomp with joy and at others your soul is stirred by the depths they take you to. I was struck by their humility, I just got the sense that these are 4 guys who want you to like them for their music and not because they’re ‘cool’, and I daresay that’s a rare thing in the music business. I can’t wait to my hands on their debut album and I hope they come back to Belfast soon!

A few weeks ago I was at Summer Madness helping out with Guest Hospitality which did not do my still-dodgy hip any favours but, as they say in the country, the craic was 90 and therefore the pain was worth it! I didn’t get to attend a huge amount of the event itself but the one gig I got to was really good – the Paul Colman gig. He’s an Aussie singer/songwriter who did a stint with the Newsboys a few years back and apparently is Grammy-nominated with about 15 albums to his name. Fairly successful then but no-one here has really heard of him, so this was his first gig in Ireland and he was flippin’ brilliant, in fact I hope he comes back! He had just been headlining an event in Norway and his bus off his flight to Dublin came in pretty late but he came on site anyway to check things out and ended up spending a good hour and a half talking to the rest of the Hospitality staff - a really genuine and down-to-earth dead on bloke. He was playing in one of the smaller venues and at the start people were just sitting around, drinking their coffees, chatting etc but Mr C has a very easy-going, inclusive way with him – halfway through songs he was making a point of welcoming anyone who wandered in, he did a few covers, a bit of karaoke and sing-a-long stuff to the extent that after about half an hour the room there were loads of people and everyone was totally into the gig. He even got a couple kids up to perform a song (and they were brilliant too!) whilst he stood at the back and listened. He’s probably one of the best performers I’ve seen in terms of generating crowd participation, really funny guy too – his impersonations of Bob Dylan singing Paul Baloche and Third Day were priceless! And he didn’t hold back from being a bit vulnerable and taking the opportunity to make room for a God-moment and share some of the God-stuff of his life. Obviously not in the same league as the 4 boys of the previous post but nonetheless a great gig!

I'll go crazy if I don't go crazy tonight

Last night’s gig was absolutely amazing!!! Man I’d so love to be going tonight again! We managed to get left Belfast at 4pm and were in our seats by about 7.15pm. Glasvegas and Damian Dempsey were doing support – not many took much notice to be honest, and I only knew one of their songs but Glasvegas were a pretty good act. U2 came on at 9pm and performed for 2 hours solid. They did an awesome set. It was class hearing a few blasts from the past like Unforgettable Fire and Desire (which was acoustic along with Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of). Every song was absolutely brilliant, Elevation & Vertigo really got the crowd going. I would have loved to have had a standing ticket but to be honest considering this ticket only came my way on Tuesday I was not complaining! But there was a fairly big empty space at the back of the standing area so I think it was little harder for the people in the tiered seating to get into things. Regardless Ruth & I were loving it and I was singing and dancing my wee heart out! I woke up with Magnificent in my head this morning. It never fails to amaze me just how good U2 are live, it’s phenomenal. The only other U2 gig I’ve been to was the one in Botanic in ’97 but I think this one was even better, it was so good to hear them in Dublin! The stage looked pretty amazing as well. I’ve been given a i-phone with my new job for work purposes (check me out!) so I was taking a few pictures but the quality isn’t brilliant, plus there’s no zoom so that’s a bit pants.To be honest I don't think I can convey adequately just how good last night was, it was something special. I really didn’t want it to end!

(Video clip here of Desmond Tutu's speech used in the ONE campaign plug just before Where The Streets Have No Name)

My Date with 4 Older Men

I'm going to see U2 tonight!!!!!

Friends of mine had their first baby 5 weeks early on Tuesday (little Grace is doing great and parents are very happy too, congrats Graeme & Caroline!) so being the selfless people that we are Ruth & I stepped in to save the day and said we'd use their tickets! The funny thing is that we initially thought the tickets were for Saturday night but at lunchtime today we found out that they're actually for tonight! Hilarious! So we're in a flat spin now getting ourselves sorted to head to Dublin. I'm so excited!

Hip Report
Well last week I couldn’t feel any improvement in my hip, if anything it was getting worse and it was back to being painful when walking. I went back to the physio who figured that because I was being very diligent with doing all the exercises recommended to me by the podiatrist twice a day, I had actually tightened up. She recommended that I get a massage of my hamstrings, glutes & iliotibial band so I saw the masseuse that afternoon and I have to say that it was one of the most painful things I’ve ever experienced! I thought I had a fairly high pain threshold considering I let the physio walk on my back every so often, but that’s a walk in the park compared to this kind of massage – I still have the bruises to show for it! I managed not to yell/scream, but only just! (If you were listening to the Chris Moyles show on Radio 1 last Wednesday morning when they had a sports physio in doing some massage stuff, I could totally identify with their pain! There's a very funny video of it here.) Since the weekend I’ve noticed that my IT band feels a lot less tight when I’m using the foam roller which is good. Unfortunately my hip is still not right, in fact I’m getting pain in the other hip as well because it’s compensating for the injured leg. So now I have to sleep on my back because it’s sore if I sleep on either side! My physio has reminded me that bursitis is hard to get rid of, it takes time. If I lay on the flat of my back for a few weeks the inflammation would maybe go more quickly but that’s not exactly practical with the kind of job I have. I’ve reduced my cardio workouts at the gym to 5 minutes on the bike as a warm-up before doing some upper body stuff and a bit of core work because I’m worried that the cycling isn’t helping things. But I’m just so scunnered that I can’t do any of the things I enjoy – kayaking/hillwalking/cycling to work etc. My fitness is slipping – before Christmas my resting heart rate was 60 and at the weekend on the first aid course when we were practising taking pulses, it was up to 64. It’s so frustrating. What’s more it is very likely that I’ll have to miss the canoe club trip to Scotland in March which is absolutely gutting.

In the grand scheme of things, this is just a wee blip and I know that things could be a heck of a lot worse – wildfires are not ripping through my town at crazy speeds covering miles in a matter of minutes. There’s perspective…

Yet my frustration is real and I must find God in this. As I write I’m listening to Johnny Parks’ song God is still for us. Nothing can separate me from God’s love. He’s for me, not against me. The most important thing is that God is here, He’s with me in this…I must pursue Him in the midst of my pain and frustration. The other night I was reading Philippians 4:10-13, how Paul had found contentment in all things, whether lacking or in plenty. God’s strength is enough for me in this, it is sufficient when I am healthy and when I am injured, it is sufficient when I am in need or have plenty...Christ’s strength will see me through this and much more.

Da daaa!
I’ve made it to the end of November & National Blog Posting Month having posted 21 days out of 30! I think it’s a fair achievement for someone who’s rather sporadic with their blogging! I have a feeling that somehow I’ll never decide to do it again, but certainly it’s forced me to be more consistent. To be honest I have a fair few ideas for posts every month but I just don’t always make the time to actually do it. We’ll see if this energises me to continue more regularly over the next few weeks. Mind you tomorrow I’m off to Donegal on leave (YAY!) for 5 days so there will be radio silence.

On to today’s post then…I’d mentioned having recently bought 2 CDs, the first of which was commented upon on Friday. The second CD I bought was We are Together. It’s actually the soundtrack to the film, Children of Agape – We are Together. The film tells the story of a children’s orphanage in S Africa where the children have lost their parents as a result of AIDS. Cameras follow the children’s choir in this orphanage over a period of 3 years as they use music to overcome their hardships and their loss. I managed to see it when it was shown on Channel 4 back in the summertime and it’s tremendously moving. It’s the kind of film that makes you laugh and makes you cry. And actually I just wanted to up and go to S Africa and just be there for those kids. Seriously if you ever get the chance, get the DVD and watch it, there are a few clips on the We Are Together website. The CD includes 20 tracks sung by the choir and they are brilliant, the really young children have amazing voices despite being so young. My favourite at the moment is a tie between Pigogo – the Peacock song which is kind of happy and bouncy and the title track We are Together (Thina Simunye) which is more reflective and embodies some of the spirit of the children to stick together and not forget who they are. It’s really awesome stuff, go buy, profits go to the orphanage.

TRIBE
I got a couple of interesting CDs this week and I'm just getting my first listen to one of them. Actually there are 2 discs on the album, it's Bruce Parry Presents Amazon Tribe: Songs for Survival. Disc 1 includes songs inspired by issues affecting tribal people and by the recent TV programme, Amazon, and is written and performed by a number of famous names. It was the first track that really attracted me to buy the album as it provided the theme music to the TV show and I just love it, there's something very uplifting yet slightly melancholy to it, it's a feel-good track, makes you feel like you could take on the world in an ambient, mellow kind of way. There's a fair bit of musical variety on the first disc, some tracks I instantly liked on the first listen, others I think will be growers. Interestingly one of the songs on this disk is an Irish folk song, Carrickfergus, sung by Razorlight's Jonny Borrell. Pretty good too, his gravelly voice suits it quite well. The second disc takes recordings of tribal samples collected by Bruce Parry on his travels and creates some pretty funky dance/experimental tracks (one is called Don't Touch the Dusty Fruit - now there's something you didn't think you should take into consideration!) Again I think some will be growers whilst others grab you immediately but it's really cool to hear how they've blended some of the tribes' voices etc into the tracks.

Bruce Parry's TV show was absolutely brilliant. He's such a great presenter, he's just a people-person through and through and a real grafter so no wonder he endears himself to people of all the tribes he visits - he just gets stuck in and is up for anything. There's no way you could be prejudiced towards the people he encountered on his journey, the way that he spent time getting to know loggers and cocaine producers meant that you saw them as human beings trying to survive like anyone else. The only thing I struggled with was how Bruce made himself so vulnerable to pretty scary stuff by seeking out experiences of shamanic rituals. However I think the success of the programme is how it really highlighted some of the big issues affecting not just the survival of tribal peoples along the Amazon but the survival of the planet.

So I'm well pleased with my purchase and what's more all the profits from the album sales go directly to Survival International, a human rights organisation for tribal peoples around the world.

(I'll post on my other CD aquisition another time!)

I love the West Wing. I first got into it about halfway through Season 1 when it was airing for the first time on Channel 4. I got to watch most of Season 2 but then it switched to More 4 or RTE and I didn’t have cable/satellite and actually it totally passed me by that there were 7 full seasons made of the show in total. I was chuffed when friends leant me seasons 1-3. Season openers and finales are always so good but last night I finished watched season 2 with the epic ‘Two Cathedrals’ episode. Absolutely awesome viewing. Although I’d seen this episode before I appreciated more the second time round just how good an episode this is with brilliant acting from Martin Sheen in particular. And the final Brothers in Arms sequence is inspired – a bit of Dire Straits is always hard to beat. It’s probably illegal that it’s on Youtube but seeing as it’s there I’ll share it here:

In the Name of Love
I'm not usually a big fan of U2 covers, but this was giving me shivers down my spine.

I decided I would fast radio for Lent. I tend to listen to the radio (Radio 1 usually) when I get up in the mornings and eat breakfast, when I’m in the car and when I’m making dinner (or if I’m at home, when I’m making lunch). It just is automatic to switch it on, or leave it switched on when I get into the car. I wouldn’t say I’m addicted but I do enjoy Chris Moyles in the mornings (when I was living in Dungannon and working in Bangor he definitely kept me sane on the 90 minute commute!). Whenever I’m stressed out about something and driving (or suffering a little bit of road rage!) I tend to tune in to Classic FM – Smooth Classics at 7 is great for calming you down a bit.

Anyway those are my habits so I thought I would break them for the 40 days of Lent and use the time to be more conversational with God or at the very least be ready for the ‘still small voice’. It’s not a music fast per se – I’ve listened to a CD here and there as I normally would, I’m just trying to get away from the background music that doesn’t necessarily serve a purpose. So far it’s going fine. There have been times when it’s been hard to resist the urge to flick the radio on – mostly when I’ve been in bad form about something and you just need some music to lift your mood. I listened to the radio a bit on Sunday when I was driving up to my sister’s – because Sundays are feast days in Lent – but after a while I actually turned it off because I’ve begun to enjoy the silence and the chance to focus on turning my thoughts towards God.

It’s funny though how you can sometimes have music running around your head that just comes out of nowhere. Today for instance I had two songs running around in my head all day at work – Mariah Carey’s ‘All I want for Christmas is you’, which I have to confess has always been one of the few Christmas songs I’ve liked though I wouldn’t normally admit to it and Mariah would never be on my playlist! The other song on repeat was Scouting for Girls’, ‘Elvis Ain’t Dead’, a song which is pretty good but I wouldn’t run out and buy it. Don’t know what all this says about me but they were pretty well stuck for the day even though Christmas is well and truly past and I probably haven’t heard ‘Elvis isn’t dead, Elvis isn’t dead’ for over a week!

…and so much for what started out to be a vaguely spiritually meaningful post!

(Photo above comes courtesy of Jazzizradio.com)

Five best albums 1997-2007
In response to Mark’s post I’d like to offer up my thoughts on the five best albums of the last 10 years. Mind you this one’s tricky, not least because there are loads of good albums to choose from in that time period but also because there’s a difference between what constitutes a good album and what album I might consider a personal favourite! Plus I guess I’m limited to what’s currently in my collection! But for what it’s worth here’s my list:
1. All that you can’t leave behind – U2 – this is just a powerful album musically and lyrically and on a personal level God has spoken to me a lot through this album. It’s always in my MP3 player. Actually Bono’s voice makes me feel at home if that makes sense and if I’m in unfamiliar surroundings or feeling insecure, listening to U2 helps restore my sense of equilibrium.
2. A Rush of Blood to the Head – Coldplay – Hard to choose between this and X&Y but I think AROBTTH really took Coldplay to the next level after Parachutes and much as I love X&Y they lose a point for Speed of Sound sounding so like Clocks (tho’ I like both songs).
3. Play – Moby – I think with the way so many of these tunes were used in popular media for advertising etc just brought these alternative vibes to a wider audience, well that’s what it did for me anyway.
4. Lost Songs ’95-’98 – David Gray – Not sure if this qualifies exactly if the songs were written before ’97 but the album was released in 2001. It’s a very acoustic album so it’s actually my preference over White Ladder.
Man this is getting difficult…
5. Although I’m tempted by the likes of Feeder’s Comfort in Sound, Doves’ Lost Souls, REM’s Up, Madonna’s Ray of Light or Snow Patrol’s Final Straw, I think I’m going to have to go for another U2 album – How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb – a seminal piece (I'm only saying that becasue I just felt this post had to have the word 'seminal' in it somewhere. Anyhow it's brilliance as always and it just takes me to a higher place.

Anyone else want to offer up their five best albums of the last 10 years either on their own blog or in the comments?

Lake-living
Well I've now made it to Michigan, I've been officially on my holidays as of Wednesday and I'm getting to hang out with w/ good friends, John & Abbey, which is just brilliant. It's a good bit cooler here than Virginia. When I left the hotel in DC on Wednesday morning at it was 77 degrees Fahrenheit at 9am but I've had to get back into jeans and sweaters here. However it seems like it's warming up today and there's plenty of sunshine.

John took me to the beach at Tunnel Park on Wednesday evening, just before sunset. It was so beautiful and it's kind of hard to get your head round the fact that you're looking at a lake not a sea, it's huge! The sand is pristine clean. Yesterday Abbey and I did a little hike through the forest at Saugatuck which led us out onto the beach, and again it was just idyllic. The last time I visited J&A I did a little afternoon trip to Saugatuck, it was mid-January and it was pretty much blowing a blizzard. The lake was frozen that time and I think I managed to spend all of 5 minutes admiring what I could see of the lake before making a beeline for some indoor warmth! It's kind of cool to see this area at a warmer and greener time of year!

Last night we went to a little gig in Grand Rapids where a friend of J&A's was doing support - Josh Schicker, he's got a great voice. There was another support act, Ernie Halter and then the main band of the night was Tyrone Wells. It was a really enjoyable night, these guys played some great tunes!

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!

An arty evening
This week's been kinda cool because through Couchsurfing I met up with a Croatian actress, Ines, who's been in Belfast performing a play at the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival. It turns out that she grew up with Goran Visnjic who plays Dr Luka Kovac in ER and he's a good friend of hers - WOW! I was kinda floored by that one! And sorry ladies, he’s spoken for – darn!

Anyway last night we decided to check out some of the festival events and got in for free on Ines’ artist pass. First of all we went to a play which sounded like it could be entertainingly quirky…but oh my word! It was woeful! Embarrassingly so. In fact we walked out just before the interval because there was only so much we could take – I could’ve done better acting and that’s saying a lot! So then we went to the Richard Hawley gig which was really great. He’s got an awesome voice – really rich and deep. His music reminds me of the likes of Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra and Paul Weller. It’s all pretty mellow, bluesy stuff with some great sweeping orchestral melodies.

Worthy finds
Now that I’ve made it onto broadband I’ve been whiling away the time at some of my latest discoveries on the web:
Postsecret – An art project where people share their secrets on a homemade postcard, and it really has to be something they’ve never shared with the world. Sometimes it’s shocking, sometimes it’s heartbreaking, sometimes it’s laugh-out-loud funny. The project has now produced a book full of these images which the reviewers at Relevant describe as expressing “humanity at its fullest: raw, flawed, yet breathtakingly beautiful”.

Shane, whom I met on my China trip last year, met this couple a few weeks ago in the Chinese town where he teaches English to local school kids. Very few foreigners make it to where Shane is so he was pretty surprised. Anyway these guys are walking, yes WALKING – no buses/taxis etc – from Hong Kong to France and average 30-40km a day. They’re French-Canadian so their website is in French but it’s beautifully laid out with some excellent photos.

Roadtripnation – 3 American dudes set off on a roadtrip to interview people from all arts and parts and walks of life looking for insight & inspiration having just completed their university education. Interviewees include: the CEO of Levi Strauss, Madonna’s Hair Stylist, the Chairman of Starbucks & Manny the Lobsterman! Fascinating stuff. I’m impressed by the way they were so proactive, they haven’t waited for life to come to them.

Relevant TV – Music videos 24/7! A lot of the artists are American & haven’t made it this side of the pond (yet?) so I’m enjoying the expansion of my musical listening content, particularly Sia, Mat Kearney, Thrice & Pilate. Some of the current tracks playing include: Oasis – The Importance of Being Idle, All American Rejects – Move Along, Athlete – Tourist & Switchfoot – We Are One Tonight. Good for some background music while you surf/blog.

I’ve also come across a couple of Photoblogs including:
Travis Ruse - This guy does a 45minute commute to work on the New York subway and everyday he takes pictures of what he sees. It’s really cool!
Then there’s N Irish lad Phil O’Kane who’s a budding photographer and likewise puts up a new photo on his website everyday.

A whole new wavelength...or should I say bandwidth?!
Yes! I'm on broadband! Woo-hoo! It really is amazing. I've said goodbye to my old PC which was doing my head in and now I can enjoy the delights of music on myspace.com amongst other things. And tonight I've been enjoying the delights of Rachel Austin with whom I did a Summerserve team way back in 1996. She's good! It was obvious way back in '96 that she had talent and now she's released an EP - way to go girl! She's got a few gigs coming up soon too so check out her webpages.

What's been happenin'...
Well it would seem I haven’t been very ‘purpose-driven’ recently considering my lack of blogging over the past week or so. Actually I’ve been somewhat absorbed by other things…namely planning a month-long trip to China in 8 weeks’ time! Woo-hoo! I’m going with a friend and we’re hoping to spend some time in Yunnan, Sichuan and then Thailand or Vietnam, doing a spot of trekking etc. If you saw any of Michael Palin’s ‘Himalaya’ programme last year, some of the places on our itinerary were featured on it e.g. Tiger Leaping Gorge. I cannot wait! Unfortunately I can’t get unpaid leave so when I come back mid-September I’ll be jobless. But to be honest I’m not too worried – it will work out and God will keep me right.

So I’m trying to get fit and have been trying to bike to work most days and do some extra biking round the local country roads in the afternoons/evenings, wish the weather would settle though, I hate biking in wind and rain! Actually I fell off last week, felt like a right prat so hopped right back on to try and salvage some credibility. When I got home I had to turf my trainers into the washing machine as they were rather spattered with blood, and had to go to my next-door neighbour to ask for some antiseptic. It’s sad but I feel quite proud of my ‘war-wound’ – makes me feel like a ‘proper cyclist’ (though believe me if you saw the cut of me you’d know I’m far from that, I barely know how to use the gears!).

Eason’s is going good, still enjoying it and it is still so blissful to be working part-time and have time for other things during the day, such as watching a spot of tennis now that there’s actually some on terrestrial TV (bring on Wimbles, yay!). At work I’ve had the dubious pleasure of sorting out the Mills & Boon books and the titles really take the biscuit! It seems that if you’re a male doctor, cowboy, sheikh, Greek tycoon or even banker, you have instant sex appeal. I think my ‘favourite’ titles are: ‘Lover Undercover’, ‘The Last Man in Texas’, ‘Expecting the Cop’s Baby’ and ‘Crime and Passion’…NOT!

Was at the Third Day concert last week, along with what seemed like the rest of Northern Ireland’s Christian community – it’s rather weird the way you constantly bump into folk you know, bit like a mini Summer Madness. Personally I find it a bit claustrophobic. Anyway it was a really great show. And I was at my first ever cosmetics party the week before that courtesy of Virgin Vie and an old school pal. Quite an experience, thought I’d be a bit intimidated considering I’m really not into the whole make-up scene and can barely put mascara on without poking my eye out. But actually it was a good laugh, the group was like a pack of wee kiddies let loose in a sweetie shop (that's ‘candy store’ for all you N American people!). Yesterday’s latest adventure was that I came home to find a bird in my house, yes that’s right, a flippin’ bird! It must have come down the chimney as there was soot all round the fireplace. The funny thing is that the fireguard is still in place so it must have managed to squeeze out without knocking over the fireguard or any of my candles! When I walked into the house it was flapping about in my bedroom desperately trying to get out, poor thing. So had to get a couple of plastic bags over my hands, try to cup it and force it (gently!) out a window. Unfortunately there’s bird poop round quite a few of my windows, it’s been fun cleaning that up!

So there you go that’s the latest score on the doors with me – I’m enjoying life!