Tuesday, January 30, 2007


Crocus flowers blossom through a layer of snow in Freiburg, southern Germany

Well this time next year I won’t be a millionaire, but this time next week I will have been on a Jet plane, 2 in fact.

I booked the first flight today, and if I had booked it last night it would have cost me Euro 0.01, today 23 euro, so why didn’t I do it last night, internet connection was slow. That’s like I suppose, tough shit.

Going to head out for a walk with the dogs, listen to Spanish, hopefully some of it is sinking in. Languages are acquired, so it will be a case of having to acquire it when I hit SA, because very few will ‘Have the English’, do you follow me now?

Listening to the Frames on the net, through You tube, not a bad band, Kerry I think, a bit like Cold play, a bit I said!!

Should be cleaning out the attic over the garage today, my cleaning services are in the demand, no frills, cleaning, I get the job done, I could be to cleaning what the Dog the bounty hunter is to bounty hunting. I’m coming to get you!!!

Might go to a gig tonight, Cyprus Avenue has a UCC student night on, I’ve always fancied myself as a bit of a student around campus. After all I’ve technically been there and in reality I haven’t, but that’s reality and that’s a tricky thing sometimes.

Off for a walk to Knockraha and back, I’m off.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Where the bloody hell are you

The Basant Panchmi Festival in India, celebrates the onset of spring, marking the beginning of new life as yellow mustard flowers start to bloom




Gone Arran
Set off from Cork last Tuesday with a faint idea of what I was going to do, that being go to An Galliamh (Galway in English) and see where the craic was at.

There is a new service from Cork to Galway 18 Euro return, so I got that and as it turned out I was the only person on the bus. I remember sending out an email saying something like, ‘There’s 5 cars in my house and I can’t use any of them, so I’ll get a poor mans chauffeured trip to Galway. Turns out I was right.

As we got as far as Limerick another guy got on, I remember he was reading a comic, I haven’t seen anyone read comics since I was 10.
Anyway after a drivers smoke brake we got talking for the rest of the trip.
He showed me a place to stay, the SleepZone. We met up later for a few beers and then went to a comedy in the ‘Rosing Dubh’, 3 excellent comics, I laughed hard and drank heaps of Guinness, oh the Guinness was great, one solid week of it, it was probably coming out my ears in the end, so good.

Went on the Burren trip, saw the Dolmen, hard to believe that those 3 stones have had 1800 birthdays. And all of us tourists gust get off a bus, go in for 10 minutes take photos and back on the bus again.
Went to the cliffs, got talking to a Canadian guy Matt I think it was, hard to believe how windy it was, a Polish girl was taken by the cliffs only 6 weeks ago while posing for a photo, ‘Yeah, back a bit, back a bit’, then no more, game over folks.


Then we called into Oliver St John Gogarty’s place


Very nice, the tour guide was really good, heaps of stories, great value on my 14 Euro student ticket, there was only 4 of us on the bus too.

Went on a pub crawl with the Canadian guy and listened to some music.

Next day it was time to get out, so off I went. Having coffee, I had an idea, what about the Arran Islands, so I got a ticket and as Hunter S Thompson said, ‘If you buy the ticket, you take the ride’

Only about 10 people on the boat, found a place to stay, it was raining a fair bit, but I was starting to get used to it.

Walked around and noticed a pub open, so in I went and I was quiet surprised to see a modern pub, like any you would find on the mainland. Very impressive, but the best was to come.

The best Guinness of my life was being served, what joy!!
Later that nigh I went to the Hotel for some food, very nice setup again. The barman was a polish guy, first Polish guy I have met in Ireland. Ordered food, not too bad, more Guinness, not bad. I was the only person there, not too bad. Had a good chat.

Went back to the village, met an old guy Padraig, he’s 73 years old, every morning he arises and says 3 hail marys as he’s so happy to be alive and Shadow Boxes. I was thinking to myself what would you think if you happened to be walking past and saw him shadow box, you’d probably think he was off his game.

Found Tiompal Ciaran, had a look and got a few photos.
Went up to Dun Aungus, hard to believe that it dates back as far as 100 BC when they had no tools and the rock was cut from rock.

Very hard life, no wood to make a fire, windy rainy area. They must have been constantly wet or damp.

Even when they started farming the islands, there’s 1800 kms of stone wall on the islands. They made soil, every where you look there are stone walls and some of them as was rightly pointed out are works of art and they are, they also double up as cattle shelters as they don’t bring in their cattle.

So after being wet and cold on the islands, being cold isn’t so bad anymore.
Called to Doolin on the way back, I was the only one on the bus and had a great chat with the driver.

Got a photo of the Lisdoonvarna matchmaking festival sign, the bottom of it says ‘Were here for the women and the beer’. Had to walk a long way for that one, but it was worth it. Might try and make a brake around the 5th of Feb.

Here I go now.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Cooking, Cleaning and living a normal life



A Hindu holy man bathes in Allahabad during the Ardh Kumbh Mela festival, the largest religious gathering in the world

Well what’s been going on ?

Been helping the mother put her new kitchen in the first step in putting in a new kitchen is take out the old one, but before you can do that you must take out what’s in the old kitchen, and before you do that you must have somewhere to store the stuff So I spent 4 days cleaning out 2 Attics, had a fire going for 4 days solid, burnt heaps of old paper, you can be fined here now for having a fire going on your land, but if the fire wasn’t going nothing would have been thrown away and you would be back to square one, how am I going to get the kitchen in.

So now we are at a stage where the old one can come out, only took 5 days, but we are there, and it’s not a very big kitchen either.

Getting away from work and all of that, went out last Sunday night to see a gig.

I saw Wallis Bird
Unreal is all I can say, she badly cut her finger when she was 2. Right handed, so she taught herself to play as a left handed, because no one told her that was not what you were supposed to do. Great gig, I was talking to a guy that was telling me her drummer was unreal.

Looked her wikipedia, she is compared with Janis Joplin and Annie De Franco, haven’t heard much of Annies stuff, but now maybe I will.

Going to go to Galway to morrow and see where the craic is at. There is 5 cars in my house, but no chance of me getting a car for a few days or a week, so I think I’ll get the bus, someone else can drive, I’ve driven enough. I’ll feel like a poor man being chauffeured around, but chauffeured none the less and that’s better that walking or a kick in the arse. And that’s a fact.

I’ll try and use my fake student id, it’s expired. But it still works. Meself and the sister went to the movies last night. She goes to UCC, I have a fake USIT that says I go to UCC, the guy selling tickets took ages looking at her ID. I started making a bit of a fuss going ‘Erra, Susan I’ll pay for it’ just to get his eyes away from the cards. It worked too, but after all, she is an actual student. You can never be too careful, there are some chancer’s out there.

I will try and take in the Cliffs of Moher, without getting blown off, I’m told a few have of recent. Won’t be getting too close, my camera has a very nice zoom function, very nice. :) God knows how many Australians went on about West Ireland, now I think I’ll go and see what they were on about.

Stay tuned


Kieran

Monday, January 08, 2007

Oh the weather outside is frightful, the fire is so delightful.......

Cool eh ?


It's lashing rain as a write this. Been quiet on the going out front, too quiet if you ask me.

Had a few beers last night while the mother and sister were having dinner upstairs at a bar, i'm told my mammy put me to bed. Sent off a few text messages too, seemed like a good idea at the time, but over time, maybe not and as the length of time increases and as the universe expands, no defiantly not.

Been very slack with the Spanish lessons. The mother doesn’t want me to leave, will have to get motivated again, pick a date mid January and go.

Walking the dogs here is really good, went on a huge walk with some good tunes into the country, or used to be country, it's like Fraggle rock here with the Doozers building everywhere.
Every morning I’m under constant survalance, I cant bring all 3 dogs, cos they are Fuckn mad as hatters. We have 2 outdoors and one indoors. If the one inside sees me walking around she starts barking, them the 2 outside go absolutely mad, it wouldn’t have been much of a problem 10 years ago, but the Doozers have been hard at work and now we have neighbours.

Told my sister I was talking to my uncle in the pub last week and he said to me ‘What does your mother see in those dogs, they’re only mongrels’
Sisters response ‘He’s a feckin mongrle’. Funny thing is that they both are right

The walk was really cool, if the battery on my iRiver went dead there is no way i would have made it back, no way. Every one thinks i'm mad walking, but if you saw the country with the mist lifting, you'd have to be mad to stay in bed.

I saw Warney went out well, made the back page of the newspaper here, i nearly laughed. I was contemplating ringing the newspaper and abusing them for putting an English game on an Irish paper, all for a laugh of course, i don’t mind Warney at all.

I was in a pub last week and i said to a fellow.
Me: What’s the story with this country, it's dark at 9am and it's dark at 3pm, in Australia it's 25 Degrees.
Him: 'Erra, Feck Australia, I'm watching a horse race'

It's become a bit of a running joke here, every time i mention 'Australia' my sister says 'Erra, Feck Australia, I'm watching a horse race'. I have to do something to amuse myself.

I've been helping the mother out cooking, cleaning and stuff out the back that she's been asking my siblings to do for ages. I am number 1, it doesn’t matter what I do for the next year
Cooked rice and vegetables a few times (All in 1 pot) here with a Soy sauce, Chilly, coriander, ginger and Garlic sauce) I am being hailed as the best chef since Jamie Oliver. But any dinner you don’t have to cook, is pretty good.

So I’m living the normal life for a bit, trying to get the dole too. Money for breathing really which I will hand over to the mother, I don’t need it, but it’s on offer. I feel like a guy going to dinner party with a doggie bag and saying ‘It’s for the dog’ and someone else saying, ‘But you don’t have a dog’, at that point I am going to fake a mental illness, that’s half true after all, some people don’t need much convincing of that after all. :)

Have to make a start on the Spanish again and figure out where to go Ecuador, I think…………..

Time will tell

Kieran

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Oh the weather outside is frightening

People walk on a pier by the sea during warm weather on New Year's Day in Athens, Greece.


Oh Hello there

After a 43 hours commute back home with 1 hour sleep maybe
on the plane I had enough of traveling for that point in time.

Flew into Cork and I thought to myself ¡What a beautiful
day¢, what an eejit I felt like when it was announced that there was
fog in Cork and after circling for about an hour it was off to Shannon Airport
and then a bus to Cork a 2 hour journey

I remember feeling a vague need to cry when that news was announced,
but I¢m a big boy now and big boys don't cry, do they?

The funny thing about it was there was a Tibetan Buddhist
flying to Cork too, and I remember thinking ¡He probably took too
much acid in his day and has come full circle now..

He got off the bus within 30 min at his stop going to Cork, it couldn't have
worked out better for him, I must be praying to the wrong god again.

Flew from Melbourne to KL, yeah big deal I hear you say, I
though I was going to Singapore, worked out well in the end, I had
breakfast in
my favorite place in the world, cheap cheap too. Worked out about $1.20
Australian for gourmet Nasi Lemak, yeah gourmet, no GST added on
either, quality; eat it at the side of the road, yummy.

Flew from KL to Amsterdam with KLM airlines and if you've never flown with them before, don't!
The air hostesses are the biggest bunch of school teachers I have ever seen in
my life.
If you have more than 2 drinks with alcohol you are branded an
alcoholic, School teachers!!!
Nothing a hot session with a man couldn¢t fix of course,
hey I'm a man! Well I suppose there will be other times.
They do take their job very seriously though; you¢d swear we
were going to outer space. Which was were I was going flying into KL.

Left revolver Sunday and pretty much went straight to the
Airport, passport control I might not get on the plane if I kept on
singing and dancing, I was singing Chris Rea, Driving home for Christmas¢ oh yeah
and I had a fair amount of speed too, did I tell you about that ?

Had to go to the toilet every half an hour and do my version
of the Melbourne Shuffle, I was having a great time. The Phillipino
woman and her daughter next to me must have thought I was from outer space
and I was half way there literally.

Stopped off in KL from 5am till 11.30pm and did some
shopping, charged my iRiver at a backpackers walked around and took in
the carbon dioxide.

I was standing at the Burger king at 11.05 pm trying to
spend my last 6 Rinngit (Just over $ 2) when I though I¢d have another
look at my boarding pass, it said boarding time was 10.45pm.

I then proceeded to run the fastest 100 meters of my life, I
must have looked such a sight, I can laugh now, I wasn¢t laughing then,
when I got on the plane I looked like I¢d just gotten out of the shower.

Got lots of great tunes before I left Oz, and have been
bringing my mothers dogs on huge walks every morning, when the tunes
are going, I could walk all day, the dogs can't I'm afraid.
But they go apeshite for walking all the same.
My mother has 3 dogs so I can only bring 2 at once because
they go a bit mad, well if the piggy in the middle thinks he¢s been
left at home, madness erupts and everyone is woken up by dogs barking.

Oh and a little Christmas present, for getting this far into
my bullshit with hitting the delete button, well done.

This DJ has only had her decks for 2.5 years and is the best
DJ I have heard in a long time by a country mile, enjoy.

DJ

Oh and happy Christmas, and I hope Santa brought you
everything you wanted, if you were good of course.


Kieran