Sunshine Hit Me

Friday

I was out of the office at the City Hall as part of promoting volunteering and recruiting volunteers. Myself and Conor manned the coffee stand and were handing out free columbian coffee to passers by. It was a great day because everyone was having fun. There were bands and stilt walkers, balloon making and face painting. The weather was fantastic and I'm slightly sunburnt on the face and arms and my neck is lobster red.

Most people were grateful for it and some pleasntly surprised that it was free evening trying to put money into our hands but of course we couldn't accept it. A small few were bitchy because we weren't serving free tea. Jesus Christ, it's free so how about a nice cup of Shut The Fuck Up? Does it say "Free Tea" on the sign? No it does not. Now step aside or you'll be wearing it.
After everything was taken down and packed up we headed out for beer. We ended up sitting outside Katy Dalys in the bright sunshine getting slowly sozzled. It was really good craic and it was great getting better aquainted with the people you work with. I had to leave around 7pm for dinner and a quick change as Don and Colin were coming round to have a few drinks before going to see Jaga Jazzist at the Spring & Airbrake.

I wasn't sure what to expect from a band described by Sleazenation as "like Charles Mingus with the Aphex Twin up his arse". It was certinaly a visual and audio treat. The 10 piece Norwegian band play trumpets, trombone, electric guitar, bass, tuba, two bass clarinets, Fender Rhodes, vibraphone and a rack of electronics. The drums featured heavily in the performance and it was fantastic. Everyone playing at once with sudden break pauses before continuing in a different direction was incredible and it was one of the best gigs I've been to in recent years.

Saturday

Woke up on Saturday with a not too shabby feeling, perhaps a few cobwebs but nothing serious. Started playing an old game called Serious Sam 2 which harks back to the days of Doom. Point and click. Splat! My favourite character so far is some dude with his head in his hand and cannonballs for hands who runs at you screaming until he gets close enough to explode. The first time he came running at me I was flabergasted. It's really good fun so I suggest tracking it down as it may be pretty cheap now and will still provide hours of enertainment.

Took a visit to the supermarket in the afternoon and bought the weekly shop alongside some food for a BBQ at Dons new house. Unfortunatley I took a severe case of what I think was indigestion [because I haven't had that in so many years I've forgotten what it feels like - incidently it feels like you've been suckerpunched in the gut]. I bought some antacid and that seemed to do the trick.
It was a bright sunny day and we arrived at Dons around 5pm. It's a great place - study and 2 bedrooms, good size living room and a nice little back garden - great for having said BBQ.
Lou and I also made Roasted Salmon Fillets with a Crusted Pecorino and Pesto Topping which was gorgeous. We sat out until everything was eaten and tidied away - easy when you're using paper plates :)
We walked to the bottom of the street where there was a row of shops including a video rental. We chose some bizarre movies - Wilbur Wants To Kills Himself [good film] and HurlyBurly [awful]. By this time I was extremely tired and we played a few rounds of cards before getting a taxi home.

Sunday

Today Lou and I went to Glenarm Forest Park along the Antrim coast. As you can see from the photographs, it was a gorgeous day. We even had time to stop for a picnic!