Easter Break: Part 2

Sunday was another sunny day and we were off to Lou's folks for lunch. I stuffed myself with roast beef, potatoes and oven roasted parsnip and my glass was cunningly filled everytime I put food in my mouth so I couldn't say no - not like I was complaining!

After getting back into Belfast and prepping our back, it was off to Stormont for a small gathering of Jenny's friends. Lou and I decided to walk off the exuberance of the previous days excess and 4 miles and just over an hour later we arrived in time for food, although we had just worked off lunch and couldn't eat a single thing. I had also to carry the alcohol for the evening as it was Easter Sunday and under some crazy law, all the off-licences were forbidden to serve anything so it was lucky I had taken the precaution to stock-pile some wine.

The downside of the party was that unfortunately someone had decided it was a good idea to sing karaoke and I was requested to make peoples ears bleed with a rendition of 'Teenage Kicks' although it sounded delightful compared with Keiths cover of 'The Boys Are Back In Town'. At least I think it was - I had fingers in my ears.

On Monday Lou and I decided to take a run in the car to Ballysallagh Forest Park for a walk. It's amazing how many forest parks there are in the east side of Northern Ireland alone. Despite the overcast weather, the car park was full and families were enjoying a picnic as we strolled along the pine-tree laden path meeting fellow amblers and dog walkers.

In the evening it was certainly the timeout segment of the holiday and we watched two-thirds of the agonisingly boring El Crimen del padre Amaro [The Crime of Father Amaro] which was a crime in itself for lacking any serious cinematic impact despite the critical praise lavished on it.

We then re-watched El Laberinto del fauno [Pan's Labyrinth] on DVD as we hadn't seen it since last year in the cinema and I can confess it was still a great movie and worth adding to your collection.

It was more DVDs for me on Tuesday morning as I watched DiG! - a documentary about The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols and the friendship/rivalry between their respective founders, Anton Newcombe and Courtney Taylor. It was an insightful look into the rock and roll world and about the huge egos and what people are prepared to do to become famous [Courtney] and what people do not do or indeed sabotage [Anton] to not become famous. Anton is the more interesting of the two because of his Messiah-like self-delusion - not to say he isn't prolific in churning out (good) music but because he is perhaps psychologically unbalanced and continually feuding with his bandmates and it is a wonder that they don't walk away from him earlier in their careers. Worth checking out if you're into music and even if you're not as it is never boring as the director gains all access to their personal lives and the highs and lows of the lifestyle of two different bands making their own way in the world. [6.5/10]

In the afternoon it was off to the cinema to see a movie that is certainly not worth checking out and is continually boring as it is cliched - The Messengers. Continual shock-tactic horror moments piled on top of each other with admitedly smooth CGI graphics making small ground in an erstwhile forgettable film as a family moves to an old house with a dubious past and strange things begin to occur. [3.4/10]

And that about wraps up the Easter break synopsis. Tomorrow, weather permitting, we will be having a lunch-time BBQ and the close of a short and greatful working week. See you then.