Plain ketchup

It's been a while since my last posting, but some interesting stuff has happened:-

1. Let's see - first, and perhaps most important - my elder daughter has graduated from second-level education (or "high school", if you prefer). She is about to face into her final exams (or "Leaving Cert", if you prefer) and is studying like mad. Last week, there was a "graduation" Mass said in her school. It was very pleasant and somewhat emotional - one does realise the passage of time when one's eldest offspring is finishing school and heading (hopefully) for university. Towards the end of the ceremony, the girls in her year sang Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" a la Jeff Buckley and it brought a tear to my eye - not just for the occasion that was in it, but for the stupendous loss to the world caused by the untimely death of Jeff Buckley. Hmmm... Of course, back in my time, there was no such thing as "graduation". You just "left school". How things have changed...
   
2. I finally got my Rickenbacker bass after almost two years waiting and a snafu with my order. When I opened the case, I was instantly transported back to 1974 when I bought Sparks' "Kimono My House", which featured Martin Gordon playing a Ric 4001 bass. I have lusted after a Ric bass for 34 years and finally got to fulfill my dreams when I opened the new Ric's guitar case and plugged it into my POD. That sound that at the age of 11 convinced me that I should learn to play the bass. 1974 - I mean Jesus!
3. Took Mrs. P to see Bruce Springsteen in Dublin last night. I am not a fan of The Boss, but "the boss" is, so when the tickets came up for sale, I had no hesitation in getting a brace of tickets. Whatever I might think about Springsteen, he puts on a great show with no fancy stagecraft involved. A most enjoyable night all told, but my feet and knees were aching when we got back to the hotel. Gettin' ould, boy...
4. So this morning, we skipped breakfast and went straight to the Dundrum Town Centre, where both Mrs. P and I went for cooked breakfast. Being the gentleman that I am, I paid for both of our breakfasts. The bill came to €13.50. Amazing! I asked the guy at the checkout had he possibly undercharged me. "No", he said, "I charged for everything. Great value, isn't it?" Who was I to disagree? And the fee for 2 hours' parking was only €2. Almost made me feel like moving back to the Big Shmoke. And then I bought 3 hoodies and a polo shirt in Penneys for €32. I know I'm supposed to be concerned about our poor brethren in the Far East who work in intolerable conditions in sweatshops to make such sinfully-cheap clothing. But €32? I mean come on...:-)

Regards,


djp

Ah, nostalgia...

So, I went up to Dublin to collect my iPod yesterday.

Of course, I completely forgot (big eejit that I am) that yesterday was the start of the May Bank Holiday weekend.

Everything was fine (more or less) until I got through that notorious traffic blackspot, Mountrath. On the Dublin side of town, there was a traffic tailback going some 3 or 4 km. I resolved that I was not going to be part of that...

Got to Dublin around 4.10 p.m., did the business (oo, er...) and started to head back to Nenagh around 4.45. It took me 75 minutes to get from the Jervis Street car park to the Red Cow "interchange" (it used to be a "roundabout", now it's an "interchange"...) - a distance, I'm guessing here, of about 6 or 7 km. I don't know if that's the usual length of time it takes to make that journey on a Friday evening, but it brought back memories of the almost-interminable journeys I used to make from Dublin to Kerry back in the 80s - before all the "road improvements" of recent years.

Once I got past Newland's Cross, it was plain sailing. But the thought of a tailback in Mountrath prompted me to consider an alternative route home. I toyed with the idea of turning off the M7 for Abbeyleix and heading toward Cork, turning off the N8 to go to Thurles and then home. But coming towards Mountrath, I realised that I really couldn't be arsed, so I continued on my normal route. The good news was that there wasn't so much of a tailback; more like a go-slow. I drove slowly, but relatively easily, through the town, only losing (according to "Hillary", my GPS guide) about 8 minutes. Got home a little before 8 o'clock. Not bad, really...

My thoughts went back to the earlier tailback going into Mountrath. Obviously, everybody thought they were being clever by leaving Dublin early to avoid the crowd. The fools! Haven't they learnt yet? You can never avoid the crowd...

...makes me glad I moved out of Dublin all those years ago.

Regards,


djp

My Top 10 iPod tracks - 01/05/2008

1. (-) - Love It When You Call - The Feeling
2. (-) - I Am Produced - Guided By Voices
3. (-) - We're Through - The Hollies
4. (-) - Snake Charmer (Live) - Jah Wobble & the Invaders of the Heart
5. (-) - Grace - Jeff Buckley
6. (-) - Mega Bottle Ride - Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros
7. (-) - Isaachar Dub - King Tubby
8. (-) - Wichita Lineman - Sammy Davis Jr.
9. (-) - Pain & Spectacles - Stereolab
10. (-) - No Way Of Knowing - A. Tent

OK, this is where I have a confession to make. This is actually the Top 10 for 21 April, since my iPod has been up in Dublin for the last week or so getting its plugs and points checked. On the assumption that the hard drive might be wiped in the process of maintenance, I backed up all the songs and took my Top 10 from the point of backup.

While the iPod has been in the A&E, I've been using my younger daughter's old iPod Shuffle to keep me musically mobile. For what it's worth (norra lo'...), here's the Top 10 tracks I've been listening to over the past week:-

1. - Get On With Your Short Life - Brian Kennedy
2. - Lady Double Dealer (Live) - Deep Purple
3. - EMI - Sex Pistols
4. - Luno - Bloc Party
5. - Paper - Brometer
6. - Burn (Live) - Deep Purple
7. - Wrong Turnings - Gorky's Zygotic Mynci
8. - Face Like Summer - Gorky's Zygotic Mynci
9. - Beginning Is the End - The Hungry I
10. - Friend, You've Got To Fall - Husker Du

I'm getting the iPod back tomorrow, so normal service will resume shortly.

Regards,


djp