The sweet life.

These folks seem to have things pretty much figured out...



I've noticed a trend, on this blog, to just embed videos. In order to shake things up a little bit, along side the video link in this post I'll also include a link to a fantastic looking recipe for tomorrow's dinner...

http://www.mycolombianrecipes.com/lentils-and-beef-stew-estofado-de-lentejas-con-carne

Check it out! I looks delicious!

Hammer City Pub Crawl

This is the Downtown Hamilton Pub Crawl that I made to pit against the Toronto one that Ashley and Danielle have said they would create. I've left out a lot of bars but hopefully nothing too critical. The route is accessible by clicking on the image above. More details on the bars themselves are available by clicking on the name of each on the list below.

• 1) The Stowaway
• 2) The Brain
• 3) The Homegrown Cafe 
• 4) The Baltimore House 
• 5) The Ship 
• 7) The Winking Judge

'Intellectual crisis' concerns Higgins

MARK HENNESSY London Editor

Ireland and the European Union have been “living through a period of extreme individualism” when the very existence of society itself has been questioned, President Michael D Higgins has told the London School of Economics.

"The public space in so many countries of the EU has been commodified, and it is as calculating rational choice maximizers, rather than as citizens, we have been invited to view our neighbours," he said.

"That is the mark of our times, the hegemonic version, by which it is suggested, we live our lives together. Our existence is assumed to be, is defined as, competing individual actors at times neurotic in our insatiable anxieties for consumption.

The power of the markets to declare that humanity is irrational, while the market itself is rational must be resisted, said Mr Higgins, who is on his first foreign visit as head of state.
During a wide-ranging speech, Mr Higgins paid tribute to the founders of the London School of Economics, including Irish writer, George Bernard Shaw, who promoted a greater understanding of the need for socialism.

"In so many ways the tragedy of modern Ireland's recent difficulties is that it did what the founders of the LSE hoped. It was the first English-speaking country to decolonise, to walk in darkness down what would become a better lit road - a road illuminated by teachers and students at the LSE.

"The problem for Ireland was the failure to achieve economic lift-off at the same moment as soon after. By the time the more recent economic boom began, leaders and people had all but lost connection with the cultural and political elements of national revival which might, if retained, have provided an ethical brake, made a critique that would have constituted the regulation that was needed," he said.

The dream of a social Europe, he said, is being "undermined by the commodification of ever more aspects of social life, as European social capital, the strongest in the world, is monetized.
"It is clear we have arrived at such a crisis now as great or greater than that faced by the previous generation of political and social theorists at the end of the 19th Century. It is a challenge for all of us to craft our response to our crisis as they did to theirs in their time.

"We are experiencing now I believe an intellectual crisis that is far more serious than the economic one which fills the papers, dominates the programmes in our media," said the President, who earlier visited the London Irish Centre in Camden. While at the centre, Mr Higgins said the Irish living overseas would “always be in the forefront of my thoughts”.

Tomorrow, Mr Higgins will visit the Olympic Park and attend a performance of Juno and Paycock involving the Abbey Theatre and the National Theatre of Great Britain before returning to Dublin on Thursday morning.

Ms Mulready, of the Irish Elderly Advice Network, one of the groups that will meet the President, said there is “great excitement” surrounding his visit.

His final event tomorrow evening will be to attend a performance of Juno and Paycock involving the Abbey Theatre and the National Theatre of Great Britain before returning to Dublin on Thursday morning.

(Original article: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0221/breaking15.html)

The 12 Pubs of Galway 2011

http://youtu.be/Ouxwb4qU5b8

For the book

This is the image I'm going to submit along with my story to this little website...

http://wegetthere.com/travelmeansfreedom/

If my story is published, I'll let you know where you can buy a copy! :)

Are you kidding me??

I don't even know what to say! This is either too awesome for words, or not worth the effort!

Read this...
http://ugonnaeatthat.com/2010/04/24/star-trek-romulan-ale/

And then check this out...
http://www.vulcantourism.com/

If you don't know anything about Star Trek you can read this...
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Vulcan

And, if you just don't care, have a look at this...
http://cuteoverload.com/

"One Town, 50 different People, One very difficult Question"

Here's a little video a friend of mine posted on Facebook. It's filmed in Galway and I think it makes for interesting viewing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LP7pdAn3foE

The Royal Wedding

Did you ever play 'Where's Waldo?' (Where's Wally for the English readers) when you were younger? Here's your chance to relive the experience! Aside from being in the background as When we went to London to see the wedding there was a picture taken of the crowd in Hyde Park that will be kept in the official wedding album. It just so happens that you can see my face and hat in said picture, see if you can find me...

http://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/Hyde%20Park%20Family%20Photo%20Panoramic%20(Kois%20Miah).jpg

Overall the entire day was fantastic. We got a seat near the front of the crowd in Hyde Park (which at it's peak swelled to 130 000 people) and when the airplanes did their royal wedding fly over on the big screen in the park, we all turned around and watched them appear, from behind some trees, and fly above our heads as they circled the park. It really felt like we were a part of something amazing. Then, after a jug of Pimms in the park, we went out walking in London just to see what else was going on, I got a roadside view of Prince William and Duchess Catherine driving away from Buckingham palace. I'm sorry to say that, because nobody was expecting them to drive past, I was too overwhelmed to actually snap any pictures, but I got a good one of Camilla as she and Prince Charles drove past. I'll post more pictures of the day when I get them off Fiona's camera.

Gentleman me?

This Friday I had planned to, with Fiona, accompany a friend to Oxford for a few drinks. This was the plan until Thursday when I found out that Mr. B was going to be playing at the Vaudeville Rave in Reading on the same night. Needless to say I amended my plans accordingly!

It was a really, really good evening and I plan to attend another at some point. The whole experience really reminded me of the Unfair that I went to when I lived in Halifax. The only difference that really stood out was that at this Vaudeville Rave everyone was in costume. It was an eclectic mix (trust me, this is not an exaggeration) of gypsy, burlesque, renaissance fair, chap and steam punk.

The evening unfolded along the following lines...

DJ Dubious rocked the party with his Balkan/Swing from the turntables. (I've just realized we heard him play once before at the Global Cafe! It's good to know these guys are all local!)

Our MC for the evening was Bass6 who's beat boxing was incredible!

The first half of the show was a cabaret including sword swallowing, belly dancing, light bulb eating, unicycling, magic, a very strange contest between 2 fellows who reckoned they could solve a rubics cube faster than their opponent while being distracted by volunteers from the audience, and various other acts.

Following the cabaret the chairs facing the stage were removed and the music began. The first group was Tankus the Henge followed by the main act Mr. B, The Gentleman Rhymer (you've already been introduced). I bumped into him in the clutter of people in front of the washrooms. I tapped him on the back before I realized I didn't really have anything to say to him, so I just shook his hand, said that I wanted to say hello, and then said I wouldn't keep him as I knew where he was heading. Smooth aren't I?

The next band was Sam and the Womp who blended Balkan and Dubstep with outstanding results. It was during their set that we bumped into Gentleman Jeeves who invited Fiona and I backstage for a cup of tea. We had a choice of Jasmin or Darjeeling. I chose Darjeeling but should really have chosen Jasmin as there was no milk on offer. Behind us was a 4 poster bed upon which people were jumping. It was all very surreal and only compounded by the fact that the entrance to the back of stage area was just next to a croquet field where ladies and gents were competing.

At this point it was 3ish in the morning and Fiona and I decided (in light of the fact that all of our friends had already departed) that we would head home. That meant we missed the last act Dutty Moonshine who I'm sure was excellent.

And that was our evening! Since the carnaval in Dunkerque there's been a lot of occasions for costumes! I'm going to put some serious thought into the possibility of establishing one of my own!

Colourful traditions

As promised, here are the pictures from our recent road trip to the Dunkerque Carnaval!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48141953@N02/sets/72157626147664009/

If you're inclined you can learn more about the history of the carnaval here or even visit the official site here.

Coming home from Carnaval

We heard this song as we were heading back to the Ferry to England after our weekend of cross dressing, drinking, singing and my first proper Carnaval. I'll post some pictures of the weekend here when I get to see them myself. 'Till then listen to this song and let me know what you think...

Poetry Slam

Last night I participated in a poetry slam down at the global cafe and I had a really good time. The poem I'd written and recited was okay although I wasn't completely happy with it. Despite the fact that I'd only written the poem the night before I made it into the final round! Sadly, I hadn't anticipated that and hadn't prepared a second poem, so instead I read aloud The Cremation of Sam McGee, which ran overtime, and because it wasn't my original material I was disqualified from the competition. Although in fairness I had already disqualified myself aloud to the audience when I opted to read something other than that which I had written myself.

Apparently they're going to make it a regular thing and if they do, I think I'd like to give it another whack!

Fancy a cuppa?

www.freeteaparty.org/

I love this idea. I love tea and grass roots projects. I love random adventures and local communities. I only wish I'd thought of it first! But I'm glad I can read about it and if I ever decided to host a free tea party, I'll write in and let them know about it.

Quick update,

So here's the craic...

Yell Adworks has decided that it was time to set myself, and a few others from the office, free to explore other opportunities. Not having loved the job in the first place this wasn't the end of the world, but loving the people that I worked with, having no savings left and needing some sort of steady income does make it a bit of an issue.

Thanks to sick days and having had my pay staggered by a week means that I now have 2 weeks of paid time which I can use to find a new job. I've been looking into the areas of hospitality and tourism because, at the end of the day, those are the industries that I think I'd like to work within. In that vain I struck out this morning, on my bike, to have a look around at what options I had in Reading city centre. My search was depressing. Reading is a renowned 'clone town' which I find disheartening in many ways.

T'was at this point that I decided to head to my little beacon of non-clone comfort, the Workhouse Coffee Company for a cup of Joe, a seat atop the sacks of coffee in the bay window and a read of my book. T'was also here where I got chatting to the proprietor who asked where I was working. When I informed him of my situation and my interest in eventual entrepreneurship, he said he was keen to make me a part of this team. I expressed an interest and will drop of my résumé later this week. The catch is that the money stinks. The upside is that they're willing to teach me everything involved in running the shop. The better news is that they're willing to have me work another job to earn a good wage and then work around my schedule in order to take me on board!

I don't know yet how this will all play out, but it certainly seems promising!

Heavy Petal

Hey, check this out! I haven't really looked through it myself, so, if you wanted to kind of give me a summary, that'd be cool!

http://heavypetal.ca/

And if you feel the need of a diversion, check this out... (no summary needed!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmjLqddPqZQ

And you get a letter in the mail!

I was thinking today while I was at work moving lawns. Here's what I was thinking . . .

A story writing exercise.

I'm going to handwrite a page of a story and then post that page to someone else.
That person then handwrites the next page and posts post pages to someone else.
That person then handwrites the next page and so on and so on.

Each participant needs only write 1 page (and please lets limit it to that so everyone can get a chance without us inadvertently killing a small forest)

Then when the story is done, the last participant sends me the entire thing and I'll make copies, bind them, and send one to each participant!

Sound like fun? Let's get started! Either leave me your address in a comment or sent it via e-mail! Do it now!

Madrid

You ever take a long bus ride and kind of get excited because you'll be able to get some reading done and just take it easy? Well that was the state of mind that I was in when I boarded the bus in Bilbao bound for Madrid. Sadly the driver thought he'd turn on the overhead T.V.s and play James Bond and then the Bourne Surpremecy in Spanish and blast the sound the entire trip. The Bourne film was a pirate copy too and was terrible, complete with people standing up in front of the screen.

So then we arrived in Madrid and I tried to call my hosts so they could meet me or give me directions to their place. Nope, the payphone wasn't having any of it. So I asked around in my best yet still apauling Spanish to see what the deal was. Nobody knew why but one woman gave me her phone to use so I got in contact, but I had to call back later so I had to thank the woman and let her go.

So I waited around for about an hour and then decided to try yet another payphone. While doing so I overheard a woman speaking English so I approached her to ask for her phone. When she turned around she was in tears, and couldn't lend me her phone because the battery was almost dead and she had just been mugged.

Then I asked a security guard if he could help me with the payphone and as he was a girl came up to him, tears streaming, and reported that she had been robbed.

Eventually I met 3 Irish girls who told me that you can't call a mobile phone from a payphone, and they graciously lent me their mobile and I was able to call my hosts and sort out the rest of my life from there.

Strange how in one station you can have people who are so trusting and generous and others who're so immoral and willing to take advantage of people. It's actually probably the one personality that enables the other to exist sadly.

Bilbao baby!

I made it to Bilbao! After Jean-Phillipe decided to leave a few days early, I decided to leave with Petra and hitchhike together as far as . . . well, whatever the name of the place she wanted to go was. This gave me 4 days to get across the entire width of southern France then down into Spain and Biblao.
The first leg of our journey took us 4 hours. Not bad for Petra because she knew she was going to arrive that day. For me it was a bit more stressful because we´d only managed to get a fraction of the way that I needed to. Then in Foix we (plus another hitchhiker we bumped into) we found some French arachists who were going to Portugal.

SWEET!
So I just rode with them all the way to Bayonne and then spent the night in my tent. Then the next day we got up and went to meet some of their friends. I ended up living, eating and drinking with these guys for 4 days first in a squat, taking breakfast at 2 homeless shelters, then 3 days on the Atlantic coast. When eventually we did leave and get to Bilbao 2 days late and at 10:30pm, June was waiting for me in the station. We caught the metro back to her place and I showered and did some laundry. The next night we went out for an explorative walk and rented a movie. A movie which still remains unwatched because Bilbao seems to have a disproportionately large percentage of pirate pubs! We hit 3 that night before coming back home and going to bed.
The next day we went to a fantastic juggling convention full of young hippies from all over the place! It was awesome, with tall celings, enthusiastic young jugglers, a bar, sleeping upstairs, rope acrobatics, unicycles, everything. If you´ve seen it in a circus or ever wished you had, it was at this convention. All held in a fantastic 4 story squat, complete with vegetarian kitchen on the 2nd floor and climbing wall on the 3rd.
That evening we went to see a show and before hand one of the hosts started talking to me about my moustache. June told her I was Canadian so she started talking to me in French. Then later on during what was a FANTASTIC show full of ´Just for Laughs´caliber tricks and performances, they started giving out prizes. The last prize she started asking for the Canadian guy with the moustache she liked. I didn´t understand a word of it, but June said she was looking for me so I stood up. When she saw me she ran over, jumping over seated people (remember there are 400 people watching this show) and came over to me, gave me a pink toy bicycle, kissed me once on each cheek, and held my hand aloft saying something about being the Canadian d'Artagnan.
After that everyone at the conference knew me, and after the show lots of folks came up and patted me on the back, or congratulated me, or maybe insulted me, who knows, I don´t speak Spanish!

All in all it´s been a damn fine week. Let´s hope next week can match it!

Right on time

Today is Tuesday and as promised here I am, about to write a fantastically compelling entry to my blog. Buckle up folks here we go . . .

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is my posse. From left to right they hail as follows . . .

JiPi - Short for Jean-Phillipe, we all call him Jean-Phillipe. He's the man that organized this place. It's an old house and he's renovating it in an ecologically sound way. We're helping. So far that consists of flinging muck made of woodchips and chalk powder at the walls. We call this insulating.

Jeneviéve - An integral member of the cast, Jeneviéve is from Québéc. She's the kind of person that makes you wish you had a stronger sense of national identity. She's fun, friendly, a great cook, and tons of fun to be around. It wouldn't be the same without her.

Grayson - The most kick ass dude on the scene.

Petra - The 2nd Petra I've met abroad. She's a Somerset girl educated in London with an accent that very consciously sounds nothing like that of the area she was born. Her culinary ability is worthy of praise and her predilection towards doing the dishes is a very welcome addition to our little gang. It's also good to have another Anglophone in the crowd, just to even things out a little.

This is a picture of my on the first day of my arrival in Chalabre. I guess I was a little excited to be here.

A tipi in the Wirral

I've made it to England. Tomorrow I head to London to visit Patty Wagon before he head's to Africa for a year. Aside that it's business as usual. I live in a tipi surrounded by sheep, chickens and a donkey. A few friends and I help build a house with occasional side trips into Liverpool etc.

I've got tons more to write but only 3 minutes left, so another time.