Andy's Blog

Proof

2006-01-31T09:43:00.000-08:00

Just to show I wasn’t lying about the whole snowboarding thing in the last post I have put up some pictures and movies from the trip.

http://www.redbrick.dcu.ie/~elpres/snowboarding/

They are worth looking at just for the shots of the area, which is really beautiful. To counteract all that natural beauty we have some damned ugly Irishmen. Fortunately the extreme cold means that they are almost entirely covered up most of the time.

The movies are a little on the big side so you should probably only look at them if you have a broadband connection to play with. The ones with Colla and Jasper are generally a bit more interesting to look at as they aren’t beginners and can move at a reasonable speed down the slopes.

That said you should obviously take the time to marvel at the splendour of Andy managing to both stand upright on a board and move forward at the same time in…

http://www.redbrick.dcu.ie/~elpres/snowboarding/movies/Andy1.MPG

Riveting stuff!

Falling Down (a lot)

2006-01-19T07:51:00.000-08:00

As it turns out Snowboarding is less about posing and more about intense pain. Despite this it’s also a lot of fun and a great way to beat the post Christmas blues.

Last week I embarked on my winter sports adventure with Colla, Jasper and Plank to see what all the fuss was about. Arriving in the Alps was like entering a different world. Ireland is flat mix of dull green and grey while Austria is blinding white with blue sky and monstrous mountains in every direction. This sunk slowly into my under stimulated brain during the hour long bus journey from the airport in Salzburg to the town of Soll which we were staying.

Upon arrival we were giddy to get onto the slopes but it was too late and we had to wait until the following day.

The next morning Plank and I left Jasper & Colla who are experienced skiers and snowboarders respectively and started on the nursery slopes. By lunchtime we thought we were doing pretty well and were ready for our first lesson.

As it turns out we weren’t. We were pretty terrible, displaying all the balance and grace of a drunk stilt walker. In our defence however, everyone else in our class was just as bad. We collectively skidded, slid, fell, banged, toppled and overturned the afternoon away until four o’clock rolled around and chair lifts closed. At this point we crawled back to the hotel for a few hours lying perfectly still before heading out again for dinner.

That’s pretty much how it went on the second day as well with slight improvements. By Tuesday we could make it down a slope without falling over and felt pretty proud of ourselves.

Wednesday was when I started to try and learn how to carve. Carving is when you shift your weight from heal to toe on the board and end up zig-zagging down the mountain. I had trouble going from heal to toe edge and wiped out hard a couple of times. On one of these occasions I managed to sprain my left wrist. This meant I ended up missing Thursday and being rather pissed off at the whole affair.

However all was not lost. Thanks to a combination of some gel they gave me at the doctor’s surgery to numb the wristand wrapping it up very tightly I was able to get back up the slopes on Friday for one last hurrah.

I never really got the confidence with carving. The best I managed was 4 turns left and right before crashing out but at that stage I was just happy to be up there and not stuck back in the room.

On the last day I also brought up my camera and got some nice photos and movie clips of myself an the boys boarding. I’ll throw these up on the inter-web in the next few days for general public perusal.

Overall it was a great trip. I’ll be the first to admit I was the weakest boarder of everyone in the group but I still had a blast. With luck I’ll get to go back and pick up where I left off, get good at carving and maybe try my hand at some of the slightly harder runs.

Table Football

2005-12-08T04:50:00.000-08:00

In what can only be described as “Dot Com Thinking” the powers that be at work have decided to give us a Fuzzball (A horrible American word) table to wile away the days. How they thought this would lead to more work getting done is beyond me.

Needless to say competition between my fellow code monkeys and I had has become quite intense. We have gone so far as to start a league which operates as follows…

Everyone starts at 10 points. When 2 people play the winner takes a point off the loser (usually me). Every time you play you are risking a point. Whoever has the most points come the Christmas Party gets free drink for the evening and will most likely encounter the wrath of the losing players once they are too inebriated to defend themselves.

At the moment I’m sitting in a comfy third place but will hopefully claw my way to second before too long. Catching the leader will be tough though as he’s about 10 points ahead.

I may have to resort to foul play (as is the Andy way) and start putting tranquilisers in his tea. Not enough to knock him out but enough to make him a little light on his feat. That’ll give me the completive edge I need to take first place.

Remember kids, it’s only cheating if you get caught…

Shenanigans

2005-12-05T08:14:00.000-08:00

There have been some serious doings-a-transpiring since my last post. First the bad news, I failed my driving test and was none too happy about it. I might even go as far as to say I was rather angry about it. They failed me on a right turn but wouldn’t tell me which right turn it had been. They also said I looked in my mirrors too much. Of course I was only doing that because so many people get failed for not looking in them enough.

Boo!

Anyway, I have come to terms with it and will soon be reapplying to be judged once again at the whim of Whitey.

To dull the pain of this travesty I did a little retail therapy and did something I swore I’d never do… bought an iPod. I have been mp3 playerless for the last few months so I figured I’d allow it. Anyway, I bought a Nano and must admit it’s an ultra slick little thing. They even offered free engraving on the back. I got “Affluence” engraved cus I’m a dick :-)

The next order of business was a weekend away in a place called Rathgormack (just right of the middle of nowhere) with the remains of what was once the Eclectic Music Society from DCU and a handful of general hangers on. “Twas mighty” to use the colourful speak of the local populous. A weekend of drinking, music and indoor football. There were many excellent moments but the one which stood out for me was at about 3AM on Sunday morning during an extended jam session when we went from “Chop Suai” by System of a Down to “Kiss from Rose” by Seal. Magic.

Continuing on a music vein my new band had its second gig last Wednesday. It went quite well despite it only being to a half full bar. New additions to the set list were Dance Commander by Electric Six and Love Shack by the B52’s, both of which are thoroughly enjoyable to play. After the weekend and gig I can’t really bring myself to look at a musical instrument of any description at the moment but I’m sure the urge will come back to me soon.

Ok, that’s pretty much my lot.

Down with MPB!

Driving Mrs. Daisy

2005-11-04T03:40:00.000-08:00

Seems I got me a letter from Whitey saying I’m due to sit my driving test on the 22nd of November in the year of our Lord 2005… a mere year after applying.

I normally leave bitching about the government to the MPB as it seems to be his bag (and he has so little else that who am I to deprive him of it?) but a year waiting for my driving test is a little much. I think I would have been in a better position to sit it a few months back before I picked up all these bad driving habits. Oh well, I guess a few intensive lessons and I might stand a chance at passing the thing.

It would be very nice to get it though.... lower insurance and legal driving on the M50 (which of course I would never DREAM of doing before this). I may even consider becoming a full blown adult and buying my own car. Being freed from the crapness that is Dublin public transport would be wonderful.

Now then… how does one reverse around a corner anyway?

The Tequila Mockingbirds.

2005-10-18T03:27:00.000-07:00

My most humble apologies for my lack of update last week. “Biniz” has been somewhat swift of late and I have been a little rushed off my feet.

The first (and pretty mundane) reason for this is that I am in the final stages of a big project at work so it has been requiring me to work long days/weekends in an effort to get it out the door. With luck I’ll be free of it in a week or so and can get back to spending my work days plotting the MPB’s downfall.

The second (and far more interesting) reason for my lack of time is that I have formed a new band.

A few weeks ago the nice people at Redbrick got in contact with me looking for people to play at their Fresher’s Ball. I told them I was currently bandless but to give me a few days and I’d see what I could do.

Two days later The Tequila Mockingbirds were formed with Mister Dave Dineen on lead guitar, Tom Matthews on vocals and guitar, Rob Matthews on drums and my good self keeping it funky on the bass.

We threw a set list together over a several pints and a few practices later we were ready for our first gig…

… which went pretty well. We were the middle of a 3 band line up for the evening. Between Checkpoint Charlie (who I really enjoyed) and Kid Icarus, who headlined the evening.

We made a decent showing of ourselves and the audience were nice enough to keep the rotten fruit throwing to a minimum. We even got a couple of big cheers despite the fact that most of our set came from the 70’s and would never have been previously heard by a lot of the younger people there.

We are now left with the question of what to do next? Do we carry on in this guise and try to start playing regular gigs?

The real problems with getting a band off the ground generally aren’t to do with talent (which we shall say for the sake of argument that we have) but are more often logistical. Moving large Amps and Drums around the city can be a nightmare. Arranging a PA (Public Address system) in smaller venues which don’t have one built in can be harder again. Reaching the point were you actually make a little money out of it can seem nigh impossible.

On the other hand playing in front of people is one of the nicest feelings in the world and is one that I savour ever time I get it. A lot of things in life can get quite dull after a while and it’s easy to end up in a routine. Everyone should have something that just brings them pure pleasure, be in jumping off a cliff or a good old fashioned cocaine addiction.

After all, life is for living and if you’re not willing to get up on stage with nothing but a bass guitar covering your unmentionables and rock out like there’s no tomorrow then you have to ask yourself, are you really alive at all? :)

Superfantastic

2005-09-21T05:04:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned yestersday the MPB is currently away.

I feel it's worth mentioning that he asked me to look after his plant which he keeps on his desk while he is away.

I have been feeding it coffee in an attempt to kill it and make him cry on his return.

Mad Propz Yo!

2005-09-20T03:12:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago a few friends of mine and Dave were having a jam. It was mostly the usual God-Awful mix of endless jamming and bad Zeppelin renditions but they managed to pull a diamond out if their collective asses with this little number which I heartily recommend you download.

Roadhouse

I find myself humming it on the train in the mornings much to the disgust of my fellow commuters. I have come to the conclusion that you can do anything you like on these packed commuter trains and everyone will be too polite to do anything about it. I plan on putting this to the test by extending my companies “No Pants Thursday” to outside the office and see if anyone notices.

Serious boredom at work this week, The MPB is away on holiday. He is normally the focal point for my rage towards the outside world and without him I have no one to insult and ridicule. I’m also worried that in a week without constant harassment he may grow a back bone and start fighting back. I shall have to redouble by bullying efforts next week.

Eat the poor.

Andy

Dude, that’s like SO extreme!

2005-09-08T01:39:00.000-07:00

Imagine if you will, six foot one inches of unbalanced Irish-Man hurtling down the side of a mountain, strapped to what basically boils down to a large plank.

Sounds like a recipe for disaster but is in fact what I have signed myself up. My good friend Dr. Collington Cunneen has talked me into going snowboarding with him.

Next January 7th (My birthday as it happens) Colla, Plank, The J and I shall be flying out to a tiny place called Soll in Austria for a week of boarding and posing. Although I’m sure my boarding will be somewhat… sub-par, I am determined to get the posing side of things spot on. This will involve a lot of sitting with a bottle of beer in hand, talking about “sweet jumps” and the like. It’ll be a tough gig but dammit, I’m the man for the job!

In preparation for this little adventure I’m going to try my hand at the dry slopes before I go. This is where people board down rope netting to practice. Hopefully it’ll give me some grasp of the basics like how to stand, stop and turn but will probably end up being a lesson on how to fall on my ass a lot with little or no grace.

More developments my new found enthusiasm for down right dangerous sporting activities as and when they happen…

Andy goes native.

2005-08-29T04:16:00.000-07:00

I return to work this morning after a week of knacker holiday on one of those Islands in the middle of the Atlantic that's one eruption away from wiping out half the Chav population of England.

This thought wandered into my head as I flew home. I imagined archeologists from the distant future discovering a Pompeii style find. They would no doubt come to the conclusion that our society’s main food of choice was sausage, egg and chips and our most popular form of clothing was Union Jack shorts.

Back in the present I have just had a mightily pleasant week in the sun doing all the usual chill out holiday type stuff. I ate, drank and was merry. Played some golf, took a look at the (very large) volcano and Animal Park.

Much time was spent swimming or playing Frisbee, downing the odd fruity drink and pondering why life can’t be like this all the time.

On my return I am faced with a bulging inbox full of work (boo!) and my mp3 collection which I missed dearly (yay!)

With any luck my brain will kick back into gear in the next day or two and I may get some stuff done.

Maybe.

Grog!

2005-08-02T03:52:00.000-07:00

Last night in one of my frequent discussions with Ian about life in general we stumbled upon the topic of Grog and I have since vowed to not let any non Grog beverage pass my lips.

We settled that Grog was a mixture of Beer, Rum and Oat Meal Porridge. It was a hardy drink for hardy men and was not so much to be drunk but rather Quaiffed. Quaiffing is like drinking but you have swing your mug (or sometimes Goblet) around, sing loudly and generally spill a lot more.

After consulting the in-tor-net this morning I have found that we were incorrect and that Grog is in fact a mixture of rum and water which was drank by sailors in the Royal Navy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grog

So as not to confuse the issue I shall rename our creation as “Grog 2005” or “Grive” for people too busy for syllables.

We have decided to start selling Grog 2005 by the barrel load. We think it’ll be a big hit at knob head Dublin bars. I can just imagine an average Friday night with power suit wearing yuppies draining down a few quarts of extra runny Grog.

Of course this won’t just happen by itself so we sat down with some hearty pints of Grog to come up with a snappy marketing campaign to kick start the product roll out and appeal to our core demographic.

So a few slogans…

“Suck my Grog”
“Grog, not just for cannibals”
“I love my Grog”
“Grog, it’s everywhere you want to be!”
“Grog, now with added caffeine!”

… and so on.

It’s gonna be a winner people and just remember, you read it here first.

In summery: GROG!

Bring me the head of Mark P. Boyle!

2005-07-28T05:37:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I found myself at a drunken jam (as I am want to do). It was the usual fare of booze and shockingly bad masicianship. At this jam we seem to have focused our collective hatred onto one Mark P. Boyle ( http://markpb.blogspot.com/ ) who is just a downright bad person who seems to get his kicks complaining about just about anything and is deserving of your scorn!

It seems the proceadings were recorded and have since found themselves onto the in-tor-net for public scrutiny.

The results can be found at...

http://www.redbrick.dcu.ie/~r_dogg/mpb/

Be warned, the standard of playing isn't up to our usual low standard!

Blacksploitation!

2005-07-15T05:58:00.000-07:00

Following on from my previous Shaft post there has been a movie pointed out to me that I now simply MUST see.

It's called The Mack and the plotline is as follows...

"The Mack, a 1973 pimping epic, is at once a laughable, schlock classic and a harbinger of more serious black-themed films to come. Starring the now-forgotten Max Julien as Goldie, the preening ex-con whose dream is to rule the streets with a fine Cadillac and a fleet of topnotch hookers, this film is full of whip-crack, mostly improvised dialogue and hilarious stereotypes (the evil white cops, a wisdom-spouting blind man, and more trash-talkin' pimps than you could shake a walking stick at). "

Let the hunt begin...

Who's the black private dick who's a sex machine to all the chicks?

2005-07-12T03:35:00.000-07:00

"Shaft!"

Well that's what I was humming to myself as I sat down to watch "Shaft's Big Score" at the weekend. I had never seen it and was looking forward to seeing this Bad Ass stick it to Whitey.

Unfortunately I was disappointed to see a rather sub par and formulaic 70’s movie. It did however deliver one truly classic moment…

“Some Honkey: How do you want your coffee gentlemen?

Shaft: Make mine BLACK”

The Honkey (white person) was none too impressed with Shaft’s bad ass blackness but knew he had been beaten.

In other news Dublin has had 3 nice days in a row so it has been classified a heat wave. I fully intend on soaking up every second of it that I’m not in work for and continue to burn myself to a crisp.

The general population of my beloved city seems a whole lot prettier and happier. It’s amazing what a little sun shine can do. Hopefully this will last a little longer and we can forget about the perpetual rain that seems to engulf this nation.

Moo!

Glastonbury Pics

2005-07-08T03:59:00.000-07:00

Here's some pictures of my recent trip to Glastonbury.

http://www.redbrick.dcu.ie/~elpres/photos/

and...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/glasto2005/

enjoy

All the fun of Glastonbury Fayre

2005-07-04T01:36:00.000-07:00

To say the last week of my life was pretty good fun would be akin to saying George Bush is a little bit trigger happy. That’s what we call understatement for any Americans reading this. It was a roller coaster ride of music, sun, rain and hippies. Well, I say hippies but most of them were really just pretending. Probably middle mangers in some nameless multinational corporation, concerning themselves only with the refried beans futures market but for one weekend a year they get to go back to their roots and play in the mud.

I set off Tuesday week ago with my possie which had christened itself “T-Unit” for the duration of the trip. We are talking The R_Dogg, Sking, T-Bone, Dr. Chan, Juiles, Shonagh and my bad self. We were later joined by El Dineanio and the Wesatron to form a band of Warrior Poets the like of which the world had never seen and will never see again.

One ultra cheap ryanair flight and an hours worth of taxi ride later we arrived in the Vale of Avalon in a little town called Shepton Mallet. Here is where we were to pick up our tickets on Wednesday morning. We camped for the night and in the morning went into the village to pick up the tickets and get supplies for the festival.

There was about an hours queue to get in. This was compounded with the fact that we all had a lot of gear and the sun was beating down. However with some perseverance we made it in and got little camp site set up.

I was blown away by the scale of the place. It’s huge and there was so much there. I spent the first few hours just aimlessly walking around and taking everything in. Later on we all ended up at the Stone Circle which is a kind of meeting spot on the far side of the festival. We watched the sun go down and took it all in as more and more people arrived. A few hours later we stumbled to our new home feeling settled.

On the second day I felt I knew my way around a little better. We checked out some of various little things that were going on. There was lots of street entertainment, art and various little markets to keep us busy.

Everything seemed set, we had just had three days of glorious sunshine and everyone was in high spirits. We went to sleep that night ready for the music the following morning. What we actually got was a storm of biblical proportions. I’m told more rain fell in those 5 hours then the area normally gets in June. By morning everything was knee deep in mud. Compared to many there we got off very lightly. Our tents stayed mostly dry and thanks to some quick thinking from the lads we all had wellies.

So undeterred we set out to the music. As there were 9 of us we split off into groups of 2 or 3 at a time to see whatever acts were on and by God there were a lot of acts. Every few hours I stumbled back to the camp site, regrouped with whoever was there and headed off.

I spent a good deal of time at the Jazz World stage. Here there was plenty of groove filled funk jams to be had and I was loving it. However the highlight of the day had to be the White Stripes who headlined the Pyramid Stage that evening. They rocked good an proper like an extra large serving of rock and roll with a side order of rock.

I was amazed at the great atmosphere and good nature of the people. Even when the mud was at it’s thickest and the rain was bucketing down everyone was enjoying themselves.

Saturday and Sunday seem like a bit of a blur, I remember getting up early for the Lions game only to sorely disappointed before trudging back for a few hours sleep. I saw lots of bands and street theatre and generally got caught up in the flow.

One band that I think deserves a mention is Hayseed Dixie who I really enjoyed. They are a bluegrass band that do rock covers and really put on a good show.

Once it was all over we hung around for an extra day. We scavenged the camp sites for anything of use and spent the day recovering from the weekend and throwing around the Frisbee. It was really peaceful and had me feeling all relaxed. Later on Tom made up a big dinner and we sat around the fire in a now empty Glastonbury which just the day before had held 150,000 people.

So I return to Dublin all chilled out. It was like entering a different world. It’s now a week later and I’m sure this won’t last and soon I’ll be my nasty, money obsessed old self.

However, I shall enjoy it while it lasts.

So little time

2005-06-16T09:56:00.000-07:00

For both of you who read this I must apologise for my lack of updating. A healthy dose of laziness is to blame, coupled with having other "biniz" to attend to.

In brief... The blues festival was great. Much music and many very cool people just floating around and generaly having a good time. I even ran into a few frineds who I had not gone down with and proceaded to have some excellent misadventures.

This however is just foreplay for what is to come. Next Tuesday I ship out to Glastonbury for a week of hippie maddness. I have no idea what to expect. Anyone who I have ever talked to who has gone have always said it is just amazing. I plan to simply go with the flow and see what happens.

However certain little things like buying a tent and waterproof clothes (it will surely rain) will need to get done this weekend before I can lose myself in the rock and roll. To this end I will be going on a little shopping spree on Saturday and hopefully get the lot on one go.

Once this is all sorted I shall be free to get naked and play in the mud.

Rock :-)

Sorrowful, pain filled widdle.

2005-06-01T07:25:00.000-07:00

Last night proved to be a most agreeable evening for the A N D Y. Did some serious sitting around and drinking beer with the old possie. We're talking the R_Dogg, El Deneanio, T_Bone, the Shanmeister and Davulon all together in one room with my good self. If only Dr. Chan had been present then the Revolution may well have kicked off there and then. It was almost better then that time I beat the devil at a fiddle playing contest. Almost.

It was also agreed that we would be driving west this weekend to one of those bogger towns who's name escapes me. For what purpose you ask? To soak up 3 days of blues festival. That's right, hundreds of repressed men letting all the pain in their souls out through the medium of long, self indulgent guitar solos. As I'm a big fan of both human misery and fine guitar playing I should be in hog heaven.

In other news 3 of my friends have been independently approved for mortgages. This is a sure sign of me getting old. Soon the marraige invitations will start coming thick and fast as people I barely know decide that the tax savings of being married outweigh the hope of ever finding their real soul mate and take the plunge. I will of course then recieve a wedding list from Brown Thomas or some such place with wedding gifts starting at 3 grand. Boo!

Maybe I'm just bitter that the banks will give my friends money and not me?

Maybe I'm just bitter?

Shameless Plug

2005-05-11T07:26:00.000-07:00

Quick update...

An ex-bandmate of mine by the name of Cossie's current band just finished a demo and have placed it on the inter-web for the general public to consume.

Check out...

www.redbrick.dcu.ie/~sir_real/media.html

...for some good old fashioned rock and roll.

P.S.

One of these days I shall do a non music related update. Honest.

In search of groove.

2005-05-10T03:19:00.000-07:00

*Plod* *Plod* *Plod* Dublin's South Circular Road is very long, it becomes even longer when you are carrying 30 kilos of Bass Amp down it in the afternoon sun. This was the predicament I found myself in on Saturday. I say predicament but it was quite voluntary and I was happy to be doing it.

As the more "old school" of you might know I purchased a bass guitar just after Christmas and have been keeping an eye out for an amp for it. The only requirement being that it would be loud enough to gig with should the need arise. During the week I spotted an advert in the buy and sell for a "100 Watt Trace Elliot Bass Amp" for 185 euro. This is a great deal and I jumped on it straight away.

It seemed a little too good to be true though. I figured this amp should have been selling for about twice the asking price so I was pretty skeptical when I arrived to take a look at it. On inspection it turned out to be the real deal and I had to suppress the urge to giggle as I paid it's former owner.

So there I was in town with my newly purchased Bass amp making slow progress to the nearest bus stop, cursing my sister for taking the car earlier. 2 hours, 2 bus rides and 1 shower later I had my prize home and ready to play through.

Of course I did the only sensible thing at this point and turned it up full and spent the next 3 hours playing 70's funk (badly) until the neighbors complained.

Result :-)

How high? Real high cus I'm just so fly!

2005-04-27T04:53:00.000-07:00

Myself and my long time collaborator Robert P. Matthews (Also known as Jesus White) have hired our producer for our upcoming musical masterpiece "The Battle of Foxrock".

It must be said that competition was stiff on the ground, that Pharrell Williams chap from the Neptunes kept ringing us up going "Hey Andy, Chad's got some great ideas for the new track. Why don't we fly you over to L.A. so you can at least hear what we have."

"Nay!" said I. "Your hip hop beats and smooth grooves have no place on this record, we are only interested in one thing and that's Funk."

To this end we knew there was only one man with the vision and the determination to get this project on wheels. That man is Sean King. To many he is maybe the last TRUE hero of soul. His style is often copied but never bettered as he redefines genres as he creates them.

Who can forget his work on "Can't go up, can't go down" where he proved once and for all that love was the answer.

With such a man behind the desk how can we fail?

A danger to himself and others.

2005-04-24T08:43:00.000-07:00

I have been given a clean bill of health and no longer a danger to the greater Dublin area. Turns out I did indeed have Scarlett Fever and may I assure you dear readers that it was less than pleasant. Much of the last week has been spent trying not to scratch various parts of my body.

However modern medical science came to my rescue and all the evil has been purged from my body. What could have developed into a a life threatening illness 200 years ago can now be destroyed in a few days with only minor inconvenience. What an age!

Unfortunatly this leaves me with very little to update this here page with. No musicals to report on, no stupid pacts with my friends, just me pottering around the house trying to avoid boredom (unsuccessfully I might add).

Tis an odd thing, I usually feel like I never have enough time and am always running after myself to get everything done. Then *BAM!* a week where I can't do a thing no matter how much I wan't to. It's enough to drive a boy crazy.

But I digress, it's over now and I am young and fit once again. With any luck it'll stay like that.

Sick Again.

2005-04-17T06:47:00.000-07:00

For the second time since Christmas I find myself ill. This time it's a bit more serious then a touch of flu like the last time. Seems I have some sort of bacterial infection and need to take a rather large dose of anti-biotics over the coming days. I'm also highly infecteous so need to stay away from people. This will give me plenty of time to brood in isolation and plot the downfall of all who oppose me (the list is getting big).

Bah!

Anyway, with any luck it should only take a week or so to clear up.

The lesson here children is not to have unprotected sex with strangers on the docks no matter how much money they offer you.

The Battle of Foxrock.

2005-04-12T09:46:00.000-07:00

I have decided to write a Rage Against The Machine styled song called "The Battle of Foxrock". It'll be about the oppressed masses of southside rugby playing schools as they battle for a place on the "S". It'll be great, just you wait and see!

The musical has come and gone and life has returned to normality. Last show was on Friday and we partyed well into the night to celebrate. Must admit it was a hell of a lot of fun to do and I may even part take again next year. The people involved are already planning next year's (organised weinies that they are).

It seems I'll be going to a music festival of some sort or other this summer "Glass-ton-Bury" or some such. I had never heard of either but apparently it's one of the largest in the world and a life changing experience to go to. I'm sure this is a load of rubish and I'll be very surprised if anyone actually turns up.

I hear Kylie is playing at it so at least there will be ONE good act.

Right, another quality update finished.

Ann-Dee! Fuck Yeah!

2005-04-07T04:42:00.000-07:00

I'm not one to blow my own horn but we rocked the house last night (In so far as a musical can rock the hosue which isn't all that much).

The band were tight and the singing sounded good to me. The crowd really got into it too and gave a great reaction, laughed at all the jokes and sang along with some of the songs.

I'm happy with it now. Doesn't even matter how tonight and tomorrow go, we had a great run last night and for me that makes all worthwhile.

Rock and Roll :-)

Two nights in.

2005-04-06T03:01:00.000-07:00

The musical seems to have come together pretty well. The first night certainly had a few ropey moments but last night was a fair improvement and hopefully by tonight everything should be perfect.

I'm feeling pretty tired. Last few nights I haven't been getting to bed till about 2 and then up again at 7 for work. Anyone who knows me will tell you I'm a big fan of the sleep and I ain't no fun to be around if I don't get it. Hopefully everything will get wrapped up a bit earlier tonight and I can get home for midnight.

It's a weird experience playing in the wings. It's still a lot of fun but not really the same buzz you get from being on stage. Guess I'm just an attention whore at heart.

Anyway, my goal in life at the moment is simply to finish these last 3 shows, have a quiet pint or two with those involved to celebrate our attempt at amateur theatre and then sleep for about 15 hours. Then I shall be content.

The minute you walked in the joint...

2005-04-04T02:59:00.000-07:00

... I could tell it was all gonna fall apart!

This musical may well me the death of me. I really had no idea how much work it was gonna be in so little time. It opens tonight and it could very easily fall flat on it's face.

But first a quick recap of the last week. I have spent pretty much every free moment either in rehearsals or practicing the score. Everyone in the band has worked really hard and considering we have only had one week it sounds really good. However it has only been a week and we are still making mistakes. Mistakes are very bad cus it'll throw the actors and dancers off and we really can't be having that on the night. It's not like in the good old days of playing in a band where if everything's going wrong you can just shout out "COME ON!" and break back into the chorus.

Organisation is not my friend.

So far the actors at least seem to have their parts down and are pretty entertaining to watch (Although I’m sure it’ll lose it’s charm after seeing it five nights in a row)

The technical type people seem to be coming together bit by bit too but time is rapidly running out to iron out the glitches.

Either way at eight o’clock tonight we open so whatever needs sorting better get sorted between now and then. Dramatic stuff (Pardon the pun).

Easter Sunday

2005-03-27T06:59:00.000-08:00

Well, it's Easter Sunday!

Time to kick back and quietly appreciate the resurrection of the big J.C. (well done again on that one by the way boss).

Incidentally this also means that it's the end of lent and anyone out there who gave up anything can now safely resume whatever it was they gave up... be it drinking or eating chocolate or whatever!

Yep, it's a great day for everyone.

Hurrah!!

The Score.

2005-03-25T04:17:00.000-08:00

In 4 days time I need to have the score to the musical learnt.

I have...

Bass Guitar, one of.
Amplifier, one of.
Copy of the score, one of.
Cups of tea, one (large or Grande)
Pizza, one of (currently cooking)
Empty House, one of.
Numbers to good take aways, three of.
Cans of Soup, two of (you always might need soup).

It's gonna be a long weekend...

Bog Ball

2005-03-23T03:39:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday (St. Patrick’s Day) I saw my first ever G.A.A. (pronounced gggaaaahhhh) game.

Two in fact! The first involved a little ball and sticks while the other involved a big ball and no sticks. Both were very enjoyable to watch and apparently it was a final of some sort so there were lots people getting very excited about the whole affair.

As it turns out the team I had decided to back in "Big Ball" won and we all ran onto the pitch to celebrate. I talked with my fellow supporters about how it had been a long road to the final this year but how I never lost hope and knew the boys could do it. There then followed much drunken antics.

All in all an excellent St. Patrick’s day.

In other news, my preparations for the musical are going rather poorly. The score is fecking huge and I'm very fearful of making a tit of myself in front of the "real" musicians in the orchestra. I will most likely be spending my Easter weekend locked away in my room trying to get a handle on the damn thing.

Let this be a lesson, never get involved with anything ever.

Unless it involves running a brothel.

Then it's OK.

Comments

2005-03-16T03:48:00.000-08:00

It's been pointed out to me that you had to register on www.blogger.com to leave a comment on this blog.

After a bit of mucking about with the settings this has been fixed and now anyone can hurl all the abuse they want and hide behind a handy veil on animosity.

Anti-Rock & Roll

2005-03-15T05:58:00.000-08:00

Musicals are odd things, loved by women and homosexual men alike they remain a puzzlement to me. At some point someone decided to see what would happen if they took a play and some music and then forge them together into something new and different. They then added some dancing and for good measure decided to hand the running of this new beast over to some seriously over dramatic people.

It would seem that I am about to be sucked into this world of the ridiculous as I have been asked to play bass for this year's musical at DCU. Don't be fooled, this is not due to my "righteous licks" on the bass guitar but rather has come about due to the fact that I work for nothing. That's right, I'm so cheap I'm free.

Anyway, the musical is called "Sweet Charity" and has apparently given the world such famous songs as "Big Spender" and "Rhythm of Life". The people behind it are DCU Drama Soc. who might well be the most well organized group of students ever assembled. After 4 blissful years in the delightfully lax Eclectic Music Soc. it's quite a readjustment.

I got my copy of the score at the weekend and have so far managed to learn only two of the songs. I'm slightly hampered by the fact that I read sheet music at a snails pace. However, with a little work I'm sure I can get it all figured out.

Then I can soak up the glory of sitting behind the stage in a dark corner while the audience is distracted by pretty girls wearing next to nothing while prancing around stage singing about how they can't find a man (apparently).

Oh yeah!

Dazed and Confused

2005-03-10T17:04:00.000-08:00

Is there anything worse then being left hanging? Many of you have doubtless been coming back here day after day in the hope that maybe I have updated this here "blog" only to have your hopes dashed like those of my future ex-wife on the first night of our honeymoon.

Why Andy? Why have you not been telling us of your misadventures and those of the colourful characters that inhabit your world?

Well, I'm afraid the simple answer is that things have been a wee bit dull of late. There's a couple of reasons for this.

Work: I try not to mention work too much. Although I love my job and happily nerd the days away I am aware then most people do not share my love of the code and so I try to keep anecdotes about the pitfalls of C++ programming to a minimum.

I will however mention that my company has a tradeshow in the States next week (Of course I'm not going! I'd never sell anything with this face) and I have had to beaver away getting some stuff ready for it. With any luck nothing will blow up and we may even sell some software.

Home: My mother started watching those "renovate your house" shows a few months back. With the benifit of hindsight I can see how this was a bad idea. At some point she decided that we were going to take our perfectly good house and rip it all up, only to fix everything up again so it looks pretty. Two months and enough money to run the US army for about 4 seconds (which is still a lot) and we are nearly there. The last section invloves replacing the floors. This has seen our fearless hero (me) ripping up carpets, floors and what not. I'm not a big fan of the manual labour so the sooner it's all over the better!

These two factors have plotted to stop me having any of the misadventures mentioned above but fear not, soon I shall be free of them and get back to drinking myself to death.

Andy

P.S. My Lent campaign is still going well. After several days of what I will politely refer to as "bad" thoughts I am feeling really calm again. Maybe there really are genuine celibate people out there who do this sorta stuff for long periods of time?

Day 22

2005-03-02T07:29:00.000-08:00

No longer sick.

So horny I think I can see inner beauty.

Andy: The last true hero.

2005-02-24T13:03:00.000-08:00

Right, first things first... for the past two days I have had the distinct feeling that there are several very angry bees buzzing around my head. They have no idea how they got there but they are mighty annoyed at the lack of sunlight and flowers. Further to this cabin fever has set in and they are plotting against each other. One of their plots seems to involve flooding my body with muchas. The dastasds.

In summery... I am sick.

I do not like being sick. I do not like sitting around with nothing to do. I have watched twelve (Yes TWELVE!) episodes of Sex and the City and believe I may well be growing overies. I came to the conclusion that these women lead ridiculous and totally unrealistic lives (one of them's a laywer for feck sake). What's worse I even got pissed off despite myself when the main character cheated on lad who builds furniture for a living cus he was so damn lovable. This needs to stop.

I also got word that there have been two more drop outs from the pact. Sking and Rob have both bowed out. This means that of the original 5 I am the only one remaining. There's still Dave but really, he took this on independently.

Now there are three ways of looking at this...

1.) I have the strongest will power.

2.) I have the least strong sex drive.

3.) I am the lone nut who took this stupid undertaking seriously.

As tempted as I am to pat myself on the back and say it's number one I am more inclined to think it's a mix between two and three.

Anyway, that's about as best as I can muster for an update in this sorrowful state.

Good day.

Dropping like flies

2005-02-18T09:22:00.000-08:00

*Sigh*

Not one day after our first drop out we now have our second.

Last night I heard the news that Chris had given in and bowed out of the pact. It would seem that the real test of resolve is here.

A little about our latest fallen hero: Chris is a lion of a man. Standing at just over six foot five he is built like a Russian Tank. His eyes are red like the fires of hell itself. His face is grim and weather beaten after serving 3 years in a Mongolian prison camp for smuggling heroin (This was only to fund counter government activities in Puru). He once single handedly fought off a combined assault of 4 tigers, 3 bears and the second Italian light infantry to save an orphanage.

In the 1970's he produced 3 of Led Zeppelin's albums (the good one's) and after an unfortunate spell in "Wings" decided to give up music.

These days he is kicker for the Irish Rugby team and enjoys recreational drug use.

Yet this man could not go more then ten days without a wee tug.

I weep.

Abstinence Watch: Day 9

2005-02-17T04:20:00.000-08:00

Well, it's a mixed bag of news in "The Pact".

We have had our first casualty. Our former brother known as Dave D has called it a day and bowed out from the pact. He made a brave effort but the presure was just too much and he cracked. At 9 days I believe it is a new personal record for Dave and we applaud him for making it this far. We also say "fair play" for admitting it. This is afterall a gentlemen's agreement, with nothing to be lost or gained from part-taking and Dave acted as a gentlemen.

It seems that another former DCU student (also by the name of Dave) has also given up self love for lent and has been invited to join.

So, we are once again at 5 people.

The plot thickens.

Day five...

2005-02-14T13:26:00.000-08:00

Previously unattractive girls are starting to look a lot better.

I'm very concerned...

This is another fine mess...

2005-02-11T07:33:00.000-08:00

Well...

... its lent. I didn't realise this until people started giving stuff up left right and centre.

I'm not quite sure how it happened but on Wednesday night myself and 4 friends entered into a pact not to masturbate for 46 days (for some odd reason lent is longer this year).

Now this seems like a silly idea to most sane thinking people. Afterall, masturbation is good for you and jolly good fun. What happened was my friend Rob claimed to me on Wednesday morning that he was going to be giving up for lent. Never one to be outdone by an alcoholic Bog Warrior (He's from mayo) I decided I would have to follow suit and maintain a zen like calm as he fell appart into a tightly wound ball of sexual frustration. Later that very same day we were discussing the subject over a snifter of port at Rob's country retreat (that's actually a lie, we were drinking Dutch Gold in his hovel of a home in Santry) and 2 other's (Dave and Sean) decided to join the fun (or lack there of). The final corner in our pentagon of abstence came in the form of one Chris Chan who we contacted via mobile telephone and told of our plot. He jumped at the chance to rid himself of the demon of self love.

So, who will break first? Has anyone already broken? Was anyone actually being serious?

Only time will tell.

Now then... to delete all that pornography I was talking about in my last post.

Add pornography to my list of vices!

2005-02-07T08:50:00.000-08:00

It would appear that I am addicted to pornography. According to this web site...

http://www.pointlesswasteoftime.com/pornoff.html

... there is nothing I enjoy more then observing any number of lewd acts of sexual perversion. Be it animal, mineral or vegitable there is no limit to my search for ever sicker pictures and movies. I am unable to stop myself. As it's an addiction I can hence rest easy as I download movie after movie of bone-a-fide filth. Maybe some day I'll join a program and will be able to kick this habit for good but for now I simply lack the will.

Darn.

Pornography is a sticky subject (No pun intended). Is it the thin egde of the wedge to moral corruption? Is it simply a harmless past time like talking to your friends at length on a mobile phone or smoking?

I'm sure this post had a point but I got distracted by the 2 girls kissing in my other browser window...

P.S. Thanks to Ian for the link.

If you're not good at something straight away then give up!

2005-02-03T04:04:00.000-08:00

People sometimes say to me "Yo A-N-D-Y, why you so fly?" to which I usually reply "Quit jivin me honky!" But one particular player hater said it to me the other day and I had to step back and re-evaluate...

Something was not quite right. After a quick glance at the nearest mirror I concluded that I was indeed looking as devilishly handsome as ever. What then could be the problem?

Only one conclusion could be drawn and after rereading my past blog enteries it was clear that they were on the whole rather dull. I had fallen into the very trap I had set out to avoid, my writing wasn't really about anything but rather a list of things I had done. Not even interesting stuff!

I have read other people's blogs and although most are pretty pants, there are a few that are really excellently written. The writers talk about ideas rather then minor events. They have opinions and ideas. They articulate themselves and make points. Other people read what they have written and react in some way.

It seems these days I am incapable or unwilling to think on a bigger scale and it bothers me. My concerns of late have been all of a practical nature and only in relation to my own little bubble. I fear my bubble is starting to shrink.

Change is required.

Driving rules

2005-01-14T03:20:00.000-08:00

Quick Note: Today instead of using my legs like a chump I DROVE to the train station.

Another baby step toward freeing myself from public transport.

Soon I shall be "rolling on eights" and looking "gangsta".

Horray for driving!

Funkography & Funkology

2005-01-12T04:49:00.000-08:00

Dear readers

You will be happy to know I have been keeping it low and lazy over the last few days. On Saturday I purchased my very first bass guitar. A Cort Artisan B4, not that I can really tell one bass from another but this one's cool.

I have been playing guitar for a few years now and figured it's time to venture in the low end of music. Gotta say, it's really addictive. I have spent hours just slapping and popping the strings and trying to figure out this "groove" thing bass players keep telling me about.

It probably won't replace the guitar as my weapon of choice but it's a hell of a lot of fun to play and should help me in my quest to avoid doing anything productive with my life.

Keep it phat.

Andy

Have a drink on me.

2005-01-02T10:39:00.000-08:00

2nd of Januray... Christmas is over!

For the first time in as long as I can remember I have no exams to be studying for. Normally at this time of year I would be preparing for a set of exams which will be starting in DCU in about 2 weeks. I think part of my brain refuses to believe that I'm free of them and is making me feel guilty for no good reason what-so-ever.

Oh well.

It has to be said I really enjoyed christmas this year, lots of good food and good wine. A few friends of mine hosted a really nice little jam session on the 29th. A room of musicians, throwing out random sing-a-long songs. I was right at home. Made me realise how much I missed jamming with people. As with so much in life, playing on your own is all well and good but playing with others is just so much better :-)

New years (which I normally hate) also turned out to be pretty good. Myself and a few friends ended up in a tiny house which was rather crammed to the brim full of people. Much drunken hilarity followed.

Now it's all over and I'll return to work on Tuesday ready to N.E.R.D. it up with the best of em.

Rock.

My blog will hear of this!

2004-12-22T06:33:00.000-08:00

Last night I ventured from my suburban fortress of the mundane over to DCU to meet up with some of my old friends from the "Eclectic Music Soc.". We ended up drunker then a one legged cat trying to bury a turtle on a frozen lake (very) and had many an in-depth conversation, most of which centered around music (deciding which songs would work well as bluegrass covers) or questioning each others sexuality.

Jolly good stuff but today our fearless hero (me) is a wee bit hung over and not quite firing on all pistons. With another 3 hours to go till I make my exit it's touch and go as to if I'll make it or not.

All this drinking is of course caused by Christmas. A time of year to embrace excese for two weeks straight and then wake up and slowly bring yourself back to reality.

I am really looking forward to this year as it'll be the first proper chunk of time off I have had in a rather long time. I have planned for this by buying my family presents which are mostly DVD's and box sets of TV series that I want to watch. A few days snuggled up in front of the TV will make a nice change from plodding around Dublin every day.

May the consuming begin!

A blog entry of sorts

2004-12-20T17:03:00.000-08:00

Good day

It would seem I am now the owner of a blog. How this came about is simple, my co-worker and (I'm ashamed to say) friend Mark seems to be rather preoccupied with the things and insisted I start one, if only to call him names.

He also insists there are people out there who would love to soak up my opinions on life and then post back highly insulting messages if they disagree with me in the slightest. I can then retort with child like insults of my own and we can have a stand off from across the globe. Sounds fun.

About me...

I'm 22 and come from Dublin (That's in Ireland and not some backwater in Alabama). I'm male and work as a software developer, the two generally go hand in hand although I'm happy to say the company I currently work for has a fair gender balance.

I just finished my masters degree a few months ago and was politely asked to leave DCU after 5 wonderful years. This seemed fair enough as I was getting a bit old to be hitting on the first years. This annoys me as it does not really fit into my plan of never growing up. After consulting many friends it seems I am not the only one whom adulthood has snuck up on.

What I'll be putting in here...

I'll do my best to avoid the "today I brushed my teeth, I then ate some food, I then got a train, I then went into work..." rubish and only post when I have something to say. How often this will be is anyones guess (hey least I'm honest).

Okay, that's it. Entry number one!

Take a screen shot, it may be worth something some day.

Andy