Talk of Manic Street Preachers the other day got me thinking about my favourite Manics song, Motorcycle Emptiness (sexier official video here) & in turn other great songs for the road. Here’s some of my other favourites:
Boys of Summer, Don Henley
She Bangs the Drum, Stone Roses
Take It Easy, The Eagles
Highway Star, Deep Purple
Dangerzone (Top Gun soundtrack)
Driving Home For Christmas, Chris Rea (seasonal obviously)
What are yours? *update: will compile list of all songs thrown into comments so off you go now & start listing!*
GAF is always followed by the Galway Races, who knows this may be my first year attending the famed festival!
June 10th is the final sign-up date for the Tour de Burren, which is part of the An Post Cycle Series. It promises to be a fab weekend with 3 different routes to choose from through some of the most wonderfuly scenery in the country. Register online here.
Jason is asking you to put your name down for another installment of the awesome BTW (Blogger, Twitter, Whatever) which is happening on Thusday 11th of June. See you there!
There’s a mega range of stars n starlets playing the Live at the Marquee do this summer in Cork, from Josh Ritter to Rod Stewart to Lady Gaga to Gilbert O’Sullivan and everything in between (which is pretty much everything).
Tickets for Muse @ The O2, Dublin this November are on sale on Friday morning via Ticketmaster. It’s going to rock & I shall see thee up the front as the cool kids say. If you don’t know who or what I’m on about I suggest you listen to this gorgeous delight (give it time, tis a slow starter but SO worth it):
I like to buy Irish if I can, especially when it comes to food stuffs. My dad is a dairy farmer & from that background alone I have an appreciation of the importance of supporting local food producers. Ireland produces some fantastic food from beef to cheese and all sorts in besides. This and the fact that one of Ireland’s biggest retailers, Dunnes Stores, have been advertising with the slogan “the difference is, we’re Irish” for the past while has irked me on examination of some of my purchases there recently.
Garlic comes from China. Mangetout (which I had to chuck due to some kind of caterpillar having made the journey within) came from Kenya. Herbs came from Thailand. I wouldn’t have questioned the origin of the garlic in particular had it not been for the awful quality of it.
I’m not naive enough to expect or presume that because Dunnes Stores is an Irish retailer using “Irishness” as a means of attracting Irish consumers that they should stock only Irish goods. It’s impossible. But I can’t help but question why more fresh products such as the ones specified above are not of Irish origin. Is it really cheaper & easier to ship the stuff from the other side of the earth? Is it all down to seasonal availability?
Good vs. Evil
Farmers markets have taken off around the country in the last few years including in my hometown of Ballyvaughan and on a whole they appear to be thriving. It’s of fantastic benefit to all involved – the producers, the consumers and the community. There’s a list of all the Farmers Markets here on the Bord Bia website. If you haven’t been before then I’d say give it a try & you’ll probably never want to set foot in Dunnes, Tesco or M&S ever again.
My favourite soundtrack for getting the blood flowing and the adrenaline pumping. Please do trun to 11…
She’s Hearing Voices:
Helicopter:
Forgotten how much I adore those guys. Their gig in the Phoenix Park is in my top 3 of all time, one of those outer-body experience type gigs. If they’re playing Oxegen I may just go to hear them alone. A W E S O M E.
And indeed, in the immortal words of Bon Jovi, living on a prayer. Half of 2009 has disappeared already. Insane. I was at home in Clare for the weekend & as the peacefulness of the place often allows, I had some much-required head-clearning time & space.
I thought back over resolutions made at the start of the year. I’ve never been very good at keeping them but I was pretty determined to do my best this year. It would appear I’m not doing too badly but could do with a mid-way kick up the rear to make sure I get the remainder to completion.
I’m hoping that buy throwing them out into the great wide open internet that those I encounter over the next while will bug me about one or two of them from time to time. Here’s the list (in no particular order):
get a full driving license
buy a car
learn to dance – set, tango or salsa
sing – as in put it to use by joining a choir
learn to become kick-ass at my job
read at least one book cover to cover
call my Nana more & keep in touch with all the family a bit better
