Belfast weekend with added Easter eggs

Easter Sunday, for those of a more secular persuasion it’s just another lovely day of the rather exciting rollercoaster we call life and how nice it isto have a holiday. So happy spring holiday or since there’s no harm in a name or acknowledging tradition, Happy Easter! A day off from work that isn’t for bad reasons, it can’t be frowned upon. At least for me this weekend, some down time was much needed and it couldn't have had much better timing.

As you might be able to tell I’ve re-found a bit of a cheerier mood, it probably helps that it’s been days without a call from an estate agent and the herbal remedy of a highly understanding Norn Girl, the odd alcoholic drink or two and a lot of sleep went a long way to bring me back to somewhere near as normal as I get, at least a cheery normal.

So Easter brought me eggs of two of the best kinds; one was of the yummy chocolate variety and other the life version of DVD Easter eggs - that is some small but fun things that bring a bit of excitement or that are just plain nice surprises that just had to be found or came out of nowhere unexpectedly. In the order that they happened between Friday night and Sunday here are the great Easter eggs of life that the worryingly mysterious Easter bunny left for me:

The first was the treat of the new episodes of Red Dwarf, episodes; Back to Earth part 1, 2 and 3 . I’ve been a big fan since I was younger, I’ve all the DVDs and although seemingly heavily influenced by the new financial backing to make it possible, it has not disappointed me. It’s almost as if Craig Charles, Chris Barrie, Danny John-Joules and Robert Llewellyn never left my screen. Kudos to the makeup department. Saying that it probably wasn’t too hard to get Robert Llewellyn looking like his good old Kyrten self, though no doubt it was still a gruelling plastering of prosthetics. I’ve still not seen the final episode, I had to save that for the repeats on Monday of all 3 episodes back to back. I’m still in hope that no matter what the ending, there might still be life left in the show and it’s not just the swansong the cast wanted to make as a movie for the last few years.

On Saturday another smile hijacked my face after Norn Girl pointed me in the direction of a listing on Ebay. To begin with the seller’s listings are as normal as any. The odd thing is that this Ebay power seller goes, well, a little ‘religiously out there’. I know the value of many of this sellers item’s to be at least ¼ of the prices being asked but 7k sales must mean it works:

“We are happy to ship your package anywhere in the U.S. We ship to Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Guam with no problem. If you are from one of the U.S. Territories you will need to pay for Priority Shipping, so we can print your label.

Invite Jesus into your heart today. His love is everlasting.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

Check out my other items! "

I’m still trying to decide whether taking Jesus into my heart is a good free gift and a deal clincher. I rather suspect the person ‘religiously selling’ is psychologically relating to their target market. The alternative is it’s an extra payment as they’re spreading the word and therefore helping themselves to that spot in heaven, sure, what price for eternal happiness?

Sure at least the religious message relates well to a bigger picture. That being the willingness to trust a person/institution with a monetary interest who is providing a message that can’t be proven. People with the same beliefs must no doubt be willing to pay the extra $10 an item to this seller. Ethical? I dunno. Not exactly appropriate at any rate, but it’s a marketing dream! I tried to tie this legally into the listing in my mind. I was torn between the toys being sold actually being named Jesus and that in this fantasy if you believe in the toy, God will bring you ever lasting life. I thought that was a rather ingenious back story though it must get boring having every toy being given the same. The other option was that it was an endorsement from the manufacturer. That though raised the question that if we’re all God’s children, but Jesus was his only son, can we only conclude that we must be adopted. I didn’t want to start to have to draw a family tree going back through evolution to find out who left us in a Moses basket by the cave door.

Moving away from religious oddities, the next Easter egg was on Saturday afternoon when we spotted a few Bees’ buzzing about the place. A sign spring is truly here.

The next came at Seaview in North Belfast, where Crusaders drew 1-1 with Lisburn Distillery. It wasn’t the game itself that spawned this egg; in fact the game wasn’t a great advert for the Irish League, largely due to the standard of refereeing on display - very stop start. Saying that I have seen worse English premier league games on TV this season. This Easter egg involved the Linfield manager David Jeffrey. He had come to Seaview to watch two of the teams that his Linfield side is due to play in forthcoming fixtures. The funny moment came as he walked into a room of Crusaders and Distillery supporters and received the appropriate badinage. No bad language, just enough friendly taunts to bring a smile to his face before he started chatting to the folks about the place. It reminded me again why the local game here has an edge over the big money game over the water. You wouldn’t see Alex Ferguson wandering into a room of Arsenal supporters at an Arsenal Vs Chelsea game and everyone enjoying the moment.

An actual chocolate Easter egg wasn’t far behind; though I only ate one of the two I’d been generously given by Norn Girl and her mum. The other will keep my sugar levels up over the next week that will involve a lot of sorting and packing.

The next non-edible Egg came in the form of Dr Who, the episode Planet of the Dead managed to go the way of Stephen King’s The Langoliers meets Back to the Future but without actually going back in time. Lee Evans and a Welsh accent made for some good comedy moments but as always it was just quality entertainment without adverts that made it such a treat. Another TV related gem came in the form of Aston Villa Vs Everton, a 3-3 thriller and some good points on the online Fantasy Premier League game.


To complete the box was a trip to Norn Girls mum’s house and a lovely meal. This was followed by some Supernatural and me being a big kid again. Norn Girls younger brother pulled out a box of Lego. I used to spend hours with the stuff as a kid and tonight I regressed, much like the cast of Red Dwarf, as if I’d never been away. It became an intricate improvised construction but here is a land/water hybrid vessel with several movable parts, including a multi directional rotor blade. Who doesn’t love Lego?