Some positive news in Northern Ireland?

Since the news and blogosphere these days have more than catered for those wanting to wallow in the negative side of news and current affairs I thought I would put forward a bit of a change. After all, why should the minority of crazies lead our mindsets down the low road? Maybe it's time for some red sky at night, bloggers delight!

Ok, for the record, some people are nuts - we knew it before and it’s being proved every day. In the past months we’ve had reports of probably the worst abuse of human nature of recent times. A minority of those in positions of trust within the Church finally proven to have abused their power in a horrific manner. Not a new concept but we’ve also many a politicians thinking they are doing the world right by being obsessed with quick fixes and looking out for themselves and their short term futures both in their ideology and in their material gain. Other days it’s racists of all creeds and colours picking on a ‘group’ of people living nearby because someone convinced them it was a good idea and would somehow help their own problems. Like those targeting those of Romanian decent in South Belfast.

Also, no doubt, any a personal tragedy will be hyped to sell papers and as per usual the actions of the few will be fed back to the masses as being a worry trend of the many. On top of that take for instance a physiologically disturbed individual going on a gun spree somewhere. Someone else who might just be as vulnerable see’s the hype and the sensationalism of the media and before you know it, one in a billion is going to think in a twisted way that being a copycat is a good idea as they want that attention as well. Where does it end?

Now I’m not saying all bad news is going to lead to its own self fulfilling prophecy that will cause more of the same sort of behaviour. Obviously the majority of people on the planet can get by hearing the worst and not be compelled to do the same. However from my point of view, and I realise it’s almost as crazy to try and generalise (but I have to, my posts are long enough as it is!) it’s not helpful for anyone’s wellbeing. Sometimes the facts are enough when it comes to knowing the problems we all face.

Sorry for the reminder of such things... now on to the happy news that wasn’t on the front page of the news or on most people’s recent blog entries today and in past weeks...

Coming up soon is the Belfast City Carnival, I attended it last year and in the sun it was a fun couple of hours, well worth attending in Belfast on the 27th June from 1.30-3pm if you can. It marks the welcome of Belfast’s new Lord Mayor, Naomi Long and the theme of this year’s parade is Space and Astronomy. Should it be sunny, it should be a great show.

4 Irish League players, Colin Coates and Martin Donnelly from Crusaders F.C, Stephen Carson of Coleraine and until recently Linfield Goalkeeper Alan Mannus, make the (albeit depleted Northern Irish squad) and do local football proud keeping a respectable 3-0 score line against an Italy squad featuring 2 players with world cup winners medals and many more with multi million £ price tags. Here is a match report of the Friendly; Italy 3-0 Northern Ireland 0

New murals in Belfast representing the non-paramilitary past of the area, the local community and a brighter future.

This Sunday (21st June) for many in N.I a big event, the GAA Senior Football Championship which sees Derry take on Tyrone.

A bit trivial but warming story about a cat in Scotland who survived over a month accidentally trapped in an industrial container. Another reason why cats rock and dogs suck. Ok inquisitive enough to end up locked in a container for a month but robust and resilient and self sufficient enough to live through it. Maybe a sign that in the long distant future the odds of a Red Dwarf type Cat mightn’t be that far out of the realms of reality.

Maybe for the time being this link will still lead the way in putting a smile on our faces... Kitteh Heavenz with Lolcats 4 Teh Nom @ Icanhascheezburger.com

A little piece of history was unearthed by a 17 year old digging a hole. A medieval silver ring got pulled out of the ground that was to be replaced by a fence post. Maybe digging yourself a hole isn’t such a bad thing! Farmers-son-unearths-Medieval-treasure

As well as the numerous other events and good news stories that you’ll only hear down the pub or in the locally distributed free newspaper. For instance the last time any of the great work done by local football clubs in regards to community relations never seems to make the major press. The other good news, news of a more personal nature, is that Norn girl and I have booked our honeymoon. We’re well chuffed to be heading to Mauritius later in the year, and lucky enough to be in a position to do so! – A position much helped by some cost effective shopping around and our relatives help. After the inevitable stresses and strains of arranging the big day, it’ll be a once in a lifetime trip that we can’t wait to take to herald the beginning of our marriage.

I know it’s hard times for a lot of people and its easy to sit behind a keyboard and try to put the world to rights but it really isn't all doom and gloom. The current problems will pass, new ones will come and I don’t know about everyone else but I reckon it’s about time to concentrate on the bright side as best we can and make the most of this crazy little existance.

Film, Film, Pow!

Whether it was the film crews on the streets, going to the cinema or noticing how our very own Northern Irish transformer is being built, last week threw a bit a film theme my way.

It’s an odd one really; I spent most of the week very tired and heading to work on auto pilot. Admittedly it was largely due to the week before and the residue from a bad cold and not sleeping properly. I probably didn’t help myself by not going to sleep as early as I probably should have given the circumstances. In my defence though, when I get home and just want to have a bit of a night, the couple of hours after getting home, cooking and doing anything that needs done, just don’t cut it. I’m slower than the average bear and like Yogi that includes my leisure time, once I get started watching a TV show or surfing the net that’s me there for a couple of hours at least. So usually bed time ends up going on midnight, if not later – student habits of old die hard it seems! However after being a bit run down, this lifestyle unfortunately resulted in me becoming a part time narcoleptic upon finally returning home from work on Friday.

So tied and a bit dazed it was odd to be heading to work one morning and to see a mass of large powerful lights surrounding a pub called the Garrick bar on Chichester Street. The place looked like a crime scene from the outside but the trucks and vans parked along the street gave away that they were defiantly home to a film crew and their gear.

Later the same day, heading home this time, I ended up walking down the back of the City Hall. Oddly I stumbled across a Big Red London bus, a red phone box that hadn’t been there the day before and a random tent with anti war slogans on it. Not far from these items was a group of about 30 people and some sort of makeshift set up for outdoor catering. Next to all this a sign saying “Caution Filming in Progress”.

I’m really not sure what they were filming for, but they weren’t isolated events that day as a colleague at work also told me they had seen a film crew at another location in town. It seemed from the London theme that they using the back of the city hall to re-create a London street scene. The Labour advertisement on the Bus combined with the ‘protest tent’ seemed to indicate something political but whether it be a drama or a party political broadcast or even a comedy, that’s for them to know and us to find out! I can’t find anything about the filming elsewhere but maybe before long all will become clear with an appearance of this scene on TV... do let me know if you see it!

To top it off, as I headed down the street a little further, I look down to see a bright tag kicking around on the floor and what do I find just laying there but yet another cinematic link...

Could it be Ben Stiller was in town or as the lable hints, in a wearhouse near by? It's a mystery!

After all the showbiz and in an attempt to relax we decided to have a bit of a date night. Norn Girl and I really do enjoy our random, though usually meal then cinema based, date nights - when we can afford it or aren’t too tired or lazy to head out of the house. We decided that day to head to see a movie that was new out as most others that are out we’ve either seen already or one of us didn't really want to see. We both knew very little about the movie and I hadn’t even seen a trailer for it. I’m starting to find that this is the best way to see movies as you aren’t so disappointed having already seen what are usually all the best bits in the trailer already.

The movie we picked to see was ‘The Hangover’ and I have to say I thought it was really rather good! In the magical world of cinema I don’t mind too much what I’m watching but I do prefer movies that can take me somewhere new and that keep me glued to the screen. For a comedy based around a stag do, it broke the preconceptions I would have had having now seen the trailer. Loads of laughs and a plot that keeps us intrigued by the characters being as unaware as we are as to what happened. An intriguing mystery that puts my earlier one to shame is laid out in front of us, leading from one comedy moment to the next. To top it off it’s not only funny but uses the screen well unlike some comedies (I’m thinking of several romantic comedies I’ve had to watch in recent times) that might as well have been made for TV. Sure it’s a little rude and maybe not one to watch with the kids but if you want comedy that has the potential to make you lol-a-lot and that even managed to include end credits worked in to be a meaningful part of the plot, then it’s a movie worth a watch.

Its reinvigorated a taste for the cinema (if it ever went away) so all being well we’ll be seeing a few more movies in the near future. One movie we aren’t likely to head to is the new transformers one. Although I do love Sci-Fi and I even loved to play with the plastic toys when I was younger, those movies based on cartoons and comic books really never seem to be that good. Having now sat through the trailer a couple of times, it just looks boring and unlikely to be much more than a comic book guys drool fest with special effects as the plot. I probably shouldn’t be too quick to judge but I’m tempted to see something on a whim from now on than something advertised to death before hand.

The biggest piece of advertising I’ve seen so far is the transformer that’s taken up residence in the disguise of the new Obel building. It’s a handy disguise but we can see through it, it seems friendly enough so it’s probably an Autobot and we should be safe but sure we’ll have to see how pretty it is before we know whether we should try convincing it to head back to Cybertron.


Update 06/09/2009

The filming that was going on around Belfast back in June this year has been revealed in the October 09, City Matters (Belfast City Council Residents magazine) to be, "an upcoming Channel 4 drama 'Mo', in which she (Julie Walters) plays the role of the late Mo Mowlam, former Northern Ireland Secetary of State". Another mystery solved! According to the article it'll be on TV sometime next year :)

Weekend of the weakened wandering week.

I don't know about everyone else but some weeks I just want to curl up and sleep and save up my energy for a different week. For me, this was one week I could have done a great tortoise impression. Does sod's/Murphy’s law exist? Or when the summer made it to Belfast for what is a rare occasion, was it just a pure mix of random chance that saw Norn Girl and I unable to frolic and play out in the sun?

It begun at the end of Last weekend when the blue sky appeared out of nowhere and the temperature soared. However this was also when Norn Girl fractured a bone in her foot. My daring fiancée Norn Girl would gladly admit to being a slight bit accident prone, though in her defence she's usually a little more than unlucky. At her dad’s house she was walking down the stairs when she missed a step and landed one further down than expected, the result, the top of her toes occupying the space ordinarily reserved for the ball of your foot. At first, when she appeared back outside in the sun we didn't realise it was broken but being sensible she made it to the hospital during the week and an x-ray confirmed she'd fractured it. Chance 1 - 0 Us

The week actually began ok, the sun was still shining and we had plans to go swimming and start going back to the Gym but the foot situation combined with me gettinggiven a training session to attend at the last minute on Monday scuppered that idea. Chance 2-0 Us

Tuesday was upon us and Norn Girl got her broken bone news. Although busy the weather was still great and optimism high. Sat on a chair in the kitchenNorn Girl was a star and made a dish she'd wanted to try to make for us - Balsamic Vinegar Chicken, and it was nom to the highest degree and somethingwe'll defiantly be keeping in mind to have again in the near future. Combined with watching the 7th Series of Scrubs that had arrived in the post the week, like the weather, seemed as though it might have turned. 2-1 and back in the game.

Like a usual romantic comedy, half way through the week and the good turns to bad as I wake up with a head cold. Being a numpty I head into work anyway and struggle through the day. With Norn Girl out of action and me being the walking dead with my mild case of man flu, we made a sorry sight when we gave into temptation and inability and ordered a takeaway. The delivery driver went to the wrong address but was quick to call and find us and we soon laid eyes on our dinner. We had ordered from the Ginger Tree Japanese restaurant. It was delicious and well worth the money, pretty much thesort of takeaway I've been hoping to find since, well ever! I got what is listed in the menu as Chicken Yakiniku and it was restaurant quality in a takeout container. Very impressed!

Even with my nose trying to audition for a new horror movie going by the title of 'Snot Sore' the day was a 1-1 draw, taking the score to 3-2.

Thursday we woke early to make it to the polling station. The sun was still there, warm and bright and teased us out into the light. My head however wasn't there and I felt like I'd just had someone poke a banana in my ear like poor Charlie the Unicorn. Not only that but someone had wedged a viscous acid down the back of my throat. Thankfully, unlike Charlie, my kidneys were still there but my insides were hurting a little too from all the sneezing and coughing. Voting went smoothly; we were only 2 of a few there. My 1 and 2 were pencilled into the paper and probably the stand of the booth too with the amount of pressure I put on the pencil to make the marks easily readable. After dropping the paper into the box I went to the bus stop with Norn Girl before doing the right thing by my health for once and headed back to the house. After calling work, I flumped back into bed. The sun and the world was whirling by outside but on this my first day off in quite a while (I don't get bank holidays) I was spending it laid up and leaking fluids. To rub salt into the wound or in this case more snot into my face, just when I shut my eyes and felt like I could get a quick nap in, a Diane Dodds canvassing van kept driving around the block filling the air with muffled sounds of desperation from its megaphone.

The day did end ok. I managed to make it out of bed by 5 thanks to a mix of tablets and headed to the post office in town. I was going to pick up parcels that had been unable to be delivered earlier in the week, one of which being semi wedding related... a new digital camera - not the newest of compact cameras but a rather expensive for my standards; Canon PowerShot SX110 IS. Thank you again to the lovely peoples who gave me money and vouchers for my Birthday.

Afterwards, still wrapped in my winter coat and probably the only one wearing a coat for miles, I made it to my mum-in-law to be's house for a wee gathering to talk aboutwedding related to-do's. Sadly even the Big Brother launch and another dose of the Japanese takeaway couldn't distract me from my now aching sides and inflamed internal head tubing. For me at least that made the score 4-2.

Friday, well I'm feeling a bit better though still full of gunk, Norn Girl is happy as we're planning to try and have a BBQ and as normal we're looking forward to the weekend.So far so good and I've made it through a day at work. I even got chance to try out the new camera and wow is it good! Probably helps that my standards aren't too high but what the hey!

Chance 4-3 Us.

So in retrospect maybe it wasn't such a bad week and sods law didn't completely scupper us. We still lost to chance on points but maybe a half full approach can tip the balance. So here's hoping for the sun to keep shining a little while longer and for a good weekend! Sure, bad things might mess up our plans and maim us but at least sods law keeps things unpredictable. I'll sneeze to that!

P.S since I typed this yesterday the blue sky has disappeared to be replaced by some type of stratus cloud and with it, the BBQ is rained off. Oh well! Sure, we’ll still try and enjoy the weekend anyway. A morning in bed not having to be out in the rain has already been the best time I’ve had all week!