What a Mad Couple of Months

Like all the busy times (OK, and lazy times too) when I fail to write here regularly, I feel compelled to apologise for not sharing more with the world. But that's crazy, right? It's like going down the pub and apologising to random strangers for not being down there the day before sharing with them the story of how your day went. So as it is, this time I'll just slide past all that and onto another topic.

Which leads me to ask the question - Do I share too much online? - My thrush cream says I don't. The fungal infection on my back said I did... but the cream won the battle! I'm now 'period of low immune system fungal free', good times! and now you know.

That's just the last week or so, before the application of feminine orientated pharmaceuticals to my torso, there was already plenty going on. Here is a quick summary of what Norngirl and I have been up to besides having too much to eat...

And too much to drink...

Back on the 23rd October we headed along to the Waterfront Studio to see Tony Hawks - the Author and Comedian. It was a fun night, the crowd wasn't huge but most of the audience was up for a laugh and that we did. Obviously with Tony Hawks it's going to be a little more gentle than a Jimmy Carr or Dara Ó Briain or an all out stand up of that nature. Tony tells a few jokes through stories, much like his books, and adds in some silly stuff and music for good measure. It was a fun night and well worth the entrance fee.

Talking of Jimmy Carr, a couple of weeks later we also went to see him perform his 'Laughter Therapy' at the Waterfront Hall. Prior to it we had the most deliciously affordable meal at The Northern Whig. I'd never been there for anything other than drinks, so I wasn't expecting anything amazing and the portions aren't huge but dude was it yummy. I usually hate batter on a fish but it was delicious, as were the potatoes and buttery saffron sauce that came with it. After Made In Belfast started putting their prices up, I was missing an amazingly yummy meal at a cheap enough price for me to afford it, and it turns out, it was hiding in the Northern Whig. We since went back on the day we substituted for our wedding anniversary, more on that later, and it was just as yummy the 2nd time with different meals on their 2 for 10 offer. So anyway, yes, Jimmy Carr. he talked about brownies too but his variety were scouts without nuts. As always, Jimmy Carr was excellent, crude and rude but politely so and brilliantly funny. Some of the audience interaction parts were a little bit of a let down but that was due to the audience not having any stand out characters. The picture part was the best yet, so wrong but yet hilarious. As Jimmy mentioned in the show, its about laughing before your conscious catches up to question it. As always, I can't wait until he's back to do another show.

The football has been keeping us busy too in more ways than one but it'll all be worth it in the end. C'mon Crues! Wooo! From watching games, to fundraising and from attending a testimonial dinner to playing 5-a-side in a charity competition at work, that game of kicking a bag of wind about sure has kept me busy.

In the last few weeks we also headed away for a few days, a trip to Rochdale for a wedding of one of Norngirl's relatives at Rochdale Town Hall.

The wedding was nice and the Greek night we went to was great fun, great food too and plenty of dancing and plate smashing. If you're looking for a good place for a party in Littleborough in the outskirts of Rochdale, you probably couldn't go too far wrong at Demetris that's for sure.

I wasn't very impressed by Rochdale though, the town hall was lovely but there is not a great deal to see in the town to be honest.

In the short time we were there it reminded me of Bradford but even more in need of regeneration. In the end on Saturday when we had some down time from the festivities, we went to see what the Trafford Centre was all about. I didn't really think it had much choice compared to the likes of Meadowhall, and with no Greggs, I was highly disapointed. Manchester was looking all cosmopolitan in the evening light though (see photo at the start of this post), a nice city to visit.

I mentioned before about our anniversary - it just so happened that 2 days before our actual anniversary we were both off work anyway, so we decided to celebrate early. As well as the meal at The Northern Whig, we headed along to Belfast Zoo. I know, maybe not a regular first choice for a romantic occasion but one I would recommend never the less. Though maybe not ideally on a cold November day if you can help it. We had a picnic with us and ate it by the lake before wandering around the animal enclosures.

Inside the reptile house was either a very lucky lost Peacock or, as I'd like to imagine, an evolutionary advanced Peacock with a heightened sense of common sense.

The Peacocks wander the grounds freely but not usually indoors. I like to think he must have snook in to enjoy the warmth. I think he did as he wasn't going to move from his warm spot by the heated tanks, he was guarding his sauna space whilst being watched by the other residents like this Chameleon.

Around the zoo, the Elephants, Giraffes and Zebra were out and about, as were the awesome Lions but most of the apes and bears were tucked up in the warmth of their burrows and heated rooms.

Sadly, the Malaysian Sunbears, the very animals that my blogger screen name is in homage to, were amongst those out of sight. I don't blame them mind you. The only animal at the top of the zoo brave enough to be out and about in the cold and with all the noise of the construction work (they're rebuilding the zoo's coffee shop at the top of the hill) was a lone hog that was frolicking in it's private mud-bath.

There were plenty of highlights in our 2nd wedding anniversary winter Belfast Zoo trip:

- Seeing a sleepy bat go to the toilet whilst hanging from a branch - which answered a great unanswered question! The trick is it wakes up enough to hang by it's 'hands' the right way around and then like a gymnast swings back into position once it's fertilised the floor below. Gravity 0 - 1 Bat.

- A giant Rabbit that made other species of rabbit look like mice in comparison.

- Elephant feeding time, turns out we might not have been the first species to find it fun to throw our food into the air and catch it in our mouths.

- Lions - RAWRRRRRRR. For a few minutes the Lionesses were just playing like my dads kittens, was hard to believe they could eat your hand off. Then the lady came to feed them and it was a quick reminder to resist the urge to take one home. Kittehs are powerful!

- Things that swim - specifically the Sea-lions and Smooth-coated otters. The Sea-lions are always a great sight, looking at them sitting still, I'd think they'd be slow and clumsy but they have more grace and agility then anyone human I know. The way they can turn and speed through the water and then leap like a penguin to clear a good few feet of rock and land perfectly, the Simpson's had the Dolphins take over but I reckon in reality it'd be the Sea-lion that took to land, it's always those you least expect and I reckon they're cleverer than they look.

Has anyone ever seen the Smooth-coated Otters out and about before? I hadn't until this time, I just assumed they were shy and retiring types, but nope, this time they were up close and personal.

They'd been playing in the water as we approached them but then a group of birds came close to the end of their fence behind some bushes. The Otters sprang into action as if they were Meerkats, like this actual Meerkat...

They were overly curious about the white feathery bird things lurking behind the fence, I'm not sure if they were on alert or just thought dinner was approaching but they were largely oblivious to two humans stood literally a couple of feet from where they had come to nosey from. Obviously we're just not a priority or deemed as food or scary to a captive Otter. Amazing creatures though, their tails and coats are something else, so sleek and shiny. Norngirl learnt a neat trick too. If an Otter is on the look out and if you raise your hand up in the air like you're doing a Mexican wave, they're distracted by it for a moment until they realise you're just a stupid human and will sit upright on their tails in a true Meerkat like pose.

- There were also some fun birds who seemed as inquisitive about us as we were of them. Maybe they're plotting their take over of the world with the Sea Lions.

So that was our Wedding Anniversary Belfast Zoo trip. In more recent days, we had a hectic week of preparation and local football fund-raising and since then we've been trying to prepare for Christmas.

We just had a great weekend - well, apart from the very sad news about Gary Speed – my favourite Leeds United player when I was a kid, but on the Saturday before all that happened we really had a great time at the Odyssey Arena where the Belfast Giants took on Braehead Clan (from Glasgow). It was a game packed with highlights and a nail-biting finish which saw the Giants take a penalty, ride it out then out of the penalty box flew Jon Pelle, a long cross ice pass set him on his way and he slammed the puck into the net to tie the game up at 4-4 with about 5 minutes to go, two late goals sealed a win.

If you weren't at the game on Saturday night, courtesy of UTV, this is what you missed... well this and the great company, a good atmosphere and some beer - hockey rocks!

December is looking like another mad month, this time though scattered with visits from family, Christmas parties, some more football, preparing some more for Santa and getting the house decorated, but it'll be worth it in the end. Although I'm not a fan of the whole 5 month build up to the day, I really do like Christmas. I even bought a battery powered £5.99 plastic toy train to put around the base of our tree. Hopefully, if we have enough time and I can find some model paint, it shall become a small project to Christmas it up and I'll be sure to share it with you. Maybe even a video :)

How I Met Your Blog Post

Ever lived in a city? Can appreciate a Liberal point of view? Possess a sense of humour? Yes?! You might be in luck my awesome readers! Haaaave you met How I Met Your Mother?

I'm sure plenty of you have but I'm going to type about it anyway. The show has been running in the states since 2005 and on the likes of E4 over here in the UK for some time but some how it slipped by my consciouness for six years before being brought to my attention via my sister-in-law and Norngirl and I starting to watch it on holiday in Mallorca back in May. Since then we've already caught up to date on as much as has been shown. On the DVDs the shows are about 20 minutes long and into those 20 minutes are crammed some brilliantly funny lines, imaginative plots, running jokes and a concept that leaves you guessing. I couldn't believe it was a US sitcom or why I hadn't seen it before May this year. If you're old enough - like 23+ you'll undoubtedly indentify with charicteristics of most of the core group of fictional friends who we get to know quite well.

The main premise of the show is that Ted Mosby, in the year 2030, is telling his two teenage children the story of how he met their mother. To that end we follow Ted taking a retrospective and life lessons learnt approach to his past. but this is 'future Ted' and his past is our present in reality - e.g in 2009 in the story was 2009 in real life but told from the perspective of 'Future' Ted in 2030 telling his kids about his life from their present. 'Current' or 'today's Ted (played by Josh Radnor) in the episodes doesn't know what he was to learn through the motions of life, love and friendship in the big apple, and we find what he and his friends got up to as if we were his kids. The key difference being that we the audience are kept on tentahooks waiting to find out that little bit more about who their mother actually is where as you'd really hope the characters of Ted's children do have some idea.

At it's base I'd describe it as 'Friends' meets 'Cheers' but with better jokes. I also see bits of Red Dwarf in there with Ted and Barney being friends who on one hand help each other but on the other hand represent opposing outlooks on life - I mean they're a bit like the characters of Arnold Rimmer and Dave Lister though it's not a perfect comparison because Barney and Ted do get on more.

According to this interview with E Entertainment the creators of the show say the concept for it came from the idea "Lets write about our friends and the stupid stuff we did in New York".

and it really shows because it really does feel like the characters fit so well to their setting and what life is like, especially for the characters of Marshal (played by Jason Segel) and Lilly (played by Alyson Hannigan) who portray a refreshingly realistic type of relationship for TV characters in a sitcom. For the most part, the show isn't filmed in New York but it is set there and apart from some of the car scenes, they do a great job of disguising this. Being set in NYC it does feel like you're there with them, they do lots of 'New York things' and spend a lot of time in their booth at their local, the MacLaren's Pub. The relationship with what is an awesome city really does add to the show but I can't say much more without starting to give things away.

As well as Ted - Architect - and his best friend Marshall Eriksen - new Lawyer - who is in a long term relationship with Lily Aldrin - kindergarten teacher, there is also Robin Scherbatsky (played by Cobie Smulders) - TV presenter/proud Canadian, and Barney Stinson (played by Neil Patrick Harris) - who does something for a not very nice company and gets paid loads for it, womanises and encourages all sorts of other randomness. I so badly would like to describe them all in more detail and reference more of the show but I'd have hated it if someone told me all the ins and outs of the characters and plot.

I'm honestly not trying to sell anything, I don't do affiliate linking on my blog. It's paid ad free :-) but if you haven't given it a chance before, I'd really recommend you do, not least because then you'll get all the obscure refreneces to it that might slip into my blog from time to time - it'd be hard not to being so densly packed with memes. Also this post serves as a 3 month warning as it is likely that when the DVDs of series 6 and then the seasons 7 and 8 are made and shown on our TV screens, that I will end up talking about it or at least referencing to it in more detail. The info is there on Wikipedia or various TV sites if you really want to know the plot without watching it but if you can, give it a watch, it's a program that really does take the pulse of today's late 20s/early 30's generation very well, a sparkles of a show, an experience that is legend. wait for it. dary!

Right, in the meantime I'm heading to read some of Barney's Blog. someone has to!

10 O'Clock Live and a laugh of fresh air.

I've been meaning to type one of those posts about current events, world affairs and the ins and outs of all that is driving me nutty in the world. From the Con-Lib coalition helping to force us towards U.K. Corp (where we'll probably just have to be glad to have oxygen we don't have to pay for), to the stresses of the work and the madness of mankind. I know, old before my time, get a life, stop listening to Radio 4 at the age of 26, etc, etc, blah blah blah. The thing is, these things wriggle their way into my conscience each day and must rub my frontal lobe against my parietal lobe or something because it's an action that makes me want to facepalm, then get sorted on some plans to emigrate.

That dissipated a little last night however. After a trip to the Gym, dinner and a short marathon of Star Trek Enterprise, I happened to catch the second episode of Channel 4's new show 10 O'Clock Live. I had meant to sit down to watch the first one but never got chance and it turns out I've been missing out. It was just the shot of comedy on the right subject matter that I needed. As they rattled through their scripts it was great to know I'm obviously not the only one thinking how messed up the system is in this country and, well, the world. Although after watching, the system and 'democracy' in which we live still feels messed up, I don't feel so alone in holding the thoughts I was going to try and express. Thankfully my favourite comedian and his colleagues managed to say it in a better way than I could. Whoever writes it has my kudos flying their way.

Jimmy Carr, David Mitchell, Lauren Laverne and Charlie Brooker are four very smart and funny people who are also perfectly suited to indulge us in what I can only describe as The Daily Show meets a hybrid of Question Time and Mock the Week sprinkled with a hint of Spitting Image - the Spitting Image thing I think is just a feeling of the show, something in the realms of the similarity of the satire rather than the appearance of the hosts.

Unlike some reviews such as this one by Kevin O'Sullivan on the Daily Mirror website, where it was declared after the first show that, 'as of now, 10 O’Clock Live is dead in the water', I found the show oozes with great humour and intelligent chatter but best of all it doesn't hold back in asking the questions you don't seem to get on other shows, though it does poke fun at the tabloids somewhat. Having now seen the same show he reviewed, I think all I've taken from Kevin's review is that he may be missing two cents of humour short of a dollar of understanding. Maybe he'll change his mind when it becomes the must-view show that I'd say it is, going by what I've seen so far.

If you share my little worries, fancy a bit of comedic release and haven't given it a watch yet, I'd highly recommend taking a look over on the Channel 4 On Demand Website for the 10 O'Clock Live show where if you're in the UK you can catch up with the series so far and choose for yourselves. Other than that, it's on Thursdays at 10pm and then repeated on a Friday at 11.20pm. Episodes are around 45 minutes long. Happy laughing :)

The Hypnowheel of Belfast.

As promised, we now break for an interval from the exploration of the Cavehill Country Park, so put up your feet, sit back and take a breather with a rare sighting of the reincarnation of the Belfast Wheel... the Hypnowheel of Belfast. 

The Hypnowheel is a mysterious entity which chose to look over Belfast from the heights of Napoleons Nose... don't enjoy the view for too long though, for the Hypnowheel would like your FULL attention...

Northern Ireland's alternative general election summary.

Inspired by the funniest bit of media to grace the UK's May 6th, 2010 General Election, I thought I'd try to bring a bit of an alternative review of the political events we witnessed here in Northern Ireland over the last couple of days. So please join me for a few minutes and I'll try not to keep you hanging around as long as Fermanagh and South Tyrone.

If you haven't guessed already the bit of media I'm referring to was the immensely funny Channel 4's Alternative Election Night. A show that was hosted by David Mitchell, Jimmy Carr, Charlie Brooker and Lauren Laverne and made me laugh all 4 of my cheeks off even more than Conservatives complaining on Radio5 today. It wasn't meant to be funny on the radio but I just couldn't keep a straight face. I mean callers were lifting their handsets to their heads to moan that their party has to actually come down off its high horse and 'talk' with other parties. Parties that after all make up the other 63.9% (with one constituency still to be decided) of voters who didn't vote for them... or as the case might be outside of England, the 80.5% of the electorate who voted against a Tory government - and that's a stat including the other comedy gold that was the Ulster Conservatives and Unionists New Force (though not the Fermanagh and South Tyrone unionist candidate who said he would take the Tory whip). How long will the quick attempt to buy a tribal vote just in case of a hung parliament continue is a intriguing question. Is the UUP likely to get Conservative HQ 'junk' status? Or is it just likely there is to be a bit of re-branding? Perhaps "UCU New Force can be felt by Jedi Cameron as strong - trust in the force, party" or "Ulster Conservatives and Unionists Revenge of the Sixth"?

And it wasn't just the Galactic Tory Empire that was having trouble with the Rebel Alliance here in Northern Ireland when it came down to tribal politics. Our fair and benevolent First Minister Peter Robinson found his hand being lightsabered by the positive force. Naomi Long led the Alliance to arguably one of the most significant victories of the election here and one that shows that even tribal leaders aren't above the democratic process. A positive campaign and admittedly although as I'd be biased since I voted Alliance in my constituency, a great step forward in Northern Irish politics. I'm almost tempted to move to East Belfast!

As it is, I'm not alone in the optimism that this might be a turning point in Northern Irish politics. Akin to taking down the shield generators on Endor, in time, maybe the Alliance and the Ewoks, ermm sorry, Green party and other moderate candidates may be able to normalise politics here, letting us finally vote on issues that effect us all as a single community. We can but keep the dream alive.

Why a single community? Well, other than what I said in this Nick Roll post, I hate to break it to everyone on planet Earth but we are all human and part of a global community - our species' future will depend on everyone pulling together at some point - even if it is just to co-ordinate getting away from each other and flying to separate planets like in Dr Who with Starship UK the other week! So even if the naughty boys and girls (who make friends by choosing to sit in separate groups and only agree to play with each other nicely when someone holds the chance of more toys their way) would like to make us all think otherwise, that isn't our future. At least not a pleasant future anyway. I think the Channel 4 Alternative Election Night got it spot on in bringing it all into perspective when they had the charismatic and worldly wise Dr Brian Cox giving the top 5 things we SHOULD be worried about. From Super Volcanoes to Supernovas, which would pretty much kill all of us, number one was mankind's own stupidity.

Which leads me nicely on to another MP elected - Sammy Wilson. His re-election by the votes of the happy go lucky residents of East Antrim may worry anyone interested in the growth of science, technology, niche green markets in renewable power and manufacturing throughout the UK - after all, his vote in Parliament is unlikely to be for green economic change - at least going by the environmental views he's held in the past - but wait! Maybe I'm not giving the credit to the DUP voters in East Antrim they deserve... after all, sending him to London to once again be 1 voice amongst 649 others (where we would hope some common sense on major issues might shine through anyway), we're also getting a free gift! I personally believe it to be one of the best results of the election - now he's re-elected, he's stepping down from his his ministerial position and the Northern Ireland Assembly. Good times!

In North Down we saw popular opinion shine through for Sylvia Hermon who left everyone in her dust and I thought she came across very well on TV. The interview made it seem like she might be in a game of Deal or no deal. If it came to it Banker Cameron or Banker Brown could be calling to test the waters but the good news is she sounded like she'd hold on for bigger money. Sure, if it was needed for any party to join some tangled coalition or informal support, maybe they'd all get to take turns at opening the boxes until it was their turn to play? I reckon we could hold out for £299 million if Plaid Cymru are holding out for £300 million. All we need to make this work is Noel Edmonds on board. Sadly it'll all probably collapse before going to air due to the banker getting a bit greedy selling all the audience seats to people who can't afford them. In the short term maybe getting all the Blues out of the way first is a good idea and we'll leave the Reds for later!

The most hotly contested seat of this general election in the whole of the UK though has to be Fermanagh and South Tyrone. It wasn't the eventual winner that made it exciting but the number of votes involved. In the end Michelle Gildernew took the seat by a margin of 4 votes, yep, wouldn't you be gutted if you were a Rodney Connor supporter and didn't bother to vote or missed the cut off time? Who knew there was actually a place where every extreme vote counted!? After being bored to sleep by the slow results trickling through at around 2.30am we missed this one being called live or the recounts with the final result being declared at 20300 to 20304 after the 3rd recount! Not only that but now it seems even this result is being disputed. Here is the full story of the Fermanagh and South Tyrone count on the BBC site. I feel sorry for anyone counting there, just imagine you've been up all night and get asked to do a 3rd count! All the while, probably being glared at by the two candidates/supporters from opposite sides of the 'traditional' divide. I suspect it would feel like making a funny sound by accident and then making it again to make it sound like you meant to make the sound and then realising they might not have heard the first time and thus have to do it again all the while wondering if they heard all 3 and think you need help.

The rest of the DUP, Sinn Fein and SDLP candidates who gained the public's vote seemed to be elected without much of a shock with no other seats changing hands and not too many delays. With counting happening overnight it also proved to the rest of the UK and Ireland that we've either found a new use for the night staff at a 24 hour Tesco, or, as is more likely, we have joined the rest of the world in planning accordingly for a special occasion. Get us and our in time election declarations, still a wee way to go before rivalling Sunderland.

And that was that for now. We could probably all end up doing it all again before too long depending how all the negotiations go. So next time I want to see TV executives asking the party leaders to compete in Krypton Factor as well as live debates. The good news is that no matter what, most of us who live from pay check to pay check are still likely to be worse off in the near future but luckily the financial system and billionaires will be very grateful. I'm rather dubious at the moment as to how things will pan out, I doubt it'll be as bad as the election scare tactics made out but you never know. Like the public in Greece found, you never know if we hear everything - like those big numbers that have gone walkies. I presume, like IKEA flat packs, where these days they usually give you one extra screw that you weren't expecting, I'm still waiting for one to show up both in the package here and over the water. I'm just hoping this half decent start to a hung parliament does end up providing some real and long lasting changes, both in a shift to normalised politics for Northern Ireland and general electoral reform in the whole of the UK. With nothing more to say on the subject for now I'll sign off today with a video recently posted by Stephen Fry. So just in case it goes mammaries up with electoral reform this time out, here is that light hearted yet serious video starring John Cleese on the subject of Proportional Representation and why we need it:

Losing our Rocky Horror Picture Show virginity

Not last Friday but the Friday before, 7 people gathered at a Restaurant in Belfast City Centre. Their fates from this point on are a little blurry as they became embroiled in a transexual, Transylvanian, extra terrestrial adventure at Belfast's Grand Opera House.

What they do remember is that they had consumed their inter dimensional sonic transducer fuel at Restaurant Olio on Brunswick Street found underneath the Travelodge hotel. It was rather tasty, especially the tangy chili pasta dish that harboured a fair bite. The early evening science fiction double feature at Grand Opera House (GOH) was not long from getting under way as they took to the stairs to find their seats.

Looking around they noticed some people were more scantily clad than others. A Friday night in Belfast often has a few risky numbers on show but with Rocky Horror in town its the men scaring the taxi drivers with revealing outfits. Some of the more dedicated fans seemed a bit cold and should maybe have worn a 3rd sock like the soon to be on stage Brad, but kudos to them for the effort - face paint and all!

Our band of Rocky Horror virgins hadn't really specially dressed for the occasion. Some would say the one known as Simon was representative of the bunch, as he'd seen the movie but only several years ago and couldn't even remember how it ended. At one point they'd all planned to go dressed up, or down as this case would be, he like many thought to be tricky to know what goes, and it had put them off. A shame, but probably the best for their work colleagues. It may have made for an interesting dress down day but a day likely to be followed by a weekend trip to the Job Centre. Basically, like any self respecting virgins, they were playing it safe.

The curtain rose on the back of the opening number and we were introduced to fellow virgins of another kind, Brad and Janet. Soon joining us was a former screen Transylvanian, making a star guest appearance as the Narrator... none other than legend Christopher Biggins.

The show was great - the sexual in your face comedy, whimsical love, hate, life and death plot intertwined with some very talented performers who seemed as dedicated to the interaction with the audience as the audience were to the actors and actresses on stage. Hardly an act went by without those who had either seen the show live already or had just spent too much time looking such things up online (like this rocky horror virgins guide), throwing the lines,  that are seemingly now part of the experience, out into the open within the theatre. Our wee band of virgins were soon getting used to this retro new world of musical theatre that brought the actors to the seats and the audience into the show. Somewhat like a Victorian music hall being audio-vibratory-physio-moleculary transported into the Moulin Rouge. The time warp was hardly over before our almost experienced Rocky Horrored contingent were being mesmerised by yet more transvestite shenanigans. For after a quick break they were jumping right back into bed with it. And so they all flew through this new realm, through space and, who knows, perhaps even time itself. It all went very quickly. Frank-N-Furter, Brad, Janet, Riff Raff and Magenta amongst others had ended their tale, the book had closed on the adventure and now Rocky Horror Picture Show virgins no more, 7 people amongst the masses were brought back to Belfast.

As they left even happier than they had arrived those who had gone dressed up spilled out into the streets and as they passed by the city hall on our Bus, it was a great sight to see the rocky horror spirit walking down the street, heading home. Men in corsets and fishnets, women in plastic and leather dresses with the odd Surgeon, Rocky and Riff Raff close by. Our witnesses were glad to see the realities merge and a bit of repression, if only for a fleeting moment, being lifted from the streets of Northern Ireland. So the next time the newly indoctrinated fans of Rock Horror have chance, they'll be getting into the spirit of it... they're already planning their costumes!

Last year, the BBC and some famous types.

Happy new year everyone! Blogging is back... two trips to BBC related events turned into three just before Christmas 2009. Our first trip was as part of the Audience to BBC N.I Spotlight special show on the 13th October. The 2nd trip was to a recording of a BBC Radio Ulster and likely Radio 4 show; Colin Murphy's Great Unanswered Questions. The 3rd trip out was to Radio 1’s ‘A Night with the Chris Moyles Show’.

So back to the beginning, and I guess to this, the ticket section of the BBC website. For this is where anyone wanting to join in the fun who hasn’t got slightly enthusiastic friends or loved ones to do the application bit. Well that or listen in to radio shows for ticket giveaways.

First up was a wedding build up trip to be a slightly bemused member of the Spotlight Special TV show that was shown on Tuesday 13 Oct 2009 at 22:35 on BBC One N.I.

On stage were a collection of 4 political figures from the Northern Irish political scene and not one representative with a none polarised view point. Perfect time for a few hard hitting questions you would think! Alas, the audience (which included my silly self) were first brought into a room before the filming took place and were given refreshments. Then we were given information on those to be grilled and we were asked to provide questions. Obviously the producer had an idea of a question they wanted to be asked because they came back in to ask if anyone had considered asking such a question and this meant only one thing. A thing I should probably have known... these shows prep those coming on and they’d been given a range of topics and no question was going to be asked that strayed from that. So although you could come up with any question relevant to current affairs you weren’t going to be asking it unless it fitted in with the themes pre decided.

Disappointing to me but understandable... after all most of these people (the politians on stage that is) are just spokes people, they have the final say on things but I’m hazarding a guess they aren’t exactly experts on a lot of what they talk about, without preporation they'd probably be rabbits in the headlights. The real experts are those in the civil service and those whom the civil service liaise with... the people whom, when it boils down to it, answer the questions... rather than those who are given a large salary and from where I’m sitting pretty much just stand up and read the answers. From the resultant questions and answers, this show seemed to be primarily a case of giving another showcase to the extreme view points of the N.I political spectrum - to give them a chance to vent about the issues they’d been prepared for rather than questions the public would like to ask of them. For me, an opportunity wasted by the BBC. Where was the Green Party representative or Alliance was not just what I was thinking but also a question posed by another member of the audience before the show started and it received almost an unanimous round of applause from the rest of the audience. Maybe an idea for the BBC for future shows!

I’m not even going to go into the waffle and array of only slightly meaningful discussion (to me anyway) by the members of the panel. There really wasn’t all that much interaction with the audience, just each Politian debating with another for the most part. Conor Murphy, Margaret Ritchie, Nelson McCausland and David McNarry were the politians in question. All they managed to do was re-enforce my doubt in the usefulness of a political system dominated by polarised viewpoints . Though I was intrigued how Margret Richie was trying to unsuccessfully twist a question asked to her to fit the answers and information laid out in her notes. Kudos to Mark Carruthers though, I gained a new found respect for TV presenters, especially those chairing debates! All the time he had to juggle the questions and answers whilst controlling with hand movements the next speaker and also listening to the production crew and producer in his ear piece! Not an easy task I imagine.

It was also great fun to see another TV studio, in this case the BBC’s Blackstaff House, all those lights and cameras, like Granada Studios in Manchester it’s like a whole other world heading off the street and into one.

A much more entertaining experience came when we went to see Colin Murphy. This was the recording of a radio show due to be aired next year - Colin Murphy's Great Unanswered Questions.

When the warm up is the main star of the show and the first thing said is that there will be no mention of, and I’m paraphrasing this into ‘religious divides of the Christian faith that cause a lot of problems in this neck of the woods’. My thought... this is the kind of show I can really get on board with. Dr David Booth was the resident expert and the subject matter was also right up my street, comedy with a bit of science spotted with mad facts and funny anecdotes. I don’t want to spoil the show for anyone who might catch this on the radio next year but suffice to say it was very, very funny and will be well worth a listen... I will be anyway. Here is the BBCGUQ twitter page.

Last up was Radio 1’s Chris Moyles and team visiting Belfast on the 17th December. Norn girl and I had been to the karaoke event a couple of years back in the beach club bar place the Odyssey and were determined to get to this too. Norn girl in the end was in town at the right time and spotted Aled Jones’ hiding spot. Hence 4 tickets winged their way her way and in the end 3 of us, Norn Girl, myself and my sister-in-law made our way to meet at Subway for a pre event snack. After some news of Norn Girls brush with fame and a foot long sub it was a quick bus ride up to the Queens Student union and a very long queue waiting to head into Mandela Hall.

On entering, it was to the front to set up camp and then to the bar for a drink. It wasn’t long before Aled was out to warm up the crowd with some music and a Santa hat, this went on a wee while and the crowd were warming up, well those who needed some warming at any rate which to be fair wasn’t many... thats one of the best things about Belfast... more so than any other city I’ve had the pleasure to be in, people know how to let their hair down and have fun should the occasion arise and that includes T-Totallers.

The singing begun with Santa Aled our choir master and from then on it was all more of the same - music, mass karaoke and great fun. Chris Moyles took to the stage after a grand build up and bit by bit the team were on stage caroloke’ing (as it say’s on the radio one website). Dave whacked his head off a huge speaker during a rendition of ‘My Lamb Bhuna’ whilst trying to get back on stage, Carrie was joining some of the crowd who like ourselves were just high on life in enjoying the night rather than alcohol – we would have had more but it was too much hassle making your way from the front of the stage to the bar. Rachel was being swung around in a small stage production of dirty dancing. Dom was rocking on down with the guitar and Chris was fun and star of the show and not too bad on the drums too! The majority of the crowd who got up to sing were very, very bad but all very, very game for the laugh and it was one dude who made it on stage who brought the biggest pantomime moment to the crowd... set up or not its hard to tell but it began with Chris fake hi-fiving a likeable the karaoke singer from the crowd and cruelly making him look a little silly, after a crowd pleasing performance though it was a good bye fake hi-five that Chris missed and honours were even.

Another highlight was Patrick Kielty’s memorable performance of a spoof of Robbie Williams ‘Angles’, however I don’t think he’d quite honed the jokes he tried before hand... it was revealed he’d had a bit to drink so it wasn’t so unexplainable, thankfully he could still entertain with a song none broadcastable for the radio!
It was all in the spirit of the night though and the band and all the Chris Moyles team and the crowd were all great. Hopefully it won’t be long before the team are back again.

So good or bad, this getting out there and seeing the largely positive side of the media being made seems like a good idea. Hopefully more similar nights out will follow... a lot of people might criticise the BBC, but with the value going to see these shows can bring (as long as it doesn’t include the current breed of argumentative local politicians) it might not always be perfect, especially the focus of programming in N.I to my tastes, but they do seem to do a good job. To me, that licence fee, the one that makes a wee dent in the bank balance each year, is worth it.

More comedy shows and the Radio 1 team over again please BBC :)

Jimmy Carr, explosive stuff!

After an amazingly funny show last year, we went along to watch Jimmy Carr at the Waterfront Hall again late last week. This show being Jimmy Carr: Joke Technician... and he didn’t disappoint! Even the bomb scare earlier that day at Victoria Square’s House of Fraser didn’t shake his form.

Yet again he brought a laugh to every minute of the 2 hours or so that he was on stage. Sure it wasn't for the easily offended. As it points out on the Waterfront’s page for the show; “It`s rude, crude and offensive but those aren`t the only reasons you`ll enjoy it”. That proved to be no false advertisement. The 2000 plus of us humanoids sat around the acoustically moulded auditorium LOL’ing and LMAO’ing at the potentially offensive two liners, delivered with precision. They seemed to flow like music to our ears, each leading from the last laugh to the next.

The audience as ever played its part, one of the biggest laughs of the night came not from a scripted joke but after a young woman with a bit of guile piped up in response as Jimmy asked a question. Her response led to a bit of an amorous approach of wordplay and gestures towards her. Looking a bit young Jimmy did eventually check with her what age she was. As she announced to the room she was 16 years old, Jimmy let out a sigh of relief... short lived though as the quick minded folks in the room hastily brought to light that the age of consent, unlike the rest of the UK, is 17. Oops. After the laughter had died down, he showed his quick wit and came up with an ingenious plan. This plan was that he of course wouldn’t do anything here; he planned to take her on a luxurious Flybe flight for £26.99.

Chris Moyles also got a mention from the crowd in light of the Comic Relief climb up Mount Kilimanjaro and Jimmy (all be it slighty rigged) being beaten in a quiz by Dominic Byrne's 5 year old son on the Chris Moyles Breakfast show a wee while back.

As always with Jimmy Carr the jokes came fast and furious. Like Ken Dodd (but with less tax issues) he has so many gags in his act that it’s hard to comprehend how he remembers them all. At one point and admittedly using props that were probably used as a cue, he got through a cool 80 jokes in 10 minutes.

The themes for the majority of the gags were as varied as they come, from Hitler to Scrabble and Relationships to Dwarf Shortages there was something for everyone. Nothing is out of his reach for use as a gag and it’s not that he outright offends for laughs. He cleverly twists conventions and plays with language in a way even great literary figures would be proud of.

The worst part of the night was that it ended. When you’re going from laugh to laugh, time flies and before you know it its 10.45 and you’re heading out of the door but rerunning the jokes through your head. Outside in the rain you see hundreds of people also letting out an unprovoked smile and giggle and you know that they’re doing the same.

All in all a great show and well worth £20. In my opinion he’s a brilliant comic who really is up there as one of the best comedians in the U.K and Ireland at the present time. I for one can’t wait until he’s back with a new show.