Some photos of the Harlem Globetrotters are up in the gallery for your perusal. I shall leave you with them and this:

Mary Black - Song For Ireland:

More to follow shortly. As always stay tuned.

Sean

With our little run of a few days of hot weather there has been much talk and speculation about the possibility of a 'heat wave' - having partaken in this idle (time wasting) speculation, the question dawned on me - "what exactly is / is not a heat wave?"

Wikipedia states:

'A heat wave is a prolonged period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity'

Hot weather , prolonged period of - fair enough. But what exactly is 'hot weather'? We are expecting 21°C later today; a reasonably hot day by Irish standards, so should this weather carry on for the next few days can we all say we are experiencing a 'Heat Wave'? With the sun and the heat it brings being most welcome here, we think little of places where a heat wave means something much more severe and much less welcome... from the same Wikipedia article:

'In January 2008, Alice Springs in Australia's Northern Territory recorded ten consecutive days of temperatures above 40°C with the average temperature for that month being 39.8°C...' (Streuth!)

The thought of such weather is both terrifying and truly awesome. Really puts our possible 'heat wave' into perspective. Alongside the idle speculators, we had of course the cynics (Philip) who claimed - 'we are gonna pay for our three days of sun with three months of rain'.....sadly the cynics have usually been right on such matters in the past!

With all the talk of good weather you might have been expecting a wee video with a heat related theme? You'd be right - enjoy!

Katrina and The Waves:

More to follow shortly. As always stay tuned.

Sean

This weekend - (and Monday) sees someone special's housewarming and birthday. You know who you are - and I hope it goes well. For those who don't the photo above might give a wee clue....

For Pete a fellow Office Die Hard and wannabe Wernham Hogg employee...

The Ultimate Fantasy. Brilliant:

As always more to follow. Stay tuned.

Sean

It was excellent to hear from Andy (a.k.a the bush kangaroo) who will very shortly be moving into his new home down under with the lovely Yonca and of course Poppy (who im still hoping is at least part dingo). Also a massive congrats to Yonca who by now (im terrible with the time zones) I have been reliably informed has Graduated! Well done you!

Other news - big birthday celebrations were the order of the day on Sunday for Frances' 75th birthday - a huge family turn out made it a great party which everyone seemed to enjoy. A few photos from the day are now up in the gallery for your perusal!

Finally the title if your wondering - Spancil Hill. One of my favorite songs of all time; written by and detailing the plight of homesick Irish immigrant Michael Considine - as relevant today as it ever was.

For Andy & Yonca in Australia:

The Genius that is Shane MacGowan and Christy Moore doing a very rousing performance of Spancil Hill:

As always more to follow shortly. Stay tuned.

Sean

"We walked him to the station in the rain
We kissed him as we put him on the train
And we sang him a song of times long gone
Though we knew that wed be seeing him again..."

Photos from the road trip to Aberdeen are now online for your perusal in the photos section. Highlights of the trip apart from the University? Isla Craig. In a word - STUNNING. Soundtrack chosen by the old man was the excellent 'Rum, Sodomy & the Lash' by The Pogues.

As always more to follow shortly. Stay tuned.

Sean