Chest Hair Roasting On An Open Fire...

Sleepless in Seattle

We’re definitely on the final straight here in Vancouver, with the last post of the 365th lap in sight. We had hoped for the run in to be a Tom Taaffe style saunter, fists in the air - but it’s looking like we might have a few late challengers, in the form of Financial Institutions to upset the pace a little ……but we’re mostly on top of .....most things. Nothing, hopefully, that a dose of very early morning phone calls home wont sort out. “I’ll need your PIN / PUC / CAO/CAS / UCCA / ICA / DOB key codes AND the inner leg measurements of your next of kin to complete your transaction today sir”. Irish banks have finally come up with the ultimate form of security – denying you access to your own money. We both finished up in work on Friday so we’re officially unemployed. And we’re working on the homeless thing. Not being gainfully employed gives you such a different perspective on the world.

It appears that most of you got your CDs – Peadar has changed his address, possibly Nora too. Hope those of you who received are putting them to good use. On a vaguely related note The Wrens are playing Whelans on February 15th. Not to be missed.


We got some lovely (heavily delayed) packages from home in the post over the past couple of days aswell… A couple of very thoughtful and well received Selection Boxes from Louise and Stephen. Aswell as a collection of interesting artwork from R and E with some excellent photos. I love the school photo of R with the big podge head on him. It very much reminds me of the Blessington school photo where I was made wear that lovely turquoise polo necked jumper with the incredibly narrow opening for your head that would tear off half the side of your face and painfully cabbage your ears every time you had to take it on or off. Putting it on was like being reborn. Taking it off was also like being reborn. Anyways….I have a very similarly unimpressed expression so fair play to R for keeping up the tradition.

Pike Market, Seattle

Thanks so much to T aswell who sent us a shoebox full of some of the most festive and practical items for Christmas and beyond. Matching sporks, 2 lovely felt Christmas tree decorations (which will double as Christmas Trees for us this year), chocolate Santys, scented candles, a Belgian chocolate christmas pudding, a first aid kit (companion piece to the pudding) and loads and loads of other tasty and very very useful stuff for our Christmas in limbo. We got loads of gifts and cards from the D side of the family tree aswell – in particular the gift from M and A will allow us to live like kings for a couple of weeks anyways, so thanks a million to all of you for everything. All your cards and gifts are very much appreciated and are probably all the more special for having to travel half way across the world to get to us.

Travel Bug's Window Display on W Broadway, Vancouver

We’ve also been busy battling the hordes of Christmas shoppers while we were trying to pick up novelty camping items. Examples of the completely non Christmas crap we’ve bought in the last 2 weeks include a Leatherman for the Macgyver in me, collapsible towels, a camping stove, combination locks for our luggage, maps, hiking boots, thermals, Mutha Hubba groundmat, and an invisible money belt (for our invisible money).

We’re also just back from a trip to Seattle where we spent a couple of days earlier this week. It’s a very laid back city, loads of coffee and a lot of rain – so all the stereotypes are apparently true. We out did ourselves yet again in the food experimentation stakes - 4 round meals a day with plenty of interesting snacks in between. We like Seattle. An even more colourful (and definitely more coloured) hobo population – I overheard one of them responding to his buddy when asked why he was reading,“I’m brushin’ up on my Turkish”. Chilli, Gumbo, Jambalaya, Chips with growth hormones in them, Cinnamon buns, ridiculously delicious Italian pizza, Home Fries. Blueberry Pancakes. We also experienced the ridiculous situation of a kid being ID’d in Starbucks when asking for her Eggnog Lattes.

Read Light District

Seattle is the home of the very first Starbucks – somewhere near Pike Place / Market. The city of Seattle apparently felt a slight localised itching round about 1982, followed by a rapid spreading of an unsightly rash, eventually succumbing to a complete infestation in the late 1990s. Seattle is now hopelessly riddled with Starbucks with most of its major arteries clogged with caffeine deposits and with no Blenz to counteract the swelling. I will say that the bar culture is far far healthier there than in Vancouver. We had a choice of top notch, interesting, homely watering holes to choose from stopping in for a cracking game of alcohol fuelled pool, some Cajun food accompanied by a live 5-piece swingtime jazz band playing Christmas carols, and some electronica with curly fries all within a couple of blocks downtown – on a Monday night.


Makes such a change from the wall to wall sports bars showing hockey highlights and the soulless, identity starved half bars in downtown Vancouver. “Honey”, chewing gum profusely, no eye contact, “lip gloss don’t mean you‘ve got soul” – that was an impression of me if I ever became a Vancouver doorman.


I also encountered the most amazing vintage guitar shop ever, Emerald City Guitars, with Bo Diddley style electrical oddities, rare and very quaint parlour guitars, bizarre Japanese imports so ugly they started looking pretty again, loads of tasty vintage Fender Jaguars and Mustangs, Gibson Marauders etc – indie rock guitar heaven. I even held a real life horny Mosrite Gospel – a Cobain special. Most of his guitars were pawnshop (even after he became rich). These were guitars I grew up watching my heroes play and when I’d head up to Alo Donegan or John Forde in Top Twenty, hopefully clutching a picture ripped from a magazine, the response was always the same. They’d shake their heads and show me another Hohner or a Casio keyboard. We even bumped into a dedicated bass guitar shop – but it was on the way home from the pub so it was well closed. We also visited the Space Needle. We tried to top up on our culture but 3 of the museums / exhibits we ventured to were either closed the day we hit them or were closed for renovation. We ended up atop the Space Needle out of sheer desperation for tourist kicks. Not the best $28 we ever spent but a decent view nonetheless.




We finally figured out where the locals go for a hot time in Vancouver on a Saturday night aswell – Grandview Lanes 5 Pin Public Bowling on Commercial Drive. It’s like Stanley Kubrick meets the Stanley Cup in there. We went “Glow In The Dark Bowling” there on Saturday night and it was truly like stepping into an episode of Happy Days. There was a tournament going on downstairs, families necking beers and downing burgers and yelling equal measures of encouragement and dissent at each other. Everything takes on a slightly surreal edge when everyone is wearing those tweaked looking bowling shoes. We were banished upstairs to the glow-in-the-dark alley. It’s amazing how quickly you become accustomed to the bizarre lighting and even more bizarre footwear and get down to being competitive in the most unskilled manner. Great crack and highly recommended. You don’t need to know who won or by how much.


We picked up our tickets homewards aswell. Flying out of Rio, Co. Brazil apparently. Sometime the end of June. We really are winging it at this stage :) But that’s mostly what we wanted to do anyways and it’s gotten us this far so no complaints. Before I go, a big happy birthday to Gill (celebrating her 30th) and Graham this week. And also to Niall celebrating his 21st. I kinda sorta missed Clyde's and Noni's in early December so if you're reading this... Breithlá sona daoibh go léir! Then there's the bould JC's big day next week aswell - hope he has a wonderful day. I feel like Larry Gogan. I hear he still misses Florrie terribly.


So that's all the news for the moment. I'm off to my Christmas party this evening - officially scheduled from 5pm - 8pm in the office....only in Canadia. There's a gang of them heading for Lucy Mae Brown's afterwards to continue the revelry so hopefully we'll be able to wangle some fun out of the evening. Stay in touch for our Vancouver retrospective and our Christmas Day Message followed by a fireside evening (literally fireside - there's no furniture!) with Shamie and Mamie on Stephen's night. GOD we miss television at Christmas time.