A Canadian Club that will make you sick! (other than the whisky)

Well my first week of my year out is nearly over and to be honest all I have done is get drunk! Leaving dos at work, leaving dos with friends - just about any excuse for a piss up. Today will be the first day that I have not woken up with a hangover so I think its time to get this conservation stuff started.

Last Friday afternoon while I was in between gigs I went down to Dalkey harbour and sat watching the seals. Even took a couple of photos.

So here is a not too good picture of a grey seal (Halichoerus grypus, meaning "hooked-nosed sea pig"!)



Seeing these timid looking animals reminded me of what the Canadians are doing to their relatives at this very moment so I am going to make this post my first official RANT.

The following video shows baby seals being clubbed to death for their pelts - not food. It is not for the faint hearted.



Here's a link that shows what goes where and who makes uses them.

http://www.harpseals.org/hunt/pelts.html

Luckily I don't know anybody rich enough to own a prada bag. Mind you a friend of mine did go into a prada shop in Milan once and enquired about the price of a bag to which the reply was 'If you need to know the price then you can't afford it'. Aunts!

Hand Grenade

The first rule of blogging - exciting titles!

Day 2:

On my second day of freedom I went on my last Thursday lunch - the end of an era.

Every Thursday myself and some friends meet up in Kennedys pub beside Trinity for a spot of lunch and a chat. The chat usually revolves around trying to piece together what everyone did last weekend and arranging what is going to happen next weekend - with some small talk about houses, babies and sport thrown in for good measure.

The really unusual thing about this chat is that it is done while drinking pints of water! One of the consequences of the Celtic Tiger I suppose - Irish people staying sober at lunchtime! I was speaking to someone later about this who said that in countries like Switzerland everybody drinks at lunchtime but they only ever have one drink as they know when to stop. But then they are Swiss!

After lunch I went and did a bit of shopping. As one of my conservation trips is to Croatia I wanted to get a Croatian phrase book. Also, as one of my resolutions about this year was to use charity shops as much as possible I went to the place with the most charity shops - Capel Street.

Capel street is the exact opposite of Grafton Street. The bars are on the street instead of on side streets. The clothes shops are replaced by furniture shops or DIY shops. The eateries are all ethnic and as well as charity shops, they have Martial arts shops, camping shops and an Army surplus store. Which brings me to the hand grenade. Actually its just a lighter but how cool is this:



As I don't smoke I never bought it - plus I don't think a guy with my accent should be allowed to own such things - thats just suicide!

I never got my Croatian phrase book - but I did get something better. Something that I can bring on my travels and annoy the shit out of everyone with. A mouth organ. Not just any mouth organ but a blues mouth organ! Happy Days!

Day 1 Part deux

My first day did not turn out entirely as I expected it - in a good way! Because the sun was actually shining in Dublin instead of going sight seeing I went to St Stephen's Green and relaxed in the sun. I then went to Baileys bar off Grafton Street and sat drinking with a big smug smile on my face while watching everybody rush home from work.

The rest of the night is a bit of a haze - but I did get the first night link home which is quite good for me.

OK world, this is my stop - time to get off

Day 1:

After a fairly low key farewell to the people in work yesterday (I will be saying my proper farewells on Friday night in the traditional Irish way!) today I am going to relax and do a bit of sightseeing in Dublin - followed by the obligatory couple of pints tonight while watching the footie.

I was supposed to take all my work shirts and ties to a charity shop as a sort of statement of clearing out my old existence but they are all piggin and I am currently washing them. Hey, I may be unemployed but I don't give dirty clothes to Oxfam!

Also, due to certain commitments I will not be doing any major travelling until the end of July. I shall however be doing extensive volunteering at home between now and then.

Glossary

Being from Norn Iron I sometimes use slang and words that people might not understand. I also use statements and sayings that NOBODY understands - not even my friends! To help with this I have created this special GLOSSARY post to help normal people. I shall add to it as I go.

A:
Aunt(s): (noun) Predictive texting I send when referring to a horrible person. Nothing to do with female relatives.


B:
Bake: (noun) Face. Not to be confused with the verb about making cakes from flour or bombs from fertilizer.

Blocked: (Adj) A Norn Iron term for being very drunk. The rest of Ireland uses the term locked instead which is taken from the term lockin. That's when the pub locks all the doors after hours and continues to serve alcohol to anyone still inside. This is done so that the place looks to be closed should the local garda come to check. The only snag is that usually half the punters inside for the lockin are off duty garda!


H:
Happy Days: Norn Iron Expression, to indicate that you are content. Not to be confused with the 70' sitcom starring Arthur Fonzarelli.

M:
Millie (noun) Norn Iron, A female of lower worker class background, uncouth, common, slapper. Named after the linen mill workers of yester year. Now adays more likely to be unemployed with a several small brats in tow. A Norn Iron female chav.

N:
Night Link (noun) Late night buses laid on by Dublin transport at a premium rate to get drunk people quickly and quietly out of the city centre. Normally a good idea - except when the person travelling falls asleep and ends up 10 miles beyond their stop with no viable means back


P:
Piggin: (adj) To be extremely unclean, dirty. (spelling may be incorrect)
example: (mother speaking to son)"your bake is piggin - go and get it scrubbed now"

S:
Spide (Noun) Norn Iron speak. A lower working class male, tosser, wanker. Short for spiderman due to the common practise of having a tattoo of a spider's web on their neck. Most these days do not have this tattoo identification but they usually have a pencil moustache. A Norn Iron male Chav.

Fish

Ok I found some fish swimming with a bit of a conservation twist (sort of) to keep you occupied.

Maybe in 50 years time this will be the only fish in our oceans?



If you get really bored try running the channel 4 logo and fish together to mix the music.

By the way have you noticed the erratic nature of the second hand on the clock section of the channel 4 vid? Looks like its on drugs!

Haven't started yet!

As I don't actually leave the job until the 22nd I'm not going to post anything until then.

In the mean time heres the Channel 4 logo. Anybody from the UK old enough to remember it before channel 4 came on air will know what I'm on about. I'll try and find you some youtube videos of fish to keep you entertained aswell.