Ireland

so northern ireland is just as pretty as the republic. (did i just use that word, eeeuuuuuuu) Didn't get a chance to really see it last year.
But its not the same feel at all. its a bit.... well.... british!
nothing against the english, but i dig the friendlier folks in the republic over the just-average north anyday.
That's not to say that i haven't had great conversations with the locals. i have. in fact, everyone here is still nicer then the dc residents. you know the type: the ones that don't hold the door open when they see you approaching the building right behind them; the type that walks right in as YOU hold the door open without any signs of appritiation what so ever; the kind you say hello to and they look at you as if you want something from them; the kind who view their life to be so much more important then yours....

anyway, back to happier thoughts...
so far, i have but only one regret: not jumping off of a waterfall.
did get into it.
swim in the pool underneat of it.
but once i realized the pool was deep enough to dive into, should have walked my ass back up the cliff and jumped. what an increditable view though! can't really describe it. even the pictures will not do it true justice.

i'm running out of memory on my camera.

I'm almost ashamed to even record the thought, but there is a such thing as too much stout.
no matter how much and what kind of other food you put into your system to counter the effects, there is still a risk over saturation of your internals with the water of life. i actually had to stay sober for 46 hours straight to recover.
sad. sad. sad.

this just in.... there are palm tree in northwest ireland.

random thought... country people are so nice! smaller towns here are full of people who love to engage you as long as you don't act like a goddamn tourist!

Went to some ancient hole in the ground, the other day. and by hole in the ground, i'm referring to a man made hole IN THE GROUND; in case its confusing.
some said it had a ritual purpose. But i think it was probably an ancient wine cellar of some better-off pre-historic dude. the amazing thing about it is that it is totally hidden in back road fields.
not even a marking on the site.
The more important personal note is that i actually entered it despite my unexplainable fear of closed spaces. The whole time i thought some one was covering the 3 foot wide entrance with loose rocks and trapping us in there forever. but i DID enter and spend at least 10 minutes in the 27 meter chamber. it felt like 10 hours though!
scared shit-less, but i did it.
go me!

currently in Sligo.
me likie Sligo.
I feel a dip in the atlantic coming in the next few days.
stay tuned....

The fast part of the tour is upon us.
6 cities in 3 weeks. which means load in, setup, perform, drink, wake up, drink some more, preform, repeat the last 5 steps in some cases, pack up, drive to a new town and do it again.
six times!

god bless my liver and other parts!

hard to catpure all the facts and little tid-bits, but learned a whole bunch about dublin while in dublin. which is better then learning about dublin from somewhere else?!
what the fuck am i talking about???

anyway, there is a big pointy thing (monument i suppose) in the hart of the city. why? not sure. that's not the story.
its near another monument. well, only the base of one.
it is what use to be some statue of an english king or whatever. that's also not point.
it was blown up by IRA or some other accronym with issues. supposetly, the statue, which inclued a horse, showed off the said horse's great big balls.
yes, we're talking abnormally large testicals. Apperantly, when the statue was blown away, all the pieces were accounted for except for the dude's head and, you guessed it, the horse testicals.

so here is a visual for you: somewhere in dublin there is family room with a fire place and on the mantel is sitting a pair of balls of the horse of some english bloke.

And this is according to a dubliner who writes for one of the papers.
so it must be true!

what does it all mean? not sure, but it was hell of alot funnier when i heard it first, in a pub, then i'm making it sound to be now.

This is a fucking beautiful country! As the pictures will show once i get a chance to post them. i think kilkenny and letterkenny are my favorit 'cause of their landscape and what-not. Everything is green and groomed. But in a very non pretentious, i-rather-go-to-a-pub-and-have-a-pint-then-plant-too-many-flowers kinda way.

now there are probably better ways to go site seeing then on a bike along 4 foot wide roads with fast traffic. but if you like a rush, as i do, then you won't be bothered by the buses and multi-wheelers that wiz by your ear as you jam to your music and truck along the hills.
--wow, that was wordy!

at one point i had a tracktor behind me (which i kinda didn't notice due to some unnecessarily laud ozzy song) which was blocking about 70 cars, give or take 20. After some discussion with the locals and learning how they hate those turist that come around & do whatever, with no regards to local traffic, i have determined that i AM that guy.

anyway, its a great countryside.

btw, to probably the only audience of this lame writing, Sherri, 'love you chiken' says Ann.

Another irish discovery.... pubs are going to be closing earlier, luckly not until we leave. There is also plans for total smoking ban on all pubs. Let me repeat: TOTAL SMOKING BAN ON ALL PUBS.
WHAT THE FUCK!!!!

is this some stupid Californian trend, sweeping the globe. I don't smoke that much, but these people do. I can see it now: Shamus and Robbie come into the pub and heve themselves a pint. They need to smoke so they go out side, 'cuase its apparently not good for you or some shit. While outside, they run into Sara and Marnie who are also suffering from anti smoker discrimination. Before you know it, the whole damn town is outside in the mist trying to have a puff. it ain't always sunny here, you know!
You're thinking, okay, so they'll give up smoking after a while.
Have you seen the warning signs on the smoke packs here? they're not messing around. 'smoking will kill your children'; 'smoking will cause lower sperm count'; 'smoking will create more ethnic cleansing in central africa'. the shit is serious. and very, VERY large.
...and have the irish masses stoped or even slowed their tabacoo consumption?! I think not!
yeah, lets try a little harder to put perfectly healthy bodies in grave while there are so many other issues in the world to worry about. in the mean time why don't we risk killing one of the most important facids of Irish life: the pub!
yeah, real briliant, Mic!

If we as americans are at all responsible for this, we ougth to be ashamed of our selves.

that's it, i'm so mad i could spit.
I'm going for a smoke.
:-(

word of the day: toerag
translation: scum-bag
level of insult: moderate
usage: 'She's a bleeding toerag, she is!'

so i think i've got a good idea about my treshold for pain... about 55 minutes!
I got this large tatoo and everything was fine with out any discomfort until the last 5 minutes of the hour it took to get it done. At which point i began to have a little more respect for child birth!

generally, i think people would love to post some shots to this page. but i feel there is simply not enough of an audience to justify the effort needed to accomplish this, truly difficult technological task. yeah, i'm still bitter about the lack of universal connectivity of our planet!!!
so if your ass is really chapped that you can't see up-to-date images of the tour, my true humble appologies. I promise new images will be posted in upcoming weeks.
New pint-o-meters will be added as well for those who keep track. The other night, Carlos claimed his numbers to be about 37 gennisses (gennii?!). Along with a few other beverages. At this rate, he is set to break the 200 hundred barrier by the end of the trip. I've seen him through back the pints and i have every reason to belive he will achieve this goal.

I on the other hand, am still tring to figure out how to keep up with Irish girls. They drink me under the table with quit a regularity. And if you know me--and why the F would you be reading this if you didn't--i'm no light weight!

and now for something completly random....
my favorite new word: slapper
translation: a slut, a tramp, one who sleeps around without bias
level of insult: high -- do not use unless you're in for a tongue lashing or even a physical one
usage: ...... its a damn insult, you just through it around for god's sake!

Random thoughts:

show has started.
little more relaxed.
drinking too much when you're tired can cuase unexpected results, not that there is anything wrong with that.
people need to grow up!
I can't write for shit.
Irish TV is, in a word, bad.
I wish i could see more soccer in US.
I love beer:-)

I have a feeling this won't be any different then last year in terms of actual entries into the blog, but what the hell....

So in a test of self control, i left the laptop at home. Big step for me. And so far i couldn't be happier. Although i really wanted to use iTrip with the iPod so we can all listen to something resembling music while traveling. The radio stations here suck. Naturally i somehow deleted the stations and basically can't get the damn thing to work without my laptop. That's technology for ya!

The more important thing is that the guinness taste as good if not better then last year; the set has been alot easier to build; and everything is much more comfortable and easy to do. The show begin in a couple of days which shuold be exciting. oh, and there is this wedding or whatever tomorrow!

ok, not feeling creative or verbous (how ever the fuck you spell that). so more to come later.

The journey begins, yet again!

The trip has sadly come to an end. It was in creditable while it lasted. Although I was ready to either move for good or head on back. Five weeks is about as a long as you can go with one bag of wearbles!

Anyway, I didn�t get to keep a journal like I planned. I don�t even know why I even tried in the first place. It ain�t exactly my personality to keep one. Living the moment is a hell of a lot more fun than reflecting on it. Which brings me to a few things I learned that I like to reflect upon right now...

-Lets starts with the pesky stuff to get them out of the way: When in Ireland and looking for something very specific (i.e. Props for the show, IOL CD, their version of AOL; a copy of the Star to see a mention of your friends getting engaged in a romantic fashion; etc.) you are guaranteed not to find it. Now, Don�t question my resourcefulness. Trust me: it�s a law not unlike many of Murphy�s Laws.

-Keeping up with email and all things digital are a fine expectation to have in foreign lands, but trying to mix in some freelance work for extra cash is pushing the limits. Even keeping this site up to date was an ordeal. What would be really cool is if iPod had some software developed for it, so you could do some minimal data entry. You could hook that up to any machine in any internet caf� and upload your thoughts, journals, pictures or whatever, at will. This would naturally require some standardizations cross the pond that I�m sure would be contrary to the business models of the major corporations involved. So forget that I mentioned it.
Take it from me: LEAVE YOUR COMPUTER AT HOME! It will help your sanity and give you more time for the important things in life: Guinness.

Now onto more positive discoveries...
-The Irish have a sense of timing that we could all learn from: Nothing is really that urgent! Perhaps with the exception of tapping another keg of Guinness.

-People in smaller towns don�t work for big corporations.
This sounds kinda obvious, but think about it: in big towns, people work to make money so they can buy stuff from other people who don�t buy anything from them. In small towns by contrast, everyone is more directly engaged with the other guy�s business. You can learn a lot by watching the market forces in smaller towns. Which proves to me yet again, that all those MBA idiots who are trying to discuss the �net-net� of �b-to-b markets� by the �end-of-the-day�, are just that: out of touch, fast talking, no �value-adding�, idiots.

-The expression �grass is always greener� could not have originated from Ireland.
I don�t think I�ve ever seen anything that green before in my life. Not foresty, full of trees green. But glowing, happy-eventhough-its-raining green.

-While I�m not going to try and go against the myth of constant rain in Ireland, I will report that we saw two days of rain and a bunch of cloudy days in 5 weeks. So at least in late August to early September, you can expect perfect weather.

-The typical old Irish man, on a bicycle, by the country side, is a real thing.
I saw a bunch of them. I also saw two acts of cow love making. But that�s another story. The Old Irish guy with his old suit and hat, biking to a pub is definitely a real phenomenon. Of course, they could be part of an Irish tourism program. We saw this dog on the beach, Semous O�Doggle, who came out of nowhere and basically demanded that we play catch with him. Once we were fully impressed with him, approximately an hour and half later, he ran off to another group of beach walkers like a dirty tramp. We thus concluded that Semous O�Doggle was on the Tourism Department�s payroll.

-There are way too many churches in Ireland.
There is something like one church and four pubs to every 100 people. And that�s low-balling it! And don�t get me started with the ruins. I was over that in week two!
The pubs off course, I have no complaints about:-)

-I didn�t know this but teen idol, and shows like it, are copies of popstar and other junk in Europe.
Apparently they wanted to get back at us for giving them McDonalds or reality television. That oughta teach us I suppose! In general though, I was very please to see that even bigger cities, like Dublin, weren�t totally commercialized in the American fashion of urban/suburban build-up. If I had to rate, Galway is my favorite among the ones we visited.

I probably could go on for a while. But the best reflection is probably the fact that I didn�t keep this journal like I wanted to. So in keeping with the discoveries and lessons learned, I�ll stop yapping and get out this dark room that I�m in at the moment.

I give Ireland: 5 stars, two thumbs up, 11 on a ten scale and an infinite pints of Guinness.
Don�t worry, their lease isn�t up for another 9,000 years.
I shit you not! Look it up.

So this seemed like a good idea at the time, but as it turns out, i'm slowed in my updates by both technology and time frame. Dublin is at least more accessable in terms of connection.
Anyway, the pictures are finally being uploaded as i write this. After that, we'll be returning to our regularly scheduled touring of the city.
I may or may not post those previous logs.
It's my site and i can do what ever i like; so piss-off, eh!
If you don't mind!!

Okay. there is a bit of a problem. The entries that will follow, will be dated inaccurately. I've been having diffulties with uploading of files. Internet cafes are a plenty, but ones that acutally let you do what ever you want to their machines are not. To make a long story short: I'll be posting a bunch of stuff all at once, once i resolve this issue. So much for magic of technology!!
I hate computers:-(

It will begin on Saturday. The Ireland Tour that is! And the first major event will be the airport check-in.
With my security clearance (insert your own racial joke here) i should be there for a while.
To better prepare myself for the anal probing that is sure to come my way, i�ll probably gear up by drinking a few Guinness. These will most likely be the last pints i�ll have before reaching Shannon where i�ll promptly drink a few more. For the record, I don�t submit to the taboos of drinking in the morning or whatever.
I�m told the Guinness flavor varies at the source compared to the yankee variety i�m use to. This very well may be true and I�ll be sure to revisit the matter at a later date for your benefit. I imagine that what goes into the variation is a reflection on the quality of water, ingredients and all other goodies that are used. The weather is certainly a factor. btw, look at the weather of where ever I�m at, right above.
I digress!
I�ll also postulate that there are more spiritual factors at work. For example, one traveler explained in an article the nature of the Irish people in the following manor: �if you ask about time, be prepared to hear the history of the sundial.� If there is a more pleasant experience associated with my beverage of choice in Ireland than here, the local population will surely deserve some of the credit. Explained in a mathematical formula: the ? (in flavor) = (water + ingredients) / (preparation technique + weather) * (local spiritual conditions).
And does the taste actually change if the discussion is about the nature of taste itself?! The mind could go spinning for hours. These are all fine conversations to have over a pint.
Damn, I�m thirsty!

Anyway....

This selfish diary (and no i don�t keep one usually) will focus more on the trip and other worth- while matters. But because a pint of Guinness is so full of spiritual and philosophical richness, i�m sure to come back to this from time to time. The pint-o-meter� to the left will keep tabs on my progress.
(yeah, go ahead and try stealing pint-o-meter�, i�ve got it trademarked!