Merry Christmas Everyone!!

The Shiny Stars

I took some photos of Shiny Sarah all dressed up in my goalie gear last Sunday night as part of a hockey themed photo shoot...



I've decided She'd make a great addition to the Giants next season lol ;o)

Poopid BBC

Bastards took Monk off again.

Gettin' Older

Happy birthday baby! xxxxxxx

(photo "half-inched" from Shiny)

I Should Be Working But...

...instead I stole this quiz thingy from Shiny Sarah.


The Romantic
Thanks for taking the test !
you chose BY - your Enneagram type is FOUR.

"I am unique"

Romantics have sensitive feelings and are warm and perceptive.

How to Get Along with Me

* Give me plenty of compliments. They mean a lot to me.
* Be a supportive friend or partner. Help me to learn to love and value myself.
* Respect me for my special gifts of intuition and vision.
* Though I don't always want to be cheered up when I'm feeling melancholy, I sometimes like to have someone lighten me up a little.
* Don't tell me I'm too sensitive or that I'm overreacting!

What I Like About Being a Four

* my ability to find meaning in life and to experience feeling at a deep level
* my ability to establish warm connections with people
* admiring what is noble, truthful, and beautiful in life
* my creativity, intuition, and sense of humor
* being unique and being seen as unique by others
* having aesthetic sensibilities
* being able to easily pick up the feelings of people around me

What's Hard About Being a Four

* experiencing dark moods of emptiness and despair
* feelings of self-hatred and shame; believing I don't deserve to be loved
* feeling guilty when I disappoint people
* feeling hurt or attacked when someone misundertands me
* expecting too much from myself and life
* fearing being abandoned
* obsessing over resentments
* longing for what I don't have

Fours as Children Often

* have active imaginations: play creatively alone or organize playmates in original game s
* are very sensitive
* feel that they don't fit in
* believe they are missing something that other people have
* attach themselves to idealized teachers, heroes, artists, etc.
* become antiauthoritarian or rebellious when criticized or not understood
* feel lonely or abandoned (perhaps as a result of a death or their parents' divorce)

Fours as Parents

* help their children become who they really are
* support their children's creativity and originality
* are good at helping their children get in touch with their feelings
* are sometimes overly critical or overly protective
* are usually very good with children if not too self-absorbed


The Enneagram Made Easy
Discover the 9 Types of People
Harper SanFrancisco, 1994, 161 pages
Link: The Quick & Painless ENNEAGRAM Test


Wow. That's actually pretty dang accurate =/

Halloween "Party"

(Bill perusing the Argos Catalogue back at Raj's)

...well that was a bust.

Yaaaarrr tis a good job I cheered myself up and made the effort, eh.

Bah!


**In other news, after a swift telling off from Raj, I'm now using Firefox. I like it. It's shiny.**

Bah!

So...today I feel like crap. There is a halloween party tonight and no one seems to be going. Now I don't feel like going either. Poo.

Well...no amount of chocolate in the world seems to be able to cheer me up, but just incase there's anyone else out there with the blues, here's a little something to induce a giggle or two.

From the previous "Music Night at the Cardwell's" evening, Matt & Myself (...after a whisky or two I might add...) giggling singing If I Had $1,000,000...the Barenaked Ladies we are not!


(Click here if you can't see the music bar)

Apologies to every Canadian I've ever met or known for the truly questionable accents.

...Quick! Get out the cheese!

**EDIT** My bad...actually chocolate does help a little. Esp when its poured through your front doors letter box when you least expect it! *blushes* Thankies Matty =) xx

Gary & Lyndsey

So, this evening my little cousin Gary tied the knot with his lovely missus Lyndsey.


The happy couple.


Lyndsey looking stunning.


Their tornado of a...mental...mischievous...erm...lovely little daughter Brooke =)


My uncle Joe all proud of his newly wed son Gary

Peter Mulvey

(I meant to post this aaages ago...but then I forgot. Umm, pretend it's the 18th of last month so's I don't have to re-type, k.)



How wonderful is this guy? Ya know, I think if I was bound to only listen to one voice for the rest of eternity, I'd want it to be his...tho only if he could bring his guitar too...

So, yesterday Myself, Matt, Sarah, Raj and Paul took a wee trip down to the fair city of Dublin to see Peter Mulvey at the Temple Bar Music Centre. Now, the last time I saw this guy play I didnt want the gig to end...I had a feeling this time would be much the same.

We were the first there...which was surprising as it took us about two and a half hours just to get through to the town center due to All Ireland Final being played in Croke Park. But still, we made it to the music centre with ten minutes to spare...and even got to move one of the big comfy seats from the back, to the front of the room. Cause we're special.



His support act was a last minute stand in by the name of Peter Doran. The 22 year old Mullingar based musician, did a fantastic job at getting the small, but perfectly formed, crowd in the mood for the great evening to come.

Click on the above links for a sample of his music over on myspace.com, then go buy his album cause he's great =)

Peter himself was fantastic as expected. He sang his way through old favourites, classic covers and a few from his new album 'The Knuckleball Suite'...all whilst mumbling something about Sean Connery's blatant speech impediment, battling with the Star-Wars stylee laser lights, and promising to cut down on making fun of the pope.


(Left vid: Matt's phone vid from gig - "Road to Mallow"
Right vid: "Sad Sad Sad Sad" Live at Folk at One)

After the gig we fangirled for a little (did I mention how luffly he was?) ...then headed for some food before the long journey home.

I must now insist that if you have no idea who this guy is, you should go straight to his myspace and listen to his music, do not pass go, do not collect £200! Also visit his website at petermulvey.com and buy lots and lots of stuff and things. He's a great guy and if he comes to your town...go see him play!



**Incidentally...I was experimenting with some different camera settings for gig photography...lemme know wot yis think!**

I have the cold =( *sniffle*

So...ya know when you're sick, your dreams are always a little bit off the wall...

...last night I drempt I worked for Wolfram & Hart. How bizarre.

Man, their filing system was a mess.

*choo!*

Anyways...

Things That Make Me Smile - Part II

I never felt I had the words to describe the exact process of taking childrens portraits...thankfully, the Mad TV gang did it for me.

This is documentary footage people! This is what it's really like taking photos of kids...

My bad.

I thought I was going to watch hockey last night. Turns out I was just going to watch "referee" Mike Hicks, take the piss out of these new 'zero tollerance' rules.



The official Giants site reports: "The game was a penalty filled affair as both teams struggled to adapt their play to reflect the league's new zero tolerance rules designed to improve the speed and excitement of the game."

Balls. "Speed and excitement"? Ha! They must be on crack =/ I have never, in my entire life, seen a slower game full of random and usless stoppages. The new '3 fights and you're out' rule is a little pointless if they cant even brush past each other without getting sent to the bin, don'tcha think?



Everyone was completely baffled (pictured above) by the extent of the so called new rules. They really need to sort out what is deemed an acceptable hit and what isn't, because if you cant check or put a niggling opposing player back in his place, then you aint playin hockey.

Later in the bar, Matt asked a slightly tiddly JB* if he was glad he didnt have to play in that shambles...he said it was worse having to watch it. No kidding, eh.



On the upside, our Lucky Looney (again pictured above...no, not Matt...the coin), burried at centre ice, held true for us and we won 4-3 after a penalty shoot out, with goalie Mike Minard deservedly receiving the Man of the Match award.

*Ex Philly Flyer Jason "JB" Bowen was one of the original Giants, and a key member of the team through 5 seasons. Last month, according to the Sunday Life, he was 'dumped' by email. Nice.

I have new hair! =D

And for some reason I have the Muppet Babies theme tune in my head.

...And did I mention there was hockey tonight?? =D

Things That Make Me Smile - Part I

Yes folks, a spangly new feature for the old blog, which I'm pretty sure is quite self explanitory.

The first, is a clip from Mad TV, where President George Bush (Will Sasso) teams up with WWE's Triple H.



Enjoy!

3 Days to Go!!!

I felt myself becomming a little distracted today...

=(

*sigh*

Steve Irwin

22 February 1962 - 04 September 2006

I couldn't quite believe what I was hearing this morning. Mum was telling me The Crocodile Hunter was dead. The Crocodile Hunter? Steve Irwin? Dead?

I still cant believe it :'(

The man who risked his life everyday to rescue and relocate crocodiles, and save many other endangered or distressed creatures, was killed in a freak stingray attack while filming off the Great Barrier Reef. He was only 44.

Irwin was at Batt Reef, off the remote coast of northeastern Queensland state, shooting a segment for a series called "Ocean's Deadliest" when he swam too close to one of the animals, which have a poisonous bard on their tails.

"He came on top of the stingray and the stingray's barb went up and into his chest and put a hole into his heart," said his friend and colleague John Stainton, who was on board Irwin's boat at the time.

Stingrays have a serrated, toxin-loaded barb, or spine, on the top of their tail. The barb, which can be up to 10 inches long, flexes if a ray is frightened. Stings usually occur to people when they step on or swim too close to a ray and can be excruciatingly painful but are rarely fatal, said University of Queensland marine neuroscientist Shaun Collin. Collin said he suspected Irwin died because the barb pierced under his ribcage and directly into his heart.

His death was only the third known stingray death in Australian waters.

As I am sitting here typing, I am still so stunned that this has happened. Steve has been in my living room almost every day for the past decade and I can't quite shake the feeling that I have lost a member of my own family as my prayers are with his. A feeling like something will never quite be the same again. There has never been anyone like him and by crikey I doubt we'll see another. His excitable, passionate and lovable character will be remembered by millions for many years to come. G'day mate.

Jo

Somewhere over the rainbow

I've decided I'm gonna stop apologising for not updating. I appreciate everyone who's emailed or pm-ed to see if I'm still alive...and I may still, on occasion, apologise to them....but on mass, I feel it is pointless and indeed repetitive. Lets just face facts...I have lost my blogging skills. My ability to post relentless amounts of incredibly random (yet ever so shiny) crap, has been sent on vacation and gotten lost.

Oh, I still hear from it now and again...a postcard or two, arriving whilst I'm in the cinema viewing such classics as "Snakes!...on a plane". It gently reminds me why I need to post, and that I must share with you all the fantastic reasons I came up with as to why Samuel L. Jackson should never attempt 'dramatic'...why David R. Ellis should stick to stunt coordinating, why Bobby Cannavale should be much more careful when jumping outta helicopters, and most importantly, why, even after the terrible acting and the steady 5 minute shot of some girls nakid tatters, I still liked the damn movie!

...and I would have...but I forgot.

My mindless blogging ability, which I shall henceforth refer to as Falcor the Pink, has let me down. When I sent him on a journey of spiritual growth (...otherwise known as me telling him to stop bugging me while I needed to work...) has become tired and fidgety.

But it is my own fault. I accept responsibility. As the old saying goes "All work and no blogging makes Falcor the Pink a dull boy". Maybe if my mindless blogging ability was a female figment of my imagination things would be different...or make more sense...or make any sense...or...something... *sigh* ...but never mind. On we go...

The summer is over.

Yes folks, thats right, as always the blazin hot sun lasted about 2 weeks then burst into lashings and lashings of pouring wet horrible icky rain. And lots of it. Just in time for the Milk Cup. Fantastic.



For those of you who don't know, The Milk Cup is a world wide youth soccer tournament that takes place around the North Coast of Ireland every year. It has spawned many a footballing legend over the years and is in fact the only tournament which old golden balls David Beckham has ever won as team captain. A great week was had by all, despite everyone being repeatedly soaked by massive amounts of rain...



...and milk!

Other highlights from the beginning of the rainy season that has now become Autumn, included a visit to a convent for a wedding shoot. Now I must admit, I've never been in a convent before...and the idea of it worried me slightly. Visions of Nuns running around, habits flowing in the full force gale, singing about the hills being alive sprang immediately to mind. Thankfully however, only one of them had anything blowing anywhere and the hills were more sapping wet than alive with anything. Did I mention the huge vertical graveyard or the overflowing open-plan crypts? No? Anyhoo, despite all that...and the masses of mud...and my lovely new shoes getting completely ruined...everything went to plan and the day was deemed a success.



Don't they just look luffly?

What else? ...Oh yes! It was wee Amy's 2nd birthday t'other week. We got her a dog. A toy dog. But a really really big one. *grin*



It's about 4 times the size of Amy, and her dad, Nathan, thought it looked better as a hat. Umm, not quite wot we had in mind, but I guess maybe she'll grow into it.

Connor also had a birthday last week...and although much older than Amy, invited a couple of kids along to his party anyways...



Yes Matt and Bill, I'm talkin' bout you two! In case you cant quite make out the videos, they are having a balloon fight in the first. Thankfully the video is short, but this went on for hours...or what seemed like hours anyways! And in the second, Bill entertains us with a reenactment of a scene from "When Balloons Go Bad". And yes Raj, before you say it, you are entirely correct; From now on they'll be doing their balloon fighting...in jail! *cough*

Anyways, apart from squeeing about hockey season starting up again in two weeks time *cough* first game on the 9th *cough*, I can't think of anything else particularly interesting right now...mainly due to it being tea time and it's been way too long since lunch. So I'll leave you with a pic I snapped on my phone yesterday just after we finished building our ark.



Bleedin' Cullybackey country folk...first they take our tractors, then they get their very own pots of gold. Its so not fair!

An Apology...

...to Matt, who was very upset that I didnt mention the fact that he managed to find a place down south (a Spar none the less) that sold Tim Hortons coffee, even once in my last post. So here ya go hun:



Actually, it wasn't just the coffee...it appeared to be the entire Tim's range of donuts, lunches and Timbits. It seems the Canadians may be trying to take over the world through and caffein highs and yummy glazed tartlets! Oh the humanity!

Journey South

So how is everyone? I've just noticed it's been a while since my last post. I seem to be on the net less and less lately.

Anyhoo, I've totaled it all up, and I'm pretty sure I've spent the majority of the last week down in Southern Ireland. Now dont get me wrong, I see this as a great thing...the place is absolutely fantastic...spectacular views...



...but I'm now officially wrecked - and I wasn't even the one driving!

Ya know I got up at 6.30 this morning with the best of intentions of getting everything that needed doing, done and out of the way, and it was all going great until I sat down just for a sec on my nice big comfy sofa. That was at 9am. The next thing I knew it was noon! Eek! I had completely conked out =/

This damn heat isn't helping. And all the stupid hayfever medication. I mean, how's a girl supposed to stay awake?!

Bah.

Anyways, yes, down south.



Last weekend started off nicely with a trip to Westport, Co. Mayo, which is on the west coast of Co. Mayo. Now any other day we would have found this place no problem; Common sense suggests: head straight to Sligo and there'll be a straight route down. But this day was different. Matt had printed out a map from Mircosoft Auto-Route. Now you would think that He, of all the Mirosoft hating people in the world, would know better than to use a Microsoft map and expect it to do anything less than figuratively blue-screen the entire time. But no. *sigh* We go sooo lost! The map made no sense whatsoever...it took us on the most bizare route through random countryside ever...but even so, Matt was determined to see it through! lol Of course bad mapping is never helped by the fact that road signs in Ireland are easily spun around by local youths!


(The Google Map - As the Microsoft one shoulda looked!)

Anyways, after stopping the only English person within miles (much to his amusement) to get directions, we eventually just doubled back and headed for Sligo like we shoulda in the first place. Et voilà, next thing ya know, we're sitting in a lovely wee pub called The Towers in Westport eating dinner and watching the England side get booted outta the World Cup. Noice!



We spent the rest of our time there on a wee beach near by, toasting Sarah's 18th and upcoming trip to OZ M&S style, with a bottle of Champers and 'not just any ordinary' fruit mixer...





We had sooo much fun...and had noo problem finding our way home after having ditched the Microsoft map! =)

Enjoy the rest of the photos from Westport and the next installation of 'Journey South' will be coming very soon!

Mmmmmm Pie...

Ok...I'm pretty sure this post is gonna get confusing, so I'm warnin' y'all now.

It was originally gonna be about spending last Wednesday at Shiny Sarahs, and how we had a lovely girly day eating far too much Cherry Garcia, deliberating the wonders of home made cherry pie and watching Truly Madly Deeply followed by our much anticipated Mini-Monk-a-thon; but then somehow I got side-tracked.

I'm not sure what it was...or even what I was looking for in the first place (something to do with pie I'm sure =/ ) ...but somehow I stumbled into this random website from a link somewhere. Now that site isn't particularly important in the grand scheme of things (it's not about pie either), but I happened to notice a photo of the site owner posing with a familiar face - actor, Scott Grimes.

Now there's a backstory to why in particular this photo caught my eye. The long and the short of it is, due to Stanley Cup excitement and my recent obsessive complusive watching of Monk, I took the head-staggers a couple of nights ago to re-watch Mystery Alaska (in which Monk star Jason Gray-Stanford plays Bobby Michan)...and this guy Scott Grimes played Brian 'Birdie' Burns in it. I guess a lot of people will know him better from the likes of ER and such, but for me it's always gonna be the hockey movie.

Anyhoo...my curiosity elevated slightly, I continued to nosey on round this site a little and came across some photos taken on the set of one of Scott's music videos, in which I noticed another familiar face - Jason Gray-Stanford. It appears he played the lead character in the vid; I guess the two have stayed friends from back in the day. Nice.

Anyways, you can watch the video HERE in a nice little window, and may I also recommend going to Scott's My Space and listening to his song 'Livin' On The Run' which totally reminds me of my last couple of years of high school when my best friends big bro would sit and play me a variety of bon jovi songs on his beat up old acoustic geetar =) I dunno, it just has that old skool summery vibe to it *happy sigh* good times =)

And back to Edmonton we go... =D

Holy mother of Gretzky, that was the best shorthanded breakaway goal EVER.

That is all. =)

Blogpatrol

Was having a look at my Blogpatrol stats yesterday...thought I'd share the list of keywords that have most recently led unsuspecting travelers to my humble abode.

Went to see the X-Men...

You Are Wolverine

Small but fierce, you're a great fighter. Watch out! You are often you're own greatest enemy. Powers: Adamantium claws, keen senses, the ability to heal quickly

Which of the X-Men Are You?

*squee* I always wanted to be like Wolverine wen I was little.
...course I always wanted to fly too...and to be able to become invisible...and to have x-ray vision...and to be able to control the weather....and to be able to morph....and...umm..well, you get the idea! ;o)

*does Wolverine claw noises "whaashiingg!"*

I Heart Monk...So I Made Avvys!

(Clicky on my results to take the Monkish quiz!)

Capt. Stottlemeyer: [holding the police sketch of the suspect] You've never seen this guy before? In the store, hanging around the parking lot?

Young Cashier: I don't think so, but I see a lot of faces.

Capt. Stottlemeyer: Sure.

Lt. Randy Disher: It looks like Kiefer Sutherland.

Capt. Stottlemeyer: [pausing] Yeah, I guess it does.

Lt. Randy Disher: It wasn't Kiefer Sutherland, was it?

Young Cashier: No, sir.

Capt. Stottlemeyer: Here's a receipt. This is from your cash register. This is him, right?

Young Cashier: Mm-hmm.

Capt. Stottlemeyer: Eight items at 89 cents.

Young Cashier: Yes, sir. Eight candy bars.

Capt. Stottlemeyer: Eight candy bars?

Lt. Randy Disher: It really looks like Kiefer Sutherland. You know, maybe we should - before we distribute it - write across the bottom "not Kiefer Sutherland," just so that we don't disturb Mr. Sutherland.

Capt. Stottlemeyer: [sarcastically] That's a really good idea.

Lt. Randy Disher: You think so?

Capt. Stottlemeyer: No.







Enjoy! =)
Jo xx

(Feel free to snag any of the avatars, but please remember to credit 'snoopy45' and absolutely NO hotlinking!!)

You Doctor, Me Patient!

So the other week I got a call from my GP's surgery telling me that the doc wanted me to make an appointment to discuss some test results that I'd gotten recently; so this morning I dragged myself into Belfast in early morning diverted, and ergo extra-congested, rush hour traffic only to be kept waiting for a further 20mins when I got there.

Now this is nothing new for my GP's surgery. Infact, they're well known for their bad time keeping...amongst other things. Why I still go there after all these years is a mystery to me. I dont live anywhere near the surgery, and the service you recieve from these so called doctors is ridiculous. If they even managed to remember your name half the time (bearing in mind it's written on a computer screen right in front of them) it'd be pushing it for them.

So anyways, eventually I was buzzed to go in. As I sat down beside her desk, she looked at me and said "So what can I do for you today?"

I just gazed blankly at her. "You called me in."

"Oh...what was it for?"

"Umm...I think it was something to do with test results?"

"Oh, right. Can you remember what they were for?"

I stared at her for just a moment wondering if I listened closely enough maybe I could hear the circus music playing out her ears. I held a deep sigh for a second and explained what what was going on. I considered adding in that we were on planet Earth and that she was actually a doctor, but that would be just hearsay.

Two minutes into her oh so pretentiously fabricated compassionate speech explaining my results (which by the way didn't give any clue as to why I had been feeling ill), the phone rang. It must have been either a patient or a personal call, I was trying not to listen in, but she decided to take it and asked me to wait outside. Ok, maybe it was important. Or maybe she was just continuing to not have a clue what was going on around her and didn't realise she was in the middle of surgery. Either way, I sat outside for another 15 to 20mins. I even considered that maybe she meant for me to wait out in reception and they had been calling me there. I checked with them. Nope, they seemed to think she meant outside the room.

When enough other doctors had wondered what I was doing sitting there, she poked her head out and beckoned me in. "Now what was the other problem you were having?" She asked a bit flustered.

"Well, I hadn't actually mentioned another problem, but as you bring it up...."

The phone rang again. She quickly breathed out an 'excuse me', flipped her head away and answered the call. Sigh. I noticed that the door was a lovely shade of teal as I once again tried not to listen in to her conversation. Thankfully this one only lasted about 5 minutes and I even got to stay in the room and feel awkward the whole time.

When she hung up she explained that it was a patient requesting a house call then muttered something about the receptionists not knowing what they were doing.

She smiled. "Is that us then?"

"Um, no, I was about to ask you about hayfever medication." I explained about how bad it'd been over the last couple of weeks.

"Oh right, well what have you been taking?"

She took notes as I listed off all the brands I'd tried over the years. I asked about the steriod injection.

"Oh no no no, I dont like to prescribe that. Too many side effects."

"Yeh, I figured, but just thought I'd ask about it. Is there anything else then, cause it's driving me nuts and I cant be spending every other day dyin' in bed with it?"

I started to tell her how bad it was when I was in school and how it's affecting my work now. "...see if there's a wedding and I'm having to take photo's outside, like in a park or something, and my eyes are streaming and my nose is runny...."

"Do you wear sunglasses?"

"Well yes, if I'm outside and not at work, but I cant if I'm using a camera. I need to be able to see clearly."

"My advice is just to wear sunglasses."

"Yes, but I cant see through the camera if I have sunglasses on."

She sat back into her chair biting on a pen top. A moment of intense thinking later she came up with: "Well to be honest I think the best thing you can do is just stay indoors."

Well, yes. 'Thank you for those profound words of wisdom', I thought. I was ready to stand up and applaud, but I just smiled sweetly at her secretly hoping she'd see the look of sheer contempt behind my eyes. "See..." I took a deep breath, still smiling. "...but I cant do that." There was of course the 'everyday life' aspect of things, but I didnt want to confuse her even more, so I launched into a big speech explaining how weddings, landscapes, sports, and even portraits...are mostlly gonna involve being outside.

"Mmmm..." she said still nibbling on her pen, "...sunglasses are probably your best bet."

Will & Grace

So, yeh, I was watching a couple of epi's of Will & Grace t'other day...season 7...and now everytime I see a pair of gloves it takes me straight into the middle of this scene...I just cant get the clip outta my head; Jack and Grace have just found Vince (Wills cop boyfriend) in an Organic Grocery being preened by a man other than Will. They automatically think he's cheating on Will so they confront him about it, but it turns out he is now working there and it was his boss they saw fixing his hair.


GRACE: Vince, what's going on?

VINCE: I got fired. I'm not on the force anymore. Remember last week, a guy robbed a department store and the cop accidentally shot the cashier?

JACK: That was you?

VINCE: No, that was my partner. I was busy tryin' on gloves.

[GRACE SIGHS.]

VINCE: Since it was my 63rd citation, and my seventh one involving...you know, gloves...they fired me.

JACK: [TSK TSK] Oh dear, you poor thing. What color were they?

VINCE: Taupe with a chocolate cashmere lining.

GRACE: Ooh, they woulda gone with everything. Well...Will doesn't know?

VINCE: No, I can't...I'm too embarrassed. Look at me. I went from a...from a real gun to a...to a price gun. You know, yesterday I busted some guy shoplifting. All I could two mark him two for a dollar and send him on his way.

GRACE: Why, you woulda shot him?

VINCE: I woulda had the option.

(Full transcript here)


*giggles* ...gloves! =D

Oops I Did It Again!

Yeh, yeh, yeh...I know, I know. First I tell you how sorry I am that I disappeared from interweb existance and that it will never happen again...then straight away I vanish again without a trace. *slaps wrist* Bad Joanne, Bad!

*sigh* Millions of connection problems, 27 dvd's of backed up work, one (almost) major computer catastrophy and a newly re-formatted hard drive later, and here I am. Back once again for your blog reading pleasure. Or whatever.

So the Playoffs then. Yeh, well, it feels a bit pointless doing a whole big write-up (a la last year - post 1, post 2, post 3, post 4, post 5, post 6) on something that now feels so long ago, so I'll keep it short...er...ish.

It was about a month ago, I guess, but the off-season always seems to get longer and longer every year. Thank Crunchie for NASN! *stops self from going into an uncontrolled rant of joy that her beloved Oilers have just reached the Western Conference finals for the first time in 14 years* .... *dances* .... *ahem* .... yeh, anyhoo...

So...Nottingham. We went, we saw, we partied our respective asses off. Unfortunately, our team forgot how to play hockey and went out in the semis.



But seeing as we're from Belfast, we managed to find 101 other things to cheer for...here's just a few (hover mouse over photos for captions):

1. The Ref.



Ok, not the ref from our game. The ref from the final - Moray Hanson. Queue us all raising our right hand (clicky for vid) every time he did (clicky for vid) and of course the infamous 'Hands up for Hanson' chant (clicky for vid). Yeh, he loves us. And despite a shaky start when the other teams fans haddn't a clue wot we were doin', by the end of the game half the arena was joining in.

2. The Steelers

Yes, us. Belfast Giants fans supporting the Steelers. (clicky for vid) Who'da thought, eh? Well, it was like this - out of all the other teams who were there, their fans were the most fun this year. They were right beside us in the arena so it was great craic when they suddenly started chanting 'Giants' as we were chanting 'Steelers'. A sight to behold that will probably never ever ever happen again. But I'm glad it did.

3. The Rat



...on the door stewards head. It's kinda hard to make out in the pic, but holy crap that was a bad toupee!

4. Wally

Graeme 'John-boy / Wally' Walton plodding down the arena steps behind me pointing at my ass and telling his mom to look...which worried me slightly until I remembered I was wearing his gamer jersey tied round my waist. *phew* He looked chuffed to bits I was wearing it tho...which was nice. =)

5. Grafitti I tells ya!



Finding a lovely crayon drawing by Panthers player Paul Moran in the middle of Market Square. Awww bless!

6. Making fun of the Panthers cars...again!



7. Lu's Burger

Yes, we can cheer for food too. One of the best Hard Rock Cafes (for food and service) I've been in, is the one in Nottingham. We go there every year cause England has some funny licencing laws that require you to be over the age of 18 to even order food in a bar, and poor miss Shiny Sarah has spent the last few years being turned away at the door for being too ickle. The HRC, being primarily a restaurant, doesn't have this constraint.

So, if you remember last years playoff post, you'll no doubt be able to recall how strange Lu is. Well this years Lu-ism, is "Don't eat your food - Play with it!" (clicky for vid)



8. The Barenaked Ladies

I just like them, so I cheer. Altogether now... *sings* If I had a million dollars.... (clicky for vid)



9. Barstucks

Breakfast coffee.



Lu wasnt there the morning we arrived, but out of respect we steered clear of any velvet seating arrangements.

10. Balloons.



We wondered if this was how BMIbaby were planning on getting us home.

11. Half Built Hotel.

We stayed in the Jurys Inn hotel this year, which by the way was fantastic. No problems with checkin (unlike the hotel last year), no problems with the rooms being ready (unlike the hotel last year), and massive rooms (unlike the hotel last year). The Jurys is Nottinghams newest big hotel, and as such isnt quite finished...the second half is still completely under construction. So aparently my aunt & uncle's room didnt quite have a window yet, and the running gag was that you didnt use the hotel lift to get to it, you just hopped on one of the cranes outside.



...Well...it was funny while everyone was drunk!

12. Lobby Antics

For some reason our taxi to take us to the airport was a little (an hour) late. The reason being becase the hotel receptionist was a little dense (and possibly hung over) that morning, and repeatedly asked us when we'd like that taxi ordered. Every time we said "Umm, now please" she would wait 10mins then ask us again! The time sitting in the lobby was not waisted however...Bill put it to good use by blattering poor Fish repeatedly over the head with a magazine.



13. Flying Buses



...well, it was an Airbus in mid air. I'm easily amused.

14. Eye Eye Bill



Billinda never letting me get more than the top half of his face in a photo. Damn him!

15. My Swede

My little pet Swede 'Raxy' who as well as wearing his fetching new collar with pride all weekend, manage to freak Lu out completely by proposing marriage to her outside the Bunkers Inn. She's only met him twice!



16. The Toilet Singer

Ok, so I thankfully didnt see this one first hand, but there was a dude in the mens restrooms in a fantastic gothic stylee bar called The Pit & The Pendulum, handing out paper towels and dancing around ragga-singing about how "hygiene is top banana". Quote of the weekend had to go to Raj's dad, Nigel, who walked up to Matt deadpan and said "Here's a pound, go and see the toilet singer" lol...still makes me giggle!

17. Alcohol

Ahh the Berry Juice effect:



If you aren't quite aware of what this is, I shall refer you to last years post, but lets just say it heals a lot of wounds!



The was lots of cheering for this...or should I say because of it! I'll end this completely belated post with a vid of everyone in The Bunkers Inn singing their drunken rendition of 'I Am The Music Man'.



(**The videos located on youtube.com are best viewed at the smallest size**)