Life is never enough - it's all you get

It's crazy out there. People in Norway are dealing with a crazed lunatic or the confusion of misinformation about whether it was a Christian fundamenalist ( a crazed lunatic ) or a Jihadist group of terrorists. And THEN, Sky News thinks it's more important to break the news that Amy Winehouse has died due to a drugs overdose. It's pathetic.

Sure it's a sad time for her friends, her family, her fans and her record company but for crying out loud, there are more important things going on out there in the world.

Life has been going so fast I don't even have the time to begin where to drop off all the things I've been doing the last few months. An onward rush of so many positive emotions it's hard to take stock of it all. Just so looking forward to my girlfriend coming over to stay here for a week and a half.

Drama has subsided......well apart from my laptop dying on me. Need a new hard drive.....I'm waiting for UPS to come and take the bloody thing off my hands. They have until half past 5......and if they don't come within 3 days I give the guys at Toshiba a call to tell them to get their arses in gear. I don't fancy having this fucking war over who has control of the computer again. Since there is a second one.

a) I should really get a move on if I want to do that TEFL course.
b) I wish I had the money to move out.
c) I wish appartments in Dublin weren't so expensive.
d) I wish I could be with my girlfriend more often.

e) I really wish my sister would get a fucking grip on herself. She's 20 years old but she's acting like a retarded 8 year old because she doesn't get on with my dad. This thing has been brewing for the best part of a year or even two years and it's just going on and on. My mam's sick of it all because it's torn her up originally around Xmas time because of my sister's manipulative behaviour. She even moved out once after my mam lost her temper with her and hit out at her. Now she's back and stays in her room and doesn't make any contact with anyone whatsoever. All because she doesn't like her dad. It's one thing not to like your dad, it's quite another to blackmail your mother into unworkable terms. It's wearing us all out. But trying to talk about all this to my sister is like trying to convince Dubya that the War on Terror was a bad idea - it ain't gonna work!

As a result I'm going away for a day to my grandad's. I need to get away from this madhouse because it's an unhealthy environment to be living in. And what better way than to go up to Carlingford. A few hours on the bus will give me plenty of time to relax and unwind. Plenty of time to read up on those Kurt Vonnegut and JG Ballard books I've got. If I could, I'd probably end up wanting to live there.....but given the way the economy is.....it's not all that possible.

I'm back home and I generally feel a bit weird being back home and not being with my girlfriend. Even with two weeks gone, it feels weird having to get back to reality. Whereas being with her is heavenly. Oh well these things happen. Hopefully though, the sooner everything's permanent, the better.

So that sore throat and swollen glands? Turns out it was tonsillitus. Which figures really as I couldn't eat much without feeling the pain. Despite everything I managed to get to the hospital and driven in the back of an ambulance was quite something. Within an instant, he could see it was a bad case of tonsillitus and with that I had my medication which I'm amazed only cost 55 zloty. Which is about €14. If this was Ireland, they would expect a 0 or two missing.

All in all I'm very grateful towards everybody who managed to get me admitted to hospital there. And I'm extremely grateful to know what it is I've been suffering with the last while. Even though when I swallow it's still sore sometimes and my jaw hurts a great deal when I open it too much. Otherwise, I'm not sure if I could have gone through with here. I would be flat broke. In that case I'm happy. But I'm kinda sad to be gone. I almost felt a sense of a life I've never had when I was there. And that's something I want to have.

Well this has certainly been an interesting holiday. The first few days in Łódż were generally pretty slow going but that wasn't too bad. In fact it was pretty nice really.Once I didn't go out and about in the place because it's a pretty dreary place. But once we went to Toruń things became better........which leads me to what's happening now.

I could go into endless amount of details about what happened but it's fair that I just give you the bare bones of the story. A couple of days ago I've been struck down with a fever. I don't know how it started but given the weather and how ill equipped I've been to deal with the weather I can have no real complaints. Sure I had fleeces and turtleneck tops but I never had anything for my legs. That's been rectified now. But even now I still get the fever coming back now and again. There's also the small matter of swollen glands and a sore throat. So happy days are here again.

Secondly even though I'm not entirely well.....I had to go home yesterday......or at least to Sandefjord where I will then pick up the next flight home. Well that seems to be shot down since yesterday my flight from Łódż to Sandefjord was cancelled. So I've had to think of ways to come back here. I thought all hope was lost when they told me that the next train was at 6 in the morning. I couldn't think of staying in a cold station for the next 9 hours considering my weak condition. So I relied on my girlfriend who told me that if I got the bus I will be on track to be with her again at around about 20 past 1. It was about half an hour late and then considering I was cold, tired and feverish again, my brain couldn't function properly in reading out texts.

Anyway, I'm here, I'm wrapped up warm. And I could go back home by Wednesday to Łódż again via Sandefjord but I don't fancy making that trip down to quite possibly one of the dreariest places you'll ever see. I'd rather claim a refund and then go back on Thursday at an airport that's a lot more closer to where I am now. At this stage, it's a matter of trying to find convenience when you're placed in a pool of inconvenience.

That's all really......that's more or less all I had to say really. Perhaps too much so. I didn't plan it that long but then if I told you every single detail of every single minute that I did then we could be here all day. And you'd have a neverending text to read which you'll probably skim through some of it to get to the best parts!

Ciao/Adios

I hate starting work at six in the morning. HATE it. Oh well, just today, the 28th and 29th and nearly 2 weeks of holidays. LOVE it.

What was the last concert you attended?
It was either Bill Bailey's comedy gig which was a huge letdown or if you want something completely musical without the comedy, the Castle Party.

What bands have you seen in concert the most, and how many times?
I think I've seen Ministry the most amount of times with 3, any other band seems to be on two.

International?
Right here goes. I've seen Mogwai in Glasgow, Depeche Mode in Paris, Laibach in Helsinki, Vive La Fete in Barcelona, the aforementioned Castle Party in a place in Poland called Bolków, there was the Lowlands festival in Holland/The Netherlands, Killing Joke twice in Paris. I think that's them all. Oh yeah, Von Sudenfed in Glasgow, Mogwai again in Belfast and Bjork in Belfast.

Do you have any setlists? From what bands?
No I don't bother with that too much.

Are there any CDs in close proximity to you? Which ones?
My room's a mess and of course there are lots of CDs "in close proximity"

What band are you in the mood to see live right this second?
I could go to a good Maximo Park show, or another Aa show.

Have you ever been on a tour bus?
No.

Have you ever partied with a band?
Not really, but sort of I guess.

How many states/provinces have you been to concerts in?
Dublin, Paris, Bolków

What bands did you see live the month of May?
None.

What CD are you addicted to at the moment?
Well I bought the new Vive La Fete album so......

Who is one band that you used to like, but now you can’t stand?
I don't think there's any I can think of.

Have you ever been on anyone’s guest list? Whose?
Haha, no

Last band person that you got a picture with?
There was the old mobile pic of me and Sascha Konietzko


How old were you went to your first concert?
11

Who was it?
The Prodigy

What artists haven’t you seen yet that you want to see?
There's just too many to mention here.

Are you wearing a band shirt right now?
No.

What band do you own the most merch of?
That's impossible to say really

Do you ever do anything crazy at shows?
Don't think so.

What are your favorite venues to go to shows at?
Dublin - Tripod, Button Factory ( much better as Temple Bar Music Centre ), The Academy
London Barbican
Glasgow Barrowlands ( been there once but it's a real dodgy fucking place ) and The Arches. Small venue but lovely all the same.
Paris - Le Trabendo where I seem to remember the girl behind the bar wanted to get me drunk on red wine when I wanted a Red Bull. I've also been to the Stade de France.
Belfast - Spring And Airbrake and the Waterfront. The Waterfront in Belfast makes all venues here look pitiful. Though having been in the o2 here, it's not that bad.

What band do you have the most performance pictures of?
I never take photos

Would you ever get a tattoo representing a band?
Never

How many concerts do you average a year?
I'd average about 9 or 10 a year but now it's been cut down to 4 this year. It's too expensive to go to gigs here in Dublin. You can almost go to see the same band play in Belfast ( if they play up there ) for the same price including the train up and back! I suppose it doesn't help that I budget how much I'd be willing to pay for a gig. And unfortunately it seems I'm priced out of the ones I want to see.

Upcoming Shows?
I want to see Laurent Garnier play in March. Maybe Killing Joke in Poland in April. Anything else is up in the air at the moment.

Right now I've got the idea for getting a TEFL course done and hoping that I can pass it so that I can make a new life for myself in another country. It's something I must do.....but hopefully at the right price. It's been in my head for the last 3 weeks or so starting out with the thought of moving to Norway but the more I look the more think it's a sound choice. I might as well accept an early grave the way I'm working here.

The prices that are quoted here are outrageous. My money would be gone in one single transaction just to get my health back on track. I'd rather do it somewhere cheaper but.....I don't know if it's entirely possible.