Day 133 – A Bit Of A “Blur”

Blur On The Pyramid Stage

And so we come to the last day of music at glastonbury 2009.  Only getting home after this…

I got up at 9am incredibly tired as usual and bought the most amazing ice cold (ok it was probably as warm as the devils arse but to me it was heaven) bottle of orange juice.  Then Dan suggested a wee morning beer which actually went down suprisingly well!

Made our way round to the pyramid stage for Status Quo where I again fell on the ground and slept whilst chris and luke had arm wrestling and handstand contests that would end up being seen the world over (not really).  Also, luke was having a look (sorry for the pun :S) at my SLR and all of a sudden this couple run up and get him to take their photo!

Comics (Photo courtesy of Luke St. Leger)

They were also so appreciative to him after for taking the pic.  Thats the kind of random, slightly crazy but very down to earth people you find at glastonbury.

Next was to see an artist called Priscilla Ahn that chris had seen supporting ray lamontagne (I always laugh a little to myself about the pronounciation of artists names; it dont matter how you say it as long as the music stays the same :)) who was playing over at the Queens Head Stage.  It was a very short set, around 25mins I think, but it was really good.  Chris had already told me about how she talks at length very humourously about her songs meaning before she plays it and today was no different.  I had crashed again before the gig but she really perked me up for the day.  Great recommendation by Christof!

Priscilla Ahn

Then finally we were making our way back to the other stage to see what I knew (and anybody else who knows me knew) would be one of the defining moments of the weekend;  seeing Yeah Yeah Yeah’s.  Awww man I cant even begin to describe the excitement seeing them live on stage! They played the best setlist possible in my opinion and I went fucking crazy for zero (so did karen O, she released a massive eyeball onto the crowd!)

Your Zero!!

Aww it really made my weekend.  Although I think it would have been so much better if she kept Zero as the setlist finale.  Didnt stop it from being fucking amazing though!

Next on was Bat For Lashes.  Im not a big fan and really wanted to see Ladyhawke on the John Peel stage (I had tickets to see her in Belfast and she cancelled :() but by the time I got there she woulda finished her set.  They were ok but I really dont think the other stage suited them at all. Their songs are too slow.  Somewhere like John Peel would have been better in my opinion.

Bat For Lashes

The same goes for the next act, Bon Iver, who again most people know was definitely in my top five acts I had to see at glasto.  I think if he had played in the JP tent it would have been unbelievable but there was just no atmosphere.  Not to say that I didnt enjoy it but it was a bit of a dissappointment.  I would love to see a small acoustic set in a bar in the near future; it would be spectacular.

Bon Iver

Good thing was that we met the nicest people at the other stage on sunday.  One kid called benjamin who was a semi professional cross country runner and had been to belfast a couple of times

Ben & Me Rocking The Shit Outta Bon Iver

and another guy called graham who stood with us and drank our musical blues away.

Graham & Lucy - Hardcore!

Then we also had a bit of “Other Stage Volleyball” which was honestly the funniest thing ive ever seen:

Dan going in for the kill

The opposing team. No grudges were held.

Other stage volleyball actually allowed us to meet some more really nice people; James, Andy, Izzie, Dave and Mark

Poor Dave got left taking the photo

We all walked down towards the Pyramid stage together but it was only mark who would end up staying with us right till the end of blur.  He also taught me one of glastonburys most invaluable lessons;  how to piss in a bottle in the middle of a crowd without getting noticed.  Now thats skill!

Shit, I forgot to tell him I mixed the bottles up :S...

Blur were suprisingly amazing!  Im not that big of a fan and had debated for weeks about whether to see them or the prodigy.  Whilst id like to see the latter at some point I dont think I could of handled a raveesque gig at that point lol.  Nah blur completely blew me away.  I knew way more songs than I thought (so it was a pretty good setlist)  and Damon Albarn started to cry at one point.  How crazy is that?  There is nothing better than humble bands who appreciate what they have.  Oh, the photo at the top was from blur;  Dan got me on his shoulders and said “Right, get a good photo from there!”.  I was over the moon.

Unfortunately the crowd was really really packed and we had all drank quite a lot.  I myself was very drunk by blur but in a good way.  Poor Luce got too warm and had a bit of a faint.  The next time we would all see her would be back at the tent where she would be completely fine as if nothing had happened.  What a ledge!

Tough As Nails I Tell Ya!

We stopped at the wine bar on the way back for a bit of  a dance as usual and Rachel became the centre of attention with her amazing hula hoop skills!

Multitasking at its best

We got back to the tent and then made our way back out to shangri la and trash city.  We also brought out our next door neighbour Harry who turned 18 at midnight!

Neighbours, Everybody Needs Good Neighbours!

It wasnt as good walking around as it was on friday night cause the muck was up to our ankles and I was probably more tired than the last time, but it was still great craic.  And this time we made our way to stone circle to watch the sun come up (well kinda; the sun was pretty hidden behind the clouds).

Luke watching the sunrise

Made our way home after 5am and stopped at the burger van to get a double cheeseburger (Jesus, no wonder I was so sick when I came back!) and I finally went to bed at 6:20am after drunkenly scrawling in my journal about what we did today.  Dan and Luke also left as soon as we got back cause Dan had to be in for work at 9am!  lol I dunno how the guy does it.

Tomorrow begins the Long Walk Home…

Day 131 – Friday at Glastonbury (w/ Bloc Party!!)

Looking Into The Other Stage

It rained right through the night pretty badly, so when I woke up there was a mouse sized swimming pool waiting for me outside my tent.  Not only that but I already missed my first band, Bjorn Again!  (Ok joking a little but it still woulda been good craic to see them!).

We made our way to the Pyramid Stage to see Regina Spektor start off the day.  Aww she was so so good.  She kept saying how much she has wanted to play glastonbury for years and and she would continually say thank-you to the crowd.  It was also a pretty good setlist with old favourites as well as a few off the new album.  Blue Lips was definitely my favourite.

Regina Spektor

Next on the Pyramid Stage were special guests N.E.R.D. so we decided to wait for them.  Whilst we were waiting though there was some guy from lisburn who was completely passed out in the muck on the ground, so naturally Lucy was offered a permanent black pen so she could leave her mark:

Lucy's Property!

N.E.R.D. came on about 30mins late, telling the crowd that they had been told they had to shorten their set but they were gonna have none of it.  We left after the first couple of songs which were actually really good, but the three of us were pretty sunburnt and didnt have any cream on.  Laura would then go on to tell me later on that glastonbury officials turned the tv screens off on them because they wouldnt stop, then their mics, and finally started playing other music over the system whilst Pharrell kept mouthing to the crowd, them screaming back in rebellion.  Dont fuck with the Eavis!

Pharrell From N.E.R.D.

We made our way round to the other stage (my favourite stage) so that chris and lucy could see Friendly Fires.  I dont particularly like them but they both said they would come to see Metric on Saturday so it was a very happy sacrifice to make.  We actually made it in time for most of White Lies and they were fucking amazing!

White Lies

Ive listen to their album alot but it never really did much for me, although Death is definitely one of my favourite songs of last year.  I rushed to the guy beside me to ask if they already played it, and thankfully he said no.  Aww hearing it was one of my glastonbury moments for sure.  They also ended their set with a cover of Bruce Springsteens Dancing In The Dark which was soo good.  It sounded suprisingly different!

Between White Lies and Friendly Fires, the three of us were dancing like crazy at the other stage:

Even If Were Just Dancing In The Dark

Friendly Fires were good, but im just not sure they are my cuppa tea.  The man can dance (in fact hes very like Paul Smith from Maximo Park) and the saxaphone was pretty sweet.  Just realised that I ended up saying sweet quite a lot!

I said my goodbyes as I was making my way to see Jack Penate at the John Peel stage (I think I would of killed myself before seeing lady gaga!).  I was sitting down when all of a sudden this guy walks past wearing absolutely nothing but a clear poncho!  Twas so so funny.  Then about a third of the way through Jack I got a text from Laura to say that she had lost mum and had been by herself for 5 hours, so I was like “get down to John Peel!”.  Thankfully she found me and arrived just in time for her two favourite penate songs (joke!  She thinks he repeats himself loads so it was funny when he was singing “Todays Tonight, Tonights Today, Todays Tonight” lol!)

We had plenty of time until Bloc Party so we walked about around the Pyramid Stage area where the somerset cider bus is:

Somerset Cider Bus

They do the most amazing hot cider ever.  I swear, it was fucking christmas in a cup.  Although all their other cider tasted like someone pissed in it.  We also got to watch two neil young songs which was pretty good.  There was a real ambient atmosphere; everyone seemed really chilled and relaxed.  Thats the good thing about festivals; when your making your way between stages your always hearing other bands playing.

We got to the other stage for the Ting Tings finale of “Thats Not My Name” and got talking to this lovely family who had been coming for twelve years and they were on their way to take their 9 year old daughter to the dance fields!  Legendary.  Laura stayed for a bit of Bloc Party but then thought she should go meet mum so  she left after the first couple of songs.  Bloc Party just blew me away!  Aww man I still get goosebumps thinking about it.  They rocked the shit outta the other stage.  They opened with One Month Off which I thought was a bit weird but it works as a great opener!  I thought it mighta been a bit lonely being by myself but I ended up singing the night away with some randomers and getting a couple of beers down me.  It was the joint first best gig of the weekend for me.  Another glastonbury moment was also hearing them play signs and properly listening to the lyrics for the first time “At your funeral I was so upset…I see signs now all the time, but your not dead your sleeping…”  I started to get goosebumps.  What a personal song and the death obviously really affected him.  Pretty touching moment.

Bloc Party

I got back to the tents and everyone was back from Neil Young (the general consensus was that he was amazing!).  Also Dan arrived!  We all decided to go to shangri la [aka Shangri bloody la la] and trash city which was unbelievable.  In fact its so hard to describe but basically it is the strangest most amazing place ive ever been:

Shangri Bloody La La or Trash City (Not Sure Which :S)

Made it back to the tent where I finished off the night with a double cheeseburger and a cheesy chip.  Get In!

Day 130 – The First Bands

Got myself thoroughly cleaned this morning at the taps (it would end up being the only time I properly cleaned myself :S) and ate the last of my tuna and smoked cheese baps for breakfast.  A note for next year is to definitely bring twice as many! Ohh I also tried one of my bananas and they were fucking disgusting.  So warm!  Take it from me, never ever eat a warm banana!

Maximo Park opened glastonbury at 4pm on the Queens Head Stage, and if you read my blog you will know that im a big fan and saw them a few months ago here in belfast.  Unfortunately it would end up being the shittest maximo gig ever.  Because there was nothing else on, everyone made their way to the Queens Head which is a really small stage.  Although they had a massive screen outside which everyone could see, but the sound wasnt working!  And then when it was working there was half a second delay between the stage and the tv screen!  Not cool!

Too Many People

We left after about four songs and found out that they werent letting any more people in the area due to crowd control issues.  Good way to start!  We also met a guy there though who was saying that before they erected the fence around the perimeter of glastonbury that around 120,000 people used to sneak in (including him!).  Crazy!

Finally met up with Mum & Laura down beside the Queens Head Stage (which took me about half an hour to walk to and I was walking fast!) but as soon as I found them the heavens opened and there was crazy torrential rain, so we took shelter in the official t-shirt stand which also allowed me to get a sneaky photo

I didnt realise they were both chinese!

Thank god the rain eventually stopped, and I took them both back to my tent for a couple of drinks whilst everyone else was bopping away in the silent disco tent.

I went with Chris & Lucy to get some food, and then we noticed the wine bar!  Basically the wine bars played the best music out of anywhere in glasto, so much so that a lot of people would crowd around them just to have a dance!  So the three of us ended up dancing like no tomorrow:

Wine Bar Dancing

Then whilst we were walking back to our tents me and Lu starting singing with randomers trying to get them to join in, doing such numbers as Somewhere Over The Rainbow & “Zero” which over the course of the weekend had its lyrics changed to:

“Cassandra!
Whats Your Name?
Its Cassandra and it begins with a C
Just like me…”

Oh, and we sang happy birthday to Chris about 5 times (Note: It wasnt his birthday)

When we got back we all went for a dander, and ended up in the two most amazing tents in the Green Fields.  In the first there was an acoustic band playing which I thought were really good, and any electricity that the tent needed was generated by the crowd cycling on two bicycles!    I loved this band so much that I ended up spending a tenner on their album, and it turns out they are hardcore hippies with songs such as “Friends To The Earth”.  lol Cant wait to listen to it.

Best Band In The World! Probably?

The next tent was a Cinema tent which showed really cool short videos like the star trek cartoon characters doing pulp’s common people, bert and ernie rapping and lulu’s video for shout.  It was soo soo cool and we were all so relaxed, jus chilling on the floor:

Cinema Tent

After looking at the photo more closely I now know that it was called Groovy Movie, and is the worlds first mobile solar powered cinema.  It was the best nights craic;  I remember turning round to Lucy being so excited and couldnt stop talking about how fucking cool all of this was!  We made it back to bed at around 2:30am again.  A great start to the weekend 🙂

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2533/3683899869_de10d6c451.jpg

Day 129 – Getting Pitched

Getting There

So I got up at 9am to get a shower and repack my rucksack for the long trip ahead (actually it only takes 1hr 15mins to get to glastonbury but unfortunately for us, the traffic was terrible!).  We checked out the hostel and went to a place up the road where we got the greasiest fry ever!  For anyone staying in Bristol in the future, I would definitely reccommend the hostel we stayed in (think it was called the Full Moon).

Finally got to the bus station and I swear, I have never been so wrecked from walking only 5 mins!  Not only were we carring almost 20kgs on our backs but we also had two tesco bags that weighed the equivalent of two 24 cases of beer! Also, at the bus station the police were confiscating gas canisters from people as there was a chance they could explode on the bus which got Sarah a bit scared seeing as how she had one in her bag! lol was so funny.

The bus journey ended up taking around 5 hours and we would end up hearing stories all day from people about the backlog.  The bus driver told us that the bus that left before us was somehow 9 miles behind us!  Also people pitched beside us told us that they left Bristol at 11am and didnt get to Glastonbury till 9pm!

After the hardest walk of my life, we finally pitched near the Park Stage.  Originally I thought it was a pretty central location but I think next year I would definitely pitch somewhere near the other stage.  After we got our tents erected me and Chris made our way to the top of the hill behind the park stage to see over the whole of glastonbury

Looking Over Glastonbury

We went back to the tent and then had another massive walk around absolutely everywhere.  We saw circus performers practicing for their shows over the next 3 days, brass bands walking down the pathway whilst simultaneously playing their instruments.  You’d walk past a cafe and there would be a kick ass reggae band playing on stage whilst people were drinking their coffee.  So surreal.

That night we all made our way to the Ribbon Tower at the Park Stage (it was then nicknamed “Jimmy The Jellyfish” by people we met there!)

Ribbon Tower, aka Jimmy The Jellyfish

and sat there for a couple of hours drinking cans of lukewarm fosters.   We met a guy called Josh

Josh

who had been going here for around 5 or six years now and he continually talked about just how amazing glastonbury was (we would soon realise that nearly everyone thought that and would not be ashamed to tell us).  In fact for him, the last thing glastonbury is about is the bands.  He saw a total of 4 bands last year and he hadnt even looked at the lineup for this year.  That definitely says something about all the other things you can do at glastonbury.

I went for another big walk with Chris & Lucy, just exploring everything around us.  I would actually end up spending most of my time over the week with them both and they were the best craic to hang around!  They never made me feel like a third wheel and didnt seem to complain (well to me anyway) that I was cramping their style.  Im really glad they were both there :-).

We stayed up for another couple of lukewarm fosters until Sarah’s friend Emma arrived and then hit the hay at around 2:30am.  Ohh and last point I need to make was that doing a number 2 was definitely an experience!!

Day 128 – Bristol & Banksy

[This is the first in a 7-day blog series chronicling the time I spent last week going to the glastonbury festival.  Had one of the best weeks of my life.  This first entry is about what we did in bristol the day before we made our way south to Glasto.  Enjoy :-)]

Knock Knock

So I had to get up at 6am to catch my flight to Bristol.  Not cool!  Thankfully Jess stayed the night before and kindly offered to drive me to the Odyssey where  Chris’ dad came to pick me up and take us to Belfast International Airport.  The flight was grand; took about an hour and then Sarah came to meet us at the bus-stop, so she could show us how to get to the hostel.  We dropped our bags in, had a bit of lunch along the waterside and made our way to the banksy exhibition (pretty famous artist; just type “banksy” into wikipedia) where there was a bit of queue but it was definitely worth waiting for.  Some of the art was so witty and very very funny.  Definitely the best exhibition ive been to at a Museum for a long time!

Got back to the hostel at around 3:15am and it turns out the rooms are opened with a fucking fingerprint!  How legendary is that??  Actually its not really that legendary seeing as how they barely worked!  Chris went for a wee shop while lucy went for a nap, and then the three of us made our way to tesco to get all of our beer and food.  Unfortunately my bill came to £60!  Jesus, what did I buy?  Also the taxi cost nearly £20 return for a two mile journey.  So so expensive.

We then met up with Sarah & Dan, and went for a few drinks in a place called MudDock (it was a bikestore underneath and a bar/restaurant upstairs.  Pretty cool.)  Dan would then go on to tell us that apparently the place makes thousands of pounds in loss every week but the guy who owns it is so minted and loves running it that he keeps it open!  Wish I had that much money :-(.  We needed an early night though for the long trip ahead the next day so made our way back to the hostel for about 11pm.

Had a really great time in Bristol.  Its a really beautiful city and kind of has different elements of other major cities across the UK. I would definitely go back for a wee adventure in the near future…

Day 125 – Best Night Of My Life

I soon as I took this, I knew instantly that it was going to be todays photo. I still piss myself looking at it! Louise made me laugh soo hard tonight and even though she asked me if she could be todays photo, she would have ended up being it anyway!

Im not going to even bother talking about what I did during the day.  Im just gonna get straight into what turned out to be honestly the best night of my life!

Seeing as how Lucy is also going to glastonbury on tuesday and her 21st birthday is actually on the 30th, she decided to have her party a week early with a Neon theme.  lol I thought it was subtle Neon so I came in with neon shoe laces wrapped around me wrists and neon sunglasses.  Holy shit, people really went all out!!  I very quickly felt very underdressed.

So im going to write a list of the things that made it the best night ever:

Matthew Rea: When you ask someone to draw something artistic on your face, you really dont expect them to write “I Am Ciaran” on your forehead and a set of boobs on your left cheek.  I suppose that is the quintessential  description of Matt.

My gorgeous girlfriend Jessica: Not only did I pester her to death before we went to bed (in a nice way :)) but she also didnt think I was a weirdo when I went to the toilet at 4am and brought my camera to take photos along the way lol.  Im lucky she likes losers!

Lucy Gray: For having the legendary party in the first place!!  And for being the most energetic person in the whole party!

My sister Laura: For making me the coolest bracelet at 1am out of three neon shoelaces!  People still ask me how it was done, like some sort of crazy Paul Daniels style magic trick.  Im trying to get her to set up a stall in town!

Claire Savage & Deirdre Bole: For knowing and quoting just as many hangover quotes as I did, and for pissing themselves laughing at my one liners such as “Louise Ward is such a legend that she could actually shit on my mums face!”

Brings me nicely onto Louise Ward: For making me laugh the hardest I ever done, “No but Ciaran, this is no word of a lie: I actually molested him!  I 100% no joke molested him!” and for forcing shots of sambuca down mine and mattys throats “Ok just the one just the one”, “ok just one more, one more!”, “Right, third time lucky!”  Also she openly admits she the biggest fan of my blog which makes her a legend in her own right, “But how else would I have found out about Toy Story 3??!!”  Also to alice for laughing her face off in this photo!

(Thanks to Liz Neill For This fantastic photo!) Helen Morrow: For believing my “Driving Home Drunk” prank!  I am actually hurt she thought I might of actually done it! :O

(Thanks again to Liz Neill for another great photo!)Liz McNeilly: For also saying that she religiously read my blog, “Omg, but I can clearly see the rain in that photo”.  It is without a doubt, the greatest feeling in the world when someone actually wastes their own time reading all the shite that I write online, and enjoys it!

Liz Neill: For taking more photos than me!!  But for getting wayyy better photographs as well.  Im insanely jealous ;).

Last but certainly not least, Chris McCaffrey: For being the first fader of the night by falling asleep behind the couch!  And for also not getting annoyed when we woke him up a 2am shouting “FIRE!! FIRE!!  CHRIS THERES A FUCKING FIRE!!”

Also, to all the people who complimented me on my photography at Lucys party;  You will never know how much it means to me :).  I remember I started to get very overwhelmed and flattered when Lisa (Cassells) started to talk about the duckling photo I took at Helens farm.  No wonder I probably couldnt stop smiling the whole night!

I dont want to sound really overdramatic and exaggerate, but I can honestly say that it was not just the best party ive ever been to but the  best night I can remember.  I was saying to Jess that it felt like when you go to Summer Camp (or something like that) and you meet all these legendary people and you have such an amazing time but you start to feel slightly depressed for a couple of days after, that its over!

Right fuck it, back to lucys tomorrow night for another party.  If we all turn up at her door she cant turn us away!

I hope :(….

Day 121 – Summer Comes, To Multiply…

Absolute Legends 🙂 Now share that food ya greedy bastards!

Ok, im not gonna spend this whole post talking about how amazing it was seeing the hangover again, so the last thing im going to say is go see it!  Just as funny the second time 🙂
Went up to Forestside for a bit of a shop after work.  Jesus, I havent been up there in ages.  I forgot how handy forestside is!  I also bumped into Katie from school and we had a good wee chat catching up.  She was telling me she got a 1st in her degree.  I was like “shit, thats incredible!”.  I really really want to try and get at least a 2:1 in final year.  Im definitely going to work my ass off.

I also kinda realised today that my photography can annoy people sometimes, which really sucks.  I keep thinking that because I dont mind having my photo taken that everyone else wont mind, but of course they might!  I think my love for my hobbie sometimes blinds me from what people actually want, and I only think about me getting the photo I want.

From now on,  im gonna try and make sure that if im taking a photo of someone, that they really dont mind me doing so.

Hmm, maybe thats why its easier to take photos of cats? 🙂

Day 111 – Perfect Split Decisions

I always knew Lauras cats were smart but this much reading??

I wasnt hungover today which was great (God, I feel like I talk about being hungover but I really dont drink that much.  Maybe 3-4 times a month!  Is that too much?)  but I was pretty tired.  Me & Jess had planned to go for a run but unfortunately the sun had well and truely dissappeared so we just relaxed around the house.

She made the suggestion of seeing if my sister wanted to do anything and she kindly offered us to go round to hers for a bit of a chat and play the game of life lol!  Lucy was also in the area and stopped by to say hey so we took her along too.  I had such a great night.  It was so much fun!  We didnt end up playing the game of life but instead talked until 1am about absolutely everything and ate all the shite of the day, which Laura so generously went out to buy before we went to her apartment.  Definitely my kind of saturday night.

Learnt another lesson today;  if a 200lb bald well built man is standing in the middle of the road whilst your doing 35mph and have to brake to wait for him to cross, there is usually a reason (ie you let him take his sweet ass time or he’ll kick the shit outta ya!).

Lesson Learned!

Day 90 – Vacant

Worst. Film. Ever.

Woke up at 8am feeling really really hungover;  took some ibuprofen and water and fell back to sleep listening to Blue Roses….

Then woke up at 2pm and felt great!  No hangover!  Talk about getting a good birthday wish :-).  Spent most of the day editing all the photos from last night and just lounging around the house doing nothing.  Met up with Jess, Matty, Liz, Lucy, Lou & Helen at the cinema to see fighting.  Talk about the worst film in history.  No joke, everything about it was just terrible.  It was like a film done as a student project in uni or something.  Dont ever waste your time seeing this film ever.

Ohhh if you like any of the following musicians: Clay Aiken, Elvis Costello, Mary J. Blige, Sheryl Crow,  the Beastie boys, Steve Earle, Adam Levine (Maroon 5), Adam Horovitz, Sara Bareilles, Wyclef Jean, Norah Jones, Talib Kweli, Michael McDonald, Rhett Miller, Moby, Robert Randolph, Rachael Yamagata or Cyndi Lauper,    then you have to watch this hilarious clip from the 30 rock finale! In fact even if you dont like any of these artists you should still watch it!:

Day 89 – 22 Today; What a Thing to Say…

Think this is my favourite photo from tonight. This is essentially Conall pissed.

So today I turned 22.  I love when people ask “well, do you feel any older?”.  Cant say that I do, but im happy to be it!  I was pretty tired in work from sketchy last night but I was still able to enjoy the day.  We went to Spur for lunch to celebrate mine and Shaunas birthday, and had a few buns when we got back with the rest of the guys in our department.  Everyone loves a bun!

As was always planned, I had some birthday drinks in Laverys and definitely had one of my best birthdays yet.  So many people came out which was fantastic and nearly everybody stayed to the end!  I know there were people who were already going to laverys and might not have been specifically out for my birthday as well as all the ones who did,  but I want to personally thank all these people for being there or for catching up:

My lovely and wonderful girlfriend Jess
My siblings Rónán, Laura & Conall
My parents
Lucy & Chris
Helen
Liz & Matty
Susan & Noel
Nik
Louise
Tahnee & Paul
Deane & Dave
Chris, Cheryl & Coates
Colm & Dayne
Ronan Linskey
Ross, Shauna & Richard
James Sanchez
(If ive forgotten somebody please let me know!)

It was great getting to talk with and hang out with you all and I really enjoyed everyones company!  Thanks for all the birthday drinks too.  Amazingly I didnt have a hangover this morning so it really musta been my birthday!  So to finish todays post off, heres a video of Ross hiccupping: