Northern Ireland Confidential

culinary adventure

 

Two great tastes that taste great together?

We'll never know as I gave this offering at the White Hart Inn a miss in favour of a more traditional serving of haggis, complete with neeps and tatties.

Yeah, I love Edinburgh and spent another delightful weekend there. Two days of sun, can you believe it? So much to tell, but big work stuff tomorrow. It will have to wait for a few more days ...

all the old dudes

If I'm going to announce when minor '80s bands reunite, I might as well announce when significant '70s bands do.

Of particular interest to CHM.

I don't know who any famous BBC Ulster personalities are, which is unfortunate because one apparently was seated next to me during last night's haircut.*

The owner of the salon was sharing a very exciting bit of news. He told this celeb that he has tickets to see a band at London's Hammersmith Apollo in October. This group has not performed together in 35 years. "Guess who it is?" the owner asked.

test for facebook

Trying to find out why my weblog posts aren't appearing on Facebook for my 12 friends to see.

i know this much is true

Headline news in the UK: Spandau Ballet reunites! My favorite part of this story was finding out the proper pronounciation is "Spando Ballot."

mapgirl's week of culture

No sooner had I said, "I've never seen an event in the main hall of the Waterfront" than I got two wonderful invitations:

• The Ulster Symphony's St. Patrick's Day concert on Tuesday
• The Methodist College Easter concert on Thursday

I also returned to the Ulster Hall to use the Jackson Browne tickets I bought a loooooooong time ago. When did 21 March sneak up on us?

I think I'm concerted out for the next week or so. But I did read something about Nick Lowe at the Royal Albert Hall in London in mid-May ... and Van Morrison is touring to perform all of "Astral Weeks" in one go ...

easy listening frenzy

What's your reaction to the Jackson Browne song "Running on Empty"? For a number of people at his live show tonight, the reaction was to storm the stage in a fit of bliss. 

Well, Northern Ireland's version of storming the stage, at least - that is to say, they got out of their seats, danced in the aisles, and ran up front to pump their fists in approval.

Fabulous!

Kudos to the Ulster Hall staff for not rushing them all back to their seats. It was nice to see a little irrational exuberance; besides, it was the last song of the set.

male jewellery

"Do you like my jewellery?" The Lord Mayor of Belfast asks me.

Aye, I do, so I do -- which is unusual because When I Rule the World, Statute No. 27 will be No Male Jewellery Bar Wedding Bands.

But the Lord Mayor's jewellery is ceremonial -- a humongous necklace that I saw him temporarily lend to a pre-teen girl in the lobby of the Waterfront Hall. He's here at the Waterfront again tonight, part of his duties to support the cultural life of our fair city. That big old bling makes him easy to spot in a crowd.

I pointed him out to my friend SJT and commented on the nice gesture with the young girl. They were taking a photo together. I confessed I wanted to tell him how much I love Belfast.

I used to be fearless about this kind of thing. But now I reconsider approaching people. Then again, I think how glad I was to thank the former Nashville for mayor for making it such a great place to live.

And I want a photo of that necklace.

Go on, I'll go with you, said SJT. She double-dog-dared me into it. So off we go to meet the The Lord Mayor.

be true to your school

Last spring many of my friends and acquaintances raved about the 2008 Easter concert put on by Methodist College students. [Note to U.S. readers - this would be junior high and high school aged kids, not university age.] Maybe "raved" is understating it -- I truly heard about this performance for weeks.

After seeing the 2009 spring concert, I can understand why. I finagled a ticket from my friend SJT, whose children were among the cast of thousands. What a night!

The first half of the show featured a few selections from each music group, and all of them were very accomplished. The Chapel Choir brought me to tears with their rendition of Stainer's "For God So Loved the World." Unbeatable.

viva la riverdance

AIB* and Wondering graciously invited me to the BBC St. Patrick's Night concert at the Waterfront Hall, and it was a feast for the eyes and ears. The Ulster Symphony performance featured poetry, Irish dance, flamenco, Ullieann pipes, harps, and tour de force fiddles.

I loved it.

refresh-ing

New profile pic on Facebook.

New theme for the weblog.

New sheets on the bed.

Freshly shaved legs [too much info, sorry].

Brand new notebook.

Downloaded podcasts for the week.

Cleaned out the refrigerator.

Cleaned out the boot.

With all that out of the way, I think I probably have to do some actual work now.