I want this picture to hang on my wall. So awesome.
(a little is cut off the sides for some reason....makes it not even.....) .
My 10 year old self would want me to post this one.....
its pretty catchy...incredibly strange grouping of artists but whatever.
a good one to change up the pace.....these guys are great. obviously.
and then we can end with something that ashely sent me that has been on one of my tabs for the last couple of days..... ultra catchy though...be careful if you dont want this stuck in your head for the next day or so...dont say i didnt warn you.
(sorry I cant sleep because i leave for Rome in a few hours. and i dont want to pack. so this is my best option. )
side notes. kenny bell thank you for making me listen to weezy. listening to my itunes on shuffle has been blowing my mind lately. thank you for that. you get all the credit.
So Friday afternoon I didn’t really do much because we had a pretty good time on Thursday night because that was Arnauds last night here before going to Paris. Didn’t do to much but I did get to use Katharina’s bike and she showed me where the infamous Aldi that I have not been able to find is located. Way cheaper than Tesco and a better cheap beer section. Sold. That was cool and she showed me her house down the street. She lives with a crazy Chinesse roommate who does nothing but whine and cook horrible smelling Chinese food that stinks up the house. ( Im sure my Main Street Flushing buddies would love that….:) After I got back home I found out that, at the last minute Katie kind of went weak sauce on me and said she couldn’t go to the concert because she had to wake up early for her flight to Spain. Maybe somewhat valid but she still owes me a good party to make up for it. When I went to ask Ryan if he wanted to go he was in no shape to party and go to a concert because he was sick in bed with a fever. His roommate though, Cian, was totally down for the show though even though he had never heard of Girl Talk. I was extremely extremely pumped that he wanted to go because he’s wicked fun and I knew we would all have a blast together. (marielle, lisa, emma, sarah, and the two of us. ) We did a little bit of pregaming at Ryan and Cians while playing COD and listening to some music. Definitely fun times. We headed out, feeling fantastic around 10ish. Ryan made me rip a little bit of his everclear before we left which didn’t end as well as it should have but whatever, “that that don’t kill you only makes you stronger”….yeah…that’s it…. When we finally got to the show, one can only imagine how beyond excited I was to be there at that moment. Similar to Dropkick on St. Paddys, or Big D on Halloween or pretty much anytime I’ve ever seen GirlTalk. I was amped. Even at Andrews Lane theater it was cool to meet so many other Americans who were there but had never seen Girl Talk. I even met a few people from my American and the Wider World class who recognized me as “THE BOY FROM BOSTON THAT THE TEACHER ALWAYS TALKS TO!!” I’m telling you I get more recognition from that class than anything else by a massive amount. Haha I love it though and it was great. The place was relatively empty when we got there but after the two opening acts went on I realized how full it had got and how crammed in we all were. When Greg finally came out on stage my life was perfect. He went on after midnight so it was officially my birthday when play your part came on. Damn. I freakin love girl talk. I helped boost marielle on stage and when I got on I was immediately by Gregs side with not a care in the world and no where else I would even remotely want to be at that moment. Literally. I probably could not come up with a better situation. After the show when I told him it was my birthday I got a high five and a hug along with his red hoodie he wore out to the stage. The man of the hour from Pittsburgh knew how awesome his life was and I like to think he knew how epic and legendary he made my 21st birthday. When we finally got home we were completely completely covered in sweat and disgusting. Luckilly Ryan was waiting for us with some cold drinks and some more COD before bed. Absolutely unbelievably beyond awesome and fantastic. I will obviously never forget how overwhelmingly fantastic it was and I still had a huge day on Saturday to go. Man life was good. God Bless America baby. I love college.
As well, I obviously survived my 21st birthday. It really was a fantastic fantastic day. Besides the fact that I’ve now been around for 21 years, Ireland played rugby against Wales for the championship of the 6 Nations tournament. Most people that read this wont really comprehend how big a deal this is, but Ireland has not won the 6 nations Grand Slam since 1948. That’s 61 years. Considering there are only 5 teams they compete against, the significance of the game was enormous. The bar on campus had set up some giant t.v.s and was playing all the days games leading up to the final match at 5.30. That morning I watched the France match with GShlan and Julia and Camille in Julias apartment. For no real reason what so ever, I got up off the couch near the end of the match and as i looked outside i saw someone standing by our window below. Standing there looking into the window was none other than Ty and his girlfriend, back form Galway!!! It was really really awesome to see him and meet his girlfriend and i am totally pumped he was here to celebrate the day with us. Before he left to go park his car at the B&B down the street he told me to come to the car with him where he had a little birthday present for me. As he leaned in the car he handed me a completely full case of Stella pints! (With a few Carlsbergs and Guiness thrown in for some color!) AWESOME!!!
What a great start to the day!!!
Before we headed over to the old bar I was able to talk to everybody back home on Skype and they all had good wishes etc etc.
By the time we got to the old bar with Ryan, lisa, emma and marielle, (everyone else was meeting us there) my day was already off to a great start. Ryan bought me my first drink, something I’ve never had before called a Paulner Weissenbeir or something. pretty good, strong, but kind of a fruity taste. We luckily secured a couch and kind of took it over from the people that were sitting next to us, but i dont think they cared too much. they were really cool. (shout out to Mary...hope your massive paper is going well after the celebration)
The game was epic and everyone in the place was going crazy the entire time. At the beginning of the game actually I bet 5e that one guy, Fitzgerald, would score the first try. (10-1 odds) About midway through the first half, Ireland seemed to score and the place went absolutely bizerk. I went even crazier when I saw that my man, number 11 had been the one to score! MY excitement was sadly short lived though because when they reviewed it, the ball had been passed forward. O well. The money went to charity and it was only 5 bucks. and that minute of excitement was close to worth it. ha ha.
Anyway, By the second half all my French friends had gotten there, Amparo, Katha and their group, along with Ty and his girl so we had quite a crew. The last four minutes of the game were absolutely insane, with 2 different lead changes, the last one when Irelands O'Ghara (face of the team pretty much) scored a drop with a 2 minutes to go to put Ireland up by 2. Everything was going great and every irish fan watching was counting down the seconds until the game would end. Then, with less than 30 second left on the clock, someone from Ireland committed a penalty. From the 49 meter mark, It was down to one final kick from a Wales player. If he made it, Wales would win. If he missed, 61 years of dreaming would alas become a reality.
A few seconds later, grown men began to cry. shouts of joy could be heard throughout Ireland. many a pint of Guinness were spilt on the floor, and the fields of athenry were sung countrywide by men and women alike linking arms and singing their favorite victory song. The waiting was over and Ireland were the champions!
After the game everyone was super excited and full of energy. Camille made dinner for us and he made his specialty which is pretty much just pasta and meat,onion sauce, but he does it really really well and its probably my favorite thing to eat here. It was Cam, G, Ty and Sarah for dinner so that was fun to all hang out before the people came over for the party to start. Right after dinner as I was getting something from the cupboard the lights went out and Jenny and Julia walked in with a cake with candles on it for me. It was really really really really great and I was totally surprised. I’m pretty sure there were 21 candles on it too.
Everyone was hanging out and luckily the French speaking was kept to a pretty low does. ha ha. I guess nothing to ridiculous happened at night, until we started playing Kings later on but I definetly think that everyone was there had a blast. Even sarah and Amparo and their german friends came for while in the beginning with ANOTHER cake for me! Katha was the only one to stay late though…that other group went into the city to celebrate someone else’s birthday and go to a club. ( I was plenty content to stay at home) Lisa was obviously there with her margaritas, Camille helped me with the bottle of Jamesons, Tomas and his girlfriend took some of my beers, Ryan manned up against whatever it is that has had him sick and drank his Everclear, Jenny and Julia were infatuated with each other, and Cyril and G watched us all make fools of ourselves….. so for the most part it was business as usual....haha... there should be some pictures online soon. Well maybe not all of them. Sorry Ger.
In all, my 21st birthday was pretty epic. Pictures to arrive soon.
right now it is Monday afternoon around 2.30. I just got back from a nice little constructive excursion where I picked up some food for dinner tonight. I am going over to my host families house and I am making them dinner so i went and picked up all the ingredients I would need for some hopefully fantastic chicken parmigana. I’m excited. I also set up my bank account because my card finally came in the mail. sweet. and i saw my favorite bank teller there who wished me a happy belated birthday. shes great.
Katharina let me use her bike while she is in Cork so that was pretty awesome to be able to ride that to Tesco as opposed to walking too.
And now I’m going to go and cook like a crazy man. Cheers! Tomorrow at this time I will drinking wine with the two best American girls in Italy!
So tomorrow is my 21st birthday. It is also the Ireland Championship Rugby Match against Wales. (literally i can barely type this right now) Tonight will be Girl Talk. This is epic. Ireland has not won the 6 nations title in something like 60 years so this will be MASSIVE. People here are planning on going nuts for it.
I am literally more excited than you can imagine. nate just sent me a message saying hes doing good, play your part just came on my playlist. my roomate just let me borrow 20 bucks to go buy drinks. shit this is awesome.
No really. I am really enjoying posting these things. I wish it just didnt take me so long to type up my days.
Anyway here are some cool songs you should all listen too....
^ thats a really sweet song by the guys that made "The whistle song", young folks
And this song is a remake of a classic but with a ghangster twist of perversion and inappropriateness that would probably make you feel uncomfortable if you listened to it with your mother in the room.
Wed March 4th Wednesday was a pretty sweet day. I hadn’t really been doing on Wed since I got here and that is pretty much a waste seeing as how I have no class. That day I decided I was going to Irish National History Museum. Lisa said she would be my exploring partner that day so I was pumped. We basically just took the bus into the city and walked down random streets with no real destination specifically in mind for a while. We walked into random malls and some cool little shops and even on a Wed there were still some street performers doing some cool stuff. I actually bought some eggplant from a farmers market so I was excited to make some eggplant parmigana or something for dinner. The museum is pretty far down the Liffy and across from the Guinness factory so it’s a pretty good hike to get there but when we did it was really worth it. It’s a giant museum and its free so that’s always the best. We did about ¾ of the museum (we weren’t sure how much more there was) until it closed down. On our walk back we “relocated” a giant St. Patricks Day Festival Poster from a random billboard. It now proudly hangs on our living room wall minus a large chunk at the top that was some collateral damage. Strapped to my backpack we brought it with us all the way back to DCU.
We took the bus to Tesco actually and popped in there for some food and beers so that was great. It was also the first time I have been carded at Tesco which was annoying because I obviously don’t have an id. Annoying. When we got back to Shanowen I had hopes of cooking the eggplant for everyone for dinner but those plans never panned out because Arnaud was making some fish for dinner already. Great Success. We all did our own thing for awhile until Lisa came over for dinner later on along with a bunch of other French people. Cyril’s girlfriend from America was here and that was cool too. We stayed in our apartment pretty much most of the night and I’m pretty sure we had a bunch more American guest later on that night. That was a great night and we played some Kings so that always gets Gshlan and Tomas involved excited. Really fun time, and really difficult to wake up for classes the next morning.
So Tuesday’s are pretty good days. I would say I have my favorite classes on Tuesday, my irish lit class and my American foreign policy course. My America and the Wider World professor is a nutjob. He is off the wall and says ridiculous things but that keeps the class very interesting. I cant really even remember exactly what he did but I’m sure he made fun of Americans and Australians, talked about how drunk irish people get, and asked if any other students had been to the pub before class. He hadn’t seen anyone from our class he said. Anyway. After classes, I went to Tesco with Arnaud to get ready for his big Caribbean dinner. He had made up the menu and he was making some sort of baked fish and some sort of fried dough like thing with fish and peppers in it. I was intrigued. We did all the shopping and got everything we needed. It was interesting when he went to pay though and his card for some reason was messed up and wouldn’t work. Luckily I had brought mine so we used it to buy the grocery’s (we were cooking for about ten people so it was pretty expensive). We got back and started doing some stuff around the house. We were planning on having a few people over so we cleaned up a little bit and I set up the table in my room. It was mostly French people over for dinner and by the time we finally even started to eat it was almost 9:30 or maybe even later. I actually didn’t go to lacrosse practice so I could stay home and help cook and enjoy dinner, but before we even ate, Len called me and said he was outside with some of the guys. I had forgotten that I had invited them over to our party that night but we hadn’t even finished dinner yet. I pretty quickly decided to just bring them over to the girls apartment which was a pretty perfect plan because when we got there were as about 15 girls and two guys and I just brought in like 5 of my teammates from the lacrosse team so I think they definitely enjoyed that. I stayed for a little bit but then ran back home for dinner. (keep in mind its probably close to 11.00 by now!)
Dinner was tremendous and then for desert he made some fried bananas which were also delicisou. By desert time people were starting to come over so that was also cool. My mission to find great cups and ping pong balls was a big hit so I guess it was worth the walk. It was really fun playing pong with some Europeans who had never played it before. A few people played some games but Heloise was my partner and she had never played Beirut before so I tried to emphasize the importance of this moment to her. Luckily she got it and made her first shot ever. Great way to start! It was really cool to have so many Americans in the apartment too. I don’t think I had to ask for a French translation once so that was extra awesome. The night was going great and it was cool to be separated into different rooms so we weren’t all clogged in the living room. All the dudes from the lacrosse team were having fun, the French were all hanging out with my American friends, it was really really great. Heloise and I won 3 games in row, life was good. Until there was a loud noise in the kitchen. I ran in and it was like the scene of a cheap horror movie. Len was using the Fire Extinguisher and sparaying the walls and ceiling, while Arnaud immediately ran out of the room and into his shower. Within seconds our entire apartment was filled with smoke and dust and everyone was running out of the apartment with their shirts over their faces. Luckily everyone got outside very quickly and no one else was injured. While our apartment was completely trashed, the main thing was that everyone (besides Arnaud) was ok. Valerie had some small burns on her wrists but nothing too major. Apparently what had happened was Arnaud had been frying up the last of his dough balls and something had caught fire on the counter. Instinctively he had thrown some water on it which, in the heat of the moment seems right, probably isn’t the best option for a grease fire. After everyone was out of the house and scattered from the middle of the apartment complex, we went back in to see the damage and to get Arnaud some help. His arms were completely fried, and he sat under the shower for what seemed like forever. He had blisters all over his hands (luckily we took his ring off before his blisters swelled even worse…)and up his arms. The security guard on hand was nearly (definitely) worthless, and didn’t even know where to find the first aid kit. Luckily the girls in the apartment above us were all nursing majors and had lots of stuff to help him out and get through the night before he would go to the hospital in the morning time. That night he must have smoked an entire pack of cigarettes (that Camille and I had to hold for him) before he finally went to sleep. I slept on the floor next to him and Camille stayed in his room. Our other two roommates slept in a friends apartment because the smoke and dust smell was too strong for them because their rooms were closer to the living room.
The next day when we looked around we got a real sense at how lucky we are AND how bad everything got messed up. The entire ceiling was black as night and the walls looked like someone had shaded them from black to white. Some of the cabinets were ruined, all the light fixtures, and Camilles Iphone were all victims of the night. Arnaud went to the doctors the next day and got bandages and drugs to help make him feel better so I am sure that helped him out a lot. Tomas and I, with some major help from Ryan began to clean the ceilings that day, and realized how hard it was going to be to clean up after everything.
Its too bad such an awesome night turned so crappy, but luckily everyone was pretty much o.k. and by now have realized that can fix most of the things and will just have to wash the walls and repaint the apartment ourselves. Supposedly we are pretty legendary now as well because no one has had a fire in Shanowen Square in something like 6 years. I think every single person that walked by stared into our apartments for the next week or so until we got it all cleaned up. People would see us walk out of the building and ask us if we knew about that fire that they heard about. For most of us we just kind of shrug it off and say whatever, but all Arnoud has to do is lift his bandaged hands in the air and mumble something in French.
