Daniel Larusso aint got nothing on me

So.....got back from a gig, early, was tidying the kitchen and had in my hands a bowl, a soup spoon, an empty wine bottle and some chopsticks when i noticed this fly on the wall. Being an eternal 80's fuelled optimist (teen wolf/karate kid/star wars (the real ones) back to the future etc.) i decided to go all Myaggi on this fly and went for it with the chopsticks......as you can probably guess i missed, then somehow I remembered a skill I never learned before, some sort of inherrant genetic instinct to pinch the chopsticks about 2 cms above the flys locus and would ya believe it, there he was trapped betwixt the sticks of chop!...and I though the day peaked when one of my viola students was invited to play a the 2012 olympics!!!

There is a fly in my soup...

Check out this wee fellah bathing in my pint last night, reminds me of that joke about a guy who drowned in a vat of beer at a brewery, police were surprised to hear he got out five times to go to the loo....

The bard has his own fashion label

Ger Starr, singer, guitarist and now a fashion icon...

I have a new outfit I am playing with called Shillelagh Law, and have set up a blog in order to promote the band etc. Check it out here http://shillelaghlawband.blogspot.com/ comments/suggestions/donations welcome :)

Off to the tower to rescue fair maidens...

Arrow selection was an arduous process, Finn has very high standards.

Searching for treasure

We wrapped a box of smarties up in tinfoil and then burried it whilst Finn set off on a treasure hunt with his new set of garden tools Tristen got him for his birthday recently.

The scoville report.....

The scoville report.....

The scoville report.....

The scoville report.....

The scoville report.....

..he robs from the rich and gives to the poor...

Check out Finn and his new hobby. We were chopping up a few branches from the mulberry tree the other day and out came the leatherman, a few tactical cuts and some jumbo elastic band wrangling later Finn was taking pot shots all over the garden. William tell watch out!

The worlds greatest roadie

The milk moustache master

Very tom selleck

Darts with spiderman

Finns birthday surplus balloons

More balloons

Finns Cake

Jane does an amazing job at making cakes and every year Finn gets to decide what kind of cake he gets for his birthday. This year he is playing a lot of that Angry Birds game so Jane put together this masterpiece.

Ceiling no 3

The back is back

I have been out of action for the last week and a bit with a slipped disc and a dislocated facet joint. It has been an interesting week of reading books, insane boredom and observation of ceilings. Highlights included Ann smuggling guiness into the overnight observation ward, Liam with his womans gossip magazines and of course the ambulance ride. Word to the wise, look after your back, you only get one.

Australia & Guinness, the definitive decision

Australia (along with any landmass 50 miles from St James'gate) is often tarnished with the "it doesnt travel well/made from different water/its the way they pour it/different shaped glassess/flow on the line/phase of the moon etc." tags. Well, after 6 years of intense investigation and research I can put my hand on my heart and say its exactly the same over here, taste, texture, consistancy, flavour, head retention, mouthfeel etc.. Well done guinness, and Tim here, for delivering three of the finest to the band last saturday night.

Ceiling no 1

Ceiling no 2

Observation room

Happy Birthday Mick

Happy Birthday Mick

Micks Suprise birthday

Twas Micks birthday the other day and Fiona organised a suprise party in the city. It was so funny, he was ringing around looking for someone to go for a beer with and we were all forwarned to have "other appointments" at the time, he got a great suprise when he walked around the corner and we were all there.

Tools of the trade...

I have started playing with a new band here called Clover. Its a 3 piece, irish folk and ballad band, guitar, banjo and fiddle and we all sing, thats right, im singing in public now, wonders will never cease.

The young Jedi

Finn and I spent a good 3 hours on the lego project over the last few days, here he is on saturday morning in his Jedi costume/uncle Charlies hoodie ready to use the force

revolutionary new dog-yoga technique...

The Falcon

Jane got me a present about two years ago of this COLLOSSAL lego mellenium falcon, over 5000 individual pieces of lego and for a lot of them, there is only ONE of each. So yesterday we cleared the ping-pong table and got right into it for a few hours

Find the grey piece Finn......

Portable pint glass

Begone are the days when you rock up at a party with your cans of guinness and there is not a pint glass in the house so you are reduced to drinking your glorious bounty of stout from a teacup, filling occasionally and bereft of the visually mystifying settling sequence, behold the latest in fancy stuff here on coode street, the portable pint glass. A quick flick'o'de'wrist and away ya go. Great stuff.

Portable pint glass

Begone are the days when you rock up at a party with your cans of guinness and there is not a pint glass in the house so you are reduced to drinking your glorious bounty of stout from a teacup, filling occasionally and bereft of the visually mystifying settling sequence, behold the latest in fancy stuff here on coode street, the portable pint glass. A quick flick'o'de'wrist and away ya go. Great stuff.

Portable pint glass

Begone are the days when you rock up at a party with your cans of guinness and there is not a pint glass in the house so you are reduced to drinking your glorious bounty of stout from a teacup, filling occasionally and bereft of the visually mystifying settling sequence, behold the latest in fancy stuff here on coode street, the portable pint glass. A quick flick'o'de'wrist and away ya go. Great stuff.

a blast from the pas....future

Here is Finn and his partner in crime Oliver after a hard evenings playing around, kicking back watching a movie with a few pints of uncle Charlies homebrew. Somehow I can imagine these dudes in about 16 years doing the exact same thing....

Lego breakfast with the padawan

Lego breakfast with the padawan

Lego, starwars and smarties

Finn stayed over last night, it was great, we got to make lego star wars vehicles for hours! Here he is after dinner with his smiley smarties

More solo gigs

I did another solo violin gig the other day, playing at an awards ceremony and reception afterwards. This time I went old-school and didnt use any backing tracks, loop pedals or anything. Here is the settup, music stand with suzuki books 3-8 and a few show tunes, fiddle clip and the all important glass of wine holder

How would you like your solo today sir?

Check out the controls on the sandwich toaster at work, I have the exact same controls on my viola....