blue eyed dressed for every situation

Voulez-Vous ?

July 17, 2005

So. The Holidays.

We left Dublin via Ryanair on saturday june 25th and arrived in Beauvais. The flight wasn’t delayed and we zipped right through Beauvais airport. (More an airfield than an airport if truth be told). Found the Hertz office and queued to pick up the hire-car keys.

Now, have you ever stood and bit your tongue while some gombeen in front of you asked lots of VERY STUPID QUESTIONS. This Canadian guy (trust me, I knew he was Canadian by the time he finally left to get his car) asked question upon question. It culminated in "… does the car have a CD player ?". I thought I was going to insert him into the CD player. Finally he left bringing his body odour and family with him. One of those very odd looking families – the kids all pale and skinny, the mom didn’t exactly do herself any favours in the appearance department and he looked like a cross between Forrest Gump and Bob Gallico.

I had taken a tip from someone on boards.ie and got myself a (free) Hertz Gold Card (bascially a frequent user loyalty card). It got me an automatic upgrade on the car type. We had booked a manual Renault Scenic because I could’nt justify 200+ euro just for an automatic transmission. What was waiting for us was a Volvo XC90 which had automatic transmission, AC (of course), loads more room and a little surprise when I had made the days journey (more on this later).

Using the viamichelin maps we managed to get around the Paris ringroad (peripherique) and onto the main A motorway toward our final destination (Port Bourgenay which is near les Sables d’Olonne in the Vendée region). It took a little longer than it should have for two reasons – 1 the viamichelin map was out of date and didn’t know about a whole stretch of motorway that would have shaved an hour off the journey and 2 we had to go through Roche sur Yon which was a feckin nightmare.

Made it to the resort (a Pierre & Vacance resort) by about 9:00pm and still had time for dinner and a couple of drinks.

So, next day (Sunday) I found a remote control in the glovebox. Thinking it was for the stereo system (perhaps to enable the backseat passengers control it I thought…) I tried it out. Up popped, out of the dashboard, a totally cool GPS satellite navigation system. ARRRGGH ! I really could have used this the day before !!! In any case, it meant all of our trips would now be stress free. It’s almost impossible to get yourself lost if you use one of these systems.

The next two weeks were relaxing and fun. Between castles with entertainment and the wonderful aquarium in La Rochelle it was certainly more active than our Spanish holidays over the last couple of years.

Check out the photos. Lots of Ice Cream. Lots and Lots.

The journey home was interesting. We decided to break it up by stopping off in Tours en route for a night. The motel was fascinating – completely automated check-in and great value (two interconnecting rooms for 1 night with breakfast for 5 people for 90 euro). Tours was interesting but nothing to write home about. Next day the journey to Beauvais, going around Paris, was made so easy by the SatNav system that we arrived in plenty of time to have a lazy lunch in Beauvais before check-in. The only thing that pissed me off on the last day was that none of the petrol stations would accept my cards because none of them were chip&pin. So I had to give Hertz the money for a full tank of fuel which was about 50 euro more than if I had been able to fill it myself. GRRR.

This year we took the video camera and I’m going to see about capturing a couple of video clips and turning this into a videoblog. I noticed that I took far fewer photos this year because I had the video camera.

I Put My Blue Jeans On

July 16, 2005

tags: blogging, music

A lesson in copyright… 4 notes eh ? Read the blog about how David Dundas wrote the Channel Four jingle and made a packet.

I had heard about this some years ago but didn’t realise it was that David Dundas.

on a schooltrip to paris

July 14, 2005

tags: music, songwriting, studio

Chris Gavin and Pat O’Donnell came by the studio yesterday to do some additional recording and editing on ‘Schooltrip’. They recorded some schoolkids (4 girls) doing backing vocals and it worked out quite well I think.

Some interesting stuff about to happen for Chris which is good – he’s talented and a nice guy too. Chris left a couple of copies of his new album and I saw that I got a credit… unfortunately he got my surname wrong. Ha.

That’s not the first time that’s happened ! At least the studio got a mention. I’m really hoping he chooses my studio for the next album. it’s good music and the sort of stuff that records well in my place. I wouldn’t mind playing on it either 🙂

and the lesson today is how to die

July 13, 2005

tags: live aid, memories

It was 20 years ago today.

I was 20 years younger, had more hair, questionable taste in music.

Good Day Sunshine

July 11, 2005

tags: family, france, holiday, travel, vacation

Back from 2 weeks in France. Glorious.

Some nice blog stuff fo follow. Plus I think I’ve hit on an idea for a book !

I was in a band when I lived in the USA. The story of the band is pretty funny and with some creative changes I reckon there’s a paperback in it. Perhaps the best thing to do is simply start writing and see what comes out ?

All Winter We Have Waited

June 20, 2005

tags: music

Chris Gavin mixed his album at my studio during 2003-2004 and it’s a wonderful piece of work.

I’ve waited patiently to hear the final result and am looking forward to receiving my complimentary copy <cough> <cough>

Underground Overground Wombling Free…

June 19, 2005

tags: live aid, memories, music

No thunderstorms last night but two classic TV documentaries about Live Aid on the BBC. Brought it all back – I found my original ticket a few months ago. It really took me back twenty years. I remembered lots of detail like arriving in London early that morning, getting from my hotel to Wembley and the concert itself.

There’s a multi-DVD set doing the rounds on the internet which has all of the concerts (UK & USA) as broadcast. The official DVD set doesn’t have every act & every song. Must take a look at the Led Zeppelin bit because they’ve blocked it ever being broadcast or released – must have been bad. By that stage I was asleep in my hotel room.

Day after Live Aid I went record shopping with my mate Andrew Brooks (hi Andrew !). He took me down to the Record And Tape Exchange around Tottenham Court Road. Bought loads of singles and a couple of albums.

Tokyo Storm Warning

June 18, 2005

tags: family, home

I think we’re going to get thunder, lightning and other assorted goodies tonight.

Got more of the windows done today. I don’t think I’ll be getting much more than that done this weekend. It’s Fathers Day tomorrow which means , of course, that we spend the day with my mother-in-law. Because let’s face it… the world revolves around this person.

This time next week we’ll be in France. It’ll be sunny, warm and not here.

When the rain comes they run and hide their heads

June 14, 2005

tags: home, pugwash

So, yes it rained. But I did get one of the windows done – the bay windows at the living room.

If it hadn’t rained I was going to do the other bay window but it looks like I’ll have to wait.

Got the kids a cheap webcam which provided much amusement as they held a video conference with their friends… who live across the road. Tin cans and lengths of string eh ?

My friends Pugwash are on the up and up with their new single release and , it is rumoured, cover art by a certain member of Crowded House. How good does it get ?

Strokes

June 13, 2005

tags: blogging, home

another window done.

just as well because it looks like rain

blue eyed dressed for every situation