Category: 365

Devastation. Last night we went to the Mourne Seafood Bar in Belfast. Between the two of us, we cleared goats cheese fritters, chili crab claws, a pot of mussels, queen scallop linguini and puy lentil dahl with cod fillet.

Then we went home and watched “Never Let Me Go” on the Apple TV. Which was a powerful, emotive, thought-provoking movie.

The Startup Café (as suggested by @jasebell).

I find this view to be somewhat sombre, almost morbid. The death of an industry. And maybe the hope of a phoenix arising?

I’ve posted this one a little late. I’m really not doing too well at the “do X at midday” thing I tried to start. But posting an image a day does focus the mood.

Flying is amazing. That is all.

A reminder that it’s important to think ahead.

I didn’t get a chance to take a picture, but I caught a couple of movies. The one which inspired me most was “Wind“.

The second movie was “Scanners”, which was inspirational in its own way.

I’d love to attend the America’s Cup in 2013.

The 34th America’s Cup will be sailed in 2013 in San Francisco, California with 72-foot wing-sail catamarans. Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) is the defender of the America’s Cup, after their racing team, BMW Oracle Racing defeated the Swiss Alinghi team of Société Nautique de Genève in the 2010 America’s Cup. The Italian Club Nautico di Roma has been announced as the Challenger of Record.

It’s high motion, high adventure and really engages with the kids. Meg and Jake love it – Jake really gets into the Buzz persona.

The MAC.

THE MAC (THE METROPOLITAN ARTS CENTRE), BELFAST’S NEW ARTS CENTRE, WILL BE A WORLD CLASS HOME FOR THE ARTS IN THE HEART OF BELFAST’S CATHEDRAL QUARTER WHEN IT OPENS IN 2012.

The MAC will be six storeys high. It will include three major visual art galleries, two theatres, a dance studio, education, workshop and rehearsal spaces, offices for resident arts groups as well as a resident artist and (of course) a cool café and bar.

And yes, that’s a lot of beer on that truck.

While the first record I ever owned was “Bright Eyes” by Simon and Garfunkel, the first ‘tape’ I ever got from a friend was a copy of the album “Time” by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). The version I got was missing “Ticket to the Moon” because it made it easier to fit it onto the tape.

I loved that album. I mean, really loved it. And I still do. It’s a mood changer, an album for the long drive to the north-west, a honest-to-god sing out loud inspiration. I’ve bought it on tape, on CD. It was a concept album; songs written by a man in the future (in 2095), yearning for the simpler life of the 20th Century.

My friend and I would argue about the lyrics because it was the early eighties and there were no lyric web sites to check. Jeff Lynne became a godlike figure as we got more albums and marvelled at his ability to make the sounds we loved. Discovery told different stories, Out of the Blue was its own experience and the last album I bought was Balance of Power which affects me in almost the same way Time does, because it’s different and I was a little older.

And if you haven’t felt better after listening to Mr Blue Sky, then you are a heartless dead charlatan.