Monday morning we were back in Dromore, and Amanda and Ashleigh had to wake up early to go to the office. I opted for a wee lie-in, very typical.

Around noon I woke up and ate a fat breakfast, as always, and took a shower. At 1 o’clock, with my hair still sopping wet, I heard the doorbell ring and was not sure who it would be – Lorraine, Ash, and Amanda would not ring the doorbell, and I hoped it wouldn’t be someone I didn’t know so that I wouldn’t have to I explain who I was to some random person.

Lo and behold, 2 familiar faces sprung into view as I unlocked the door…

This fool, Dave Watt! And Nev too! After a brief reunion schmaltzy talk and hugs with Dave, they asked if I wanted to go into the city with them (the city being Belfast). “What are you guys gonna do there?” I asked. “Get Subway!” they answered. In my head, I was bewildered. SUBWAY? As in “Subwayyyy, Eat Fresh!” Subway? So I asked whether Subway was some special place, or just that ordinary sandwich sub shop. “Subway is soooo good!” they replied. “Oh.” I didn’t have much to say. “You would drive thirty minutes to get a Subway sandwich?!” “YES!” They looked as if I had asked a dumb question. Of course, I had nothing better to do, and they assured me that we would be back by teatime, so I went with them.

Dave had to run a few errands so we stopped by all these random offices where I went in with them and didn’t know anyone and looked awkward standing there with my arms folded and legs crossed, biting my lip. Yep.

We finally got to some mall, where they went to go indulge in their delicious subway sandwiches…

Nev raved about the meatball subs and was ultra-protective over that hunk of bread and round lops of meat.

“This is pure heaven, minus the angels and blaring trumpets!”

Mission having been accomplished (and after meeting up with Wally too), we headed over to HMV. Not H-M-V, but HMV, like HMMMVUHH, where I picked up the Duke Special and Foy Vance CDs. They were a bit pricey, at 14 pounds a piece, but I knew that I wouldn’t mind sacrificing some food days afterward for this splurge (you’ll see that on day 8 I basically ate an entire box of cereal and that’s it. And on day 9 I scrounged around for food on other people’s plates. All for this thing called music.).

We drove back to Dromore, and there was BaseKids that night.

Yeah? Well I’m staring at you through my camera lens too.

Some days we all want to gaze off into outer space…

Other days we place ourselves in shadows and watch others dance in the light…

Uncanny thing: when I am watching something, I look like that little boy, with my head propped on my elbow and mouth wide open. No joke.

Look at that yellow-eyed dude on his fancy shirt … WWF or UFC? I wouldn’t know.

Life in technicolor

We move around too fast … do we have a distorted sense of time?

He sang Phantom Planet’s “California” everytime he saw me. Remember that one? The O.C. theme song. You know how it goes… “We’ve been on the run, driving in the sun, looking out for number 1, California here I come … right back where I started from.”

The Asian Connection

Lovely Hannah Clarke, half in a mellow yellow light, half in shadows…

Ginger & Amigo

Coady’s already influencing the young’uns.

We dropped off Bob at his house.

And ate Yorkshire puddings, one of my new favorite foods. Yorkshire pudding with orange marmalade are unbeatable. I ate four.

We played hide-and-seek.

Wally hid outside of the house, sitting on the window sill… pretty clever.

Coady tried to join him, only to find that the window sill really only has space for one, unless broken bones and smashed faces are really desired.

Nev and Coady decided to try out the attic. Five minutes in there, Lorraine came home, and they got stuck. The rest of us ran into the living room, where Lorraine kept on popping her head in and asking, “What is that loud noise upstairs?” We shrugged.

The boys. So rowdy. I saw a few too many body parts that night.

Beauty on the inside and the outside.

I watched Lorraine make buns / traybakes. They are so yummy but the most fattening things you will ever ever see. Refer here and here for additional viewing.

Lorraine is one of the most wonderful people in the world.

My Norn Irish momma.

Aero Chocolate Bars used to make Aero buns – so good.

***And about that Viva La Vida CD … I picked it up today…

PROS
- Delacroix on the front cover
- Brian Eno
- The Violet Hill music video is excellent. Watch it and be amazed.
- Progression of sound from previous albums. Unlike A Rush of Blood to the Head (where after awhile, all the songs seem to meld into one as a result of an almost homogeneous sound shared by many of the songs), each song seems to be a bit more distinguished and has its own character.
- Piano/Synth-drenched infusions (i.e. #5 Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love (especially the beginning, #8 Violet Hill)
- Heavy orchestral / string sounds (i.e. #6 Yes) – sometimes with a bit extra-ethnic influence
- Recorded in a bakery, nunnery, a magic shop, a church

CONS
- Overall feel seems to be a synthetic, maybe even a bit over-edited/produced; there no longer exists that purely raw, connecting, seeking sound that could be found on some earlier works
- Not in-your-face excellent, at least at face value (can be a bit boring, at times; i.e. #9. Strawberry Swing)
- Sometimes Chris Martin’s falsetto kills me a little.

NEUTRAL COMMENTARY
- Doesn’t have the same ethereal, atmospheric aura as previous Coldplay albums.
- Distorted guitar sound adds a pretty cool touch, once in awhile.
- Historically-aware lyrics – can be good, sometimes.

Best lyrical mistake: I heard “If you love me, why don’t you let me go?” instead of “If you love me, why don’t you let me know?” It’s good either way.

I don’t know what to think about it just yet. Give me a few more days. I’m not very good at voicing my critical thoughts about music.

And Happy 15th Birthday to my lovely sister, Naomi!