Uncle Gordon was 6ft9. I always thought he had a bad back but no, he was always bending over to hug us.

I’ve finally finished watching ‘Band of Brothers’

I watched the first episode a few years ago, the second a few years after that then third two years ago when I borrowed the box-set from a friend. Got to about episode five and then never watched again even though I kept meaning to. I watched episodes one to four again the other day and then today, off sick from work, I managed to watched the next six episodes.

I’m not sure if it’s my awful gay-flu (much worse than standard flu and virtually lethal compared to the dreaded man-flu) affecting my hormones or what, but at the end of it not only was I in tears but also feeling incredibly inadequate.

No tie! His father, my great-grandfather, would be furious!

Many years ago, too many to want to think about, I applied to join the RAF. I wanted to be a pilot. Not a fighter pilot, that kind of thing never appealed to me, but a pilot of the big troop carriers or bombers, possibly even AWACS or something like that. So I applied. What harm could it do? At the time I applied the British armed forces still had a ban in effect on gays entering its military so I’d have to keep that schtum. At the time I was having a “pretend” relationship with a girl. She was a lesbian and couldn’t come out as she thought her parents would disown her – thankfully, when she finally did, they didn’t! Although I was already out my dad still had an issue with my homosexuality so in front of him I made out she was my girlfriend. She was my beard and I was hers. Having this facility – a horrible way to describe it really – was useful at times, including applying to the RAF.

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It started like any other day, as you’d expect, only I wasn’t in my own house and wasn’t planning on going to work. Actually that’s nothing like any other day really is it?!

Let’s start again shall we?

September 22nd is “Arthur’s Day” in Ireland (and possibly the rest of the world) and this year, thanks to John and Cathal, our business partners at Planet39 we were heading off to celebrate this exciting day in Dublin, the capital.

After a detour to the nearest tailors to buy more boxers and socks as Brad had forgotten to pack them, we finally arrived in Dublin and at Davy’s apartment. “Compact and bijou” is pretty much an understatement when describing Davy’s apartment but let’s face it, do you need more than a bed and bathroom when you’re a young guy who spends most of his time either at work or in a bar? After chatting with him and his flatmate Dylan it appears a freezer would be useful, though.

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So yesterday, due to work, I had to have a full medical. Part of this included a hearing test as I’m quite deaf in my left ear and slowly losing it in my right and work wanted to know, I assume, just how bad it is and if it will affect my work. I don’t think they’re doing it so they can say “No! You cannot work here!” but are ensuring that any help I need is available for me if I need it.

At my last hearing test, a shameful six years ago, I was told that my left ear is quite bad and I’ll lose all hearing in it eventually. He estimated five to six years but said he couldn’t know for sure without further tests which he never booked and I never asked him for. My right ear was much better than my left although still had some hearing loss and he guessed I’d have twenty years left before I lost all hearing in it.

Although I’d known I was going deaf for some time it came as a shock when he said I’d need a hearing aid. For years I’d been able to say “You’re mumbling!” when I couldn’t make out what someone was saying. On the phone I’d claim it was a bad line and I’d make any excuse possible not to have call someone. That is still an issue now and I often have trouble hearing people on the phone.

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You know those surveys you get where you answer agree, disagree strongly or not etc, well I was sat at home when I realised that I could actually categorise parts of my week within similar answers. So here they are. I think I’ll make this a regular thing. Oh and if you’re reading this and tempted to comment then please do. Maybe do so here rather than on twitter or facebook? You can sign into the comments section in various different ways or even do it anonymously. Thank you.

P.S. To clarify – the “Strongly Agree” items are the things I’ve enjoyed or liked. The “Strongly Disagree” items are the things that have me angry or upset. Obviously I’m not strongly disagreeing that I’m upset about Dave being sick, but I am unhappy that he’s ill.

Strongly Agree
- I’ve lost weight without trying.
- I have some great friends
- As much as I’m dreading it I’m also really looking forward to the in-laws coming over.
- John got us tickets for Arthurs Day at the Olympian! Scissor Sister and Ed Sheeran. EPIC!
- Season Six of 24 was incredible and I’ve heard that seven is better!
- I have news I can’t share that could be very good and you should all be pleased for me! (I’m not pregnant – don’t get excited!)

Agree
- It was good to meet Dave the other night.
- Brad and I are still arguing over whether to get one or two cats. Either way we’ll get something! Maybe a pig?
- Medical was good. Clean bill of health from Dr. Will. C. Younow.
- I have some lovely chavvy runners I bought for the cheap which I really like!

Neither agree nor disagree
- Hearing test confirmed my hearing is worse. Knew it was coming, not really bothered about that.
- iOS Beta 5-5 is a better than 5-4 but it’s still big buggy but he’s far superior to iOS4!

Disagree
- Galway weather is fucking shit!
- Car is having a bitch fit but getting better.

Strongly Disagree
- I’m really worried about a friend back in the UK. He’s in intensive care, unable to breath on his own. Quite upsetting.
- There are a few things I really want to blog about but can’t. It’s very annoying!

So, after nearly four years I’ve finally had the dubious pleasure of experiencing my first gay bar in Galway. It was more than just a bar, it was a club; Dignity West on Shop Street.

We didn’t actually plan to go there but it looked like one of the few places we could actually get a drink and not end up soaked in sweat due to sheer numbers of people and lack of air conditioning on a hot night. Seriously landlords, if you own or manage a bar where your only source of air is the front and back doors and these are both rammed with people, then it’s a good idea to get air con! Those of you that do have air con, it would be wise to turn it on you fucking cheapskates!

The Latin Quarter was absolutely heaving; we left the very crowded Kings Head and decided to head towards Eyre Square to see if anything was going on up there, what with it being the last night of race week. Surprisingly it had nothing more to offer than any other Sunday night – people milling around, and annoying canvassers desperate to stamp your hand for cheaper entry into a club or bar you’re desperate to avoid! “Hey Guys,” one of them said in her faux American accent, “fancy coming to Coyote’s? I can get you in cheap!” I think her shit-eating grin was supposed to be another tool of her trade to try and entice us into a bar you’d have to pay me to go to. I actually can’t decide if her bigger failing was the fact she’d put her make-up on in the dark or that she was trying to get me to go to Coyote’s. I’ve been there four times to support a friend in a singing competition, and that’s the only way I’ll be going back in there! Who would want to spend a night in bar that stinks of body odour, stale beer and cheap perfume! The majority of men (the majority, I said; of course that doesn’t include you dear reader) that go in there are only there to see whores in denim shorts dance on the bar or ‘ladies’ – I use that word loosely! (how apt!) – fall off the rodeo bull. Other than our friend’s singing the only entertainment was reading the text on the display screens dotted around the place. The spelling is atrocious. I know mine isn’t great but ‘wedenday’ is unforgivable, as is ‘Henikken’ when you work in a bar surrounded by the stuff! It’s even worse when it’s on screen as “Special offer on Special Offer! – Win FOR, yes 4!!!1! pints of Henikken every wedenday in our super competition!” – What’s worse is that I’m not even joking!

I’ve digressed a lot here haven’t I? Sorry. To make a long story even longer I’ll just add this: Avoid Coyote’s, and the sluts* at the top of Eyre Square.

So after trawling a few more bars and and listening to bad music – if you see a band called ‘Milhouse’ playing anywhere, mostly in Galway I’d imagine, take a note of the date, time and venue and let every one know. That way we can all avoid them! Oh and another things while I’m on the subject of bands. What the fuck is it with Mr. Brightside by The Killers? There are millions upon millions of good songs out there yet still every fucking band in every fucking bar (aside from trad stuff) has to sing Mr. Bright-fucking-side! Aside from me hating it for personal reason it’s now the most over played song in the world! And that’s a fact!**

Argh! I’ve digressed again! Sorry. Again. In essence: Avoid Milhouse, and bands stop playing Mr. Brightside!

So we finally made it in to Dignity West! No, that’s a lie, I’ve missed out that it actually took us nearly five minutes to get in even though there was no queue! The camp thing on the door should have been the first clue as to how the night was going to go.

“Four please, all with stamps,” I said. The stamps had been given to us by the large lady outside who was actually really nice. I think this may have been to lull us into a false sense of security – it worked!
“Four?” he replied.
“Yes. Four.” He’d probably have understood if I’d have tried to say ‘for’ instead!
“Do you have stamps?”
“Yes,” I sighed given that I’d just said that!
“All of you?”
“Yes.”
“It’s €8 each.”
“I know, four please!”

He went inside his little booth and I expected him to pop back out and say “NOBODY SEES THE WIZARD!”, but after he hadn’t returned for a few moments I poked my head in to see what was doing. He had a calculator and was working out how much four €8s was. I’m not entirely sure why he didn’t just press eight button on the till four times but I’m guessing he was worried he’d get €88.88!

“That’s thirty-six euros!” he eventually said.

I didn’t need to speak, my look said it all.

“Oh! Sorry! Thirty-two!”

I paid and we headed up the stairs. It wasn’t the best decorated place I’d been into but there was something about it that felt quite familiar for a gay bar.

We’d been told outside that ‘Gaydar Radio’ were hosting the night, and sure enough we were soon handed goodies; a fan (advertising gaydargirls.com) and a whistle on a lanyard. Oh yes, a whistle. The ideal free gift in a club. That won’t become annoying at all will it. Noooo! (Sense the tone, promoters, and take the fucking hint!)

Drinks were bought and I hadn’t really paid attention to the price as it wasn’t my round, and I was sober-sister for the night so hadn’t drank anything more than a coke.

When the four of us walked in we’d doubled the numbers but now, twenty minutes later, a few more people had come in and the place easily had twelve people in it. Wow! Thankfully, as the time went on, it started to get busier. Sadly as it got busier it also got a little worse.

Sometimes, in Ireland, things happen that show it’s way ahead of other countries. Take health care. The Irish complain about about how bad it is, yet it’s far superior to the UK National Health Service. Free health care doesn’t make it good health care, in fact it’s often worse. At least when I want to see my GP I see them at a time convenient to me; in the UK you’re lucky to see one the same week. There are many other things that show Ireland is ahead of its game, and this is pleasing.

If Dignity West is anything to go by fashion in the gay community is one area Ireland is behind in. Almost twenty years behind! Given that I’ve met some Irish gays*** and consider them very close friends and know that their fashion sense is actually quite good I was shamed to see the majority of gays in this club looking like rejects from the Breakfast Club!

The only explanation I could come up with was that it was some sort of 80s night at the club, but there were no posters up saying so.

Sadly this wasn’t the only fashion faux pas of the night but it was the most common. I’m not sure why the Miami Vice/Knightrider look is back, it just is. If they weren’t dressed as a throwback from the 80s then they were dressed in the most stereotypical clothing ever. If they were thin and camp then it was a bright single colour tee with white jeans or something with glitter and maybe in chiffon. If they had a goatee and muscle then it was a black or dark coloured tight tee with either black jeans or dark green combats and boots with the odd wrist or bicep strap here and there. The lesbians seemed to stick to the only three fashion statements socially acceptable to them; sporty, mannish (often merged with hippy and/or geography teacher) or whore. I’ve never been too sure why the majority of lesbians feel like they need to look like a man. In the same respect I’ve never understood why some gays decided to be as effeminate as they can without actually getting a vagina! If a man is gay, surely it’s because he wants another man. If he wanted a woman he’d be straight! As for lesbians the same, yet opposite, is also true. If you’re a lesbian why go to all the trouble to look like a bloke when your sexuality denotes that you want women who like other woman to find you attractive. I just don’t get it. I’ve also never been sure why some lesbians (a minority yes but still a regular contingent) seem to think true tramp is a good look! There was a group of girls there who looked like they hadn’t washed in weeks – neither themselves nor their clothes! Why would anyone find this attractive? I just wanted to shout at them to make a fucking effort! This doesn’t mean you have to cover yourself in slap and put on a pretty frock, but maybe have a wash… Just think, you could be having sex later and no-one wants to dip a finger in a fanny that smells of stale piss and sweat. One girl, not a diesel but a proper lipstick lezzer, looked quite nice in her little black dress and understated make-up. She ruined it when she revealed to the entire club that she wasn’t wearing any underwear and appeared to have given herself a Brazilian without the aid of ruler or mirror!

"I'm going to play some records and you're going to charleston!"

As if the fashion and the views weren’t bad enough we then had to put up with the awful DJ. We were told Gaydar**** Radio were DJing there that night and if the guy we were listening to was from Gaydar Radio then thank fuck I’ve never listened to that station, and I never will! The ‘mixing’, if any, was atrocious, as was the music choice. I’m all for remixes and mash-ups, as certain people will attest, but in a club it really should be relevant or up-to-date. Madonna’s Ray of Light? BBE’s Seven Days One Week? Come on! There’s so much modern stuff out there to fill a nights entertainment why play shit from years ago unless it’s a theme night. Being a ‘Gaydar’ night doesn’t mean you have play old stuff. Yes yes, so Madonna may be popular with some queers (I love her music but hate her as a person) but there really is a whole myriad of popular shit that fags and lezzers will dance to!  Oh and just because you can press play on a CD player it doesn’t make you a fucking DJ!  It just means you can press play!  Being a DJ takes a bit of skill!  Thanks to my mate Tobes I have enough skill to be passable but it’s nothing compared to him.  This DJ wasn’t a DJ.  He was just a man who could press play!  Rubbish!

To make the night even worse I decided to buy a round. €5.10 for a bottle of Miller. A 330ml bottle of Miller! That’s fucking ridiculous! As is the €5.30 for a 330ml bottle Henikken and €10 for a double Captain Morgans and coke! Are these prices for real in bars? I can buy twenty 330ml bottles of Miller for €15 from the local supermarket! It’s no wonder bars are getting quieter and ‘staying in’ is the new going out! Why pay €170 for my night out (€102 on 20 Miller, €60 on two taxis (one in, one out) and €8 into the club) when I can pay €15, choose my own music and not have to rely on getting an honest (and sane) taxi driver!

"Eighty euros for two pints of piss and a strawberry daiquiri? Fuck! Off!"

So in conclusion: Coyote’s is shit, the last night of race week makes town look like the seventh pit of hell, the majority of gay and lesbians in Galway have no sense of style or taste (I’m not including my friends in that one as I know they do) and Dignity is a fucking awful bar/club in a great venue. It’s a great venue as it reminds me very much of how the Nightingale in Birmingham used to be before it became a prissy self-obsessed arrogant glitter-queen pretentious asshole filled place.

I will, however, give Dignity a second chance and try out some of the other gay bars around town but I make no promises that my opinions of the venues or the people will change!

*I’m sure not all of them are sluts. Just most of them!

**I may have lied about it being a fact but it’s still played a lot!

***For those of you that don’t know when I say ‘gay’ I mean gay men. It pisses me off that men are “gay males” and women are “lesbians” but can also be gay. What gives them the right to have their own term for being gay? With that in mind, as far as I’m concerned, women cannot be gay, they are lesbians and will only ever be that. Of course either men or woman can be homosexual. Here endeth the lesson!

****I. Fucking. Hate. Gaydar. It ruins relationships, turns people into liars and makes gays look like vile whores. Sometimes it doesn’t surprise me when ‘straight’ people blame the spread of HIV on us faggots.

Over the last two years or so there has been a lot going on in my life that I’ve had little control over. A couple of major things and lot of small but all in all enough to slowly piss me off and bring me down. Don’t get me wrong, there has also been a lot of good and huge amount of average but sadly it’s the bad stuff that keeps rearing it’s ugly head like an ex-boyfriend looking better than you’d hoped.

All that changed this weekend when something clicked and made re-evaluate myself.

I worked Thursday, Friday and Saturday, all long days (double shifts essentially to some of you in the UK – thirteen hours long) and got to spend some time on my own. When I say, ‘on my own’ what I actually mean is just me and one service user, and he spent most of the time in his bedroom (his choice) so I may as well have been alone. I haven’t had proper time on my own for a long while. With Brad at home all the time and always having someone to work with it’s rare, other than in the car, I get some ‘me’ time. I don’t resent Brad being at home, far from it, it’s great to come home and have someone there to greet me, but when he was at Larkin’s he’d be out from 8.15am to 5.30pm and I’d have the house to myself if I wasn’t working. I could do what I liked and not have to consider anyone else.

Granted the alone time at work wasn’t long but it was long enough for me to think about everything going on and decide to make changes. Big changes.

Over the next few weeks and months you’ll notice these. Some of you might not be happy about them as it might mean I’m honest with you where before I’d have told you a white lie.

I’m not doing this for any other reason than for myself. I need to sort myself out and make things right. I know what I’m capable of and I know what I want and currently I’m not fulfilling one and don’t have much of the other. As of today that changes.

I’m not going to say, “today is the first day of the rest of my life!” or anything crass like that as to me that sounds like I’m ignoring and maybe forgetting everything that has gone before and I can’t do that. To change I need to embrace my past so I’m going to grab it, give it a hug then tell it to go to bed and only rise when there’s an adult present!

I could give you some shit about the video below being an art piece with hidden depth and meaning and you might see it as that but in reality it represents where I’ve been, where I am and where I’m going. Well, it does to me anyway and as this is about me that’s the most important thing.

I’ll be talking more about the changes being made over the next few months so be ready. As someone once said “I’m gonna get what I want!”

Love you x

A few months ago Brad and I received a thank you gift in the form of tickets to go see Kylie and last night was the night!

To say I’d been looking forward to the concert is an understatement. We were told about it in January when John thanked us for doing some work on a little video he wanted making. One night at our house he said he’d been playing with a little video of his own and asked if we’d watch it. We were still in the honeymoon period of friendship with John & Cathal so this could have quite easily been some porn film he’d made as a lead to inviting us in to a “ménage
à quatre” with him & Cathal on the chaise loungue. Thankfully (or sadly, depending on your outlook) it wasn’t, it was a video he’d made which ended with the announcement that all four of us were off to Kylie in March! If you want to watch it you’ll have to click here as due to copyright issues (I’m hoping Kylie watched it and thought ‘cheeky bitches!’) the video can’t be embedded.

We arrived in Dublin super early, which is the just the way I like it, and it gave us a chance to have a quick spritzer before heading up to the O2. John’s aunt arrived and she was heading back to Galway on the train after seeing Chess with Davy. Who knew the worlds biggest Ke$ha fan would enjoy Chess? Mind you, it was co-written by Abba so I suppose there is some logic link there. Imagine his screams if Ke$ha took the roll of Florence?!

Drinks done we boarded the Luas to the O2. Brad, bless him, saved me a seat next to a scary looking Russian lady taking pictures of the Luas on the other line and muttering to herself. She had a look of an eastern block Dawn French during the Murder Most Horrid phase of her career and thankfully she got off quite soon. Although as she stepped off she started asking people the way to a place I couldn’t make out. She seemed pleased with the answer but as we pulled off she looked even more confused than before.

I’d never been to the O2 Dublin before although I’d driven past it a couple of times and imagined how it looked inside. I always compare venues with the NEC in Birmingham, or the LG Arena as it’s now called. I used to work there and have a vast knowledge of the interior of that place that I’d really rather not have to be honest. I often think that concert venues have to go a long way to beat the NEC. This isn’t a “oh I worked there it’s the best place ever” kind of statement but more of a “sadly I know the technical specs of the venue, it’s fucking awesome” but just from working through the main doors it was blindingly obvious that the O2 Dublin was going to surpass anything the NEC could do.

The standing area, where we were, was huge and surrounded by bars and food outlets. Most of the of the food outlets were over priced shit really though ranging from pies to hotdogs and a pizza vending machine. I shit you not, there was a pizza vending machine. Of course being hungry I had to try it. I’m not sure I’d describe it as pizza but I also wouldn’t say it was bad. The cheese was a bit like Cheese String™ cheese in taste and the tomato sauce was just puree, not herbs and probably not real tomato. To be fair though it was edible which is more than can be said for a boiled hotdog made from MRM and sawdust!

Drinks and food over it was time to go and say hello to Miss Minogue. Or Minnie as she told me I’m allowed to call her. She did, really she did it. It was agggggges ago when I was helping her paint her box room. Anyway, we found a good place to stand and from there I had a good old nosey around the hall. The layout was incredible. I’d say that from any seat in the balcony you’d get a fantastic view and rather than being in a long rectangle like the NEC the seating above us fanned out around the stage.

What happened next was one of the saddest events in my life which lead to one of the most horrific. The lights went down and I got so excited. In my head I was screaming ‘OH MY GOD! KYLIE IS COMING! KYLIE IS COMING!’ and I held my breath and listened to the screams from around the auditorium. As the music started and the lights came up I remembered we’d got the fucking support act first! Imagine my disappointment. I was virtually heartbroken. To make my suffering even worse the support, the Ultra Girls, were ultra shit. I’m sure others will argue but I’m damn sure they weren’t singing live and each one of them was blatantly trying to look like Cheryl Cole and wishing they were the Saturdays! At the end one of them screeched something about following them on Twitter so I went and checked their feed out. My favorite @reply they got was “I can’t wait until you’re massive stars. That way you won’t be the awful fucking support for the artists I want to watch!”

Finally they were gone but sadly still no Kylie. Instead we had to put up with the dulcet tones of Jason Buckham. I’m still not really sure who the fuck he is but after googling him I’ve found out he’s a DJ. DJ MY ARSE! He sat there for an hour looking like Stephen fucking Hawking playing songs off his iTunes playlist! DJ = Disc Jockey! If you want to call yourself a DJ then learn how to remix vinyl! I doubt this guy even knows what a vinyl record is. Actually, it’s passable, just, to call yourself a DJ if you use CD’s instead of vinyl as they can be mixed into each other as well, and yes so can tracks from iTunes but it’s not really the point is it? You’re not a disc jockey, you’re a man who has a finger capable of pressing play! And before any one wants to come back and have a dig at me, yes, I did work as a DJ and yes I can fucking mix! My lovely friend (and better DJ) Toby taught me how and I went home and practiced and got good at it! So there!

Eventually Stephen wheeled himself off, which was perfect timing as I wasn’t the only one in the crowd getting a bit twitchy and resentful towards him, the musicians got into place and the lights went down.

As dancers came onto stage dressed in various greek outfits and did some fancy moves seven massive video screens framed in greek columns and an arch played videos of people underwater, swimming around in time to the music. The music swelled and slowly changed into Aphrodite and as the backing singers started singing the opening refrain Kylie, dressed as Aphrodite (I assume given the name of the album) slowly ascended from the back of the stage on a huge gold oyster shell.

The crowd roared as she went from Aphrodite into The One and then that become Wow. Wow was utterly amazing, and not just because of the hot guys in centurion outfits! After Wow she sang Illusion which, although it’s on the Aphrodite album, I hadn’t really heard too often so I couldn’t really sing along. Much to the pleasure of the two bitches in front of me.

I Believe In You was next and that’s one of my Kylie favourites and true to form she belted it out in style. Cupid Boy was on next, another one I’ve not really listened to and then Spinning Around. The crowd were loving it, although some seem to think they weren’t, and when she went into Get Outta My Way it felt like the entire room was singing along.

A classic next with What Do I Have To Do and I doubt any of the people around us, apart from the mother and daughter (daughter being in her 50′s) traveller family in front of us, were actually old enough to remember when it first come out. Everything Is Beautiful was up next which was followed by a fantastic jazz/ballad version of Slow. The visuals for Slow were incredible. She stood on the centre of the stage and the female dancers, each carrying huge feather fans, lay around her. As she started singing the stage began to rise and the outer section the dancers were on began to tilt. They spun around Kylie (slowly thankfully for them!) as she sang. The effect was tremendous.

Once the song had finished she disappeared off stage (not for the first time) and as she changed we could hear the opening bars of Confide in Me, another one of my faves. I have a set of memories associated with Confide in Me which always bring a smile to my face. I remember I had it on a CD single and it’s one of those I overplayed but thankfully didn’t end up hating. I overYazzed once and ended up hating The Only Way is Up, I think part of me still does.

Once Confide in Me was over she went into a rock version of Can’t Get You Out of My Head which I’ve heard some people say they didn’t like. I can kind of understand why. If there’s a track you’re a huge fan of and you’re looking forward to it then when it’s sang in a totally different way then you’re going to be a bit put off by it. Personally I loved it and I’m going to see if there’s a copy of it somewhere.

Next she sang In My Arms, a song I’d forgotten about to be honest, to my shame, but enjoyed hearing it sang live, followed by Looking for an Angel (which… was… epic!) and then Closer.

As every artist does (well every one I’ve seen) she then did a cover version. Given the theme of her tour the song she chose, There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart), fitted in real well and her voice did the song justice. As a Eurythmics fan I thought it was great, as a Kylie fan I thought it was awesome! I think Annie & Dave would be pleased with the result.

After this came another one of my favourites, Love at First Sight. This is another song that brings back loads of good memories of friends, particularly a guy called Dave. When he would play this song on the radio (he’s a presenter) I would text him a line from it. “Cause baby when I heard you for the first time I knew, we were meant to be as one,” only I would change the first ‘baby’ to ‘Davey.’ He was (well, still is!) straight and married with two kids but also incredibly attractive so, of course, I had to have him. Never did though! More’s the pity!

She sang If You Don’t Love Me next, a song I’ve always loved and have heard by many different artists. Without googling it (which I can’t be arsed to do) I couldn’t tell you who sang the original but of all the versions I’ve heard Kylie’s will remain my favourite. A very soft piano accompanied her and she just sat on a stair and sang this song so beautifully. Every time she got to the chorus the crowd cheered her and at one point she stopped singing and appeared overwhelmed by the reaction she was getting. I don’t care if her reaction was something she does at every concert I truly believe she actually is overwhelmed by the approving cheers and appreciates that her fans like what she does and how she does it. Lets face it, we’ve all seen or heard of artists that have been boo’d off stage and usually they’re pretentious money grabbing twats who don’t deserve the adoration they get. I went to see Tina Charles years ago and she walked out on stage with a fag in one hand, a whiskey (I’m guessing) in the other, said “I can’t be bothered!” and walked off stage! Great! Last time I do that! And yes, I am that gay that I paid to go see Tina Charles years after I Love to Love! Anyway… Kylie!

Another classic came next with Better the Devil You know. The crowd (those old enough to remember or those who’ve listened to her back catalogue) sang along in true 1990′s style! It really makes me feel old to think this song was in the charts twenty-one years ago but also happy that there’s still an artist from my semi-youth that’s as popular today. She followed this with another track from Aphrodite, Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love). Top tune, sang well and the also the end of the show, or so the promoters would lead you to believe. Surely there’d be an encore?

Of course there’s an encore!

On she came and belted out On a Night Like this with just as much energy as she’d started with and followed it, ending the show, with my current favourite Kylie track, All the Lovers. I adore this track and the set became a monument to her ambitions to please the audience. She stood in the centre of the stage, which again began to lift up, only this time it became layers with dancers lying, dancing, strolling all around it and water spurting in all directions. The effect of a giant fountain draped in people was just awesome and really topped the entire night off well.

Once the concert was over we had an epic dash to get out the venue to get back to Heuston Station car park before it closed at 11.45pm (even though the website said it was 24hrs!). The taxi driver obviously wanted to make a fast cent so went the long way there, assuring us we’d be there in time. To be fair he wasn’t wrong, we were there on time with two minutes to spare, quite literally! If he’d have listened to Cathal, who isn’t a driver but was quite obviously right (I know this as we came back along the same road), we’d have had at least ten or fifteen minutes to spare.

A short drive back home, a bottle of wine before bed and quick look at the pictures we’d taken and eventually the night was over.

I cannot thank John & Cathal enough for such a fantastic gift, it’s night we’ll never forget!

Do you ever have those really thoughtful days?

I’m having one of those today. I woke up in a bad mood due to feeling as though I’ve got a cold coming on and having slept strangely on my arm thus making it dead when I woke up. I was walking around the bedroom looking like my right arm had died and become a zombie all on it’s own. As feeling started to return to it it actually became a little painful, more then your standard pins and needles but thankfully not enough to have my shouting like I usually do.

During my morning muesli I tried to contemplate why my mood was so bad but could come up with no answers. This, of course, didn’t make my mood any better!

I sat there staring at the laptop screen, seeing the Planet39 logo and deciding that I actually had nothing to be angry about and no reason to be in a bad mood.

This made me feel a little better but not enough to warrant moving! In fact, it made me more thoughtful about other things with the main thread being the future of the business.

If you’d ever had the chance to be at one of our business meetings and watch what goes on and you’d see it ranges from incredible moments of clarity and understanding to times of complete confusion and disagreement. Underneath it all though we get the jobs done. The four of us each have skills and qualities to make this business venture a complete success. We have every avenue covered and if we can’t do something we know someone who can and who would be willing to help. Taking everything into account there is no reason why this business cannot go from strength to strength and soon be place of employment for the four of us, should we want it, and for others should they wish to apply.

This thought actually scares me.

Within a few years I could be sat in an office hiring an assistant for myself while the others hire theirs. We could be sitting on a panel interviewing programmers, secretaries, accountants, sales reps and development specialists. I could actually be a partner in an organisation that provides an income for people. I’ve had various managerial positions, have ran a couple of businesses but all of them have had the backing of something bigger. This is mine! Yes, I know there are four of us but I’m sure you know what I mean when I say it’s mine. I expect Brad, Cathal and John to call it ‘mine’ (as in theirs!) as well.

This has been the main thought in my head all morning, along with other thoughts of he past and future, and although it hasn’t explained the bad mood it certainly put a smile on face. Unfortunately someone just said I looked like I was planning something evil so maybe in my subconscious mind I’m hoping that Planet39 is big enough to take over the world! We’ll rebrand Earth as 39 and you will all work for us! I’m sure somewhere in my head this is the plan anyway!

The musings of a capitalist weren’t the only thoughts I’ve had all morning. I’ve questioned my own mortality and that of those close to me. At some point I’m going to have to say goodbye to some people and with certain loved ones it’s closer than I’d hope. There are others I won’t get to say goodbye as has happened to me in the past. I know why these thoughts are with me but I don’t like how they are manifesting themselves. In the last two weeks I’ve had two dreams where my parents are dead, dying at the same time, and one where Brad dies. To be fair in that dream I shot him for not doing as he was told so I hope he’s paying attention! I know one can’t take dreams as some prophecy of the futures binding us to a truth that will unfold unless we do something about it but there is something really disturbing about taking a pistol out your bag and poppin’ a cap in the forehead (not ass!) of the man you’ve given your heart to! Even if he did deserve it!

Nothing I’ve thought of, be it good, bad or indifferent, has lifted or lightened my mood. Events at work have made it worse in fact but as of 4pm I can switch those off and ignore them until 9.30am tomorrow.

I’m hoping a workout and seeing my Brad will get rid of the mood. If it doesn’t then he’s in for a bad night! I might leave my gun at work today, you know, just in case!

Over the last few weeks my Twitter followers may have seen a few tweets about me setting up a business with Brad and a couple of friends. Well I think it’s about time I explained a bit more about that.

In the middle of January I was sat at work when I came up with a money making idea. Not one of those ideas where I expect to be rich quick and end up being broke even quicker but an idea that if done properly could actually work. Again, even if done properly I didn’t expect to make fortunes from it but anything is better than nothing, right?

Rob

I knew that there was no way I could complete this idea on my own as I lacked some of the skills needed to make it a success. Instantly I knew exactly who to contact!

Early last year I started following a chap on Twitter who went by the username @Quinlivan. I can remember exactly how I found him and why I started following him but that’s unimportant right now. What is important is that an online friendship grew and when he jetted off on his travels for three months Brad and I got to know his partner @GlassOfRedWine. John (@Quinlivan) had often raved about Cathal’s (@GlassOfRedWine) culinary skills and the pictures always made his food look incredible! I made a comment to John about meeting up when he got back from buying ladyboys in Bangkok and he rightly suggested there was no reason why we couldn’t meet up with Cathal while John was away. So we did!

Cathal

A friendship struck up quite quickly between the three of us and it was enhanced when John arrived back in December. I did a blog entry a while back about how I see the future of making friends with people being done online and although the majority of my friends were met through pubs, clubs, school or university I still have a circle that came from online networks and I feel just as close to some of them as I do to friends I’ve known since I was six.

As per usual I’ve digressed from the point so I’ll pull it back in a little!

I’m sure you’ve already gathered that the people I knew to contact were Cathal and John.

I explained to Brad, Cathal & John the idea for my ‘business’ and how I thought each one of them could help and where I fitted in as well and they were all quite taken with the idea. We agreed we’d take some time to think about it fully before meeting up again to decide if it was worth working on. When we met up again every one had got a load of new ideas and as it transpired the main basis of the business changed completely, but all for the better.

John

We met again and again and then last week we became official!

Registered with Companies Registration Office and everything! Exciting! Planet39 is now an official company with the four of us being equal partners.

I realise I still haven’t actually explained what the business is so here goes.

I’m afraid I’m going to have to avoid talking about the main project we’re working on as I’mclassifiying it top secret. You may think this a bit over-dramatic but it transpires we’re already been fucked over once on one idea although I’m hoping to pull it back and little and piss on the people who stole the original idea from us!

What I can tell you about the main project is that it begins with a website and an app and moves on to a book. To help us achieve this we’re going to develop quite a few more apps, some we’ll give away for free others we’ll change a nominal fee for.

Brad

In essence, ignoring the main project, we’re an app developing and web design company but I promise you, there’s a lot more to it than that and it won’t end there.

I still find it incredible that Brad and I have gone into business with people we’ve known for about six months but you know when you meet someone and something just clicks and feels right, well this is it. So far we’ve invested around €80 each which has got us a couple of websites, entry into the developer program with Apple and our registration with the Companies Registration Office, as well as few other little bits and pieces and I’m ignoring the time put into it too, which is a lot!

It took us ages to come up with our fantastic logo!

The four of us each have the right mixture of skills to bring to the business to make it a success and personally I don’t see any reason why it won’t be! I’m incredibly excited about where things are going with this and look forward to the next few months! It’s going to be ossum! (or ‘possum’ as my computer tired to correct it to!)

So, why not go ahead and visit www.planet39.com and sign up to our mailing list to find out more about the four of us (as seen in the cartoons – which are frighteningly accurate, if I do say so myself! – although Brad doesn’t really look like a Beatnik!) are getting up to! Or you can follow us on Twitter! You may even see us on Dragons Den at some point and I’m quite looking forward to tapping my pen on my teeth, smiling and saying “Let me tell you where I’m at…”