Sheelin Take A Bow

Right, so what else do I do these days, other than go to concerts?

I recently took a few days off work to jet over to Ireland to attend a wedding. We stayed in a country hotel on the banks of Lough Sheelin (Lough being the Irish spelling of Loch, with both pronounced the same way). Lough Sheelin is situated just outside the small town of Mountnugent, which itself is about a two-hour drive Northwest of Dublin. It was a nice ceremony, and a great party afterwards - complete with Irish and Scottish folk music and a lot of Guinness. And yes, it does taste better over there. Something to do with the lack of pasteurisation, to be sure.

Despite nursing the after-effects of the night before, I also managed to take a few hours to take a walk in the lush, green countryside that I still fondly recall from my last trip to Ireland. It did not disappoint.

For all of those folks who think I speak too quickly, here is further ammunition. One of the ladies at the wedding asked me what my surname was. Being that it is the same as Fiona's, I thought I'd be cheeky and said "Would you like to guess, perhaps?". She apparently heard something different, as she replied "What a strange name, Matt Regasopaps!". Word got around quick, and this was the name I was called all weekend.

I've also seen a few movies of late.

Das Experiment: Finally managed to check this one out after many recommendations from various people. It's a film based on the 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment, and really captures a mood of paranoia and claustrophobia while portraying the rapid dehumanisation of the guards and prisoners. Gripping stuff.

Kill Bill Vol.1: Visually stunning, great soundtrack, and Uma looking like a goddess. What more do you want?

Matrix Revolutions: Disappointing on so many levels. The best part about this movie was the trailer for Return of the King. Now THAT was good.

The Two Towers: Special Edition is now out (with 42 minutes of extra footage, hooray!) but none of the video stores in my neighbourhood appear to carry it. The hunt is on.

I also still live in a hotel over in the Kingdom of Fife (now THAT'S a name for a county). I was recently offered an extension on my work contract, so it appears as though I will be working in Rosyth for the foreseeable future. In fact, I'm currently looking for a flat in the area (to be paid for by work, woo!) that I'll live out of on weekdays. So yeah, two flats on either end of the country - this little journey of mine keeps getting stranger. But I'm loving the ride!

Also, a warm welcome to Ryan G for his entry to the world of web journals!