Halloween

As most of you know I have a weird fascination with all things scary so halloween was always gonna be a drawn out affair.The 31st of October was quite enough as it was a Wednesday night and I was doing deliveries for the local pizza shop.Apart from the terror of delivering to hell where bangers are thrown at you and rockets aimed at the slightly open windows of my recently washed and sparkling car,beer cans are hurled at you from crowds gathered at bonfires,by hell I of course mean Darndale.'Who's bleedin dumb enough to deliver up here on halloween?' one guy shouts as his beer can barely misses my car. 'Every night is halloween up here fucktwat' I shout back as I spin the car into reverse and get the hell out out of there.


On the previous Thursday I went to a place in County Meath called Farmaphobia. It was my second year in a row going and to be honest I love it. It is basically a farm that is done up to scare the living bejaysus out of you with actors jumping out at every opportunity.It was bigger this year then last and is divided into 4 parts.The first stage was a bit irritating to be honest.You have to make your way through a pitch black room with just the aid of strobe lights and very loud, bad dance music.Every now and again a horrifying face would appear,it was a bit like being in a nightclub in Darndale actually.The second part was strange but turned out to be really cool.After being dropped off in a holding area a guy runs in with a chainsaw.At this point a few guys flipped out and ran from the tent leaving the girlfriend's to fend for themselves.When we left the tent the pathway was lit by only a few stakes on fire, a crashed hearse,tunnels and bridges.We could see the scares coming but it felt like we were in a real horror movie.

The zombie morgue and the house of horrors completed the tour.I have to be honest and say that at one point I was really scared.There was a room barely lit and this really small old woman came running at me screaming,i'm normally composed but it happened so fast I just panicked and tried to get out of there.The room was so dark that I struggled before finding a small hole in the wall.The old woman's voice changed from  terrifying screaming in my face to 'oh I'm sorry lovie you cant go that way',kind of ruined the moment!



On the Sunday night I was dj'ing in a club in town.It was a fancy dress party and turned out to be a really good night.I was originally going to go as a surgeon but got the bright idea to order a costume instead.I went as a midget rock star. The problem with this was that after paying 50 euro for the costume and 20 euro to get it delivered to my house it turned out that the guitar in the picture was an extra.Also the boots were PVC and the the trousers were leopard print so I actually looked like a kinky midget.I went with it anyway and it was only when I got the the door of the club one of the bouncers who I know quite well and says it how it is said to me 'Ste that's just fucking weird, take it off'. I did and changed into my surgeon clothes which are real scrubs from St James hospital (thanks Jasmine).

                                                                        kinky midget

                                                                   Me and Jasmine with scrubs

                                                                     DJ doctor awesome


The final part to my Halloween weekend was that one of my favourite horror movies was on the big screen in the IFI in the city,halloween 4 and the little girl from the movie was doing a Q+A session and signing autographs at it.I fancied her as a kid and I fancy her now.She also played Bruce Willis daughter in the last boy scout if you are not familiar with her.She sat a few rows back and watched it with us,this to me was like William Shatner watching Star Trek with a Trekkie.I had a question prepared for her and just before me some asshole asked her who would win a fight between Bruce Willis and Steven Segal,it descended into chaos after that with the questions getting dumber by the second but she laughed and had a good time.

                                                              Me and Danielle Harris

                                                                         and again

                                                   my pride and joy,signed halloween 5 dvd

The castle

Anybody that knows me will know that I am a horror fanatic.My ideal night is a takeaway and a good scary movie,no vampires,no zombies and no aliens just simple scary movies.Paranormal activity,Blair witch project and the Strangers,all my kind of horror's but tell me you have seen a spirit and you can expect a patronising smile.I just don't believe in that kind of stuff which is probably why I love scary movie's so much,well,that was until recently.

2 years ago my brother came home for a short holiday from New York where he now lives.He is like me in a lot of ways and one thing we have in common are late night drives around Dublin City.Late one night we decided to go for a drive up around Howth and stopped at Deer park castle.Along the side of the castle is a narrow road which leads by the transport museum and up to the golf course.At 2am this road is pitch black and blocked half way up by a gate where I decided to stop the car and have a cigarette.My window was rolled down and I listened to one of Colin's story's as I flicked ash from the car.

As the story went on I began to hear something in the distance but paid little attention until I heard it gradually getting louder,I asked Colin to listen as the sound of high heels in the distance suddenly became gradually louder and louder.What started off as something of amusement it became a little frightening when the sound of somebody wearing high heels came walking up and stopped right by my open window,it was dark and visibility was zero.I could feel the hair stand up on the back of my neck as I looked at Colin and rolled up the window,that right there was the longest 4 seconds of my life.I put the car in reverse and got out of there.

That story has come up several times when chatting with Colin and it never changed my opinion on spirits maybe because I think at the time I felt a nervous excitement more then anything else however there was to be another incident just a few weeks ago that was terrifying on a whole new level.I had arranged to meet up with a friend who was going through a rough time and again ended up in Deer park castle only this time we parked up in the car park at a viewing point which overlooks Dublin Bay and is one of my favourite places in the city.

It was 1.30am and the rain was torrential,my window was halfway down as I smoked a cigarette.Coincidentally I was telling Sean about the the previous time I had been here with Colin,I had heard a noise a few times but had put it down to the rain.Just as I finished the story something caught my eye just behind my door,I looked around and saw a young lady standing right beside my window,she was around 28/29 had blonde hair and was wearing a long white dress.I froze for a few seconds and turned to tell Sean,as I turned around I hesitated on telling him but it was too late.Sean had seen the figure just before me in my rear mirror and had turned a pale white,'you seen that,didn't you' he said.That confirmed that I hadn't imagined what I saw.

I tried to play it down and make a joke of it but Sean's face had an expression of pure fear,he angrily told me to bring him home to get his car.He was serious and genuinely terrified so I agreed and quickly turned the engine on.In order to leave the car park I had to drive in a circle shape to get out and as we left we took once last glance over,she was still standing there looking at us.We were both lost for words.After a few seconds I composed my self and with a very nervous laugh I asked what the hell was that? Sean did not want to talk about it and we drove home in silence.I tried to quiz him on what exactly he had seen but he would not talk about it.

It was only about a week afterwards when we were at a friends apartment for dinner that it came up again,I had already told the friend what I had seen and asked Sean to describe his version of it.He described a young lady with blonde hair wearing a white dress,my heart stopped.We have not spoke about that night since.

Mini leagues

As a kid ,every summer had something to look forward to and this came in the form of a soccer tournament for local children.For one weekend we were given the name of a soccer club or country and we played as if we represented the actual team.I entered it as a player about four times and won it once with Cadiz,a now defunct Spanish club so when I seen that they were recently looking to recruit managers for this years tournament I agreed to do it.This basically involved me setting up the goals at ridiculous o clock on a Saturday and Sunday morning,training them and making sure they had fun.

I was given Portugal,7 boys and 2 girls all under 14.Our first match was on Friday at 6.30 against Denmark.We got off to a flyer scoring 2 goals in 4 minutes and eventually ran out 4-0 winners.The Saturday turned out to be a less successful day in more ways then one.After the previous nights demolition of Denmark the organiser's insisted I swap one of my best players for a ,well , not so good player.We played Russia and lost 4-3 with the winning goal scored by the player I had swapped.

However that was not the sour point of the evening.It just happened to be 'kick rascism out of football' week and also 'respect the referee' week too.The local newspapers were here and we had just kicked off when a tackle was made by one of the black players on my team,it wasn't a dirty challenge,more clumsy but the other kid got up called him a nigger and kicked 7 shades of shite out of him right in front of the newspaper camera's.He was sent off and then proceeded to throw punches at the referee,I think he had misread the principles of the theme of the week!!

Our final match was on Sunday morning and we needed a win against Holland to reach the final.This game was played in better spirits and we ran out 4-0 winners.The final was being played at 1pm and quite a crowd turned up.I used a bit more tactical preperation for this game as I was now hell bent on winning this tournament,its all about taking part my arse I wanted to gloat and so I did when we won 4-2 against Chech republic.When the kids went up to collect their winners medals it brought me back to when I was a kid playing in these finals and one thing can be sure,this maybe the last time some of these kids win anything for football but it will only be the start of things to come for some too.

Newgrove

Up until I was 8 years old I lived in a small housing estate in Donaghmede.At that age places are not rough or posh,maybe they are but you don't notice.I have some really great memories from Newgrove but the place was strange.I can't quite put my finger on why it was strange,it just was,and all my memories seem to be random and don't make any sense.

I remember when I started school ,I  hated it.It wasn't the other kids that bullied me it was the teachers.On one weekly test I did so bad I even manged to spell my name wrong and the teacher insisted on telling the whole class in front of me.Everybody was laughing at me even Bobby,he sat behind me and was wearing my spare trousers because he had pissed himself earlier that day,even he laughed at me.

Every Saturday morning was the same,I followed my older brother around all morning until he ran away from me.I had my own friends,Connor lived next door .His mother was involved in a long running feud with her neighbour over a tree and every week they would have a fist fight out on the street,when this happened Connor would go inside and make sugar sandwiches.Graham lived beside Connor and was the son of the other woman involved in the feud.I always felt for him because at least once a week he had to witness his mother getting beaten up on the street.

Vincent lived in the next house after that and his mother was in and out of the mental asylum every week.He was weird.Linda lived in the corner house and usually went to the toilet in her back garden,this became natural to me.Then there was Alan White,I don't know how I knew Alan or why he was my friend but I fancied his older sister and her boob was the first one I'd ever seen.

Alot of weird things went on in that estate from Klu Klux Klan rituals,caravans shot at,religious groups,deaths and affairs,It was strange and weird but I loved it.We ended up moving two miles down the road but I often grab a coffee and drive down to look around.

I'm writing this from my desk in work where I teach 3rd level maths.I heard my old teacher had a nervous breakdown and retired early,FUCK YOU MISS HUGHES !!!

IQ test

I came across a pretty pointless debate on yahoo regarding who had the higher IQ ,it doesn't suprise me why these two people were the intelligence in question

                                                                  Dolly Parton

                                                                    Pamela Anderson


I give you my candidate.........

                                                                     Lola Ferrari

Things I hate

wind
nicholas cage
Irish politics
Ironing
pitbull
topgear
phil coulter
jam
harry potter
medal of honour
phonecalls
rude people
loud people
small change
tin foil
headaches
akon
boybands
girlbands
annoying confident people
skinny jeans
taxi drivers
indian food
holyhead
building sites
whiskey
sweet and sour sauce
carrots
emo's
nail clippers

chick flicks

Just a little something I'v noticed from chick flicks over the years.....

Rose cheats on her boyfriend/fiance with Jack which makes her a whore

In 'Pretty woman', Julia Roberts is a prostitute,this makes her a whore

In 'Bridget Jones's diary' she is sleeping with 2 men,this makes her a whore

In 'The wedding singer' Drew Barrymore is already engaged when she kisses Adam Sandler,this makes her a dirty whore

In 'Indecent proposal' Demi Moore sleeps with a guy for 1 million dollars.....WHORE

The invisible man

Its a familiar sight around the streets of Dublin theses days,a nuisance to most as you make your way through a busy day only to be confronted by some ragged dirty person with the neck to ask you for some spare change.How can somebody be so down and out on their luck?What could they have possibly done that was so bad their family and friends turned their backs and closed doors for what they did.I'm no different to most people that encounter these 'bums','I'm in a rush to get somewhere','I'll get you on the way back',how dare they ask me for money and have me avoid eye contact as I pretend not to hear them? Well I was like that until out of curiosity I decided to spend some time with them to see their side of the story,a decision that completely changed my opinion and raised questions about myself as a person.


The first time I went and did a 'homeless run' I was about 23.I filled the car up with sandwiches and whiskey and drove into the city one cold Christmas morning.The plan was to give them a few sandwiches,a glass of whiskey,heat them up in the car for a few minutes and wish them a merry Christmas before moving on until the food and drink was gone.There were a lot of them out that morning but finding them was difficult enough.I searched alleyways and places I thought they may be and found 3 older men sitting on some steps at the back of an abandoned office block.I approached them with a bottle of whiskey and was welcomed in immediately.The sandwiches were not touched but still we talked and laughed for over an hour.Every Christmas there is a free dinner for homeless people in the RDS and they asked if I could give them a lift up which I did.Once in the car things became messy and two of them became violent towards each other and semi violent towards me,although alcohol induced it was not a very nice situation to be in.Upon arriving at the RDS it was a case of physically removing them from the car and as a result did not return to doing the homeless run for the next two years.

I don't know what made me return to doing it exactly but I decided to give it another go although I did have a big issue with giving drunks alcohol.Maybe the first guy I met doing it this time around was faith or maybe I was just being proved wrong but after inviting him into the car for a drink and to heat him up I witnessed one of the biggest acts of kindness I have ever seen.He sat in the back along with my sister,it was a freezing frosty Christmas morning and he explained to me his story of how he was a carpenter and how his brother in-law had been taking money from the business to gamble with.When things came to a head he owed a lot of money,he had been arguing with his wife more then ever and she sided with her brother.He was asked to leave the family home and after turning to alcohol lost everything in the short space of 6 months.Nobody knew he was homeless but nobody would gave cared.His eyes started to well up as he told his story and he turned to my sister to change the subject.'So was Santa good to you this year' he said,Sarah,my sister,replied listing all the gifts she had received.It was a lot of gifts by anyone's standards and she continued to say that Christmas day is also her birthday and with that the guy wished her a happy birthday.He put his hand in his pocket and took out 1 euro giving it to her and said don't go spending that on sweets,it was the nicest gesture I had ever witnessed.


As the weeks went on I wanted to do it more regularly so I start going out every Tuesday night and became familiar with the same old faces in the same old places and I learned a lot from these people.Some of the stories I heard from them where heartbreaking.I asked one guy why he spends the money he earns begging on alcohol because it was still bothering me that I was giving alcoholics drink and he very bluntly told me 'what the hell would you do if you were on the streets 7 days a week for 6 years ashamed of yourself and people passing by you as if you were a piece of scum'.Another guy only 2 weeks ago,who didn't drink and was just happy I had stopped to talk to him told me he had an interview as a kitchen porter in Galway two days previous.He begged until he had the 40 euro return bus fare and washed and shaved in Burger king before making his way down.Obviously he couldn't say in the interview that he is homeless so when the boss told him he would be in touch he had to make an excuse for not having a phone number or an address and memorize the fake email address he had given hoping it wasn't already in use and go back to Dublin and beg for an extra hour a day so he would have enough money to use the internet cafe.All the small details we never even take into consideration.

I could go on and on about the stories I have heard while talking to these people but its the past two weeks which inspired me to write this.The first case was a brief encounter with a man no younger then 65,he was a Russian, alone and walked very awkwardly with a crutch.Its always a gamble approaching people because it would be very embarrassing if they were not homeless at all which has happened unfortunately but this guy definitely was because as I passed him he was eating noodles from a bin.I pulled up beside him and produced a can of beer,his eyes lit up.He had dried blood under his nose which was clearly broken and he was struggling to walk.He explained to me that he had been attacked in his sleep by a group of Romanian gypsy's who in the process had broken his nose and his leg and stole his sleeping bag.His English was very limited but nonetheless you didn't need a lot to understand the pain he was in.


Just last night I came across a young man called Daniel,he's a traveller and 18 months off heroin.He was quick to point these things out to me as if to look for some sort of credit which I gave him but also to let me know from the start that he had no reason to lie to me about anything.I had already given him the 10 euro he needed for a hostel and also a bit of drink I had in the car along with a few plastic cups,he was very greatfull and said his friends would be delighted with him for sharing this with them.I spoke with him for the best part of 45 minutes and he was quick to tell me his story warts and all.Every sentence finished with 'no word of a lie,sure iv no reason ta lie to ya'.Daniel is from Navan in county Meath and has 6 brothers and 2 sisters all of which are on heroin.Although he is clean for the past 18 months after waking up beside a dead friend of his he can not return to Navan because he feels he will cave into his addiction.



In a very quick period of time he gave me a good look into his world.He could stay in a free hostel every night but there is sure to be a fight or he will get robbed.He can stay in a better hostel for 15 euro a night but ,well,its 15 euro a night.The story the Russian man told me about the Romanian Gypsy's turned out to be true,Daniel showed me a scar on his finger he received while defending himself against a blade and also a very large scar across his neck which he credits a neck warmer he had bought for saving his life.He still wears it.I asked him about friends on the street and he explained that he has got friends but chooses not to spend much time with them because when a man has nothing then anything becomes a greater luxury then friendship so even with your best friend you sleep with one eye open.

What happened next was the closest I could get to his world.In the 45 minutes I had been talking to him everytime somebody walked by he asked for spare change and not one person acknowledged him.I could see this hurt him and it never got any easier..He asked me before I left to do him a favor,he told me to sit down beside him for 5 minutes and ask passer-by's for spare change just to see if it would be different for me,I did and it wasn't.I sat there and there first thing that went through my mind was that I hoped nobody I knew would see me doing this.As people approached I asked for spare change and not one person even made eye contact with me,I had gone full circle from when I was the that person.Even though I was not homeless an awful sense of  shame,embarrassment and inadequacy swept over me,it was an immediate feeling.Straight away I felt that these people walking past me were better then me,I took his point on the chin and stood up.He shook my hand and told me his full name,Daniel Hand,and said to keep an eye out for him on my next run.


If there is one thing I have learnt from doing this the past few years it's that I can see why people walk past homeless people and why they have an issue with giving money to them if they are going to spend it on drink or crack or heroin but does it really matter what they spend it on? Once you do your good deed that's all that matters right? You may look at him begging and think within the hour he will be down a lane way shooting up or shoving coke up his nose but you may just find him buying a sandwich sitting looking at the ducks in Stephen's green.He could look at you as you brush passed him and think your just another big shot in your suit with no time for anybody in the world except yourself but you could be on your way to a job interview so stereotypes work both ways.The point is you could very well be right about what they use the money for but when i pulled up last night to Daniel he seen my BMW and thought I was the richest person in the world,i'm not a materialistic person but as I walked away from him I felt like I was.

Gambling

I decided to travel down south to Wexford with a friend yesterday , our reasons for going where different but we would both end up doing the same thing anyway.I'm still out of work and what better way of spending a dull Tuesday then to head down for a few pints and a bit of sport.Iv been down quite a few times and lived  there for 6 months a few years back but i love it there,I don't really know why, I just love it.This week is Cheltenham week,a week long horse racing festival.I don't know the first thing about this sport but I do have an impressive ability to surround myself with experts on this and not look too stupid.I always seem to say the right thing or start debates about the qualities of certain horses but I genuinely know absolutely nothing and tend to back horses by their name rather then form.

We sit around a table in the bar,its 1.15pm and 15 minutes before the start of the first race.There is a pile of betting slips and a glass full of pens beside us and the barman in frantically taken bets for the local bookies.I look around and all I see are men with there heads in the papers looking at form,making phonecalls and texting tips.I try to blend in but my way of backing horses is different.Previous great horses have legendary names such as Istabraq,Moscow flyer,Shergar ect and you can nearly hear their names shouted by the commentators as they near the finish line in your head so I look for names like those not horses called 'Will he finish' or 'Iv a pain in my balls', you will just never hear a commentator getting excited as Iv a pain in my balls clears the final fence.

Iv gone with a horse called Hurricane fly because shoulabeenaclown didn't gel with my delicate process of backing winners.Its about to start and the table turns to see who backed who,I tell them mine and throw in a random fact to throw them off the scent that I have no idea whats going on.'Hurricane fly better get off to a good start because he has never won when hes been 10th or more after two fences' I said,of course he hasn't there are only 9 horses in these races and this starts a debate about who's horse is better with fences.The bell sounds and the horses are off. I only know my horse by its number and as they approach the first fence disaster strikes,Hurrican fly breaks his leg,I don't think anyone else noticed but the rest of this race is gonna be painful to watch not only because my money is already gone but because the sport bores the shit out of me.To rub salt into the wounds its a two and a half  lap course so after watching my horse break its leg and throw my money away at the very first fence,on the second lap there is a white curtain rail around my injured horse and as the field turns into the final straight which is the third time passing the faithful scene the stewards put him out of his misery so he is dead before the winner even crosses the line.I haven't gotten away with it,the only person who knows me at the table also knows that this is the third time Iv backed a horse which died during a race.Maybe this is a sign I should not gamble ,ever, or maybe just stick to what I know.United are playing within the hour and Rooney is always a good bet to score first,lets just hope he doesn't spontaneously combust !!

Random facts about me

1 - I was continuously grounded every summer from my 13th birthday until my 16th birthday

2 - I got electrocuted FOUR times in one day

3 - According to my PPS card my name is LOUISE

4 - I once accidentally started a fight with ex-world heavyweight boxing champion Nigel Benn

5 - After volunteering to take part in a police line-up i was picked out TWICE

6 - I was once sacked on my day off

7 - I got so drunk while DJ'ing that i left,crossed the road and payed into a nightclub with two hours still to play

8 - I know every word in the first two back to the future movies

9 - I have a terrifying fear of dwarfs

10 - I landed a plane,flew a helicopter and drove a F3 racing car

11 - Ronan keating once said to me 'theres a terrible smell of jealousy off your breath' to which i replied 'theres a terrible smell of cock off yours' !!!

12 - I have scored a hat-trick in soccer,try in rugby,147 break in snooker and got a hole in one in golf but I have never been to Israel !!

My travels (California)

After a short layover in Dallas we landed in Sacramento,California a little after midday.Natalie's cousin Catherine picked us up and we made our way to Willows where we would set up home for the next two months.An hour later we arrived on the ranch,it was in the middle of nowhere and that is exactly what i was looking for.Nothing around us except miles and miles of flat land and in the distance beautiful rocky mountains

                                                           view from my front door

.At the entrance to the ranch was an american flag high on a pole motionless,there was no wind,infact the previous day i'm told they had a rare phenomenon....rain!! We enter and the first stop is a small bungalow on the left.Its time to introduce ourselves to Natalie's grandparents and they are excited to meet us,the first thing we are asked to do is point out where exactly we are from on a big map of Ireland hanging from a wall in the kitchen.Lovely people and a good start to the day.The next house is our house,we were not aware we would have our own place so we stop off to leave our bags in and move on to meet Natalie's parents who live in the third house.Its just Lisa there at the moment and we are made feel very welcome,a very warm,caring and funny nature about her.I could get used to this.

                                                            the ranch

We move down to the barn to Natalie's father and brother ,Danny and Adam,whom we will be working with for the next two months.They are welding some sort of trailor to the back of a tractor,i ask no questions at the risk of looking stupid so soon.I decide to ask if I can help, 'lets see what you city boys got' said Danny as he passes me the safety glasses,I felt under pressure already but that soon faded because at the end of the day I am a city boy.I may not know much about farming but I could wire that barn with my eyes closed! We start work the next day on their orchard 30 minutes away so we are given directions,a lunch box and a truck.I sit out on the porch ,light a cigarrette and take in the view as the sun sets,the first night of my Cali adventure and i love it.

I awoke about 6.30 the next morning,my first full day here and i'm ready for work.I agree to drive in the mornings and Lar on the way home.That first drive was something special,as i pulled out onto the road a small plane flew right over me no less then 50 feet above the truck and as it flew into the next rice field dropped its load.

This is a frequent thing around here,the planes drop chemicals over the crops to stop insects from destroying the rice and is pretty impressive to watch.I continue on my way along a lonely desolate road,on my left is nothing but flooded fields and on my right the Northern California railroad joins me on the journey.There is nothing out here but everything caught my eye.

We started work a little before 8 that morning and were given a kobota to drive up and down the orchard fixing and tying olive trees that had fallen over.We were in our element,the sun beating down on us,the radio in the kabota up full volume and our lunches in the trailor.It was great that we were left to our own devices and were in great spirits but we had a job to do.Our instructions are simple,fix the trees that need fixing,make sure to wear sunscreen,drink lots of water and go home whenever you want.Shaking off the city boys tag was important to us though.At the time although we had a lot of fun working on the orchard,too much fun some times,we let the working days pass us by because there was so much we wanted to do and see even around this small country town but looking back I don't think either of us realised how much fun we had in work.

On the Thursday the girls had organised to bring us to San Francisco to see a Giants game,by coincidence it happened to be on an Irish themed night.We made our way to Chico where we planned to meet Cherelle and start the journey but we wanted to see a bit of this place we had heard so much about so arrived a few hours ahead of schedule.This place unknown to us at the time was to be the area we would spent most of our time in California.We arrived about 10am and the first stop was coffee.Myself and Lar sat facing the street chatting and killing time,so far in the two weeks since we had left Ireland conversation and never dried up and I was beginning to think I had come with the right person.After coffee we walked around the town and made our way to the square in the centre.This is an open area with fountains and seats at every corner and was filled with people writing,playing guitar and running through the fountains.It really was a beautiful little town and I didn't feel like a stranger there.

After only 2 hours here we had already met a few people,the Irish accent is always a good way to meet new people and it hadn't let us down so far.Eventually Cherelle showed up and we were on our way.She was the first of Natalie's friends we had met and if they were all like this I knew I'd be going home with a lot of friends.The conversation was easy and polite until collecting Catherine and with the two girls in the front and Lar and I in the back it was back to messing again.We arrived in to San Francisco about 2 hours later and after meeting up with some more of Catherine's friends made our way to the stadium.On our way in to the field there were some girls Irish dancing and I felt proud that 5,000 miles away one of our traditions was on show to a different culture,I watched for a while but my ability to be immature in almost every situation was unfolding and i wanted to go get a corn dog and a novelty hand,I didnt know what I was gonna do with either of them but still....I wanted them.

I never got the novelty hand but i did get a leg......

The game itself was not the most exciting game and the Cincinnati reds won however after spending the entire game asking questions I did learn a lot of stuff about the game,I also learned you can be fat and still earn 4 million a year! It was a really great day ,I enjoyed myself so much and we went with a really cool group of people.

The next morning it was back to work but the weekend was nearly upon us,we were about to experience our first bit of nightlife in  Chico.The dilema was that Chico is a good 45 minute drive form Willows so how would we get there? Lar doesn't drink so we decided to ask Lisa and Danny if we could use the truck to drive and have it back early in the morning,they agreed....problem solved.Again I said Id drive out obviously because I couldnt drive back if I was drinking and I had just parked up when A guy asked me for a lighter,once he heard the accent he was exchanging numbers and inviting us to a frat party,we knew we were going to love this place.There is quite a few bars in the town but only a few that we tried,Panama's which is like somebody's front room until you go out back for a smoke where there is a dance floor and a DJ playing old 90's tunes.Its the type of place you go to have two or three drinks before heading off and that's exactly what we did.Next stop was the Crazy Horse saloon,every bit as country as it sounds.The DJ plays a bit of chart but its mostly country music and half-way through the night the crazy horse horse girls do a dance routine.There's a mechanical bull near the back and after breaking my thumb on it first time around that was the last time I did it.We went to that bar quite a bit but that was only until we found Madison Bear garden,a bar with good food,but all the action is out in the beer garden and every Monday was karaoke night and every week we sang.A lot of friends were made in this bar.

A typical working day finished with us heading home after work,having some dinner and once we had showered we would normally head about 3 miles down the road to the neighbour's house a have a swim in the back yard.A lot of people had pools around here and they needed to with the heat and the view available around us.It was the perfect way to end a day and there is nothing better then watching the sun go down over the Californian mountain's from the comfort of the water,an amazing experience but just make sure you are out before the mosquito's attack!

We had by this stage met a lot of people and they were all offering to bring us places and show us new things but one offer couldn't be refused.I am a massive 'STAND BY ME' fan and i knew the bridge used in the movie was about 3 hours north from the ranch and a friend had offered to take us up to see it,normally I wouldn't want to inconvenience anybody but I just could not say no to that so on the Thursday we made the journey north.I had already done my homework on the bridge from Ireland so finding it wasn't a problem but I never thought i'd actually be able to stand on it,it really was a great experience for me and if I was starting to get used to being in America then this put things back in perspective for me,it reminded me I was still on holiday and I had by no means seen everything that needed to be seen.

My friend from back home was in Oregon at this time visiting his girlfriend and wanted to meet up,its funny how when he is 5 minutes down the road I don't visit but when he is 6 hours away in the USA ill go up to see him.We agreed to meet in a college town in Oregon called Eugene,this suited me because I also knew that the village used in Stand by me is about 30 minutes drive from there so I would take a trip to see that while up there.Myself, Lar and Natalie arrived in the motel and soon after Darren and Leanne arrived too.We had a few drinks in the room and got ready to head out,it wasnt quite the nightlife we had become accustomed to in Chico but nonetheless it was a holiday.

                                                                 me and Leanne

                                                                  me and Natalie

The next day we went on the short journey to check out the small town that the movie was made in,i'm pretty sure I was the only one really interested in seeing it but I'll always do what other people wanna do and this was mine.Again I had done my homework on the place so everywhere was easy to find.

                                                                Teddy Dueschamps house

                                                             Gordie's house

                                                                  Vern's house

                                                           the treehouse

The next day we parted ways and drove the long journey back to Willows.Our Californian adventure was coming to a close and we were both sad about that but our travels had by no means come to an end just yet,we had A LOT more to see before we returned home.The work dried up and we finished two weeks early which at the time was a disaster for us but it did enable us to take advantage of Chico's nightlife which we certainly did.Twelve of our last 14 nights were spent out in Chico,we really did finish our time here in style!I knew myself I'd really miss this place,it was the people we had met,the places we had seen and how the people we had met had helped us to see this beautiful place.Barn party's,fireworks displays,Jewish weddings,concerts,baseball games,dodgy haircuts,strip karaoke,hookah bars,midnight swimming the list goes on,not bad for just 8 weeks. 

                                          Travis Tritt concert

                                           Stevie,Savannah,me and Natalie

             

                                           spot the city boys 

                                                     me and Lar

                                      

                                           me and Cherelle