And...........we're back, in ONE, TWO, -----.

Sometimes you have to take yourself out of the picture to realise how beautiful the scene really is.

Here's to a good week.

To life.

And a new start.

She Takes Me Away

Herself is taking me away.
On a couple of days bliss!
Across the Universe.
(It's away, I don't care where!)
On our own.
No Kids!
To Galway.
The country is flooded, I know!
But at least it's a different flood!

Nice hotel.
Big bed.
Warm bar!

See you all soon!

xxx

Written In Stone.

It's taken five months.
And at that, not my decision.
A combination of having to be there,
And Brotherly love!

It was the youngest brother who took me.
Silently.
And I remembered the first day I took him to school.
Small, quiet, nervous, tears barely held back.
And now, many years later, roles reversed, he stood with me.
My support.

I walked up to it.
Faced it.
Saw the reality.
And I can deny no more the truth.

Carved in stone,
The name.
Her name.
And Her picture, smiling back at me.

And I have started to sleep again.

Wake

So tonight we brought Bridie 'to the church'.
And then the wake.

I haven't laughed so much in a very long time!

We all went to the 'local', a pub in a 'rough' area.

OUR area!

Ma was on great form, considering the circumstances.
She just was MA!
She was 'doing the wake old style'!
And did we feckin' love it?
Yes we did!
But then again, we all have to learn from the Ma!
She IS 84, and has been through a lot more life than us wee kids!
But, what a sense of humour!
She told tales of the Da, and Bridie, and the grandparents we never knew.
She told tales of when we were young, when Da and Bridie would sit us on their laps.
She told jokes that NO 84 year old woman should even understand!
She kept us UP!
She is back to being MA!
It was great to see her smile again, even at such a sad time.
But she found it, the stand-up of the funeral parlour!
And She loved seeing the six BROTHERS together again!
And we will be together again tomorrow,
When our Bridie is laid below the clay.
And we will spend the rest of the day drinking together, laughing together, remembering together. Being together!

Slainte mo chaire go leir!

Bridie.

Bridie, the Da's Sister, passed away during the night.
She had suffered but a short time to cancer.
More than all the other Aunties and Uncles, She would have been the one I had most contact with, having been close neighbours when I was growing up.
She was also my favourite and reminded me of Da, having his sallow skin and good looks.

She will be missed greatly by all who knew Her.

Farewell Bridie.

Thanks

Thank you all.
Today is better.

xxx

Rob.

So, Little Sis was 19, single, and had just given birth.
To a beautiful baby boy.
And they came home to us, Ma & Da,
and the four brothers still at home.
And we all (the bros) instantly became surrogate fathers.
We became experts at feeding, nappy changing, lulling to sleep.
And we could get quite 'annoyed' if we didn't 'get our time' with the baby!
There was nothing we didn't know about teething, winding (burping) and nappy rash.
Poor Sis had to queue up to get a look-in!
And we won't even mention the attention from the Ma & Da.
To say a child was loved was an understatement!
And he is still as loved today.
25 years later.
I am proud to be his uncle.

A very happy birthday to my favourite nephew, Rob.

Poor Ol' Simon!

You Like Me NO?

Most times I am a shy, quiet guy.
I blush a lot.
I don't know how it works,
I just do. Blush. A lot.
If I don't know you, and you come to me and start a conversation,
I Will Blush!
I am Shy.
But some people who know me as an entertainer just don't get this.

'Cos When I sing, see, that's another story.
I am in my element there you see.
That is where my confidence shines.

And some people take this confidence as arrogance!
Why?
This upsets me.
Now in fairness, these people are in the minority.
But still, It upsets me.
Why? I dunno, is it because I want to please everybody?
Do I want everyone to like me?
I know I can't please everyone,
Or expect everyone to like me.

I see 99% of my audience enjoying my show.
But That 1% with the frown still bothers me.
Why?
Why do I focus my attention on that tiny minority?
Why, when it is obvious that most people are having fun,
Do I still want that puss faced guy to get into the groove?
A Guy who Disney Himself could not please.

And for fuck sake,
Is THAT not the cutest kid you have ever seen?

THE cutest!

SEE? I am such a softie!

Could it be I am longing for a new bairn?
Surely not!
At my age?
And me with the snip a decade ago?

'Tis a longin' fer the grandchildren it must be?

But we can wait! Seriously, kids, we CAN wait!

(I do love nothing better than holding a wee one in me arms though!)

Oh Jesus don't get me started on babies!

xxx

Kilt?

This is what got me through adolescence, tormented angst ridden teenage years, and my early twenties!
If it wasn't for the hours of practice every day,
The endless marching,
The constant button and buckle polishing,
The precise ironing of pleats into my kilt and brath,
(I learned a lot from the Da here, and I still iron my own clothes, as he did!)
The immaculate whitening of my spats,
The discipline,
The friendship,
The love of music,
The camaraderie,
Well, I wouldn't be the man I am today.

Later on today I am taking the Youngest to meet with some old friends to see if she would be interested in carrying on the tradition.
I was a piper, though she is definitely drummer material.
Fingers crossed.

Waking Up Is Hard Too. True!

Words by Faithless.

But as Meatloaf is wont to sing;
'They took the words right out of my mouth'!

Deep in the bosom of the gentle night
Is when I search for the light
Pick up my pen and start to write
I struggle, fight dark forces
In the clear moon light
Without fear... insomnia
I can't get no sleep

I used to worry, thought I was goin' mad in a hurry
Gettin' stress, makin' excess mess in darkness
No electricity, something's all over me, greasy
Insomnia please release me and let me dream of
Makin' mad love to my girl on the heath
Tearin' off tights with my teeth
But there's no release, no peace
I toss and turn without cease
Like a curse, open my eyes and rise like yeast
At least a couple of weeks
Since I last slept, kept takin' sleepers
But now I keep myself pepped
Deeper still, that night I write by candle light
I find insight, fundamental movement, uh
So when it's back this insomniac take an original tack
Keep the beast in my nature under ceaseless attack
I gets no sleep
I can't get no sleep

I can't get no sleep
I can't get no sleep
I need to sleep, although I get no sleep
I need to sleep, although I get no sleep

40

Happy Birthday Sesame St.



This was always my favourite!

What? 'er!

Sometimes you go out.
Into this world, that we all live in.


Into the day.
And despite the positive forecast.
It rains.
And you get wet.
And you think,
'Why didn't I think to bring an umbrella'?

Because sometimes we don't think of the umbrella.
Most times we just go out.
And live.
And just expect the day to be sunny!
Don't think about the consequences, do we?
We just have to take the effing chance.
What we gonna do?
That's what life is, yeah?
And sometimes we do get wet.
But it's just water, isn't it?
And it dries.
Or evaporates.
And life goes on.

So don't worry if you have forgotten your umbrella today.
You may well get wet.
But you will dry off.

And you will remember your umbrella tomorrow.

We all 'get wet' every now and then!

Yesterday, Today! Tomorrow?

Today was a hard day.
Maybe it's because I haven't been sleeping well.
But it was a hard day to get through.
But here I am!
On the other side, of yesterday.
And I suppose, sometimes that's what life is.
Just to get to tomorrow, eh?
'Cos it just has to be better than today.
'Cos did I mention, today was hard?
Forgive me! I'm havin' a bit of a 'wallow'!
But I promise!
Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I'll Love Ya........

Update;

Tomorrow my arse!
So many wrong things happened today!
And you know what, between the panic (My new amp blew up!) and lack of sleep, I just had to laugh! What else could I do? All I kept thinking was "Well, no-one died!"

I rented an amp for the weekend, it wasn't perfect, but nodoby noticed.
It was a long few hours, and I struggled with sound etc., but Herself said it sounded great and I looked calm and was obviously havin' a good time!
Just like a swan, all calm and serene to all watching but paddling away furiously beneath the surface!


As I said, Tomorrow! You DO have to laugh!

Record Time

I didn't sleep well last night.
Didn't sleep long either.
The head is still on gig-shift after 5 late nights.
Still, I got up early.
And felt like a bag of dobbers all day.
As weak as a June robin.
As ill as a small hospital.
(I'm exaggerating, I know!)
And now it's late evening, and I'm starting to come to life!

Anyway.
The recording desk arrived from Germany today!
It's still in the box.
I've promised myself I'll get excited tomorrow.

Magic

Pure Magic!

And I Love You. Oh!

And every night I go to sleep
And every night, Tomorrow?
And Every night I think,
Another day I'll have to borrrow?
And every night another can,
Another drink I'll swallow
And every sip I take
Another dept into to the wallow?
And then I realise
A borrowed place, a place so shallow
A place I'll never see
And then I see my face, no shadow!
And it is because of you,
Because of you no shadow.

And with you, no shadow,

No Shadow!

And I love you so!