Burlesque event at Alexanders

Sunday 28th of October, The wonderful Dani California, singer and Burlesque performer from Chester, put up an event at Alexander's Jazz Club in Chester in order to raise money for Mysmallhelp.org, a charity whose aim is to help the young people of Nepal. Comedy, Burlesque and Rock from the likes of Tori Bragg, the Sublimes, Mairi Gold, Jubilee Swoon and Suzie Sequin were the garantee for a good night and they delivered, not only by their performance, but also for the young people who will benefit from money raised on the evening. If you would like to support them even more, visit their website!

Portrait photography session in the Wirral: Catching up!

RIGHT! Sorry for the delay, but We've been really busy!
A few weeks ago, I did a shoot in Port Sunlight, a most wonderful place, as well as in the Wirral Country Park with Harry, Calum and Joy, a wondeful family that wanted to make the most of a day out.
Thank you VERY MUCH for such a great day!

woohoo!

Been a while, I know! Let’s start with Nickie’s birthday. Besides the fact that she was showered with gifts we had a pretty laid back time.
:)

It all started with the best meal I’ve had in a restaurant for a while. Taste, presentation, everything was perfect!

To start with Nickie had smoked salmon with Welsh oatcakes, sour cream, lemon & chives while I opted for rarebit topped Overton black pudding on a Welsh oatcake with beetroot relish. DELICIOUS! Just try and imagine the rest of the meal! All this thanks to the Cross Foxes, one of the great pubs in our area!

Party!!

Sue, a wonderful person I used to work with decided to throw a party to celebrate me leaving or getting a new job, depending how you see things. and what a party it was!
As some people know, I’m more of a small crowd kind of person so I’m always a bit nervous when things that are mean for me get a bit out of control. My mum could tell you about a few rows about birthday parties..

But this party was perfect! Though I was happy that so many people talked about wanting to come, I was quite pleased when only 3 of my favourites people first turned up:
Sue, Martin and Joy!
Sue, Martin and Joy

I really like Sue. She’s the first person I remember meeting after my boss. She was in a tiny office the size of my home office and was smiling and I immediately thought she looked like the kind of person I’d get a long with. She helped me quite a bit at work with all sorts of stuff and is the person I most consider as a friend. Then, there is Martin! Always up for a laugh, I always used to tease him for being a Liverpool fan, which is really one of the only faults I can see in him. albeit a major one. We had a great time last time we went out and with him around, I knew we’d have lots of fun. Also, as everyone knows, I quite like the ladies but it’s nice to have at least 1 other bloke to chat with in the whole department…
AND JOY!
She’s really funny. She can turn a comment into a whole conversation. Add the Birkenhead accent and you’ve got hours of fun! Obviously, being from Quebec, I am easily amused by the local accents but Joy is really great to have around and is the other character with who I went out last time so I was expecting quite an event and I was not disappointed!

A lovely touch was that m y Tae Kwon Do coach, Dave Baker, came ALL the way from Crewe just to have a drink or two.

And then all hell broke loose.

After a nice little meal (burgers) at Wrexham’s Chicago Rock, Sue noticed that the alcohol was 2 for 1!

drinks!

So we did lots of drinking and lots of dancing to tunes of the 70’s and 80’s with some recent stuff. Some tunes were repeated, but when they are your favorite, it doesn’t matter really, does it?
:)

And then, MORE FRIENDS!
The girls
Vivien came with her girl Helena and Gemma, a really nice girl and very good actress as far as I’m concerned. Helena is very good too, I must say. Vivien is quite cool. She believes in using her energy only when it matters which means that you never see her run around like a headless chicken. Which is a quality I appreciate because stressed people make me stressed and when that happens I start getting annoyed, etc. So overall, Vivien is quite good to have around. I also learned a lot from looking at her work. She’s not one that goes on and on about anything, but if you just look at how she does things and notice (as she rarely does anything for nothing) you’ll learn too! Which sometimes leads to funny situation where we notice her trying to pull her “mind control” tricks on us.
;)

Anyways. I like her lots.
:)

We danced, drank and had lots of fun. As far as I remember anyways..
Because when the clock struck midnight, it all went funny in my head, mainly thanks to this character!
Martin!
After drinking a few bottles of wine, I remember having him making taste sambucas which I don’t like because they are sticky and taste like liquorice which I don’t like either.
But apparently, he had me down SEVERAL Double Jack Daniels and Coke!
I definitely don’t remember that.
Anyways..

It ended up with me in bed until 9pm the next day. (9PM, yes) which is a bit of a shame. But all in all, I had a great time surrounded by really nice people and I’d like to thank them all for the night and everything else they did for me.

Martin, you are so ****** next time we go out, believe me.
You won’t remember what you’ll have taken either!
:P

where's the craic?

Me!
Last weekend, Nickie and I went to Dublin in what seems to be an endless extravaganza and build-up in what should be a glorious day tomorrow: NICKIE’s BIRTHDAY!!

We were meant to go camping at Brecon Beacons but for all sorts of reasons decided to post-pone that and go to Dublin instead.

It was quite exciting I must say. We left very early on a foggy morning, driving through Clywd, Denbighshire, Flintshire and finally arriving at 7:30 in Holyhead, Anglesey to take the ferry.

That was an exciting thing for me to do, as I’d never been on a ferry like this before.

The first was a high-speed ferry called the Dublin Swift!
And it was VERY FAST!
Took about 90 minutes to cross from Wales to Ireland!

It wasn’t overly comfortable but there was everything we needed on board to pass time for the short journey. I must admit it made me feel a bit ill at times though.

Then came Dublin.

Dublin I must admit was a bit of a disappointment, for me at least.

I don’t enjoy going to the pub and drink so the famous pubs are of very little interest to me.

Architecturally, Nickie and I thought it was a bit boring.

The parks were really nice and there were loads.

But the one thing that struck me is how much of a “city” it is in its feel.

Loads of people just running around, lots of homeless and beggars and not many people smiling. It’s “exactly” the same size as Montreal but seemed to have let go all the charm and personality often associated to the Irish. A few times Nickie asked me if I felt like I was more in a part of Britain or Europe and the answer was without a doubt: this is Britain.

I’d like to say that I’m not into comparisons. But the following will probably prove the contrary.

In Quebec and Wales, the presence of French and Welsh respectively is omnipresent and dominant. Oddly enough, we found quite a few signs that were English only. Also, we didn’t hear any Irish. I can even hear Welsh spoken in Wrexham which is quite multicultural in it’s own ways and is just next to the English borders! The other day, I was warming up m y local Tae Kwon Do lesson and 3 students out of 6 decided to count in Welsh! It thought it was quite funny. Also, the approach here is quite simple. In lots of primary schools, the children are NOT TAUGHT ENGLISH until they are 7 years old. So they go to pre-school, reception up to year 3 learning and speaking Welsh. Even in Morgan Clywd High School, if an ad is to be posted (in this case for Tae Kwon Do lessons) the ad needs to be mainly in Welsh or not be put up at all.

Quebec, Wales and parts of Northern Ireland are all trying to get more independence from the greater government above them. I couldn’t help but wonder whether or not the fact that there was some level of intrusion from another culture was the reason behind the fact that the local cultures I’ve mentioned are all quite upfront in defending it. Which leads to another question: did Ireland lose it’s cultured by winning its independence? A bit like in Scotland where it’s not an easy feat to find someone who can still speak Gaelic!

Anyways, to cut this short, language is the most important aspect of culture and I was quite disappointed to see how “international” Dublin had become.

We then went back on another ferry, which was VERY nice. Very spacious and luxurious looking. And it was so stable! We didn’t even know we were moving! I was very impressed.

My host, Vinnie is setting up a web gallery facility created by our friend Eivind called Passion. so soon, I’ll be posting more pictures of all our recent trips!

Happiness is a Bonsai!

This is my bonsai.
I called it “Daniel-San!” And I must admit that it keeps me very busy these days. It’s funny how something so little and simple can distract us so much. I’ve been going on forums like mad, trying to learn the best ways to ensure a good, long life for it, the different styling techniques, etc. I find it one of the most interesting things I’ve had in a while! Considering that I’m a bit of a shopaholic, that’s a pretty bold statement! But I just like looking at it and caring for it. Trimming it is very relaxing. I think everyone should have a bonsai. People would be less in a hurry, but that could be just another of my crazy ideas..

Of baths and castles..

Before writing this, I must have spent the last 30 minutes adding boiling water to the bath using a kettle because our boiler is broken. Nickie quite looking forward to a bath even if she kept going on about how long it would take etc, I decided to give my best effort in order to give her the chance to enjoy a cool rather than freezing cold bath. About 10 1.5liter kettles later and not much difference in temperature, Nickie did her best to show her appreciation.

But really, I hope we can repair the bloody thing by tomorrow..

Now if you’re wondering where I got the costume, it was at Bodelwyddan Castle!

Went there with a few good looking people, myself included of course, and enjoyed an alright tour of the place. Personally, I find it a bit disappointing that they decide to give people audio guides rather than having actually people to interact with. After two rooms of listening to this annoying thing talking in my ear as I was walking around like a pillock looking upwards as the voice of my “200 year old guide” was going on for what seemed forever, I decided it was more entertaining to watch other people walk around, this big red thing stuck to their heads, occasionally giggling either due to the commentary or the fact that they probably thought that everyone else looked a bit silly. I would much rather talk to someone with extensive knowledge of the place, a bit like I did when I went on a tour at 221b Baker Street or the Warwick Castle. Fair enough, not all guides are as interested in their subject, but the few that are make it most interesting.

Then we went around an ugly and unkept garden, went into this weird hut called a “Bird Hide". The name did make sense as not a bird could be seen around. Though apparently, it’s for you to hide in, giving you a better chance to observe the creatures, so they say.

We also went into a Butterfly Glade. There were no butterflies of course. Why else would they call it that? (sic)

The most amusing part of the castle visit, after the fact that I was offered to eat a tasteless baked potato with a spoon, was that we played a giant game of chess. Not feeling like thinking too hard, I decided to play the part of, alternatively, a bishop and a rook. (Is that how they call the tower/castle thing?) My-sister-in-law is obviously a horse, the hands being the hooves her as she is prancing on her hind legs. Bit like the Ferrari logo. see it now?

We then left for what Nickie and I love best: wandering around the shops!
A good day on the whole. Hopefully tomorrow will be even better!