Forgive me father, it's been almost six weeks since my last blog.
As with microwaving popcorn, where the silences between pops get longer, so too has the time between the bangs of halloween fireworks-which means, once again a good night's sleep can be had. In fairness, there have been less bangs and thuds this year as a result of new laws requiring folk to have on their person, a fireworks licence. It seems to have worked, just like the smoking ban. It appears after years of "you'll not tell me what do do" 'tude, that the Irish are in fact starting to, dare I say it, toe the line. I wonder how many prams (baby buggies) were decommissioned at the recent
weapons amnesty? If you know, I'd be grateful if you'd share that particular stat with me.
I remember being knocked off the bike once by a driver on Camden street. Laying there on the footpath, I began to observe the mangled remains of my poor bicycle. I was alright but my bike was trapped under the driver's car. The driver comes running over, first does a quick check for scratches, then bounds towards me frothing and barking about how I could have "fucked up her car". I wouldn't have minded only, I was still lying on the footpath, my bike lying twisted under her car and to be honest, her car was, simply put, and 'oul banger. Even with two witnesses, the garda said as I didn't have any serious injuries, (apart from the cycle-ogical trauma incurred), there was nothing they could do. Where was the justice Minister when I needed him?
So, ever since, when I find myself the victim of a hit and run pram attack, I just tend to let it slide, much in the same way as I would after getting soaked, resigned, singing:
That's just the way it is, by Bruce Hornsby. Infact, i've become quite adept at second guessing some pram drivers, imagining myself with a football, which the dastardly pram wants to steal from my possession. I weave, duke and attempt to dummy the pram-sometimes with staggering results. Sometimes I get brought down. I know I'm not the only one who has experienced these
pram and runs on Henry Street. (or any street for that matter!) I often see talented pram dodgers doing their magic until, in one foul swoop, that
Keane or
Rooney pram takes them down.
I have actually witnessed several of these
pram and runs but out of fear for what might happen if the pram basher ever discovered my true identity, I've held my whist (kept quiet).
There's a nip in the air alright, as we gradually slide in to November and bigger electricity bills. My right knee is sore from last night's yoga session. OK, so I'll write a song about it. I've been enjoying my daily walks around the parks of Dublin. Although it is colder, the sun is shining and the daylight, which was denied me during my Helsinki winters, makes dealing with things like bigger electric bills more fathomable.
I recently acquired an Mbox2 that runs the music software protools and before you think I've joined the
bedroom movement, just hang on a minute and hear me out. I'm still an advocate of live music, live, as in people assembling in a room, doing the old, one, two, three..and in. Thing is, the last long play has me rethinking a lot of things.
I've decided, instead of abusing my or anyone elses bedroom, to use a friend's living room to start laying down some of the new material. I intend to work with a lot of the same musicians who played on the Honeymoon Junkies record and also with new people I've had my eye on for a while. This will once again involve quite a bit of traveling, but hell, someone's gotta do it, right? It's time to hit the park for the daily stretch. Get the daylight while you can.
The new laws regarding fireworks seem to have made Halloween a less terrifying time for the cats&dogs, I wonder would the minister consider introducing a similar law for people in "control" of prams and buggies? A bit like applying for a gun licence or a drivers licence where the pram driver would be subject to on the spot breath tests.
If, you are a pram driver yourself and feel it's time to decommission your buggy, you're too late. The weapons amnesty deadline was on the 31st of October.
In the meantime, maybe we could petition those responsible for dictionary entries to consider including the word pram (to pram) as a verb.
