POLICE...OH MY

Hello everyone! After a looooong break for personal reasons, I am back! And back for the best of reasons!!! A dream was made true last night!!! A big one....I can now die happy :)



After years dreaming of The Police live I never thought that could actually happen...until this years, when I heard they were back for a reunion...and Lisbon was on the map for it! Tickets were expensive...but heck, was it worth it. Stewart Copeland is one of my favourite drummers and Police live was just as I expected it to be. Huge, magical, exciting, thrilling! A full moon night, where the National Stadium (sadly, not fully packed, but fairly crowded...blame the high prices of the tickets!) was big enough to carry a 'Message in a Bottle', 'Roxanne' and take us all 'Walkin' on the moon'! A cheerfull crowd followed Sting in his vocal trips, with many 'De do da daaaa' moments. Stewart was just has I had pictured him from the live performances televised over the years. Fast, full on, with his unique drum kit and it was fun enough to watch it all when suddenly, behind him, this big metalic estructure came up and I was in awe of it all. Too many things to describe, but there he was playing them with such grace and easyness, and then jumping from that section back to his drum kit, and back to the other section, always fooling around, throwing his drum sticks behind him and doing knows God what else. It was a full night, a magic one. I felt many things during the night, but once in my life, it was good to feel 'So Lonely' :)

One month later....

Exactly a month ago, Joana arrived. I am loving the experience of being a happy older sis…nearly a second hand mommy! It’s been funny … everything. The baths, changing diapers, putting her asleep, not sleeping because of her  There were a few hard days, specially when she would cry with no clear reason, until we realised her mom’s milk wasn’t strong enough for her, so she was crying cus she was…hungry! Poor thing. But the doctor just solved the problem, sending her a lil extra for her meals, and now she looks a lot happier! In one month she lost some weight, which people say is normal, but she grew up 3 centimeter, so she now happily counts with 52cm and 3,700kgs.

As for me…well, times have been surely changing. Work is going well and in July we are changing to a place nearer to my house, which is always good. I also have been making some new friends, what has been a good treat! Fresh air in my life!

As for U2, these have been the quiet times, though last Sunday was somehow …different! I knew U2-3D was going to be screened in Cannes and that there were rumours the band was about to make a short performance….what I did not know, was that it would be outside the Palais, and recorded live, being broadcasted on line, including on U2 com. I was already in bed, when suddenly I get this text saying ‘Log in the zoo NOW. Dallas is tunning’. Oddly enough, but I turned my pc on and logged in. What a treat. A camera was showing images of the red carpet in Cannes. Our already familiar crew was in full action: Dallas stringing, Sam preparing Larry’s kit, Joe checking things…Oh memories! It started bringing loads of good moments back to my mind. Around 25 minuts later, the band arrived in a black car and they ‘fed’ the paparazzi like they love it. Catherine Owens, film producer, was with them. Arcade Fire’s ‘Wake Up’ started..now waiiiiit a minute. That’s too much for my lil heart!!! I swear it did speed up! Up the stairs, and right there, they did a small set made of ‘Vertigo’ and ‘Streets’. The band was really having a good time, and so was Sam. He looked like a crazy DJ, while mixing Larry's sound. His leg wouldn't stop. It was great! Well, it wasn't the best performance ever. As usual, it lacked a bit of quality like we know it happens when the boys are in their so called ‘holidays’. But I couldn’t care less. I missed them a lot, and seeing them back there alive and kicking was a great feeling. I nearly wished I was rich and had spent that weekend in Cannes, just for that small ‘gift’. True we only live once, but the idea of spending 600€ just for a silly weekend wish…oh well, I had my share!!! And that was my U2 dose in between my U2 absence! I haven’t disliked U2 not even a bit, but somehow I need to let it go away, to let it kick back full force when new album rumours pop up! Anyway, this ‘musical diet’ has been good for me because I have been digging other stuff and I have been discovering pretty good albums and bands that I didn’t knew too well. I think it was the biggest drastic revolution in my iPod, as in less then a week, more than 2 Gbs were replaced by new things! Here’s a small idea of what’s new in my iPod:

Kanye West – Late Registration and The College Dropout – Kanye supported U2 in Australia. First live act was really shitty. I think it had to do with sound. Too much distortion, no quality at all. But the second night it all changed. ‘Addiction’ is my favourite, really sends shivers down my spine. Ray Charles and Shirley Bassey are part of the influences on this boy from Atlanta. ‘Diamonds from Sierra Leone’, ‘Gold Digger’, ‘Touch The Sky’, ‘Jesus Walks’…I am conquered!

Billie Holiday – Blue Billie – Everyone knows Billie….well, probably everyone except me. I knew her only by name. The album is a hundred times better than I could imagine. Love it! It only lacks a good glass of wine…sometimes!

Jimmy Scott – The Savoy Years – This gentleman was a complete stranger to me. I first heard Bono was a big fan of him, but that didn’t get me started…until I worked last year at the Guinness jazz Fest…and not only I met him, but I was in for a treat with his performance. He didn’t even knew the band with him, and he arrived on a wheel chair, but as he got on stage he immediately conquered the crowd. His honest deliverance to the public cativated me, sitting stunned in the backstage dusty floor. The 82 year old jazz man has Kallmann's syndrome, a genetic condition that affected his growth and made his biological clock stop before puberty, leaving him with this high, undeveloped soprano voice, that makes you wonder if your listening to a man or a woman. ‘Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool’ and ‘Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child’ are my personal fav.

Kaiser Chiefs – Your Truly, Angry Mob – I am a fan, for now. Definitely. ‘Unemployment’ did it for me. The sound was so fresh and new and the live performance was extremely cool. But, like most people say, the second album can be a heavy burden, and personally, I think there’s something lacking in this new work. The songs play one after another and I really don’t get caught. I’ll give it some more time to see if it kicks in….but I doubt it!

Arcade Fire – Neon Bible – I really didn’t read anything in terms of reviews from this album. I just heard it. ‘Funeral’ had put high expectations on AF, and everyone expected anxiously this ‘tough’ second one, which, in my opinion, is even better and deeper than the first one. ‘Ocean of Noise’, ‘My Body is a Cage’ and ‘The Well and the Lightouse’ are my favs. The organs give it the spiritual dimension the band looked for while recording in an old church in Montreal! I am really hoping I can attend their concert in the portuguese festival on July the 3rd.

Artic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I am not – Is this the biggest title for an album in music history? I really don’t know, but it could well be. But it is great.

Beck – Odelay – I am a fan of Beck’s relaxed cool voice. The album ain’t a big deal, nothing special, but it’s a cool company for work.

Kings of Leon – Because of the Times – Now here is an album that was a real surprise. Someone sent it to me. Put it on the iPod…and listened to it till 2AM. From second 1 till the end, it is a great album, with a good identity, that takes you without asking for permission. It’s nearly a cybernetic trip. 5 stars plus for their drummer. Smells like Pixies, sometimes. ‘Knocked Up’, ‘Charmer’, ‘McFearless’, ‘Trunk’….better not even name my fav, or I’ll have to name the entire album!

Ray Charles – Another one of those big music monsters I knew so well by name but couldn’t talk about their work. When I was in Australia I had listened to bits of his ‘Genius Loves Company’. I was hooked. So I decided to start with that one, and the soundtrack of the film that tells his story. His voice needs no introductions. The songs are as good as I thought they would be. Love the mood these albums give. Next step: I am definitely buying the ‘Ray Charles’ film!

And that’s all…for now!

It's a GIRL

Oh my dear lord...the new baby born has just arrived. It's a Joana. 3,6kgs. Beautiful. Born a couple minutes ago. I am nearly in tears. This is the very first day of the rest of my life, a brand new start. YAYA

The wind of change....

So, life has been changing here …a lot, if you ask! Monday a new chapter is about to start in my life: a new baby born is arriving. Make no mistake, it ain’t in my belly!!! I’m gonna be a brother or sister….yes, the question about the babies sex is still on the air cus he or she won’t let us know…it’s probably a stubborn ‘she’..i’d say! I always wanted to have a baby in the family, guess I had lost hope…so here’s a good lesson: never loose hope!! Things may happen when we less expect them, even when you’re already old enough to be mother  But that’s another issue!

So, this entire situation is making me a lot sensitive, emotional, chilled out at the same time, I can’t quite explain, but it’s like this experience is also changing me on the inside. Which might be good actually, it feels good! I haven’t had much time to spend on the computer, ‘cus I have been spending a lot more time with the family, with friends, and at home. Sometimes you just have too. And results have been good!

Yesterday was also a special day for me as a music fan. Because finally, I converted myself to the iTunes world as a source of official music! I use iTunes since 2005 when I bought my iPod, but last night I was checking the iTunes store and I thought maybe it was about time I should get my own account: BIG mistake! Obviously, I ended up buying a few tunes and a Jamie Cullum album: ‘Pointless Nostalgic’. And it’s really fantastic how things have developed in the music business. Now, with just one click you can buy one entire album, or if you only fancy a tune or two, you can get them for the friendly price of 0.99€. It’s really perfect. Not that I disregard the artwork of some albums…some I will anyway end up going to buy in a shop. But this way I can make sure if I like the album or not. Is like if I was alone in any music store in the area, sneaking around the albums that get my attention, I get to listen some samples of the tunes, see if I like it or not and if I do, just buy it. Ok, I know it ain’t big news because this service is available for a while now and you all have probably been using it non stop but now that I surrendered to this way of accessing music, I am pretty amazed. It’s so much easier to find new stuff. I am totally conquered.

Talking about Jamie Cullum, I had spoken about this boy a few months ago, when I bought his DVD and I felt in love with his album ‘Twenty Something’. ‘Pointless Nostalgic’ is even better. More jazz. Great lyrics. It includes a wonderful version of ‘In the wee small hours of the morning’, an incredibly short lyric, intense in its sincerity and simplicity, a great feeling transcript in 8 simple lines. That’s the magic of music to me. When you manage to get a feeling across with a small draft of what you really mean, with hidden meanings disguised in between this and that word. It’s amazing. The album counts with amazing sonority in terms of instruments. It gets you in the nice and soft atmosphere of jazz. Good drums. Good sax solos. It’s a perfect company for a fine Jameson.

And by now you probably understood the mood I am in. I started writing this post feeling I had so much to say, but I am getting lost in the words, not saying much though…isn’t it? Well, I’d better just head off the office, go home and have a nice dinner listening to mister Jamie!

In the mean time, the Olga Cadaval thing in the sound business didn’t work out well. But this week I got a phone call from a music school, to which I asked about drumming lessons a an introducing course in sound engineer business, and the guy called me saying he was looking for a third drummer girl to make some experiments with percussion and he was also looking for someone to teach in the sound business cus he has this production coming up with 9 musicians and he really need someone he can teach to control the sound desk for that production. So I said I’d call him back soon. I am still thinking. It’s a bit expensive, the school and the course, but it’s something I want so so so much, I might just end up going! There’s also a possible change in the work I am doing. I am working on the administrative services of the Cercitop institution, but there are very good chances that, in July, I change and start working directly with disabled people. THAT sounds promising.

In the mean time, May is Pirilampo Mágico time. What is that? A little bug that is sold around to help institutions like the one I work at to get funds for their projects (this year it’ll sponsor the opening of a new residence and a new day center). It will be sold in the area from May 5 to the 26. But, as I have some friends around the world and they wanted to give a hand with this, we thought a lot and we finally came up with an idea: we will send a few pirilampos to an orphanage in Africa, Ghana! That way, a single click will help change two different realities: the one of disabled people in my institution, and it’ll give those poor kids in Ghana a different day, for a change, when they will wake up for a box full of these little toys they can keep. I set up a paypal account for this and soon I’ll give instructions here of how you too can help to make this happen! Stay tuned!

I have two words for you....

SHAG....TOBACCO!!!!!

It arrived today and I think it is amazing. The song that names the album has an amazing bass line followed by the low deep voice Gavin has used us to. It isn't just a song. It kind of sounds like a good place to be and takes you into a different kind of dimension...! Definitely, this album will be playing non stop in my players and iPod in the next couple of months!

That's life...

Last time I posted here was a long time ago. Lately I haven’t been posting here as often as I would like to. I haven’t quite understood why, but probably, the answer is, lack of time!
I am in Portugal since January 8. And I am still here. It is kind of weird, if I think of how I was feeling when I arrived. My first and main thought was ‘go back to Ireland as soon as possible’. And probably, if I had done that the week or weeks following my arrival, it would have happened, and I would be there by now. But no. Usually I believe things happen…or don’t happen…for a reason. And in fact, when I look back to all the efforts I did to go back and everything went wrong, well….maybe there is a reason for me to stay. I sent several CV’s to many different kinds of jobs and none had a positive feedback. Even Cheshire, it seemed to be a very good opportunity to go back and maybe try to start doing some more volunteer hours while looking for a job…that didn’t happen either. They had no chance to help me with accommodation or work. Finding a job was supposed to be easy, in a place like Ireland, but the fact that I wasn’t there made it all a lot harder…and I lost my guts somewhere along the way, so the idea of just going with the element of surprise in my pocket didn’t appeal that much to me this time. I checked many different types of accommodation. Everything seemed above my budget. And when I finally found something that seemed ‘doable’, a shared accommodation for 130€/week, I realised the shared meant…shared room, and not house like I expected it. I think that was the drop of water that made my wish to go back slow down. In the mean time, I also realised home was a very different place after 6 months away. It turned into a much better place. And the baby that is about to be born and become my brother or sister made me think a lot. I always dreamed of having a brother and somehow that never happened. My mother tried a gazillion times, but she had a disease called ‘Lupus’ that makes pregnancy a real battle to win…which she never won, except on my birth. Now my stepmother is bringing this baby to life, and I just couldn’t imagine myself away loosing his growth. It just didn’t seem right. I know I would regret that later. So, all together, my personal failure in finding a job and the good atmosphere at home made me change my plans. But I have to confess I miss Ireland a lot more than I missed Portugal while I was there. I miss all the experiences, adventures, all the friends I left behind (specially Cedric and Ainhoa) and dreams that were being realised there, specially the dream of being a sound technician that seemed to be so close to the right path and now it’s gone astray. But not all is lost.




This week I started a new job here in Portugal. I work at Cercitop (http://www.cercitop.org/). Cercitop is an institution that started 7 years ago focused on disabled people. It now counts with a residential for mentally disabled people, 3 day centers and 3 areas of domestic support to people in bed. Along with those, there is a center of therapies and I work there at the administrative services and reception. It’s good, because it isn’t just about numbers and papers and telephones but we end up dealing with some of the users of ours services and they are great people. Each day we are reminded that a disability is nothing more than a limitation and it makes us see these people and life itself with other eyes. I am enjoying it so far. There are many things and moments that remind me of Cheshire and my last experience there. It really changed me as a person and I miss the residents there a lot. Hopefully I will pay them a visit later this year. It’ll be worth it, for sure!

As for my roadie dream, I am refusing to give it up, so I am trying to contact a place near my home (Centro Olga Cadaval) to see if I can keep earning experience on the field. They gave me the contact of their stage manager and this Wednesday I am going to try to speak with her so maybe something good is about to happen. Fingers crossed.
And this is more or less what has been happening. All the time I have seems to be counted by the minute now, work, giving a hand at home with the cleaning around, family, and exercise, I turn on the computer maybe 10 minuts just to check my e mail and check briefly some news. Maybe soon I will learn to deal with the new speed of my life and will find a way to come here more often.

Hugs for now…
Kite

Elliott Landy...the photographer!

First of all, just to make a brief update of the situation...I am in Portugal at the moment. It was pretty weird to be back here after 6 months...things feel a lot different, even though nothing has really changed...maybe I changed...maybe the ones in here changed...I can't really explain...but home is a very different place, I think for better, and I am happy to be here. Still, I need some more Ireland in my life. I loved the experience there, specially as a person I think I grew up so much there, I feel the experience was so rewarding, that I need a bit more of that, at least a few more months. But all ha sbeen good here, Been jumping from house to house, from cousins to uncles to aunts to grandparents and friends...the list of people I miss goes on and on and I have been trying to catch up with everyone. And the weather has been so great in Sintra that I have spent a few good hours in the beach and in St Eufémia doing nothing, just feeling the sun in my face...how good is that? In the mean time, I am already sick of not doing anything usefull, so I gave myself two weeks of holidays, but I keep checking for jobs in Dublin, so as soon as something comes up, I fly back to Dublin.

I have also been investing a lot of time in one of my passions: photography. In Ireland I took a couple of days just to fool around with my camera, first in the Dublin area, Howth, Dun Laoghaire, Sandycove, Killiney, later in County Cork, Kinsale, Cobh, Cork...and I am really happy with the results my Canon A700 produces...and I remembered one of my inspirations as a photographer...Elliott Landy!

I am a big photography fan..specially black and white photography...but photography in general really makes me go out of my mind! I can easly loose track of time (like the nearly 2 hours I lost in Dun Laoghaire Harbour...if you know how 'big' it is...yo umight get an idea of how 'blind' a camera makes me!!)

Along with my big passion for Anton Corbijn, one of my favourite photographers is Elliott Landy. You may not recognize the name, but you surely know some of his work, like this Bob Dylan picture imortalized in his album Nashville Skyline



Bob Dylan is only one of many big names he worked with...I'd say, he was 'master and commander' of the music phohography world in the 60's...names like Janis Joplin, Jimmy Hendrix, The Band, Jim Morrison, Van Morrison, Joe Cocker, Eric Clapton, BB King, the big John Lee Hoocker I love so much, John Lennon, Paul Mcartney, The Who, Frank Zappa, the list goes on and on....pick a big name of the 60's.......all of them were exposed to his camera lenses...

More than a photographer, he was a rebel warrior ready to break the rules...he used his camera to make a visual statement of some of the most marking moments of the 60's....he began photographing the anti-Vietnam war movement and the underground music culture in New York City in 1967. He documented in an extraordinary way the 60's Civil Rights Movements in Washington DC and NY. Then, his music phohography was used to document the classic, hard and pure Rock & Roll scene which culminated with the unique Woodstok Festival, in 1969.

After that, his inspiration found a way out of the music scene, and he explored a new direction, photographing his children, his trips with his family, and finding his own 'impressionism' through flowers photography. He also ended up doing bot motion and kaleidoscopic pictures in film and still formats.

He has been an inspiration for many photographers (me included...specially of the B&W picture...see those Jim Morrison and janis Joplin pictures) and his work has been used by magazines such as Rolling Stone, Life and the Saturday Evening Post.

If you want to know a bit more about him....check his gallery
Landyvision and check this story of his beggining has a music photographer. The way he got to Bob Dylan is just a fine example of what a well focused decided dreaming head can achieve!

About Photography article.

Nearly two months later...

God...where did these 2 months fly to? I never felt time go by so fast as I felt here in Ireland. I have been telling myseld I want to update this place, but day after day I had to postpone it..and here we are, only 3 days away from the end of the year.

So...in short, let me tell you what happened in the mean time.

Australia was...HUGE. Huge in every term of the word. I landed in Sydney on November 9 after an extenuating trip, but the view over the harbour quickly made me forget the more than 20 hours of flight I had just done. Sydney is one of those places that conquers you visually and you can't find enough adjectives to describe it. The mixture of colors on the shore, the vast number of greens and blues painting the coast along with modern buildings make the skyline look fantastic and give a very strong identity to the city. I was in the best hands ever, so treatment was 5 stars plus! Thank you Steph and your family for the best company ever. I spent two extra days alone in Sydney to do some sightseing, in which I dedicated a good time to walk around the city and it's harbours. Walk around the desert Opera House late at night, iluminated by the silver reflection of the water is a thing of beauty. Darling Harbour is another place not to miss, with its views and restaurants. Wagamama will never be the same! And cheers for the japanese beer! We had a lovely dinner there are sunset and the view was simply gorgeous. The Sydney Aquarium is also very nice, specially to see the staff feeding the seals and telling a bit of their stories and how they saved them from certain death in their natural habitat.
The Sydney Tower was a very good choice as well. I chose the last possible tour to do the skywalk, after a day spent at the taronga Zoo. That means, the tour is done at the sunset. And it was the best view one can have of any part of the city from high above. it was a bit windy but to see the sun dive and the night slowly awake filled with small little lights spread all over the city is mindblowing. Manly beach was very very nice as well. It was a special day, me and Steph were in a specially good mood. We had lunch at the Waterfront restaurant in The Rocks, near the Park Hyatt and a fresh fruity Sauvignon Blank was a good company to our fresh fish meals. The result was so good that we 'borrowed' aguitar from a basker in the harbour and we played 'Stay' and 'All I want is you' live..not sure if bad or well, can't quite remember...but, truth is, a japanese lady took pictures and put some money on the flor...so..hum..no comments!! So after this, Manly Beach could only be heaven on earth. We did a good walk, and I was ready to dive in australian waters but the wind didn't alow me to. So we just walked around and took pictures. Another highlight of Sydney was the Blue Mountains. Did a one day tour through the mountains, where i managed to see Cangurus in their natural habitat and I nearly 'crashed' into one of them. We walked for one hours through the mountain along waterfalls and great landscapes, vegetation and all kinds of plants and trees and later we headed to the Three Sisters to walk another hour and do the railway in the Scenic World. No words to describe. it is peacefull and imponent at the same time and gives you a feeling of being a really small creature of the world. And that was it from Sydney.

A 12 hours bus ride took me to Melbourne. Melbourne is in my opinion, the oposite of Sydney. I'd say Sydney is a passion and Melbourne, a romance. You fall for Sydney from the very first second you see it, but it takes you time to fall from Melbourne...and when you do, it's a love for a lifetime. Melbourne is a lot more cultural. Walking through the city and along the river is a good choice, the Botanic Gardens are simply overwelming. you can get 'lost' there if you want. We layed in the grass and literally felt asleep with the peacefull vibes from it. Art seems to be around every corner and it was a treat to see some photographic exibithions right in the heart of the city. St Kilda beach is nice as well, right next to the Luna Park and we had the famous 'fish and chips'...well, we tried to have them on the veach but we couldn't because of our 'frienly' australian flies. Talk about nightmares in Australia, their flies are probably the worst nightmare one can have. They seem like crazy bugs all over and they can be very very nasty. Anyway, crossing the city in the tram is a very joyable experience. The great Ocean Road was unbelievabeeeel!!! And AC DC Lane late at night...good choice Steph! Musical selection was spot on!

But Australia wasn't just about sightseing...it was also...U2 time. And talk about dreams, it was time for dreams made true. Everyone knows I dreamed of having Kite live during the entire time the Vertigo Tour was on...and i finally was graced with it live. But it wasn't just Kite live...it was the best live experience one person can have. Kite is my favourite U2 music, is my nick name...is part of my personality, is a real moment in time for me and it literally carried me in a very rough moment in my life. Each time I found bono in the last two years I handed him a note asking for the song and eventually i explained to him why it was so important to me to have it live. Last time was in September, in the book signing. I said I knew it was hard to have Kite live again, that I knew it was a very personal tune for Bono and specially since Sometimes had been released, I knew the odds of having kite live were so small...but I still believed in the miracle of having Kite live, even if just once in my life, and I was going to Australia, so if there was any chance they could do it...imagine my surprise when I hear the boys are in Brisbane rehearsing Kite and I read comments of Bono saying they are working in a new version of it and they wantt o make it very special! Shivers down my spine, never the least. And it was indeed a lot bigger and better and much more magical than I could imagine. The tune chosen to close the set in 4 of the 5 nights I saw in OZ (except Melbourne 2, where after Kite they still played Bad). The new arrangement counted with a second slide part from edge, adition of a dijouridou in the beggining, s small cut in the lyrics but an extended ending...something like a 9 minuts dose of Kite every night. Unbelievable. And the first night we had it, I was on the rail on Adam's side, outside the catwalk, and Bono comes over, I am in tears as you can imagine, he heads to b stage..comes back, stops right in front of us staring at the main stage and adds the lyric 'Sometimes you've got to wait for a surprise' and it feels very personal to me...but i don't want to over think it, until we meet Bono a couple of days later, and I talk to him and ask if he remembers me, and he replies 'Oh yes, of course i do...you know, I've seen your face shining in the crowd'. That was the moment when the pieces came together to me...sure he knew who I was...I was the one who begged for Kite over and over again, sure my face was shining in the crowd, washed in tears...he mentally put the pieces together, so did I. Anyway, it was good, cus I managed to thank him for Kite live...him and Edge...! That meeting happened before Sydney III. My friend Steph also had her day made..meeting Bono and Edge...and Bono interacting with her in such a special way, big big hug and a 'You made me miss my mate' because of her Gavin Friday t shirt. We were in cloud nine and we had reasons to be. And our friend Leonie had her day made as well with our 'Shit, the bar code' moment. Hilarious. No comments. Not sure if it was because of the meeting, or because of our good mood, or whatever, we had spots in the front rail right in front of Edge and the concert was fantastic. Lots of interaction with the band, lots of blinking eyes and wavings and Adam gave us the 'love and Peace' solo, while I was dying laughing at him and i bowed in the end, in a 'Thank you' way and he thank back. Edge was on fire, jumping a lot, smirking all the time. Great clear view over Larry and his cymbals...it was the best night of all 5. And in terms of new musics, we had 'The Saints Are Coming', which is a cover of The Skids. Powerfull tune that works really well live. I had 'Angel of harlem' and 'Desire' full band, I hadn't heard yet and they are both great. 'Bad' live is always a treat, and being such a rare pearl I wasn't expecting it at all. Bonus was hearing 'One Tree Hill' being rehearsed before the Melbourne shows. Beautiful. The worst was having to queue so many hours, in the sun and sometimes in the rain and heavy wind. We had all! But each concert was a special experience. Hands up and hats off for the boys! And when I thought all the U2 goodness ha dcome to an end...wrong answer! We still managed to be part of the 300 extras used in the shooting for the video of the new song 'Window in the Skies'. We end up not showing in the video, but being in the same room with the band for a good time, being in the same square meter with Larry for nearly 30 minuts, talking with him and asking him about music and drums, shake hands with Edge, talk with them rather than just, talking to them...it was really nice. In the end we still met Adam who signed our 'Saints' cd single and he was in great form....you go jazz man!!! And this was in short what happened down under! Flying back home was a real nightmare. Better not even remember it.

My irish experience is about to come to an end...or at least, this part of the story. I am flying back home on the 7 of January. The last day at Cheshire home was...miserable. i feel very connected with the residents and it felt like leaving part of me there with them. it ripped my heart apart to have some of them nearly crying, hugging me and asking me not to forget them and to wrote back. I surely will! And the search of a job in Dublin as started. So something should come up. In the mean time, I have been in Dublin having some holidays and investing sometime in one of my favourite hobbies: photography. Now with my new camera it has so much potencial and so many things to learn that it's a treat and I have been spending hours working with it. Last 2 days, 193 pictures were taken in Dublin, Dun Laoghaire, Sandycove, Killiney and Howth. Results ASAP.

And it's all for now. Hope to be in touch very very soon, in less than two months!!!

Stay safe tonight
Kite