Hello all,
I was just here at the internet place reading blogs, adding a blog hit counter and checking email, and in the process I realized something about the youngest Brown. His initials are E.Q. Brown. Coincidence? I think not. With a dad in the music/recording/sound business? Once again, I'm on to you, Dave!! Behold...THE EQUALIZER. Sorry man, I think that one should stick, even though I like Eli better.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
If you can't sleep, count sheep. Don't count endangered animals because you will run out.
I finally realized how Dave has been coming up with all of his funny blog titles. Dave, I'm on to you. I also don't think that story about me in high school was truthful. I want proof!!! I'm trying to think of one about you, but have a very bad memory!
This is the title that I wanted to use, but it was too long:
"I want to hang a map of the world in my house. Then I'm going to put pins into all the locations that I've traveled to. But first, I'm gonna have to travel to the top two corners of the map so it won't fall down. "
How is everyone? Things here are well. A beautiful sunny day today. We're at the library checking email, and at 7 PM we'll be playing soccer in the park with some other people on the team. Hopefully alot of people come out, it can be lots of fun.
It looks like we're off to Belfast for a long weekend this Saturday. If anyone knows of anything cool to do in Belfast, email me about it. No IRA comments. The word is that Belfast is quite safe these days, and a hopping city too.
Here it is:
I went to Athlone to watch the Da Vinci Code this weekend. I give it 2.5 stars out of 4. There were some very big holes, and they knew it. They glazed over them as fast as they could. These holes may have been just related to not having time to explain the details, but I thought "give me a break" at least 3 times. Also, Tom Hanks wasn't the person I'd have picked for that role. I didn't read the books, however. The musical score was very good. Very intense and fun. I'd give the score at least 3.25 stars.
Athlone, however, recieves lots of stars. It was quite a cool town, complete with a REAL fortress-style castle on the river Shannon, good greasy fish and chips, and lots of cool old buildings. Plus, it was only about 25 minutes and 7 Euros away from here. It has a pub that's touted the oldest in Ireland, apparently dating back about 800 years. Here's a photo of Athlone:
Anyway, I hope everyone is having a nice summer. Take care!
Luke
This is the title that I wanted to use, but it was too long:
"I want to hang a map of the world in my house. Then I'm going to put pins into all the locations that I've traveled to. But first, I'm gonna have to travel to the top two corners of the map so it won't fall down. "
How is everyone? Things here are well. A beautiful sunny day today. We're at the library checking email, and at 7 PM we'll be playing soccer in the park with some other people on the team. Hopefully alot of people come out, it can be lots of fun.
It looks like we're off to Belfast for a long weekend this Saturday. If anyone knows of anything cool to do in Belfast, email me about it. No IRA comments. The word is that Belfast is quite safe these days, and a hopping city too.
Here it is:
I went to Athlone to watch the Da Vinci Code this weekend. I give it 2.5 stars out of 4. There were some very big holes, and they knew it. They glazed over them as fast as they could. These holes may have been just related to not having time to explain the details, but I thought "give me a break" at least 3 times. Also, Tom Hanks wasn't the person I'd have picked for that role. I didn't read the books, however. The musical score was very good. Very intense and fun. I'd give the score at least 3.25 stars.
Athlone, however, recieves lots of stars. It was quite a cool town, complete with a REAL fortress-style castle on the river Shannon, good greasy fish and chips, and lots of cool old buildings. Plus, it was only about 25 minutes and 7 Euros away from here. It has a pub that's touted the oldest in Ireland, apparently dating back about 800 years. Here's a photo of Athlone:
Anyway, I hope everyone is having a nice summer. Take care!
Luke
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Weekend Bliss Part Deux
Hello all,
How is life treating you today? I can't believe it is already May 27th. I've almost been out here two months. Its a good place, I think. I've not seen a great amount of it yet, but some, for sure. I was thinking today about how much of a mythology we create for ourselves regarding far-away places. When you go and see them for yourself, it can be striking how some things match your expectations, but at the same time some aspects can be very suprising or different than you'd expect. Maybe it was just that I hadn't thought about all the different aspects of Irish culture before experiencing them, so I didn't have any preconcieved notion of what everything would be like. Most of what I knew about this place was from single-paragraph blurbs in travel brochures, pictures on beer labels, hollywood movie depictions, and verses from Pogues songs. Sure I'd learned bits and pieces from history classes, etc, but those aspects of a country are so far removed from what's going on currently. I do not live in an Igloo at home,or work for the Hudson's Bay Company, etc. Anyway, one of the things here that has really struck me as being just as I expected are: The Scenery. This country looks exactly as we picture it, just like every postcard you've ever seen. It is unbelievable. Maybe it is due to the fact that even the dirty and run down parts of Old World countries have been romanticized, but it seems that everywhere you turn here, you could take a postcard photo.
Funny.
Anyway, gotta go, can't really finish this one right.
Luke
How is life treating you today? I can't believe it is already May 27th. I've almost been out here two months. Its a good place, I think. I've not seen a great amount of it yet, but some, for sure. I was thinking today about how much of a mythology we create for ourselves regarding far-away places. When you go and see them for yourself, it can be striking how some things match your expectations, but at the same time some aspects can be very suprising or different than you'd expect. Maybe it was just that I hadn't thought about all the different aspects of Irish culture before experiencing them, so I didn't have any preconcieved notion of what everything would be like. Most of what I knew about this place was from single-paragraph blurbs in travel brochures, pictures on beer labels, hollywood movie depictions, and verses from Pogues songs. Sure I'd learned bits and pieces from history classes, etc, but those aspects of a country are so far removed from what's going on currently. I do not live in an Igloo at home,or work for the Hudson's Bay Company, etc. Anyway, one of the things here that has really struck me as being just as I expected are: The Scenery. This country looks exactly as we picture it, just like every postcard you've ever seen. It is unbelievable. Maybe it is due to the fact that even the dirty and run down parts of Old World countries have been romanticized, but it seems that everywhere you turn here, you could take a postcard photo.
Funny.
Anyway, gotta go, can't really finish this one right.
Luke
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Weekend Bliss
Well, here we are at the weekend. It has been a bit of a big week, with lots of heavy physical work and excitement. I'm here in Galway City, we came out for the day today to change the scenery up a bit. Thursday night we had a big night, as it was a staff party (they really go hard at those things here!) and then my spot at Maud Millar's. It was cool, there were tons of our crew at the party, from all of the different sites, and we had quite the time. Our "big boss" employer John was the one who threw the party (at a local pub), and Nicole, Leslie and I each got the chance to chat with him for quite some time. We all decided he is a top notch guy. He sat with me at the party, then next to Nicole in the front row at my Maud Millar's slot (he was very nice about my music and had me play the Saskatchewan Song again so he could record it on his phone), and even was nice enough to walk Leslie home at the end of the night. A very kind man. It is nice to work for people that you like!
After the raucous thursday we had a nice and easy friday at work, and then threw an international food party at our house that night. See Nicole's blog for details on that one. Tonight we are going to a big house party at Leslie's house that they have had planned for over a month. Apparently it starts at 1AM after the pubs close!!!??? Crazy. Midnight feels more like 4:30AM to me lately, so it could be a long night! We have crazy amounts of laundry to do... Nothing seems to dry here because of the humidity. Alas.
I think today we'll try to take a stroll on the old Long Walk (i.e. Steve Earle) and see what else Galway has to offer. I'm debating buying a full gore-tex rain suit from the Army Surplus downstairs. Brand new, high quality, and inexpensive by comparison to mountain shops. It would be handy here, unfortunately. Is it worth 150 Euros to be dry? Tough call. That's two plane tickets to Spain.
Anyway, folks,
I miss you all, and will write again soon.
Luke
After the raucous thursday we had a nice and easy friday at work, and then threw an international food party at our house that night. See Nicole's blog for details on that one. Tonight we are going to a big house party at Leslie's house that they have had planned for over a month. Apparently it starts at 1AM after the pubs close!!!??? Crazy. Midnight feels more like 4:30AM to me lately, so it could be a long night! We have crazy amounts of laundry to do... Nothing seems to dry here because of the humidity. Alas.
I think today we'll try to take a stroll on the old Long Walk (i.e. Steve Earle) and see what else Galway has to offer. I'm debating buying a full gore-tex rain suit from the Army Surplus downstairs. Brand new, high quality, and inexpensive by comparison to mountain shops. It would be handy here, unfortunately. Is it worth 150 Euros to be dry? Tough call. That's two plane tickets to Spain.
Anyway, folks,
I miss you all, and will write again soon.
Luke
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Chris, I found you a Shillelagh
That's right, I finally found a damn shillelagh. I'm quite impressed with the thing, I think it really would kill or seriously maim a leprechaun.
ANYWAY, lots of fun stuff to report.
Nicole started work on the dig on Monday. It was absolutely ridiculous. We had long ago agreed that it would be fine for her to work for the same company as me, as surely she'd be working on a different site. They wouldn't put us together, knowing full well that she is my girlfriend. Well. The plan was that at 8AM they would come and pick her up to take her in for her first day. I was already at work by 8:00, and sure enough, at about 8:15 there they are, walking up to the site. I shook my head, and thought, 'well, its a big site, it should be fine'. Who do they assign her to? ME. There she is, working away on my little plot, and as I walk over, the supervisor is just finishing saying, 'Luke will take good care of you'. So, Nicole just became my digging partner! Hilarious.
The story continues... The day went great, with Nicole catching on very quickly to the various ins and outs of commercial archaeology: trowel techniques, shovel skills, jargon, etc. Near the end of the day, she demonstrated how well she had caught on by casually pulling up the coolest artifact found on the ringfort since the dig began in January.
On her first day as an Archaeologist, her first day having anything to DO with archaeology, Nicole found a 1200 year-old bronze brooch. A career highlight find. All we could do was laugh.
Gotta go.
Luke
ANYWAY, lots of fun stuff to report.
Nicole started work on the dig on Monday. It was absolutely ridiculous. We had long ago agreed that it would be fine for her to work for the same company as me, as surely she'd be working on a different site. They wouldn't put us together, knowing full well that she is my girlfriend. Well. The plan was that at 8AM they would come and pick her up to take her in for her first day. I was already at work by 8:00, and sure enough, at about 8:15 there they are, walking up to the site. I shook my head, and thought, 'well, its a big site, it should be fine'. Who do they assign her to? ME. There she is, working away on my little plot, and as I walk over, the supervisor is just finishing saying, 'Luke will take good care of you'. So, Nicole just became my digging partner! Hilarious.
The story continues... The day went great, with Nicole catching on very quickly to the various ins and outs of commercial archaeology: trowel techniques, shovel skills, jargon, etc. Near the end of the day, she demonstrated how well she had caught on by casually pulling up the coolest artifact found on the ringfort since the dig began in January.
On her first day as an Archaeologist, her first day having anything to DO with archaeology, Nicole found a 1200 year-old bronze brooch. A career highlight find. All we could do was laugh.
Gotta go.
Luke
Saturday, May 13, 2006
La fin de semaine
Well, its the weekend here in Ballinasloe, and the town is buzzin'! There's about four trucks of calves for sale in a parking lot, and they're selling old-school Nike Air sweatshirts at the market. Sometimes I can't keep up with the pace around here. The job is going really well, between survey work with Ben and digging at the ringfort. I've been able to put some of my Archaeology 470 "academic specialization" to use this past week, and I actually felt worthwhile, and that my degree counted for something. Dr. Ernie Walker would be proud. Well, maybe. Anyway, what is new with all of you? I sure appreciate your emails and comments. What is new back home?
Today I was in the mood for a bit of detective work. Who is reading this thing? I am interested in finding out. If you read this particular post, it would be cool if you would post a comment so I can see who you are. I'm just curious.
Thursday I played another set at Maud Millar's. This one was paid, which was very nice, and they brought me free drinks and even some snack food (fries, chicken fingers and deep fried pork sausages-standard pub fare around here). There was no P.A. system again, so I was left to belting out the quiet songs again, but they said that they'd bring one around next time for me. I had a great time. I had some local help for O Danny Boy, and the crowd was hushed for some parts of Springsteen's Brilliant Disguise. It was a good night.
Well, I'm off to do some more surfing and to try find some lunch.
Have a great day!
Luke
Today I was in the mood for a bit of detective work. Who is reading this thing? I am interested in finding out. If you read this particular post, it would be cool if you would post a comment so I can see who you are. I'm just curious.
Thursday I played another set at Maud Millar's. This one was paid, which was very nice, and they brought me free drinks and even some snack food (fries, chicken fingers and deep fried pork sausages-standard pub fare around here). There was no P.A. system again, so I was left to belting out the quiet songs again, but they said that they'd bring one around next time for me. I had a great time. I had some local help for O Danny Boy, and the crowd was hushed for some parts of Springsteen's Brilliant Disguise. It was a good night.
Well, I'm off to do some more surfing and to try find some lunch.
Have a great day!
Luke
Friday, May 05, 2006
A Bright Sunny Day in Ballinasloe
I landed a weekly spot at Maud Millar's playing music! Last night went really really well. I had the Irish guys singing along to U2 and Danny Boy, and now I'm going to get paid 50 Euro and free drinks every thursday evening to play there. That covers my rent and then some!
Having fun out here. A bit homesick sometimes. Sorry Mom about the phone cutting off last night, its starting to irritate me a bit!
Take care!
Luke
Having fun out here. A bit homesick sometimes. Sorry Mom about the phone cutting off last night, its starting to irritate me a bit!
Take care!
Luke
Thursday, May 04, 2006
A not-so-rainy day in ballinasloe.
Hello all,
I got moved to a new site today, on my request. The new one is quite cool, a big ring fort that I had been surveying. I think it should be good.
Nicole has read 5 books in the past week. Is this a medical condition? Apparently she usually doesn't read that fast. She just said, "I don't know what happened". I feel belittled by people who can read so fast. It reminds me of grade 4, when we'd have reading competitions for our class. For every book we read, our parents would sign a little slip of paper, and the team with the most books at the end of a month would win a pizza lunch. I remember there was a few girls who I could never compete with (I'm assuming because I had a spectacular social life)and it would always hurt so badly when they'd bring in a box of 100 book slips or so and hammer my measly 40. This is how I feel today. I think I've read about 1.5 books in the past 4 months. Still, I say its about quality, not quantity, so I took out (the famously irish) James Joyce's 'Ulysses' today, and I plan to have a good hack at it between glasses of Jamesons. According to the Lonely Planet, no one in history has actually gotten through a Joyce book, much less understood it, so I plan to be the first one ever. Take that Nicole, Rochelle Gnanapergasm, and Kristin Hayes!
On our holiday monday we walked out to the village of Aughrim and had a picnic in a nearby field. On the way into town, we walked by 2 of the coolest dogs I've ever seen. Two massive irish wolfhounds were lying on an open raised lawn held up by a big stone retaining wall. Leslie told us that Mick had really liked these dogs, and always drove by very slowly to look longingly at them. Well, we walked right up, and they lazily walked over to meet us. Only when they came close did I realize that the male was big enough for me to RIDE. I think if he stood on his hind legs, he would have been (actually, I'm not exaggerating here) at least 7 feet tall. His head was a good foot and a half long. They were unbelieveably mellow and tame, just kind of curious and quiet. Gentle giants.
(I copied this next part from an earlier email, yes, I'm lazy!!!)I'm playing in the pub tonight! I chatted up a pair of owners last night at a nice little place called Maud Miller's downtown, and they seemed quite gung ho. They said play anytime, so we decided on tonight. I'm going to call them and confirm, but it sounds like a hell of a lot of archaeologists are going to be there! Maybe I can make it a weekly spot! I'm very excited about that. I think I'm going to try to find a little pickup for my guitar, so I can use it onstage a bit easier. I'll let you know how it goes. They said they have a P.A. they can bring, but I don't know if it will be there or not, so I may be singing loud... I can't wait.
Talk to you all soon!
Luke
I got moved to a new site today, on my request. The new one is quite cool, a big ring fort that I had been surveying. I think it should be good.
Nicole has read 5 books in the past week. Is this a medical condition? Apparently she usually doesn't read that fast. She just said, "I don't know what happened". I feel belittled by people who can read so fast. It reminds me of grade 4, when we'd have reading competitions for our class. For every book we read, our parents would sign a little slip of paper, and the team with the most books at the end of a month would win a pizza lunch. I remember there was a few girls who I could never compete with (I'm assuming because I had a spectacular social life)and it would always hurt so badly when they'd bring in a box of 100 book slips or so and hammer my measly 40. This is how I feel today. I think I've read about 1.5 books in the past 4 months. Still, I say its about quality, not quantity, so I took out (the famously irish) James Joyce's 'Ulysses' today, and I plan to have a good hack at it between glasses of Jamesons. According to the Lonely Planet, no one in history has actually gotten through a Joyce book, much less understood it, so I plan to be the first one ever. Take that Nicole, Rochelle Gnanapergasm, and Kristin Hayes!
On our holiday monday we walked out to the village of Aughrim and had a picnic in a nearby field. On the way into town, we walked by 2 of the coolest dogs I've ever seen. Two massive irish wolfhounds were lying on an open raised lawn held up by a big stone retaining wall. Leslie told us that Mick had really liked these dogs, and always drove by very slowly to look longingly at them. Well, we walked right up, and they lazily walked over to meet us. Only when they came close did I realize that the male was big enough for me to RIDE. I think if he stood on his hind legs, he would have been (actually, I'm not exaggerating here) at least 7 feet tall. His head was a good foot and a half long. They were unbelieveably mellow and tame, just kind of curious and quiet. Gentle giants.
(I copied this next part from an earlier email, yes, I'm lazy!!!)I'm playing in the pub tonight! I chatted up a pair of owners last night at a nice little place called Maud Miller's downtown, and they seemed quite gung ho. They said play anytime, so we decided on tonight. I'm going to call them and confirm, but it sounds like a hell of a lot of archaeologists are going to be there! Maybe I can make it a weekly spot! I'm very excited about that. I think I'm going to try to find a little pickup for my guitar, so I can use it onstage a bit easier. I'll let you know how it goes. They said they have a P.A. they can bring, but I don't know if it will be there or not, so I may be singing loud... I can't wait.
Talk to you all soon!
Luke
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
A rainy day in Ballinasloe.
Hello all,
We got rained on in a big way today at the site. Work has been coming along well, and we're having a good time in the mud. What is new with everyone else? I miss all of my friends and family quite a lot. I try to catch up by reading all of your blogs, but I rarely have time to read any more than the most recent ones, and even then I only ever get to a few people. I really want to meet this new Eli kid, I hear he has been threatening to take over my place at breakfast club! Word has it that he's little but feisty... I have been unable to find a shelalagh (misspelled, I know, but I'm too lazy to look it up) for Chris. The hunt continues. Chris, if you could, would you let me know if there is any certain area of Ireland that they usually are associated with? Or leprechauns for that matter.
For those of you in the dark, Eli is the new little baby of my friends Dave and Twyla. Congrats, you guys. That shel....(who knows) thing (pronounced shuh-lay-lee) is a leprechaun-batting club I promised to bring home for Chris.
Anyway! I can't load photos at the library, so you all will just have to wait, I guess. Sorry. I know they really help. Nicole has decided to work on the site with us, probably at a different one than I, which we decided would help. She came to this conclusion after having little luck jobhunting, despite her many leads. Only today did we realize that the lack of calls may have been due to the fact that I gave her the wrong phone number for my cell when she was writing her resume. Good one, Luke. I felt like a big tool. Nicole is a jobhunting superstar, and I knew there must have been something wrong when she wasn't getting any calls!
Ireland continues to be cold and rainy...no wonder it is so green! We've really noticed a difference in the flavor of things like carrots and beans. They often taste a lot fresher than the ones we get at home, more like out of the garden. This is not true across the board, and I've had some run-of-the-mill frozen veggies, that's for sure, but in general they are really good. Lots of little differences like this have been coming to mind, but I keep forgetting to talk about them. One thing we've noticed is that though all I ever see is sheep and cows, Ireland seems to be a country of PORK. The bacon at my b&b when I first arrived was hands-down the best I've ever had. Big, lean cuts that really hit the spot. It was very different looking than anything I'm used to. My parents' generation would probably be able to recognize the stuff right away as some particular cut, etc, but to me, it's just tasty big bacon. Also, here all of the archaeologists (experienced ones) use these expensive and hard to find hand made trowels by some company called W.H.S. I think I have to try to find one, because they seem to be really worth their salt. It would be a nice souveneir, I think.
I found a cool lighter at a "2 Euro" store (like a dollar store) that I use for lighting our fireplace. It looks like a deck of cards, and when you slide the front card back (a jack) to reveal an ace of spades, it also lights the lighter. I think I'm going to bring several home to give to friends. Thats right, cheap crap for everyone! In the store I originally thought they were novelty travel cards, and burned my hand a little bit before I noticed the flame coming out of the top.
Blah blah blah... Absolutely gripping, I know! In a few weeks I think Nicole and I will travel to Doolin for the weekend. Doolin is a little town along the west coast, and is reputedly one of Ireland's musical hotspots. They say they have some of the best music pubs in the country. Should be interesting, anyway. I've still been slowly working my way toward playing here somehow. I lost a bit of confidence after a while. My friend Simon was helpful when I was first looking into playing here, and after a few pints was touting me to the barmen like a veritable Don King.
We'll see...
Well, I'll try to go and do some more cool stuff so I can tell you all about it on this thing.
Take care!
Luke
We got rained on in a big way today at the site. Work has been coming along well, and we're having a good time in the mud. What is new with everyone else? I miss all of my friends and family quite a lot. I try to catch up by reading all of your blogs, but I rarely have time to read any more than the most recent ones, and even then I only ever get to a few people. I really want to meet this new Eli kid, I hear he has been threatening to take over my place at breakfast club! Word has it that he's little but feisty... I have been unable to find a shelalagh (misspelled, I know, but I'm too lazy to look it up) for Chris. The hunt continues. Chris, if you could, would you let me know if there is any certain area of Ireland that they usually are associated with? Or leprechauns for that matter.
For those of you in the dark, Eli is the new little baby of my friends Dave and Twyla. Congrats, you guys. That shel....(who knows) thing (pronounced shuh-lay-lee) is a leprechaun-batting club I promised to bring home for Chris.
Anyway! I can't load photos at the library, so you all will just have to wait, I guess. Sorry. I know they really help. Nicole has decided to work on the site with us, probably at a different one than I, which we decided would help. She came to this conclusion after having little luck jobhunting, despite her many leads. Only today did we realize that the lack of calls may have been due to the fact that I gave her the wrong phone number for my cell when she was writing her resume. Good one, Luke. I felt like a big tool. Nicole is a jobhunting superstar, and I knew there must have been something wrong when she wasn't getting any calls!
Ireland continues to be cold and rainy...no wonder it is so green! We've really noticed a difference in the flavor of things like carrots and beans. They often taste a lot fresher than the ones we get at home, more like out of the garden. This is not true across the board, and I've had some run-of-the-mill frozen veggies, that's for sure, but in general they are really good. Lots of little differences like this have been coming to mind, but I keep forgetting to talk about them. One thing we've noticed is that though all I ever see is sheep and cows, Ireland seems to be a country of PORK. The bacon at my b&b when I first arrived was hands-down the best I've ever had. Big, lean cuts that really hit the spot. It was very different looking than anything I'm used to. My parents' generation would probably be able to recognize the stuff right away as some particular cut, etc, but to me, it's just tasty big bacon. Also, here all of the archaeologists (experienced ones) use these expensive and hard to find hand made trowels by some company called W.H.S. I think I have to try to find one, because they seem to be really worth their salt. It would be a nice souveneir, I think.
I found a cool lighter at a "2 Euro" store (like a dollar store) that I use for lighting our fireplace. It looks like a deck of cards, and when you slide the front card back (a jack) to reveal an ace of spades, it also lights the lighter. I think I'm going to bring several home to give to friends. Thats right, cheap crap for everyone! In the store I originally thought they were novelty travel cards, and burned my hand a little bit before I noticed the flame coming out of the top.
Blah blah blah... Absolutely gripping, I know! In a few weeks I think Nicole and I will travel to Doolin for the weekend. Doolin is a little town along the west coast, and is reputedly one of Ireland's musical hotspots. They say they have some of the best music pubs in the country. Should be interesting, anyway. I've still been slowly working my way toward playing here somehow. I lost a bit of confidence after a while. My friend Simon was helpful when I was first looking into playing here, and after a few pints was touting me to the barmen like a veritable Don King.
We'll see...
Well, I'll try to go and do some more cool stuff so I can tell you all about it on this thing.
Take care!
Luke
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