Those Halloween flashbacks...

Photo Link: <USA photos, October 2007> (first edition, many more to be added!)
Hi all, we're back from the US (which was truly excellent) and back at work and all. After a pretty quick flight back from New York, a long good sleep on Sunday and the public holiday on Monday (for Halloween... yes, we get a holiday for Halloween here), things returned to normal. We'll update the blog (backdated) with all of our stories and photos from the USA soon - it just takes time of course.
Halloween night here was just amazing. This was the first time in recent years I haven't done a party or costumes or theme parks, etc, etc. We just wanted to soak up the Irish Halloween atmosphere, and we weren't disappointed! Thanks to the mass sale of fireworks to the public (from large shipping containers on the N.I. border - Euros or Sterling accepted!) there were rockets going off everywhere. Driving home along the M1 was like memory flashbacks to WWI or WWII, as things whizzed and banged over every tiny village and settlement in Ireland - white light and booms on the horizon and flashing in the sky. We've never seen anything quite like it. A sulphur fog had descended over Dunleer as the local youths spinned their car tyres and set off whiz bangers in the direction of the local supermarket. In Annagassan, the kids had constructed a massive bonfire of pallets on the wasteland next to the fishing wharf. It burned like an Iraqi oilwell. Not sure what the ignition substance was, but nitroglycerin comes to mind or maybe just good old petrol. After the July bonfires in the north and Halloween down here, we think CHEP pallets should come and investigate where all their pallets are disappearing to in Europe. Look no further. Sorry, no photos tonight!
Back to the pub tonight to see if the trad music is still on. Winter is slow coming this year.
Chills & Thrills for another year... :) Joe.

..// Shadee Acres \\.. 2004

Photo Link: <..// Shadee Acres \\.. 2004 photos>
Video Link: <YouTube video... "Welcome To Shadee Acres">
With Halloween 2007 coming up fast (Halloween is REALLY big in Ireland), it was time to get the old stuff onto flickr... so here are some great memories from 2004 - the "Shadee Acres" Halloween Party at Wavell Heights...

Ever feel like this before your morning coffee?

OK, before I start, this post is pretty much unrelated to Dundalk, or to the travels of Clare or Joe, it is however related to Joe's madness on Halloween, and how this has translated to his call centre, causing his staff to cover their desks in cobwebs or come to work in costumes covered in blood, hugging a giant inflatable pumpkin. That just about covers it. Meanwhile, Clare spent Halloween in cold Dundalk, while fireworks went off in the background, but alas no kids knocking on the door seeking candy, as Tain Court is a high security impenetrable fortress with no access for trick or treaters. So that's how Halloween went down for 2006. Of course, there was always 2005 in Edinburgh, where a fine cool evening was spent on one of the "least ever spooky" underground tours, in what is supposed to be one of the most haunted places in Great Britain. But I did bring back a nice gravestone! So please enjoy all of these photos taken at DHL Brisbane.

Chills & Thrills for another year... :) Joe.

Joe's Orlando Theme Park Madness #2

The PT Cruiser - Thrifty rental car in Orlando...

So before I start, there are picture links all through this update... Joe is back in Brisbane, and back at work :( after flying around the world on 11 flights in just over 2 weeks. Rather sleep deprived, especially after Orlando, where I made the most out of the Halloween Horror Nights at Universal (night 1 & night 2), which was rather great. On the way over to Ireland, I had a quick stop in London for the day - refer to previous updates for my thoughts! I met up with one of my DHL work colleagues. There was supposed to be a 3rd person too, but they didn't show. Then on to Ireland, which was great - a nice balance of cool, gloomy days and others with the sun trying valiantly to burn through the fog! I'm really glad Clare "undersold" Dundalk, as it really wasn't as bad as I 'd expected. I thought Dundalk was more of a "nondescript" town than a troubled one now, and will experience a lot of change for the better over the next few years. We will certainly have no problem living there - it has all the services and supermarkets you could wish for, and while it's different, that's the spice of life, and you gotta love the taters! The countryside around Dundalk is quite nice, lots of places for walks in the country and old pubs with Guinness on tap. So yes, I fixed a bunch of stuff in the apartment (Tain Court) and got the tv working (yes, now we can watch Spooks on BBC1), then we went to Cork for a weekend on Ryanair which was lovely. And I took myself off to Dublin for a day (no photos). I also met with DHL and talked jobs and career options, and the job market seems pretty buoyant just like Australia.
After about a week and a half, I left Dublin for Orlando, via Newark Airport (New York) on Continental Airlines. The security for this flight was extreme, with about 5 levels of questioning, searches and double checks. Dublin and Shannon (on the west coast of Ireland) are the only two European airports with U.S. border preclearance facilities (fully staffed by U.S. Customs), which save you a lot of time upon arrival into the U.S. All flights were smooth, and whilst Continental were very good, I would still rate Qantas as the best of the 6 airlines travelled on this trip (Qantas/British Airways/Aer Lingus/Ryanair/Continental/United).
Had a fantastic time in Orlando (refer to Joe's Orlando Theme Park Madness #1), and went to see The Pet Shop Boys on the first night at Hard Rock Live. There is no rest for the time challenged in Orlando, and the days and nights were filled with: Disney-MGM Studios the next day (if I hear "Have a Magical Day" one more time...), followed by the 1st night at Halloween Horror Nights (HHN), then up again for Universal Islands Of Adventure the next day, followed by a tour called "Unmasking The Horror" which looked behind the scenes at HHN (this was a real highlight for me), followed by my 2nd night at HHN. Got back to my hotel room well after midnight, to get up again at 4am, to fly to Los Angeles on United, to spend the day there, to leave LAX that night, to fly to Auckland, and connect to Brisbane. Mmm, very little sleep. I think I could spend a week in Orlando, but Clare certainly isn't the worlds biggest theme park fan (I could tell you about the time I convinced Clare to go on the Corkscrew at Seaworld, but I'll leave that for another day!) Anyway, a good time was had by me, and the tens of thousands of others in Orlando that week, although the rental car girls complained about how quiet things were. Now I have just over 5 weeks left at work, before I head back to Ireland again.
Just a quick summary of all the NEW picture links:
- London, 07 Oct 2006
- Dundalk, Oct 2006
- Tain Court Dundalk, Oct 2006
- Cork, Ireland, Oct 2006
- Cork Airport, Oct 2006
- Newark Airport, 18 Oct 2006
- Pet Shop Boys, 18 Oct 2006
- Disney-MGM Studios, 19 Oct 2006
- HHN#16, 19 Oct 2006
- HHN#16, 20 Oct 2006
- UA273 MCO-LAX In Flight, 21 Oct 2006

Joe's Orlando Theme Park Madness #1

So here is Joe blogging from Orlando, taking a quick break at my computer between 2 theme parks on the 2nd day... My trip here will pretty much consist of this:
Day 1 - arrived late afternoon from Dublin, via Newark on Continental. Collected a Thrifty car and went to my hotel, Fairfield Inn nr. International Drive. Had a quick break then I went to Universal, with every intention of going to Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville to get some cocktail cups. HOWEVER, that was not to be! Whilst parking in the huge Universal parking lot, I met some crazy Americans, Glen & Walter, who were looking at the differences between their PT Cruiser (car) and mine, and they pointed out that The Pet Shop Boys were playing at 8pm at Hard Rock Live (in Universal). Of course I had my Belfast HHH t-shirt on, so it took some convincing (actually to several people last night) that I WASN'T actually Irish. Mental note - I will wear this t-shirt often, as it's a good talking point. So, I bought a ticket to the Pet Shop Boys, met Glen & Walter inside, and watched the concert, while downing a few American beers. Walter got pretty hammered. He "welcomed" me to America with some straight JD (Jack Daniels)... Mmm... I didn't drink the whole cup :( The Pet Shop Boys were absolutely brilliant :) and a fantastic night was had by me and others in the crowd. Ended off at Denny's for a quick snack as I hadn't eaten anything, and retired, eventually, back at the Fairfield Inn... zzz... Glen took quite a few photos of the night, and emailed them to me, as promised, within hours... Great guys, and YES, they were straight, and made it quite clear to me that we were probably the only straight guys in the crowd... Pity Clare wasn't here, as she too would have had a great night, especially in the current balmy temperatures in Orlando, pretty much like Cairns.
Day 2 - quick breakfast, then spent the day at Disney-MGM Studios in Disneyworld, then off to Halloween Horror Nights 16 at Universal Studios tonight (about to leave very soon)...
Day 3 - quick breakfast again, then the day at Islands Of Adventure, Universal Orlando, then my 2nd night at Halloween Horror Nights 16, to see everything I don't see tonight... I'm also doing a behind the scenes tour as well "Unmasking The Horror", which should reveal a few things about the running of the whole operation. I can't wait for that...
So, I will post some more photos and tell more on my next update. Now, to head out again, there is no time for sleep here, this is party town...
... Continued in Part 2...