So I designed my own runners on the Nike Custom Made site…it was great spent hours experimenting and they arrived this morning. Was sick of wearing reflective gear now I’ll definitely be seen in the dark! I’ve had Nike Frees for the past year and found them brilliant, had loads of aches and pains before I got them, then had none, and now for the last four weeks running on my old runners aches and pains are back again. Better start running a lot better, there’ll be no hiding in these. The runners talk too, just look at their tongues!
So there was this competition, catch our attention it said…so I got thinking, actually I hardly ever stop thinking which can hinder the sleep, but I got thinking a little deeper. I said to myself…Helena, what’s annoying you, have you an opinion, something to say!?? Ah ha I thought…political correctness is gone too far, I’m gonna make a stand, have a voice, get a soap box, smack a child (only messin, I don’t have a child!)
So I designed this little advert, it didn’t come anywhere, I wonder why? It’s not intended to offend anyone, it’s intended to offend everyone (hence offending no one, fingers crossed!!)
So I was wandering around Blackrock in Cork on the weekend and I have to say if I’d known I was about to bump into Royalty I would have worn something a little more appropriate. At first I thought I was going mad, I heard trumpets you see. The tiny tingle of little trumpets. A glint of gold caught my eye, so I looked up. On the wall above my head was a man on a horse.
“Welcome” he said.
I froze.
“We’ve been expecting you. Everything is in place, we hope you’ll find it all to your satisfaction.”
Suddenly loud scrapping, like nails on a blackboard, attacked my ears. A wooden chair moved across the footpath towards me. It appeared to have a mind of it’s own until I looked down. About one hundred mini men tugged ropes attached to the wooden legs. The chair was placed in position by the wall a little ahead.
“Please mount it,” the man on the horse shouted.
“I’m too big, I’d break his back,” I stammered.
“I mean the chair good Sir, not my horse!”
“Oh,” I blushed.
I walked ahead and climbed on board. The man galloped his horse along the wall until we met eye to eye.
“Welcome to the Castle good Sir,” he said gesturing to the right.
I followed his arm and gasped. The smallest castle I’d ever seen was perched on top of the wall.
“We’ve put in a new railing, it runs the length of the Castle grounds,” said the man as he dismounted and walked to a tiny stainless steal railing. “We’ve also put fire safety windows upstairs in the Castle and have run numerous tests. Here,” he said waving a miniscule piece of paper at me.
I took it up and strained to read the text.
“It should all be there,” he said.
“Um looks good,” I lied handing it back.
“So,” he said, “Do you need longer to inspect?”
“Am…well it all looks great to me,” I smiled still baffled.
“Do we pass?”
“Em…Yes, in my book anyway!” I smiled.
“Oh what a relief,” sighed the little man, “The Queen will be delighted. Planning permissions been the bane of our life. Please pass on our sincere thanks to the council. Would you like a cup of tea before you leave. I’m sure you’ve lots of places to inspect?”
“Em…no I’m fine thanks,” I replied confused.
The man got back on his horse and we looked at each other for a moment.
“So I better go tell her highness,” he said breaking the silence.
“Oh right yes…I’ll be off then,” I added.
“Great! Well it was lovely to meet you,” he shouted as I dismounted my chair.
I watched him gallop away, then the small army trudged off with the chair and I was left alone by the wall. I snuck out my camera and took a picture of the palace not wanting to forget this bazaar occasion.
Wish I could say…just saw this last night as I hung around with the young and the beautiful in Brazil, after spending the day on the beach drinking pina colada’s (don’t think I’ve ever had one but hey it’s pretend).
The truth is, I virtually visited this futuristic nightclub while in my pyjamas, looking out the window at a less than thrilling Cork morning. I think they’ve stolen the sun!
The nightclub looks beautiful, I love the design and if you visit the website roxybh.com you’ll see they’ve carried the branding right through, rollover the logo up top or zone out to the 80’s background. A good example of a branding running right through a business!
The place is designed by Fred Mafra, you can check out his site fredmafra.com
Some of the best art can be found hanging around street corners…does that sound right? We walk past them everyday and barely notice, maybe because somebody else, a critic or some artsy magazine, hasn’t told us their good…or maybe I;m being a little cynical (it’s the weather, it can be blamed for all sorts of things!) Anyway above are two examples, one from Dublin, the other from Cork.
So I had a productive weekend, did a bit of writing, a bit of talking, a bit of drinking, a bit of sleeping and a bit of Bingo (um does that quantifier go with that noun…surely not, says a Majorcan born English learner…)
Anyway back from my wander of words…yes I played a little bingo. A friend thought it would be a great idea, so we went to her local wearing purple rinse wigs and trench coats. The looks we got on arrival were a little sideways and so after a quick sprint to the loo, we flushed the purple rinse down the toilet and rejoined the room of money hungry saturday nighters. It was great craic, lots of legs elevens, all the threes, something about ducks and other ramblings from the man in tight leather pants who held the dodgy microphone. Oh and the best part, I won €20!
So I think it’s my new hobby, Bingo on a Saturday night, a recession buster! If you’re a little bored have a flutter (or is that only for horses?), this Bingo site is a good one to boost the three o’clock slump.
