U2 Making a Video in London

U2.com has reported that U2 were making a video yesterday in London with Alex Courtes. It is said that "there may have been some marching girls involved. With their boots on."

There was an article in Q Magazine saying that a song called "Get On Your Boots" described in this (also described as "Sexy Boots" in some places) was one of the possible songs on the new album. So could this be the first single?

Read the full article here

First Performance at Dublin O2

Well Bono and Edge did get there first - they have performed at the new O2 venue (due to open offically next week) in Dublin. Irish radio RTÉ 2FM said that they made a surprise appearance there on Sunday night. They performed two songs, Desire and Van Diemen's Land in the empty arena. The performance was filmed and will aired on the programme The View on RTE Television in the near future. They were also interviewed and discussed the new album and the late Ronnie Drew. Unless you are lucky enough to live in Ireland and see the programme on TV, we'll have to look out for this on the Net over the next few weeks.

Florida Holiday Part 3 - The Back Country and Everglades

We had a long drive from Cocoa Beach to our next stop Chokoloskee Island on the West Coast about forty miles south of Naples. An American friend said that it was really away from it all but that's what we wanted for the Everglades part of the trip. There were places we could have stayed in Homestead/Florida City that were near a visitor's centre but we wanted to stay somewhere different, somewhere from where we could access the Everglades easily.

It was a long drive, six hours, but the roads were good and it was straightforward. Americans drive a lot slower than Europeans, the speed limits are lower too. I've also noticed that in general they are more patient and don't tailgate very often, so, though I was initially nervous about driving in the US (on the "wrong" side of the road!) I soon was very comfortable with it. Route 75, the Everglades Parkway, also nicknamed Alligator Alley, went straight through the Everglades, east to west. There were very few signs of habitation along the road, most of the time the road was just flanked by mile upon mile of Everglades grasses and mangroves.

We rolled into Everglades City, close to Chokoloskee Island. "City" was a bit of a misnomer which often happens in the US, the names of places often sound bigger than they actually are. Everglades City was a very small town, picture perfect, wide streets, wooden houses painted in bright colours, picket fences, very pretty - and very quiet.

After a couple of wrong turnings we found the road to Chokoloskee and were soon on the causeway over the sea that links the two places, being a small island we found our accommodation, the Parkway Motel and Marina, easily. The rooms were lovely, large (we had what the Americans call an efficiency - with cooking facilities), spotlessly clean, with chairs and table outside on the porch. The area was a mix of private housing, rentals, and motels centered around fishing which the area is well known for. It was neat and tidy and so peaceful. The sea was a short walk from our accommodation and we went there to watch the sunset. Chokoloskee is at the southern end of the area known as the 10,000 Islands, and there were various green flat islands on the near horizon. The sunset was breathtakingly beautiful, the only sounds were occasional bird cries.

The owners of the park were lovely and very helpful and we went to a restaurant in Everglades City they recommended. The Camellia Lounge was situated right on the Barron River and boats kept passing by. Being "in the sticks" the restaurant was full of friendly locals which gave it an authentic small town American feel. Whilst there a man was singing country songs on an acoustic guitar, now I'm not a country music fan, but here it was right somehow. We had a wonderful meal with the owners famous salads - all ingredients from her garden including orange marigold petals which made it look so pretty!

Next day we had a delicious breakfast at the Back Country Cafe in Everglades City before going to Speedy Johnston's place just up the road for an airboat ride in the Everglades. The boat we went on was small it took just six passengers (later in the trip we saw huge boats on the eastern side of the Everglades with at least 20-25 people on board). We left the dock slowly and the driver stopped and stood on his seat and looked around. Then he pointed out a large wake in the water and said "Look there, it's a manatee!" I was really excited and had hoped to see one in the wild. The manatee, on cue, slowly lifted it's head out of the water and looked at us, then he slowly dived down and with a flip of his thick rudder of a tail was out of our sight. A brief glimpse, but it made my day! The driver said that in January there are lots of manatees in the area.

We then continued on into the maze of narrow waterways flanked by mangroves, if you didn't know your way it would be very easy to get lost. But our driver knew every inch of the waterways, and at times really pulled out the throttle and we got a bit damp at times as we whizzed along, it was very exhilarating! He was also very knowledgeable about the Everglades.

The mangroves were amazing, their roots twisted into weird forms both above and below the water - the effect doubled by the crystal clear reflections in the water. Amongst these we saw plenty of alligators, seemingly nonchalant about the noisy boats passing by, not moving at all. Amazing vegetation, alligators, a manatee, egrets, herons, and turkey vultures circling on thermals high above made this a nature lovers paradise.

Afterwards we returned to Chokoloskee and visited Smallwoods Store/Museum. Ted Smallwood came to Chokoloskee Island in 1906 and opened a trading post and post office there. This store remained active, run by Ted and then his daughters, until 1982. Ted's grand daughter re-opened it as a museum and many of the items on show now are those that were there when the store closed.

Smallwood's was an amazing place, built on stilts reached by a flight of steps. Inside it was quite small and I felt like I stepped back in time when I entered, it was crammed with everyday items from the past, foodstuffs, magazines, household items and a life-sized model of Ted sitting in the rocking chair he always sat in when he was alive. There were ledgers and lists written by Ted, Smallwood family items and photos and a room that his daughters had lived in that was touchingly personal.

There was also an area dedicated to the history of South West Florida, and Ted's close relationship with the local people - he even spoke their language. The island was created by the Calusa Indians by making a shell mound, and indeed I noticed the white shells on the ground close to the museum.

In one corner there was a DVD playing showing how difficult life was in Chokoloskee in the past, Only the hardy could cope with life on the island then. Even electricity only arrived in 1955 when the causeway between it and Everglades City was built. All in all the small museum was an absolutely fascinating place that gave a good insight into life in this island in the past.

I again went to watch the sunset, as the sun dropped below the horizon a beautiful red glow illuminated the landscape. Chokoloskee was a place where nature still ruled, beautiful, sometimes harsh, but with an incredible timelessness and peace about it. I just loved it's quietness, the sense of being far, far away from the mad, modern world and I was sad to have to leave that all behind the following day.

Sunset on Chokoloskee Island

Welcome to Pepsi!

I've got my new puppy! He's a little sweetie and doing very well considering that he has left his mother and brothers and sister only today. My other Dachshund Max has been brilliant with him, very friendly and patient, so different to how he was with the greyhound, but of course little Pepsi is no threat at all to him. I got Pepsi a little bed but he much rather goes into Max's basket and Max squeees into Pepsi's! Dogs eh? My friend Debbi thought of the name Pepsi, so now I have Pepsi Max!

Florida Holiday Part 2 - Kennedy Space Center

We arrived at our destination, Cocoa Beach, in the dark due to the three hour delay at the car hire office in Miami. Because of this it took us a while to find our accommodation, but eventually - and with a huge sigh of relief - we found it. The Luna Sea Motel (great name eh?) was a nice place and much better than the hotel we stayed at in Miami.

Next day it was a short drive to Cape Canaveral to visit the Kennedy Space Center. For me it was a dream come true to go to this place. As far back as I can remember I have been fascinated by space, astronomy, the stars, planets, and space travel. I'd always followed the Apollo missions and can remember clearly staying up into the early hours to watch Neil Armstrong take the first human step onto the moon on TV. As a youngster I used to watch the wonderfully eccentric Patrick Moore on The Sky at Night (which is still running today, the BBC's longest running TV programme) to learn more about the cosmos. I even wanted to be an astronomer, but had to give up on that when I realised that maths was not an strong point of mine! But to this day I still am fascinated by the night sky and humankind's journey's into the unknown.

The Kennedy Space Centre was quite busy, but as it was extremely well organised it didn't feel crowded, there were plenty of places to eat, sit and loads of toilets, Americans are so good at organising places like this.

The first thing we did was take the tour around the site. We drove past the huge building where they "stack" the rockets and Shuttle Orbiter. Nearby was a "crawler" the machine which take the orbiter from the building to the launch site. It travels at one mile per hour and each tread on the "caterpillar" treads weigh one ton. We stopped at a point which is as near as we could get to the launch pad and we could see the Shuttle Endeavour on the pad ready for it's blast off on 14th November.

Our next stop was the Saturn 5/Apollo building. We first saw a film about the development of rocket propulsion, the Saturn 5 rocket and the Apollo space programme. They showed a blast off at very close quarters and it was awe-inspiring, the power of it sent shivers down my spine. It was very interesting and quite moving at times and made me realise all the more just what heroes astronauts are.

We went through a door and what I saw took my breath away. In front of me were the five massive engines at the base of a full size Saturn 5 rocket! I walked under it in sheer amazement. It dwarfed the people in the building. The command module and lunar module were also there. All the badges from each Apollo mission were on display too. I remember I collected those badges when I was a youngster.

The next stop was was the area that is involved with the Space Station. You could walk through one of the modules and also watch people at work on projects for the Space Station from a viewing gallery.

There were rather odd looking fences around the buildings that curved over. The guide told us these were to stop the alligators from climbing over them. As well as being a space facility the Cape Canaveral area is also a massive nature reserve. The very nature of the place, being secure and keeping the public away from most areas means it is a paradise for wildlife. Some, like the alligators, try to get too close for comfort hence the curved fences.

Back at the Visitor Centre we went to the Shuttle Launch Simulator. First you watched a film of a launch to let you know what to expect - to some degree. Then we went into the simulator and were strapped into the seats. The first thing that happened was that the simulator tilted you 45 degrees, then there was a massive roar and then the shuttle started to shake violently - we'd blasted off! The shaking was strong, but of course the G forces that the astronauts endure as they shoot into space at 17,000 miles per hour couldn't be simulated.

Then very suddenly after eight and a half minutes the shaking stops and there is silence. We are in space. The roof of the "shuttle" opens and there above us is the beautiful blue earth, a breathtaking sight. The simulator gave us a little insight into what it is like to go into space in a Shuttle. The thing that struck me most was that after just eight and a half minutes you can be in orbit in space!

Our next stop was the IMAX theatre to watch a film about the development of the space programme to get men on the moon. It included many of the astronauts who were part of that programme. Again I found it fascinating and admired those space pioneers from the 1960's who eventually achieved that goal.

By now it was almost 4pm, we'd been at the Kennedy Space Center for seven hours! The time had flown.


Our last port of call was to attend a Meet an Astronaut talk. the astronaut today was John Blaha who amongst many other things had flown on five Shuttle missions and had spent months on the Space Station.

He gave a good talk, and considering all his achievements was very down to earth (can an astronaut be down to earth??!) and unassuming. He talked about his time in the Space station with accompanying slides. He told us about some of the experiments they did. He also talked about how long periods in space affect the human body - it causes muscle wastage and loss of bone density. Even when they undertake exercise programmes to reduce this it still happens to a degree.

After the talk John said he would be happy to pose for photos for anyone who wanted one so I got my photo taken with him (not the most flattering picture of me unfortunately).

And that was it, the end of a long day at the Kennedy Space Centre. It was everything I'd hoped for and more. It was informative, fascinating and well worth the money. Being there took me back to my childhood, to the days when, as a wide-eyed youngster in times when anything seemed possible, I'd followed every step of the space programme. I still feel some of that wonder when I look up at the night sky even now. NASA wants to get people on the moon again and to venture further afield. Maybe some of the boys and girls that were at the Visitors Center that day will be inspired to become the astronauts of the future.

Back to Reality

Well, after my few weeks of galavanting abroad I'm home for the forseeable future. I so enjoyed my trips to the USA and Ireland and over the next few weeks will be writing about them in here in my blog, so keep checking in here.

On Thursday I'm getting a puppy. He's an eight week old mini wire-haired Dachshund, as yet nameless. Seeing my dog Max couldn't cope with a huge greyhound I went the other way and am getting something that is actually smaller than him! I don't think there will be any problems this time with Max, he's been fine with friends puppies. No Name is just so cute, here's a photo of him.

(RED)WIRE

U2 have recorded a cover of Greg Lake's I Believe in Father Christmas for (RED)WIRE. This is a subscription music site where some of the proceeds go to the RED organisation to help those in Africa. It was launched today.

U2's version of the song is great! You can find out more about the site and listen to U2's song (and others) here

Florida Holiday Part 1 - Miami!!

Well I've found time to start blogging about our wonderful holiday in Florida - what amazing times we had!


As I stepped out of the plane warmth hit me, Sylvia and I had left the cold behind and here we were, after months of planning, in Florida. Being a true U2 fan I had the urge to shout MIAMI! but I resisted.

Our first two days would be spent here in Miami. Our hotel was The Beach Plaza Hotel on Collins Avenue, to be honest I wasn't very impressed with it, (all the other accommodations during our trip were great) it was frayed round the edges, the hot water shower tap fell off when we tried to use it and then when that was sorted there was no hot water for two hours! The best part of the hotel was a lovely Moroccan-style garden where you could take breakfast and relax.

We really only had one evening and one day in the city. We didn't stray too far having heard some scare stories about parts of the city. We first went to the famous Ocean Drive on South Beach and saw it's beautiful pastel coloured Art Deco buildings, all lit up at night. Then we went back onto Collins and on to Lincoln Avenue that was the main shopping area in this district. There was a lively yet relaxed vibe, great shops and lots of restaurants with outside dining areas on the pavements.

Next day we were up early after a good night's sleep to get over the jet lag of the long flight. We went back to Ocean Drive and the famous South Beach which was fabulous in the daylight. The brightness of it all struck me, and it was all smaller than I imagined. There were the beautiful people and also everyday people. The beach was sandy, the sea a brilliant azure blue, the weather was hot, but there was a pleasant breeze and plenty of shade from the palm trees.

We did some shopping in Lincoln Avenue, a lot of the things were quite expensive so I didn't buy very much. I noticed there were lots of people with their dogs, some dressed up, yuck! We had a delicious meal in a place called Books and Books, it felt strange to be eating al-fresco in November, but that's the norm here of course!

Next day we went to the Alamo car hire office which was a long walk from our hotel. It was chaos there, lots of customers, one person in the office and hardly any cars! People were waiting ages for their cars, we ended up waiting three hours for our car and didn't get the one we booked even then. I'd had to take the long walk back to the hotel to check us out and collect the cases and get a taxi back to the office during this time to avoid being charged for another day at the hotel - we weren't the only ones who had to do that. The letter of complaint is being drafted!

So it was three hours late when we were driving north to our second stopover at Cocoa Beach. In all honesty the drive was rather boring, through a flat, monotonous landscape and we were glad to reach our motel.

Bye For a While!

Well I'm off galavanting on holiday to Florida next week for a couple of weeks (sun sun sun!!!!) followed shortly afterwards by a trip to Dublin, so there will be no updates here or on my sister site Luminous Times for a while. Check back from early December when I'll be back blogging once more!

A New Arrival .....Maybe Update

Unfortunately I have had to decide not to adopt Gemma the beautiful greyhound. She was an absolute sweetheart, but my Max is too feisty to risk taking her on, he may just push her too far one day and she might turn on him. I must say she showed no sign of aggression, but I know I would worry as I know Max can be bolshy with big dogs. If I didn't have Max Gemma would be already living in my home. But she's such a gorgeous girl that I just know she'll find the right home very soon and she deserves it. I will join the Dumfries and Cumbria Greyhound Rescue and do some voluntary work for them, they do a brilliant job

I still hope to get another dog, but will look for a smaller one that doesn't freak Max out - he is ok with smaller dogs I know that. I'm sure somewhere out there the right dog is waiting for Max and I.

A New Arrival .....Maybe

I always said to myself that once I retired I would get another dog, preferably a greyhound. I used to walk dogs for an animal rescue organisation and many of these dogs were greyhounds, dumped because they were no longer of use racing (they are retired from racing aged 3-5 years in general).

Well at the weekend the Dumfriesshire and Cumbria Greyhound Rescue had a Meet a Greyhound day at the local Pets At Home store. I talked to Al who runs the organisation and arranged for him to come round to assess me and to talk further about it.

He and Jenni came round accompanied by Gemma, a gorgeous six year old brindle greyhound. She was very sweet and gentle and wasn't bothered by my feisty Dachshund Max. Unfortunately Max was less welcoming, but I really do think it was because he was scared by this huge dog that had entered his territory. He did relax more as the meeting went on.

Al could see no reason why I couldn't have one of their greyhounds, I have a lot of experience with dogs and know how to look after them. So I've been provisionally allocated Gemma, but we all agreed that she and Max are going to need longer to get to know each other to see if Max will fully accept her. So Gemma's foster mother Jenni is going to bring her round and we are going to walk the dogs together and let them spend more time together in my apartment. I hope it works out, it's really up to my Max whether it does!

Here's a photo of Gemma taken from the Dumfriesshire and Cumbria Greyhound Rescue Website

Cider With Fat Boy - Gave me my best laugh over the weekend!

A pony had to be rescued by firefighters after becoming 'punch drunk' from gorging on too many fermented windfall apples and falling into a swimming pool.

By Richard Savill of The Telegraph

The pony, named "Fat Boy", escaped from its stable, broke into a nearby garden with another pony, and began munching the fallen apples. It is thought that the rotten fruit had begun to ferment, causing the animal to become 'drunk'. Twelve-year-old Fat Boy stumbled across the garden, and fell into the outdoor swimming pool which was covered by tarpaulin.

Sarah Penhaligon, 28, owner of the bungalow in Newquay, Cornwall, was woken at night by a "huge" splash and found the Moorland Pony in the shallow end.

She said: "I looked outside, saw this massive animal in the dark, and thought the Beast of Bodmin was in the pool. I was terrified, but when I took a closer look I realised it was a horse.

"I didn't have a clue what to do next - who do you call when there's a horse stuck in your swimming pool? I dialled 999 and they asked which service I wanted and I said I didn't know, I just had a horse in my pool and needed help."

Fat Boy Having His Dip! Photo: SWNS

Fire crews spent two hours building a set of hay steps in the pool, and hoisted the animal out of the water at 5am with the help of several harnesses.

The pony had escaped from the nearby Trenance riding stables. A spokesman said horses were known to get 'punch drunk' from eating too many apples.

She said: "It looks like he was scrounging for apples in the garden and fell in when he trod on the tarpaulin over the pool. It's a good job he's got a lot of bulk, as it kept him warm while he was stuck in the water. After he got out he was taken back and checked over by a vet, but luckily he's fine."

Adaptation

It's a while since I've written in my blog. since returning from Dublin it's been a time of adaptation for me, adapting to being retired. Initially after the holiday I had a "Well, what do I do now?" phase, I was a little at a loose end for a while. I knew watching daytime TV was not going to be a good way to fill my time! But gradually, things have changed. Firstly I've started sorting improvements to my apartment and that is keeping me very busy. It's really good that I have the time to start something and really keep at it until it's finished without having work to slow the process down.

Secondly I've started catching up with all my friends and see them regularly. I've lost the social side to working so getting together with people is all the more important - as well as very enjoyable! I'm finding now that I sometimes can't fit things in my diary which can only be a good thing. I also hope to start classes in the New Year and I'll probably get to know new people who are in the same position as me that way as well.

I'll be honest, I do miss aspects of my job. I miss some of the people I worked with and I miss the caring side of my work. The latter has surprised me but it shouldn't have really, I nursed for 30 years, it's a part of me and I miss that. I have a couple of holidays to look forward to in the next few weeks, but after them I am going to do some kind of voluntary work which will be an outlet for the "nursey" side of me.

So, here I am five weeks after my last working day, still adapting to this new life, but I can truly say that, for me, the pros of retirement have outweighed the cons and I'm enjoying being a "lady who lunches." Cappuccino anyone?!

U2 Nominated in Best Act Ever Catagory in MTV Awards

U2 have been nominated in the best act Ever Category in the European MTV Awards to be held in Liverpool on November 6th. The others nominated are:

Green Day

Tokio Hotel

Christina Aguilera

Britney Spears

...... and Rick Astley

Rick Astley??? LOL I've heard it all now! I also must admit I've never heard of Tokio Hotel, showing my age there I think!

You can vote for U2 here

An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde

We always try to go to the theatre to see a play when in Dublin and this time we went to see Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband at the famous Abbey Theatre.

The play was first performed in London in 1895 and is set in the world of the upper class in that city. The main characters are Sir Robert Chiltern, a supposedly wholesome, honest rising star in the House of Commons, and his wife who is involved in women's rights. Lord Goring, (named after where Wilde started writing the play), a witty playboy bachelor, the scheming Mrs Cheveley an old schoolmate of Lady Goring's each of whom have a dislike of each other.

Basically the plot is centred around Mrs Cheveley who tries to blackmail Sir Robert Chiltern with evidence she has of political corruption from his past that helped him on the road to success and fortune. She wants him to support a scheme she has invested a lot of money in that would fail without government support.

From this basis emerges a brilliant play of numerous twists and turns that looks at all sides of humanity. It's about trying to live up to other people's expectations, compromise in difficult situations, manipulation, accepting people's faults, loyalty, snobbery, wisdom, to name a few of the traits it explores. The character that initially seems most vacuous, Lord Goring, actually turns out to be the wisest and most loyal, and he has some of the best lines in the play:

"To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance."

"One should never give a woman anything that she can't wear in the evening."

"Fashion is what one wears oneself. What is unfashionable is what other people wear."

The mix of seriousness and humour is perfect. It would have been very easy at times for the play to fall into farce with all the people involved and the mixed messages and misunderstandings in the plot, but that never happens and that's the genius of Oscar Wilde's writing.

I really enjoyed this production by the Abbey Theatre, and I must say the posh upper class English accents were perfect. The costumes were lovely and true to the era and the acting was superb. If you ever get the chance to see this play go along, you won't regret it.

Photo: Mrs Cheveley and Lady Chiltern (From the Abbey Theatre website)

A Night of Surprises!

September 20th, my birthday and official retirement day, and I was in my favourite city Dublin. I was there with my three friends Debbi, Dianne and Julie for this celebration and also for a week's holiday.

A lot of subterfuge had been going on since our arrival in Dublin, whisperings behind my back, conversations stopping when I went into the room. My friends had told me that they were treating me to a night out and to dress nicely for the evening, I could even wear high heels as we would only be walking from a taxi to the building. I did not know what they had lined up for me, though I had an idea of where we may be going.

In the evening we all got dressed up to go out and I must say we looked really lovely - we are getting good at this dressing up lark nowadays! I came through to the living room and there were my presents and cards along with an "enthusiastic" rendition of Happy Birthday. I got fantastic presents, a silver necklace with a key on it (the key to a new life), a lovely handbag, a purple stone necklace and a beautiful bracelet which had a charm on it that symbolised nursing. Their cards were special too - and they even had a huge card made from the photo of Bono and me from when we met him last year! What great, thoughtful friends I have.

The taxi drew up outside our accommodation in Dublin and Debbi ran out to tell the driver where to go without me hearing. We piled in and drove into the city centre and headed for the place I thought we might go - The Clarence Hotel. We went in and Debbi got a bit furtive and hung back and told us to go down the corridor, Dianne, Julie and I moved on and kind of hovered, then Debbi called us back and we were ushered into The Study. On the table there were four Cosmopolitan cocktails and nibbles. That was such a big surprise, only residents are normally allowed to go into that room, so we were really honoured to be able to go in, Debbi had arranged that with a member of staff from the hotel.

The bar manager, a pleasant young man called Jordan, came in to see if everything was ok. He said he'd mixed the drinks himself, we said they were perfect, (as they were) just the way we like them.

We sat in The Study for about an hour chatting and drinking our cocktails which went straight to our heads as we had eaten very little that day! We tottered through to The Tea Room Restaurant at 8pm (not an easy task when you are tipsy, unused to high heels and are walking on slippy wooden floors!) We got there without any undignified stumbles or trips and were seated at the same table we had last year when we dined there when we stayed in the Clarence Penthouse (when got champagne and drinks from Bono!) we all sat in the same seats as well.

We all had the tuna starter which was rather salty but ok. I had the duck for the main course and it was delicious, so tender. After a break we got the menus to order our desserts, I chose mine but the others were taking their time. I asked if everyone was ready to order but they weren't, they seemed a bit distracted, but I said nothing, after all we weren't in a rush. Then the head waiter came across to Debbi and she said something to him quietly. Big mouth me asked, "What did you say to him?" and she said that it was that we'd just like to wait another ten minutes before ordering. I then noticed Debbi and Dianne take out their cameras and realised something was up!

Sure enough shortly afterwards the waiter brought across a gorgeous cake and put it in front of me. It was chocolate and had Happy Birthday Sue and Enjoy Your Retirement written onto a scroll of white chocolate on the top. They kindly only put three candles on it so it wasn't too many to blow out! Also mercifully the girls didn't sing Happy Birthday for a second time either! (Sorry girls!)

The cake was such a work of art it seemed a shame to eat it! But that didn't stop us for long and we were soon tucking into it. It was as delicious to eat as it was beautiful to look at. It was a chocolate mousse on a base of thin pastry. There was an occasional crunchy bit in the mousse and the cream around the base was violet flavoured - all the tastes and textures went together so well!

We couldn't have eaten another thing after the cake, and just sat and relaxed and chatted. It was quite late when we decided to leave (along with the rest of the cake) and as we passed The Study to order a taxi from reception Debbi and I saw Edge in there with some other people. It was only a fleeting glance but we were both pretty sure it was him. There were two large security types hovering at the door so thought that Edge probably was with some VIP in there as I doubt the security would be there for him. Pity he hadn't come in there earlier!

It had been a wonderful evening. I can honestly say that it was the best Birthday I've had, no one has ever gone to such lengths to make it such a special occasion for me before, I loved it and felt so special. I couldn't ask for more wonderful friends and thank you girls for helping me start my retirement in style and for the most brilliant Birthday ever!

Me, Debbi, Dianne and Julie in The Tea Room Restaurant at the Clarence Hotel in Dublin

U2 - A Diary, Interview with Matt McGee

A lot of you will know of Matt's great U2 website @U2 which has kept us U2 fans entertained and well informed about the band for many years. Matt has now written a book about the band called U2 - A Diary which will be published around 13th October 2008 and is now available for pre-order on Amazon. It sounds like a brilliant book by a fan for fans, I'm really looking forward to getting it.

Below is a short interview with Matt where he answered some questions I put to him which I'm sure will help you get a feel of what the book is all about.


1. How long have you been a U2 fan, and what made U2 stand out for you when you first became aware of them?

I first heard and liked U2 in 1981, when WMMR-FM in Philadelphia played "I Will Follow" occasionally. What stood out then was the same for me as it was for a lot of people: Edge's guitar. The song sounded totally unique compared to the other rock music that was getting airtime. But I didn't go out of my way to find the BOY or OCTOBER albums, and it wasn't until "New Year's Day" that U2 had me hook, line, and sinker. I'm a sucker for any rock song with a piano, and that's still one of my all-time faves. I bought the WAR album, started to read up on who these guys are, and the fact that their music had substance and meaning also stood out then. So, it was about 1983 when I stopped dating other bands; U2 was the one for me. I made a good choice!

2. You already run a U2 fansite, @U2, writing a book is a massive undertaking, what made you decide to write U2 - A Diary?

It was a pretty easy decision, because I've always considered myself a U2 historian and am fascinated by their development year-to-year, album-to-album, and so forth.

Thanks to @U2, I had an idea for a different book in early 2005. The idea was pretty well developed -- with great help from the @U2 staff, I should add -- and I was pitching the book to a few agents and publishers. One of the publishers high on my list was Omnibus Press, because of their experience doing books for the U2 audience. (They've published U2 Live-A Concert Documentary, U2 Touch the Flame, and others.)

Omnibus wasn't too keen on the idea I was pitching, but they had done a popular "Beatles Diary" book and had an idea to do one about U2. They asked me if I was interested in writing that book, instead, and I jumped at the chance! We already had a U2 Timeline feature on @U2, which was my favorite part of the site, so it was a perfect fit. The timeline was a big help getting started, but ultimately only makes up about 25% of the book. What we had online was about 50,000 words, and the book is just over 200,000 words -- so, it grew quite a bit.

3. How will U2 - A Diary be different from other books on the band?

I hope the main difference readers recognize is that it's written by someone who's a fan first, author second. As a fan, I have ideas and opinions on what matters and why it matters -- things that a journalist or author may skip over, or even things that the band themselves didn't discuss in U2 by U2, which I think is an amazing book. But as great as it is, I don't think it's the full story. As an example, in U2 - A Diary, you'll read a quote from one of the bands that U2 beat in that 1978 talent contest in Limerick, Ireland. The guy says no one could believe U2 won! It's a great quote and adds something new to the story we've all heard about that important day in U2's development.

4. Did you have any direct contact with any of U2 whilst writing the book?

That depends on how you define "any of U2." :-) Early on, we notified Principle Management that the book was being written. During research, on a couple occasions I contacted some of the band's associates to confirm a date or fact; one was when I contacted Willie Williams to confirm the date of his first U2 concert, for example -- little things like that. And then we had some contact with Principle again during photo research, and they were helpful with putting us in touch with some photographers.

5. Does U2 - A Diary cover U2's career worldwide or does it mainly concentrate on the USA?

Worldwide for sure! In fact, that was one of the real challenges during research -- finding old newspaper and magazine articles from other countries. We have a great archive on @U2, but it's nowhere near the full breadth of worldwide news coverage on the band. But what was amazing was how fans chipped in with articles from their own collections and research that I couldn't do on my own. A guy named Donal Murphy in Ireland actually made several trips to his local library to look up old Irish news articles on microfiche ... a guy named Scott Cleaver in New Zealand shared some great material related to Greg Carroll's funeral ... and on and on and on. The help from U2 fans around the world was incredible. I'll never be able to thank them enough.

Off to Dublin!

Well I'm off on holiday to Dublin tomorrow, really looking forward to it, it's been a while since I've had a long break there. I won't be updating my blog when I'm away (I like to take a break from the Internet when I'm on hols!). But I will be writing all about it when I get back!