Let's Eat Paste

FYI... In case you are bleary-eyed and confusable some morning, you should take note that this is not, in fact, toothpaste.

We spent two nights in Derry, officially known as Londonderry, depending on if you are a Republican or Unionist. A lot of the road signs even refer to it as "Derry/Londonderry." When we were touring George Lowden's guitar making shop, he told us that they often refer to it as "Slash City" because of the /.

U2 wrote the song Sunday Bloody Sunday about a tragic event that happened in this town where British soldiers fired on some protesters. As we were walking from our hotel to the bridge across the Foyle River into the city, we walked a bit with an older gentleman who was actually on a boat on the Foyle when the shooting and rioting broke out.

The city center is surrounded by a wall, though the town has expanded far past the walls. The walls were built in 1618 and have never been penetrated.








Here's my wife modeling her star-studded USA flag belt, purchased at a Salvation Army in Londonderry earlier in the day... It was the only suitable belt they had there, the ladies working there thought it was pretty funny.

The city is rich in history, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend spending much time there as a tourist. We were surprised at how trashy the city was, garbage and graffiti everywhere. In the city we walked past a heavy steel door that was just covered with graffiti, even graffiti over other graffiti... I looked up and saw that it was the entry to the motor vehicle licensing office. I'm glad we went, but it was still sort of a depressing place.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.



This picture was taken at the ruins of Inch Abbey in County Down, Northern Ireland. The ruins of this monastery are over 1000 years old. In the distance across the water you can see the Down Cathedral, where St. Patrick was buried (at least part of him). I was taking this photo from the nearby cemetery and this cat was perched on the stone wall. I almost shoo'd it away, but thought it'd be a fun odd thing in the picture. After a while, we talked to a mother and daughter who were out walking their dog near the cemetery. It turns out they come twice a day to feed the cat, his name's Gravy. He's lived at Inch Abbey for about four years. He feeds at the same spot on the cemetery wall every day.

Breaking news...

Last week, Monday, February 26 to be exact, Joy and I were married at Saul Church in Northern Ireland.


More details on the wedding and the honeymoon to follow over the next few days.

I decided to post this after reading through the advertising trade secrets that Todd W wrote about on his Cavalcade of Whimsy.

Here are just a few of the many things I've observed in this ad:
1.) In contrast to most used car lot commercials with the screaming megaphone guy, this ad has only six calmly spoken words of dialogue.

2.) It illustrates that monkeys and bananas are natural enemies.

3.) Monkeys are trying to help the homeless by giving them sandwiches, while protecting them from bananas.

4.) Towards the end of the commercial, you can see the banana start to slow down, as if he thought the scene was over. This was probably the twenty-seventh take and the banana was worn out and just didn't have the energy.

5.) The record needle scratch sound effect, indicating that things are suddenly not as they seem.

6.) I feel like buying an automobile, so that the homeless may eat.