Be leaving the country on the 27th for a few days, wont be back till the 4th and Im not sure how much access I’ll have to the internet so won’t be posting till after the 4th July most likely. Going to spain for sun, sea and sand !

Well I’m back from the interview, went well I think. I gave it my best shot and now only time will tell. As my dad tells me, “Give it your best cause you cant give it any more but when you do walk away satisfied knowing that at the very least son, you tried and when you did, it was your best.”

Good advice, thanks dad. Anyway heres a song that sums up me today, yea life is full of pressure but we can still rock right?

And thanks to Queen and David Bowie, we can rock very well. Great song.

Well I got an interview today so here’s hoping it goes well. Haven’t updated this blog over the weekend which was bad of me but I will get back on track this evening after said interview. At times like these its hard to not be nervous, we’ve all been there, you know you can do something or sell a product to a customer but we are our own harshest critics if we are to be honest. Anyway enough rambling, must go get ready. Just thought I’d share!

I’ve decided that I’m going to post a song a day from now on, kind of like a feature of this blog. Music is important to me, it helps me relax, destress and deal with everything life throws at me.

And today, I think I just want to rock.

DUBLIN (Reuters) – Irish voters went to the polls on Thursday to determine the fate of the European Union’s reform treaty in a referendum that could easily go either way.

There’s been a lot of talk about this treaty here at the moment. Some say yes its a good thing, others that it isn’t. I already know what way I’m going to vote later on. All the literature that has been handed out or come through my mailbox is vague in the extreme, at least from the ‘Yes’ side anyway. They say that the E.U. has been good to Ireland so we should do what they want, that because large scale business’s say its a good thing that we should think that way too. Most of their promises are in the humanitatian area and merely promise that we will send more troops to every warzone in the world. They promise to make it more democratic by basing the member votes not on the country but on the population. This means that Ireland will get 1 vote while France or Germany might get 10. Yes they have bigger populations but the wants and needs of those countries are not the wants and needs of Ireland all the time. If we are to vote against them we will lose every time whether we have a point or not. Whats democratic about that?

The ‘Yes’ vote also will mean a unified E.U. army. Is this needed? Perhaps, it is a dangerous world out there after all. Is it wanted? I would say no to be honest. Super states have a tendency to create war rather than stop them.

On the other hand the ‘No’ vote has clearly made it known that should the treaty go through then the health and education sectors in this country will be privatised. That is a terrible idea. Soon you would have a situation that you do in America. Only the rich would be able to go to college without crippling themselves financially for the next 10 or so years and everyone else will either have to take un-employment which the country could not cope with, if it followed the American model then the youth would join the army. Again this is just speculation but a possible future none the less.

The quoted article can be read in full here.

I know what way I’m going to vote. I just hope that regardless of who wins that in the end, the people and the country do.

Truely hilarious video and a great song, it will be a classic! If you need to feel good, do yourself a favour and hit play, its just a few mins after all.

The pic above is of a trebuchet mid-firing at an event. I am a proud member of the crew of this wonderful yet deadly machine. While it was constructed before I joined the group I can tell you it was made by the very people who use and operate it (apart from me of course!)

This trebuchet is a scaled down version of the true monsters they had in medieval times. Namely from the 13th century onwards right up until the widespread use of gunpowder. This version is roughly one quarter or in some cases one tenth the size of bigger trebs of the time period. This one would be used in an anti-infantry role as well as to pummel any and all structures to dust. It has a drawbox weighing in at half a ton which is capable of launching a football sized rock 500 metres+ accurately.

My primary role as part of the crew is to re-set the firing arm which involved pulling down the beam after it has fired, this takes two men to do safetly as I learned very early on. Yes I could feel myself being lifted slowly up by the sheer weight once when I tried it alone, never again! Once the arm is lowered, I put on the safetly and lean on the arm while another crew member re-sets the sling and places another shot in it. If this part is not done correctly the sling will get tangled up when it is fired and is a danger to any and all of the crew. It is imperative that this part be done correctly.

Also of note, just because the safety in on does not mean it is safe. There is a reason that someone leans on the arm to hold it down. Yes this is a re-enactment but this is a very dangerous machine if you do not treat it wit the respect it deserves. But once the sling is set and eveything is ready, I slowly take my weight off the arm and let the safety take all the strain. Then the commander shouts ‘Clear’ and all members of the team retreat at least 15 metres away except me. I have to stay to make sure that it is still safe to fire which means quickly re-doing all checks in my head and waiting until the firer is as far away as he can be while still holding the firing line, typically 5 metres. Then the commander shouts ‘Safety off’ to which I quickly take off the safety and run backwards as fast as I can shouting ‘Safety off’.

At this point there is no going back to the machine, it is all set to fire. The commander shouts ‘Clear’ one last time and all the crew who have spread out, which has the dual benefit of making sure the crowd is back as well safetly respond with a loud ‘Clear’. Then the order to fire is given which is ‘Loose’ and the treb fires. If it goes perfectly it will look like it does in the pic above which is awesome and it will fly towards our target which on that day was 350 metres away and was a 5 foot by 5 foot square. We hit it too. If it doesnt it will misfire which thankfully means the shot will only fly a few metres directly in front of the treb.

Well I hope you enjoyed reading about this as much as i enjoy being a part of its crew.

As I’ve already stated here and there on this blog, I’m big into medieval re-enacting and living history so I thought I’d put up some pics of what I look like in my armour and some of my favoured weaponry. Yes its all real!!! My sword in itself took 8 months to be forged and mailed to me by those kind folks at Armourclass. They kept me informed every step of the way and use only the methods available at the time (1400′s) to produce the sword which you can see below -

This is what it looked like when I first got it, its a bit more battle worn now! It is a 13th-14th century Norman Longsword, favoured by knights and heavy infantry of the time. Which suits me nicely since I typically potray both of these at events, although not on horseback! This sword is my loyal companion on and off the field and it has saved my ‘life’ on the field on more than one occasion. It is named in latin but it translates into – ‘Faith through Adversity” This is my family’s motto and it holds through to my life which is why my sword was bestowed with the name.

The above pic is part of the street battle we fought in Newcastle West in 2006 for St. Patricks day. I marked myself out but alas I’m fully armoured so you dont get to see my face yet! This is just after the celtic spear line has pushed us backwards up the street, some 300 metres and we are reforming our lines into a shieldwall to meet their coming charge.

Since we are the ‘bad guys’ in that we represent King John of England, we are his army after all, we often lose the battle as nothing incites and riles up a crowd more than playing up the bad guy angle and then losing. They will love you and hate you but afterwards all they want is a picture which we are more than happy to oblige so if you read this and happen to see us perform, please don’t hesitate to approach us and ask for a picture.

There has been many a time when I have seen a nervous parent/brother/sister/etc. standing to the side holding a camera and I have approached them and asked them would they like to take a picture. They smile and say yes and if I wouldn’t mind. Of course I dont mind! So glady I pose for pic after pic and although I’m hot and tired and the armour has started to feel very, very heavy, I stay and talk and pose for as long as people want me to.

Let me tell you, all the work that goes in, the training, the moving of equipment, everything, it is all worth it when you see one child smile or when a parent says thank you for making their Sunday. At the end of the day we can go home happy because what we do makes other people happy. How can you not just love that?

Whenever I start my day and start to feel down, I listen to this song and it makes me think, ‘Yeah it ain’t so bad.’ Fantastic song that has touched my heart. Listen to it and let it touch yours too. I most love the fact that the song is supposed to be about depression and Brad Delp’s(lead singer) battle with it and how he took something that was so opressive to him and made it into something beautiful that is so inspiring and uplifting.

If you choose to hit play and I hope you do, enjoy!

I find Firefox’s focus on safety and security more compelling than Internet Explorer’s gimmicky new features. But the important thing is that competition is very much alive in the desktop browser business. Mozilla and Microsoft are bound to continue pressuring each other to improve their products.

To be honest, I like Firefox. On advice from a friend I switched over to it nearly a year ago and I haven’t looked back since. Its much much, more secure and I find it much more user friendly. If you haven’t already upgraded to Firefox then I suggest you do so immediately. But as with everything, to each his own!

If you wish to read the full article that is quoted you can do so here.