"Road House" with Patrick Swayzee

I remember trailers for "Road House" back in the late 1980's (it was after Swayze's success in Dirty Dancing) and always thought I would like to watch it. As far as I recall, it was an 18's certificate when it was in the cinema and also when it made it to video (I seem to remember it in the section of the video shop that we never borrowed from!)

You may not know this about me but I was brought up in a home without a TV as my parents didn't agree with them. In order to see popular programmes of the time such as "Blossom" my twin sister and I would always call to our best friends house after school on a Friday to catch it at 6pm.  

On Saturday nights, we had a regular babysitting job minding our young cousins. We were paid a nominal amount plus a video of our choice paid for by our aunt. We would walk to our aunt's house which was about 20 minutes away and on the way would stop off at the video shop which was in the local newsagent.....no fancy Extravision for us!  Good times!!

But anyway back to Road House. It was on MGM tonight and there wasn't anything else on so I decided to watch it. What a film! Absolutely terrible.......but very watchable.  Not only does it star one of my favourite actors Patrick Swayze but also Sam Elliot - minus the moustache unfortunately but still very hot!....the lack of moustache is made up for by the length of his hair.

It's very of its time - particularly when you see Swayze smoking for what seems like real in many of the scenes. The clothes are what seems to have dated the most while on the other hand the music hasn't really and is generally fairly good. Some of the special effects are pretty fake looking too (if you've seen the film you probably know what scene I'm talking about). But overall it's not a bad film if you are in the mood for this type of thing.

If you've watched this movie, do let me know!  

Baby Zoe is going home!

You remember that I blogged about Baby Zoe a short while ago - you can read all about it here.

I have a good news update!

An anonymous donor has given €30,000 which will mean that Baby Zoe can fly home to Tennessee.

Here's a report all about it today's paper.

I'm so happy that it has worked out for this family and I hope they will return to Ireland some day.

What I got up to yesterday!

After a slow start to the day I went to my mother's house for lunch. It was very pleasant with my twin sister and her husband and also my Nana and my Uncle. There was so much food and it was all so good! There was pork, beef and also chicken pie - I had a bit of all the meat. Then there was a selection of vegetable, including sweet potatoes, carrots, broccoli, parsnip, marrow peas and of course roast potatoes (these are my Uncle's favorite and there is always a joke about where they need to be positioned......right beside him of course!).

Afterwards we were going to go to the cinema to see The Revenant but decided instead to go home and watch "Fury" which I had got from the Library. I really enjoyed this film and was very impressed with Brad Pitt - he is a seriously great actor.

Later on in the evening I made further holiday arrangements and booked a rental car for my parents and myself for the drive down from Miami to Key West. I booked a Ford Escape as we will have three suitcases so will need a bit of room for luggage. It seems like a good option.

And then it was to bed to have a great nights sleep before the start of another week in work!

Oscar nomination time

It's been a great year for Irish film with 7 Oscar nominations including Brooklyn and Room both being nominated for Best Film. Both of these films were books that were adapted. Brooklyn is written by Colm Toibin and I loved the book and adored the film even more. You can see what I blogged about Brooklyn (when I saw it in November) here.  Room is written by Emma Donoghue who also adapted it for the movie. I haven't read it but I imagine I will go see the film. I was so pleased to hear that Brie Larson was nominated for Best Actress. I spotted her in "Trainwreck" and although playing a supporting role I thought she was an actress to watch and even mentioned her in a blog post back in August........and wasn't I right?! 

Of course now I'm torn between wanting Saoirse Ronan or Brie Larson to win!!

In other film news I was really sad to hear that Alan Rickman has died. I really admired him as an actor and loved his voice and presence. Some of the films that I thought he was marvellous in are Love Actually (which I will rewatch soon in his memory) and Michael Collins where he magnificently played De Valera.

Mid-Week Catch up!

Yesterday, I went to an event in Swords after work. Beforehand we went to Masterson's Steakhouse for a burger. It was quite delicious. It was topped by onion rings and the most tasty cheddar. I'd definitely order it again!

Today I got up early, picked up my car from the mechanic and then drove over to the hairdresser in Donabate. My hair badly needed to be done. I had been considering growing my roots out for a kind of balyage look. However, I felt the blonde had gone a bit brassy and the roots were shockingly dark so I decided to just go ahead and get my usual highlights. I'm very happy with the results! I've never had a bad experience in this hairdresser and feel very happy to have found it after trying a few different ones over the past few years and never feeling entirely satisfied.

So sad to hear that David Bowie died. Back in 1995, Amy and I went to his concert and being poor students we clubbed together to buy a t-shirt together. We shared it for years, passing it between each others homes. Amy took it out and shared it on Facebook the other day which made me happy. It brought back memories of how we got to go to the concert. On a Friday afternoon, a lecturer in college offered two tickets that he couldn't use to my sociology class. No one seemed interested, so I immediately called out that I would take them. It was in pre-mobile days so then I had the difficult task of getting in touch with Amy who was also in college. I rang home to my mother and told her that if Amy called she should tell her to get to the Point Depot for 8pm. Amy did indeed phone home, mam did pass on the message and that is how we got to see David Bowie in concert! 

Dublin town on a Sunny Sunday morning

As we drove home from the cinema on Sunday I took some pictures of the buildings along the quays. It was such a nice bright day! A real contrast to the cold day today.

This is the Abbey Court. What cool floral painting on the building.

Here's Liberty Hall. At one point it was Dublin's tallest building but now it is the third tallest.

Here is the Custom House designed by James Gandon

In the background is the Conference Centre

This cutie was staring out in to the Liffey!
I think he is one of the Native Irish dogs - a wheaten terrier, perhaps.

And here is a view of the Conference Centre from the South Side.

I hope you liked the mini tour of Dublin!

Morning Cinema Trip

We enjoy going to the cinema on Sunday. I like to go early while Ciaran prefers going in the afternoon. He definitely would have liked to lie on this morning after travelling home from Ennis yesterday. However, I was up by 9am so I woke him and we walked the dog to Butler's for a coffee and then went on to the 11am showing of Daddy's Home at Cineworld.

Daddy's Home is a typical comedy and not really as funny as I hoped. I probably wouldn't recommend it unless there was nothing else you wanted to see on offer. But it passed the time and I enjoy going to the cinema no matter what we see.

After the cinema we left the Smart Car to be washed and valeted while we went for coffee in Starbucks Rathmines and then bought dinner in Dunnes Stores in the Swan Centre. I'm on a salmon buzz so I got salmon darnes with sweet potato wedges. Delicious!