Dad's Birthday Bash

On May 18th it was my parents' birthdays. Yep, they were both born on the same day, but two years apart. Two years ago we celebrated my mum's 70th and last night we went out to a restaurant called Portofino in Hanley to celebrate dad's. My younger brother, David, unfortunately could not make it from Brighton, so it was just the five of us (dad, mum, Keith, me and my older brother Lee).

As we arrived half an hour ahead of time, we called into a pub acros the street called Fat Cats, for pre-dinner drinks. Seeing that they had a beer garden, and the weather being okay-ish, we decided to go outside and take a few photos.

Portofino is a lovely restaurant, and I've been there a few times. Last time I was there was almost exactly a year ago, with Sue from Carlisle. She had come to visit while Keith was away in New York and I took here there while showing her the heady delights of Stoke!! They do a fixed price menu that varies from time to time. You get three courses plus coffee and all you pay is the price of the main course you choose. That menu is limited of course, but they have an a la carte menu too with some delicious dishes. I had smoked salmon with rocket to start, and a lovely salad of chargrilled chicken.

We demolished four bottles of wine between us! My dad was amused to see that the wine had his name, as you can see in the picture below!!

When it was time for dessert we all sang Happy Birthday to dad (and mum) as the waiter brought out a little mini cake with candles that I had arranged earlier. Dad was surprised and I hope not too embarrassed, as people from other tables were joining in too!

All in all, a lovely evening. And the best part? Dad picked up the bill!!! Thanks Dad! Looking forward to your 80th!!!

Website Building Day!

Welcome to my humble Blog. I've been meaning to set up a site for myself for a long time, or have somewhere to "rant".... and this seems the easiest way, since I don't have a lot of spare time. I used to co-edit a U2 fanzine called "The Real Thing" until a couple of years ago. Then I moved on to creating and running a website for a musician friend of mine - Paddy Gibney - but time constraints (and the fact that he and I live on different continents!) made it impossible for me to continue.

For a long time I wanted a site that combined my love of U2's music with my love of Paddy's music, and so I am beginning this project in the hope that it will inform, entertain and amuse those of you who stop by to read it. It will contain some photos of U2 that I have taken over the years, stories of my encounters with them and the many, many great friends that they have brought into my life. Similarly, I will put up some photos of Paddy, and information about his music and what he is up to. And as well as all that, I will use this site for my "other stuff" too. I am a writer and may put some of my stuff up here (if I get brave enough). Also, photos of my travels and a general journal will be features of this site. Bear with me... my thoughts are only just forming. I hope you enjoy this site and that you check back often as it starts to form. There is a forum on here (Click on the link to the right) where you can communicate with me and with each other.

Thanks for your patience while I build this.