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A robot that likes hugs

August 5th, 2008  |  Published in Technology | Comments (0)

Awww! I love this, but his eyes are CREEPY.

Jill and I head to London

August 5th, 2008  |  Published in Family, Friends | Comments (3)

So on Friday there, Jill and I headed to London for G’s wedding! I had quite a packed day on Friday, meeting my Dad, going out to Television Centre and popping into see some mates, and also having lunch with my friend Christine.

After that it was back to the hotel to catch up on some sleep and then off to Soho for dinner with my two sisters - Ailse and Jill, her husband Tobey, and my mate Christine. That’s everyone in the pic above. We went to Zilli Bar, which was quite nice, although Jill had to complain about her food. But as a result, we got hers taken off the bill, a free bottle of wine, and free desserts! So that was good.

My family left after dinner so me Jill and Christine headed out on the town. We grabbed a rickshaw to The Sanderson, a very swanky and funky hotel. That’s the bar in the pic above. I really liked it (although it’s expensive - £50 for three glasses of champagne!) and could have happily spent the rest of the night there. It was full of people that thought they were good looking but were actually not, and were badly dressed to boot though. Apart from one totally gorgeous blonde girl sitting at the bar.

Next we went off to The Kingley Club in Soho - a private members’ bar which we blagged our way into. Many many cocktails later, we grabbed a cab back to the hotel which was hilarious. Jill managed to call the taxi driver every rude name under the sun but he did think it was amusing, so we didn’t get thrown out.

Off to bed completely pissed, and an early start the next day to get to G’s wedding in Watford!

I’m off to a Muslim wedding this weekend!

July 31st, 2008  |  Published in Belfast, Food and Drink, Friends | Comments (0)

Yes that’s right! I can exclusively reveal on my blog (well it’s an online exclusive as no-one else I know has written about it) that my mate G is getting married! He is having a barat on Saturday in London Town (well Watford) which me and the Miss Jill Morgan are going to. I am intrigued as to what it will be like as G can tell me nothing about it, and there is apparently no disco or dancing. But it lasts for five hours! What will be happening? Goodness only knows. He is marrying a lady called Fazia who I have not met yet, but no doubt will at the weekend.

Then, he gets to have another two weddings next weekend in Belfast the crazy cat that he is - he has a proper official ceremony to sign the licence and that, and then it’s another celebration, this time in Belfast!

So if you have ever wondered what a wedding from a different culture is like, wonder no more as I will be able to tell you on Monday (or whenever I get round to writing about it).

To celebrate G’s upcoming wedding, me and the Charlie Brown took him to Gourmet Burger Kitchen on Wednesday. (That is G on the right in the picture above). G has always wanted to go, so that’s why we went there. I wasn’t going to write a review in a post about G’s wedding, but it’s my blog and I can do what I want.

I quite like Gourmet Burger Kitchen. The burgers are about £8 each, and are very large, as you can see from the picture of the Cajun Burger I had which is above. Trust me, you will not need to eat anything else - no side orders or anything, as they are very filling. I felt slightly sick after eating there as I did actually have fries as well. The burgers are nice though, and are cooked however you like them (I like my beef medium-rare).

It’s got a bit of a sterile atmosphere about the place, but it’s ok for a casual lunch / dinner. Although it’s licensed, it’s not really the kind of place you’d want to take a lady for dinner. Well actually, maybe it would be ok if you were going to the Odeon in Victoria Square or something. Drinks (we just had soft drinks) and fries and things can very quickly make your bill add up though - fries are £2.95, and I can’t remember how much the drinks were, but I did think they were a bit expensive.

Anyway, that is not to take away the fact that G is getting married. I am really excited about a nice weekend in London and going to G’s wedding. Although a part of me is a bit sad that he is no longer going to be a single man. Not that I’m gay or anything, just that it’s another single mate biting the dust (although he’s not really biting the dust, just getting married).

Mamma Mia

July 31st, 2008  |  Published in Film / TV | Comments (2)

I went to see Mamma Mia! last night. I’d been wanting to go and see it for a while. Not because I’m an ABBA fan, but just because I thought it looked like a feel-good, summery movie.

In reality, I thought it was the weirdest film I’ve ever seen. I kept getting embarassed when people in the movie started to sing. It felt really unnatural whenever they burst into song. And I can’t work out why! It’s not like it feels weird in the Sound of Music or anything. I dunno, after the first three songs I kind of got into it, but by the end it was all wearing a bit thin to be honest.

The main character, Sophie is quite hot, but that wasn’t enough to redeem it really. If you’re a bloke and you’re going to see it, I would have at least two beers before going in!

Every cloud….

July 30th, 2008  |  Published in Film / TV, Funny | Comments (0)

Obviously an earthquake isn’t pleasant. Out of all the ways this could have been captured however, the fact tat it was captured during a taping of Judge Judy (out of all programmes!) is just brilliant….


Shameless plug

July 30th, 2008  |  Published in Film / TV, Work | Comments (0)

If you are mad enough to have missed Laurence & Jackie’s Northern Exposure, episode 1 is now available on the iPlayer.

This week’s programme, 9pm on BBC One Northern Ireland repeated on Sunday evening, sees L&J take to the roads of County Armagh. Tune in and see Laurence micro-lighting! (BBC One NI is avilable on Sky Digital channel 973 and Virgin Media channel 863 throughout the UK.)

Glasgowbury festival

July 30th, 2008  |  Published in Film / TV, Music, Work | Comments (0)

Taking a bit of a break from getting Northern Exposure ready for TX every week, I joined me old mucker Feargal and the ATL / ATL TV crew (I’m not producing this series) for a trip down to the Glasgowbury festival near Draperstown on Saturday.

Glasgowbury is a small, growing festival - their slogan is “small but massive”. It was quite a good day really - although a long one. The weather stayed dry, which meant their was no mud about for the punters, and we had plenty of breaks between filming to chill out and relax and enjoy some of the bands.

I was just filming on DV on stage, but unfortunately was filming the drummer for each of the bands which will be included in an ATL TV special going out on Thursday 14th August on BBC Two NI. I say unfortunately because I have learned that it is very cramped around a drummer on stage, which a) meant I had to crouch down for long periods of time and b) meant I couldn’t move for long periods of time, which became a bit boring after a while looking at a tiny viewfinder!

Music wise, Glasgowbury is all about local bands. Of the bands I saw my favourites were Oppenheimer (who incidentally provided the theme music for my current series) and General Fiasco. Mark my words, you will be hearing more about GF soon I think!

Ash were also playing, and treated the audience to some of their newer material. Not as catchy as their old stuff if you ask me!

A personal apology to Mr Gary Watson Esq.

July 30th, 2008  |  Published in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

In a recent post I refered to Mr Gary Watson as Mr Gary Wilson. I would like to apologise for that and can only assume I was tired when writing it. Apologies to Mr GW!

An inconvenient truth

July 30th, 2008  |  Published in Film / TV | Comments (0)

I saw An Inconvenient Truth this week. I’d been meaning to get round to watching it for absolutely ages, but finally sat down on Friday night and watched all 90 minutes of it. If you don’t know about it, it’s basically a film of a presentation that ex Vice President Al Gore has been giving all over the world about climate change. It’s a pretty scary movie to be honest.

It gets quite scientific in parts, but what is clear from it is that if countries (and people) don’t start donig something now about the environment, it could have catastrophic effects. The thing that had most impact on me were animations showing what would happen to major cities like Manhattan and coastal areas in China if the water levels are to rise as predicted.

After seeing that, I went online and checked out what my carbon footprint was. I was assuming it would be low as I don’t have a car, but actually it turned out to be higher than average because of the electricity I use at home and the fact I live on my own. I already turn off and unplug everything at night and during the day when I’m not in, and you can’t get green energy in Northern Ireland which is a pain in the ass.

Also I can’t seem to recycle in my area - it’s run by a local charity who have never returned my ‘phone calls about getting a recycling box. But - I’m going to try again with that, and also offset any flights I by paying someone like Climate Care.

If you haven’t seen the film, you should definitely check it out. It’s a real eye-opener, although very depressing.

My show starts tonight

July 25th, 2008  |  Published in Film / TV, Work | Comments (0)

I’ve been a bit slow with posting ‘cos I’ve been up to my eyes getting my show ready for transmission tonight. Anyway, you can watch Laurence & Jackie’s Northern Exposure at 9pm on BBC One Northern Ireland. If you’re outside Northern Ireland in the UK, you can catch it on Channel 973 on Sky Digital or Channel 863 on Virgin Media Digital.

Comments welcome!

Previously


Aug 5, 2008
A robot that likes hugs

by Simon | Read | No Comments

Awww! I love this, but his eyes are CREEPY.


Aug 5, 2008
Jill and I head to London

by Simon | Read | 3 Comments

So on Friday there, Jill and I headed to London for G’s wedding! I had quite a packed day on Friday, meeting my Dad, going out to Television Centre and popping into see some mates, and also having lunch with my friend Christine.
After that it was back to the hotel to catch up on some [...]


Jul 31, 2008
I’m off to a Muslim wedding this weekend!

by Simon | Read | No Comments

Yes that’s right! I can exclusively reveal on my blog (well it’s an online exclusive as no-one else I know has written about it) that my mate G is getting married! He is having a barat on Saturday in London Town (well Watford) which me and the Miss Jill Morgan are going to. I am [...]


Jul 31, 2008
Mamma Mia

by Simon | Read | 2 Comments

I went to see Mamma Mia! last night. I’d been wanting to go and see it for a while. Not because I’m an ABBA fan, but just because I thought it looked like a feel-good, summery movie.
In reality, I thought it was the weirdest film I’ve ever seen. I kept getting embarassed when people in [...]


Jul 30, 2008
Every cloud….

by Simon | Read | No Comments

Obviously an earthquake isn’t pleasant. Out of all the ways this could have been captured however, the fact tat it was captured during a taping of Judge Judy (out of all programmes!) is just brilliant….


Jul 30, 2008
Shameless plug

by Simon | Read | No Comments

If you are mad enough to have missed Laurence & Jackie’s Northern Exposure, episode 1 is now available on the iPlayer.
This week’s programme, 9pm on BBC One Northern Ireland repeated on Sunday evening, sees L&J take to the roads of County Armagh. Tune in and see Laurence micro-lighting! (BBC One NI is avilable on [...]

About simonssite.com

I’m a television producer living and working in Belfast, Northern Ireland. This is my space for things I like to ramble on about.

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