I could be sued for being a superhero, if i was one

Just found this article explaining that 'superhero' is a regitered trademark of both DC and Marvel comics. Bizzar. What a great question for a table/pub quiz.
It remind me of the story of the Marx brothers, when making 'A night in Casablanca', Warner Brothers tried to sue them for using the word 'Casablanca' in the film title, incase people got confused with there film 'Casablanca'. The Marx Brothers responded with threatening to sue Warner Brothers for using the word 'brothers' in there title.

Beard up-date

New phone

I live by hand me down phones, and the latest was the O2 x1, which got a recall, saying it might attack the family or something, so they sent me a brand new O2 x2i (i don't think the i stands for injection, but you never know with new technology). The maion drawback is that the zoom on the old camera was x3, and this one is how far you can move your camera towards the object.

We had a quiet weekend. The Ballymoney Farmers market was on Radio Ulster on Saturday morning, and sounded really good, since the council had installed a roof; but when we got there there was the usual collection of painted jam pots, teddybear stalls, grave stones and flax panaceas.

Julie had a nice Mothers day, with Charlotte giving her a flower and book, as well as hand made card.

St paddys day

With the whole day off, it gave us the chance to, well, do nothing.
We put Charlotte in the nursery, mainly because we both have colds and needed the rest. Julie has had the cold for a couple of weeks now, and gets anti-biotics for a bad cough. She is a bit misserable with it, but on the bright side, the morning sickness is gone.
Northern Ireland is the worst place in the world (apart from the republic) to celebrate St Patricks day. Traditionally nationalists take the day to rub it up everyone else, mainly with flags and over use of the Irish language, while unionists pretend none of this is happening and go to work and school as usual (this is the first year Garvagh High has had the day off, with our boys not knowing what to do with it, saying 'i'll take the day off, but i'm not celebrating some republicin!').
Now, with our new peaceful country, people are trying to make it 'cross community'. For the first time, Belfast City counsel has funded the parade in Belfast, with organisers asking people to not wear celtic tops, and to only fly the St Patricks cross. But the chukies decided to rub people up the wrong way and fly the Tricolour. Just a few stupid people to make it hard on everyone else. Now the DUP and the UUP are upset, and funding probably won't come next year. Wait 'till the summer, and the situation will be turned round, but just the same.

Being Ulsterish

This week had another rash of bigotry. A young man in the older drop-in challenged me when I talked about us being Northern Irish. He objected to the word 'Irish' in it, and wanted to be called either English, or Ulsterish. A short geography lesson occured, which was mostly ignored, and then other stuff that was soo stupid, I cannot justify blogging it.
I begin to wonder why I do not share these views. Was it my up-bringing? I wouldn't say my Mum and Dad were anything close to biggots. For people growing up in mid Armagh in the times, they seem to my memory to be darn right tollerant. I remember my Dad being really cross at the whole Drumcree march, not wanting it to go down Grvaghy Road. And the only thing my Mum ever said was 'Don't get a Catholic pregnant', (advice I still hold to), which was more to do with a split in a family she knew at the time, than her socio-political views, or my philandering at that, or any time.
It my tolerance more due to my faith? Well, there is a lot of bigity in a lot of congregations on both ends. One of the most notorious Loyalists of the '90s was a pastor.
I really don't know. What I dod know is that I try to find out. I look at the questions,and the answers and try to know something that resembles truth. I do not demonise people (that much), because then you are saying I cannot be like that, I cannot understand how a monster thinks, therefore I don't have to, and I can distance myself.
I wish I knew how to open the minds of some of our young people, not to create little post-modern unionist clones of my political thinking, but to get them to think about what they believe, and grow from that.

Beard Up-date

Taken as I was playing for sunday School this morning, 'He made the stars to shine'.

Gone to potty

I'm not saying its over, but the amount of 'accidents' that charlotte has had with potty training in the past week can be counted on the fingers of one hand with enough left over to work your digital watch, and todays accident was done in a box (long story). So well done Charlotte.
This has taught us some things for Jr2 -

• If it is padded and worn on the bum, it's not a padded pant, it's a nappy, and will be treated as such by the wearer.
• It is scary to see your poo in a potty for the first time.
• Never wear a used potty on your head before it has been cleaned.
• If it has already tricked down you leg, no amount of sitting will get it in the potty.
• Always, always be excited. By the time something gets done in the potty, you genuinely are.

Snow

Snow is odd. It depends on your circumstances how you view it.

• If you are two, you look at it in wide eyed wonder.
• If you are a teenage boy, you use as a weapon on the streets, on anybody that moves.
• If you are somebody who drives a car, its just annoying hearing the thud-thud on your car as you drive through Garvagh.
• If you are someone who drives a car, but was one of the teenage boys using it as a weapon only a few short years ago, then you get very angry, get out of the car and yell at a 12yearold boy, get in the car and before you drive off get pelted again.
• If you have to drive to work, the snow isn't as annoying as the idiots on the road who don't even scrape the snow from the rear window, or use it as an excuse to drive really close to the person in frount.
• If you are a youth worker, you use it as an excuse to lay down the law on boys, who only a few years ago would of pelted you for appearing outside the Cornerstone.

And here are a few pics-