Paraguay Panic

AARRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Going to Paraguay tomorrow and have done about 5 minutes preparation for it. It's also the beau's birthday tomorrow so am taking him out for dinner tonight. Time for packing: 0 minutes...oh well.

Over the past week I've attending a first cousin's wedding (first wedding attended en famille - and quite enjoyable actually) and spent 3 days on Inis Mor with the gang for Chelle's 30th - lots of cycling, swimming and picnicking - a wonderfully wholesome weekend.

Back at the office it's been hectic to get stuff sorted before I leave - it looks like September and October will be very busy months promoting the new Local project and next year's internationl trips. To be honest I'm looking forward to being busy and doing some event planning, the summer has crawled by at work with everyone away on trips and no events happening.

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So Paraguay...? What do I know...



Well it's Spanish speaking....has a large German speaking population also....weather should be nice enough....the country has a reputation for corruption....

And that's about it. Never have I know so little about a country I'm about to visit.

What could possibly go wrong?

Tom, Tom, Tom.

Dammit....I just can't find the time to do the Tom Waits concert on Wednesday night justice - wedding today and off to Aran Islands tomorrow for the weekend.

Fortunately lots of other people have managed to say what I wanted to say so here are some of my favourite reviews:

bomhemian.com

Irish Times

Jim Carroll Blog

He played for 2 hours 45 minutes, played a wide range of stuff including Tom Traubet's Blues (didn't think he played that anymore), Christmas Card From a Hooker, Hoist that Rag and lots of stuff from Real Gone, Mule Variations, Alice and other recent albums.

The venue was a circus tent and he was most definitely the Ring Master, conducting both his band and the audience and letting his body express the music when he wasn't singing; stomping and gyrating like a much younger man.

And his voice...oh his voice. Rough, lacking in clear diction, has seen better days...but oh so filled with emotion and beauty. The ache of heartbreak and despair hit on a gut level and the quips of a whimsical chancer between songs made you laugh just as deeply.

So, so, so glad I got to see him live. He did not disappoint.