Well, today I officially became a Washington State resident. After three weeks of browsing over the drivers handbook and fretting over the possibility of failing the multiple choice questionnaire, I arrived at the driving test center to learn I didn't even have to take a written test providing my California license checked out. Bybye California I.D. / drivers license, hello Washington state! To think I drove on that license in Ireland for 4 years! Why?... at the time of my last inquiry the waiting list for a driving test in Dublin was 13 months! And I was meant to put 'L' plates on the car while I waited for the test! Fuck that! "Sorry Guard, I'm on da waitin' list. You know what it's like, the waiting list is over a year, ya know yourself like!" Guard, "But where are your 'L' plates?"

Why care about residency?, one word - VOTE.

Its the end of another wonderful summer's day up here in the Pacific north west. Today I met the father of one of Muirenn's new friends. His name is Dave and he owns a record store in Ballard called Bop Street Records. The guy's in his mid fifties and is as easy going as some of my most laid back friends. His record store has over 700,000 vinyl records! People come here from all over the world just to visit his shop. Radiohead once spent seven hours in the shop just browsing. Truly, its a sight to behold. Music lovers check this out; http://www.wahmee.com/bopstreet.html

Welcome to my first post on my (we)blog. First off I must thank my friend Marty in Dublin for pointing this website out to me. Who knows what I'll post here. Who knows how long it will last. It would have been a hell of a lot more useful to me living in Ireland where every day to day interaction with your fellow man was a lesson in biting one's lip and holding your nose. Now, I interact with people - on a day to day basis - who have basic manners and civility and go out of their way to be nice to one another. The only thing I hold my nose against now is the politics. Fortunately I don't have to bite my lip and keep my opinions to myself as most residents here find the politics of U.S. foreign policy as disturbing as the rest of the world. When I say most residents, I mean my fellow Seattle-ites. City dwellers. You know, people with an education (be it from a College or self imposed by opening one's ears and eyes) that don't bury their heads under the rock of isolation and the lord almighty. You only have to go 'over the hump' (across the mountains to the east and across to Idaho and Montana) to find the paranoid followers / voters. Now, I am generalizing folks, don't have a barny. You may not meet nicer people this side of Kilkenny but one thing is for sure, they've fallen for the right-wing patriotic rhetoric like its the new Harry Potter novel. These are the people who believe that you are liberal or you are American. That is to imply; if you are against the war in Iraq you are anti-American. A clever twist on patriotism don't you think? This, with the help of elite propagandist media, is the end result of the presidents 2001 message to the rest of the world "...you're either with us or you're against us!" Brilliant! Now every right-wing lunatic with a platform for preachin' can spread the gospel truth (according to Bush)! But what gets to me is the gullability of the people that believe the rhetoric. It's not a question of right or wrong for these people, it's a question of towing the party line at all costs. It's the notion of supporting the troops regardless of the war, for fear of a backlash similar to Vietnam. The very idea of sharing a belief similar to that of a 'liberal' is beyond them, thanks again to a pro-war media. When will they realise they have been completely taken advantage of? The trauma and shock of 9/11 was the opportunity to deceive the world. When will the lies be treated as such?