Surfing the Sound waves

Surf club is the best club in Queens. No wait. THE WORLD! Anyone who has me as a friend on facebook would observe that more than 85% of my status' evolve around this God send of a society. It is a non-discriminatory group. We let in gingers, smurfs, giants, the English, the French (granted this was before the Henry incident) and the turkish. Spooning is compulsory ;). Most trips involve surfing or some form of extreme water activity i.e. wakeboarding, along with the ability to socialise, normally a few beverages are included (in crazy horses case Pochin was necessary).

Downings was our latest expedition. The last occasion was simply a celebration of what a brilliant year we have had. Well that year was knocked out with a bang! The excitement began with Crilly and myself actually making it from Belfast to Letterkenny, Letterkenny to Downings by bus and from Downings to the Harbour Bar.The main part of the weekend was spent chilling on the beach, frisbeeing, eating, swimming, pier jumping and by night having a civilised few drinks in the house whilst either playing cards, Bop it or watching Dvds. It must be noted that this is definately uncharacteristic for the surf club and thus was later to be resolved.

On the added on last night we felt that The Harbour bar aka Martin's was needed. We aimed to have a civilised night as the rest of the holiday had been. Well. I will leave it up to the rest of you to decide how civilised it actually was. We sat over a drink and discussed things such as the Golf, the scenary and the lovely people withing this small town. Civilised...yeh? Then the guitar entered. This group of musical social drinkers sat down beside us. And well we had are singing voices on us and the whole of Downings heard us. Breakfast at tiffany's, The Eagles, Van Morrison, Inrique Eglasias, Oasis, Paolo Nutini, Jack Johnson. These Downings folk are literally the most talented people I have ever met. They literally play any song and make it their own as well as playing any instrument possible

....even a barrel.

The singing eventually got too much for the golfers inside and thus we got kicked out of Martin's. Not to worry though we continued the party outside. Literally outside the front door. The party spirit of everyone who was kicked out led to the party moving from their to the caravan site at which point mandalins arrived, along with harmonicas and...Spoons. The sing song continued along with the magical arrival of MORE alcohol. It was hard to believe that everyone made it until 7am the next morning but that is how it went down.





If you want a good time do you know where you have to go Downings and just make sure the surf club are there as well for that added experience.
xox

The Frost of excitement

August 2007 Snow Patrol froze all of Northern Ireland by holding a concert in Ward Park, Bangor.

June 2010 They return for some more Home BANTAHHHHHH!

When Bangor heard that there was going to be a return concert again this year there was a mixed reception. Many (like myself and the 71c-ites) were keenos and purchased our tickets straight away, others were sceptical and believed that it would be no different to other concerts. Inevitably, all those who were of the opinion that it was going to be rubbish were the ones queueing for tickets from 10am that morning.

The day started off with priority No. 1: Sunny weather and No. 2: the early preswall. Meeting the most cross aged party of drinkers is possibly the best way to start of a day like that. It also gives of the spirit that it really was a "Bangor" thing. Our table consisted of Sarah Boal, Sully, all generations of the Kelly and Church familly, Laura Kearney, Harry Thompson, Ross Anderson, Hannah, Crilly and Myself. The Salty Dog hosted a Crilly/ Davis drink off which I won and have the genie in a lamp prize to prove it(despite what all others at the table would suggest). At this point the buzz about Bangor was getting the most of people and the youngest members of the group decided that a sunflower sandwich was a must before the concert. Thus we bid our farewells to the group and made way on our journey.

Sunflower in hand, money from atm collected and several phone calls to envious friends made, we embarked on the walk to Ward Park. General Fiasco up first and all the keenos in the venue were just chilling to their beats. As the support acts kept coming more and more people began to stand...this is a major problem for myself as incase you haven't noticed...I'M TINY. This ceases to be a problem however when you meet your brother from another mother (Gavin "the legend" Duffy) who places you on his shoulders for what felt like 45 minutes. It was just enough time to see nearly the entire set of SnowPatrol (who put on a nice wee show complete with Gary singing in a Northern Ireland Shirt just to add the finishing touches). The concert ended with a bang. Literally. There were fireworks. Everyone had to agree upon what a quality day it had been.

Foxes vs Snowpatrol. This was the debate. Last time Snowpatrol came. The Foxes (my cousins) had a party as they live just off the golf course- a perfect distance from Ward Park. Many had argued that it was the best part of the night. I would have to agree for both years. Chip van there... bar there (complete with barmen) and plenty of people high in spirit from the concert led to a perfect way to round of the day. From the hunt round the golf-course for Gavin to the lessons for the older generations on how to pour student measures, everyone ended the day more fulfilled than when they started. Oh wait sorry I meant Full.

Snowpatrol 2010 was better than 2007. Maybe it was because I am older and can fully appreciate it, maybe the band actually put on a better show or maybe it was because I could legally buy my own carry-out, which ever it was has left a hard act for the next Snowpatrol concert to follow. Bangor will however be waiting eagerly.

xox

Get yourself to the Mclub...find yourself a...a....hmm?

Exams (for dosers subjects in Queens) are over and thus party time has begun all round. Despite my long standing stereotype of Mclub being Northern Ireland's equivalent to a cowboy convention it has never provided a bad night out. In fact, it is always the opposite. With the prospect of preswal at 71c-Mclub-Rain- Subway, it was inevitably going to be a good night.

"71c. 8pm. Pre-Swal. Be there". This was the text sent round the usual hallions with a disappointing reply from one such Gina McCune and Jacinta Connolly both of whom were still being boring and studying (they unluckily still have exams). The swal consisted of Cravis, Steph and two unbelievably drunk boys from Holywood, Andy Boal and Eoin Donnelly. The antics of these boys has led me to reconsider my friendship with them(JK) as Mr Boal fired our souvenir road sign into the neighbours garden...two houses away and all toilet rules broken i.e. a mass clean up was needed involving a complete change of outfit.

When everyone had become appropriately liqueured the Mclub was hit. We may have left slightly early thinking there would be a queue however this was unnecessary as when we walked in there were more barmen than partiers. It should be stated that this at no point is a bad thing and the only person to think otherwise would be the banker. The cheesiest music in the world was blasting...AND WE LOVED IT! When you get hit with that amount of cheese you can do nothing but run to the dance flo and that is what was done. On one such groovey train to the flo we found our English comarades, who despite being English know how to have bant. We were honoured that Stu-Roy had taken a night off dungeons and dragons to come party, although his failure to come to Rain sets questions on this matter. Other unexpected clubbers were the white equivalent Tiger Woods' (Jack and Zach) from the golf club and the Nixon twins who unbelievably seemed to be enjoying the music as much as the usuals.

Rain is always a good call. These are the words that everyone normally regrets the next morning. Eoin had been lost in Mclub due to an unforseen WKD/ Bouncer incident but Andy managed to re-emerge for an extra bant session. While Crilly had been lost upstairs for the guts of 45 mins a keen game of dares was taking hold of the beer garden. The conclusion to this is that Ben Reece does in fact have balls and is not affraid to use them (particularly on the same sex) ;). Tuesday was clearly the night everyone took off facebook as we literally ran into Killian and Rowan both off whom we haven't seen since they got evicted from Malone Ave a couple of months ago along with Dale and Kathy (pretty sure they are stalking me...I see them everywhere I go).

Subway. Well this basically consisted of multpile footlongs and and interesting Crilly/ Steph 6" face-off which can be laughed at now but at the time was not so funny. One thing was also clear -no one was coming back to 71. Not even if they were extremily quiet (Hannah had an exam the next morining). This conversation on a party at ours lasted 33 minutes with the same answer everytime resulting in a trusting AA DIzzle lift home and Crilly continuing the party in Dunmurray with Steph. Thinking of this all now I can't even understand how this was decided...it must have been a funny conversation to be eavsedropping in on anyway.

Tuesday night is THEE night. Everyone and their dog was out. I am almost hoping to re-enact it next week as the bant was in full flow. Sadly this may not happen. The English boys visas run out pretty soon I doubt they will show. Sure there is always next year lads. I am however thinking that Filthy McNasties needs a hit pretty soon but this will definately require a complete vintage look makeover... unlike mclub...

xox

FORE!

Golf and my family go hand in hand. At one time or another my whole family have played golf. My Granda never fails to remind us of his golfing days, My Granny taught me everything I know about the club etiquette, My dad enjoys the game(realistically his only form of sanity). This has led to all of the Davis girls being enlisted in the golf club. Bronagh was the let down. She is the one publically claiming that she hates golf whereas the rest of us just go with the flow. This year however is my year. I am making a comeback....actually realistically probably just my entrance. I am convinced I will definately play properly.

This IS my year. But I need to get way better and that just means practice. I needed to get myself a team. I called upon Sarah Boal and Fiona Sullivan to be my trusty companions. We decided, after a long time of talking about it, that Sunday was the day. A Sunday, it was literally a day of Sun and the heat was around a million degrees. So we arrive at Blackwood looking so cool with the golf clubs hanging out the back of Sarah's ginger mini convertable. The three of us kitted out right from the collared t-shirts down to the white glove. This was probably the only point at which we felt like true professional golfers.

Not much proper practicing was done but it was full of bant. The last time Sarah and I went golfing, 18 holes at a par 3 took 4 1/2 hours. At this point in my blog my granny would probably have a heart attack in hearing this due to her strict "You are behind the people infront, not infront of the people behind" policy. This time, despite there being three off us, we were determined to get round faster. This did happen but only because we played 9 holes. Most of the time was spent finding lost golf balls and my attempt on teaching Sully with what my minimal knowledge would let me.

Sully was a prodigy. Now when I say this, I am not talking about a golfing prodigy I am talking cricket prodigy. Despite all references made to Happy Gilmore such as, "It's all in the hips" and "Just tap it in" she still came out looking more like Freddie Flintoff than Tiger Woods. This would led me to believe that she has in fact missed her vocation and should immediately give up teaching and buy herself some white knitwear to fit in with her (soon to be) posh friends.

Blackwood were glad to see us leave. It is definately not the last time we will be there but next time we ARE playing 18. Until then we shall be "practicing" in ballyholme pitch and putt to practice our short game. I will however be tweeking this story slightly for any family member who asks how my golf is going. As far as they will be concerned Sarah and Sully play off single figures and we flew round the course due to our fantastic, consistent form on the course ;)...ah who am I kidding they all know I'm rubbish anyway.

xox

Clutter Chaos

Growing up with four sisters is bant at times. However, each one is more stubborn than the last. And my Dad. Well, he is the most stubborn man in the world (he even changed the password on the lappy so I couldn't go on Facebook. This backfired as the new one happens to be my spotify password! LOL!) This background information is important for the rest of this story.

Mum works in exhibitions. This takes her all round the world to such destinations as Dubai, Brussels, Dallas and the most recent Aberdeen. The one thing Mum expects when she comes home is a tidy house. To many, this would not be a big deal but one thing I must also mention is that the house did not begin tidy when she left, and in the past 4 months my sister Laura has found a new love for bring and buy sales. CLUTTER.com.

I took it upon myself (as I have mentioned my family are stubborn and my sisters are lazy) to de-clutter the Davis abode. I had no mercy. I came equipted with reinforced black bin liners and a spotify playlist to kill. Among the junk that I found, there were some pretty funny old items that deserve some recognition. For one some seriously bad pictures of my sister....I mean they are probably the funniest things I have ever seen with the whole bowl haircut/ Mitchelin man thing she has going on. I also found the log book that we had to keep in the run up to my First Holy Communion. One particular exercise was to state a time when you have been kind at home. I quote, "I am kind to my Mummy and my Daddy when I go and get them a beer from the fridge". This statement will either come as hilarious to you or you will think that I have alcoholic parents. Personally, knowing my Mum and Dad are not alcoholics I found it hilarious. It also explains the whole Catholic guilt thing. "Rachel, what is the next sacrament you have to receive?... well don't forget...God is watching you".

The tidying was eventually completed. Needless to say when I was done with that house, (being as stubborn as the rest of my family) it was completely de-cluttered and the place was well and beyond Mum's high standard. However, this was definately not a wasted day. Bronagh will never ever live down these photos or the threat that I may post them on facebook. And the rents... well I reckon it is there turn to pay me back and get me a beer from the fridge after that days work.

Student Summer...Ooo baby!

Going to Jtown definately(despite what all you Queen's snobs believe) has its advatages.

1.Summer Begins before Queens even start their exams
2. ULSTER RUGBY TEAM
3. We know how to party
4. Did I mention... ULSTER RUGBY TEAM!

After the procrastination weeks leading up to exams, the tests finally arrived to slap me in the face. Within my varied friend group we had the "Panic"ers, the "Fuck it"ers and the "Please let me have revised the right crap"ers. This resulted in a very interesting cramming sesh an hour before. The sesh led to me demanding for Jenna to stop talking as she was moving me from the "Please let me have revised the right crap"er's to the "Panic"ers further flowing into the "Fuck it"er's (with an added "It's summer in 3 hours").

The long walk to the exam made for an interesting journey. Mid the pre-exam routine of toilet, pencil case, ID card they were spotted. The Ulster rugby team. After hearing all year that the team train in the mighty Jtown, they had impectable timing. They managed to give every female student and lecterer within the vacinity a mild (and in Jenna's case major) heart attack. With such hotties as Andy Trimble and Niall O'Connor in tight white tshirts with their sculpted arms and chiseled faces you can imagine that any concentration that had manifested itself was now well and truely in shreds. It is therefore not going to be a surprise when every female participant of the Fundamentals of Management module scores a BIG. FAT. ZERO.

Summer has begun and was officially greeted with a "Here lad, took you long in enough to arrive!" . The exam did end and it was straight to the union (with a slight detour in an attempt to spot any linguring rugby boys)for and extremely overpriced alcoholic beverage. This just set the tone for the rest of the night. Thinking it would be funny, school theme in Parlour was on the cards, starting at 71c for the preswal. The "creative and innovative" spirit of the soon to be Marketers of the future led to the hula-hoops being used for a brilliant new drinking game, inevitably leading to 4 merry school girls reporting for duty. The night progressed as most of us digressed however most still managed to make it to Thompsons for further "O Baby its Summer!" loving. It is debated however as to how much of a good idea this may have been. Thompsons point of view- MAJOR boost in sales, Every marketer's morning after head- DEFINATELY A BAD BAD IDEA.

Summer has officially kicked off. It is literally unbelievable to think that first year has actually finished. I forecast that this summer is going to be the best yet. Many places are definately getting torn up within the next four months. To name a few: The obivous Half Price Wine Night(HPWN)- Bangor, Sense- Cookstown, Shennanigans-Portstewart, Kellys-Portrush, Somewhere in Donegal, Liverpool, Turkey and France. My only hope now is that the loan holds up for all this...

xox

Blig Blag Blog

Well this is a world pretty much the same as facebook... only status' can actually be paragraphs! I was introduced to the wonderful life of a blogger firstly by fellow surfer Gina McCune and then further bullied into it by flatemate/surfer and very bad influence Rachael Crilly. After many failed attempts of starting this bad boy up I finally started it...first day of summer 2k10 seems like a pretty good place to start documenting the adventure. Wish me luck...


...on seconds thoughts I'm going to wish you luck :D
xox