I'm so happy, cause today I found my friends...

Have been rediscovering my angst ridden youth this week, listening to the king & queen of the grunge scene - Kurt & Courtney and their respective bands.
I think it was a pre-requisite of any alternative teen in my day to own at least one 'smiley face' branded hoodie or t-shirt. There is something magical about Nirvana's MTV unplugged session - hearing & seeing the emotion during 'Dumb' just gets me every time... thank ye YouTube!

Have made up a CD for my epic drive down to Wales this weekend, which will actually be the longest drive I've ever made, at 90 or so miles... there's a bit of britpop in the form of Pulp & Mansun, some Pearl Jam & Metallica for rocking out to, and some Phil Collins for a cheesy singalong (Sussidio has me going everytime!) Perfect. Even more perfect would be if I could drive without needing a sat nav, then I could just plug in my IPOD... making up a CD seems rather archaic in this day & age...

Animal killing scum

Sadly, there has been a lot of stories in the press lately about animal cruelty - from the sad state of the horses rescued from Millbrook Farm, to the woman found piercing her 'gothic' kittens.

I'm incensed to hear of a recent case of extreme animal cruelty from my hometown of Carrickfergus. For the 2nd time in as many years, one of the town's swans has been viciously killed. The first offence was an act of idiocy from a man struggling to handle 3 pitbulls at once - the second offence is of a much more sinister nature.
Last Thursday, one of the beautiful birds was found dead, with a crossbow arrow in its neck. The police are 'investigating', and the culprit could be fined up to £1,000. A potential £1,000 fine is not enough for deliberately taking the life of a protected bird, a bird which was part of a couple & had recently had sygnets.

Carrickfergus Council however are not blameless for this incident occurring - the area in which it happened is under policed, badly lit and a black-spot for anti-social behaviour. Until the area is cleaned up, these kind of thuggish acts will keep occurring. Let's hope the remaining swan & babies are kept safe...