Friday, January 28, 2011

The Panama Canal 2011

After experiencing New York snow and all that goes with it, I was delighted to wake this morning to the confirmation, that this time next year, I will be cruising as a "special guest" with Phil Coulter on his Tranquility Cruise. It is due to go from the 16th of January from Fort Lauderdale, FL for eleven days.
The cruise line company is Holland America and the ship is the Zuiderdam. For those interested in coming on what always proves to be a fantastic trip, I will post a link as soon as I have one. I hope to see you all there!!

Things are moving fast for me since leaving the tour at the end of December. Obviously there has been the campaign for Dancing With The Stars, and hopeful as I am, I feel we may be struggling. This is not to say I  have given up as I believe it would be a great thing for me to do. Mainly because I think it would be great fun but also because it would be a good career move too.

With regards to a new album. Things are already in motion and I hope that I will have a deal soon. These things take time, however, rest assured I am working around the clock to ensure I have one out before I hit the road with some gigs. The gigs are being worked on too, and as like everything else so far, you will hear it first here on this site.

Heritage is soon to be released and much like you, i will be looking forward to sitting in one night and enjoying it as a "Thunderhead"! My commitment to Celtic Thunder stays strong and I hope the show and album goes really well. I met Sharon whilst George and Ryan were here and they were all very excited about it. The PBS station visits start soon and I must say I will miss going from one to the other having the fun on air. From talking to Sharon, there will be a lot of ground covered on this trip!

Today I head to price some mac's as the hole on my screen from a candle burning through is really beginning to annoy me. I thought I would be able to ignore it, each day its annoying me more and more! So, like ripping a plaster off a hairy arm, I am going to have to just go and get one!
After that, its the gym, as I have been trying to get back in shape the last couple of weeks and its been harder than I thought to get motivated!!

Tonight will possibly be a night at the cinema as I haven't been in a couple of weeks and I am having withdrawal symptoms..........any suggestions?????!!!!!!!!!!

Either way, keep well and warm
My Loves
My Doves
My Eggs

Paul
x

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Boston Celtics

So after a visit to Ireland I thought I would write you a short little blog to fill you in.

I gotta say the idea of flying all the way to Dublin and back for a stag weekend seemed like a great idea at the time. Im not sayng I wouldnt do it again, but next time I will make a week out of it as its too far to go just for a weekend.
Long gone are the days in Ireland where a stag was a one night event. Now its a whole weekend! Myself and the boys I went to school with are still the very best of friends. There is a group of 20 of us that are still very tight so needless to say, when we get together it is a lot of laughing and play acting. Not to mention a lot of drinking! Much and all as I enjoyed it, I am still wrecked from it! At 31, two nights in a row is a stretch.
We went to a lovely place called Carlingford and I would strongly recommend it to anyone visiting Ireland.
I came back yesterday to New York and slept for the majority of the flight. This I was delighted about. However, for long distance flights, I dont recommend Delta. Very cramped. Cramped is only good if your cramped up against someone you love!!!!

Since coming back I am licking my wounds from the weekend. Went to bed early last night  and slept for Ireland. So well in fact I got up today full of intentions and got a lot done. However, got my schedule mixed up and missed an appointment in Manhattan. Not cool. On the up, we got a lovely plant for our living room.Theory is if we can keep it alive for a few years then we can consider kids!!!!! As for the appointment, All is good, as it was re-scheduled. I made up an excuse as good as "the dog ate my homework''. Either way they bought it!!!!
My main news which goes with the title of this blog.....I can confirm I will be singing the National Anthem for the Boston Celtics on the 16th of March in the Garden! I am so super excited. Its my first biggie of the year, so lets hope it aint the last!! Delighted to share this news with you all as you have all been so supportive in everything Ive done so far.

With regards to DWTS, I am going to get my people to contact ABC soon, so the more votes in, the better. I do appreciate the campaign and I promise if I get on, i will make it worth your while!!

Off tomorrow to IKEA to buy more furniture. Fun until you get home and try to assemble it!

Love ya all
My loves
My doves
My eggs!

Paul
xxx

Friday, January 7, 2011

New Year

Every time I sit to do a blog I always try to remember where I left off on the last one, then I remind myself, who cares, just go for it!

So first and foremost, happy new year to you all. I hope 2011 brings more good times than bad, and at the end of the day, thats all we can ask for.
New Years Eve was an incredible night for us in New York. After finding out that a friend of Dominiques was a friend of a boy in blue, we ended up under the Crystal Ball after a few jars in a bar off Time Square. Couldnt believe our luck. Then when the clock struck 12 Sinatra is belting out "New York" across the speakers and glitter is falling all around. Very emotional and without doubt the best New Years of my life. Lets hope 2011 started the way it means to continue. However the next day my head was telling me it was gonna be a bag of mixed emotions!!!
Dominique's brother Daragh was over for the week too which was great as we hadnt seen any family all Christmas. He ended up heading back on Wednesday and left with so much of him wanting to stay! Who knows what is down the road for him.

Since the holiday celebrations have come to a halt it has been full steam ahead. Lots to do. From getting back in shape to shaping a solo career again. It seems a million years since I did both. I went for an assessment yesterday and was told my body fat was 24%. So I wasnt too upset. My target is to get down to 20% so that I can get rid of Zak Effron and grow my hair like Boobie Beiber!!

As for the career, there is so much to do and all at once. Hence why contact has been inconsistent. Some days are full of "things to do". Little things that can take a while to do. Like sorting out booking agents. In order to get gigs sorted I need to make sure i have the right people on the job. One way or another I am working very hard to get some gigs booked on both sides of America and hopefully even one or two in Canada. As soon as I have any news on this I will of course let you all know.
The other thing I am sorting as well is a new album. I have two ideas for a great album so hopefully one will be out by the Autumn at the very latest. Which lead me on nicely to ABC's Dancing With The Stars. To say I am flattered by the amount of votes you have all lodged on their site would be an understatement. After so many of you seeing the clips from "Jigs and Reels" and leaving positive comments I have decided to accept the challenge. However, all we need is for ABC to accept the challenge too and put me on. I would be delighted to do it and with that I have people working on it. Whether something comes of it or not, Time will tell. One thing is for sure, I would enjoy mixing it up in LA and giving you all something to laugh at on a Sunday evening. How funny would it be if we were all competing against some of the big names in LA. I wouldnt recognise any of them which in itself would be quiet amusing! Lets just watch this space. If you fancy leaving any more comments or e-mailing ABC on my behalf I would be delighted.

http://abc.go.com/shows/dancing-with-the-stars/cast-season12/ThemeGallery/657085#abc-comment

Then if after all this bombarding, we may have to try a different tack. Lets see! However, Thank you all so much.

Today I started a weekend long convention here in the city called APAP. Its where artists of all genre's gather and sell their shows to theatres. Although I am not selling anything, its proving to be very informative and very beneficial as the world as his mother seems to be at it. Today I sat through one or two "classical crossover" performances and all I can say is.........well actually better not. Im sure there are people out there who love all sorts of music but what I never understand is why artists dont try and make their talents more easy going. Some stuff is far too high brow. Even for my eyebrows!! Either way, its very admirable to see so many people out there giving it their all and not giving up on what they believe in. In a way, it was oddly inspiring as I suppose there are people who listen to me and find what I do high brow. Yet when they give me a chance, they realise it aint too bad. Kinda like Chinese food. Weird for a lot of people until they try it. Fair enough if it repeats, but at least ya tried it!! I digress!

Next week I head home for some family and friends time and I am really looking forward to it. Mom has promised me the full "Christmas dinner" and my grandma is coming too. Jack and Kate have a glow in the dark globe beside their bed and every night they say goodnight to Paul and Dominique in New York. Soon they wont have to and I am bursting with excitement to see them. Especially cause Jack is into Star Wars now. Which means lots of Santa's toys for me to play with. Kate is still looking up the chimney for her make-up. Her mom assures me, Santa didnt forget it, it was never coming! Maybe Uncle Paul can, which would really set the cat amongst the pigeons!
The other reason I am heading home is that I am groomsman to one of my best friends and his stag is gonna be epic!!! This ladies and gentlemen I wont be telling you all about. So when you dont hear from me next weekend you will understand I am sure.

Before I finish I wanna talk about Celtic Thunder. With the snippet released this week of "Heritage" it stopped me in my tracks. I forgot. I forgot what it was I was a part of, and to a huge extent, still am. I am immensely proud of what I did with the boys. This show I think is gonna be great. I had a lot of fun recording it and hope it goes multi platinum for the boys. Its my last recording with the gang so really hope it does well. Celtic Thunder  have a very busy schedule ahead promoting this and I want to take this chance to wish Emmet all the best. He has a lovely voice and is a nice guy too. I hope he enjoys the ride and gives as good as he gets. I know you will all be very supportive to him in what must be a very daunting task joining a band of brothers this far in.  The boys will be great with him I know. Gotta admit, would have loved a trip to Australia, but them's the breaks! Give it socks Emmet.

Anyway, keep well people, here's to 2011 and hopefully I will have news for you soon. Just know, that I am out there trying very hard. I always will.

Forever yours
My Loves
My Doves
My Eggs

Paul
12.00 NEW YEARS, NEW YORK