Ted's on a kick to prove he can cook, or something. Good Lord. He made a stuffed pork loin and braised leeks for dinner and followed it up with chocolate mousse with a raspberry coulis, which I greedily had two servings of. Ye gods. Dinner was one of those wonderful meals where the last bite was as good as the first one. I'm going to have to start ... restraining myself, or exercising a lot more, if he's going to be cooking like this. God in Heaven. *staggers around in a blissful food coma*

A large fit of discussion about who and how people were getting to Cobh this weekend was culminated this evening by the train breaking down, so Mom, Dad, Breic and Seirid are in Portarlington (they were supposed to be here for dinner) and we don't know if they'll be coming down or not. Deirdre and Gavin are on their way (and we should find something to feed them for dinner, because they do not eat meat), and I don't know if they know that their children aren't here. :)

Ted, earlier today, while we were trying to figure out who and when people were going to be here, said he needed to know *soon* so he could shop. Or else, he said, he was just going to feed Deirdre and Gavin *bacon*, and they'd have to cope. :) I was reminded of Mom and Dad and Deirdre going to dinner in Paris several years ago, at a proper French restaurant, and there was nothing vegetarian on the menu. So Deirdre asked if maybe they could make her something vegetarian, and the chef had to come out from the kitchen to look at this person who wouldn't eat meat. :)

I went into Cork to watch the Coraline puppet show, and met madmiss and a couple of her friends there, which was nifty. The show itself was also pretty nifty. The puppets were very good, and after a while you sort of forgot they were puppets, which is the hallmark of a good show, I think. The one complaint I had with the staging was I thought the pool-table-sized rotating stage they used (to great effect: when Coraline walked places, they spun the table, so she'd walk around the perimeter and the sensation of travelling was really very strong) could have been angled just slightly toward the audience so people in the first several rows (where they requested we sit, in order to see well) could see the things that happened on the surface of the table (like Coraline discovering the first soul, for example). But tilting it would've been problematic with the spinning aspect, I expect, so I'm not surprised it didn't tilt. I just wished it had.

I'd never been to a puppet show with ... well. Real puppets. Beautifully constructed, jointed pupets. Between the voice acting, the delicacy of the puppets' faces, and the very finely done movement, as I said, one forgot one wasn't watching something live, and it genuinely seemed like Coraline was emoting. That was pretty neat. I really, really wanted to take photos, but the lighting (in order to play down the puppeteers, I expect) was very poor, though certainly adequate for the puppets themselves. Just not good enough for photography without either a flash or being on stage. I wish I could've gotten up there to take pictures, 'cause it was really neat!

*laugh* Deirdre just called. To add to it all, the first bus was full so they're on the second one and running at least half an hour late. :)

miles to Isengard: 128