Yes, it’s Friday, yes it’s time for the blog/newsletter/ inane ramblings of a much maligned but well meaning chap, call it what you will. And I sit here staring at the blank word document, well blank from here below, obviously I’ve written this part already...but you see what I mean.

Staring....

Two members of Brix staff have wandered into the office this morning and asked me what I’m doing. As confessing “staring at this blank thing” was hardly likely to elicit a sympathetic response I said that I was strategising. One of them widened it out to ask what it was I was doing generally and this brought me back to a visit to the Lake District many years ago, before children and mortgages, to stay with my future wife’s sister, her future husband and a band of ‘herbal’ outdoor types named Liddy, Coops and Parky B., collectively known as the Eskin Massive.

We arrived on a Friday night and went to the local public house, I think it was called the “Nervous Sheep”or something to do with arable farming...or foresty, it was that kind of place. I was immediately asked what I’d like to drink “A pint of Heineken , please.” (I should point out at this stage that at this point in my life I was very immature and had yet to discover all of the nuanced virtues of Guinness. I didn’t even like red wine yet. We only drank Blossom Hill Rose, which we called ‘Gummi Bear Juice’).

“ They don’t serve Heineken.” I was told.

“Oh, well, any lager they have on draught then.”

“They don’t have any lager’s on draught.”

“Well I’ll have a bottle of Heineken, or any bottle of lager” I hastily added the last part thinking that I’d speed up this process . But no.

“They don’t have any lager’s at all”

“This is a bar, isn’t it ?” I was beginning to think that we’d inadvertently stumbled into that bar in “An American Werewolf in London”, that bar was called ‘The Slaughtered Lamb’.

“What do they have ?” I asked thirstily. I was still trying to make an impression on Geraldine’s friends, but my thirst was testing my etiquette.

“Theakston , or Theakston Olde Peculier”

Being an adventurous chap I opted for the ‘Olde Peculier’ and just about lived to tell the tale. It was a flat drink, no bubbles, and not much in the way of flavour.

What was the difference between Theakston and Theakston Olde Peculier ? I hear you ask.

Well they appear to use more old socks in the making of teh ‘Olde Peculier’.

And where in heaven’s name is this leading to ?

Well , some times we have too many choices and things would be a lot simpler if we only had two in front of us. Certainly our life here at Brix would be simpler if we only sold one type of boot. I don’t imagine that it would be terribly successful , but it would be simpler.

So this weeks challenge is that you , dear reader, get to suggest the topic/theme of next weeks blog. And the lucky winner will get a Jack Wolfskin Gecko fleece and much applause.

So email me with these two answers :

1.What should next week’s blog be about ?

2.How much is a Jack Wolfskin Gecko fleece ?

On the merry walk back from the bar to Eskin Farm after copious amounts of ‘Olde Peculier’ and accompanied by a few bottles of Newcastle Brown Ale, or “Bottles of Dog” as they were bizarrely called , I got into a mumbled conversation with Coops sister.

“What do you do?” she asked

“I sell shoes” I replied matter of factly.

“No, what do you do?” she repeated, a little condescendingly.

“ I work as a sales agent , selling shoes to shops that they then sell...in their shops”

“No , not work, what do you do ?” she asked .

“I’m very sorry, but I have no idea what you’re asking me”

“ Do you paraglide, climb, mountain bike, fell running, canoe ?” she asked, she was that sort of girl, no perfume, great strong legs.

“ Oh, I play golf occasionally.” I blurted.

She turned away in disgust and didn’t even look at me for the rest of the weekend, let alone speak.

Like a naughty puppy I trailed after her a little and half heartedly told her that I had played squash at school, but it was a lost cause.

And so for a second time in my life I’m faced with answering “What do you do” .Answer in 2 weeks.

Cheers,

Paul

P.S. This week I have beenlistening to The Beastie Boys. Sad to see Adam pass at th eyoung age of 47. This link is to Sabotage

P.P.S You'll need to watch this too to make sense of today's title The Frog and Peach

All across the world today, from Bacau to Ballybay, from Qingdao to Quiglough and from Mogadishu to Monaghan, home of Brix workwear, Monaghan’s 4th largest workwear store, people are celebrating Star Wars Day. Tonight will see marathon viewings of the entire Star Wars series on DVD, copious amounts of popcorn will be consumed and yes , I’m afraid to say, there will be light sabre battles.

Oddly our dearest brother Darth has no time for such shenanigans, even this drawing had to be sneaked past his Sith-like powers of censorship:

(For those of you who have lived under a rock since 1977, the common greeting among the Jedi in Star Wars was “May the Force be with you”. So someone though that the pun of ‘May the 4th’ should herald an international celebration of Star Wars.)

(Interestingly in the 2001 census in the UK, the first to ask a question about an individual religion, over 250,000 people entered their religion as Jedi Knight. Technically in some areas of the UK this made Jedi the 4th largest religious affiliation.)

And what is the connection to work wear?

None, absolutely diddily squat. I just thought it was much more interesting than the piece that Darth had asked me to write on Haix Chainsaw boots. I did write that article and for those of you workwear masochists out there , you can read in on Ezine by clicking this link.

I had thought about writing on the origin of the international cry for help “Mayday !” , which originates from the French “venez m’aider” , literally meaning ‘come to my aid’. But that’s as far as I got.

Anyway, where was I ....workwear, really? Exactly. Quite.

If Darth Vader was to wear a pair of Haix Boots, which pair do you think he would wear?

Answer that question for a chance to win a Carhartt tee of your choice .

May the Force be with you,

Paul

P.S. This week I've been listening to R.E.M's 'Bad Day' which is a wonderful swipe at rolling 24 hour news and what masquerades as journalism today.

P.P.S. Obviously the synchronicity of May 4th, and Brix being the 4th largest work store in Monaghan is not lost on me.

Somewhere within the deepest darkest reaches of Brix Workwear, Monaghan’s 4th largest work wear store, there hides a smiling Johnny Brix in his big pink Easter Bunny outfit.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it is to find him, click on him and find out what his favourite Easter Egg is.

You then have to email me the answer and also tell me what's your favourite Easter Egg and why. My own favourite was the Smarties Easter egg. A deliciously simple Easter egg with two halves of milk chocolate and a wee bag of Smarties inside that seemed to be a little more exotic than your regular common or garden Smarties that you could get all year round.

Every entry will result in a triple pack of work socks being donated to www.Homeless.ie and one entrant will win a fantastic prize of a Carhartt Easter hamper in celebration of their 123rd birthday this week.

The prize consists of a Carhartt jacket, trouser and tee of your choice.

Carhartt have been sharing their gift of stupendously brilliant, hardworking and long lasting work wear with the world for a staggering 123 years now. That’s giving it the same vintage as the earliest car companies, cinema, Coca-Cola, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the founding of Oaklahoma city, the Wall Street Journal’s first edition, the US only had 38 states at the beginning of 1889, Preston won the inaugural football league, the Kodak camera went on sale for the very first time and in Cavan the Anglo Celt newspaper reports on a Gaelic football match between Killinkere and Crosserlough as “More like a contest between 42 dangerous and ferocious wire haired lunatics than any competition”.

The world has turned many times since 1889 but Carhartt’s quality and the standard of football discipline in Cavan remain the same.

Happy Easter !

Paul

P.S. Clue to find Johnny "Bunny" Brix is on our Facebook page

P.P.S This week I'm listening, and stamping my foot to The Hives "Tick , Tick, Boom"