Thursday 6 January 2011

Today I Almost saw an Almost Duke Special

I'm completely new to this whole blogging thing! I'm not too sure where to begin, although I think the most amusing thing that happened to me today would be a good place to start. I think I saw Duke Special in town today... I think. You see the thing is that I can't really focus more than a few feet in front of me without my glasses, which I never wear, which I should wear, as it would stop silly things like this from happening again! I still don't know if I saw Duke Special, but I like to think I did. Who is Duke Special you say? To those of you who aren't Northern Irish, he's a singer/songwriter from our part of the woods. I should also point out that he is really fantastic, the best thing to come out of this country musically since Ash, who are rubbish now. Sad times. Go check him out on Youtube, avoid recent Ash stuff though!  

Anyway, so there I was with my friend lurking in an alley way waiting for a lift when I thought I heard her say "Duke Special." (I should mention that my hearing isn't great either, so this combined with my inability to see makes me really dread old age). Thinking I misheard her, I shouted really loudly, "Duke Special? Where?"  My immediate belief was that she had read a poster for one of his gigs or something on the wall facing us, as usefully, her eyesight is much better than mine. I didn't think that she meant literally 5 metres in front of me and about to cross the road. I got a response in a whisper, "There, there!" combined with a gesture that I think was meant to be pointing, but not obvious pointing (she failed! lol)... if that makes sense. I spun around, and there, emerging from the darkness was this guy (or possibly woman) hunched over with their hands in the pockets of a black steampunky looking jacket, and from what I could make out, long ginger dreadlocks.

Now this is where it gets awkward! I think I locked eyes with this person for a good few seconds, the entire time squinting like a granny to try and focus on their face to see if it actually was the legendery Duke himself, or possibly just a really big fan who copied his signature look. I still don't have an answer, and I probably never will, as my friend looked away and hid behind the collar of her coat. We clearly don't cope well under the pressure of possibly seeing possible celebrities! So, now... fantastic! I love the Duke and if that was actually him walking down the street he was probably thinking, "ahhhhh!!! Who is this freak squinting at me!" Oh dear! Bad, but awkwardly funny times! Of course I burst out laughing whenever my friend showed me what my face looked like when it registered with me what she was talking about, as the mystical, shadowy, possible Duke Special walked off into the distance at a fast pace. This carried on for a good few minutes as we discussed how hopeless we would be if we did actually see a celebrity walking past us. One of us would hide as the other quints awkwardly. Oh well, at least I was having a good hair day. It could've been worse.

So... my apologies to you, Mr Duke Special, if you ever stumble across my tiny corner of the internet. Sorry for staring at you like a lunatic! Apologies also to you poor random stranger if you weren't the Duke, I hope I didn't make you too uncomfortable! oops! ^_^