Day 75 - Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

On this most glorious of weeks, Wednesdy is in actual fact a Friday, as tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day, and I'm taking Friday off too - huzzah! Lunch was celebrated with a rare external foray - this time to Thai Spice with Gar and Rory. The sun was shining and the sky was completely blue, making for a delightful walk to and from there across the Liffey. I went for the daily special - chicken with vegetables garlic and chilli. Naturally I asked for it to be made ultra-hot, but naturally it didn't make the ultimate heat grade, although it admittedly did have a very nice kick, and was tasty as.

Thursday Night Darts Club was brought forward to this evening on the occasion of tomorrow's most sacred feast day, and it attracted the highest attendance in some time, with no less than 9 athletes lining up at the oche, including stunning debutante Sinead O'Driscoll, throwing darts for the first time ever and making rapid progress in her game throughout the evening. The other lady athlete present, Signorina Lara Della Volpe, was in outstanding form again, hitting a 95 finish in the first game of the evening, which was not bettered all night.

Gar "Milky Bar" Kiernan's receipt of a rare all-night visa from Herself proved to be entirely justified when he walked off with his 2nd TNGC title of his career - a well-deserved accolade, although I had 9 darts to take it for myself and just couldn't hit the requisite double, so the 8-month title famine continues.

After a few very enjoyable games of cricket with Gar and Rory, I met up with Mark, Shane, Tom and Glen and headed to Tripod to see Carl Craig and Luciano. We opted for balcony tickets, affording prime dancing and vantage spots at the front right and access to the upstairs bar. The set was a very good one, with an excellent Latin beat flavour, and all too soon the 3.30am end came. Uncontent to leave it at that, we made the short walk to the Collosus Casino, where 90 minutes of blackjack was enjoyed, despite the best efforts of the most surly dealer ever - a South African chappie who clearly hadn't been to Casino Charm school, as he delighted in berating the many novices at the table. I was €80 up at one stage and was ready to walk when the figure when it reached €100 but it didn't happen, and the €80 was duly surrendered too, so it was time to take leave and retire back to the Lighthouse.

Lara with her triumphant 95 finish!

   A radiant new TNGC champion Gar (centre) poses with fellow athletes Mark and Rory

Contentment : 15.5 / 25
Excitement :    4.5 / 10
Memorability : 5 / 15

Overall Score : 50% (7th out of 75)