Day 280 - Friday, October 7th, 2011

Holiday! Celebrate! Even if it is just a solitary day. The afternoon's festivities commenced at the Dark Horse Inn, where the Guinness wasn't great and one of the two customers apart from myself and John was the habitual drunkard who apparently lives there. He had a giant Elastoplast on top of his head, and his face in his hands - not the prettiest sight in the world. Onwards to the Sub Lounge, where the €3.20 black porter was eminently more tasty, the clientele more eye-pleasing. Next stop - MacTurcaills, for more porter, and their rather excellent €5 beef bourgignon special. Joined there by Danny Son Of Hoon and Conquer von Concacaf, our party was now fully assembled and ready to taxi it out to the CityWest for World Grand Prix Quarter Finals night.

The crowd was bigger (about 2,000) ensuring an excellent atmosphere, and the €15 pitchers of Coors Light were emptied with aplomb. First up was Brendan Dolan who got the home crowd going with victory over John Henderson (kind provider of my 9-darter dartboard) to become the first Irishman to reach the Semi-Finals of a Darts Major. The evening also saw wins for James Wade, Phil Taylor and Richie Burnett.

Another taxi back into town, where we headed for the cocktail delights of Lafayette, and we were joined by Gar von Milky Bar and his advancely-refreshed brother-in-law for magnificent banter.

Conquer and Son of Hoon clutch a picture of their beloved Andy "Pieman" Smith

Contentment : 18 / 25

Excitement :    4 / 10

Memorability : 5.5 / 15

Overall Score : 55% (16th out of 280)