Day 285 - Wednesday, October 12th, 2011

As the autumn is upon us, so increases the number of films viewed at Cineworld, and today, it was a double cinematic treat. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (6.5 out of 10) was enjoyable, but was hard (for me) to follow at times. Next up was Drive (8.5 out of 10), which is the best film that I have seen in years - frsh, brilliantly stylish and with an incredible performance from Ryan Gosling, who is fast becoming the De Niro / Pacino of our time. He was backed up by a very strong cast too, with Casey Mulligan and Bryan Cranston (Hal from Malcom in the Middle) particularly good. Film Of The Year, methinks!



Contentment : 13 / 25
Excitement :    2 / 10
Memorability : 2.5 / 15

Overall Score : 35% (177th out of 365)

Day 284 - Tuesday, October 11th, 2011

Today's major event was the qualification of the Republic of Ireland soccer team for the play-off stages of the European Championships after a nervy win over Armenia. Win the play-off and we qualify for the Finals in Poland and the Ukraine next summer, which would be fantastic, and which I will be very tempted to attend in some shape or form.

Contentment : 13.5 / 25
Excitement :    2 / 10
Memorability : 2 / 15

Overall Score : 35% (177th out of 284)

Day 283 - Monday, October 10th, 2011

Lunch was enjoyed in The Clarendon, fortifying me for my 2nd and final bout of lecturing at the Institute of Bankers, where a captivated audience of 150 people or so hung on my every word regarding the concepts and conventions of accounting. Truthfully though, they were very participative and cooperative, with absolute no-one spending any time whatsoever on the naughty step!

Contentment : 15.5 / 25
Excitement :    3 / 10
Memorabililty : 3.5 / 15

Overall Score : 44% (96th out of 283)

Day 282 - Sunday, October 9th, 2011

A lazy day which got slightly more active when I drove out to the Citywest Convention Centre for the final of the World Darts Grand Prix, betwixt Phil "The Power" Taylor and Brendan "No Nickname" Dolan, the latter of whom was the first Irishman to have achieved a place in the final. Although he didn't triumph, losing by 6 sets to 3, he did pick up a cheque for £45,000 - not a bad week's work! The atmosphere was good at the start, even though the crowd size was disappointing, numbering about 500.

Contentment : 14 / 25
Excitement :    3 / 10
Memorability : 4.5 / 15

Overall Score : 43% (104th out of 282)

Day 281 - Saturday, October 8th, 2011

A wondrous day of leisurely pursuits today, starting with a number of pints in the recently re-opened Cassidy's in O'Connell Bridge - a hostelry that comes under the category of "proper boozer". There in accompaniment were Conch-Shell, JD and Danny Son Of Hoon, and an Oscar-nominee quiz courtesy of Wikipedia provided the entertainment.

From there, a taxi to the RDS where Leinster were playing Connaught - walking in, we met the isolated forlorn figure of presidential candidate Gay Mitchell who decided to look the other way rather than greet us, even though no-one else was around. Tool.

The rugby game was highly entertaining, with Leinster overcoming a half-time loss to win comfortably. We then headed back to Conch-Shell's apartment in Bloodbank House for a Vacating Party, for indeed he is being evicted from there soon. Before the B-Listers arrived, we enjoyed some cannery and also witnessed Brendan Dolan's 9-darter at the World Grand Prix - the first double-start 9-darter ever seen on live TV!

The guest list for the Eviction Party was gigantic, judging by the number of attendees, which packed out the reception, kitchen and hall chambers, leading me to the discovery that I am quite claustrophobic, for their is no other reason that I would leave a party at 1.20am!

Contentment : 17.5 / 25
Excitement :    4 / 10
Memorability : 7.5 / 15

Overall Score : 58% (10th out of 281)

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)

Day 279 - Thursday, October 6th, 2011

In a new zero-tolerance approach to verbal faff, I'm going to restrict my blogs if diddley-squat happens. So let me reveal that today, pleasant as it was, saw the making of a large omelette as its most notable event. Nuff said!

Contentment : 13 / 25
Excitement :    0.5 / 10
Memorability : 0.5 / 15

Overall Score : 28% (165th out of 279)