Day 265 - Thursday, September 22nd, 2011

Today was the most wonderful of all manufactured days - Arthur's Day - where everyone goes out, drinks Guinness, and drinks Guinness. It meant that Guinness at Doolan's was just €3 per pint all night at Thursday Night Darts Club, which attracted 10 thirsty athletes. After many weeks in the darting doldrums, Jimmy "The Peach" Leach easily won his 10th TNDC title with a wondrous scoring display that included a 180 and 5 140s. Gar von Milky Bar also scored a maximum, making it the first ever TNDC where more than one athlete scored 180s - great success!

Infused with elation and success, The Milky Bar Kid insisted on continuing the festivities and thus we moved into town for a few Mojitos in Lafayette followed by a number of Super Splits (Captain Morgan and orange) at Q Bar until the wee hours.

Emotional, but certainly not tired - Milky Bar, The Dark Destroyer and The Anto-Christ

Contentment : 15.5 / 25

Excitement :    3 / 10

Memorability : 4 / 15

Overall Score : 45% (78th out of 265)

Day 264 - Wednesday, September 21st, 2011

Today I had the pleasure of lunch with my Aunt Elizabeth who is back from South Africa for the first time in a few years and was on a day's visit to Dublin. The eldest of 13 children, Elizabeth became a nun aged 16 and has spent fifty years in South Africa, working as a school principal in a township there, and now with Saint Vincent de Paul - a strong, courageous and inspirational woman.

Saba was the lunch venue, as we had eaten in its predecessor called Rajdoot over 10 years ago. We both had the Thai salmon starter which was huge and deliciously zesty. For mains I had the Thai beef noodles which were well tasty whilst Elizabeth polished off her Vietnamese Chicken Salad with aplomb.



Contentment : 15 / 25
Excitement :    3 / 10
Memorability : 4 / 15

Overall Score : 44% (88th out of 264)

Day 263 - Tuesday, September 20th, 2011

Figuring that after several weeks on release that all the empty vessels making most noise would have seen it, I ventured to see The Inbetweeners (6.5 out of 10) at the cinema, and my theory thankfully proved correct, with 30 well-mannered chaps and chappesses in the cinematic house - huzzah!

The film was full of laughs, most of them highly inappropriate, whilst the continuity and believability factor was largely wafer-thin, but no-one cared.



Contentment : 12.5 / 25
Excitement :    1 / 10
Memorability : 1.5 / 15

Overall Score : 30% (152nd out of 263)

Day 262 - Monday, September 19th, 2011

Nothing beats the start-of-week blues better than a spot of home cookery and with Dunnes Stores better-value-beats-them-all just yards away from my place of work, a quick diversion there on the way home provided all the required ingredients for a monumental beef stir-fry - 650 grams of steak, jar of pasta sauce, 200g of mushrooms, 5 red and green peppers, 3 large onions, fresh basil, 2 cans of chopped tomatoes, 400 grams of fresh stir-fry mix, half a bottle of hot sauce, coriander, chilli powder, curry powder, black pepper - epic win! And here it is!

Outstanding, even if it be said oneself......

 Contentment : 13 / 25

Excitement :    1.5 / 10

Memorability : 1.5 / 15

Overall Score : 32% (158th out of 262)

Day 261 - Sunday, September 18th, 2011

Another wondrous day of sport, with Rangers beating Celtic 4-2 in the latest Old Firm Derby, and Dublin winning their first All-Ireland Senior Football title for 16 years with a thrilling 1-point win against Kerry. With cabin-fever in the Lighthouse well and truly setting in, I fled to the Woolshed - Dublin's epicentre of live NFL viewing action - to watch my recently-adopted San Diego Chargers succumb to the New England Patriots. Conquer was also on hand to see his San Franciscan 49ers suffer a similar, though narrower, demise. But the atmosphere was excellent with a packed house full of fans of various different teams, and quite a number of advancely-refreshed Dublin football fans in attendance too.


The All-Ireland winners....plus a chancer fan who got onto the pitch afterwards!

Contentment : 13.5 / 25
Excitement :    2.5 / 10
Memorability : 4.5 / 10

Overall Score : 41% (110th out of 261)

Day 260 - Saturday, September 17th, 2011

The Ireland Australia Rugby World Cup game kicked off at 9.30am and was viewed from the comfort of my Lighthouse bed - for the first 15 minutes or so at least, until I burst into the front room to place a wager on Ireland at 10/3 whilst they led 6-3, so convinced was I of their victory. The convinction proved well founded, with the Boys In Green recording an historic maiden World Cup victory against the Aussies - huzzah!

Sports viewing and wagering proved to be the theme of the day, with a wager on Arsenal at 4/1 to score 3 goals or more against Blackburn - they did, but lost 4-3, and a bet on QPR at 5/1 to beat Wolves by 2 goals or more - they did so by 3! I don't think I have ever had such a run of success, so will embrace and enjoy it while it happens!


Victory!

Contentment : 15.5 / 25
Excitement :    3 / 10
Memorability : 5 / 15

Overall Score : 47% (56th out of 260)

Day 259 - Friday, September 16th, 2011

Although it was on Tuesday, today was decreed to be the official birthday of Signorina Lara Della Volpe - that's Miss Laura Of The Wolf for those of you who don't speak Italian. The Birthday Girl anointed the Sub Lounge to be the venue, with its bustling beer garden, DART trains roaring overhead, and most importantly of all, its €3.40 pints.

Beforehand, I met Johnny D in the nearby Dark Horse Inn for a couple of pints of plain, which were retailing at an incredible €3 each - expensive Dublin, my eye! Particularly enjoying the inexpensive alcoholic fare was a 6 foot 6 American, who kept coming up to the bar every 3 minutes to buy a pint, and by his last visit, he was swaying from side to side like a tall building after an earthquake.

Onto the Sub Lounge, and a large crowd as present, with many of them here to pay tribute to the birthday lady herself. Neil "Dutchy" Holland was in the house, as was Lady Zara McMullin, Danny The Swede, Terence O'Flaherty in a triumphant leopard-skin ensemble, Al Carroll, Baroness Ann-marie Ferguson and Trevmeister Underwood - a glittering array of starlets, I'm sure you'll agree.

Shinners and Damiano encircle the birthday girl

A Damiano escort from Signorina Lara!

Contentment : 15 / 25

Excitement :    3 / 10

Memorability : 4.5 / 15

Overall Score : 45% (76th out of 259)