Day 297 - Monday, October 24th, 2011

I had today off and had many plans for it - cinema, hair-cut, darts trophy-hunting to name but three, but all of this went out the window with the fact that it was the rainiest day for over 40 years! Apocalyptic torrents of water lashed down all day and did not relent in the evening time, when I rather foolishly attempted to drive over to Austin Joanne and Adam across the city. I just about managed to cross the bridge before meeting total gridlock,and promptly turned around, but still spent over 80 minutes in the car for a journey that had no actual destination, unless you count the starting point! There were floods in many of the places that I passed, and Youtube had quickly-updated clips of water flowing down the stairs of Dundrum Shopping Centre - eek!


Dundrum Shopping Centre

Contentment : 11.5 / 25
Excitement :    3 / 10
Memorability : 5.5 / 15

Overall Score : 40% (148th out of 297)

Day 296 - Sunday, October 23rd, 2011

Despite the late retirement to quarters last night, breakfast was successfully negotiated, and with aplomb. The Newgrange offered a host of buffeted delights, with swathes of cereals, fruits, breads and freshly-fried slaughted meats to enjoy. After check-out, we sped to nearby Moor Park Golf Club - a basic but hilly and pleasant course for a round that started out pleasantly but soon turned inclement, with lashings of rain pouring down upon us. After 11 holes of penance, three of the four athletes decided that they had had enough, much to the fury of Daniels, who was having his best round of the year. There was little sympathy for him though, as he had prised over €30 from us by that stage. And as it turned out, the rain just got heavier and heavier.

Home by 4pm, the rest of the day was spent in an utterly splendid state of vegetation.

Contentment : 13.5 / 25
Excitement :    2 / 10
Memorability : 4 / 15

Overall Score : 39% (123rd out of 296)

Day 295 - Saturday, October 22nd, 2011

At 9.30am, Al The Almera was summonsed from motorised slumber to whisk myself, Conch-Shell, Daniels and English to the Metropolis of Navan for another epic golfing mini-break. After a warm-up on the driving range and restrained negotiation of George The Cantankerous American Club Pro, we were off and running down the 18 holes of Navan Golf Club - a longer-than-most racecourse-side affair. Thanks to magnificent play from Conquer, Team Trance notched up a magnificent and recently-rare win over a battling Team Ski. Conditions towards the end of the round were utterly vile, but this intensified the lustfulness for Guinness, which were wolfed down at our lodgings for the evening, the Newgrange Hotel. Dominoes were naturally the order of the early evening, and Team Trance reorded a sensational double victory on the day.

Eager to explore our environs, we moseyed outside and down to Smith's very fine tavern, which was in possession of a dartboard, ensuring hours of fun. Whilst at the bar, I missed out on 70th Birthday Cake that had kindly been distributed by the concelebrants in a nearby area, and took out my absolute fury on repeated wins at the oche. Smith's apparently are in no hurry to close of an evening, it would seem, for it was 3am when we returned to the Newgrange Residents' Bar for a nightcap.

Contentment : 17.5 / 25
Excitement :    5 / 10
Memorability : 6.5 / 15

Overall Score : 58% (10th out of 295)

Day 294 - Friday, October 21st, 2011

It's always nice to have an alcohol-free Friday evening, now and then, and today fulfilled this category, aided by a duet of cinematic offerings at Cineworld. First up was the utterly dire Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark (3 out of 10) with paper-thin continuity, hammy acting and a nonsense plot. Unbelievable that Guy Pearce would allow himself to be involved in such muck, and the child actor deserves repeated slapping, regardless of whether she was acting or not.

Thankfully cinematic redemption was close at hand with the opening-night viewing of Contagion (7.5 out of 10), an excellently-constructed disaster/epidemic movie about a flu virus that kills millions. The all-star cast, including Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow and Laurence Fishburne, were all excellent, with the exception of Jude Law, who wasn't quite believable in his role as a world-renowned blogger / excrement-stirrer. Although made by people who seem to believe that anywhere outside of the USA must be completely backward (especially China), the ability to create a believable scene of total chaos and disaster was very impressive.

Dinner afterwards of Big Mac & fries for €3.80 was utterly lush!


Poor Gwynny, under the weather

Contentment :  13.5 / 25
Excitement :     1.5 / 10
Memorability :  2.5 / 15

Overall Score : 35% (183rd out of 294)

Day 293 - Thursday, October 20th, 2011

This evening Doolan's simply witnessed a feast of athleticism, with no less than 14 competitors deciding to tog out for TNDC 103, the highest number since April of this year. John "The Equaliser" Delaney proved that his recently brush with the professinal ranks in Killarney has done him the power of good, with a 2nd title in a row, and another maximum 180 score, matched by Dean "The Dinosaur" Brennan. There were exciting scoring debuts for young Italian talent Daniele "Cornetto" Olmetto and the Pride of Kilnaleck, Garda Martin "G-Force" Donohoe.

The evening also saw the return of Austin "The Iceman" McEvoy after extensive paternity leave, and he brushed off the tungsten cobwebs with ease to gain 4th place on the night.

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

Overall Score : 44% (99th out of 293)

Day 292 - Wednesday, October 19th, 2011

In this new era of refreshing blog brevity, it is entirely sufficient to tell you that I woke, I worked, I walked home.

Contentment : 12.5 / 25
Excitement :    0 / 10
Memorability : 0 / 15

Overall Score : 25% (258th out of 292)

Day 291 - Tuesday, October 18th, 2011

Today I forayed to Dublin City University to facilitate some follow-up sessions for the strategic review of the Office Of Student Life, which oversees all of the clubs and societies in DCU as well as its Students Union. With its Student Centre, leisure complex, and any other relatively-new facilities, the campus is virtually unreconisable from those of us who frequented it in previous decades. Huzzah for progress!

Contentment : 13.5 / 25
Excitement :    2.5 / 10
Memorability : 3 / 15

Overall Score : 38% (161st out of 291)