Looks to me like the Dogs are alco’s and gagging for a naggin of whiskey!

Is that a record?

P.S. This is pretty cool. I’m writing this from The Moorings Pub in Dungarvan, Co Waterford. Eircom has a scheme where you can get free wi-fi (until next April if you’re a customer) in various locations around Ireland. The Moorings is one of those places. It’s a nice bar (it does food too) and it’s even better now that they have internet access.

Actually, I wasn’t asked for any passwords etc so I think The Moorings had free internet access anyway and maybe they’re just piggy-backing on the Eircom scheme??

There are two episodes of Heroes on BBC2 tonight and I’ve a six pack of beer. And now I need a pee!

I was forced to listen to the Dublin V Kerry match on the radio today. My favourite quote occurred when a Kerry player received an injury in an off-the-ball incident. The commentator said: ‘I didn’t see what happened. I stress I didn’t see what happened so he may have injured himself falling over’.

Afterwards, in the pub, as the Dublin fans (in their jerseys) watched the Man United soccer highlights on Sky, one fan shouted across the room at his mate, ‘You’re an arselicker’. The mate, deep in conversation, interrupted said conversation and roared back, ‘Arselicker? Me bollix!’

In both cases, all I could think of was, ‘The mind boggles…’

Or maybe it’s a cunning plan? A normal person might not be able to read the sign but a drunk staggering up the road might be able to read it as he weaved from side to side?

I have to admit there’s a better class of wino on the Southside. As I cycled from town out to Dun Laoghaire, I was surprised to see them on the beaches ‘happy out’ with their cans of beer. They really seemed to be enjoying themselves and they weren’t threatening to anyone. It was a different story when I returned to the Northside.

On Dorset St, three police officers in two cars were watching over an unconscious junkie until the ambulance arrived. He was wearing all his clothes, and he wore the hood of his parka jacket up over his head. Maybe he needed to sleep and the hood was to keep out the sunshine? Still, it seemed to be a pleasant interlude in the afternoon sun for the three Guards and the sleeping junkie.

So, on the way home, I saw the excellent ‘come-on’ in a bookie’s window:

Bet €10, Win €330

The small print read:

…but only if Ireland beat Slovakia 3-2.

I rang the ‘one who knows‘ about football and gambling and his sage advice was that both teams were ‘shite‘ and ‘pigs would fly‘ before either team could score 2, let alone 3 goals, against any opposition. I took the bet anyway because, if nothing else, I’m an greedy optimist.

Being an optimist, I went for a pint in my local pub to spend my winnings before the match. There’s no way I’d spend good money on beer actually watching the match. One of the barstaff is Polish and she’s very good at her job. However, the regulars are convinced she’s Portuguese but she’s adamant she’s Polish. Sometimes it’s like a pantomime in there – “Oh yes, you are!” “Oh no, I’m not.”

Anyway, an English guy ordered a lager with lime (cordial). She misunderstood him to mean lager with lemonade. He got a bit annoyed at the mistake and mildly shouted, ‘I wanted a lager with lime. The lime comes out of a bottle‘. She got a bit flustered and started muttering under her breath as she re-made his order. I tried to comfort her by making the joke, ‘Bloody foreigners, eh!‘, as I indicated towards the English guy. I thought it was funny/ironic but I’m not sure it was received that way. Oops.

Although the amount of teenagers drunk/getting drunk during the afternoon was a bit worrying. Then again, I am getting old!

I took quite a few photos today and eventually, I’ll add them to a flickr set called Paddy’s Day 2007.

And I’m sure Behan would be proud that the place is littered with beer cans and broken bottles. It just occurred to me that you don’t see 2-litre cider bottles around anymore. I wonder if they were banned?

Don’t know if this is true but wikipedia (link above) says:
His last words were to several nuns standing over his bed, “God bless you, may your sons all be bishops.”

Last line #1: Yes, sleeping with Prince Valium makes every morning feel like Sunday morning. The downside is I only have nine left. The comments are very funny as well!

Last line #2: Tomorrow, the government launches massive campaign to find out why people don’t sunbathe in Ireland.

Read ‘em and weep…