"Free to those that can afford it, very expensive to those that can't"

On Friday, I took off out to Wicklow for a wedding, and I come back today with a bruised liver, a slightly soiled suit, an ingrown toenail and mild constipation from the amount of rich food and drink I consumed over the past three days.

Three days kicking it around Greystones and Glendalough. Three days of sitting around Glendalough House, getting drunk on champagne and canapes, going for naps in the library. Three days of hanging out with people I only knew from their various neuroses. Three days of feeling like Uncle Monty.

It’s so nice to be back to normality. Don’t get me wrong, this was by far the most interesting party I’ve ever been to, never once veering towards “dull”, and I loved spending a few days feeling like a member of the landed gentry, but by 10pm on Saturday I was ready to kill someone for a Diet Coke that didn’t have alcohol in it.

So, what have I missed?

Technorati Tags: glendalough, Ireland, personal

Broadband Update

Nearly four months after moving in, we’re nearing the end of our broadband saga. Smart sent us our modem and login details. So, I plugged the phone into the wall socket in our bedroom - no dialtone. There’s another wire coming up through the wall in our living room, presenting Cat 5 - I wired together a socket using the usual combination of blue -> red, white/blue -> green, but to no avail. In desperation, I yanked the face-plate off the wall socket in the bedroom and found that it wasn’t actually connected to anything.

Smart were very nice about the whole thing, merely remarking that the whole situation was “very unusual” (a very diplomatic way of saying “My word, you’re a moron for not checking this earlier”).

Either way, Eircom engineers are on their way out to us and we should be hooked up by next week.

Kiss me like the ocean breeze

In just under an hour, I’m leaving Dublin and heading to sunny Sligo for a weekend’s surfing and camping. According to Met Eireann, it’s going to be rainy and windy (42km/h). Perfect for the surfing part of the weekend, not so great for the camping part.

For the rain-delay parts, I’m bringing a few things to read:

• Bear V. Shark - Chris Bachelder

• Image of the City - Kevin Lynch

• Screen Burn - Charlie Brooker

Of course, there’s a very good chance I could die out there. Whether it’s from exposure, or at the hands of a crazed, knife-wielding maniac. Or maybe even in a really nonsensical, over-hyped way, Blair Witch-style. Or perhaps just from embarassment as I make a complete ass of myself on a surfboard.

Either way, if I don’t make it back, avenge my death.

Something for the weekend, sir?

A few things before I disappear for the weekend (still no broadband at home!)

BBBQ

The weather being unnaturally sunny and warm, and I being Irish and a slave to tradition, we’re having a barbeque tonight. As well as making tabbouleh, babaganoush, Moroccan pork chops and the old favourite: cheeseburgers, I’m hoping to approximate the taste of the chicken wings from Elephant and Castle, which are easily the best in Dublin (Magruder’s on Thomas Street taking second place).

Games

My copy of Everyone Loves Katamari arrived today, and I’m hoping to give it a good blast over the weekend. But my back-log has reached the point of panic. I’m also in the middle of playing:

• God of War Gameplay is fast and kinetic - you can literally tear your enemies apart in a shower of blood. “Contains Strong Bloody Violence” indeed. The sex mini-games are slightly embarassing, however.
• Destroy all Humans Bought cheap in Game. Not the most spectacular game ever, but worth the occasional look. Amazing physics though :)
• Midway Arcade Classics 2 I bought this purely for Hard Drivin’_ and _NARC, two of my favourite games when I were a lad.

To top it all off, my girlfriend and I are playing Silent Hill 2 together (her: to prepare for the upcoming Roger Avary movie; me: because I just can’t play that game on my own).

Cycling

I bought a bike last weekend, and have been making the most of the freedom it has given me. It has broken the chains of lunchtime bondage - Spar/Centra/Mannings (virtually the only places to get lunch on Thomas Street). I’ve been zipping into Blazing Salads for lunch and eating it in Stephen’s Green, and have been gorging myself on their baked tofu and goat’s cheese pizza.

So far, I’m please to say that I haven’t really been in any major scrapes, touch wood (touches wood), but if you see someone on a grey bike whizzing past you and he looks like he’s not really paying any attention - watch out! And sorry!

Worst smelling street in Dublin?

Since moving apartment, I’ve had to change my route to work. Now, I walk down the road beside the Guinness Brewery - Watling Street, which takes me onto Thomas Street.

In a city full of foul-smelling streets, I would like to nominate Watling Street as the foulest. Imagine the smell of a pub at closing time. That smell of spilled beer starting to congeal and sour. Now imagine that condensed to the point where it causes you to gag. And throw in some sewage gas for good measure. That’s what Watling Street smells like.

It’s so bad that I’m considering changing my route to work - going five minutes out of the way just to avoid going down this street. I just can’t put up with the flash headaches and nausea caused by that awful smell.

Or am I wrong? Could there possibly be a worse-smelling street?