Linton's First Paddy's Day

The day started as my most sober Paddy's day ever. Due to working at the Spring House and Garden Show in the RDS, I managed to stay completely sober until 7pm. By the time I was finished in the RDS I had the serious jitters and a pint in Crowe's with work people was definitely in order. After two in Crowe's I strolled half way to town before getting a bus the rest of the way. Met Concrete COlleeeeeeeee outside Trininty and after briefly dropping off some gear in my gaff we wandered to Bruxelles to meet Fi et al. Bruxelles was packed and feeling very behind the others in terms of alcoholic influence, Col downed a double vodka. After one or two and a bit of dancing to such anthems as Another one bites the dust, It must be love, Jailbreak, and Viva Las Vegas, we all headed outside to decide on the next port of call.

We called the Germans who were in McDaid's for some reason but alas this didn't result in seeing them. I made use of Fi's artistic skill in the form of a shamrock on my left cheek and an Irish flag before we all headed up to Hogans. Not a whole lot of interest here but the place was rammed again. Close to midnight, myself and Col went back to Trinity to sign him in. Heading back to my room for a quick toilet stop we spied the tennis courts looking particularly inviting. We wouldn't be the men we are if we didn't stop for a quick game. Since Ro ro ro was being a knob and wouldn't lend us some floodlight tokens the game was played in the dark. Still in the same way as Pool and Darts I actually played my best ever game. No doubt due to the alcohol content in my body. WHile we were playing, a group of people were getting into a car. They asked me and Col to join them which were well up for until we realised their intended destination - Dandelion! We politely refused, finished up our game of tennis and headed back to Hogans to be reunited with the others.

Possibly the funniest thing happening in Hogans was when I heard a loud crash of many drinks and glasses hitting the ground and smashing. Looking around, I saw Fi's cousin on the floor and insisted knowing what had happened. I was expecting that he had been punched or had an epileptic fit or something that could explain him making a mess of the bar but it turns out he had literally just fell due to being polluted. As he was feeling somewhat embarrassed about the whole thing, Col tried to shut me up and stop me from insisting what had happened. Alas his subtle gestures were unnoticed and I continued to publicise this event. Unfortunately we were situated directly in front of a fire exit and random annoying punters kept trying to use it as a regular exit despite our cries of "It's not a door. IT'S NOT A DOOR!!"

When Hogans closed, Fi and the othes went home. Not ready to end the night yet, Col and I headed up to The Palace to meet Jennie and her mates. Hands down the most embarrassing part of the night was getting refused access to The Palace albeit only because it was full. It was waiting for Jennie outside the palace that I had a random encounter with Jeeban. Although I informed Jennie why we weren't getting into the palace she still had to verify for herself. So then it was on to The Village and on the way I bumped into my old tennis partner! Unfortunately, as COl just reminded me, I never had a tennis partner so I've no idea who that actually was on the street. I also have a vague recollection of smoking a cigar like a joint much to the interest of passing Guards. There was quite an older crowd in the Village and I felt quite young however we then went downstairs to where Jennie's friend was DJ-ing and that was much better. We danced to some funky music and when Michael Jackson's thriller came on, some randomer turned into a zombie!? Thankfully Jennie confiscated my phone and I was spared the opportunity to send drunken texts. We sat down and chatted after that and a bag of minstrels and a bag of wine gums mysteriously appeared from nowhere! I don't know who was adminstrating the sweets but all I know is that every few minutes a wine gum was stuffed into my mouth. I was talking to Pauline who I assumed was French. After a lengthy discussion about the Wales V France rugby match tomorrow I eventually discerned that she is in fact Belgian.

After being kicked out of the Village we headed for obligatory kebabs in a place that began with a Z. Kebabs were good but people were weird. Memory was seriously vague at this stage but I do recall a dodgy chat with Jennie about a certain other lecturer in the institute. Walking home, Col and I stopped into a newsagent where we were asked what the result of the England Ireland match was. When we arrived at the front gate of Trinity the security guard informed us that he was feeling "terrific" before heading on to 18.0.01 and to bed.

I sit writing this blog entry the next morning with a star on my forehead and drinking a glass of red wine.

Now away with ye...

American Pie Tribute Party

Apologies for the delay in this blog entry. Bloggy has suffered at the hands of final year project. Still better late than never and what a night it was! I'll disclaim now that this account may contain gaps where my brain shut down its memory record functions and may be inaccurate due to distortions in my memory record.

I recently moved into room 18.0.01B in Botany Bay and was obliged to celebrate with a flat warming party. Fi came round at 7 to cook up some delicious vegetable stir fry with minging LIDL rice that tasted like ground. We spent the next hour or so chilling out with cans and lemon jelly till Cathy arrived. Nik was next and for a while it seemed that I wasn't as popular as I initially thought. Thankfully several of Mike's crazy English friends turned up and the place began to feel more like a party. One by one people started turning up and about another hour later the place was like a tin of sardines. It seemed impossible that so many people could fit in the apartment but another hour later, the number of people had doubled again! I was slightly wary of campus security prowling around outside but I soon learned to ignore that fact and just enjoy the party. Whatever was to be would be. The freaky armless baby featured greatly throughout the night making many more friends than anyone else. It was also used to demonstrate the art of mouth to mouth resuscitation. Like I said before, thanks to my old friend alcohol, specific events of the night may have slipped my mind. I do however recall spending some time chatting to the beautiful Fiona Wilkes. The one memory that stood out in my mind was Mike's speech. I've no recollection as to what he was actually saying but I do remember him lifting his glass of red wine in toast and it spilling all down his t-shirt before smashing into a million pieces on the carpet. Literally one second later, a bottle of buckfast had already been thrust into his hand and he was guzzling away. Classic! It was then that I realised this party was going to be mental and decided to shed my concerns of damaged upholstery and irate security staff.

One event I was recently reminded of by Fi was her display of maverick. Once I had informed her that the carpet was already stained when I moved into the apartment, Fi decided to take advantage of this by blatantly pouring her beer all over it. "You're a maverick!" I exclaimed. My brother Rog was also there and at one stage he looked as if he had seen a ghost. I went over to him and he was all shook up. Being the concerned brother that I am I asked him what was wrong. It turns out he was recovering from a drunken chat with Karin that has left him scarred for life. He's still dealing with the trauma. Speaking of Karin, she seemed to be getting pretty close to Gepetto at one stage. Her level of drunkeness was confirmed as soon as she asked me to give Gepetto her number. I was happy to oblige much to her distaste the next morning. As it was getting closer to midnight it was time to kick everyone out and into Doyles. Again, memory is vague here. I did, apparently, spend some time chatting to Fiona Sinead and Niall. I remember one stage Niall assaulting me and trying to drag me upstairs to see Mike. I was uninterested at the time but I still wonder what it was that got Niall so excited that he practically kidnapped me to bring me upstairs. I left Doyles somewhat early due to my Godfather's father's funeral taking place first thing in the morning. Fi also left early thanks to an early morning drive to Cork and while we were walking down Dame St we had quite the tiff! I got back to my room and had a vague idea that I was fighting with Fi yet couldn't for the life of me remember why! A quick text to Fi and we were friends again but I had to wait till later in the week before finding out what the fight was about. Quite funny but probably shouldn't repeat it here...

Thanks to everyone who came. Was a great turnout from all walks of life. Was great to see Emma and Karen there from Rathmichael as well as other Emma and other Karen. Thanks to Ronan for bringing girls. Thanks to Mike's friend for the white chocolate buttons. Thanks to Ailbhe (Dave) for the Yop.








Now away with ye...

Blocked toilet

Well. So much has happened since the last entry. I am now currently residing in Apartment 18.0.01 Botany Bay with a slightly untidy yet very pleasant guy called Mike. In addition to this I recently found out that Present Arms are to play Trinity Ball 2006 mainstage at midnight. This pleases me greatly. A win for Ireland against Wales at the weekend coupled with England losing to Scotland pleases me even more. My first night in my new apartment was interesting. I celebrated with a few(!) cans up in Clares with the usual suspects before heading on down to The Mezz. At roughly 1.30am I joined Fi in Charlies 3 for some quality Chinese cuisine before heading off to spend my first night on campus. The next day I awoke to the sounds of rioting and sure enough as I looked out my bedroom window onto Pearse St I witnessed an outbreak of pandemonium. Guards running everywhere dressed in riot gear trying to keep northside scumbags at bay who were doing everything from smashing in shop windows to burning cars. Many people were running into the thick of it however I decided to take the advice of my parents and stay indoors well away from it all. On Sunday I finally got to meet my flatmate Mike of which I was feeling quite aprehensive as I was told his name was Constantinos!

Although plans were set in motion to have a flatwarming party this Friday, as I arrived home from work last night, Mike and his mates were busy getting stuck into a few cans. Far be it from me to pass up a cool alcoholic beverage so I legged it over to Londis for a few cans of cheap Czech Lager. Unfortunately our toilet took a turn for the worse and as most people know, cheap Czech lager + blocked toilet = Mess. Still we did well running back and forth from the Buttery for all our excretery needs and midnight saw our departure from the gaff to a pub on Dame St whose name escapes me right now. Multiple pints of guinness followed and I slowly but surely began to realise that the next day might be a write off. Back at the gaff after being chucked out of the pub, Mike, being the nice guy that he is, whipped us up a batch of his famous pancake batter. A couple more cans of Pravscy later and I was off to bed with no intention of making Data Mining at 11am. Party at mine on Friday!!!

Now away with ye...