Sons of the Desert Convention in Dublin

If during the weekend of August 24-27 you encounter a large bunch of strangers in Dublin walking around wearing a Fez – or should I say fezes? - on their head giggling madly, then you will have met the attendees of the 8th European Sons of the Desert convention.

The Sons of the Desert are named after the eponymous comedy film starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. This society celebrates life and work of those two comic geniuses and now has a large number of international affiliates.

In the film Stan and Ollie manage to get a weekend away from the nagging wives and attend the “Sons of the Desert” Lodge convention. I hope you don’t need to resort to all those lies and deceptions that they’re up to if you want to join the society’s first European get-together in Ireland.

Start saving now as the costs are €419 per attendee…. though these cover the accomodation as well as all the dinners. More details can be found here.

Something to look forward to

Keith Barry is touring Ireland again and will perform in the Everyman Palace in Cork on January 21.

Can. Not. Wait.

Bearduary, Belfast

No New Years Resolution in mind yet? How about growing a beard?

The Bearduary Elders have chosen Belfast to be their venue of choice for their 2007 event. The plan is that on January 01, 2007 you stop shaving and develop a proper beard. You capture the progress and on March 02 at a yet to be determined venue a shaving ceremony will take place and a prize will be handed out to the person with the most creative beard. The number of participants is restricted to only 25, though some places are still available, so check out the rules soon if you’re interested.

But remember: Gentlemen, only!

The Lee Swim

The Lee Swim was an annual swimming event through Cork City from 1914 until 1942. Due to the worsening water quality it was then moved to Monkstown and discontinued in 1987. Last year, during Cork’s reign as European Capital of Culture and as a sign of confidence into the new drainage system, the swim was relaunched and drew 110 swimmers and crowds of more than 5000.

This year, on July 22, the swim will again take place. I am very tempted to participate, but must admit that I am not that confident about the water quality. True, in 2005 even City Manager Jack Higgins participated proving his own confidence in the river’s new found cleanliness, but I still vividly recall seeing tons of goo floating on top of the water. I still shudder when I see people fishing in the Lee, let alone swim in it!

Anyway, I still got time to think about it. A course track can be found here, application forms here.

A Day at the Matches

Went to see the Heineken Cup Quarter Final Rugby match in Lansdowne Road between Munster and Perpignon on Saturday. For the last couple of years I have heard about the fun that can be had on those rugby events, so I thought it was about time I’ll try and see what it’s all about.

Well, to cut to the chase: a completely disorganised mess is what it’s all about.

My ticket was for the East Terrace 3 section. When I arrived, the entrance was like an overbursting bottle neck with people pushing and shoving to get in. The gates to that section ended up closed and I was asked to move first to entrance ET2, then ET1, then to some seated area.

Needless to say anytime I arrived at those gates the orderlies knew nothing about those arrangements. There was no co-ordination or dialogue whatsoever between the people in charge, some of whom were quite obviously at the end of their tether and reaching a state of panic in front of the masses.

When I finally was allowed to enter the Terrace rude security personnel instructed us to move to other areas when no movement was effectively possible and people (including some obviously frightened young’uns with their dads) were already seriously squashed and unable to move anywhere.

A little bit of info about me: I am 6’4. I’m the guy who blocks other people’s views. I’m simply not used to not being able to watch what’s in front of me. Yet, after just a few minutes into the game I caught myself watching the action on the stadium screen as I couldn’t see a frigging thing otherwise. The only difference between my watching the match in a pub and in the stadium was that I was drenched and frozen from the rain and did not have a pint in my hand.

Needless to say I left just a quarter of an hour into the game. Initially I thought it was just me being overly critical, but most of my buddies – all hard core rugby fans – soon joined me after the first half. They all agreed that this was the worst it has ever been!

This really is a recipe for disaster: With gates being closed down in front of the spectators and quite obviously way more people on the grounds than should have been allowed in, a minor incident could have easily turned into a tragedy of giant proportions.

Well, Munster won 19:10 and will play Leinster in three weeks time in an all Irish semi-final. If last Saturday was Bedlam attending the next match will be a masochistic delight. Based on Leinster’s amazing performance against Toulouse, I’d say they will kick Munster’s arse. And if I watch it, I’ll do so from the comfort of a bar stool.