DarrenByrne.com

Okay, they may have made up for it this week, but that doesn’t detract from their massive fail.

G & C, you’re fired!

This week, Gav over on EveryDayIsElectionDay is running the live blog. I’ll be there, wearing bells. Will you?

Reminder: this week’s Apprentice starts on TV3 at 10pm, which means if you are planning to watch 24: Redemption tonight on SkyONE, you’ve got a problem. I say root through your attic and find some old dusty VHS tape and see if that video recorder still does its job. Of course, you could also try using that new fangled SkyPlus remote you got last year but are afraid to touch in case you break something…

Well, we knew it would come, but now it’s official – Warner Bros. has begun pushing Heath Ledger‘s performance in The Dark Knight as a contender for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards. I happen to think he deserves the nomination and perhaps even the win. I loved the movie and his performance in it was nothing short of spectacular.

So, now that the dust has settled on his demise and the movie is heading towards DVD, do you think he deserves the Oscar?

On Friday, a colleague of mine told me about a dream she had the previous night. I was in it. As was Lottie and strangely, so too was Darragh, who she has met only twice.

Doyle had gone missing and was possibly kidnapped, so Lottie, Co-Worker and I headed off to America to find him. When we got there, it turns out he was in hospital. Seemingly, to help people, he had donated some unusual organs that only he had. He died, of course, and this made us furious. We were angry with all Americans and blamed them for the death of our friend. So, to seek compensation, we went to one of those places that turns the ashes of the dead into jewellery (this service actually exists) and demanded that they turn the ashes of Darragh into a ring.  They apologised and, to make amends, agreed to do it.

They created a giant diamond ring (the size of a large watch) and with that Claddagh Darragh Ring, I proposed to Lottie and she said yes. Incidentally, all of the Americans looked like stereotypical Irish people – pale faces, curly red hair and freckles.

So, there we have it. What do you make of it?

Btw, this morning I see that my co-worker isn’t the only one dreaming about me – Jo is having dreams about us too.

Just clearing out my bookmarks and I stumbled across these two videos –

From Foley, this is what the Internet is made for (seriously, watch it all):

From Everything and Less, just amazing:

We got this flyer through our office door this week. I can spot four mistakes. There may be more.

For more, go here.

Colin Parry and his wife, Wendy Parry, set up the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace after their twelve year old son, Tim, was killed following the Warrington bombings by the IRA in March 1993. They set up the foundation to promote “the understanding, management and non violent resolution of conflict“.

Colin was at Chain Reaction to talk about his centre and the ongoing campaigning for peace, and Darragh Doyle had the opportunity to interview him. He claims to have been ill-prepared to conduct the interview, but he draws some interesting and inspiring answers from Colin. Colin Parry is an inspiration in the truest sense. How he can exhibit such peace and forgiveness after the loss of his son is the sign of a truly good man? If more people in the world had his strength, we’d be in a very different place today.

Pop over to Darragh’s site or check out the interview below:

“Sooner or later, we all encounter an error, Neo. You will have to make a choice – to send en error report or not to send one, but is there a difference?”

A wonderfully nerdy video from CollegeHumor.com

Like a lot of people, whenever there’s a raffle or a draw of any type, I am oft heard bemoaning the fact that “I never win anything at these things“. And Tuesday night was no different.

As the final scores of the Father Ted Table Quiz were tabulated, we were just hoping to come in the top half of the 27 teams (we came 13th). The raffle began and we were all anxiously gripping our blue raffle tickets. Anto was convinced his two strips (11 to 15 and 16 to 20) would net him something great. It did not. I had no such confidence in my two (21 to 25 and 26 to 30).

In reverse order they drew out six tickets:

First one – yellow ticket…

Second – yellow ticket…

Third – yellow ticket…

Forth – yellow ticket…

Fifth – yellow ticket (at this point one table had won three prizes)…

The sixth ticket was drawn – at last, a blue ticket. There were cheers from all the blue tables. I yelped so loud with joy for the blue ticket that I didn’t even notice that ticket number 23 was called out. What? I won? Woohoo!

€75 voucher for Fitzers Restaurant – all mine. 😀

I may have mentioned Hugh Laurie‘s House M.D. before. It’s a US TV show where Laurie plays the head of the diagnostic department in a training hospital. Each week, he and his team must find out what ails this week’s patient before they die. It’s very formulaic, but the characters are so strong and funny that it doesn’t matter. It really is one of the best shows on TV at the moment and has developed a considerable fan base. One of dem did this:

Thank you to Maybury for introducing me to the Dome at the top of Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre. It is now an Asian restaurant with great Sushi, Curry and Chicken Balls. Joyfully, the Green has now got Free WiFi which allows me eat lunch, look out across the park, find inner peace and play chess on Facebook, all at the same time.

Today has improved exponentially since I fell out of the wrong side of the bed this morning. I’m on top of things at work and am looking forward to the Father Ted Table Quiz this evening.

Tomorrow night, we’re going to see The Panel (thank you, M) and on Saturday we’re going to a house-warming party. On Friday/Saturday, I hope to see the other family, who are coming up to Dublin for a visit.

Loads going on. All is good.

Last night’s dream: I awoke at 2 o’clock in the afternoon at my desk in work. I was groggy and confused and wearing my duvet (at least I wasn’t naked). My boss gave out to me for being late.

Today, I am angry at my boss for giving out to me in my dream. Rational? I think not.

I was in two minds about going to the gig. I was still feeling unwell and my couch looked very inviting. But it was Dirty Pretty Things second last gig in Ireland ever (as they are disbanding at the end of their current tour), so I wanted to make an effort to see them.

Once again, proving to be a great drawing power, on Thursday November 6^th, Greystones Theatre played host to Dirty Pretty Things and three support acts.

Local boys, More Tiny Giants kicked things off with an excellent heavy rock set, but it was Apollo Sunshine who really got the night started. Their last couple of tracks, where they practiced group percussion, were particularly exciting to watch and the crowd returned the energy tenfold.

A short while later, Dirty Pretty Things took to the stage and a crowd of mostly younger people (younger than me, at least) went berserk. The band attracts a strong fan base and there was definitely a few fanatics in the crowd.

The first four tracks had me gripped. Frenetic, fun and bigger than the stage itself, these tracks showed the band at their best, better than The Libertines, better than Babyshambles. Following up with a couple of tracks that sounded like they could have been covers of songs by the Sex Pistols and The Clash respectively (I say this as a compliment), the band seemed to have great flow.

Then it seemed to die off somewhat. With the exception of the scary drummer, the energy dissipated and it started to feel like they were just going through the motions. When the lead singer of a supposedly bad-ass punk band asks, “Can you please move back a few steps”, you know they’ve lost their mojo.

For the last few songs I retired to the bar and for all the good the band were doing, I may as well be have been listening to the album on my iPod. The music was decent, but there was no energy or charisma in the live performance at this stage. Catching the last couple of tracks as I sipped a Lemsip in the bar, I wondered if the now tired band would have liked to join me.

Their music is good and they play well together. When their energy is high, they sound fantastic live, but if they can’t sustain that energy for one full set, then maybe it’s best they go their separate ways.

There is a lot of great gigs and events coming up in Greystones over the next couple of months including Cathy Davey, Director, Jack L, Brian Kennedy, The Dublin Comedy Improv and a lot more. I’ll follow this up with a full listing and give you some idea of the shows I plan on seeing. If anyone wants to join me, let me know.