So, without any (further) delay I am happy to reveal to you who has been crowned as winner of the 2007 In Fact, Ah Six Nations tipping competition, lower is better.

Tom 287
PMC 307
Jap 330 (Closest Prediction France -v- Scotland -10 points)
Cahony 332 (Closest Prediction Wales -v- England -10 points)
Da Rossie 363
Egardoo 393
Francie 414
The Salmon Of Knowledge 420 (Closest Prediction Italy -v- Ireland -10 points)
Incognito 430
Barabus 508
Dae 510
Gib 524
Colm 529
Murray 682
Bull 744
The Slippery Orange Ballcock 777
Lorenzo 779

Thank you to everyone who participated and congratulations to Tom who has cemented his integrity as owner of the best sports blog around these here parts.

I'd like to give a big shout out to Francie, who managed mid table mediocrity despite predicting defeats for Ireland in every single one of their games. Better luck next year Francis.

So, yesterday saw the announcement of the Six Nations Fixtures for 2008. 3 home games for Ireland, France and England away, culminating in a St. Patrick's weekend trip to Twickenham. Will Eddie be at the tiller come that time? There is the biggest challenge this side who have been together a long time now will ever face looming in September on French soil. It's impossible to predict where we will be regarding players and coaching staff next year - at the very least this was most likely the last six nations for some in the fold.

I was at Croker for the Ireland -v- Slovakia game on Wednesday night. Nice atmosphere, great to be there under lights, but the bloody Ole, Ole-ers were constantly trying to get the Mexican Wave going all throughout proceedings from early in the first half. How is a sports fan supposed to catatonically stew on that botched restart defence and the exact spot of turf where it happened with a bloody Mexican wave constantly going on. Some people...

So, for this evening and tomorrow's Heineken Cup games - I certainly fancy Munster against Llanelli. Jones is back fit at 10 for the Welsh region and the always effervescent Dwayne Peel will be expertly dishing out and taking on ball from the deck for the Welshmen. After this it's hard for me to see where Llanelli are going to win this game from. I've no doubt Munster will have their game heads on and the outstanding form of Simon Easterby along with his cohorts in the back row are likely to be severely tested by what on paper is a mouthwatering Munster backrow of Quinlan, Leamy and Wallace. Quinlan in particular will still (rightly) harbour ambitions of making Ireland's World Cup squad and he was in frightening form for Munster before his suspension earlier this year. He'll really have eyes for Easterby all day to make his point.

I'm a little surprised that Larry Murphy (aka Leifemi Mafi) has made a berth at centre ahead of Barry Murphy but we'll see how that pans out. With Halstead and Cullen (who looked the sharpest I've seen him in a long time against Ulster last week), Ian Dowling and John Kelly, the Munster backline cannot be taken for granted.

Munster by 9.

Leinster will face a much sterner challenge in the form of London Wasps tomorrow. Add this into the fact that Leinster have not really proved their battle hardness on the road this season (particularly in their last encounter in the Heineken Cup, away to Gloucester). The BOD is absent but the planets that normally orbit him in the Leinster backline are in situ and having the seasons of their live to a man. Wasps backline is extremely flaky in comparison and there is a sprinkling of inexperience at this level thoughout the side.

Cheika has been progressive where Eddie was conservative in managing a missing O'Driscoll. The exciting young prospect Ciaran Lewis fills the man's boots and Horgan is left in his most devestating channel at wing. It's a crime that someone of the talent of Mr. Contempomi has been idle for the past two months and I'm sure he is chomping at the bit to get back into action. It's lucky for Leinster that the genius of Contempomi is only matched by his reputation for being one of the hardest 10s in World Rugby, and himself and D'Arcy shouldn't have too many problems keeping a paternal eye on the more slight Lewis in defence.

Regarding the respective packs, it's going to be a huge ask for Leinster to get near parity in the forward domain. Wasps can name proven world class campaigners Ibanez, Vickery and Dallaglio among their eight, while Leinster rely on their sturdy back row incumbents Gleeson, Heaslip (both hoping to be in France in September) the useful Keogh and a multi-national tight five who will need to put in the performance of their lives lead by the fit-again Mal O'Kelly. As we all know, Leinster can win this game without parity up front, but the forwards cant afford to do bad things all day either.

Keep an eye out for Eoin Reddan who by all accounts is having a storming season for Wasps at 9, Issac Boss, are you watching? Peter Bracken could also be launced from Wasp's bench and is someone O Sullivan should definetly be looking at to give some Test time in Argentina in the summer, we should have plenty of seats for prospective props on that plane. Bracken impressed greatly in what was otherwise a horrid display by Ireland A against the Saxons a few weeks ago. We say, more please.

My heart says Leinster but my head says...

Bah, Leinster by 5.

tags:rugby

Published by Paul.  

It came up in polite conversation recently that associate Euzie and his better half were mindful of how zombie-proof an apartment they were viewing was. It was deemed to be much better equipped to keep out zombies than the ill-fated Winchester.

This lead me to ponder the unlikely situation of a zombie attack on In Fact, Ah contributors. Who exactly would survive and who become a zombie and instantly improve their beauty score?

When you've finished reading, let us know in the comments if you think you'd survive or become a zombie.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PMC: Likely to attempt to blaze his way out after being backed in to a corner. As everyone knows, this positioning is flawed and can only lead to ruin. Preferred weapon of choice would be a Tommy gun.

Verdict: Zombie

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Francie: Being an agile dancer and the possessor of many moves (most notable being the ski dance), Francie stands a chance. But you need to keep quiet sometimes when zombies are about so as not to alert them to your presence. Francies is the sneezer. Most likely of the group to take the piss out of and antagonise the zombies. Weapon of choice would be fart gas.

Verdict: Zombie

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

El Commandant P: May use coconut creams to lure zombies away from a potentially dangerous situation. The voice of reason in the group, El Commandant P has the potential to see the greater picture. The only danger lies in the fact that he may feel pity for the zombies and compromise the survival of the group. Weapon of choice can only be a Kalashnikov.

Verdict: Survival

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Paul: First to obey the rules of zombie defence. Certain to have a catchy two-line chant for when the zombies are defeated. Escape plans might suffer from paralysis by analysis. However, most likely to point out that zombies can't run very fast and that it's possible to outrun them in tight spaces. Weapon of choice would be a mobile phone with Star Trek gun capabilities.

Verdict: Survival

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Dae: Zombies usually only operate in densely populated areas but sometimes they stray further afield. The country boy in Dae might lead him to think that a hayshed would be a suitable fortress and we all know how flawed that logic is! Weapon of choice would be a hurley.

Verdict: Zombie


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Colm: I'm the most likely to take everything I can get my hands on and lock myself in a room, leaving the other In Fact, Ah'ers without any protection and ultimately hanging them out to dry. Also most likely to sob while rocking in the foetal position. With no strategy and stress getting the better of me, I'd make for tough meat for zombies. Almost a dead cert to pretend that I wasn't bitten and go rejoin the others before tricking them into going to a graveyard to hide. Weapon of choice has to be a dagger hidden just under my cloak.

Verdict: Zombie


tags:zombies

Published by Colm.  

I see a large number more lives and families will have been ruined or at best badly damaged by a major road traffic incident on the M7 today involving a pile up involving at least 20 vehicles.

Just yesterday morning I had the distinct displeasure of having to negotiate the entire M4 extension from where the dual-carriageway starts at Mullingar changing to motorway specification at Kinnegad and on past the toll and onto the old part of the M4 motorway outside Maynooth.

I can't really remember ever being so seething behind the wheel at the blatant stupidity I saw yesterday morning. I've seen some stupid things in my time, including being directly adjacent in the line of traffic to a head on-collision caused by someone nodding off at the wheel at 50 mph, plus all the usual little things you see that annoy you on the road day to day.

Yesterday morning, I'm sure almost identically to this morning, was foggy as hell. Visibility was down to 5-10 meters in places on the motorway. Now, a real bug-bear of mine is people not lighting up their full dipped headlights early at dusk, or leaving them on long enough at dawn. It certainly makes a vast difference to your ability to read the road, even if you're not very concious of it because there's half-light or more from the sky. Another more minor bug-bear of mine would be people not turning off fog lights when they've exited out of foggy conditions at night. Those things really blind you.

Yesterday, I saw something which goes way, way beyond this. I saw car, after car, after car, doing on anywhere from 40 - 80mph on the M4 in 5-10 meter visibility with no lights on whatsoever in the early morning half-lit extreme fog. Ah sure it's half light already this dawn, my lights won't aid me any more with seeing the road in front of me!

Yes, not drivers who forgot to turn on their fog lights in the conditions but 10s of drivers with no lights on at all!. I was thinking to myself how dangerous a position I was in on the motorway and how I could so easily come to harm through no fault of my own in the event of a pile up. As I'm sure some of those involved in today's accident probably were. Some responsible people who thought that this morning on the N7 ended up tangled in a metal heap (maybe dead, maimed) with fucking morons who didn't even bother to have any lights on, never mind their fog lights on.

My blood boils too much to be rational about this.

[End Rant]

EDIT: Some selected quotes have emerged from people involved in today's major traffic pile-up, which confirm what I suspected about the lights issue. It's hard to imagine anyone doing something so astoundingly wreckless in any other facet of everyday life with other innocent people's lives than driving along a motorway in fog with no lights on. You wonder with common sense this bad, is driver education ever going to get anywhere?:

Tow truck operator Tony Hennessy who was removing smashed vehicles from the road today - “It’s absolutely crazy – There’s about 50 cars, and they’re all written off, every last one of them. Never in my life have I seen such a thing and it’s purely bad drivers in fog not slowing down,”.

“They were driving along with no lights on – I met loads of them. They were driving too fast, flying along in thick fog and they couldn’t see their hands in front of them.”

A woman on her way to work told RTÉ Radio: “Traffic was really heavy and there were motorists with no lights on and doing big speed... I suppose cars were doing 120 in the fast lane, but they weren’t allowing for the weather conditions and there was a lot of motorists with no lights on.”


tags: driving

Published by Paul.  

So this Friday sees Ireland take on England in the Cricket World Cup. After a shocking performance which led to a humbling defeat to the Windies in the last of Ireland's group games, we really are looking for a bounce-back performance against Engerland to restore our pride.

Coverage starts at 3p.m. on Friday on Rupert Murdoch's favourite cash-cow, a wonderful opportunity to settle into a bar stool of a Friday evening, with Irish Heineken Cup action to come later that evening aswell. Colm, I hope you have a green shirt of some description at the ready?

I thought I'd post today to give everyone time to learn off the chant the Irish fans will be using for the game against England in light of Freddie Flintoff's recent comical foray into the ocean:


Way, hay up she rises,
Way, hay, up she rises,
Way, hay, up she rises,
Earlye in the morning!

What will we do with the drunken sailor?
What will we do with the drunken sailor?
What will we do with the drunken sailor?
Earlye in the morning?

Put him in the scuppers with the hose pipe on him

Hoist him aboard with a running bowline

Put him in the brig until he's sober.

Make him turn to at shining bright work.


tags: cricket

Published by Paul.  

Seriously, what's going on with the water situation in the West? I have a theory that the supply has been contaminated by politicians cacking themselves in fear that they'll be found out and end up like The Stroke, Michael Fahy.

Sydney set to stage a blackout for an hour to highlight concerns over global warming.

Sinead Gleeson takes over the late morning slot at Phantom FM for the week. Apparently, she's wearing stripy pyjamas while presenting. Well worth a listen.

Google's acquisition of YouTube may not have been the best investment since after all. Personally, I mainly use it to view traditionally produced video content.

I had the pleasure of hanging out with JoePaolo and the Sunshine Brigade this weekend. Check out their MySpace page. I just dare you not to tap your foot to 'Kilim'.




tags:sunshinebrigade

Published by Colm.  

Spring is an anxious time for dance music afficionados the world over. No more so than in the fashion world, it's months in advance that the likely boys and girls make their pitches for dominance of the big season a couple of months down the road. This year's Miami Winter Music Conference is in full swing as I write, ploughing the road as the largest dance music industry conference. Unfortunately In Fact, Ah's travel budget couldn't quite stretch stateside this March (El Commandant P and myself will give you a good first hand account of Primaverasound in Barcelona come June though, thanks to El Commandant P's logistical forsight!). Anyways, if you need one picture worth a thousand words to understand Miami Winter Music Conference check out this party-goer!

In Miami each year in March many tracks will see their first tentative steps towards mass dancefloor consumption via hot off the burner CD-Rs nonchalantly slipped into DJ sets. A lot of what we European's remember as _that_ moment on a dancefloor in 2007 see their first light outside gestation in and around Miami WMC time and we will dance to them in Berlin next New Year's eve and wonder at a majestic 2007 for losing ourselves on a dancefloor.

Today sees the release of a very much anticipated record (pitchfork called, they want their hype back!) by Swedish artist The Field titled From Here We Go Sublime on Cologne's uber-prolific and super-duper Kompakt Records. Some of you may have had your interest piqued by appearances for The Field on recent Kompakt compilation releases Total 7 and Pop Ambient which included some stand out early cuts from The Field. Maybe this release is what Kompakt buddha Michael Mayer was smiling about so much at his recent tearing down of the Temple Bar Music Centre. Many watchers of the electronic/dance music savannah had penciled in Gui Boratto's recent release of the excellent Chromophobia (also on Kompakt) as the event of the spring in the world of full length artist albums. Sorry about the dig in the ribs from your label mate Gui!

The Field's pitch for the sound of summer 2007 melds so many grade A components together so beautifully that it already is a very convincing strike for the defining sound of the year and yes, it’s March just now. The Field is Axel Willner of Stockholm and a lot more:

My Bloody Valentine-esque?
Nathan Fake on MDMA?
Anyone for a nice warm cup of shoegaze ambient techno?
Glacial nordic soundscapes a la Sigur Ros?
Full on pop punch-in-the-guts immediacy similar to the raft of Swedish indie-pop we saw in 2006 from the likes of I'm From Barcelona and Lo-Fi-Fnk?
Slowdive meets The Postal Service?
If Enya ever parties, do you think this is what she gets her funk on to?
Shifty scandanavian introspective pitstops reminiscent of The Knife?
M83 with 4/4?

Resident Advisor said in a 5/5 review:

"This is music for imagining a utopian future to, for dreaming of running through alpine fields with that cute girl on the other side of the dancefloor and for hoping that this tune lasts forever and you never have to open your eyes. Simply stated, it’s truly beautiful music. At this point, words run out... The Field knows some deep magic, the likes of which we probably haven’t seen since the ‘90s heyday of ‘Selected Ambient Works’ or ‘The Brown Album’. Frankly it doesn’t really matter what music you’re normally into, I think you still need this record. It’ll make you a better person."

As much as I want to be at a party in Manhattan and listen to James Murphy grind a room down in de(FA)-lerium after LCD Soundsystem's Sound Of Silver, that really is just North American Scum compared to this.

This is an album parameterised by labels such as nu-Trance, Microhouse, Minimal Techno etc. But with this one, there are no barriers as often encountered by new listeners to figureheads of the minimal/micro genre such as Villalobos. You don’t need to be on the shiniest new candy out of a backstreet East-Berlin illicit narcotics factory and on a sunlit dancefloor in a post-industrial decrepit techno hell-hole/heaven near Ostbahnhof at 10a.m. on a Sunday morning to be struck by it (although I’m guessing that’s gonna work preeety good too). Get it, listen to it on a sunny morning on the way to work. Melt away.

For all the beautiful harmony, stick-a-fork-in-me-I’m-done hooks and emotional rollercoasting, what with all the indie pop/rock bloggers falling over themselves for the ‘crossover appeal’ in this album, one may be forgiven for asking, could it work on a dancefloor?

Bodytonic, Electric City, Remedy, whoever, I do not care, get this on in Dublin ASAP!

No more than The Bull McCabe, after a listen or two you'll be feeling "T'is my Field!"

Get over to The Field’s myspace right now and wrap yourself up in a stream of Everyday. Two other tracks from the album A Paw In My Face and The Deal are available to stream over at imeem and you can purchase the whole thing direct from Kompakt’s swish MP3 store right now!

Now, I just need a last minute ticket to Miami to check out how this whole thing sounds poolside and I can wrap up the review for you...

tags: music

Published by Paul.  

Relative harm caused by various legal and illegal drug abuse


Even if you don't accept my previous moral and ethical postulating on the issue of how society approaches drug use (I have to explicitly decree that by drugs I mean everything from caffeine to heroin) you should still sit up and take notice of some recent news from the UK.

So, even if you believe the state should have any role in what choices a private individual decides to take which impact on their personal circumstances, that is, criminalising a person who decides to carry out an act where only they themselves are also the victim of the crime (prostitution being the other main aberration of this sort in many western judicial systems), surely you should at least be rational about the form of the state intervention?

It's a stinging indictment of current western government policy regarding drug use that things are so far stacked in the irrational that a specialist UK government advisory body made up of medical professionals with front line experience of the issue and academics working in the domain can come to conclusions so extremely antipathetic to the policies of the legislators who constituted the advisory body in the first place. Votes really are more important than what's best for the voters. Viva McFreedom!

Last week an extensive and thorough report entitled Using harm to classify drugs was published (full report, free subscription required.) in The Lancet. The report was authored by among others, Professor Colin Blakemore, Chief Executive of the UK's Medical Research Council and Professor David Nutt, a member of the UK Advisory Council on Misuse of Drugs whose remit it is to advise government on drugs policy. The report is based on analysis of data gathered on questions asked of 29 expert consultant psychiatrists who specialise in addiction. This analysis was also marshalled by another 16 experts spanning several fields including chemistry, pharmacology, psychiatry, forensics, police and legal services.

On Friday, Professor Blakemore defended one of the most controversial sound bites the media cherry picked of the report, ecstasy's position much further down the harm scale than alcohol and tobacco.

From The Guardian last Friday:

"The policies we have had for the last 40 years ... clearly have not worked in terms of reducing drug use. So I think it does deserve a fresh look. The principal objective of this study was to bring a dispassionate approach to what is a very passionate issue."

Despite about a third of young people having tried the drug and around half a million users every weekend, it causes fewer than 10 deaths a year. One person a day is killed by acute alcohol poisoning and thousands more from chronic use. (My epmhasis).

So, in a debate that causes so much heat and so very little light maybe those on the prohibition side of the fence should check their passion at the door and sit down and have a listen to what the evidence says. Non-evidence based legislation is something that is exponentially magnifying the damage to society caused by abuse of all drugs, legal and illegal.

Abuse of drugs of all sorts causes harm to people, something which we in Ireland are becoming more and more exposed to be it in our own experience or that of our families and friends. Where are the politicians brave enough to tackle these problems in an honest and forthright manner based on evidence rather than irrational prejudices and greed for power?

I'm sure politicians in the UK and Ireland will praise political figures in Northern Ireland over the coming weeks for taking the "brave" and bold steps necessary to sit down at a table and talk to each other, despite being overwhelmingly mandated by the electorate to do just that. They might even go further and actually share power with each other before the summer! Excuse me if I ask the praising political types in the UK and Ireland to pass me the bucket. Those doling out such praise for bravery should have a look in the mirror at issues they are afraid to tackle which are causing uncountable harm to youth across the UK and Ireland.


tags: drugs

Published by Paul.  

Published by Francie.  

All credit toooo Roy Keane's solicitor Micheal Kennedy for giving us permission to broadcast the interview 'Real' Roy carried out with Gift Grub's Roy Keane yesterday morning. Obviously as we've said before like we're big fans of Roy and we urge Stan to do the decent thing and step down as Ireland manager so the Roy-Fridgerator can take over.

In the mean time listen to the real Roy on Gift Grub by clicking here

tags:
Gift Grub
Roy Keane

Published by PMC.  

I'm gonna hang on to the results of the 6N tipping contest until Monday when I'll have a few words to say about the 6N and the months ahead for Ireland. I'm still digesting and musing on recordings of matches and column inches. That was one heck of a tournament.

In the meantime, I think you'll really enjoy this. From London Irish -v- Wasps last weekend. It was the 67th minute and the scores were locked at 13 - 13. Then this happened:





It kinda spoils it, but in the end Irish went on to win 16 - 13. What a pity!

tags: rugby

Published by Paul.  

In Fact, Ah had to do a double take today when we were sent a press release from the Hodder Headline publishing house. April Fool's day is just over a week away and it was assumed that some were getting ahead of themselves. But no, it's true. Twenty has been given a deal that will see him placed on bookshelves up and down the country alongside literary greats such as Cecilia Ahern.

In a way, it's no surprise that Ireland's most celebrated blogger has hit the big time. Anyone who writes consistently and with purpose will be successful, whether this means landing a book deal or simply having a following who look forward to reading the blog.

Up until recently, very few people knew the person behind this nom de plume. His recent outing at the Irish Blog Awards meant that the public finally got a glipse of the face behind the blog. Many questioned his motivation for revealing himself. However, the spoken and unspoken rules of the night ensured that his photo remained unpublished.

That was until today.

Irish media observer and blogger Cian Ginty of Blurred Keys published a photo of Twenty Major making an acceptance speech in the Alexander Hotel. This photo has since been taken down. How many people saw it and saved a copy? Who knows?
See the press release below from Hodder Headline.


Hodder Headline Ireland is delighted to announce an exciting book deal with award-winning blogger Twenty Major.

Twenty Major’s satirical blog has garnered a lot of attention recently for its no-holds-barred look at modern Ireland. Winner, for the second year running, of the Best Blog and Most Humorous Blog at the recent Irish Blog Awards, and with over 1500 unique visitors daily from 60 different countries, Twenty’s unique style is gaining him a reputation far and wide.

His two-book deal will see a major expansion in the escapades of Twenty and his pals Jimmy the Bollix, Stinking Pete, Ron the Bar Man, Splodge, Lucky Luciano and Dirty Dave, as they wind their way around Dublin’s backstreets as they try to find out who killed their friend Jim of Vinyl Records. Music, films, television and books will all be parodied and nothing is sacred in this irreverent look at modern Dublin.

‘Blogging is the way forward,’ says editor Ciara Doorley of Hodder Headline Ireland. ‘We’ve been keeping an eye on the scene and Twenty stands out as having his finger on the pulse. As anyone who has read his blog will know, he nails modern Ireland. His writing is sharp and edgy and his unique style lends itself perfectly to book form.’

Says Twenty: ‘I’m delighted to be given the chance to write these books because it means I can start drinking much earlier in the day.’

Ends

tags:twentymajor

Published by Colm.  

All sorts of learnings can be reaped from our recent break in Dingle.
In Fact, Ah learned that

a) wavin pipes are deadly dangerous
b) Francie has the foulest tongue in Ireland
c) it is possible to fit in the smallest of cupboards
d) barbecuing outdoors is overrated. It's all going indoors
e) renting nice houses is so much better than hosteling
f) re-enacting scrums at 6am is not clever. You can break innocent bystanders' heads
g) Maidhc Danín Ó Sé is still a celebrity in the west of Ireland
h) the Irish rugby should take a leaf out of the Irish cricket team's book
i) some friends are for life

tags:infactah

Published by Colm.  

Spotted by Cavs.

tags:[Ronaldo Dive]

Published by El Commandant P.  

We'll be going offline for a few days to attend the inaugural In Fact, Ah summit in Dingle this weekend. Strangely enough, it will be the first time that all contributors will get together in the one place, at the same time. Weather permitting, we hope to do a Fianna Fail type photoshoot like the one where the walked the beach in Inchydoney.

This post should also serve as a warning to Ice Cream Ireland. At the recent blog awards, I stuffed about 30 vouchers for free ice cream in my pocket as we left.

PS. I'll take photos (silhouetted of course) to prove that there are more than two In Fact, Ah contributors.

tags:infactah

Published by Colm.  

Three days down and one to go. And today is the pinnacle; Gold Cup Day. Favourite Kauto Star will be attempting to win £1million for his owners by capturing the blue ribband showpiece event. Much talk has centred around his ability lately, and whether or not he can get away with the jumping mistakes he has made in the King George and other races. Today will tell if Ruby can get him around safely.

Below is a quick guide to tips for today.

1400 JCB Triumph Hurdle - Degas Art
1435 Brit Insurances Novices Hurdle - Ornais (each way)
1515 Totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup - Exotic Dancer
1600 Christie's Foxhunter Chase - Sonevafushi (each way)
1640 Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase - Demi Beau
1720 Vincent O'Brien County Handicap Hurdle - Made In Japan (each way)

Find another comprehensive review of each day of the festival over at Punting for Profits


tags: cheltenham

Published by Francie.  

A somewhat disastrous day's tipping, with the only saving graces being High Cotton and Adamant Approach placing in the last two races of the day. Having put a hefty bet on Black Jack Ketchum earlier, I was thoroughly disappointed with his fall at the first. A basic early error saw him depart at fence one. With one day to go, I'm very tempted to go against my gut feeling and try and recoup my losses with a big bet on Kauto Star in the Gold Cup. Hopefully I'll have a visions of him crossing the line in front of the field in my dreams tonight; a sure fire sign he'll win!!

1400 Jewson Novices Chase – Kings Advocate - 6th
1435 Ryanair Chase - Racing Demon - 5th
1515 Ladbrokes World Hurdle - Black Jack Ketchum -fell
1600 Racing Post Plate - Nycetos (each way) - 20th
1640 National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup - High Cotton (each way) - 4th
1720 Pertemps Final - Adamant Approach (each way) - 3rd

tags:cheltenham

Published by Francie.  

Ciaran Fitzgerald salutes the crowd during Ireland's last Championship winning campaign. That'd be 1985 then.


So, here we are approaching the final weekend of an extremely schizophrenic Six Nations. For us poor souls trying to predict scores in the compeition there is no doubt a feeling of having been put through the grinder over the past 7 weeks. Of course that unpredictability makes for a great tournament though. What surprises may the final weekend bring? Leave your predictions in the comments below this post please.

Standings after round 4 (Lower is better):

Tom 225
PMC 227 (Closest prediction Eng -v- France Round 4, -10 Points)
Jap 269
Da Rossie 278
The Salmon Of Knowledge 279
Cahony 281
Egardoo 289 (Closest prediction Italy -v- Wales Round 4, -10 Points)
Dae 295
Francie 296
Colm 314 (Closest prediction Scotland -v- Ireland Round 4, -10 Points)
Incognito 335
Gib 386
Barabus 436
Murray 467
Bull 529
The Slippery Orange Ballcock 562
Lorenzo 564

Tom and PMcC are out in front, but now is the chance for the tightly bunched pack a couple of lengths back to make a run along the rails and pip them at the post. I know Tom and PMcC's prediction capital will be long exhausted with Cheltenham on this week. Remember, it's -30 points for an exact correct score in any game, something which hasn't been achieved by anyone yet.

tags: Six Nations

Published by Paul.  

Well, what a time to be away. Congrats to my co-contributors here at In Fact, Ah and to all the other award winners at the Blog Awards which took place while I was away snowboarding in Italy.

As for my holiday I can highly recommend Livigno. I went with a group of sixteen mates and we had a ball. Watch out for the long coach transfer time from the airport (4/5 hours) and after that you'll be fine. DirectSki.ie were very helpful right through from booking to after we got back when they got one of their reps to bring home a forgotten snowboard a few days after we returned.

In Livigno itself the nightlife is of the cheesy music variety and the single nightclub in the town is best avoided. In many of the bars we had great banter and craic with some Italians and other Europeans.

Despite all the tourists being a captive market up there eating out is extremely good value for money. The food on offer is really great and the prices are mind boggling. A Fillet Steak in posh surroundings comes to about 13 Euros for example. A beer in a pub goes for about 3 Euros while 1 Litre of premium spirits in the supermarket (Jameson, Smirnoff, etc.) goes for about 8.50 Eurons. If you want to buy equipment I'd say you'd be hard pushed to find better value anywhere in Europe, some of our party bought middle of the range Boards/Boots/Bindings at very low prices.

Last and most importantly, it's quite a high resort (highest lift goes to 3000 meters) so you can be confident of good conditions (well for what, another 20 years anyways?), there is an extremely wide variety of blue and red runs in particular with some blacks which I can't comment on. It never seemed crowded on the mountain.

While de-briefing my camera from the holiday I was pleasantly surprised to find a decent video of Au Revoir Simone's performance in Whelan's on Feb 28th last, so here it is. Great gig, big up to Nialler for the heads up on it. Get them in your ears.


Au Revoir Simone - Dark Halls



I unfortunately forgot to take the camera along to Michael Mayer on Fri 2nd March in the Temple Bar Music Centre (where a bunch of us went directly to the Airport from for a 6a.m. flight to Livigno, mucho fun!). So I was pleasantly surprised on my return to find that Una has a raft of snaps from the night here and here (any vid Una?) and enjoyed it as much as I did.

Mayer may not have the overbearing hard edged detonation-techno feel that some contributors around here with a Mc in their name feel is necessary to be of any worth and he certainly doesn't pursue the atonal sparsity of the minimal-meisters. There is a third way and Mayer, the co-founder of super-prolific Kompakt records and mother of its distinctive sound, has the undeniable Rolls-Royce skills with record selection and mixing abilities. There's no denying he has the touch of genius which was first trumpeted by his seminal mix Immer all those years ago.

tags: tagname

Published by Paul.  

Two days down and two to go. Thursday is easily the weakest day for championship races in the festival, having been built in to accommodate an extra day for the new modern Cheltenham. Thursday's two big ones are the Ryanair Chase and the Ladbrokes World Hurdle. In the latter, much has been made of the current form of Black Jack Ketchum, but I feel tomorrow with the ground continuing to dry out that this horse will be back to his best after his dire run in testing ground last time out, and I fancy him to win in the same fashion as Denman did yesterday. If punters are looking for a bit of value, I’d recommended an each-way bet on Lough Derg in the same race. Also Hi Cloy offers a bit of value in the Ryanair Chase.

Below is a quick guide to my tips for today.

1400 Jewson Novices Chase – Kings Advocate.
1435 Ryanair Chase - Racing Demon.
1515 Ladbrokes World Hurdle - Black Jack Ketchum.
1600 Racing Post Plate - Nycetos (each way).
1640 National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup - High Cotton (each way).
1720 Pertemps Final - Adamant Approach (each way).


Find another comprehensive review of each day of the festival over at Punting for Profits.



tags: cheltenham

Published by Francie.  

Published by Francie.  

After some of my fellow bloggers enlightened me of the fact that In Fact, Ah could actually be considered as a strong contender for this year's Pulitzer Prize and that my plagiarism gaffe yesterday had seriously endangered this lofty dream, I have realised that my recent foray into the world of journalism is still a little rough around the edges. And so, in relation to the whole "CopyPasteGate" scandal that has engulfed In Fact, Ah , I can only offer my sincere and humble apologies to my fellow bloggers and In Fact, Ah readers - my only feeble defence being "imitation is the greatest form of flattery". Now that I think of it, that also explains why you don’t see too many Cahony-esq hairstyles round these days.

Okay. Enough of the small talk; lets get down to the real business. Day 1 at Cheltenham was one for our bookmaking friends. With winners coming in at 40 and 50/1, it wasn’t a good day for most punters, especially me. Not one of my tips came in yesterday, something I hope won’t happen again today.

Wednesday's big race is the Queen Mother Champion Chase at 1515GMT. The favourite here is the highly fancied Well Chief. But here I’m going to make a bold call and go for Voy Por Ustedes, who won here last year. Below is a quick guide to my tips for today.

14:00 Ballymore Properties Novices' Hurdle - My Turn Now. (each way)
14:35 Royal & Sun Alliance Chase – Denman.
15:15 Seasons Holidays Queen Mother Champion Chase - Voy Por Ustedes.
16:00 Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle – Mister Hight.
16:40 Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Handicap Chase - Direct Flight. (each way)
17:20 Weatherbys Champion Bumper - Fiveforthree. (each way)

Find another comprehensive review of each day of the festival over at Punting for Profits.

tags:[cheltenham]

Published by Francie.  

Published by Francie.  

If, like me, you have difficulty cooking the most basic of meals, you'd do well to seek help. No, don't call the Mother. That would be tantamount to telling her that a) you've lost your job b) you were arrested for drink-driving and c) the bailiffs have taken your 32" LCD TV. It's fair to say that mothers have turbulent nights worrying about their offsprings' dietary fulfillments.

Fatal mistake number two is to buy a cookbook, unless it's a no-frills home economics book from 1965. Otherwise, you get twattish recipes for ingredients and utensils that you don't have and never will have. Jamie Oliver can pukka off if he thinks I'm cooking something that needs to be shipped from the Galapagos Islands. Keep it Essex mate.

For me, even scrambled eggs can be a challenge. Too dry, too watery, too tasteless. People never get them right! Crucial point here is not to season before cooking.
So, what you need to do is go e-Gastro. Use what Web 2.0 was intended for. Below, Gordon Ramsey shows how to make perfect scrambled eggs.



Just when you think you can't find anything interesting on the Internet anymore, up springs a site like VideoJug. It's a fantastic how-to site with thousands of videos. Here's one for how to cook roast potatoes.


VideoJug: How To Make Roast Potatoes

tags:cooking

Published by Colm.  

Apologies in Advance. The following piece has nothing whatsoever to do with sport.


What if I told you that it would cost you around €550 to modify your (petrol engine) car in such a way as to decrease its carbon emmissions by 70%? Which of these figures appeal more to you: the €550 or the 70%? Having touched on this subject before more than a year ago, it has reared its head again i.e. the primacy afforded the economy over the environment.

Yesterday's (March 8th) Morning Ireland carried a piece about modification kits for petrol engine cars which would allow them to run on bioethanol. Bioethanol is a mixture of standard petroleum and ethanol at a ratio of 15:85 respectively. The ethanol can be derived from many sources, including dairy production by-products such as whey. Bioethanol is now available in 13 Maxol outlets nationwide, although yet again lonely Connacht has been shafted with not one outlet offering the product in the province. But what if you run out of bioethanol in the back arse of nowehere and can't fill up? Simple, just bosh a load of petrol in. The modifications will allow for any mixture of ethanol and petrol, so you can put in 100% of either.

Presently, bioethanol costs around 20 cents per litre less than petrol. However, your engine will consume more bioethanol than petrol to cover the same distance. Ultimately, the losses here result in a relatively equal relationship between the price of petrol and bioethanol. And this brings us to the crux of the issue: why spend €550 on this without the prospect of any financial saving in the medium to long-term? This question is symptomatic of the persistent emphasis placed on economic considerations over and above all else. What we should be saying is: why wouldn't I spend €550 on a device that will dramatically reduce my car's carbon emissions? Anyone that has had a car for a few years will undoubtedly have cost the environment at least the equivalent (if not more) of €550 in damage due to harmful emissions. So, why not consider the cash outlay as payback to the environment?

These modification kits are only available in Cork at the moment (here and here). Self-installation is supposed to be straight-forward but if you're completely clueless any garage can do the job in 30 minutes. I have enquired about the suitability of my 16 year old Toyota Corolla and it appears it will work. The basic prerequisite is a multipoint injection system, which the vast majoity of cars built in the last 15-20 years should have.

Without sounding like a sandal-wearing bellend, the environment needs your help. The government could do a lot more to help this fledging industry along e.g. excuse the VAT on the mod kits and the bioethanol. If you have even an ounce of guilt about firing up that engine in the morning, you should consider the bioethanol option. And remember, the more people that buy into this, the cheaper it will become. It's basic supply and demand logic. (And yes, I am aware of the irony of using an economic law to support my argument).

tags:[Bioethanol]

Published by El Commandant P.  

Adrian JP Harrington, friend of In Fact, Ah and assorted RTE personalities, attended the second Annual Cheltenham Preview Night and was bursting to tell us all about it. At this stage, I think we've tipped every horse to win at Cheltenham.

We're hoping that Adrian can send us back reports from the upcoming cricket World Cup which he be attending.

The second Annual Cheltenham Preview Night took place Monday night last in the Royal Hotel, Roscommon. MC was top journalist and tipster Donn McClean. The panel included trainers Dessie Hughes (Hardy Eustace) and Tony Martin (Dun Doire), senior handicapper Noel O'Brien, jockey Ross Geraghty and John Kennelly of Bruce Bookmakers.

It was an educated National Hunt panel on paper, but Hughes and Martin were like two school kids hiding sweets from the teacher Noel O'Brien. Geraghty was quiet and slightly flustered when asked a question while Kennelly was well prepared, but he kept reminding us that Bruce Bookmakers were now No Run No Bet.

The programme had an 8pm start but, like a bad Junior B match, did not start until 8.45pm. Ciaran Mullooly from RTE got us organised and may have been the right man for MC. Tonight reminds me why Bill O'Herlihy is so much more important than Giles, Brady and Dunphy put together when analysing a European Cup game.

McClean starts off at a quick pace, Hughes reckons Clopf is the one to watch at 14/1 in the Supreme Novices and nobody disagrees. Kennelly claims there has been some money for Tipperary All-star each way. There is no real Irish interest in the Arkle, but Hughes is still expecting an exciting race.

What we have really come to hear; Hardy Eustace will win the Champion Hurdle. He obviously doesn’t say it but Hughes gives an upbeat report on the horse and there will be no excuses. He makes an interesting point that “when Hardy has been right he has never been beaten by Brave Inca”. Strangely enough none of the panel are Brave Inca fans. Ross Geraghty much prefers Hardy Eustace while O'Brien is a big Detroit City fan and thinks “Asian Maze and Macs Joy are great value”.

Martin likes Silverburn in the Ballymore, while the rest are excited by Aran Concerto but judgement is out until after Cheltenham. Scots Irish at 16/1 is one to note here. Geraghty reckons Well Chief is a street ahead of the rest in the Arkle, Martin and Hughes think Voy Pour Ustedes is a serious horse and O'Brien thinks the ground will be perfect for Nickname. All have respect for Newmill, so try and make that one out. I might as well have stayed at home.
The one horse that everyone agrees on is Denman. Martin thinks he's “a superstar in the making”. O'Brien fancies Cailin Alainn each way. The Champion Bumper is interesting; O'Brien informs us that Willie Mullins really fancies Mad Fish. Hughes thought Fiveforthree was impressive and Martin gives us Theatrical Moment at 20/1. In the Ryanair Chase, Hughes makes a very strong case for Monet’s Garden.

The Ladbrokes Hurdle and Black Jack Ketchum have been nearly always mentioned in the same breath. Tonight you would forget he is even running. Kennelly shocks us even more that he is nearly out to 4/1. Celestial Wave is the one everyone wants to win. Hughes says the mare has done everything right and the 7lb weight allowance for mares may be helpful. United 25/1 and Princess D’Anj’ at 50/1 are tipped.

Hughes rightly says that the gloss of the Gold Cup and has been slightly diminished by the loss of War of Attrition and In Compliance. Kauto Star is the one they have to beat but Kennelly will gladly take him on. Some of the panellists were not impressed by his last run and were worried he may not come up the hill. Geraghty thinks “The Listener is the one they all have to beat”. Exotic Dancer, State of Play and L’Ami are all given an each-way chance. To the ironic laughter of the crowd, O'Brien gives Beef or Salmon as his each way chance. Those laughs could turn to cheers if the ground comes up heavy(4.33 with William Hill). Cheltenham has not had heavy ground at the festival in a long time.

It took the most interesting character of the evening, Tony Martin, to give another classic tip. Turpin Green trained in England by Nicky Richards at 80/1 for the Gold Cup. The now sleepy audience are woken up by this Martin special and maybe the journey might have been worth it after all.

Other tips ...
LOUNAOS
FARMER BROWN
CARACCIOLA
BLUEBERRY BOY
MY WAY De SOLZEN

The panellists did their best to give insightful views but usually ended up sitting on the fence. Last year Paul Carberry, Davy Russell, and Colm Murray added more life to the proceedings. Remarks like “will win” “won’t come off the bridle” and “a certainty” was classic Carberry. He reckoned Sweet Wake(County Hurdle this year) would go down the hill fast and up it even faster in the Supreme Novices. Sadly it did not happen but it was part of the magic of Cheltenham.
The funniest moment on the night was when someone asked Dessie Hughes if he would be afraid of Charlie Swan if he rode Brave Inca. His reply? “If Charlie is riding Brave Inca then I’m riding Hardy Eustace”
Good Luck to both, a classic race is in store, regardless of who wins.
tags:cheltenham

Published by Colm.  

Published by Francie.  

Published by Francie.  

The sophomore year of the Irish Blog Awards saw a mixture of old and new keyboard pounders convene at the Alexander Hotel at the weekend. But the same old Chinese whispers could be heard like an echo from 2006. "Who is Twenty Major?", "Does he really work for the Dept. of Agriculture?", Was Tim, the emissary last year, the man behind the much-discussed corner of the Idirlíon etc?

Before long, I saw a man enter room and his eyes instantly gave the game away. Scanning the room, Twenty Major looked like a kid in a sweet shop. Okay, bad analogy but you get the picture. Ireland's most famous anonymous writer had outed himself. It was Blog Pride.

At the bar, my fourth whiskey was about to plunge from the optic as I chatted with Jett Loe. At this stage, I'd like to apologise for my contribution to his podcast which should go large this Friday. Of the old guard, Sinead, Kevin, Treasa, Copernicus, Gavin, Fustar, Claire, Red Mum, Caitriona and many more were all present.

And the newbies were out in force too. The garrulous music maven Nialler9 introduced himself. I can confirm that he is a very nice chap indeed. And he had groupies! We need groupies next year. Beaut.ie commanded the attention of eyes in the room. Swearing Lady was in from the West, Tommy Martin (a face that contradicted the one I had conjured up in my head) said hello, the lovely Lauranen from Newbrowne spotted my name on my badge and we chatted about her recent move. Bhi Ach go Hairithe agus An Spailpin Fanach ag caint le cheile sa chúine and my drunkenness gathered apace.

Yellow raffle ticket 31 earned me a woman's beauty bag from the ladies at Beaut.ie. Suffice to say, PMc's lady will find more use from it than I ever would. Rumours that I combed some conditioner through a homeless person's hair on the way home later are completely untrue.

An undeniable fact however is that I choked while accepting the award for Best Group Blog. It's very easy to blame the unexpectedness of it all, considering we were up against previous winners TCAL, the hugely popular Blogorrah, and the star-studded Dublin Blog, but my effort on stage proved that I should stick to the written word. That needs to improve too.

What I should have done was elaborate more on my gratitude for each and every post that has been written here by Paul, El Commandant P, PMc, Dae and Francie.

I wish I could recount more of what happened at the tail end of the night but I can't. Put simply, I was trolleyed. Like so many others, I wish I had the opportunity to meet more people on the night. It's truly fascinating to put faces to names. Next year.

tags:irishblogawards

Published by Colm.  

That Girl has been dreaming of us In Fact Ahers bathing each other the night before the awards ...

tags:irishblogawards

Published by Colm.  

Whilst at work the other day a colleague of mine mentioned how he was too busy to get time to fix a problem in the house. The problem was fairly simple; a door was catching on his floor. I tried to explain that a little bit of sandpaper applied to the bottom of the door would have solved his woes, but he ventured that he "didn't have time to do those sort of things". I was surprised by his attitude and it got me thinking that he's not alone.

We Irish were, not so long ago, a proud nation of DIY enthusiasts. With increasing new home ownership came an increasing desire for that extra garden shed or play area for the kids in the back garden. Home improvement stores like B&Q and Woodies have seen profits climb through the roof as each newly-sprouted retail park is graced with their presence.

With the sustained growth in the wealth of our population, money is on hand for many. The thought of trudging to the the DIY store to buy the materials and then go home and actually build or put together what we want is a ghastly thought that many no longer haunt themselves with. In short, Ireland's DIY is turning to GSI – "Get Someone In".

Oh the joys of being a rich Irish cub of the prosperous Celtic Tiger. Once we were a nation that took pride in the notion that we built many an English motorway or North American railway line. Today, we take pride in the statement that we no longer need to get the toolbox out. Today we work longer hours than before and spend more time commuting to and from work. We just don’t feel the need to spend an evening or weekend working at home so we GSI.

I ask: why, oh why?

For a nation with such a strong sense of belonging, uniqueness and identity, we are slowly letting our old valued characteristics slip away from us - the increasing trend in GSI being one of many manifestations of this trend. We are gradually morphing into a society more like our neighbours across the Atlantic. Lets hope it doesn’t progress too far.

So bloggers, when you need a new shelf for all those blog awards you're going to carry home tomorrow night, think about lifting a screwdriver before you pick up the phone!

tags: GSI, DIY

Published by Francie.  

Kidding of course. It's great to see some of the big names taking centre stage in the Irish MSM coverage of Saturday's Irish Blog Awards. Dave Fanning was cooling his tongue with ice cream this evening from Ice Cream Ireland. Go listen here (tune in around 7 mins 40 sec). Rick was talking to the blooming Sinead Gleeson and Twenty Major on his show this evening too. Today FM were keen to cover it in their interview with Piaras Kelly. And don't forget to watch the Six One news tomorrow (Friday) for a Blog Awards exclusive.

Man, this URL'ing is hard work (I'm coining this phrase right now).

Anyone up for thrashing the joint on Saturday night?

tags:irishblogawards

PS Tag any related posts with "irishblogawards"

Published by Colm.