Wheres me jumpa

Last week I saw a gig listing on Cluch.ie for The Puffincat Club. Obviously a comedy show but I wasnt sure what the format was. Seemed to be a sketch show made up of The Diet Of Worms and five guest comedians.I knew two of the comedians but The Diet Of Worms and The Puffincat Club were new to me.

The format turned out to be various sketches by The Diet Of Worms mingled with five, unrelated, stand up comedians. There is also some animation thrown in, see below. It makes for a very entertaining evening.

The Diet Of Worms are no doubt destined for their own TV show. The three (on the night) were able to make a room full of people laugh with minimal props and clever sketches. Their “That is soooo Galway” sketch had me in tears. Stand up comedians on the night were Bernard O’Shea, Kevin Gildea, Mark Baldwin, George Fox and Eric Lalor.

All the above for a mere €5!

The Littlest Cinema Company

I have wanted to see The Wrestler since its release. Last night I got to see it free in The Ivy House. Every Tuesday night is Movie Night in The Ivy House. Comfy couches and candles make for a cosy setting. Wireless headphones drown out the noise of the surrounding bar. Six people filled the couches but there is plenty of restaurant type seating.

A slip of paper is left for you to request movies you want to see. Looking at the list of movies that have shown, there is a good mix of action, romcoms and drama. The listing is missing some classics though!

Minnie and I arrived early to grab some food. Dinner for two and four drinks came to 31 euro. Nice cheap midweek night out!

My first game on Hill 16 was about as big as they come, Dublin taking on Kerry. Kerry came into today’s All Ireland Quarter Final clash with Dublin with a point to prove. A few disappointing displays under their belt left many, including myself, believing an in form Dublin team could end their year. Dublin have impressed this year but many questions remained.

Kerry started as they meant to go on. Colm Cooper hit the new with their first attack and from here on it was just free flowing football that tore Dublin apart. Dublin were dazed and they would not recover. 14 points behind at half time, the Dublin team were booed off the field as The Hill and most of the blue half of Croke Park vented their anger. The second half saw some improvement but nothing to worry Kerry.

So for my first game on The Hill, I didnt get the close, high tempo classic game I was expecting but I did get to see great football from one team! There was a funny moment when Joanne Cantwell from RTE tried to interview Ciaran Donaghy in front of The Hill, needless to say, that interviewed was drowned out!

U2 rocked Croke Park last night. It was a really impressive show, blew me away. Minnie found two of the cheapest tickets for U2 at Croke Park. We were seated in the Cusack Stand, upper tier. Not the best seats but the scale of the set and performance more than made up for it.

We got to see some of Glasvegas. The sound (or maybe Glasvegas) seemed really bad, they just sounded like a continuous drone. When they finished there was a long wait without any act for U2. The stadium slowly filled up. U2 would be 4/5 songs into their set before Croker seemed full to capacity. Typical Irish!

U2 started with some of their new songs and then got stuck into their oldies. The sun was shining for the start of the gig and it was only when the sun went down that stage really struck you. The huge steel claw poured out smoke and light. The screens expanded and contracted. The sound was definitely better for U2, so perhaps it was just Glasvegas!

Two hours flew by and U2 said goodbye. There is no encore! We waited for about ten minutes for one! This really was a great show. Show is the right word as it is much more than just a music gig. I was surprised at how many kids and lets say older generation were there. But I guess that is the advantage of a seated gig. If I was going again, I would definitely go for a standing ticket.

Not sure how many major tours U2 will have but I will be at the next Dublin date!

It has taken me nearly two years to go see Bodies The Exhibition. I first heard of it while in New York with Minnie two years ago and was sorry I did not get to see it back then. The exhibition has been in Dublin for a number of months now and at the weekend my sister and two nephews popped along.

Tickets were 20EUR for each adult and 12.75EUR for each child. The Ambassador Theatre has been completely taken over for the exhibition.

I was expecting wall to wall full body displays but in fact most of the displays are single body parts or collections of body parts. Each display  comes with an explanation of its purpose and how it was prepared.

One of the most interesting displays was a healthy set of lungs, beside a smokers lungs. The latter was black throughout and must surely be a detterent for smokers who saw it.

My nephews were fascinated by a display of every vein and artery in the human body. The veins were injected with a solution that hardened and allowed the veins to be extracted in tact

Another highlight was a display to show the positioning of body fat. A body was split into three cross sections. The left and right cross sections showed the front and back of the body so you could see how overweight the person was. The middle cross section showed how the body fat looked from the inside. You could see a layer of fat all the way around the body. The layer got thicker around the hips / stomach region.

We went through the exhibition quickly, about 45 minutes to get all the way around. You could easily spend longer in there. The exhibition is closing in July and is well worth a visit. My sister and I loved it and our 11 and 8 year old nephews loved it.

The June bank holiday weekend brought with it the finest weather of the year. On Monday, Minnie and I decided to head to Howth. After some slow moving traffic, we arrived in the village and made our way to start of the Howth Cliff trail.

We have never ventured far across this trail before and despite our choice of flip flops for footwear we decided to venture further this time. And it was well worth it the sore toes afterwards! We walked out about 1 km and I really cant wait to go back and walk it fully. The green cliffs roll right down to the blue ocean. The noise of the bird population there is incredible, almost like walking by a school yard!

When we returned to the village we passed through a market and tried the falafel wrap at The Lebanese Food stall and it was delicious! Before walking out the pier to watch the many boats and ski jets pass us by.

I have often seen comedy nights advertised on the various gig listing sites. Last night I finally went to one and it is definitely something I will be doing again. The venue was The International Comedy Club. We were not sure what comedians would be on but it turned out to be George Fox, Willo White, Kevin Gildea and Fred Cook.

The club is tiny and people cram in on stools to laugh out loud or heckle the new material on trial. We went to the late show, which meant there was a few people with too many beers in them in the crowd. They annoyed everyone around them, even the comedians, so next time I’ll go to the early show!

Tickets are 10 euro for over two hours of comedy so this really is a good option for a cheap night out!

I have been meaning to big up this restaurant since I had the pleasure of eating there last Saturday. It was Valentines night, so Minnie and I trusted a recommendation of a friend and booked a table.

I pass the restaurant on a daily basis but always assumed it was more of a shop / deli than a restaurant. Sure enough on entry you have a deli like counter and you pass a long wall of wine before getting to the back seating area. It’s a small area but it is not overcrowded, seated perfectly for the space available.

The menu is very simple. All recognisable dishes. Not many dishes either. We started with Tiger Prawns and Brie. Both were delicious and a good sign of things to come. Took me a while to decide on a main course but eventually I went for the Herb Crusted Cod while Minnie went for the duck. Again both were delicious and both were so simple (but obviously cooked to a standard that will never be seen in my kitchen). I am not a huge fan of duck, I tried Minnies and it is easily the best duck I have ever had. Desserts were equally as good, the Banofi Pie is even better than expected after reading several tip off’s for dessert.

Food aside the staff are very friendly, efficient and know the menu. The owner / chef appeared on two occasions to speak to customers and also had a quick chat with us when we left. It is a very easy thing to make people feel appreciated for giving you their custom but it is often neglected, not here. I also liked the fact that there wasn’t a big deal made of Valentines night. Other restaurants saw fit to adorn their exteriors with balloons and other decorations.

Three course meal (x 2), a bottle of wine and coffee came to a more than reasonable 91 euro. The Cheese Pantry is a real find for us, as we live just around the corner. I’m not sure how well known it is in Dublin but it is certainly a recommendation for anyone living in / visiting the city. We will be back to sample the rest of the menu and I can’t wait!

Website is not complete yet, but you can view contact details and menu on MenuPages.ie.