Well the campaign has started to find a replacement man. The first stop on the journey was the World Festival of Cultures in Dun Laoghaire at the weekend. I spent a particularly long time trying to select an outfit that reflected my bohemian cultural side e.g. label free. (you’ve no idea how long it takes to pick off that bloody polo horse – damn Chinese machinists)

Lady Em & I were quietly optimistic that all the music and beer would attract a high potential crowd. Our error was discovered soon after opening the pub door – not by sight but by smell. Now I get the whole back to nature vibe, but is there anything more natural than washing? Even animals groom. We decided not to investigate further and went straight to Bodega. One of the more unsuccessful pub rebrandings as everyone still calls it the 40 ft. (Not to mentioned the missed opportunities to promote the pub on the only night a year it gets a crowd!)

Thankfully the weather cleared long enough to allow us stand outside in the fresh air and once we ensured that we weren’t down wind of the more fragrant home-brew-drinking-crew, it was pretty good fun. We did get chatted up fairly regularly – well I say chatted up but it was really just a procession of increasingly drunk men swaying up, mumbling something totally incoherent and after many death stares eventually leaving again.

Along with the drunks and bohemians you also had a large contingent of very underage teenagers who spent a long time trying to “find” their ID when questioned by the bouncers. It was one of the few occasions were the crowd actually got younger as the night progressed as opposed to just beer goggle younger. Our decision to retire and leave the young people to it came shortly after a youth with badly highlighted hair and a very suspect Hawian shirt tried to proposition me with the classic;

“Fancy a shot at the title? - I hear you older birds are wild in the sack?”

I politely declined his kind offer. Campaign ‘find-a-man’ hasn’t exactly got off to the start I had intended.