I am Irish in outrage!!

Well, either you live on the moon or you are aware that two nights ago Ireland was cheated out of a place in the World Cup.

I didn't watch the match but like everyone in the country I've seen the footage since and it's obvious what happened. Personally, I doubt any one actually cheated on purpose.

Meanwhile, I've discovered the one good thing about Ireland's having been cheated: everyone is talking about the same thing, and it's suddenly possible to strike up conversation with just about anyone on the street. The street sweeper? "Give us a smile, love, you can't stay depressed about the match forever." My college lecturer? "I realise you are all upset about the match, but I still can't extend the deadline..." The greengrocer? "This has ruined me life." Bepe (and he's not even Irish!): "I am going to hunt them down and strangle them with my bare hands."

Heh.

In other sporting news, I've found out that there will be skating rinks in Dublin for the holiday season.

Of course, I am going to invite everyone I know here--because what they don't know about me is that, like most Newfoundlanders, I've known how to skate since I was little, and I'm pretty sure that I'll be able to skate rings about all the Dubliners and assorted foreigners-in-Dublin I know. In fact, we're all very good skaters in my house. I grew up thinking Wayne Gretzky was an uncle, there were so many pictures of him in Dad's workshop.