Sexy Irish Leprechaun

2009 Season so far.

2009-04-08T14:43:00.000-07:00

So far in the DCU Saints 2009 season it's been pretty bad. I got a lot of playing time last season, but I didn't do too well. This season, I've started and finished both our games and been involved in a LOT of special teams. The bad news is... I've still only played in one game we won. I've played in seven games (Rebels Twice, Limerick, Cork, Bulls (the one we won) Rhinos and Knights), so that's pretty annoying.

This season, we drew our first game against the Rhinos and lost our second game to the Knights, leaving us at 0-1-1 and really struggling. The defense is playing brilliantly, but the offense needs to catch up!

However, I think, if the D keeps playing well, the O will catch up and we can take some surprise wins. Personally, I've had two great games. I blocked a PAT (no mean feat for one of the smallest people on the team) and have made about 20 tackles, which may lead the team. I'd say I'm an early contender for most improved player ;)

Football and work

2009-03-25T10:48:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a busy time I've had lately! Along with the new job, we had a coach over from Florida to give us some pointers on the game. He liked me cos we have the same last name ;) But instead of getting up to game speed in a Scrimmage on Mothering Sunday, me and Spence had to go to Edenderry to referee a game. It was my first game refereeing and it was a horrible experience!

The home team's QB was hit blindside on a blitz and had to be taken away in an ambulance. But instead of calling the game off there and then, we hung around for 90 minutes then finished the game. Only fair to the teams, I suppose, except I was nearly 30 minutes late for Mothers Day dinner in the Anvil in Saggart. Whoops!

In other news, my new job is going swimmingly well! I finally got my own duty (albeit only briefly) and, so far, it's pretty handy. When it's raining or cold, I may not enjoy it as much, but so far so good!

The new IAFL season kicks off on Sunday (for DCU anyway) and I'm so looking forward to it. I'm getting my first start (ever!) in a DCU Jersey, so that should be fun! I didn't play our opponents at all last year (Injured for one, away for the other) and we won both, so I'll be disappointed if we lose! We won 4 games last year and made the play-offs. I only played in one game we won, against the Bulls in Belfast, so I'm hoping I can get another win under my belt!

Busy week

2009-03-14T13:48:00.000-07:00

So it's been a few days and, be honest, you were thinking I'd flaked again, right? Wrongo!!!

First off, United won in their Champions League First Knockout Round. So did the other three English clubs in the competition (Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool). This will almost certainly set up at least one game pitting English Clubs against one another. Hopefully United will get to face Liverpool. Those bastards beat us 4-1 today in the league, cutting their deficit to 4 points and setting up a really interesting finish to the league this year. (For the record, the last time Manchester United lost so heavily in the League was before my brother was born. January 1st 1992. Fuck.)

On a more positive note, Ireland won their penultimate Six Nations game against Scotland. it was a tough game, but they ground out a 22-15 victory. Next week they face Wales. If they lose by less then 13 points (or, like, win!) they win the Championship. Should be pretty exciting!

Also, and the best news of all, I got a job! It's nothing too big or clever, really. It's working in the Post Office. It's not too bad. My dad works there and, frankly, he has loads of money! Also, my grand-dad (on my mothers side) worked in the PO for years and he seemed to enjoy it. My only big problem with it is, I went to college for 4 years, for this? I hope I'm not in it forever, but we'll see what happens...

Wish me luck!

Dole Day!

2009-03-11T11:00:00.001-07:00

So it's Dole Day again, the one day of the week where I can actually do something worthwhile! I get up slightly early, buzz out to Rathcoole and hand a card to a woman who gives me €200! Sweet or what!

Every time I collect my money, I hear Jimmy Carr, talking about being unemployed. He says saying "On the Social (Welfare)" is better then saying "Collecting benefits/On the Dole" because "The Social" sounds like it could be fun! "Going down the social! Might be some dancing!"

Today is also Champions League day. No team has retained the Champions League since it was introduced in it's new form in the 1992-93 season, but Man. Utd are trying it this season! We play Inter tonight and it's nil all after the first leg. The complex away goal rule means that if Inter can secure a score draw, they go through. If United win, they go through. If it's nil all again, it goes to extra time and then penalties!

Manchester United beating Fulham in the FA Cup last weekend

Should be a fun day...

Getting back into it.

2009-03-09T11:42:00.000-07:00

I haven't updated this for a while. I have no excuse. I'm simply lazy.

I'm really pissed off at the moment. Right now, I'm broke, I have no job and no life. I spent 4 years in college to be... here. I know there's a recession on and stuff, but still. All I want is a chance. I've applied for, literally, hundreds of jobs. I've gotten one interview and I didn't get the position. What can I do?

I'm gonna try keep this up now. Even though I have nothing to blog about...

NFL and more Prison Break

2008-09-10T15:11:00.000-07:00

The new NFL season kicked off last week. The current Superbowl champions, the New York Giants, defeated the Washington Redskins in the opener and all 32 teams played through Sunday and Monday.

My team is the Seattle Seahawks. Some people ask me why, I say why not? I have no other affiliation with any other NFL team. I've never lived in the US nor do I have any strong ties to any particular state or city, but the year I started following NFL regularly, the Seahawks played really well and made the Superbowl (the Steelers screwed them over on that day, but that's another matter) so I started following them. Why not?

Based on the strength of their showing on Sunday, they won't make another Bowl soon! They lost 34-10 to the Buffalo Bills. Buffalo. Of all teams in the NFL to lose to, that's a disgrace. To be fair to the Bills, they had a really good punt return, a very good special teams trick play and recovered a stupid fumble. But Seattle need to pick themselves up after this.

The third episode of Prison Break season 4 (see below) was actually quite good. I think it will be very like Mission: Impossible this season. Each week they'll have a building to break into, or someone to get to talk, or some really tricky mission like that. Could be promising!!!

Prison Break: Season 4

2008-09-04T08:38:00.001-07:00

The new series of Prison Break started over here on Tuesday. Amazingly, the US only shows the episodes on the Monday, not even 24 hours before hand! I remember, not too long ago, when we’d be whole series behind and someone who was smart enough (and rich enough) to be able to download all the episodes was revered as some form of TV God!

The thing is, I’m not as excited about Prison Break as I maybe once was. For those who haven’t been following the escaped of Michael Schofield and Co., the first series was one of the freshest things to hit our TV screens in quite a while. It dispensed with many of our TV conventions and had a very linear plot with a very linear storyline and a defined ending. Schofield got himself arrested and sent to a Maximum Security Prison where, with the aid of a bunch of impressive tattoos, he aimed to break his brother Lincoln, who was on death row for a crime he didn’t commit, out. It sounds a little stupid (and to be honest, it was) but it seemed high concept: A defined end to a show in this day and age? Surely not!

Of course not! Season 2 began with Schofield, his brother and all the people they escaped with on the run from the law. Somehow Schofield had predicted his plan failing and he had a series of new tattoos to guide him to new destinations. Some men lived, some men died (in a nice touch, one guy and his family got away with it scot-free) but Schofield and his brother seemed set to get away with it for good.

No chance. Obviously this TV show was a big money spinner. There were even talks of a spin off set in a women’s prison but it never got off the ground. So, for season 3, they decided to go back to the shows original concept: Breaking out of prison. This time, it was a hard ass prison with no guards deep in Panama. Turns out, the guys who set Lincoln up wanted some guy broken out of this new prison and, because Schofield had broken out of prison once before, they figured he could do it again. In order to persuade Schofield to do this, they killed his girlfriend and dumped her head with Linc. Suitably pissed off, Schofield broke out and the season ended with him in the mood to kick some Company ass.

Season 4 started, however, with the guy they broke out getting shot in the head, the guys they left behind in the Panama prison just suddenly out and Sarah, the decapitated girlfriend, suddenly alive again. “Yeah, we didn’t really kill her” was the explanation we were supposed to just swallow.

At the end of season 3, some of Schofield’s friends had been captured and placed in Sona, the Panamanian prison. This could have led to some interesting developments; especially considering the fact that one of Schofield’s enemies was running the prison now. But no. During the off-season, the prison burnt to the ground in a riot and everyone escaped. Convenient much?

Also, for some inexplicable reason, Schofield got all his tattoos lasered off at the start of season 4, presumably so that Wentworth Miller didn’t have to sit in the make up chair for 3 hours a day getting them applied.

Frankly, I was disappointed with the start of season 4. I nearly turned it off at several points. If the lazy writing doesn’t stop, I’ll have to stop watching it. That will leave me with just 24, Lost, Ugly Betty and Heroes to watch.

And we can’t be having that.

Peace out,

Sexy Irish Leprechaun

Movies and stuff

2008-09-01T08:58:00.000-07:00

As mentioned previously, I like my movies. I try and go to the cinema at least once a week. I know it costs a lot, but it’s a treat I afford myself. I usually get a hot dog and a bottle of water (and maybe a bag of sweets) so it’s not too bad for me either. In blogs to come, I will likely be posting up movie reviews, some good and some bad. Rarely, however, have I seen a movie and thought “What a waste of time that was!” I feel that every movie has something to tell me, whether it’s good information or bad information is another matter entirely.

Take The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor for instance. It taught me that bringing the whole crew back for “one more movie” (Rachel Weisz excluded) isn’t necessarily a good thing. Movies with Yeti in it aren’t automatically hits. Don’t judge a movie by it’s trailer. Even if Jet Li is in it. Speaking of Jet Li, when did he become one of those actors who barely exists in a movie but is credited with a full role? Keifer Sutherland was the same in the movie Taking Lives, he was only in the damn movie for about 5 minutes!

Get Smart showed me some things as well. It showed me that Steve Carell is one of the funniest actors in Hollywood. Not funniest men, because he can act seriously and be considered in serious roles as well (to wit, Dan In Real Life), but when he plays funny in a movie, he’s believable. Anne Hathaway is smoking hot. The Rock is still super cool. Masi Oka (Hiro from Heroes) will always be a nerd in his roles.

The Strangers is a little weird. Many of the things to be learned from it have already been learned from other films. People in masks are scary. A creepy house in the middle of the woods is never a safe place to be stranded. For God’s sake, don’t leave your phone in the car! ZOMFG IT’S BEHIND YOU! But perhaps the most important thing to take from this movie, in my own humble opinion, is the way they were put together. Rather then bore us with pointless back-story and nonsensical characterisation, the movie pretty much jumps right in. You know something creepy is going to happen but you never know when. Indeed, it’s nearly twenty minutes of ratcheting up the tension before the first ominous, loud bang happens. What follows is a nerve jangling, tension filled movie, interspersing loud bangs with quiet shadows and people in creepy masks (including one guy that looks like he’s an extra from Batman Begins!) sneaking up on people. Not a master class by any means, but certainly worth watching, especially if you like horror movies and being scared!

Until next time,

Sexy Irish Leprechaun

2008-08-27T08:14:00.000-07:00

I found this on a friends Bebo site and I thought I'd share.

TODAY we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having, cultivated such valuable lessons as:

Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the worm; life isn't always fair; and maybe it WAS my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6 - year - old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a class mate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer Tylenol, sun lotion or a Band-Aid to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live, as churches became businesses and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap and was promptly awarded a huge settlement. Common Sense was predeceased by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Descretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason.

Common Sense is survived by three stepbrothers - I Know My Rights, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I'm a Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on.

Now, I realise I'm sort of Double Blogging here, but I do need to sort out some pictures of myself. It used to be that I would upload them to Bebo, but I think I'll use Picasa Web instead... until I find I hate that too!

Sexy Irish Leprechaun

I'm in. Are you?

2008-08-26T02:14:00.000-07:00



I don't usually go for stuff like this, but I figured why not? It's for a good cause. Some of you may decide to join me.

Blogs, The Killers and some pictures.

2008-08-22T08:53:00.000-07:00

I don’t want this to turn into a blog about blogging, but how often is too often to Blog? Sometimes I have several things a day to post, but if I don’t post them before the end of my working day, I’ll forget about them. Is once a day too often? I know I get bored too easily when a blog doesn’t have a new post, but I appreciate it more when one DOES go up. If I posted one up a day, would people get bored with my constant dronings or would they come back? Does anyone even read this? I only know of one person for sure who read my first one!

I guess I’ll figure that out as I come to it. Maybe once a day isn’t enough? Who knows…

Anyway, we went to see The Killers last night in Marlay Park (yes, that’s the correct spelling, despite those who wish to spell it as MarlEy Park). We got there reasonably early, around 6:30pm, just as Louis XIV (14 ;)) were finishing up and camped in a pretty good spot for Bloc Party. I gotta admit, I wasn’t the biggest fan of Bloc Party until last night. They were pretty cool. I might even buy an album!

But The Killers. Wow. From the first note to the last beat they were awesome! Every word was perfect, they got the crowd going… amazing! They’ve really come on in leaps and bounds since we first saw them in 2005, at Oxegen. Back then, Brandon Flowers was a nervous looking front man, sitting behind the keyboard for nearly the whole gig and barely saying a word. Last night it was like a completely different band! He ran around, jumped up and down, chatted to the crowd. He really got everyone going and I think that’s an important thing in such a popular band. If I go see a gig and the front man doesn’t look like he’s enjoying himself, I probably won’t enjoy myself as much.

One of the best things about The Killers tho, is how much drummer Ronnie Vanucchi looks like Jason Lee from My Name is Earl! It’s uncanny!

The thing we were most concerned about was getting home. Claire’s due to go out tonight (Friday) and she still had to get her shit together, so we were eager to get home early (and our position in the crowd didn’t help matters, about 10 feet from the barrier, maybe 4 at our nearest point of the night!). Last week at Muse (another excellent gig, by the way!) we were an hour sitting in the queue (not moving an inch) before we turned around and drove back the way we’d come, doubling back at the top, essentially skipping everyone who had waited! I hated doing it, but no-one was going anywhere! Last night, we were right at the top of the queue when we pulled out and within about 40 minutes we were home and all! Bargain! One woman that annoyed me was, when we were all sitting in a big mesh and people were merging, she leaned out the window and yelled at me “You won’t get very far, will ya?” (I had inched forwards so she couldn’t merge past me, even tho I had let two people from her lane come through already! I can’t let everyone out love!)

Finally, as a request from a dedicated reader, here are some pictures of me. I’m not 100% sure how to add them in line with the text quite yet, so they’re going on the bottom. In the first one, see if you can spot me. That’s my whole family (my mam’s side) at a weekend away a few weeks ago. In the second one, no prize for guessing which one I am. That’s my graduation day last year (very proud day, I must admit). And in the third one, that’s me on one of those super cool OCC bikes from the TV show. Well worth a tenner!!!

Well, that’s it for another post. Feel free to comment. Who knows when I’ll get back to you about it tho ;)

Sexy Irish Leprechaun

Tricky second blog

2008-08-20T05:54:00.001-07:00

OK, so it's not as big a deal as a second album, but the second post to my blog has to continue the same vein. By now you may or may not know me or feel you know me, so I have to pander to everyone by pandering to no-one.

I'm a pretty big fan of music. I love The Killers, MGMT, Scissor Sisters etc etc. Frankly, I don't have a particular style of music I particularly like, I am willing to give everything a shot. That's why I hate classifying music. Invariably, when I tell someone I like a particular band, their response is "What kind of music do they play?"

My response is, does it matter? OK, there are certain types of death metal I have no time for, and heavily re-engineered pop song rereleases aren't my cup of tea, but I'll still give everything a shot. By pigeon-holing a particular band, you may be prejudiced against them before even hearing them, simply on the basis of their brand of music (it happens with names as well, but that's another blog for another day).

So, if you have any comments, suggestions, tips or complaints (ok, no complaints), don't hesitate to shout me a message.

Sexy Irish Leprechaun

Bout time.

2008-08-12T08:46:00.000-07:00

So I figured it was about time I started a blog. I write stuff up on my Bebo all the time but I'm never sure how many people read it. I realise that blogging is the internet equivalent of standing on a box on some street corner, waffling on about stuff no-one cares about, but I can, so I am!

To be honest, my biggest hurdle has always been starting something. I have enough Internet haunts to be able to find stuff to post, but starting a blog is intimidating. Do you assume everyone knows you? No-one knows you? Tell everything about yourself and maybe bore the trousers off everyone before you really get stuck in. I think I'll choose a safe middle ground and tell you about myself but try to keep it brief.

My name is Conor, I'm a 23 year old male from Ireland. I play American Football for a team called the DCU Saints, which in itself makes me fairly interesting, I think. This was my rookie season (details of which can be regaled here) and it was fun. I'm already looking forward to next season, so I can do more stuff like this and this.

I've been with my girlfriend, Claire, for nearly 5 years now and, while I love her, she's turned me into a bit of a sap. Tears well up when I watch videos like this and when I see cute puppehs or kittehs I ALWAYS go awww. That would have never happened five years ago ;)

Other interesting things about me

I can do a Rubicks Cube in 5 minutes.
Usain Bolt is my new favourite athlete.
I own over 200 DVDs.
I'm a pretty big reader but lately books have bored me. Anyone got any ideas?

Right, well, that's pretty much my first blog out of the way. Phew! See ye next time.

Sexy Irish Leprechaun