Long time...

My girlfriend just gave out to me for not updating my blog, so I decided that I probably add something. It's been quite a while, so you'd think that I'd have lots to talk about.

I got a cold at the end of last week, and it's been hanging around ever since. I don't like being sick. I'm heading back to Ireland for the weekend for a big birthday party (best friend's wife's birthday. Important one, but I won't say which. Cos she'd beat me up), and I hope to be ok before then. Unfortunately my girlfriend got the same cold. With any luck we'll both be recovered by Friday evening.

I've been hearing all week how nice the weather in Ireland, hot and sunny all week. Of course, given that it's Leaving Cert week, I'm not surprised in the least. I just hope that it lasts through the weekend. It would be a terrible waste of a bouncy castle otherwise...

Congratulations to David and Audrey, who got married in Amalfi, Italy last Saturday. Hopefully I'll meet them over the weekend too.

The Stanley Cup Finals have started! Unfortunately, we still don't have TV in the house (due to the presence of a large Castle blocking the TV signals in the back garden - yes, I have a castle in the back garden :-), no roof-based antenna and no satellite dish) so I have no way to watch the games. Of course, even if I did have TV, I probably wouldn't be able to watch them, cos there's no channel that's showing them over here, as far as I know. NASN, which I subscribed to in Ireland, is starting a European service, but it's not up and running yet.

Anyhoo, as I say, they've started! Carolina v Edmonton is a perfect final for a league that's trying to say "Look we're fair now!". With the revenue-sharing and the salary cap brought in to help small market teams, they got a great finals to show off their plans. And they're sticking to the rules! They haven't lapsed back into pre-Lockout refereeing, which is great. They're letting the teams play hockey. Hopefully manic clutching and grabbing has been banished from the ice into the stands.

NBA Finals are coming up too. Miami-Dallas is another interesting series. Will Shaq finally get a Kobe-less championship or will Dirk show that he's the best player in the league? Can D-Wade keep up his startling form for another 6 or 7 games (the way this playoffs is going, you'd expect a long series)?

Of course, far more importantly than all that, the World Cup is starting on Friday! I'm going to be spending plenty of time in bars around Paris, I'd say. Either that or I'll be peering through the static trying to see what just happened was a goal or a throw in. If you've ever seen Amelie, then you might have an idea of what my TV reception is like - when she unplugs her next door neighbour's antenna during the football...

I'd normally be up for France when Ireland didn't make it. Considering I'm now living in France, it adds an extra dimension to it. I arrived in France the day after they won the World Cup in 1998 and that was quite an experience. Could be interesting to see what would happen if they were to do it again.

Well, on that note I'll sign off. I'll try and update the blog a little more regularly.