Just a quick idea if you are going out tonight, and a free one on top. Rock Candy!

Back once again, with “something to get your teeth into” taking place in both Shebeen Chic and Sweeney’s Bar in city centre!

Friday the 19th November

2 Venues
5 Stages
20 Live Acts
All for FREE!

You’ll find more info and a complete line-up over at their Facebook-page.

A good thing, and maybe someone wants to send the IMF-representatives there to show them there’s still life and culture and art in this insolvent country, despite all gloom…

If you are up for entertainment that has nothing to do with people dressing up as sl**ty nurses or Dracula this weekend, maybe you should visit this year’s edition of the Darklight Festival.

Welcome to Darklight, Ireland’s premier festival celebrating independent, DIY and artist films. Now in its eleventh year, Darklight 2010 promises to be an exciting weekend of film, animation, art, music and workshops. It began in 1999, as an opportunity for artists and filmmakers to share their work and experiment with new technologies and has emerged as one of the most important art events of the year.

This year, the festival motto is “The Heroes Edition”, as the festival planners asked contributors of the past festivals to invite their personal heroes to come and exhibit & perform at the festival. After the launch tonight, the festival takes place in various venues like IFI, Filmbase or the Grand Social over the next three days.

Congratulations to Moses Kibet who won the mens race in 2.08.58 and Tatiana Aryasova who won the womens race in 2.26.12 both of which were course record times. Paul Hannon was the wheelchair winner in a time of 2:20:38 and of course congratulations to all those who took part in this years race. The results list can be found on the Dublin Marathon site.

I just read on Twitter that bookings for Open House Dublin 2010 start today. Open House is an annual event (held this year on October 7th-10th) where tours are held of many buildings normally closed to the public. Why would you be interested in this you may ask? Have you ever wondered what the view from the top of Liberty Hall is like, or what the inside of the Leinster House is really like? This is your opportunity to visit these buildings and be taken on a guided tour admire the architecture and see a different view of the Dublin skyline.

While most of the buildings are opened on a first come first served basis some, such as Leinster House, require pre-bookings. Bookings start at 10am this morning so if you want to see what goes on behind the scenes at some of the most iconic buildings in Dublin you should make sure to check out their website this morning and put your name down.

We in Dublin had our fair share of festivals this year already – the Dublin Writer’s Festival, the Dublin Soul Festival and the Latin America Festival to just name a few – but we’re not done yet. Which is a fact I very much appreciate. So, without further ado, here are my favourite festival picks for the upcoming months:

Image by Absolut Fringe

Phizzfest (09. – 12.09.) – The Phibsborough Arts Festival has its premiere this year. This promises a fantastic opportunity to explore this touristically underdeveloped working-class neighbourhood from a different perspective. Also is Anne Enright reading at the festival and I live here, so there are two things that speak for the festival

Absolut Fringe (11. – 26.09.) – This year’s edition of dublin’s own Fringe Fest seems even more packed with great events and artist then last year. I’m especially looking forward to the Icelandic Music Weekend with my friends FM Belfast.

Arthur’s Day (23.09.) – This may come as a surprise for some, but after the success of last year’s worldwide Arthur’s Day the Guinness Brewery decided to have a ball on this special day again this year. And the line-up is nothing else than fantastic.

Hard Working Class Heroes 2010 (07. – 09.10.) – In my opinion the HWCH is Dublin’s most likeable music festival. Battalions of bands and musicians will spread out to 7 venues all over town to provide a showcase of what’s hot in the Irish scene at the moment. Don’t miss it.

The annual Peoples Photography exhibition on the railings around St Stephens Green will be on this weekend Saturday 28 and Sunday 29th from 9am to 6pm each day. A free event, now entering its 24th year, it will showcase the work of around 200 photographers from amature to professional.

If you are around the Green over the weekend take a stroll around the railings and have a look.

In case you are still looking for something to do this weekend, and feel the need to spice up the Irish version of the season otherwise know as “Summer” with some tango-rythms, salsa-sounds and spicy food, maybe the first festival launched by the Latin American Native Community in Ireland (or LANCI for short) is worth a visit:

2010 is the bi-centenary of the independence of Latin America. LANCI is launching a new festival to commemorate and celebrate this year . This will incorporate the 8th International Tango Festival.

The LANCI Festival aims to give international recognition to the varied cultures of Latin American Countries. This Latin American Festival offers a variety of artistic and traditional presentations including music, and dance in the form of salsa, samba and tango, traditional foods and film, photographs and paintings from Latin American artists.

This is the first time that a festival of this kind is being held in Dublin. A cosmopolitan city like Dublin guarantees that this type of event will be a success.

You will find the full programme on the festival-website, and I’m especially lookign forward to the Latin American fair or “feria” in Temple Bar on Sunday.

Even though the weather is not really made for any indoor activity these days, we know that it can start to rain any day in Dublin. And so it is good to have some kind of indoor alternative in case the current sunny spell ends. Therefore, as the pirate fan that I’ve been since I was 5, I’m happily announcing: The Goonies Pirate Party.

Goonies never say die! On Thursday 1st of July the Screen Cinema will host a special screening of the classic adventure movie The Goonies. This is an unmissable screening for anyone with an inner Goonie that needs to be embraced. To make it extra special we’re making it socially acceptable to dress up as pirates in the cinema. In fact, we’re actively encouraging it! And hoping that you’ll join us for some ale and swashbuckling afterwards in Doyle’s pub.

June 7th marked the 25th anniversary of the film’s release, and The Screen wants to give Irish fans the chance to celebrate the much-loved film’s anniversary with a celebration as boisterous as the movie.

This marks the second film in the wildly popular ‘Screen Hearts 80’s’ season of 80’s blockbusters which commenced with ‘Ghost Busters’ on Monday the 21st of June to a packed house.

Screen Hearts 80′s’ will run throughout the summer including gems such as Gremlins and Top Gun and will also feature an Arnie action season and a John Hughes tribute in August that will open with the teen classic The Breakfast Club on August 6th.

The Goonies is a thrill-a-minute adventure film. When brothers Mikey (Sean Astin) and Brand (Josh Brolin) learn that greedy developers are forcing their family to move, they and their friends decide to have one last adventure together. With the help of a treasure map they’ve found in the attic, the group, known as the Goonies, go in search of buried gold hoping against hope that if they find it, Mikey and Brand will succeed in keeping their home.

So get your cutlasses and eyepatches, and board the Screen cinema on Thursday. Tickets for the event are available on www.screencinema.ie, in the Screen’s box office or by calling 1520 927005.

Like Roseanne I spent most of Saturday at the Street Performance World Championships in Merrion Square, watching the performers and taking photos. Highlights for me were The Flying Dutchmen, whom I saw too little of, Dr Kaboom creating fireballs outside Government Buildings, Fire Guy learning sign language at the deaf stage and Sharon Mahoney’s apology for being Canadian.

Unfortunately I did not get to see the eventual winner Dublins own Jack Wise whose sword swallowing and glass walking won the crowd. Though who would vote against a Dub who can do all of that, not me.

The good people of Dublin hit the streets of Dublin in their thousands over the weekend to check out the Street Performance World Championships. We made it along but not quite in time to participate in the world record attempt. From what I read on Twitter it seems like too many people hopped along! Congratulations to all who particpated in this wonky bit of history!

Congratulations too to the staff and volunteers at SPWC for organising another great free festival. We managed to catch JP Koala, Dr. Kaboom and Thom Sellectomy. We couldn’t get next or near last year’s winners, USA Breakdancers, but had we managed to catch them we would have missed our favourite this year, Dr. Kaboom so all’s well. Like last year the Festijeux were a big hit with three generations of our family and I eventually had to drag my father away!