LUDWIG FOR HEADBANGERS Ever had the notion to headbang to Beethoven? It's not exactly something that's likely to cross your mind, but still, you might like to give it a go. Irish performance artist Amanda Coogan is looking for volunteers to headbang to the last 10 minutes of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at 6pm next Friday, in Emmet Place, Cork.
Participants will be lined up as if in a choir, and Coogan will be on a platform in front of them, where she will "conduct" the headbanging. According to Tony McCleane-Fay of the Granary, they've already recruited 100 pupils from 10 local secondary schools, but they hope at least another 100 people will join them. If you'd like to take part, contact the Granary Theatre at 021-4904275. If headbanging doesn't appeal to you, it should still be worth going along to see some 200 people go crazy to Ode to Joy. Further information: www.granary.ie. Eimear McKeith
SIT YE DOWN Gay Byrne once called Joe Lawler's furniture the "antiques of the future", and last month one of Lawler's sculptural furniture pieces was chosen as the winner of Drogheda Port Art Commission for 2005. His "maritime chair", inspired by a ship in full sail and made from Irish silver cedar from Gormanstown, Co Meath, can be seen at the Drogheda Harbour Board building. You can get his lamps, which start at about €200, tables and chairs - all made from Irish timber - as well as other work by various Irish craftspeople, such as Mel Bradley's silk-made furnishings, from www.craftmark.ie. Craftmark is a cross-border initiative selling jewellery, clothes, bags, furniture and things for the home. You can also commission or buy from Lawler directly at his workshop in Donacarney, Co Meath, 041-9827124. Nicoline Greer
CLICKETY-CLICK FOOD Sixty-6, a new restaurant and delicatessen on South Great Georges Street, Dublin 2, opened this week in a district known for its eateries. Located in the former Foko shop, it is co-owned by Rachel Clancy, who set up Darwin's restaurant on Aungier Street. Architect John Kaye designed the space with a laid-back American atmosphere - decorative plates line one wall, and 1950s touches run throughout. It opens for breakfast at 8am and continues through lunch to last orders for dinner at 11pm. The menu focuses on comfort food, and highlights from the deli include truffle oils, vanilla pods, three-year-old Parma ham, 21-year-old balsamic vinegar, cheeses produced by "slow-food" methods, pastries made on the premises, organic vegetables and an excellent wine selection from small suppliers (in the restaurant, you can order a bottle from the shop without paying the usual mark-up). They also do a very tasty takeaway lunch. Sixty-6, 66 South Great Georges Street, Dublin 2, 01-4005878. Eoin Lyons
DOG'S BODIES WANTED It takes up to three years to train an air-scenting search-and-rescue dog. Essential during that period are the "dog's bodies": people who are willing to hide behind rocks, in ditches or on the sides of mountains, where the dog will find them by following their airborne scent. Some volunteers go on to become dog handlers themselves, but "you need to 'body' for at least six months or a year, so you can see how it works", says dog-handler Brian Haskins. He is training Kasper, a two-year-old collie who is in need of bodies in the south Dublin area. There are three training sessions per week, and volunteers can fit in when their own schedules allow. Special training weekends throughout the country are social affairs, with about 20 dogs (and their handlers) involved. Volunteers should be outdoor types who don't mind sitting on a mountain in the dark, and as Kasper is currently rewarded with lively play when he finds a body, they should be able to "go a bit mental" when he finds them. Contact Brian on 087-6872262 or via www.sardaireland.com. Jane Powers
WILLIAMS ON WINE Leslie Williams, who contributed a thoughtful piece on the decline of the noble spud in these pages recently, is running two wine courses in Dublin this month. The introductory and advanced courses will be held in the Wine and Beer Warehouse, Stillorgan (01-2103601, info@wineandbeerwarehouse.com). The six-week courses start on October 25th and 26th. The introductory course costs €180 including ISO glasses, Hugh Johnson wine book and notes. The advanced course costs €220 (with the extra money spent on wine). Joe Breen
DOCK HOLIDAY As some established hotels in Dublin become increasingly dated, staying at one that's new - even in the budget category - can be more adventurous. Quality Hotel, located between the south docks and Pearse Street, is a three-star well worth investigating. Interior designer Gregory Curran of Burke Kennedy Doyle Architects has made the 211-room hotel a pleasant, stylish place to stay: bedrooms are thoughtfully fitted out; work by Irish artists lines the walls in the diningroom; and a fitness area has what may be the largest pool in any Dublin hotel. Bedrooms with a double and single bed cost from €89 per night. Quality Hotel, Cardiff Lane, Dublin 2, 01-6439500, www.qualityhoteldublin.com. Eoin Lyons
SURFING FOR IRELAND Surfing off Costa Rica sounds like as good a way as any of getting away from an Irish October. The World Kayak Surf Championships 2005 take place from October 22nd to 30th, on the Pacific coast near the beaches of Playa Hermosa. Kieran Halton - a gold medal winner when the biennial event was held in Easkey, Co Sligo, last time round, in 2003 - is one of the few Irish competitors heading for battle on five-metre waves. On top of the gym training, Halton is spending up to five hours each Saturday and Sunday honing all the surf moves - aerials, cutbacks, flatspins - on the west coast of Ireland. By day a civil engineering consultant based in Drogheda, Halton is a demon on the water and hopes to out-surf around 150 competitors from Northern Ireland, Brazil, Costa Rica and Spain. As well as being a "wow on the waves" he also paddles rivers. He's a regular on the Boyne. "The surf is a different type of buzz. It's spontaneous, very fast, unique and exhilarating," he says. Elaine Edwards
PAINTING FROM PAKISTAN Master Painters of Pakistan, opening on Wednesday, in Oscar Wilde House in Dublin's Merrion Square, is an exhibition featuring 12 outstanding Pakistani painters born before the country's independence in 1947. All bar one of the 19 artists are now dead. One woman, Zubeida Agha, taught by an Italian student of Picasso, was the first modernist to have a solo exhibition in Karachi, in 1948, which caused a sensation at the time. She later persuaded the government to set up a modern art gallery in Rawalpindi. This striking watercolour portrait of an eastern beauty is by Chugtai (1899-1975), considered the father of modern Pakistani painting and a descendant of the architect of the Taj Mahal. The exhibition will run until October 13th; concurrently there will also be an exhibition of contemporary Pakistani art at the Royal College of Surgeons, opening on October 10th. Deirdre McQuillan