Grubby Marks.

If as you go about your day today you see people wandering around with soot smeared on their faces try not to panic. They haven't just been in a fire. It's part of a Christian rite that marks the start of Lent - the month that leads up to the most important Christian festival - Easter.

As with Ramadan in Islam Lent is all about sacrifice and spiritual renewal. However whereas in Ramadan you fast for dawn until dusk in Lent you identify a single vice and then abstain from it all day, every day for 40 days. For children this often means sweets which is what makes the chocolate Easter eggs and the end so amazing. For adults though - particularly Irish ones - it tends to mean alcohol.

So you can imagine my sarcasm when, at the start of 2016, the UK's cancer charities announced that they'd had this revolutionary new idea. Everyone could give up alcohol for the 31 days of January for what was dubbed "Dry January."

As apparently you can't so "No" to cancer charities. Nor impose a levy on them to compensate the National Health Service (NHS) for their nonsense this became almost compulsory. The UK's "E4" TV network even put on a special season of programs to promote the idea and support people throughout the month.

I of course spent the month drinking heavily and trying to suppress the urge to point out to them that perhaps there's a reason why Lent doesn't take place during the most depressing month of the year.

15:50 on 10/2/16 (UK date).