A round-up of today's other stories in brief

Fresh twist on thirst quenchers

SMALL PRINT has been noticing Pimms popping up in the US press recently with the Washington Post and Slate both writing about Pimms. You can blame Wimbledon, or Will and Kate’s Canadian visit, but the quintessential summer drink is no longer the preserve of the English and Irish.

Here’s our guide to summer drinks: The Cucumber Mojito

The Cuban cocktail has long overtaken the Cosmopolitan in terms of ubiquitousness so it’s about time there was a fresh twist.

Mix the limes, mint and sugar in a glass before placing two slices of cucumber, adding crushed ice, rum and club soda. Refreshing and it’s almost good for you.

Football Special Ice Cream Float

One for the Donegal kids: now that the mystery drink is available almost nationwide, it is time for it to be adapted for summer. Pour a large glass and add a dollop of vanilla ice cream. Then sit back and figure out what Football Special is actually made of.

Gilt

Gilt is a summer concoction for the sweet of tooth involving a healthy dose of Bombay Sapphire gin, Lilt and ice cubes. Pronounced “jilt”, not “guilt”.

Chamfast

This summer tipple is all about the glamour and trash: mix two-thirds Buckfast and one-third champagne to give you a slightly more vigorous kick than an espresso martini. Drink it chilled and quickly before its alternative name “fast-pagne” becomes a reality.

I Can’t Believe It’s Not Watermelon

Made famous by the Exchequer bar in D2, this cocktail merges cucumber, lime juice, Xante liqueur, rose and lemon juice to make a refreshing blast of something that tastes exactly like watermelon. – Una Mullally

Battling for the sound of silence

IT’S ONE OF THE oddest concepts for a good party; a bunch of people dancing around in silence, apart from the feed in their headphones, but the silent disco has become so common in our festival calender that earlier this year the term even entered the Oxford dictionary.

Next Friday, Ireland hosts one of its biggest ever silent discos at the Big Top in Galway as part of the Galway Arts Festival. But why does the concept work so well, and where does it come from? Like most of our modern pastimes, the origins of silent discos are rooted in science fiction. It hadn’t been invented in 1969, but the Finnish science fiction film Ruusujen Aika featured a scene at a party where revellers were wearing headsets. 25 years later, not many environmental activists had brushed up on their Finnish science fiction but in the UK they began to have headphone parties to prevent disturbing the local wildlife at gatherings.

The silent disco as we now know it took a cue from those activists at Glastonbury in 2005, when the organisers thought it would be a smart way to get around noise pollution restrictions. The Dutch company who ran the massive silent disco there had been running similar parties around Europe for three years previously.

Currently, the silent disco has two incarnations: in a festival setting where two DJs play to punters who are given wireless headsets by the organisers and can switch between frequencies to tap into two sets of music, or an event where participants bring their own radio and headphones and tune into a frequency that the DJ is broadcasting on. Of course, everyone knows that the best part of a silent disco is when you take your headphones off and observe everyone dancing around to silence.

The silent disco at the Big Top in Galway on Friday July 22nd will feature “giant laser-wielding robots” and DJs battling for your headphone attention. Tickets are €8.

See galwayartsfestival.ie

– Una Mullally

Competition: What colour should our taxis be - and why?

The National Transport Authority has proposed that all taxis have the same colour but, open-mindedly, has not specified what it should be.

Now that sounds to us like an Irish Times readers poll waiting to happen.

So let us know the colour you think would be best for Irish taxis and the reasons you think it’s better than any other colour (in 100 words or fewer) and we’ll print the best ones. What the heck – it’s the holidays; we’ll even throw in a €100 book voucher for the best.

HOW? Email your favourite taxi colour and your 100-word argument for it, to taxicolour@irishtimes.com.

Marks given for passion, originality and humour. Closing date: tomorrow at 9am.

Terms and conditions from marketing@irishtimes.com