Catcher gets caught

"I hope to hell that when I do die somebody has the sense to just dump me in the river or something. Anything except sticking me in a goddam cemetary. People coming and putting a bunch of flowers on your stomach on Sunday, and all that crap. Who wants flowers when you're dead? Nobody."

J.D. Salinger lays down the law. He died today aged 91.

Thursday Tuneage

Better than the one that's not the original.

Florence - You've Got The Love (XX Remix)

And just fantastically good new Irish music.

Two Door Cinema Club - Undercover Martyn

Winter Sea

More beautiful imagery from here

Fungi Ousted

The day's of the Dingle Dolphin being top of the pile may be limited. It seems Wexford tourism has benefited from a rather large boost (in the most extreme sense, nice hang time Willy, rad) in recent days. Supposedly there are up to 11 Humpback's hangin round in Irish waters at the moment. Thar she blows, hon!

More fishy tales here

Plain Sailing

From here

Lonely Lion & Cool Cat

Reblogged from http://blog.corygibbons.com/

Been watching some old movies. The characters in La Dolce VIta are impossibly cool.

Back to basics..

SO, a surf blog eh. Not that you'd know by the last few posts. Well, got back in the water this weekend. 4 foot glass, with little pockets of snow still on the mountains in the background. Nothing too hectic, but after 6 weeks out of the water it was cold gold. We were too excited to take many pics, but meanwhile, the boys in deepest brightest West Oz have been enjoying some summer swell. Pics by Baylesy.

The End Of Argy-Bargy from The Mad Octopus

I'm regretfully late in posting this, but all the same, it's worth it. Bill McLaren, the eponymous "Voice of Rugby", and one of my personal heroes, died this week aged 86. What a pleasure it was to have ever had the luck to hear the great man's joyous commentary on the game of rugby live and swaddled in the fever of the moment of a match being transmitted as it happened rather than distilled over the years on You Tube.

Yet, the magic of the man and his true passion for the game as one of the last great commentators shine through on any recording. (not, as we get today, ex players who, although rich in tactical nous and expert analysis, may, in reality, lack any sort of art or craft in the theatre of commentating)

What struck most of all, even when his beloved Scotland were playing, was his sense of sporting fairness in commentary, and the unavoidable air of gentlemanliness which he exuded. He was never afraid to call it as he saw it, but very rarely, if ever criticised a player's character, choosing instead to immortalise them with a unique turn of phrase. In a time long before professionalism, he made legends out of mere sportsmen.

You can read his obituary in The Guardian here, and watch below for a reminder of the art, skill and warmth of the great man who loved rugby so much.

Make Peace

One for the 80's kids. Caught a glimpse of Dempsey and Makepeace on tv the other day. If ever there was a more convincing argument or physical embodiment of the positives of pacificism.. I think she might have been my first crush.

Chasin'Mobile

While on the subject.. If I had to chase destiny, I'd chase it in this...

Get Chasin' Friends

“Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice: it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.”

William Jennings Bryan

Escape from the rain..

Staring out the window today made me wistfully think of summer and the gang at The Surfcastle, where I spent my last.

I can close my eyes and feel the warmth and stillness of a Portuguese evening. Sometimes the most perfect places are closer to home than you think.

Check out the guys' beautiful old house by the sea. Surfcastle

Haiti

I didn't know until I heard it on the radio today, but Régine Chassagne of Arcade Fire is actually from Haiti, hence the song I guess.

Post 9-11, post Tsunami we've all become a little desensitised to disasters. So, if nothing else listen to the song and give the beleaguered people in Haiti a thought.

Haiti

Sneachta 10

Last Feb we said it was a once in a lifetime weekend. This year we're thinking global warming ain't such a bad thing if it means we get to snowboard at home every year!

Pretty Pics by Sara "S For Style" H & Libby "L for Ludicrously Xtreme" S.

Long time comin, but now..

Josh Ritter said, it. Snow is gone. Or at least on it's way out in a big way. How cyclical it is that the big freeze is always followed by the big thaw. Anyways just for a little while, Dublin became Insbruck or Vancouver, and it made this little bit of dark winter all that more interesting. Driving around town, for the shortest few hours, became an exercise in checking out the faintest incline for sliding possibilities. Grit or no grit, Im all for it.

Photo's of the past few day's snowy madness to follow, but in the mean time, while it melts outside, the guys at Isenseven have got plenty of snowy fun to keep the snowflakes in your heart from disappearing entirely.

Isenseven Let's Go Get Lost Teaser from ISENSEVEN on Vimeo.

Parko wins the battle, if not the war

This clip shows a lot of the reasons I was sorry that Parko lost the world tour race this year. The man surfs so good, and seems to manage to be a seriously sound bloke while he's at it.Hope he pulls it off next year.

Tune is We Own The Sky by M83, which incidentally comes with it's own very cool video, check it out here

New Years Walk

TwentyTen started off in pretty fine fashion with a walk over on Achill Island.

Top Tunes 09 Continued...

Just for completedness sake, here's the rest of the list. Look em up one and all, if you've got time, great tunes.

P.S. If anyone knows how to embed a link that plays the tracks on this page do pray tell how!

11. Cosmic Love - Florence & The Machine

12. Marmalade Fire - Mum

13. Weighty Ghost - Wintersleep

14. I Don't Know - Lisa Hannigan

15. Desire Lines - Halfset

16. Heart Delay - Years Around The Sun

17. Secret - Delerentos

18. Our Swords - Band Of Horses

19. Silver And Gold - Before The Ruin

20. Flume - Bon Iver

21. Happy Up Here (Remix) - Royksopp