How to end the week well

Underwater summary of the week

Found in newfie, a natural smiley...

Well, it has been a great week, with the escapes to the beach Tuesday and Wednesday. I was back in town Thursday night, with the usual concert in Bourkes. This time it was Rarely Seen Above Ground ( R.S.A.G. ).
A brilliant artist drummer, I was quite surprised by the performance in a very good way.

leaflet Bourkes

RSAG in Bourkes

Friday, was quiet at home, watching TV and chatting on FB. A bit of rest before having a rugby day, watching the French league, with a worrying prestation from ASM - hopefully it will be better next weekend - then heading saturday night to Thomond Park for the Munster-Leinster game. Not a great rugby game infairness but the ambience in Thomond is always good, even if the boys in blue managed to calm down the public.

Munster pre-game mascot

Sunday morning brought by the sun, which was perfect for a nice spin to Kilkee. A full good hour snorkel, a nice hot chocolate cake and small catch up with the diving buddies....

Anemone in Newfie

Under ....

Checking out the divers down below....

Me

Nice hot chocolate cake

In summary: good music, good company, the sun, the sea, some rugby game... what else can you ask for.

A tour of guinness

I went last saturday to Dublin to see a game of Rugby, and use the occasion to paya vist to the Guinness storehouse.

The tour is actually quite great, showing the whole brewing process of the stout, the old machinery, and the history of the brand, from his founder to the latest advertising campaigns.

Clear Water


Copper and barrels




Some advertising:


You end the tour with a delightful pint of guinness, at the top of the building, which overlooks all Dublin.


Then after the tour, we headed to the Aviva stadium, to see a good french performance ( not a fantastic one though but enough to secure a victory, before the world cup ).


And off course we ended the night in a pub ;)

2008 Top 10 Things

The Time is publishing it's top 10 of evrything for 2008: Time Special Top 10 2008, so here's my personal top 10 for 2008

• ASM 9th french rugby union championship final. Against Toulouse, even if it was not the result expected, Auvergne is still lookking to win the Brennus. Actually if Clermont win against Munster next saturday, this might replace that entry.

• Radiohead "In Rainbows" in Dublin
  An excellent new album, distributed freely through the web (i know it's actually 2007).
  
  And on the top of that, i've seen them in a fabulous concert in Dublin, dreamy from the start with a double rainbow welcoming the group in Marlay Park.
  

• Wall-ee
  The last pixar marvel, absolutely enchanting, in particular the silent 1st part of the movie.
  

• US presidential campaign
  From Hilary raise, to Obama victory... it has been a quite exciting and over-publicized campaign. Change could not come at a best time ( or at a worst ? ).
  

• Bertie Ahern stepping down.
  Fascinating, a great political figure, which shape today's ireland, a finance minister who does not have a bank account (how did he get paid ? in cash ), a man who lead the peace process. He had an incredibly long career in Irish Politics, which is contrasting, when you compare to the american system: Obama political career only started 4-5 years ago, while Bertie started in his 20's... France is unfortunately no different.
  With all the afairs, he also did a lot for the raise of Irish stand up comedian.
  

• Large Hardron Collider almost start up
  The Large Hardron Collider, building is finished, and experiment will be able to start. A particular feeling about that news, as lots of my teachers in Clermont University worked ( and are still working ) on that project.
  

• Munster-All Blacks in Thomond Park
  What a game, makes you proud of living in Limerick.
  Everything, from the Munster haka to finsh was exceptional that night.
  

• Lisa Hannigan "Sea Saw"
  Some interesting things happen this year in music, from Portishead latest addition "Third" to MGMT "Kids", but i have a tender preference for Lisa Hannigan first album, and not only for her live show in UL.
  

• Basking Sharks in Kerry
  The first time, I saw so huge animals in the sea... I know it's not a big news, and they are quite frequent on the Irish Coast, but it's in my top ten...
  
  Next year I'll try to get closer, bigger picture of them.
  

• Crunch....
  This growth rate seems unreal, and crazy for most part of the year, and now it's gone, in less time than it takes to write it. How artificial has been our occidental capitalistic lifes ? We'll see if 2009 brings better alternatives

Stand Up and Fight

In a replay of the famous 1978 victory over the All-Blacks (12-0), last night Munster played New Zealand in the newly renovated stadium... and what a game....

The 1978 victory is the beginning of the Munster legend, as Munster is the only irish side to have ever beaten the All-Blacks, the game also inspired a play : Alone it stands.



And the game last night was fabulous, even with a second string team ( most of Munster player were taken by international duty, O'Gara, O'Connell, Flannerys... were playing for Ireland last Saturday), Munster put all his heart into the game, pushed by its fantastic public. One of the best game of rugby I've ever seen.

So the song of the week is....

STAN' UP AN' FIGHT (TOREADOR SONG)

Thanks a lot! I'm sure glad to be,
To be where I c'n see
So many friends o' mine.
How've I been doin'? How've I been doin'?
If you really wanta know de truth,
I'm doin' fine!
Seventeen decisions in a row,
An' only five on points; de res' was all K.O.
Jackson an' Johnson, Murphy an' Bronson,
One by one dey come,
An' one by one to dreamland dey go.
How's it done? You ask me, how's it done?
I got a trainer man who taught me all I know.
Sure feels good to have him in my corner,
Hear his voice a-whisp'rin' low:
"Big boy, remember, you mus' remember...

Stan' up an' fight until you hear de bell,
Stan' toe to toe, trade blow fer blow,
Keep punchin' till you make yer punches tell,
Show dat crowd watcher know!
Until you hear dat bell, dat final bell,
Stan' up an' fight like hell!"

When you fight out in de open air,
In a patch o' light de ring looks small an' white.
Out in de blackness, out in de blackness,
You c'n feel a hun'erd thousan' eyes
Fillin' de night.
Cigarettes are blinkin' in de dark,
An' makin' polka dots aroun' de baseball park,
People are quiet den dere's a riot!
Someone t'rows a punch
An' plants it right smack on de mark...
Someone’s hurt, you kinda think it's you.
You hang across de ropes
Da's all you want to do.
Den you look aroun' an' see your trainer's eyes,
Beggin' you to see it through,
Dey say, "Remember, big Boy, remember

Stan' up an' fight until you hear de bell,
Stan' toe to toe, trade blow fer blow,
Keep punchin' till you make yer punches tell,
Show dat crowd watcher know!
Until you hear dat bell, dat final bell,
Stan, up an' fight like hell!"

20 - 26

Et de neuf... et merde....
Félicitations Toulouse.
Bravo les jaunards pour cette belle saison... a l'année prochaine en H-Cup et championat.

Underwater ...rugby

No it's not Irish rugby played under continuous fall of rain...



And talking about rugby, last Sunday, saw Clermont beat Munster at home in France, but ASM were unlucky in preventing a defensive crucial bonus point to be awarded to the red army. Damn...

ASM - Munster [1]

So "les Jaunes et Bleus" ( the yellow and blue ) came to Thomond Park ( still under renovation ) to face mighty Munster in the Heineken Cup.

Great game, even if i would i have prefer to see Clermont fist team, with the like of Mignoni, Bonnaire, Rougerie...

The atmosphere was great ( as usual in Thomond Park ), with people singing The Fields of Athenry
:

Lyrics

By a lonely prison wall, I heard a young girl calling
"Michael, they have taken you away
For you stole Trevelyan's corn
So the young might see the morn'
Now a prison ship lies waiting in the bay"

Low lie the fields of Athenry
Where once we watched the small free birds fly
Our love was on the wing
We had dreams and songs to sing
It's so lonely 'round the fields of Athenry

By a lonely prison wall, I heard a young man calling
"Nothing matters, Mary, when you're free
Against the famine and the Crown
I rebelled, they cut me down
Now you must raise our child with dignity"

Low lie the fields of Athenry
Where once we watched the small free birds fly
Our love was on the wing
We had dreams and songs to sing
It's so lonely 'round the fields of Athenry

By a lonely harbour wall, she watched the last star falling
As the prison ship sailed out against the sky
For she'll live in hope and pray
For her love in Botany Bay
It's so lonely 'round the fields of Athenry

Low lie the fields of Athenry
Where once we watched the small free birds fly
Our love was on the wing
We had dreams and songs to sing
It's so lonely 'round the fields of Athenry

or the Munster's song, Stand Up and Fight:

STAN' UP AN' FIGHT (TOREADOR SONG)

Thanks a lot! I'm sure glad to be,
To be where I c'n see
So many friends o' mine.
How've I been doin'? How've I been doin'?
If you really wanta know de truth,
I'm doin' fine!
Seventeen decisions in a row,
An' only five on points; de res' was all K.O.
Jackson an' Johnson, Murphy an' Bronson,
One by one dey come,
An' one by one to dreamland dey go.
How's it done? You ask me, how's it done?
I got a trainer man who taught me all I know.
Sure feels good to have him in my corner,
Hear his voice a-whisp'rin' low:
"Big boy, remember, you mus' remember...

Stan' up an' fight until you hear de bell,
Stan' toe to toe, trade blow fer blow,
Keep punchin' till you make yer punches tell,
Show dat crowd watcher know!
Until you hear dat bell, dat final bell,
Stan' up an' fight like hell!"

When you fight out in de open air,
In a patch o' light de ring looks small an' white.
Out in de blackness, out in de blackness,
You c'n feel a hun'erd thousan' eyes
Fillin' de night.
Cigarettes are blinkin' in de dark,
An' makin' polka dots aroun' de baseball park,
People are quiet den dere's a riot!
Someone t'rows a punch
An' plants it right smack on de mark...
Someone’s hurt, you kinda think it's you.
You hang across de ropes
Da's all you want to do.
Den you look aroun' an' see your trainer's eyes,
Beggin' you to see it through,
Dey say, "Remember, big Boy, remember

Stan' up an' fight until you hear de bell,
Stan' toe to toe, trade blow fer blow,
Keep punchin' till you make yer punches tell,
Show dat crowd watcher know!
Until you hear dat bell, dat final bell,
Stan, up an' fight like hell!"

Few french supporters have come for this occasion and we had a great week-end, touring few pubs (Clohessys, Nancy Blake, Flannerys in Catherine Street and Durty Nellys )

More with some pics, next post.

L'Auvergne debarque a Limerick.. J-6

Next Sunday, ASM (Clermont Auvergne) is playing Munster for the Heineken Cup in Limerick. Last Sunday night, Clermont beat the Lliannell Scarlet (semi-finalist last year after eliminating Munster ) 48-21 ( seven tries including 3 from Aurelien Rougerie ).....

This past week end i have start the training to be cox'n swain.
So what is cox'n swain ?
Definition: A person who usually steers a ship's boat and has charge of its crew. Under defined by CFT ( the Irish scuba diving federation ), it's basically, the person who's in charge of the diving boat, insure the safety of the divers on-site, and on the journey on and from the diving sites.
So last Saturday we spend the day lecturing about knots, charts, boats, and Sunday we had some boat practice in the Shannon estuary ( man over board, attach a buoy ...)

Sea safety:On the Royal Navy Lifeboat Institution website, there is load of informations about boat, driving safely which can easily be downloaded.The sea safety is accessible online.

The final we dreamed fro some time ... a day earlier

So finally, we will have this France-Argentina, for the small final, but the spectacle should be good, next friday.
On the other (big) final, South Africa should have no difficulties to have a deserved win over England... unless...


[EDIT] Loads of reaction, after the French defeat:

George Hook, in a very harsh article, sees there the end of the beautiful rugby union as we knew it.. I quote: A team without any worthwhile redeeming features except for sweaty effort has reached the final of the Rugby World Cup.

The famous ( for French supporters ) and quite deceived Chris Rattue state : The truth about Bernard Laporte's France was exposed at the Stade de France yesterday morning - an average and ageing side that a decent All Black unit should have put to the sword, as indeed they had done a number of times over the previous few years.

And even, English reporter title : Ugly win a thing of beauty

Hopefully Friday, we'll see a beautiful (finger cross) game show between France and Argentina, as this world cup and both teams deserve.

Disgusted

Disgusted .... France 9 - 14 England.
See you in 4 years in New Zealand.

[EDIT]Some reactions from France:

"Quand on joue contre les Anglais, on ne joue pas comme des Anglais. On joue à la française et on fait des passes" B.Lappasset ( president of the FFR ), in english: "When you play against the English, we don't play like englishmen. We play the french way, and we do the passes"...
So in France, some people are happy just because it touch a future junior minister of the current right-wing government, some are looking forward to a new coach and see the french-flair coming back, the others are sad... as Le monde put it: ceux qui s'en réjouissent, ceux qui expliquent et ceux qui excusent

In Rainbow

That's it In Rainbow, the latest album from Radiohead can be downloaded. And it's brilliant.

On more frivolous news, it seems that the defeat of the All Blacks over France, had some devastating and unexpected effects on life in New Zealand: Since Sunday's game, it seems several Kiwi males have either completely lost interest in sex, or - perhaps more worryingly - lost their ability to ... er, score. As Joanna Hurkin put it, in her blog, kiwis male have lost their libido...

France 20 - All Blacks 18

Summary last 3 days
Pub : 4
Alcohol units : > 10 ( Guinness, Jameson, Jägermeister, rhum carambar )

Flannerys pub in Catherrine Street...



Pffffff... what a game .....

[EDIT] So last wednesday, Chris Rattue from the New Zealand Herald, was stating: France pose absolutely no threat to the All Blacks, analyzing quite rightly the performance of France over the past 8 years against the All Blacks... And monday 8 october, his article is titled: Salute the victor - Glorious France. As he said, this game was: simply magnificent. Heart stopping, pulse racing, edge of the seat, beads of sweat, shivers up the spine.

A moving country

Activities: TV-Rugby, Pubs: 2, Unit of Alcohols: 2

So that's it "God Save the Queen" has been played in Croke Park, and the world is still turning... After all the talks, sport win, people gather together around a simple game, as J.Reilly said in the Sunday Independant: "This was a great occasion and those bigots who tried to drive a political wedge between Irish and English rugby fans got the answer they deserved - complete and utter indifference.".
Actually I would probably be more worried with a soccer game than a rugby game. But all the previous week, all medias have been all over the place, talking about protest, booing, arguing about an Ireland who never forget her history, and an England who never learned, and finally ... and nothing. The only things which remains is a splendid victory by the Irish squad, on a fantastic week-end of Rugby.

So splendid, that Ireland is now dreaming of a rugby world cup. Like France, which is ramping up steadily for the end of year event.

Ireland is changing, and even more change are to come, last week the Dáil discussed about gay marriage in front of a very shocked polish president:
"During a debate at the Forum on Europe in Dublin, Mr Kaczynski said 'homosexual culture' should not be promoted as an alternative.
Meanwhile, the Dáil has been debating a private members' bill which would give full legal recognition to same sex unions.
" (source RTE). The emblematic Gay Byrne called for a legalization on drugs, or at least be looked at. In a country were it's estimated that less than 10% of the drugs coming in are seized.
On the property side, more and more house are seized by banks due to people unable to pay their mortgage, and at the same time, farmer who became wealthy by selling land to property developers, are now investing in farms in Cornwal.


Yes Ireland is changing, let's hope it's for the best.

Songs:
-Satisfaction cover by Cat Power (album: The Covers Record )
-Ruby by Cerys Matthews (album: Never Said Goodbye)
-A forest by 08001 (album: VORÁGINE published April 2007)

Here we go again...

Munster started his campaign to retain his European crown.... [H-Cup website]
And that's Bourgoin which has been defeated despite:
28/10/06 Pool4 Munster 41-23 Bourgoin Thomond Park (12,800)