Monday, October 22, 2007

Long long time ago....

Don McLean Uploaded by M+MD
" ...I can still remember how that music used to make me smile".

It was 1972, it was the year I did my Inter Cert. American Pie made it to number 2 on the Radio Luxembourg charts (that's my recollection).

I've had a copy of the album American Pie (borrowed and copied onto tape cassette) since around that time - I think it was Finian Ryan who lent me the record. That tape is still knocking around - when the girls were young we used to play it in the car on long journeys.


Don
Uploaded by M+MD
Well last week-end Don McLean was playing in the Olympia Theatre, Dublin - originally for just one night but by popular demand there was an extra concert on Sunday. I remember that he played the stadium a long time ago - I didn't make it - probably too poor at the time! Gerry had 4 tickets which he couldn't use. We jumped at the offer and the girls came too. It turns out that we had a box over the stage - a fantastic vantage point. As you can see I took a lot of photographs - and there are more HERE.

Don McLean
Uploaded by M+MD

The concert was great. Don and his band are getting on now - he is now in his early 60's. The audience were getting on in years too - although there were quite a few younger faces too. He sang quite a variety of material. We had country rock, Percy French (Mountains of Mourne), he sang about 4 songs from the American Pie album: Winterwood; Empty Chairs; Vincent, of course; and before he was asked (ie with perfect timing) we were treated to a 9 minute version of American Pie. "do you know this one" he quiped through the long intro. Then as we raced to join in the chorus he said "stay with me on this".

You can see for yourself. We managed to get almost all of American Pie on video - if you are prepared to watch 8 minutes, 19 seconds and not be too disappointed at the end - it gets cut off at "and the 3 men I admired mo_____" It's a pity but (not surprisingly) the memory card was full!

He finished up with Bob Dylan's "Masters of War" a song that he said "I didn't think I would ever be singing again". I guess he won't be invited to perform at George Bush's next party!


Don Ralph Pat
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American Pie is one of those analysed and commented on songs. We all know that it is about the plain crash of the 3 men he admired most (once!) Buddy Holly Ricky Valens and the Big Bopper (J. P. Richardson, Jr). But urban legends such as the "fact" that the plane that crashed was called American Pie are completely untrue. "The Levy" may or may not have been the name of a bar that Don frequented in his youth!

A timeless artist still on top of his game - although we were accidental attendees it was a great concert and next time he's in town we won't be missing it!
See more on the Don McLean Website

Sunday, October 21, 2007

What its all about... Victory...


Jon Truimphant

...and Defeat


Defeated
Originally uploaded by Mangi Wau

Joni dejected.

World Cup Final
England 6 South Africa 15


Bundled into touch - no try
Originally uploaded by Mangi Wau
It was as we thought too much to hope for - yes it's true we were hoping for an England win. But South Africa were really always in control. At 15-6 as a final score it will not go down as a classic game of rugby - but it's fair to say it was a classic cup final. It was a dull edgy game, with lots of mistakes on both sides and a very close call from the TMO on a probable English try - but South Africa had the extra gear in the end.
England put up a much improved performance but it was not good enough in the end. It's been an interesting World Cup; the game has changed a lot in 4 years. It seems more technical now - the kicking and territory game was very successful, sometimes a little unfairly (if you can say that!) but that's how sport evolves. We can now look forward to thrashing the world cup finalists in Twickenham this spring and of course think about the possibilities of a trip to New Zealand for World Cup 2011.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Rugby World Cup Semi Finals
England 14 France 9
South Africa 37 Argentina 13


Sad Frenchman!
Originally uploaded by rosbiffer
The Semi Finals gave us 2 good matches. England Vs France was a real war of attrition. England scored a quick try then France got ahead and managed to stay ahead for most of the game, but in the end they were not able to close out the game and they fell victim to their success against the All Blacks almost the same way as they did in 1999. England played the best rugby they have played for some years and varied their game enough to counteract the French. In the end the better team won.
Argentina also played a little like they had also won their world cup by getting this far. The South African never really struggled and on balance they have had by far the easiest run into the final. You have to think that their name is written on this one - a little like England in 2003.
Time discloses all!

Monday, October 08, 2007

Southern Hemisphere arrogance takes a dent this week-end

Saturday 2pm, Marseilles - Australia V England. Final Score 10-12 It was a strange feeling shouting for England. This week-end the pride of northern hemisphere rugby football was vested in our old enemies England and France. England played the game of their lives. They attacked Australia at the breakdowns with a ferocity that the All-Blacks would find hard to better. They turned over the ball maybe ten times. Even though Joni Wilkinson was not as accurate as usual - only 4 from 7 - they still managed to squeeze out a 12 points to 10 victory. Australia lost it mentally in the last few minutes. When they got a penalty in the last 2 minutes which was obviously outside of Mortlock's range - they prayed for a miracle rather than backing themselves and kicking for the corner. Mortlock missed and England ran down the clock to give a famous victory. You can showboat with big scores (91-3 V Japan; 55-12 V Fiji; 37-3 V Canada) in the early stages, but in the knock-out stages you need heart and brains in equal measure to go forward.

Saturday 8pm, Cardiff - New Zealand V France. Final Score 18-20 New Zealand slipped up - so someone else will take their birthright again. Fabien Pelous, a veteran of France's famous 1999 world cup victory against the All-Blacks said of the game: "We knew we wouldn't play much, we would occupy territory. We got away with it; if we played that match again 5 times out of 6 we would lose it". Crazy Benny Laport picked a team of kickers to ensure that the played the game as much as possible in the New Zealand half. The tackles made statistics of 178 by France to 36 by New Zealand tells a tale of a fierce French Résistance.

The Résistance started with the Haka. They lined up on the half way line in Red White and Blue T-shirts forming a large tricolour. Apparently this was Serge Betson's idea - good one. The Haka advanced to the line 'til they were nose to nose at the end. Chabal eye-balling his opposite number, nose to nose, was a sight to raise the French morale.

After the game Richie McCaw was interviewed on TV. The hurt and the pain visable on his face and in his voice, made our Irish teams hurt seem trivial. Later he said of the team in the dressing room "The pain in the eyes and the body language sums it up. It's hard to put it into words but there are some pretty shredded guys". In contrast to our arrangements, Graham Henry will be replaced before Christmas just like his four predecessors. I think this simply raises the pressure and expectation on New Zealand for 2011 - although they will be on home soil again.

Sunday 2pm, Marseilles - South Africa V Fiji. Final Score 30-20 While South Africa managed to hold it together to beat Fiji by 37 points to 20, it took a remarkable piece of individual leadership by their captain John Smit to pull them back from the brink. In the second half the 14 man Fiji team scored 2 tries in quick succession. They then just missed a try to take the lead. Smit called his team into a huddle. He said he could see in their eyes what he had seen in the eyes of the Australian and New Zealand players the previous day. He told them to snap out of it and go win the match. South Africa managed to use their rugby brains and skill to finally grind out a win. But there was no doubt about who had played the better rugby. Can you believe that earlier in the week Jaque Fourie said that Fiji did not merit the respect of the Springboks.

Sunday 8pm, Paris - Argentina V Scotland. Final Score 19-13 It was the poorest of the 4 matches. Argentina won in the end but only just. Scotland made lots of errors and gave limited ball to their outside line. They never took the flat pass from the scrum or ruck, but always passed deep and so often went backwards. Argentina were nothing like the team that beat France or Ireland. The score-line flattered both teams, if that's possible. So having started out this week-end thinking that the semi-finals could be a southern hemisphere tournament we now will have a north south final in the end, when France or England will take on South Africa or Argentina. The money would have to be on France to beat South Africa in Paris - but this World Cup is not one to predict.

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Monday, October 01, 2007

Catalogue of Crazy Dreams...
Argentina 30 Ireland 15

© Inpho It's been a month for Crazy Dreams. - First that we could beat Namibia by a Cricket Score; - then that we could get 5 points against Georgia; - then we could beat France and put them out of the world cup - double revenge for Croke Park and the last world cup; - and finally that we could beat Argentina by four tries.

Well now the dreams are shattered, and it's not just the supporters who feel the pain. I don't hold with piling the blame on Eddie - he is who he is - he is totally predictable - we liked it when he nearly won us a Grand Slam - why should we feel any different now. We might like him to be a bit more adventurous in selection and in the use of subs - but I don't think that was the difference in these performances. © Inpho The reality is that most teams who win the World Cup will do so because New Zealand haven't played to their potential. Ireland can never produce a team to beat New Zealand at its best. We need more than passion, though ironically our passion seemed to let us down this time. Our skill levels are better than in former years, but we need to get it all together - Players Passion; Skill; Commitment; Management - at the same time. Lets be honest we exposed our weaknesses in at least 2 of our 6 Nations games earlier this year. The End of Dreams (for now). Well now we can enjoy some class rugby as the World Cup continues without us. (Earlier France hammered Georgia by 64 points to 7.) Post Match Reactions Eddie O'Sullivan Brian O'Driscoll Other Players - D'arcy; Wallace; Comteponi; Pichot The final table for the pool of death looked like this: >

© inpho

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