Dublin notes

Took this photo for my daughter.

The Portal showing an empty NYC

Mural off O'Connell street

 

Croke Park, which was closed. Due to Jon Bon Jovi's visit. I was disappointed I could not do the tour

 

TCU v UNC at the Aviva

I have not been to see UNC for years. 1999 and 2029  I never thought I would see them play live again. I followed a lot of the games last year online. My interst piqued by the Jordon + Bellicheck pairing

This is my first solo trip to Dublin. I got the time of game wrong I should have remembered 3pm pm out time is 10 am on the East Coast

I was drinking Guinnesss

UNC Cheerleaders

The UNC team being driven into the Aviva stadium. There were folk on stilts, and a band keeping people spirits up

Ramsees! He is off to the Tar Heel Tailgate which was 525 pounds a ticket

A photo taken  from4 floors high in the Avia!

It was something of a Trek

US and Irish flags- I was dismayed Ireland did not have a colour party 

I met some nice people, local lads Who loved American Football. A father and son from Texas.

 

Dolly Parton

 

Dolly Parton 

(1946-2026)

Tennessean, Wife, Musician, Actor, Biblophile

``I will always love you''

• Legendary country music singer Dolly Parton has died at the age of 80

• "Dolly Parton's legacy is one of love, compassion, and resilience," her team says - read their statement in full

• The country icon sold more than 100 million records worldwide, and wrote over 3,000 songs in a career that spanned six decades

• From growing up on a "dirt poor" farm to stardom, no-one did it like Dolly, writes our music correspondent Mark Savage

• Raised in poverty in a one-room cabin in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, Parton was the fourth youngest of 12 children - her early life in pictures

• Elton John says Parton was "unique and irreplaceable", while US country star Reba McEntire pays tribute to "my buddy Dolly": "There will never ever be another you"

• Parton's style was unapologetically bold, she wowed Glastonbury, starred in well-known films and appealed to all ages

Taxi Driver

 Taxi Driver

There is a lot of Cybil Sheperd in this film. Which I found disappointing  She seems to have been forgotten in the legend this film has made. I suppose everyone is overshadowed by Jodie Foster, and Robert De Niro. 

I have seen Travis talking into the mirror for decades. Do you remember The Fan- De Niro and Snipes? 

I could not really engage with Taxi Driver. I do wonder if the film's the legend is dying with the boomers

I started with high hopes Travis being a Vietnam veteran should be red meat for me. This just felt sleezy. Which is supposed too,  Cybil's  all American girl being taken to a Pnro cinema

I did wonder about the class dynamics.  Would Cybil's character really  have dated a taxi driver?

I am back in New York city again.. I don't like it. Unlike the French Connection this does feel coarse, or squalid. Maybe the rot has settled in 

I will say this film is fine. I am glad I have ticked the box. 

The French Connection

 

I saw this on BBC I-player

This is very much off it's time. Racial slurs abound.  The docker's union have to be paid off. When we see Marsielles it is a city of steps, and handcarts. You notice the cars are brightly coloured. Men wear suits. It is still cold. The Nightclub has a song about going to the moon. The club has a live band rather then electronic music 

The chase scene on the overpass is legendary.

It is interesting to see Marseilles, a city which I am not familar with. The French villian has a much younger mistress, he angles off his house

I did like Popeye

This seems to have created a lot of tropes. The upper class junkie, the undercover black police officer

The chases. Lots and lot of foot chases...

Na hINCIGH

 

Hayden Panettiere

 Hayden Lesley Panettiere

I loved Heroes, I loved Claire

August 21, 1989 – August 16, 2026

Mother, Anti Whaling activist, Autobiographer