Susan Hated Literature

I’m hoarse today. So hoarse I can’t actually speak at all. Well, the odd croak and a bit of a wheeze. Totally the fault of the cough I have. And the playing football in the rain. Nothing whatsoever to do with the drunken singing in the pub. No siree bob!

So I spent the day watching telly. Showjumping at 11 or so. Quick hop out to the shops to pick up the essentials; Strepsils, cough medicine, sausages and wedges. Pour essentials. Then home to watch the GAA. Two hurling quarters were on. Tip v Wexford was on first. I switched it on thinking, ah sure, I’ll support Tip, you know, what with the family connection to that county. But then I found myself urging Wexford on. That old underdog sympathy thing got me. And they won. Which was great. And a drama filled ending.

The other quarter-final was between Kilkenny and Galway. Kilkenny being the favourites, and me having been to college in Galway I was going to cheer them on. But then I was reminded of Vanessa McGarry’s death by seeing her son and her husband (Kilkenny goalkeeper) in the players’ section of the stand and it seemed somehow wrong to be wishing the team till. Course, as some hurling fella said, life is real and can be tragic, but that is exactly why we have things like sport.

The other two quarters are on tomorrow; Luimneach v An Clár and Port Láirge v Corcaigh. I’ll be cheering on Limerick and Waterford. I think. Well, Limerick for sure. I’m not to definite about the other match. Waterford deserve their shot at glory. But then again, as I’ve mentioned before I do like to cheer Cork on. We’ll see how the teams play.

Anyway, back to my exciting adventures on the couch. I then watched bits of Coast as they were doing the West coast of Ireland today. I did miss most of it, but caught the end. Did you know that seaweed is used in the making of beer and ice-cream? Well, now you do.

After that it was time for Jekyll. The final episode. And it was good, but I’m not too sure about the final scene. Was a bit “we want a twist” rather than an ending. Still, I’ll be keeping my eye out for anything else that Steven Moffat writes.

I was thinking of going to bed then. But instead I pulled out a dvd; A Little Princess which I bought in a 3 for €22 thingie during the week. I’d watched it years and years ago when the kids I was babysitting had rented it. And it really is a beautifully shot and directed film. And the music is great too. And I discovered that Alfonso Cuarón directed it. I may do a proper review at some stage.

So, that was my thrilling Saturday. I know you couldn’t possibly have gotten upto anything more exciting than that!

Tags: 2007shc, A Little Princess, Clare, Coast, Cork, drunken singing, football, footie in the rain, GAA, Galway, hoarse, Jekyll, Kilkenny, Limerick, me, quarter-finals, rain, showjumping, Steven Moffat, telly, Tipperary, Vanessa McGarry, Waterford, Wexford

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So Clare hurling is in an uproar. Still.

For those of you that don’t know^[1] there has been a bit of a kerfuffle in the county of Clare recently. Clare is a hurling^[2] stronghold. Hurling is an Irish game, played with a sliothar^[3] and a hurl^[4] and the scoring of goals and points^[5]

A short while ago Clare held an awards ceremony. Where they celebrated their players of the past. Only not everyone was happy. Not everyone got an award.

Enter Ger Loughnane

Now Ger will be well known to any of you who watch the GAA on the telly^[6] what with his outspoken comments and mini rants and raves that are so entertaining in a telly pundit. But Ger is also a hurling great. And he is from Clare. But (you can see where this is going) he didn’t get an award. Instead his arch-nemisis got one. Some priest called Fr. Harry Bohan. He is a Clare selector, but I know nothing else about him, I’m not a huge hurling-follower.

Okay, so all that is the background. Clear is it? As mud? Good.

Now, after the awards ceremony Ger was on the phone to the Clare County board chairman Michael McDonagh. I enjoyed In Fact, Ah’s description of this so I’ll quote it here:

To let off some steam, Loughnane telephoned the County Board Chairman Michael McDonagh to make known his displeasure about the awards. He said he used colourful terms to describe his annoyance (this can be most definitely read as fucking him out of it from a height). Loughnane made the call on speakerphone and forgot to hang up properly. He then called his friend Colum Flynn on his mobile, the team doctor who was being accused of all sorts by the team management at the time, to console him. He did so by detailing how he’d imagined shooting a certain person’s head (Fr. Bohan his arch enemy) that was on top of an oil can while out hunting.

Heavy breathing emanating from the speakerphone alerted Loughnane to the fact that he failed to terminate the call to McDonagh who happens to be a Garda. Unbelievably, McDonagh reported the matter to the Gardai.

Jayzis lads, it is like the Roy Keane affair all over again, only instead of an Irish footballing civil war we are going to have a Clare hurling civil war.

Let’s hope that the Irish Blog Awards don’t suffer such a fallout.

And I haven’t even mentioned the Welsh rugby saga. looks like the sporting world is going insane

Tags: Clare, clear as mud, GAA, Ger Loughnane, hurling

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