Hillary knocks back a few
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Lost season finale: my TV event of the year
I don't think I've ever been as excited about two hours of TV as I am about tonight's finale to season 4 of Lost. It promises to be a shocker - even more so than the finale to season 3. I. Cannot. Wait. For a preview, check out Jeff Jensen's peerless commentary over on EW.com here or see the coverage in today's New York Times here.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Hillary is AOL, Obama is Facebook; she's PC, he's a Mac
Andrew Sullivan in yesterday's Sunday Times. Great read.
I heart BCN
After an amazing couple of days in this city, I can't stop singing its praises by way of this song...
Monday, May 19, 2008
The tide is turning
My feature on female surfers in today's Irish Examiner
It’s a sport that has long been associated with men, from the Beach Boys to Keanu Reeves in the movie Point Break, but a sea-change is taking place in the world of surfing: the ladies are taking over.
Hollywood starlets like Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Aniston are constantly being snapped with their boards in Hawaii and Malibu, but one need only travel along Ireland’s coastline to find an ever-growing group of women making waves in their own right.
Later this month, schoolgirl Ione Byrne, from Templeboy, Co Sligo, will fly the flag for Irish female surfers as part of the Denny Irish Junior Surf Team who are competing in the 2008 World Junior Surfing Championships in the south-west of France.
The 17-year-old, who will be competing in the under-18 girls category, has been surfing off the west coast since she was a toddler.
“My mum and dad started me surfing when I was 4 years of age,” Ione says. “I just stuck with it throughout the years. I was bodyboarding competitively until three years ago and then I changed to surfing and have been doing that since.”
However, fifth year student Ione reveals she was very often the only surfer – female or male – spotted on her local beach down through the years.
“There were very few people surfing in my area when I was growing up,” she tells me. “Even now, there are only about 10 girls competitively in Ireland in my age group.”
One of Ione’s mentors is Zoe Lally from the Irish Surf Association. Donegal native Zoe began surfing herself in 1986, the year after her home town of Rossnowlagh (home to Ireland’s first surf club) hosted the European Championships.
“There wouldn’t have been many people surfing at the time,” Zoe says. “Surfing arrived in Ireland in the 1960s and right away there was a core group of women surfers. There would have been a women’s division in the Irish nationals since the late 70s, but it was always just a handful of women compared to the numbers nowadays.
“For instance, last year at the Irish Junior Surf Championships we had as many U-12 girls taking part at U-12 boys, which was a first. It has just exploded in the last 10 years.”
As proof of this, up to 500 Irish women are expected to descend on Rossnowlagh from May 24-25 for the 7th Wet ‘n’ Wild weekend, an initiative supported by the Irish Sports Council where ladies of all ages and abilities can learn how to surf and bodyboard.
But what has fuelled this rise in female surfing in recent years? One key factor was fashion. Californian surfer Lisa Anderson, who became the first woman to ever grace the cover of Surfer magazine in the US in 1995, had insisted that the famous Quiksilver surf clothing brand make shorts for her rather than a bikini.
This was pivotal, says Zoe Lally. “Suddenly, rather than promoting women sitting on the beach in a bikini just looking pretty, the media and advertisers were showing women out on the water actively taking part,” she explains.
This is a view backed up by Louise Searle, editor of SurfGirl, a new magazine devoted solely to female surfers in the UK and Ireland which hits the stands this month (it had previously been just an insert in the men’s magazine Carve).
“It’s quite cold surfing around the Irish and British coastlines, so women weren’t really into it,” Louise explains. “Then surf fashion arrived, like the Roxy boardshorts, and girls felt more comfortable going into the sea because they didn’t have to wear bikinis.
“Wetsuits then improved so women could surf all year round. The mainstream appeal of brands like Roxy and Bilabong made surfing accessible, and so more girls got interested.”
Surfing in general is fast becoming big business here in Ireland. This September, the surf and music festival, Cois Fharraige, returns to the coast of Co Clare, following its phenomenal first outing last year.
Furthermore, Ireland’s attraction as a surfing destination has been bolstered by the documentary Wave Riders, which won the Audience Award at this year’s Dublin International Film Festival.
A key sequence in that film focused on the legendary “big wave” Aill na Searrach off the Cliffs of Moher, and last year, Donegal woman Easkey Britton became the first female surfer to ride the 15ft break.
“It was an amazing feeling, not like any I’ve experienced before,” explains Easkey, who recently won her fourth consecutive Irish National Surfing Championship title in Bundoran, and is also current British Pro-Tour Champ.
“Needless to say I’m eager to get out and try something like it again, but we just haven’t had that many big waves recently. I’m climbing up the walls waiting to get back out there again!”
Like Ione Byrne, 22-year-old Easkey has surfing in the blood. In the 1960s, her hotelier grandmother brought back a surfboard from California to hang as a novelty in her hotel in – where else? - Rossnowlagh.
However, Easkey’s dad and uncle soon claimed the board for themselves, kickstarting a life-long passion for surfing that has been passed on through different generations of the family (Easkey’s namesake is a wave in Sligo).
“Surfing wasn’t a huge thing for girls when I was growing up, partly because the equipment wasn’t really geared towards women or kids,” explains Easkey, an Environmental Science student at the University of Ulster.
“That’s all changed recently. It’s blown me away how fast it’s taken off here in Ireland. Now, down to wetsuit technology people can go out any time of the year.
“Also there are a lot more role models today for girls who want to take it up and there’s more support for them. I know a lot of female surfers from the northwest of the country and we really push one another when it comes to entering competitions. It has really helped us improve and reach a high standard.”
Easkey’s own female idol is the late Hawaiian surfer Rell Sunn, who broke new ground – or waves – for women surfers in the 1970s and 80s.
“She was a real embodiment of the aloha spirit of surfing,” Easkey says. “She was inspirational in terms of bringing kids into surfing and pushing the standards of women’s surfing at a time when they were getting little or no support.”
Easkey has adopted a similar coaching and nurturing role to young women surfers in her own right, including her younger sister, Becky-Finn, who placed fifth in the World Junior Championships in Portugal last year.
“Becky-Finn’s the first female longboarder in Ireland because there’s no women’s category for it here, so she basically competes with all the guys and does very well,” Easkey informs me proudly.
Easkey also features in this month’s edition of the aforementioned SurfGirl in a feature about surfing in the Caroline Islands off the coast of the Philippines.
“That’s one of the great things about surfing is that you can travel so much with it,” she says. “I’ve been to the Caroline Islands, Australia, Hawaii - all over. Each place offers something different, but I still love coming home every time. We definitely have world class waves, but the Atlantic Ocean is very unpredictable. For instance, there have been very few waves for the past few weeks.”
For now, however, Easkey is preparing for the World Surf Games, which will take place in Portugal in October. “I’m not that nervous about it,” she reveals. “I’ve set a series of smaller goals to reach in the run up to the event. I’m trying not to get in my head about it too much!”
Ireland’s top surfing spots:
*Cork: Beaches surrounding Clonakilty are most popular.
*Donegal: Rossnowlagh and Bundoran are the best known locations; also Inishowen, Fanad Head, Dunfanagh, Bloody Foreland and Dungloe.
*Sligo: The beach at Strandhill is the most popular; also Aughris, Easkey and Enniscrone.
*Claire: Lahinch is a surfer’s paradise.
International:
*Jeffries Bay, Cape Town, South Africa: Offers some of the most consistent waves in the world.
*North Shore, Oahu, Hawaii: the birthplace of surfing with waves reaching 20-30 feet.
*Tamarindo, Costa Rica: Has become world-famous since surfing movie Endless Summer II was filmed there in 1994.
It’s a sport that has long been associated with men, from the Beach Boys to Keanu Reeves in the movie Point Break, but a sea-change is taking place in the world of surfing: the ladies are taking over.
Hollywood starlets like Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Aniston are constantly being snapped with their boards in Hawaii and Malibu, but one need only travel along Ireland’s coastline to find an ever-growing group of women making waves in their own right.
Later this month, schoolgirl Ione Byrne, from Templeboy, Co Sligo, will fly the flag for Irish female surfers as part of the Denny Irish Junior Surf Team who are competing in the 2008 World Junior Surfing Championships in the south-west of France.
The 17-year-old, who will be competing in the under-18 girls category, has been surfing off the west coast since she was a toddler.
“My mum and dad started me surfing when I was 4 years of age,” Ione says. “I just stuck with it throughout the years. I was bodyboarding competitively until three years ago and then I changed to surfing and have been doing that since.”
However, fifth year student Ione reveals she was very often the only surfer – female or male – spotted on her local beach down through the years.
“There were very few people surfing in my area when I was growing up,” she tells me. “Even now, there are only about 10 girls competitively in Ireland in my age group.”
One of Ione’s mentors is Zoe Lally from the Irish Surf Association. Donegal native Zoe began surfing herself in 1986, the year after her home town of Rossnowlagh (home to Ireland’s first surf club) hosted the European Championships.
“There wouldn’t have been many people surfing at the time,” Zoe says. “Surfing arrived in Ireland in the 1960s and right away there was a core group of women surfers. There would have been a women’s division in the Irish nationals since the late 70s, but it was always just a handful of women compared to the numbers nowadays.
“For instance, last year at the Irish Junior Surf Championships we had as many U-12 girls taking part at U-12 boys, which was a first. It has just exploded in the last 10 years.”
As proof of this, up to 500 Irish women are expected to descend on Rossnowlagh from May 24-25 for the 7th Wet ‘n’ Wild weekend, an initiative supported by the Irish Sports Council where ladies of all ages and abilities can learn how to surf and bodyboard.
But what has fuelled this rise in female surfing in recent years? One key factor was fashion. Californian surfer Lisa Anderson, who became the first woman to ever grace the cover of Surfer magazine in the US in 1995, had insisted that the famous Quiksilver surf clothing brand make shorts for her rather than a bikini.
This was pivotal, says Zoe Lally. “Suddenly, rather than promoting women sitting on the beach in a bikini just looking pretty, the media and advertisers were showing women out on the water actively taking part,” she explains.
This is a view backed up by Louise Searle, editor of SurfGirl, a new magazine devoted solely to female surfers in the UK and Ireland which hits the stands this month (it had previously been just an insert in the men’s magazine Carve).
“It’s quite cold surfing around the Irish and British coastlines, so women weren’t really into it,” Louise explains. “Then surf fashion arrived, like the Roxy boardshorts, and girls felt more comfortable going into the sea because they didn’t have to wear bikinis.
“Wetsuits then improved so women could surf all year round. The mainstream appeal of brands like Roxy and Bilabong made surfing accessible, and so more girls got interested.”
Surfing in general is fast becoming big business here in Ireland. This September, the surf and music festival, Cois Fharraige, returns to the coast of Co Clare, following its phenomenal first outing last year.
Furthermore, Ireland’s attraction as a surfing destination has been bolstered by the documentary Wave Riders, which won the Audience Award at this year’s Dublin International Film Festival.
A key sequence in that film focused on the legendary “big wave” Aill na Searrach off the Cliffs of Moher, and last year, Donegal woman Easkey Britton became the first female surfer to ride the 15ft break.
“It was an amazing feeling, not like any I’ve experienced before,” explains Easkey, who recently won her fourth consecutive Irish National Surfing Championship title in Bundoran, and is also current British Pro-Tour Champ.
“Needless to say I’m eager to get out and try something like it again, but we just haven’t had that many big waves recently. I’m climbing up the walls waiting to get back out there again!”
Like Ione Byrne, 22-year-old Easkey has surfing in the blood. In the 1960s, her hotelier grandmother brought back a surfboard from California to hang as a novelty in her hotel in – where else? - Rossnowlagh.
However, Easkey’s dad and uncle soon claimed the board for themselves, kickstarting a life-long passion for surfing that has been passed on through different generations of the family (Easkey’s namesake is a wave in Sligo).
“Surfing wasn’t a huge thing for girls when I was growing up, partly because the equipment wasn’t really geared towards women or kids,” explains Easkey, an Environmental Science student at the University of Ulster.
“That’s all changed recently. It’s blown me away how fast it’s taken off here in Ireland. Now, down to wetsuit technology people can go out any time of the year.
“Also there are a lot more role models today for girls who want to take it up and there’s more support for them. I know a lot of female surfers from the northwest of the country and we really push one another when it comes to entering competitions. It has really helped us improve and reach a high standard.”
Easkey’s own female idol is the late Hawaiian surfer Rell Sunn, who broke new ground – or waves – for women surfers in the 1970s and 80s.
“She was a real embodiment of the aloha spirit of surfing,” Easkey says. “She was inspirational in terms of bringing kids into surfing and pushing the standards of women’s surfing at a time when they were getting little or no support.”
Easkey has adopted a similar coaching and nurturing role to young women surfers in her own right, including her younger sister, Becky-Finn, who placed fifth in the World Junior Championships in Portugal last year.
“Becky-Finn’s the first female longboarder in Ireland because there’s no women’s category for it here, so she basically competes with all the guys and does very well,” Easkey informs me proudly.
Easkey also features in this month’s edition of the aforementioned SurfGirl in a feature about surfing in the Caroline Islands off the coast of the Philippines.
“That’s one of the great things about surfing is that you can travel so much with it,” she says. “I’ve been to the Caroline Islands, Australia, Hawaii - all over. Each place offers something different, but I still love coming home every time. We definitely have world class waves, but the Atlantic Ocean is very unpredictable. For instance, there have been very few waves for the past few weeks.”
For now, however, Easkey is preparing for the World Surf Games, which will take place in Portugal in October. “I’m not that nervous about it,” she reveals. “I’ve set a series of smaller goals to reach in the run up to the event. I’m trying not to get in my head about it too much!”
Ireland’s top surfing spots:
*Cork: Beaches surrounding Clonakilty are most popular.
*Donegal: Rossnowlagh and Bundoran are the best known locations; also Inishowen, Fanad Head, Dunfanagh, Bloody Foreland and Dungloe.
*Sligo: The beach at Strandhill is the most popular; also Aughris, Easkey and Enniscrone.
*Claire: Lahinch is a surfer’s paradise.
International:
*Jeffries Bay, Cape Town, South Africa: Offers some of the most consistent waves in the world.
*North Shore, Oahu, Hawaii: the birthplace of surfing with waves reaching 20-30 feet.
*Tamarindo, Costa Rica: Has become world-famous since surfing movie Endless Summer II was filmed there in 1994.
Is it ever right to wear runners with a suit?
My feature on mixing smart and casual in today's IndependentLast month I attended my nephew's Confirmation and, instead of wearing a suit, I took the seemingly contentious 'smart casual' route. This consisted of boot-cut suit pants, a fitted shirt, skinny tie and Converse runners. Continue here.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Pussy galore
My Guest Column in today's Weekend magazine in the Irish Independent
We all know what it’s like when a friend starts seeing someone and they keep dropping the name of their new paramour into conversation at every possible opportunity. For instance, say your friend is going out with someone named John. You might say something like, ‘Ow, I really must get this ingrown toe nail seen to’, and your googly-eyed friend will pipe in with, ‘You know who else has toes? John’.
Continue here
We all know what it’s like when a friend starts seeing someone and they keep dropping the name of their new paramour into conversation at every possible opportunity. For instance, say your friend is going out with someone named John. You might say something like, ‘Ow, I really must get this ingrown toe nail seen to’, and your googly-eyed friend will pipe in with, ‘You know who else has toes? John’.
Continue here
Friday, May 16, 2008
A Woman's Heart
My interview with Eleanor McEvoy in today's Irish Daily Mail
When the first words you hear on an album are, ‘What a drag it is getting old’, it would be natural to assume the singer has some major issues with the whole ageing process.
Not so with Eleanor McEvoy, despite picking a cover of The Rolling Stones’ ‘Mother’s Little Helper’ to open her new record Love Must Be Tough.
“I’m loving getting older,” the 41-year-old Dubliner tells me on a day off during her current Irish tour. “I’m genuinely enjoying it. I don’t want to look 18. Don’t get me wrong, I want to look good, but I feel I’ve earned the lines that I have!”
Love Must Be Tough is suffused with that same kind of refreshing, ballsy attitude. Recorded with the backing of The South King Street Band, the record is a jazzy, jaunty re-interpretation of some of McEvoy’s favourite songs and artists, as well as some new material of her own, all shot through with a retro, 1960s feel.
As the album’s title implies, McEvoy looks at love and relationships through the prism of cold, hard experience, but yet, at the same time, never strips the material of its sense of fun and hope.
Furthermore, it will come as little surprise that the feelings and experiences of women take centre stage on Love Must Be Tough – coming as it does from the singer-songwriter who penned the immortal ‘A Woman’s Heart’ (more of that anon).
That the women in question are far from perfect was an added draw for McEvoy. “I liked the idea of these songs being about women who had a past, and who were flawed,” she explains. “I wanted to explore those flaws - too much booze, too many men - in a light hearted way on songs like ‘Mother’s Little Helper’, Nick Lowe’s ‘I Knew The Bride When She Used to Rock ‘n’ Roll’ and Terry Allen’s ‘Lubbock Woman’.
“These are songs about women that were written and sung by men. I thought it would be fun to interpret and sing them from a female point of view. It kind of changes the whole meaning of the song and I get a kick out of that.”
Love Must Be Tough will yet again stymie any attempts to pigeonhole McEvoy in one particular genre. Her previous six albums – from her self-titled 1993 debut through to the award-winning Out There (2006) – have all experimented with different sounds and styles, and she assures me that album number eight will mark yet another change in direction.
“It’s probably not a great career move,” she laughs. “You’re meant to pick one genre or style and stick with it so you can be put in the same section in the record store every time. I’ve been in folk, rock and pop, Irish, I was even in New Age one time! For me, it’s about what gets me out of bed in the morning. I’d be bored to tears doing the same thing over and over again.”
It was this commitment to keeping her career fresh that caused McEvoy to withdraw from the ‘A Woman’s Heart’ phenomenon – for there is no other word for it - in the mid 1990s.
The song, which she wrote when she was 25, inspired the all-female tour of the same name, and made stars of everyone involved, including McEvoy (who was rhapsodised by publications as varied as Vogue and Playboy), Mary Black, Sharon Shannon and Dolores Keane. What’s more, the Woman’s Heart anthology is the best-selling album in Irish history, with some 700,000 copies sold since 1992.
McEvoy spoke at the time of her conflicted feelings towards that success, but how does she feel now that she has more distance from it? “I feel great about it now,” she admits. “There was a stage there around 1996-97 where, like a lot of people around the country, I just thought it was overplayed.
“But it’s been great to me financially, and I still like the song, and I’m proud of it. I still feel chuffed if I’m out and about and I hear someone sing it.”
Since those heady days, McEvoy says she has drawn her creative power from another source – her six-year-old daughter Sarah Jane. “Being a mother has given me a bit more energy which is surprising,” she says. “It’s made me happier I suppose. I thought maybe domestic bliss would be incompatible with the artistic temperament, but for me it’s been the opposite. In the six years since I’ve had Sarah Jane I’ve brought out four albums, plus other projects with other artists.”
One such project involved sitting on the judging panel that picked the six finalists for this year’s Eurosong, which resulted in Dustin the Turkey winning the spot to represent Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest next weekend.
“I was actually in Kuala Lumper for a gig during the voting part of the show,” she recalls. “Afterwards I went to a bar and someone must have read the news on the web because an Irish guy and an English guy were having a fight over the fact that Dustin had been picked!
“We picked the best six songs and then everyone voted – we didn’t do it just to get a reaction. I haven’t a clue how he will do, though. It’s up to forces far beyond our control now!”
*Love Must Be Tough is released today. Eleanor McEvoy plays Aras Chronain in Clondalkin, Dublin tonight (May 16); the Sirius Arts Centre in Cobh tomorrow; and Burnavon Arts and Cultural Centre in Cookstown, Co Antrim next Friday (May 23). For more dates in Ireland and the UK see http://www.eleanormcevoy.net/blog/
Bush does it again
Jesus how much longer until this fucking idiot is ran from the White House? Read here.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
The end is nigh on Lost...
Over on Entertainment Weekly's site, Doc Jensen continues his obsessive, meticulous and thoroughly entertaining dissection of the brilliant season 4 of Lost - and here you can read a tantalising preview of the three part season finale which kicks off tonight in the US (next Monday on Net 2), with parts 2 and 3 to follow on May 29 (June 2 in Ireland). Tonight, we find out how the Oceanic Six - Jack, Kate, baby Aaron, Hurley, Jin and Sayid - made it off the island! AGH!! I can barely wait until I can download tomorrow!
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Sex and the Shitty?
First review of Sex and the City: The Movie from The Times. Read The Telegraph's take here.
Monday, May 12, 2008
'Oh' my goodness
OK, I've been hard on Grey's Anatomy during its fourth series - and deservedly so - but last week's episode, The Becoming, was not only the finest of the season, but one of the best in its history so far. Highlight of the episode was the extraordinary performance from Sandra Oh as the normally-robotic Cristina Yang, and when Oh wins an Emmy this September, it will be down to this scene.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Where's the Veep?
Now that the Republican and Democratic nominees are decided (except in the Clinton bunker, but that's another story), the attention is switching to whom McCain and Obama will pick as their respective running mates for the election in November. See the list of potential Veeps on both sides here.
French fancy
Good interview in today's Observer with French actor Mathieu Amalric, star of this year's best movie so far, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (which can still be seen in my neighbouring Lighthouse Cinema here in Smithfield). Read here.
"I have no ethical standards"
Amy Poehler eviscerates "sore loser" Hillary Clinton on SNL. Great stuff. Watch here.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
How to survive as an ex-Taoiseach
Feature of mine from today's Irish Independent After 11 years as Taoiseach, and almost 14 as leader of Fianna Fail, Bertie Ahern will no doubt be enjoying an overdue lie-in on his first free weekend since handing over power to Brian Cowen.
But just how will Bertie, a renowned workaholic, adjust to his role as a backbencher, and fill the vacuum in his life?
He will, of course, remain a TD for his Dublin Central constituency, but it will be interesting to behold just how he weans himself off that unique buzz from being the most powerful man in the country.
Continue here.
Friday, May 09, 2008
Anyone for tea?
My feature on the traditional cuppa in today's Irish ExaminerHave you heard that tea is now the new coffee? Mrs Doyle from Father Ted might just keel over from the news, but it seems that after serving for centuries as a humble restorative, soother and social lubricant, the traditional Irish cuppa is now being sexed up for a nation that has become increasingly sophisticated in its approach to all matters food and drink.
During the boom years, Irish people became knowledgeable and demanding coffee and wine connoisseurs, to the extent that most of us now order trans-national, multi-hyphenate brews in our cafes, and cock our noses up at standard sweet German wines that not too long ago would have been categorised with Ferrero Rocher as the height of fanciness.
Having completed our stints in coffee and wine appreciation, Irish people are now becoming more curious about and adventurous with two of the oldest staples in the Irish diet that seemed impervious to change: tea and beer.
Alternative blends such as green and white tea are now in high demand, while supermarket shelves now groan under the weight of stacks of beers of various flavours from all over the world.
“Tea is definitely tracking the wine and coffee revolutions of the last 20-30 years,” says Jeremy Sturges, a Master Blender with tea marketer Twinings. “People used to just drink the same tea morning, noon and night regardless. But people are now more quality-conscious and have started to experiment with a repertoire of teas.
“The beauty of tea is that the styles are massively diverse. Traditional Irish tea tends to be a quite strong brew with lots of body and strength. But from the same tea plant you can get other types of black tea like Darjeeling, which has a sweet, muscatel character, or you could try green tea which is light, clean, and palate-cleansing.”
Martin Mehner, who has just opened the House of Tea in the CHQ building in the IFSC in Dublin, argues that if it seems the traditional cuppa is now being revised, it’s because we knew so little about it to begin with – ironic for a country with the highest rate of tea consumption per head in the world.
“What we got before in this country largely was not tea,” Mehner explains. “What’s in a teabag is the lowest quality of tea available. Tea is so much more.
“Irish people are better educated now, and they travel a lot. They bring ideas back from wherever they were, so there is a demand for quality teas, as much as there is for cheese or wines.
“People have money to spend too, but the big thing is that people are more health conscious today. They know that the likes of green tea and Pu Erh are good for them.”
Our broadened horizons also underscore the rise in popularity of speciality beers in Ireland in recent years. “Certainly in terms of a lot of speciality beers it’s down to foreign travel,” says Dr George Philliskirk, head of the UK-based Beer Academy (that’s not a euphemism for university!).
“The traditional pint isn’t gone away, but certainly in recent years, both in Ireland and the UK, traditional ales, stouts and even lagers have been in decline. There’s been a growing awareness about the more interesting range of beers out there, and an especially large interest in how beer matches with food.
“The thing about beer is that there’s one to suit every mood and situation, depending on where you are, what the weather’s like or if you’re eating. I’ve been involved in brewing since 1970s and I’m still learning new things about the stuff.”
There are already several beer festivals in Europe, and Dr Philliskirk even held a beer appreciation evening in the Donnybrook Fair Café in Dublin lastTuesday. But what about the beloved cuppa and its newfound hip role? Can we expect trendy, Starbucks-type outlets to pop up around the country for busy people to drink their diverse, high-quality teas on the go?
“No, you can’t automate tea making like you can coffee,” Martin Mehner states. “You can’t buy a nice shiny piece of equipment, put the beans in and press a button. Tea is much more versatile than coffee.
“There are a range of coffee beans, but in China alone there is an estimated 3,000 different types of tea, and most of them we don’t even know about. We have over 100 varieties in our store, but that’s a narrow selection.
“Besides, I don’t think it’s in the nature of tea to be shown off. It’s a humble, natural product. You can’t just slap it in a funky cup. There’s a different philosophy and lifestyle behind tea.”
With that in mind, can the reliable, traditional Irish cuppa survive the sophisticated, competitive modern world intact?
Mehner smiles and replies: “I think that in Ireland, the tea was always irrelevant, and it still is to some extent. It was more about coming together, boiling the kettle, winding down, and having a chat. I would like to see people drinking a nice cuppa instead. A quality tea can bring so much more to that experience.”
See http://www.houseoftea.ie/
Best Teas
*Darjeeling: A black tea with an intense, sweet, grapey character that would appeal to traditional Irish tea drinkers.
*Green Tea: Green tea is not fermented, so it contains a lot of Vitamin C and anti-oxidants that kill free radicals that can cause cancer cells.
*Pu Erh: Famous for its slimming properties and for reducing cholesterol. Also the only tea that gets better with time: like wine, a vintage Pu Erh is worth a lot of money.
*White Tea: The least processed brand of tea. Only the unopened top leaf is picked, so everything good that’s in tea is kept intact.
Best beer and food combos:
The Beer Academy advises to always try match beer with regional food.
*Moretti is a light, crisp Italian beer that goes particularly well with Italian foods like pizza and spaghetti.
* Bavarian Hefeweisen: A German wheat beer with a clove-like, smokey character that goes well with sausage and pork.
*Sol: A light Mexican beer that matches well with fajita, enchilada or spicy Mexican dishes.
*Range of Belgian fruit beers – Kriek beers – go well with Green and Black’s organic chocolates.
* IPAs (India Pale Ale): Have a spicy hot character that goes really well with curries and Indians.
Blaise of Glory
My interview with Tara Blaise in today's Irish Daily MailYou might not be able to tell by her classical good looks and refined, half-British accent, but inside Tara Blaise beats the heart of a hardcore rock chick.
“There doesn’t seem to be as much socialising amongst the Dublin music scene as there was before,” she tells me over coffee in the Morrison Hotel. “I went to an album launch the other night and everybody headed home straight after it. That’s certainly not the kind of album launch I’m used to!”
Blaise doesn’t need to elaborate any further on that point, because one look at her resume reveals a woman who has been at the centre of the Irish music business for almost half of her 30 years on earth.
Born in London, but raised in Aughrim, Co Wicklow, Blaise started out as a singer aged 16 when she formed Les Legumes with some school friends, before moving on to be a backing singer with Dublin band The Wilde Oscars.
This was followed by a stint with the band Igloo, before Tara – who then went by her birth name Tara Egan-Langley – was recruited as lead singer with Kilkenny rockers Kaydee when their front woman, Jan Kiely, quit. The band, who were signed by EMI, were groomed as the next big Irish breakthrough on the international scene, but it never came to pass.
However, that setback didn’t discourage this ambitious lady, who this month released her second solo album entitled Great Escape. In fact, Blaise positively cherishes all her time spent in various rock outfits.
“People ask me how to get started in music and I say, ‘Keep doing anything and everything’,” she states. “I did every gig imaginable. I did some awful ones, horrendous. I did gigs where the audience was just my family. But you still have to do the gig. And of course there were the drunken pub gigs where people just talk over you, but it’s all learning. I wouldn’t be here today without that experience. I just don’t know how people can expect to achieve success overnight.”
Great Escape, a polished, radio-friendly album that confidently blends rock and pop, is a record suffused with industry experience, and not just on Blaise’s part. One of the producers on the album is the legendary Robert ‘Mutt’ Lange, who has overseen albums by his wife, Shania Twain, as well as Dundalk band The Corrs, Def Leppard and Bryan Adams.
“It was an amazing experience working with Mutt,” she explains. “He heard my tracks ‘Breathe’ and ‘Make You’ and said he wanted to record them with me. He’s so surprising, because you look at the list of stuff he’s worked on, but he’s the loveliest, quietest, most unassuming person on earth. Having said that, he’s a total workaholic. W hen he’s working on a project, nothing else distracts him. He has so many ideas, but he never insists on putting his stamp on your album. Rather he flatters and complements what you’ve done already.”
Blaise landed that impressive contact through The Corrs’ manager John Hughes, with whom she worked on his solo album Wild Oceans. Hughes then produced Blaise’s well-received debut solo album Dancing on Tables Barefoot (2005). She also credits Kate Bush and Tom Waits as major influences on her style, as well as several contemporaries she met while working the then-emerging Dublin scene in the 1990s.
“There was lots of fantastic music going on then,” she recalls warmly. “There was Glen Hansard and the Frames, Damien Rice was in Juniper at the time and he played with us at a gig in O’Connell St. We were all around at a very exciting time, and we seem to have all endured. You know, there are times when you do wonder, ‘What am I doing? Can I stick this out?’ and we all have.
“Don’t get me wrong, there’s been lots of rejection, but it’s about taking that rejection and keeping going. I try to give any rejection, any good reviews and any bad ones the same amount of time to dwell on – I give them a day.
“So for one day I’m allowed to be thrilled with myself or I can be really upset. Because I think if you allow any longer either way, you’re looking for attention or you’re looking for sympathy and both are unattractive. That’s easy to say, harder to do, but I think you have to live that way.”
Blaise has just completed a national tour with Brian Kennedy, and these days divides her time between London, Dublin and Roscrea, Co Tipperary, where her mother now lives (her dad died when she was 21).
“My parents were always really great in that they never said, ‘No’,” Blaise says. “They were always very supportive. I guess they knew I had my head screwed on. And I did go to college as well. I studied Law first, which I dropped out of, and then studied in the Gaiety School of Acting.
“My family always knew that singing was my thing. I’m the eldest of six kids and I’ve been doing this for as long as they can remember, so they’re like, ‘Whatever!’ Nothing fazes them.”
*Great Escape is out now.
Reflections on male grooming
Feature on male grooming in today's IndependentNot too long ago, male grooming used to consist merely of a disposable razor shave and a quick haircut that cost the equivalent of a pint -- and even then, that was considered extravagant. Continue here.
Man of Honour
My interiew with Patrick Dempsey in Day and Night in today's Independent
As befits television's most dashing doctor, Patrick Dempsey has an impeccable beside manner -- as an interviewee, of course. "Can I get you something to drink?" he asks politely as soon as I walk into his hotel suite in the heart of London's Soho. I sputter a reply, suddenly struggling to see or hear through the thick fog of McDreamyness that has just enveloped the room. Continue here.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Josh and Liz as George and Laura
First look at Josh Brolin and Elizabeth Banks as George W and Laura Bush in Oliver Stone's forthcoming biopic W.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Monday, May 05, 2008
And they call it puppy love
Feature on the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind in today's Irish Independent
A dog is man's best friend, as the saying goes, and truer words were never spoken when it comes to guide dogs. The Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind (IGDB) provide crucial free services for blind people, as well as for families with children affected by autism, and over 80pc of the funding is generated by donations and collections nationwide. Continue here.
A dog is man's best friend, as the saying goes, and truer words were never spoken when it comes to guide dogs. The Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind (IGDB) provide crucial free services for blind people, as well as for families with children affected by autism, and over 80pc of the funding is generated by donations and collections nationwide. Continue here.
"Wenie in a bottle"
A friend reminded me of this last night - okay, okay, we acted it out - and it never stops being funny. A timely reminder before the movie comes out - and Aguilera's finest moment ever.
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Love it or loathe it, Obama-Clinton is the way to go
Andrew Sullivan writes persuasively about the merits of an Obama-Clinton unity ticket - even though, or perhaps even because, they hate each other - in today's Sunday Times. Read here.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Neverending Referendum
Bertie says it will be an act of lunacy if we don't vote for the Lisbon Treaty; Dr Garrett FitzGerald says we will expend all our good will if we reject it; similar omens of doom emanate from other political heads.
Why don't they all save some time and energy and just state what we all know anyway: that if we vote No, they will just hold another referendum until we vote yes.
Nice II ushered in the concept of a "wrong answer" in a referendum vote - which instantly rendered the whole concept meaningless - so what's to stop the government holding another 'Neverending Referendum' until we give "the right answer"? The Nice re-vote marked a very dangerous precendent for democracy in this country - so go ahead. Vote No. See what happens.
Why don't they all save some time and energy and just state what we all know anyway: that if we vote No, they will just hold another referendum until we vote yes.
Nice II ushered in the concept of a "wrong answer" in a referendum vote - which instantly rendered the whole concept meaningless - so what's to stop the government holding another 'Neverending Referendum' until we give "the right answer"? The Nice re-vote marked a very dangerous precendent for democracy in this country - so go ahead. Vote No. See what happens.
Quelle bargain!
My feature on the French ambassador's residence at No 53 Ailesbury Road, Dublin, in today's Irish Independent.
If you're a property owner despairing at the continuing fall in house prices in Ireland, then spare a thought for the French government. The French Ambassador's residence, located in Dublin's most prestigious address in Ballsbridge, was put up for sale in January with an asking price of €60 million -- then the most expensive home ever put on the Irish market. Continue here.
If you're a property owner despairing at the continuing fall in house prices in Ireland, then spare a thought for the French government. The French Ambassador's residence, located in Dublin's most prestigious address in Ballsbridge, was put up for sale in January with an asking price of €60 million -- then the most expensive home ever put on the Irish market. Continue here.
Friday, May 02, 2008
Hayes Code
Interview with Gemma Hayes in today's Irish Daily Mail
Gemma Hayes is seriously chilled out right now. She may have just started her Irish tour in Cork the night before we speak, but the 30-year-old singer is feeling relaxed and mellow - vibes that permeate Hayes’ third album, The Hollow of Morning, which goes on official release today.
She laughs when I tell her this beautiful, acoustic-tinged album is so quiet that she could very well be beside me whispering the tunes and lyrics into my ear.
“Wow, they should put that quote on the album cover!” she jokes. “No, that’s great to hear. I just really wanted to make a chilled out album and I think I achieved it.
“The second album [2005’s The Roads Don’t Love You] was a very big production. I think I wanted to do something kind of intimate as a reaction to that. My main goal was to just create something really true and pure.
“There were a few sounds I was hearing at the time that were a huge influence on me, like Sigur Ros. I obviously don’t sound like them, but I just think their intentions and their peaceful music conjures up beautiful images. So that was something I wanted to do myself – create more of a peaceful, darker sound.”
The peace that Hayes feels today was borne of a pretty dark period in her career. Having burst onto the international music scene in 2002 with her debut album Night On My Side, and earning a Mercury Music Prize nomination for her efforts, Hayes hightailed it to Los Angeles to record her follow up, the aforementioned The Roads Don’t Love You, which proved to be a difficult second album in every sense of the word.
The reviews were mixed and Hayes herself was approaching burnout, but then, midway through an Irish and UK tour, her label EMI announced that they were dropping her. She’s not afraid to admit that it was a devastating blow.
“My ego was definitely bruised,” she says. “I had been signed since I was 21 years old so I really felt I had lost that sense of belonging.
“But at the same time I felt slightly excited about leaving because I wasn’t happy there. It was kind of like breaking up with someone where you know the relationship is really damaged. When you do that you’re sad, but part of you is really excited at the idea of being free. It took me a while to stand on solid ground, but once I realised I could actually make it work, I was delighted.
“Someone asked me recently, ‘Do I regret anything?’ And the thing is I actually really like where I am right now, so if all the Roads shenanigans led me to this place, it has to have been a good thing.
“I look back now at Roads and I just remember it as a struggle. The record label put a lot of pressure on me and I really had my boxing gloves on for the whole two years.”
Her boxing gloves now safely in storage, Hayes is releasing The Hollow of Morning herself, so understandably the whole experience was somewhat of a labour of love. In fact, if fans look closely enough, they might just make out her blood, sweat and tears encrusted on the disc.
“It was overwhelming,” she laughs. “I remember I had the finished album on my hard drive, and I had to ring up [singer songwriter] Joe Chester and ask, ‘Joe where do I go to have the album made into a CD?!’
Considering her level of involvement, and all she has been through over the past few years, the lyrics on new tracks like ‘In Over My Head’, ‘Out of Our Hands’ and ‘Chasing Dragons’ are laced with personal meaning.
“I definitely think that writing for me is like an exorcism,” she reveals. “It’s a way of expressing things that I don’t have the guts to say as a person. I find that through music I have more freedom to really just open up.” She pauses before adding: “People have said there are a lot of goodbyes on this album and I guess there are – goodbye to certain people and situations.”
One place that Hayes hasn’t said goodbye to yet is Los Angeles, her adopted place of residence, if not exactly home. “My car and my apartment are there in LA, but I have this weird thing where I just can’t call it home,” she explains.
“To me, Dublin and Ireland are home, and so, of course, is Ballyporeen. I’d get it knocked out of me if I ever went back there with high notions. I love home more as I get older. It’s my place to go when I just want to get away from everything.”
As for her career, Hayes is going to hit the road in the UK touring this month, and will be back for another Irish tour before her appearance at Electric Picnic this summer. She will then start recording her fourth album in August.
“The next album is going to be slightly different in that it will be all live,” she reveals. “I’m going to have a really cool band playing live, and everything – the music and vocals – will be done in one take. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, and now is the perfect time.
“I know this sounds cheesy but it really does feel like I’ve given myself permission to enjoy all this. Before I got so caught up in things; this time round, my main my agenda is to have fun.”
*The Hollow of Morning is out now. See www.gemmahayes.com/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
