WE WALKED INTO A PUB....PART 2

    The truth is we walked into a few. Hard to visit Ireland and 

and Scotland and do otherwise.

   Pubs are something special, culturally historic and important.

   But the point of this post is to tell you about two nights in particular.

 We were fortunate to be in Dublin on the day of the Irish National Football Championship.

      This is Irish football mind you. It's an extraordinary game and you'd do yourself a favor  to look up a couple of video clips and see how the game is played. 

    I would have loved the game as lad. As an old boy I was delighted to see it played. It requires skills found in soccer, rugby, basketball and even touches of American football.

    The national championship is huge-"It's our Super Bowl," my friend and host Jack reminded me a couple of times. 

  Walking from our hotel to where we set to meet Jack and Kay, every pub was jammed to the sidewalks, speakers were playing the pre game, and you could say Dublin was electric. 

   It was Dublin vs Kerry in the replay--they had tied in the first championship game and this was the decider. Dublin has been on a bit of a roll in the last few seasons, but historically Kerry has been the big winner. 

   It seems that almost no one is uninterested, and with good reason. These are amateur athletes, school teachers, pilots, lawyers, businessmen, truck drivers  and farmers and the like. They practice during the week and on weekend, they put on the colors and have at it.

     Something historic happened here, in this pub on this night. They ran out of Guinness. They ran out! The taps went dry! 

    Kay, an Irish lass said in her entire life she had never heard of an Irish pub running out of Guinness. And on the night of a national championship, no less! 

    I was crestfallen, but soldiered on by ordering a whiskey, of which there are many great brands. 
    At some point in the match there was a commotion at the door that was greeted with loud applause from the crowd. A couple of gents were rolling in kegs of Guinness. They were getting a grand round of applause. 

   As aficionados know, Guinness is brewed in Dublin.

  Between Dublin and our south western destination of Dingle, there are many other pubs and of great variety.

    But there is one that looms large in our memory. It's near the court house in the wonderful and charming sea port of Dingle.

    My lifelong friend Jim, of Irish heritage and an accomplished musician, told me about a mind blowing place he visited when in Dingle the year previous. It was Tommy O'Sullivan's place. O'Sullivan is a renown player and the pub is not so much a place where "shows" are put on, or where people do "performances." No, it's a pub where musicians hang out and jam. A gathering spot for music lovers. 

   Some tourists surely must find their way there, but it's truly  a mecca for Celtic, traditional, Gaelic and even Bluegrass players. And for the locals who love the music. Lucky folk they are!

   People were jammed in, standing room only when we entered and people were queuing for seats near the players.
    A local gent turned around to me and suggested that Lana, Kay, Jack and I, take seats next to the players and Tommy's wife, their dog and the other players. It was right up front.
   The kind man and his party had been waiting for open seats but he somehow knew this was a rare moment in our lives and so he offered a dose of Irish hospitality. 

   That's Tommy on the left side, with his back to the wall, guitar in hand. Some Scots players were up with him at the time. 

  Memories for a lifetime and some of the most skilled playing you'll hear in several lifetimes. Thanks Jim for the tip and thanks to the man who gave up seats to put us "ringside."

   There's another pub we'll walk into, coming up as we visit the extraordinary Dingle and Dingle peninsula. 

    See you down the trail.

THE FALL- THE SNEAKY THREAT-THE NEW PARTY SPOT

      North of Cambria, early July

    The president's foreign trip underscores a universal acknowledgment, the leader of the US is no longer the most powerful nor is he the "leader of the free world" as we used to say.

    International leaders are joined in chorus by analysts and writers from the right and left-America's role has been diminished by Trump. They agree Vladimir Putin has more moxie, finesse and muscle than the American president. Other leaders are assuming the moral and ethical leadership role, previously played by the American President.

     If Trump has a cogent policy, it has not been articulated. What the world hears is "America first," warnings about enemies, the freakish, petulant, embarrassing behavior and a serious lack of grasp. At least he can read a teleprompter. 
      We take a deeper dive, later.

not speaking?

    I can't help but chuckle at this. The body language and pose is hilarious. 

    In fact Lana and our pal Grif are looking for other friends, but the symmetry of the snap is amusing.

    A delightful reality that struck us some 10 years ago on our migration to Cambria is it's similarity to a big Arts School. 

    Cambria loves music. It's an art colony and home to musicians, writers, guild and craft artists from Hollywood and television, bohemians of several generations, free thinkers and free spirits. Of course there are others too, master gardeners, dog lovers, cat lovers, nature lovers, hikers, surfers and people of every conceivable political stripe and attitude. We have our one percenters too, but not nearly in the concentration you find further north, or south. There is a large cross ideological percentage who love music and hanging out.

    We've watched this joyful past-time and we followed its change of venues. The Painted Sky recording story in its evolving locales. The departed Wise Owl was a guaranteed good evening. Now popular singer/songwriter Jill Knight has organized for a new venue-Centrally Grown, formerly the Hamlet. 
     In the scene above Jill is joined by the accomplished Eric Williams and Billy Foppiano. 

    She will perform and so will others from the deep bench of Central California talent. The constant party has a new location and we boomers remain in our suspended state of a big high school crowd waiting for the next party.

   A wood fired pizza, glass of wine or beer, great music, friends and a lovely California evening has to be high on the list of "as good as it gets."

and there is much to recover from

   I've been reading the conversation among Republican, Libertarian and Conservative friends who have tolerated my pragmatism and political agnosticism for years. They are not trump supporters. They certainly are not liberals, Democrats, or anything other than what we consider traditional moderate to right center Republicans. 

   I agree with their notion the trump vote commission is wrong. It is federal overreach, dangerous, sinister and anti American.

    It is a nefarious attempt to gather and collect data the Federal government has no need of, nor right to expect. To turn it over would pose the risk of likely abuse and manipulation by the trumpist/extreme right wing cabal or others. There could be no guarantee the data would be safe, anywhere. We can't forget this administration had to be shoved into acknowledging the Russian cyber attack on America.

    (Getting to the bottom of that attack and determining if there was participation on the part of US citizens is a national priority.) 
    The states that have flashed the bird at the trump election commission requests are to be applauded. 

     Another nagging thought. Mike Pence is quietly working to build his donor base. While his boss is watching a big screen television and tweeting, the VP has been hustling money and preparing for a post trump world. This very guy whose Indiana Republican party was ready to depose because of his nefarious right wing schemes and embarrassments to the state, would have access to, if not control of, the private voter data the trump commission has been asking for. That should also give you the willies.
     
     See you down the trail.

DEPARTURES AND ASPIRATIONS

ARTISTIC DEPARTURE

  Jude Johnstone has been breaking hearts as she prepares her departure from Cambria to Nashville. She just wrapped her emotional "Farewell Concerts" on the central coast. 
  I've posted previously about this extraordinary woman whose songs have been recorded by Bonnie Raitt, Trisha Yearwood, Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, Bette Midler, Stevie Knicks and Laura Branigan. She's a powerful performer in her own right.

   Above, her youngest daughter Ra (Rachel) shares the spotlight. Jude has been a coffee shop and village friend and we remember when Ra would come with mom or elder sister Emma to Lily's coffee deck with a teddy bear in tow.
She's become a powerful singer and writer with huge potential.  Big sis Emma is in theatre in New York now. The family is a creative and talented dynamo and the matriarch will be missed.
     The West coast music profession tilts differently now and the lure of Nashville is right for a writer of such depth, intelligence and life. So long Jude, thanks for the rich legacy.  More about Jude including in her own words here.  A photo tribute to Aspirations can be seen below.

A CURIOUS DEPARTURE

     I can't tell you why exactly, but I feel sad for Rachel Dolezal, the now retired head of the Spokane Washington NAACP. I feel bad for the NAACP since their advocate and one who has filed discrimination complaints, is not who she has claimed to be. Dolezal is not an African American, though she has been posing as one.  Probably more than anything else I'm curious about why. Why indeed?  

     Discrimination exists and there is a need for advocates who work to establish fairness and harmony. While her intentions may have been noble, though we don't really know that, her credibility is damaged. I hope the people of Washington and Spokane specifically will not hold her indiscretions against the NAACP.

FURTHER ASPIRATION

   See you down the trail.

"BUT YOU CAN NEVER LEAVE" and A WALK IN HARMONY

A PIECE OF HARMONY

    A long lens from Gail and David's captures the panorama of Cayucos and Morro Bay framed by the iconic Morro Rock, Hollister Peak and some of the other "Seven Sisters" peaks that spine the Central Coast toward San Luis Obispo.

      It was one of those spectacular days for a walk along the coast. 

     Hidden away on a quiet cove is a "Chinaman's house," a remnant of local history.

     There was a time when Chinese settlers lived in homes on the shore, often hanging over bluffs.  They harvested and dried kelp for export to China. Historical accounts say George Hearst, father of William Randolph Hearst, forced many of the Chinese to leave by pushing their homes into the sea after he purchased property where they had resided. 

      The current owner has improved the historical building as an isolated get away cabin.

       This stretch of coast offers pristine nature.

  There is a simple joy in an invigorating and mind clearing walk.

     Selfie ops for our eldest Kristin and her fiancé Richard.

  Or a quiet meditation and breather as evidenced by "Ducky," Gail's trusty companion.

THE FIRST NEW YEAR IN CALIFORNIA

Ours that is.

     It was our first Christmas season after being married in April. It was also my first trip to California. We arrived on the 29th or 30th, enough time to get in the swing of the "pickin" New Year's eve party. 

       

Photo Courtesy of Jim Cahill

On the Strand in Manhattan Beach California

      Setting the Scene:  We were lodged at the above house in Manhattan Beach, occupied by our friend Jim, who shared it with a few other guys. We got a room made empty by the travel of one of the musicians who lived there.

     It was directly on the beach and the sidewalk strand. This Indiana boy had never seen anything like it.  Bicyclists, skateboarders, runners, walkers, roller skaters, people on stilts, hand walkers and more and all in a continual parade.  The beach was a show unto itself.  Volleyball players, Frisbee fliers, boogie boarders, picnickers, and all of this in the glory and full tilt life you'd expect of 1969 California beach life. I was indeed a long way from home Toto!

     Some how we had survived the first day and were in the mode of setting up the house for a party. Jim had given Lana and I an assignment to walk to the grocery and liquor store to pick up a few supplies. We were heading up the hill away from the beach when we were stopped in our tracks by blood curdling screams and then a series of what can best be described as whoops and growls. In a flash, from an alley way came two figures running down the street. Both were nude males, that was obvious. Their identities were not.

     One of the lads was wearing a kind of Tasmanian devil mask and he was the creator of the screams. Behind him and in apparent pursuit was a fellow in a Richard Nixon mask, carrying a kind of spear and offering the war whoops. 

     "New Year's eve in California" I said to Lana who looked entirely confused.      

       It was an era when Jim, and our artist friend C.W. spent hours a day playing. Musicians drifted in and out of the house on the strand, and some of the folks in the neighborhood have gone on to stellar careers and fame. The party was to be a gathering of many of the players from the beach community. The music was indeed wonderful, the crowd was mind boggling and the best I could manage was to sit back, lean against a wall, be amazed and enjoy the whole scene.  

       During the course of the evening we met an older fellow who had done a "little singing and little acting" and said he had been "trying to leave LA" for more than ten years.  He said "it's impossible. You just can't get away." He told us he had "left 25 times" and was "always drawn back."

       Lana and I thought a lot over the years of how we might get to LA, particularly to the beach communities where friends lived.  We visited a couple of times a year for many years, but life's flow did not include a Southern California address. Of course we've all added a few orbits around the sun and many of the crowd have dispersed. Those funky beach communities have gentrified.

     Jim is still a SOCAL resident. He's the guy who opened the door on the Central Coast to us, all of those years ago when we made the first of many trips with him to Big Sur. We stopped for coffee and a snack in a little coastal village named Cambria. The seed was planted, the bait was set, the die was cast. 

     We are closing in on 8 years as Cambria residents. I think I'm like others who sometimes take offense at how quickly it is all passing. There are times when I wish my time machine was in working order, just to go back for a visit. 

Thank God the memory file still works and there are photos that now accuse us of youth but also remind us of how rich  life has been. 
      A variation of the California dream, inspired by that first trip, has come to fruition. We come to the end of the year in a place we consider beautiful, laid back, peaceful, full of creativity, wonderful people, eclecticism and eccentricity. Who knows, those Manhattan Beach revelers in masks could be fellow retirees up here. Another escapade like that might get the locals talking, but then again….

    See you down the trail.

      

A RENEGADE OF WHIMSY

THINGS TO OCCUPY US UNTIL 2016

     John Oliver, subbing for Jon Stewart as the resident satirist on The Daily Show lamented the other night he wished the political industry would wait another couple of weeks, until Stewart returns, to begin the next presidential onslaught. Maybe the shills, pollsters, pundits and yackers could wait until say, June of 2016!  Just dreamin'!

     In the meantime, too much life and truly important realities to enjoy.

STAR POWER

    Here are a few happy campers spotted on a recent coastal stroll.

This guy looks like an action hero, ready to spring into action.

PRETTY DELICIOUS

the before and after of a Lana Quiche

AT THE WISE OWL

     One of the great joys of the Central Coast is the abundance of masterful musicians. A recent venue of preference is the coffee/beer/wine bar Wise Owl with evening jams. 

   Perfect summer fun. Who needs TV or politics eh?

   See you down the trail.