Eoin Butler: writer, journalist and Mayoman of the Year
Tripping Along The Ledge
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SETTIN’ THE WOODS ON FIRE
Not trying to make light of the wildfires currently raging in California – I was in Malibu in February and saw the devastation from last year’s fires at first hand. But it seems to me that, for journalists over there at least, covering this story must be a bit like covering St. Patrick’s Day parades here. I mean, the footage each year is new. But the script could have been phoned in months in advance:
“California Governor [name] has asked U.S. President [name] for emergency federal assistance, as firefighters struggle to contain a blaze that’s already consumed [number] million acres of brush and now threatens to engulf [insert name of random Hollywood celebrity]’s Santa Barbara beach house…”
Kinda reminds me of:
“It was a day for the young… [cue shot of young person in Irish dancing costume] …and the old… [shot of old person with pint of Guinness] …but for some… [baby with Shamrock-painted cheeks falling asleep on parent’s shoulder] …it was just too much… (fake laugh) … Back to you in the studio, Eileen!”
September 2nd, 2009 at 10:32 am
Yeah, almost as good as “dissapointment for Mayo as (insert name of random county) hand their asses to them in Croke Park”
September 9th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
Nicely chosen pic. I read a really interesting article once about rabbits speeding along a moderately-moving wildfire in the US. As the fire caught them hiding, it would ignite their fur, sending them into an understandable panic.
The lop-eared fireballs would then bound hurriedly out of and away from the fire and, without the benefit of ‘stop, drop and roll’ instruction, just burn until they dropped dead, starting a new fire on the spot where they dropped. As that was usually somewhere beyond the existing inferno’s frontier, it thus helped the fire along.
Not sure if that’s where the phrase ‘rabbiting on’ came from, but the little blighters don’t really talk much, so it could well be.