The Forty Foot. Ireland— the only country in the world where my freckly, gingerness isn’t out of place in a sea swimming locale.
The Forty Foot. Ireland— the only country in the world where my freckly, gingerness isn’t out of place in a sea swimming locale.
Just arrived in Dublin, looked out my window, and saw two familiar spars that immediately filled me with joy. It was Jeanie. The Jeanie Johnston became famous during the time of the famine. Unlike many of the “coffin ships” of the era, the Jeanie Johnston made 16 successful trans-Atlantic crossings starting in 1848, and although she sometimes held as many as 240 passengers, no one ever died aboard her. I feel a special affinity for this (granted) replica of the original ship (which sank in 1855– again, no lives were lost) because the finishing work on her was done in Fenit Harbor, my father’s home village in Kerry. We knew many who worked on the project. My father and I were allowed on the Jeanie Johnston before she was finished and my pops was even offered a spot as a hand on her maiden voyage to the United States. My father wished he could, but had to pass on the opportunity; a difficult decision for a sailor. A year later, I was walking down the Westside by Battery Park in New York City when I saw a handsome, two sparred ship sailing up the Hudson River. I knew it was the Jeanie Johnston. She had made it safely to the Azores and across the Atlantic, just as she had so many times during the mid-19th Century during the darkest time in Irish History. #IrishHistory #jeaniejohnstone
28 years between pics and (though different cats) still getting green-eyed (if not love) well…interest. Thanks @mrgregdulli for letting me hang with Pervis.
Moving house is easier with the right co-pilot.
In my youth, I was never that much of a Dublin person. Dublin and Shannon were merely portals to Kerry. My heart is still in The Southwest, but I’ve grown to love Dublin. One of the perks is I get to see @desoconnor (who took a few of these photos), one of my absolute ‘brothers from another mother.’ We climbed the rocks of Bullock Harbor, looked north toward the Poolbeg Stacks, and contemplated things middle-aged men do. It was a great day in and around the Irish Sea. I got to see Des, the two Cazs’ (@ravenceramics and @boannwool ) — genius artists and Vikings! and @ivanamilicevic and @triestekdunn who I know from LA and NY. The first time I met Ivana, she pulled up to the read-through of “Just Like Heaven” in Santa Monica in a pink Ford Thunderbird and matching Converse Chuck Taylors. She was Detroit, Croatia, and awesome all rolled into one– a force of nature as kind as she is strong. Trieste and I met in North Fork, Long Island (another hauntingly beautiful part of the world), where we played father/daughter in “Sometime Other Than Now.” I knew instantly we would become life-long friends. So Dublin, thank you for letting me meet up with some dear old friends and make a few new ones.
In my youth, I was never that much of a Dublin person. Dublin and Shannon were merely portals to Kerry. My heart is still in The Southwest, but I’ve grown to love Dublin. One of the perks is I get to see @desoconnor (who took a few of these photos), one of my absolute ‘brothers from another mother.’ We climbed the rocks of Bullock Harbor, looked north toward the Poolbeg Stacks, and contemplated things middle-aged men do. It was a great day in and around the Irish Sea. I got to see Des, the two Cazs’ (@ravenceramics and @boannwool ) — genius artists and Vikings! and @ivanamilicevic and @triestekdunn who I know from LA and NY. The first time I met Ivana, she pulled up to the read-through of “Just Like Heaven” in Santa Monica in a pink Ford Thunderbird and matching Converse Chuck Taylors. She was Detroit, Croatia, and awesome all rolled into one– a force of nature as kind as she is strong. Trieste and I met in North Fork, Long Island (another hauntingly beautiful part of the world), where we played father/daughter in “Sometime Other Than Now.” I knew instantly we would become life-long friends. So Dublin, thank you for letting me meet up with some dear old friends and make a few new ones.
In my youth, I was never that much of a Dublin person. Dublin and Shannon were merely portals to Kerry. My heart is still in The Southwest, but I’ve grown to love Dublin. One of the perks is I get to see @desoconnor (who took a few of these photos), one of my absolute ‘brothers from another mother.’ We climbed the rocks of Bullock Harbor, looked north toward the Poolbeg Stacks, and contemplated things middle-aged men do. It was a great day in and around the Irish Sea. I got to see Des, the two Cazs’ (@ravenceramics and @boannwool ) — genius artists and Vikings! and @ivanamilicevic and @triestekdunn who I know from LA and NY. The first time I met Ivana, she pulled up to the read-through of “Just Like Heaven” in Santa Monica in a pink Ford Thunderbird and matching Converse Chuck Taylors. She was Detroit, Croatia, and awesome all rolled into one– a force of nature as kind as she is strong. Trieste and I met in North Fork, Long Island (another hauntingly beautiful part of the world), where we played father/daughter in “Sometime Other Than Now.” I knew instantly we would become life-long friends. So Dublin, thank you for letting me meet up with some dear old friends and make a few new ones.
In my youth, I was never that much of a Dublin person. Dublin and Shannon were merely portals to Kerry. My heart is still in The Southwest, but I’ve grown to love Dublin. One of the perks is I get to see @desoconnor (who took a few of these photos), one of my absolute ‘brothers from another mother.’ We climbed the rocks of Bullock Harbor, looked north toward the Poolbeg Stacks, and contemplated things middle-aged men do. It was a great day in and around the Irish Sea. I got to see Des, the two Cazs’ (@ravenceramics and @boannwool ) — genius artists and Vikings! and @ivanamilicevic and @triestekdunn who I know from LA and NY. The first time I met Ivana, she pulled up to the read-through of “Just Like Heaven” in Santa Monica in a pink Ford Thunderbird and matching Converse Chuck Taylors. She was Detroit, Croatia, and awesome all rolled into one– a force of nature as kind as she is strong. Trieste and I met in North Fork, Long Island (another hauntingly beautiful part of the world), where we played father/daughter in “Sometime Other Than Now.” I knew instantly we would become life-long friends. So Dublin, thank you for letting me meet up with some dear old friends and make a few new ones.
In my youth, I was never that much of a Dublin person. Dublin and Shannon were merely portals to Kerry. My heart is still in The Southwest, but I’ve grown to love Dublin. One of the perks is I get to see @desoconnor (who took a few of these photos), one of my absolute ‘brothers from another mother.’ We climbed the rocks of Bullock Harbor, looked north toward the Poolbeg Stacks, and contemplated things middle-aged men do. It was a great day in and around the Irish Sea. I got to see Des, the two Cazs’ (@ravenceramics and @boannwool ) — genius artists and Vikings! and @ivanamilicevic and @triestekdunn who I know from LA and NY. The first time I met Ivana, she pulled up to the read-through of “Just Like Heaven” in Santa Monica in a pink Ford Thunderbird and matching Converse Chuck Taylors. She was Detroit, Croatia, and awesome all rolled into one– a force of nature as kind as she is strong. Trieste and I met in North Fork, Long Island (another hauntingly beautiful part of the world), where we played father/daughter in “Sometime Other Than Now.” I knew instantly we would become life-long friends. So Dublin, thank you for letting me meet up with some dear old friends and make a few new ones.
In my youth, I was never that much of a Dublin person. Dublin and Shannon were merely portals to Kerry. My heart is still in The Southwest, but I’ve grown to love Dublin. One of the perks is I get to see @desoconnor (who took a few of these photos), one of my absolute ‘brothers from another mother.’ We climbed the rocks of Bullock Harbor, looked north toward the Poolbeg Stacks, and contemplated things middle-aged men do. It was a great day in and around the Irish Sea. I got to see Des, the two Cazs’ (@ravenceramics and @boannwool ) — genius artists and Vikings! and @ivanamilicevic and @triestekdunn who I know from LA and NY. The first time I met Ivana, she pulled up to the read-through of “Just Like Heaven” in Santa Monica in a pink Ford Thunderbird and matching Converse Chuck Taylors. She was Detroit, Croatia, and awesome all rolled into one– a force of nature as kind as she is strong. Trieste and I met in North Fork, Long Island (another hauntingly beautiful part of the world), where we played father/daughter in “Sometime Other Than Now.” I knew instantly we would become life-long friends. So Dublin, thank you for letting me meet up with some dear old friends and make a few new ones.
In my youth, I was never that much of a Dublin person. Dublin and Shannon were merely portals to Kerry. My heart is still in The Southwest, but I’ve grown to love Dublin. One of the perks is I get to see @desoconnor (who took a few of these photos), one of my absolute ‘brothers from another mother.’ We climbed the rocks of Bullock Harbor, looked north toward the Poolbeg Stacks, and contemplated things middle-aged men do. It was a great day in and around the Irish Sea. I got to see Des, the two Cazs’ (@ravenceramics and @boannwool ) — genius artists and Vikings! and @ivanamilicevic and @triestekdunn who I know from LA and NY. The first time I met Ivana, she pulled up to the read-through of “Just Like Heaven” in Santa Monica in a pink Ford Thunderbird and matching Converse Chuck Taylors. She was Detroit, Croatia, and awesome all rolled into one– a force of nature as kind as she is strong. Trieste and I met in North Fork, Long Island (another hauntingly beautiful part of the world), where we played father/daughter in “Sometime Other Than Now.” I knew instantly we would become life-long friends. So Dublin, thank you for letting me meet up with some dear old friends and make a few new ones.
In my youth, I was never that much of a Dublin person. Dublin and Shannon were merely portals to Kerry. My heart is still in The Southwest, but I’ve grown to love Dublin. One of the perks is I get to see @desoconnor (who took a few of these photos), one of my absolute ‘brothers from another mother.’ We climbed the rocks of Bullock Harbor, looked north toward the Poolbeg Stacks, and contemplated things middle-aged men do. It was a great day in and around the Irish Sea. I got to see Des, the two Cazs’ (@ravenceramics and @boannwool ) — genius artists and Vikings! and @ivanamilicevic and @triestekdunn who I know from LA and NY. The first time I met Ivana, she pulled up to the read-through of “Just Like Heaven” in Santa Monica in a pink Ford Thunderbird and matching Converse Chuck Taylors. She was Detroit, Croatia, and awesome all rolled into one– a force of nature as kind as she is strong. Trieste and I met in North Fork, Long Island (another hauntingly beautiful part of the world), where we played father/daughter in “Sometime Other Than Now.” I knew instantly we would become life-long friends. So Dublin, thank you for letting me meet up with some dear old friends and make a few new ones.
NYC
Cooking up a new book in the @frisonloguehardwoods office on the ranch.
Hollywood ‘92 with me dear mucker @pauldirects and Erin. Those were the halcyon days pre kids when we’d pound coffees, smoke Marlboros, connive about what we wanted to make, ride motorcycles, and strive to create stuff. Paul is now hitting it hard with features. Erin is back in Texas I believe and sorely missed in these parts.
In 1997, @jessepooljesse and I bought a place in Tribeca from the artist Bernar Venet (@venetfoundation). In my room was a color wheel wall painting that looked like a psychedelic pizza. Upon investigation, we discovered it was an original installation by the artist Sol LeWitt. Later that year, while I was in Thailand working, my cousin Brendan painted over the LeWitt to make the room brighter. “Bold move, Brendan.” “You like it?” “I do. But I think that wall was worth a bunch of money.” It turned out that the LeWitt was estimated to be worth $400,000.00. Of course, art (and its value) is subjective and LeWitt’s work the topic of a lot of “is it good or not” style conversation. The trick with a LeWitt, however (as we discovered), is that it has to be in its original location to be worth anything, meaning the wall couldn’t be removed and sold as a piece. “That was a LeWitt, cuz,” I said. “It was,” said Brendan, smiling. “Now it’s an original O’Shea.” That pad on 533 Canal became an amazing clearing-house for all kinds of artists and musicians. For all of you (you know who you are) who shared that space with us over the years, thanks for the amazing memories.
Had a great time in San Diego visiting friends and family. For aficionados of #terriersfx (catch it streaming on @hulu), I went back to Hank Dolworth and Britt Pollack’s HQ in Ocean Beach, The Old Townhouse Restaurant (@old_townhouse) where I reconnected with Ted Camplaneris, Dawn, and my best friend from Wilson Junior High in El Centro, George Jimenez. George recently had a heart transplant and has been chronicling his journey @george_colette_sara. I’ve always loved this man. That George needed a new heart is a terrible irony considering I’ve never met a man with more heart and courage. He’s a protector and a deep soul and we walked through a lot of fire together back in the day in El Centro. It was great to be back in OB, the greatest OG unspoiled beach community in the world, catch some waves with D from @oceanbeachfirestation, see my brother, sisters, mom, dad, nieces, and nephew, friend @ksoleugenio, and make some new friends, too. I sure missed @michaelraymondjames and the whole Terriers gang, though! The journey continues!
Had a great time in San Diego visiting friends and family. For aficionados of #terriersfx (catch it streaming on @hulu), I went back to Hank Dolworth and Britt Pollack’s HQ in Ocean Beach, The Old Townhouse Restaurant (@old_townhouse) where I reconnected with Ted Camplaneris, Dawn, and my best friend from Wilson Junior High in El Centro, George Jimenez. George recently had a heart transplant and has been chronicling his journey @george_colette_sara. I’ve always loved this man. That George needed a new heart is a terrible irony considering I’ve never met a man with more heart and courage. He’s a protector and a deep soul and we walked through a lot of fire together back in the day in El Centro. It was great to be back in OB, the greatest OG unspoiled beach community in the world, catch some waves with D from @oceanbeachfirestation, see my brother, sisters, mom, dad, nieces, and nephew, friend @ksoleugenio, and make some new friends, too. I sure missed @michaelraymondjames and the whole Terriers gang, though! The journey continues!
The world lost a beauty today. @2lazy2lie, the legend, Tom Richmond is gone. @jessepooljesse wrote a beautiful tribute to Tom on his Instagram. Tom is just over my right shoulder in this shot with @cbtarver @damnestabrook @jessepooljesse and my cuz, Brendan O’Shea. Most likely it was Matt Sweeney @theheavyjamz who took the pic. We’d just pulled an all-nighter filming, laughing, collaborating. I first met Tom when he was shooting a David Blaine special, (sorry @davidblaine I know you dug Tom) not knowing my roommate Jesse was frantically trying to track him down to shoot his first feature film. I’d say Tom was Shane MacGowan, Robert Frank, and Rene Magritte all rolled up in one- but he had more flavors than that. It was a joy to watch him turn his life around from a path of heavy-living intensity and settle into his third act as a mentor/elder statesman to so many in the film community. Funny, irreverent, reverent, brilliant, kind. Tom.
Greetings from the Kingdom of Ciarraí! #Kerry #Ireland #LakesofKillarney
Spiritually prepping for my upcoming podcast with Jen Johans (@filmintuition) on English Kitchen Sink dramas of the 60s. We’re going to cover The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, Kes, Look Back in Anger, Billy Liar, This Sporting Life, The Entertainer, and more. It will be fun to cut it up with Jen about amazing films that include some of my all-time favorite performances.
Flying the Big Green Bird home. Thanks @aerlingus.
My dear friend Sacha Gervasi’s acclaimed documentary ANVIL: THE STORY OF ANVIL is opening in over 200 theaters across America tomorrow. Is it a story about two metal dreamers chasing a quixotic dream for rock stardom? Partially. It is certainly about dreams, and the importance of never letting them die, but mostly the film is an examination of enduring friendship– the most important thing one can have in life. My love for this film knows no bounds. It will make you laugh and choke up with emotion. Check out Anvil, and thank me for the tip later. @lipsanvil w/ Steve “Lips” Kudlow Robb Reiner #richroll #sachagervasi #film @anvilthestoryofanvil
