An Irishman's Dream...and Other Stout Stuff

Music Road: now playing: Danu: One Night Stand

2007-09-22T17:41:00.000-04:00

Music Road: now playing: Danu: One Night Stand

2007-09-21T11:38:00.001-04:00

Ok now...
Some of you have been asking me to provide you with a sample of some of the wonderful traditional Irish music I have been telling you all about throughout these past posts. Well, here you have it.
It's a video from the YouTube site that features one of the best of the Irish musical groups ever to pick up an instrument. They called themselves "The Wolfe Tones". Named (I suspect!) after that great Irish patriot himself, Emmett Wolfetone.
This is a great sample of the music that we here in Ireland are so proud of.
The song they are singing is a traditional song in the "Irish", as we say. Lovely song, lovingly sung by a bunch of talanted gents as well! Also...there are some wonderful scenes of the local countryside in this video as well.

Hope you enjoy it! Tell me what you think! OK..just press the play button below there on the screen:

Now, before you go asking me....NO, that wasn't your's truly driving the horse cart!! Ha Ha!
As always!
Slainte!

2007-09-12T19:00:00.000-04:00

God bless anyone who speaks out for an end to war! Period. Nothing else needs to be said now, does it?
I have been reading too much about the wars that are waging all around our world and I'm feeling pretty sad about it all. Iraq, Syria, Iran, etc. There are so many armies (and individual militias) armed to the teeth and commiting murder around the world that I sometimes wonder where Almighty God is in all of this mess?
I apologise for being a bit down in this post BUT death and maiming are subjects I feel are too important to ignore and way too important to not speak out against.
Ahha but what can I do? What can anyone do?
Just last week I was reading a story about the late Mother Theresa. It seems that some private letters she had written down through the years to her "confessor" were recently made public. (Imagine that, will you?)
The gist of her communications to her confessor was that she oft times wondered where Almighty God was in this cruel cruel world?
Mother Theresa! That saint of the streets of India had doubts about the presence of God herself!
God love her...and I'm sure He did...she had doubts just like you and I do. Now...isn't that grand? I'm not being facitious when I say that. Isn't it a wonderful thing to know that a saint like Theresa herself had her feet planted in the same soil of doubt and disbelief as the rest of us? It is. It truly is. I'll tell you another thing as well. That "disbelief" of Mother Theresa was one of the greatest gifts that God could have given to either her or to us.
Now I'll be telling you why that is (so pay close attention!)
They say that God helps those who help themselves. They also say that FAITH is not based on that which we can know for sure but RATHER that which we HOPE for, based upon some type of inner feeling, or some type of inner "light", if you like.
God help me I hope the good Sisters who taught me my catechism in school don't read these scribblings!!
But I think that God gave us a good woman in Mother Theresa and he also gave us a gift of using her "doubts" and "disbeliefs" in order to make her life and her FAITH so much more believable.
When I was in school the good Sisters taught us all about the saints and their holy lives. The only problem was that these sainted men and women seemed to "saintly" to me. In other words, (and God forgive me if this is heresy), the lives and deeds of the saints weren't possible for me to imitate because they were (seemingly) of another "world". They lived lives where God was whispering in their ears and talking to them one to one like you or I might talk to a neighbor over a pint down at the boozer. No. I didn't have God's ear and never would. Ahha but now I hear that Mother Theresa was more like me (and the lads I know)! She prayed to God every day BUT admitted to her confessor that she wasn't certain if God ever heard her prayers at all. She also wondered (in her letters) whether or not God even existed? Heres the thing now...she continued to do her sainted work DESPITE her "doubts". God bless her! She was real just like you and I. She followed that "little light" inside her and made the decision to do the right things in this world in spite of her doubts and her (at times) disbelief! God bless her and God bless all of you who also have doubts and disbeliefs and who continue to do the work of God here on earth.
And pray for me.
All right now...enough said on that.
Slainte!

2007-09-05T16:16:00.000-04:00

Well,I'm here once again to share some of my wit and wisdom with you!
But first let me take a minute or two to say "Thanks" to everyone of you who was kind enough to vote in my recent poll. (You know the one I mean where I asked whether or not I should continue "blogging".)
The results are as follows: The drum roll if you please...! The AYES have it! Thirteen of you fine souls took time to cast your ballots and not all of you were my relatives and that's for certain, so no worries there as they say!
OK..oh also I want to be sure to say "Thank You" also to those fine folks who have taken the time to leave comments on this blog as well. Nice of you all to do that and I'm more than happy to make all of your acquaintance!
OK...now off to it before I forget what I was going to say!!
As many of you may or may not know I am a fan of great writing (such as my own!) as well as of fine photography. I've found a site here on the Internet that combines the best of both. It's called The Beauty of Ireland and if you just click on that name you'll be magically transported to that fine site just as quick as you please! I hope you like it...I know you will!!

Some of you like a fine joke so before I forget here's one for you now:
An Irishman from the country was invited to take a helicopter ride by his cousin who was a pilot in the Air Force.
Well, after he got in the helicopter and they were way up in the sky he said to his cousin, the pilot: "Ah, it's awful cold in here!"
He then said: "Oh, no wonder...someone turned on that big fan up on top there. I'll just reach up there and turn it off"! :)

Did you here about the old rebel who decided to go to confession?
He said to the Priest: "Bless me Father for I have sinned."
The Priest said: "Now then my son...tell me your sins."
The old rebel said: "Ah Father I feel awful sorry...I've blown up 25 miles of British railroad track!"
The Priest said: "Oh now, indeed that's awful...for your penance go back and do the stations." :)

Here's one for my American relatives:
Did you know that your man Lincoln was Jewish?
Sure he was! It says in every history book that John Wilkes Booth shot him in the temple!

Here's one more for you, (and I hope my wife isn't reading this one!)
As some of you might remember a few years back the British Isles had a "mad cow" disease scare.
Well, during that time a man decided to take his wife out to the local restaurant for a fine meal.
When they sat down to eat the man's wife kept saying to her husband: "I don't know what to order...I don't know what to order!"
Well, when the waiter came over to take their orders the man said: "Just give me a big steak."
The waiter said to him: "But what about the mad cow?"
The man answered: Oh just bring her anything at all...she'll never make up her mind on what to eat!"

All right now...that's enough of them for now!
I hope you got a big laugh though!! I do indeed. You look like you need one!
HaHa!

Well...I'm off tonight to hear some fine music and to "pull the cork" as my hard working daddo used to say.
So...until I talk to you again...as always,
Slainte!

2007-09-02T10:11:00.000-04:00

Well good day to all of you once again! I'm sitting here looking out my parlour window and the sun is actually shinning and there isn't a hint of rain anywhere in sight. A miracle I might add given the soggy month of August we just have been enjoying!
Well, you're in for a change and, I might add, for a treat today!
Today I thought that I might share with you all a bit of news about one of my favorite subjects: traditional music!
As some of you might know there is an annual traditional Irish cultural festival held every year. This year it was held in Tullamore, Offaly during the week of the 19th thru the 26th of August.
In Irish the name of this week long festival is called Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann.
Now, in the Irish that translates (roughly) as a "Festival of the music of Ireland"
If you ever have a chance I would highly recommend to all of you that you attend this festival at some time in the future. The finest of traditional musicians from all around the world perform during the week the festival is held and your ears will be in for a treat.
I heard that it has been held annually for the past 56 years but I wouldn't swear to that. I do know that it has been going on for quite a few years now and that it attracts music lovers (like me) from far and wide!
Here is the official web site however where you can read all about this year's event and get a better idea of what this festival is all about:
http://www.fleadh2007.com
What is so amazing to me is that at this year's festival a record was set! I just read that 2,700 musicians performed together in Tullamore. Now I don't know about you BUT to me, this is what I would call a record!
The only question that I would have is "Was anyone out of tune?" :)
Now...on another note...pardon the pun as they say...Ive tried to upload a short video of my own son Conor who, as some of you may know is a championship Irish step dancer. Now...I don't want to brag but I wouldn't be lying if I told you that although he gets his musical talent from him mother he does get his good looks from me!
Enjoy the video and until we meet again,
Slainte!

2007-08-29T18:50:00.000-04:00

Before I begin with some thoughts I wanted to throw before you I wanted to be sure to point out the fine picture to the left. That's your man himself rowing a boat on a fine summer's day. Yes, no need to tell me I already know that there's a fine healthy brain just churning with thought below the fashionable hat atop the lad's head.
Well, enough said on that.
Well, I decided to share with you all just a few more of my thoughts on the subject of dear old Saint Francis and of religion in general. I hope no of you will take offense.
Some time ago I heard it said that there is a difference between a person's religion and his or her faith. As I recall the telling of it, the traditional way and place where a person might find himself worshiping is dictated by their "religion". The way in which that same person conducts their everyday affairs dictates their actual "faith".
Now, take your man Saint Francis for instance. He was a true enough member of the Roman Catholic church as was just about everyone else in Italy during his day. Correct? Sure enough you can't disagree with me on that point, can you now? But...and here's my point so please pay attention...he lived his life so differently than did the other Catholics of his time that he was considered a "radical" and somewhat of a "rebel" for his time! To hear tell of it the Pope himself didn't quite know what to make of Francis and his "strange new ways". From what I've been reading and from what I learned while on my visit to Assisi, Francis was often quite at odds with the established meaning of what it meant to be a "good Catholic" at that time in history.
He never left mother church mind you. He always remained a Catholic but he lived his life...his FAITH mind you...according to what he truly and personally believed to be the way in which God wanted him to live.
OK, am I boring you yet? Bare with me folks I'm getting to my point.
Jesus himself was, by birth, born into the tribe of David. His religion was Jewish. Ah but, like Francis himself Jesus followed a different drummer so to speak, didn't he now? Jesus's faith was a wee bit different than that of many of his fellow Jews of that time. He too followed a very personal faith life BUT continued to worship in the temple as a member of the Jewish religion.
I don't know if I'm making any sense to any of you out there but this matter has me thinking a bit more about my own faith and my own religious traditions. Sure I'm a Catholic like many a man around here. I'm not about to go out and become a Mormon an Anglican or one of those Hari Krishna people who dance around at the airports and bus stations. I have nothing against any man or woman of another faith mind you. Don't be misunderstanding me now. I just mean that I'm a Catholic by birth, by tradition and, I guess continuous choice. That's my "religion". My faith though, well that's another matter (almost) entirely now, isn't it?
God help us all be better people.
Anyway...just a thought I wanted to share with the rest of you good folks out there in the rest of the world.
On another note...you still have a few more days to vote in my one-of-a-kind poll!
So far there has been two voters, God bless'em! I know I'm one, and I'm highly suspicious that my wife cast the other vote. As for the third voter, well, I don't know who it was BUT whoever took the time to cast that ballot, thanks!
Alright now, I'll be off for the night.
Tomorrow I'll try to focus on less heady matters. Maybe we can commiserate on the price of tea in China or the cost of petrol or some such thing. I was going to share my opinions with you on why the Pope was a Nazi but, well, lets let bygones be bygones, shall we?
Best to you now...I'm off!
As always!
Slainte!

2007-08-28T09:20:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm back. For better or for worse I'm back with you all once again.
Now...you all might be wondering where I've been for the past two years (since my last "posting") and I'm about to tell you.
First off let me do my best to dispel those rumors about me that have been floating around the internet for the last few years.
No. I've not been arrested.
No. I've not been on a boozer, at least not for any great length of time! :)
And NO...I'm not dead yet!!
I've been busy around the house here and I've also been busy traveling around Europe and the US.
I didn't win the sweepstakes although God knows I deserve it and it would be a big help. As it turns out my lovely bride of many a good year decided it was time for us to travel some and also to visit some of the family who saw fit to move over the water, as the old folks around here like to say.
I've been to Rome. Believe it or not I got to see the Pope himself. I didn't shake his hand or anything like that but I did get to see him up in his window waving to us all down in the plaza below. Too bad he didn't know I was down there. I think he might have been one of the folks who have been reading this blog. (If not he should have been!)
We also went to Assisi. For all of you pagans let me tell you straight out that that is where Saint Francis, the man himself is from! If you look at the top right hand side of this page you will see a picture of St. Francis. Notice he is playing a fiddle made out of little sticks? He was a lover of fine music like myself. Thats a fact and you can look it up.
Now heres the thing about St. Francis. In Assisi Italy there is a wonderful cathedral built in his honor. I can't for the life of me figure out why a man dedicated to simple living and to a life of poverty would have been buried inside a massive and gold filled cathedral? I don't know. Next time I'm in Rome I'll ask our man the Pope that very question. Something tells me that he might find himself scratching his head over that question just a bit.
Now...one more thing.
Since my absence I noticed that this "blog" has changed. What I mean is that the place where I write this stuff looks a lot different than it used to look.
There are a lot of new instructions on how to add new things and a lot of different tools that let me add pictures and the like.
OK...I'll try to figure this all out and maybe my writing will be all the better for it.
I'll post this now because I want to see if anyone remembers me and IF I'm pushing the right buttons on this computer so that this actually gets online as they say.
So...email me if you like. Tell me you're glad I'm back (or NOT as the case may be).
I'll also try to get these old postings tucked away in the archives IF I can figure out how to do that.
Oh...you can now add comments to my blog if you so desire.
Just look below the latest posting and click on the word comment. Be kind and, if you can't be kind at least be sober when you leave your comments. That has been known to temper the outrage somewhat.
Oh yes indeed...another thing for you all before you take your leave.
Notice over there on the right there is a little vote I am asking for you to partake in?
I need your help deciding whether or not I should continue with my blogging.
Vote once, vote twice or, if you're from Chicago or New Jersey vote as often as you wish!
Thanks in advance for your participation in my poll!
OK...I'm off.
As always...
SLAINTE!

2005-05-14T08:46:00.000-04:00

Good News for all of you fine folks who have been faithfully coming to my "blog" and sending requests to your's truly asking me to take up my writing once again.
I'm back and I'll be posting more of my thoughts and observations in pretty shot order...so, well...there you have it...I'm back.

Now a word of explanation as to my recent "whereabouts". I've been recovering from a series of recent illnesses which severely restricted my activities (including my creative endeavors) as well as my mobility. I've never felt so "soft" in my life as I had felt after the illness got me. I couldn't do much more than sit around the house and read the funnies and sip my tea and soup. The worst part about the whole bloody ordeal was that, although my relationship with my friends and family grew stronger, my relationship with "John Barlycorn" was severely strained!
Ah well...if the sea was malt liquor I would have been drowned years ago...hahaha.
Oh well...I'm back on my feet, I'm still sucking air (as they say) and I'm ready to bore any and all of you who feel so inclined to stop by and to read my writings.

Now...can I ask a favor?
Email me if any of you still are stopping by and you think it's worthwhile my taking up this writing once again. I look forward to taking up the pen again but I don't know if anyone is still stopping by here anymore...so, let me know.
I'd be grateful for the "feedback" and it would be a pleasure to hear from anyone of you once again.
Oh...and thanks to all of you for your prayers and your kindness concerning my "illness".

OK... I'll be waiting to hear from you...

Slainte!

2004-02-20T20:54:00.000-05:00

A wise man once said :
"Humor is the beginning of prayer", and truer words were never spoken!
As many of you fans of this fine "blog" already know, I am a man who possesses a fine humor. But a prayerful man...well, I like to think I am but only God (and my conscience) know for sure.
Where's all this leading you're asking, are you? Well, I'll tell you and I hope I won't be boring you all to death in the process.
OK...have a listen now...
There has been a lot of talk, recently, about a new film coming to the theatres soon called, The Passion of Christ.
I know you must have heard about it. It is the film directed by that famous film actor himself, Mel Gibson.
Now...I've read that there is a lot of criticism of this film because (supposedly) it blames the Jewish people for the death of Jesus. I've heard a lot of people think that the film is too prejudice towards the Jewish people and for that reason it is causing a great deal of anxiety and tension prior to it's official release.

Now...for what it's worth I've been thinking about this and here is what I've decided.
First off, it seems to me that any film is an interpretation of a particular story according to the viewpoint of the director. In other words, we have to realize that the "events" of the Passion of Our Lord as portrayed in Mel Gibson's film are only the personal interpretation of events as understood by Mel Gibson himself. None of us should think that this is the only way in which the events could have occurred. There is a tradition in the world of the arts called "literary license". I'm ready and willing to give Mel Gibson a nod toward exercising this "literary license" as he is the artist behind the canvas this film is "painted" upon. It's his right to show us what he thinks happened. It is equally my right to accept or reject his interpretations of the events as he portrays them in his film. To me, that is an important point that a lot of folks are not thinking about.

There is another point about this film I would like to discuss also.
Now...before I begin keep in mind that I am no theologian. I am also not a historian and I make no pretenses to being a scholar of any type. What I am, however, is a thinking man and its with this in mind I ask you to consider this thought.
It seems to say in the New Testament that Jesus was condemned to death by the Jews. I honestly don't think that the writers of these Gospels meant for us to think that ALL JEWS FOR ALL TIME were the ones condemning Jesus to death. NO. I think the Gospel writers meant it to mean that only the "particular Jews"in the courts where Jesus was living and being tried were responsible for Jesus's death.
It is as if I said that the British were responsible for the death of the great patriot Robert Emmett (which they were). I don't mean to condemn ALL THE BRITISH for all time! No, I am only blaming those British who were directly, historically associated with the great man (Emmett) himself for his fate.
There is a fine distinction now, isn't there?

Anyway...there it is. I've been thinking a lot about this film and hearing a lot about the controversy surrounding it. I want to see it for myself and I plan to judge it's value and it's merit with the above thoughts in mind. I would recommend the rest of you do the same. Give it a fair chance. I hope it can be as much a prayer as it is a film.
We need more faith and more prayer in all of our lives, don't we?

Well, thats all I'll be writing this evening.
I hope I didn't bore you all to death with my ramblings and my fine discourse.

If you want to pass on your thoughts about what I've written here just click the link over there on the left that says "Email Me" and tell me what you think.

Best of the evening to all of you and to your loved ones as well.

Slainte!

2004-02-12T19:59:00.000-05:00

OK...I'm ready to share some more of my "pearls of wisdom" with you once again.
I know what you all are thinking..."where's he been for the past week?"
In due course I'll be telling you where I've been hiding but for starters let me dispel some of the "rumors" circulating about the web as to where I've been.

First off...I've not been drunk. Lets get that one swept away immediately (if not sooner). I do my best writing when I'm in my cups so theres no need to think I'm off laying stiff out on a board somewhere.

Secondly...I''m not drowned, baked, basted or hanging dead from a limb anywhere.

Third...and Last....I've not run off to make my fortune as a "rap singer". Mind you, I don't begrudge iany youngster stringing together non-sensical words to make a pound or two, but thats not my " thing"...if you know what I mean!

Heres the truth as to where I've been:
I've been right here, surfing around the 'net reading some of these other 'blogs!!!

Why does everyone think they have to write every blasted thing that they are thinking about?
Why does everyone out there think that their poetry has to be so gloomy?
Jaysus (sorry if I'm offending anyone) I've read happier words on craphouse walls!!!

Its enough to take a creative mind like my own and drain it of any wondrous creativity at all!
Every blog I read starts out with somebody "reflecting on their trip to their analyst". It seems that they are all touched in the mind somehow! AND they all want us to know how nuts they are, too.
Jaysus...(sorry)...if there were that many nuts in the world the squirles would never starve!
And then they drag in their parents!!!
Their mothers were all sluts and their (dear) fathers were all fallen down drunks!
Its all crap!!!

Well...what can I tell you?
Maybe they all learned how to write from reading our old man James Joyce!!

God help us!!

Well...you won't be getting any sad tales here, so no worries on that matter. Life deals out a lot of pain but it also deals out an equal portion of pleasure also.
Why does everyone want to dwell on the pain I might ask you?
If you have the time to suck in air...you have the time to laugh and smile.
Thats an old saying. Not really...I just made that up. Its a good one though.

All right...all right...you've all been asking for some more witty verse so here you go:

I asked for a pint....
And the barman said 'aye!
I asked for a smoke....
And my wife she aked "why"?
I asked my old doctor....
Should I give up the drink...?
He answered me wisely...
" Now what do you think...?"

Well I hoped you liked it.
That was another good one I just thought up!!

Alright now.
All this thinking and poetry writing has angered my thirst so...
I'm off for a wee bit.

Slainte!!

2004-02-05T19:31:00.000-05:00

Well, I decided to bless you all with some more of my witty writing, so, hang onto your hats ladies and gents ...here goes.

Actually, I heard a good one the other day from a friend of mine down at the local "grog shop".
He told me that the great man himself, Winston Churchill , once said something like this:"Democracy is the worse form of government there is...except for all the rest of them".
I've been thinking about that and, you know, I think he was right.
Now...I'm no great fan of your man Churchill mind you, but you got to give the devil his due, as they say. Heres what I'm sitting here thinking:
Everyone gripes and complains about their taxes and their thises and their thats but it should be duely noted that we all have the right to complain. We have the freedom to stand up and tell the politicians and the government officials what we don't like and that is a right a lot of other folks around the world would give anything to have now...isn't it?
I'm getting older..(nothing special there 'cause so is everyone else I know)...and I'm reflecting back on a lot of things that I have taken for granted in my life up till now.
I can walk out my door and go anywhere I choose to go.
I have the right to vote for whoever I want to vote for.
I have the freedom to go down to O'Connors pub whenever I want and to talk about anything I want and to whoever I want to talk to. The devil be shamed as the old folks say.
Try that in some other countries...like Iran or Burma or Saudia Arabia.
You'll get your head handed to you..or worse!
I've even heard that you better not be caught with a thirst for the grape in Saudia Arabia...they'll cut your head right off of your neck.

OK...enough of that.
Besides, I can't go down to the pub too much or my darling wife will be complaining.
She's a lovely lady but the softest part of her (sometimes) is her teeth.
Ahha now...I hope she isn't about somewhere reading this...

Anyway...God Bless the Queen...'cause nobody else here in Ireland ever will!! haha.
(An OLD joke). Thought you'd like it.

I've been saying some prayers for those men and women over in Iraq.
Its bad, isn't it?
Somebody said that there have been over 500 Americans killed so far.
There are more than a few Brits killed also and other troops from other countries also.
There have been a lot of Iraqi people killed too.
God give them all rest.

The price of freedom is always high, isn't it?

All right now...more news you might like to hear.
No one other than my own best friend told me that there was an uproar at the "SuperFootball Game" over in the States.
He said that people started taking their clothes off all over the place. And this was while it was all on the television he said!!
Haha...I got to move to Texas. See what we're all missing???

Speaking of which I put up some links to a couple of great internet sites that you might just like.
There is a link to the GAA Football site. One of my favorites!
There is a link to an organization here that is out to preserve traditional Irish music and to provide educational resources to teach the traditional music to the kids. Try that one out. You'll think its grand.
Oh...there is a few more links up there as well.
Tell them I sent you. I don't think they'll hold that against you.

Speaking of teams...do you know which team is my favorite?
Well, I'll tell you.
I'm very partial to that team of men who come out from the Guiness Brewery in Dublin and check that the local drinking establishments have their spickets and stuff "up to their demanding standards". God bless 'em. I mean it.
I make few demands in this life but I do demand that my brew has a nice full and frothy head on it.
Enough of that now I'm building up a powerful thirst all too soon and, besides my wife wants us to go to a movie show tonight.
If you're reading this dearie I didn't mean that crack about you being so hard as your teeth. You know I'll love you madly till we're pushing up the sod...

Well...I'd like to thank all of you for the time you're kind enough to spend with an old geezer like me.
I got this computer a while back and I'm hooked on this web thing.
My lovely bride (did you read that darling?) tells me not to waste my time writing all this down. She says nobody is reading this anyway.
I don't know.
Know what laddies...I don't care either.
I go around reading a lot of the blogs on here. Ahha...some of them are great reading for sure!
There is one blog written by a woman who writes poems made up of the first word of every piece of spam email she gets!!! Imagine that.
Anyway...I'd better go.

Email me if anybody out there is reading this..ok?

Slainte!

2004-02-03T20:32:00.000-05:00

Well here I am back again.

I'd like to start today by quoting the words of a very wise man who lived and died not so long ago. It goes (something) like this:
"Horse sense is the sense a horse shows when he decides not to bet on people".
That snippet of wisdom was from the great man himself, W.C. Fields. (And I knew you would love it!). He was a drinker though.
He once said about a woman he once knew:
"That woman drove me to drink...it was the only good thing about her!"
One time they say he was in his dressing room off the movie set and the director yelled to him "Camera re-loading". Fields yelled back "I'm re-loading too!"
A grand man...we'll not see the likes of him again...thats for sure.

I'm sitting here listening to the voting results from the Democratic Primaries and caucuses being held in nine States throughout the United States.
No big surprises it seems. It's Kerry by a landslide!! Or, so it seems at this early hour.
Edwards has "won" South Carolina.
Lieberman is losing everywhere and it looks like he is about to drop out of the race.
General Clark is in a three-way tie for Oklahoma. ( I love a close one, don't you?)
Yada...Yadda...Yadda...and the beat goes on, the beat goes on...!
The rich get richer and you and I get poorer.
I should throw my hat in the ring.
No, I wouldn't want to lose my hat.
OK...why is it that there never has been a female President in the USA?
Any ideas? I'm wondering why that might be.
There have been excellent women Presidents and Prime Ministers in many other countries.
Pakistan (of ALL places!), Israel (Golda Meir), Great Britain (Agh...forget Great Britain!),and our own dear old Erin (Mary Robinson..God Bless Her!).
I don't know whats wrong with those Yankee voters.
They can put a robot on Mars but they can't put a woman in the White House!
Of course they can put a man on the moon but they can't find an Arab hiding in a hole! (Osama Bin Laden).

On a serious note now that I've got your ear...
I've gotten off of my lazy duff and I added some lovely LINKS.
Included in these links is a link to a personal favorite town of mine. My own lovely Doolin in the lovely County Clare.
If you like traditional Irish music...and I mean the real stuff, not the "new age", "touchy-feely" sicky psycho sludge that passes for the real thing...then Doolin is the place for you. We have some great pubs too. Three of them to be exact. Try O'Connors. Tell them I sent you.
Also tell them I'll be settling up my tab next time I come around (just kidding about that one, don't you know?) hahaha.
Whats that link to the Grand Rapids Art Museum doing there, you are wondering, I bet?
Well...I LOVE that place. Seriously. They have a wonderful on-line collection of sketches, paintings, sculptures and the like. I like art...I thought you might like it also.

Hit the link there...you won't be regretting it.

OK..OK..also, I put in some other links that I thought you might enjoy.
They're all clean and family oriented so no worries there.
Click them and you'll be telling me thanks the next time you log on.

OK...heres a joke for you.
Al Gore says he invented the internet but don't believe him.
Abe Lincoln must have been the inventor of the internet.
Why you're asking?
Look at your history...it says in every history book I've read that Lincoln was born in a blog cabin!
So there now...

Some folks have been asking what I look like, can I post a picture of myself.
The answer is no...I'm using the cheap version of this Blog host and pictures aren't allowed.
Also...if you saw my picture you'd all be saying that "Agh...I've seen better faces eating hay".
So you're not missing much.
OK...well I'm off. (I'm still sober mind you, but not for much longer I hope.)

Peace

Slante!!

2004-02-02T19:08:00.000-05:00

EXTRA......EXTRA......EXTRA....EXTRA....EXTRA...
The email responses to this blog are just POURING IN !!!
Listed below are some samples of the email responses I have received over this past weekend.
So, put your feet up. sit back, relax , throw another blog on the fire...and read my rave reviews ! :

From a fan in Great Britain who writes:

Thank you, thank you, oh my...thank you for such insightful, all inspiring and deeply passionate prose!!!
I wept, I cried, I laughed, I jumped for joy...oh my, what a tumult of emotions your blog has brought forth from within my souls! Thank you, thank you thank you Irishman from the bottom of my heart!!

From a fan in East Timor who writes:

You sir are the next great master to rule over the realm of the written word!
Your prose, your imagery, your verse!!! Oh the world WILL TAKE NOTE sir, mark my words!!
Bard of Avon make way...there is a new dog in town!!!

And this from a fan in the Faukland Islands:

Words alone cannot express how much I appreciate your wonderful blog!!
You are a magician, a wizard who weaves a magical world full of wim and whimsey!! I love you!! Yes, its true...can we elope???

Of course there were some critics:

From a somewhat irate reader in Somolia:

You can't fool me for a second!! Your reference to pencils and the lead contained therein is a simple ploy to disguise your REAL intent. YOU HATE THE ENDANGERED, RED WINGED, TREE DWELLING, BLOOD SUCKING DUNG BEETLE... don't you, Irishman?
Ahha...thought you could fool me, didn't you? Well guess what...I know how to read BETWEEN THE LINES and you, sir have just been exposed as a CAD, a TWO TIMING NO GOOD HATE MONGER and a DUPE FOR THE MULTI-NATIONAL LOGGING COMPANIES WHO ARE OUT TO DESTROY OUR FORRESTS AND ALL THE TREE CLIMBING BLOOD SUCKING CREEPY CRAWLY CREATURES THAT LIVE WITHIN !! Shame on you and a pox on your seed forever!!
Signed,
Helen A. Skirt

And this stinger from a reader somewhere in the Pacific:

Cannibals!! Cannibals!! Ha!! You wouldn't know a cannibal if one was to bite you right on the {edited by the blogger}!! I, sir, am the son of the last great cannibal ever to walk this earth and I KNOW a cannibal when I see one...so there!!!
Signed,
Izzy Tender

Another fan wrote:

Your poem was so deep...oh, so deep. I couldn't sleep for days. I am in constant wonderment trying to understand how, and indeed why, Sam and Sally actually got into that stew??? And why salt??
Does the salt symbolize the dicotomy of the human experience? So deep, so very deep!! And why did Mickey's sister sit upon that sil??? Are you toying with the image of the soul cut loose, forever, from it's mortal imprisonment? So deep, so very very deep!!
Please promise us you will never stop sharing your deep intellectuals musings with us...oh please promise!!! So deep...oh, so very deep!!
Can I have your autograph??
Signed,
Betty Shakesit

And lastly, a fan from Arkansas wrote to say:

Gosh...ayuck! Cannibals and Democrats and poetry too! Geez of Petes!! What a great change from all those other blogs that I been surfin to. All they write about is their latest trip to their analyst, or how sick their dog is, ayuck!! This one here is funny and educational two!!! { He meant too} Ayuck!! Keep on bloggin Irishman...cannibals, ayuck!! hahaha.
Signed,
Noah Boozer

Well, there you have it!!!
More to follow tomorrow!

I will be adding some links also. So...be sure to check them out as well!! I will have a "surprise link of the day" for those of you who are feeling lucky!!

Slainte!

2004-02-01T08:08:00.000-05:00

Another day...
Another Blog ! But first , a word from our sponsor.

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The diagnosis is simple: BIRD FLU !!
The solution : SIMPLE !! STOP BEING SO CHICKEN !!
OK...I know, knock off the malarchy.
I will. Promise!

By the way, did you ever stop to think:

How DO they get that lead into all those little pencils?
I mean, seriously...do they hollow out whole trees and pour the lead in and then whittle them down into those familiar "number twos"??
I bet you never thought about that did you?

I promised you some verse and so I now present you with the following poem:

Little Mickey had a sister
She was dead before we missed her...
On the sill she sat one day...
Till a gust of wind blew her
away!

Here's another question for you all to ponder:
When a cannibal gets nervous...does he chew his fingernails???
(Think where that could lead!?)

Which reminds me of a story I heard one time.
Two cannibals each bought a lottery ticket.
One of them won the jackpot...
The other was jealous.
The winning cannibal said to the other: "Ha Ha, eat your heart out!, fool!"

Now for some news:
They say that Howard Dean is running out of money. His campaign bragged that they had a "war chest" totaling over $42,000,000 only a few months ago.
Where did it all go?
Think about it, folks...
would you want that spend thrift for President?? He spends money faster than a drunken sailor!

Speaking of (drunken) sailors...Kerry is coming on strong, isn't he??

Ah well...enough is enough.

One more wee bit of verse and then I'll leave you all be.

Sally and Sam sat still in a stew...
Said Sally to Sam, I'm hot...
aren't YOU???
Said Sam to old Sally...
I think its YOUR fault...
Not please just shut up...
And PLEASE pass the salt!!

Slainte !!

2004-01-30T19:47:00.000-05:00

OK folks....on with the blog...and a finer blog you would be hard to find!!

Now,where should I start?

I might start at the end but that would never work, the blog would be over before it ever began. (A fine trick for me to perform now wouldn't it be?)

Enough of that...I'm starting to sound like James Joyce himself now, aren't I?

Here's a thought for you now.

Imagine if some of the most famous writings from history were
BLOGS?

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address would have been known as Lincoln's Gettysburg Blog !!

Ode on a Grecian Urn would have been known as "Blog on a Grecian Urn" !!

Washington's Farewell Address to his Troops would have gone down in history as "Washington's Farewell Blog to his Troops" !!

Reverand Martin Luther King's famous "I have a Dream Speech" would have been known as his "I Have a Dream Blog" !!

STOP...STOP...IT'S TOO TERRIBLE TO THINK ABOUT!

Well...like the old Irish lady said of the dimwit lad in the neighboring village:
"He's a fine broth of a lad, even though he hasn't any noodles"!

Speaking of which...tommorrow I'll be blessing you all with a bit of verse.

OK. Thats enough for my first spot of blog.
Now..off for a good spot of grog!

Email me if you find these musin's a wee bit amusing!

SLAINTE !!

2004-01-30T16:17:00.000-05:00

Comming soon....to this very blogspot...the ramblings of a fine Irish mind.
Stay tuned for my thoughts, my feelings and my finely tuned observations of
"ALL THAT IS FIT TO BLOG"...

Slante (Irish for Cheers!)