Man, oh Manannán, did I do something dumb, dumb, dumb. When I made up the March schedule, I slickly arranged to have the evening of the Solemn Feast of St Patrick and the following morning off so I could pursue... uh... religious obligations... yeah. Imagine my dismay when I discovered that the parade and subsequent revelry would take place on the 16th, the day I'd earmarked to work extra hard in order to have the 17th off. Fuckety, fuck, fuck, fuck... sounds like a snippet of Bottle of Smoke, doesn't it?
So... here I am, stuck at work and as sober as a bleepin' Mormon (but not this Mormon. Oh, well, it's was a major screw up on my part, but I actually like my job, and I have nobody to blame for this mistake but myself. As a consolation, there's always the neighborhood parade next Saturday. Hey, how about a melancholy tearjerker to accompany this maudlin blog post?
The Town I Loved So Well, by Phil Coulter (who, and I did not know this until today, co-wrote the Bay City Rollers' song Saturday Night) details the city of Derry's slide from a hardscrabble working class town to an epicenter of violence during The Troubles. Get your hankies ready, this one's a real weepie:
Must be a little dust in the air... I think I need to check the HVAC filters...
So... here I am, stuck at work and as sober as a bleepin' Mormon
ReplyDeleteThat's why you need a bottle of Irish courage stashed in a desk drawer.
~
Weirdly, or perhaps not, I take some hope from that testimony.
ReplyDeleteSee, the American system is so corrupt and co-opted that there is no path back to real democracy through the political system. Even the upper house has been corrupted into an extra-constitutional super-majority body, in a way never presumed by the founders.
So ok. We're stuck in a system that not only can't govern, but is structured in such a way to create artificial crises of governance, any one of which might tip us over the edge. In the meantime, the fever-swamps of the ideological right continually develop bizarre conspiracy theories, all of which, conveniently for them, result in the tree of liberty being watered by the blood of liberals.
And in the thicket of their straw men and lies, in the heart of an America that was founded on very basic values of equality and liberty, there are those of us who might welcome their reckoning. Life is hard now, but let's see what hard looks like, and who is honestly prepared to endure....
Not me. I'm a wimp.
ReplyDeleteSpam is getting more profane. I don't know what to think.
ReplyDeleteRelated, FYI, etc.: emusic has a sale on through the 18th on albums that include Bottle Of Smoke... $4.99
When pretty much every song ever recorded has at least three versions on YouTube it's hard to imagine why someone might spend five bucks, but perhaps I'm just especially cheap...
ReplyDeleteWho wants to sit around, obsessively clicking one song after another, every three minutes, only to have latency crash the whole thing (or find out the song you want is only available in drunken Android phone video version)?
ReplyDeleteI had something to say but then I saw annon's comment and it went out of my head! LOL!
ReplyDeleteAh yes... Well, we had a big pah-tay here at my place last night. (of course I slept through most of it as is my style).
Lucky for me, I get to clean up the mess. :)
That song is making me want to move to the town he came from! Sheesh!
((Hugs))
Laura
P.S. Happy St. Paddy's Day!
Who wants to sit around, obsessively clicking one song after another, every three minutes, only to have latency crash the whole thing
ReplyDeleteExactly. Download the video, extract the audio, play. Easy!
only if the audio is of any quality.
ReplyDeleteOf course, free music will only ensure that eventually, no one will make ANY music. Better learn to play an instrument.
I am an outlier, of course, but I have this weird notion that perhaps musicians deserve to make a living also.
ReplyDeleteexcept for drummers of course.
ReplyDeleteAnd bassoonists.
ReplyDeleteYes, that Taylor Swift creature is practically homeless...
ReplyDeleteYes, because before there were records and record labels and ginormous contracts nobody EVER made music...
ReplyDeletewell, mikey, before all those things many musicians also made a living at making music. Having read some of your lyrics, I think there is something to be said for leaving it to professionals, or at least talented amateurs.
ReplyDeleteAlso, hence my comment to "learn an instrument". However, feel free to steal all the Taylor Swift you want. Also Metallica.
My comments in now way should be taken as endorsing Taylor Swift, Popular music, ginormous record labels OR contracts. Although nothing I said anyway came close to saying any of those things. I was talking about musicians.
Yes, that Taylor Swift creature is practically homeless
ReplyDeleteYou've been arguing with thunder too much, you're picking up his habits.
That's why you need a bottle of Irish courage stashed in a desk drawer.
ReplyDeleteI tend to keep a bottle of Tullamore Dew in the house for medicinal purposes.
See, the American system is so corrupt and co-opted that there is no path back to real democracy through the political system. Even the upper house has been corrupted into an extra-constitutional super-majority body, in a way never presumed by the founders.
I don't think we're as far gone as that. I think the people need to get educated and active, but I think we can bail our chestnuts out of the fire.
Not me. I'm a wimp.
I'm not as wimpy as I look.
Anonymous said...
Oh, beHAVE!
Spam is getting more profane. I don't know what to think.
Spambots and filthbots have joined forces.
When pretty much every song ever recorded has at least three versions on YouTube it's hard to imagine why someone might spend five bucks, but perhaps I'm just especially cheap...
Some of us are hopelessly mired in the past.
Who wants to sit around, obsessively clicking one song after another, every three minutes, only to have latency crash the whole thing (or find out the song you want is only available in drunken Android phone video version)?
Says the guy with a gajillion tunes on his 'pod.
Ah yes... Well, we had a big pah-tay here at my place last night. (of course I slept through most of it as is my style).
Lucky for me, I get to clean up the mess. :)
Lotta drinking going on?
Exactly. Download the video, extract the audio, play. Easy!
You make music execs cry!
Of course, free music will only ensure that eventually, no one will make ANY music. Better learn to play an instrument.
Or listen to the purty birdies.
I am an outlier, of course, but I have this weird notion that perhaps musicians deserve to make a living also.
You're just a sucker for accordion playing ladies.
except for drummers of course.
That's what girlfriends are for!
And bassoonists.
Live by the weaponized squirrel, die by the weaponized squirrel.
Yes, that Taylor Swift creature is practically homeless...
She'll have a snug little home when her brain is inserted into an interstellar probe in order to break up with every sentient being in the universe.
Yes, because before there were records and record labels and ginormous contracts nobody EVER made music...
I wonder what percentage of the population played an instrument then and now.
My comments in now way should be taken as endorsing Taylor Swift, Popular music, ginormous record labels OR contracts.
Did she break up with you?