Something for the kid next door - and all the rest of you !

Happy St. Patricks Day - a few linky dinky doos for you, as I am taking the day of to "decompress" (i.e. drink whiskey and bake soda bread and party like a juvenile delinquent. And yes, as a matter of fact, I *DID* hire a babysitter for the occasion !

WARNING - first video NOT SAFE FOR WORK


And now some videos from Ireland. Not my videos, beause A. I was drunk pretty much the entire time I was there during the summer of 1991 (my one and only trip to Ireland) and B. it was looooong before digital cameras, and trying to record my time there would have involved more effort and time then I was willing to put out at the age of 15. So you'll have to look at other people's videos and pictures, and just *imagine* what I would have said and done.

So, for starters, my grandparents house is on the tiny island of Inishbofin, off the Dingle Peninsula, across the water from Galway.
Let's start with the scenery - this video is during the day, and shows not only the scenery, but the amazing narrow winding roads, and the dogs, sheep, cows and horses that wander the island. Oh, and the donkeys. Watch out for the donkeys. My grandfather bicycled these very roads looking for me at 2am - little did he know I was coming from the other direction, on the same narrow roads, in a yellow mini named Bertha, with a local boy named Ronan. Rather then being mad at me for staying out, he sat down at the bar and had a pint while they closed up. I loved my grampa, we are cut from the same crazy cloth.



It is a small island, and you get there by ferry:


And if I had digital pics of the time I spent there, 20 years ago, they would look like this:


Here is a video from my favorite pub there - Day's. A LOT of drink has gone down leaning against those wooden walls.....sadly, many of my nights looked something like this:


And here, some cultural videos - dancing. Many Irish girls learn to step dance or clog - I took lessons for a while and wish I had kept it up because it is SO COOL to perform, and to watch. This is not Riverdance, people. People just get up out of their seats during a drink, and GO FOR IT.







And music:


This one is actually recorded at Day's on Inishbofin....the first 20 seconds are of some goofball jumping off the pier, but after that it's a recording session:


And some more modern musical performances on Inishbofin: