Mar 17

Saint Patrick’s Day ~ Riverdance

ST-PATRICKS-DAY

Every year on March 17, the Irish and the Irish-at-heart across the globe observe St. Patrick’s Day. What began as a religious feast day for the patron saint of Ireland has become an international festival celebrating Irish culture with parades, dancing, special foods and a whole lot of green.

When I was a child, my dad, a Scottish person, had me wear orange to school, as a minor form of protest.  All that did was have the kids make fun of me even more than usual.

As my own form of protest, I later married an Irish Roman Catholic, but that’s a topic for another post.

Quite a while later, a friend of my husband’s friends lent him a copy of something called “Riverdance”.  I took one look and figured I would never be interested in some kind of Irish dancing.  WRONG!

It turned out I loved Riverdance and we have seen the video, I have my own DVDs, we have seen it at Wolftrap whenever it’s been here, I have 2 copies of piano transcriptions, own the Tshirt…

One weekend, we even saw it twice.

We had seen it at Wolftrap on a Friday night.  Our son came home on a Saturday and we were telling him about it.  We went directly from the train station back to Wolftrap.

As luck would have it, there was a bus driver there who had brought a bunch of people on a tour from a retirement home.  Three people hadn’t come and he had 3 tickets to get rid of, right in the front section.

Were we lucky, or what?

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How Riverdance got its start.  On April 30th 1994 something happened during the interval of the Eurovision Song Contest that was to lead to the creation of one of the most successful stage shows of all time and introduce the wider world to Irish dance and music. As votes were being counted around Europe, in Dublin in the Point Theatre (now the O2), RIVERDANCE burst onto the stage and took the audience by complete surprise. From the haunting vocals of anúna, the graceful elegance of Jean Butler, the explosive arrival of Michael Flatley and culminating in a long line of Irish dancers beating the stage in perfect heart-stopping harmony – a whole new genre of entertainment was born and nearly 25 years later – Riverdance still astonishes globally.

One of my favorite dances:

And another favorite:

And, of course, that finale!

Just for fun, there was a flashmob, bringing us back to St. Patrick’s Day…

Needless to say, I was quite sorry to see that Riverdance is not coming anywhere near us this year.

Mar 15

Beware! The Ides of March

Everyone knows we’re supposed to beware the Ides of March and may even remember they’re from William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” but what exactly do they mean?

The Ides of March marked the day the Julius Caesar was assassinated by members of the Roman Senate in 44 B.C.E.

A soothsayer, or psychic, warned Caesar to beware the day, but Caesar doesn’t heed him.

He was then stabbed 23 times by about 60 conspirators, including his friend Marcus Brutus, as immortalised by Shakespeare’s “Et tu Brute?”

I remember learning all about this in Latin class in High School.

I remember another movie,  Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, discussing the Ides of March and someone asked why a month would need an “idea”.

We found Bill and Ted purely by accident.  We were looking at videos for rent in a grocery store and one of the bag boys (remember them?) recommended this one.

I’ve seen this movie several times over the years…

Mar 10

WooHoo! It’s International Bagpipe Day Again!

international-bagpipe

Mar 10

It’s My Day – Mary O’Day!

Even though the day is really for Mario, I like to think of it as MaryO day.  Since I’m Scottish, how about MaryO’Day?

So, I bring you the new holiday…

Mar 09

Don’t Forget

 

Daylight Saving Time is currently the second Sunday in March in the USA.  The practice is designed to give people an extra hour of sunlight in the evening hours.

The time change officially takes place at 2 a.m., so change your microwave and old-school clocks before you head to bed Saturday night. The change is automatic for most smartphones, computers, tablets and other digital devices.

 

Mar 05

Hot Cross Buns

 

My husband came home from the grocery store last night with Hot Cross Buns.  I was surprised because they had never had them before Ash Wednesday in past years.  I almost refused to eat them because they were “seasonally incorrect”.  Of course, I did try one to be sure that they weren’t mislabeled or anything…

I’d never even heard of HCB before college.  My freshman year in the dining commons at UMass Amherst changed all that.  Huge pans of actually hot, cross buns.  We actually even put butter on them, too.  No wonder the “Freshman 15” was a problem.

I’ve made a fairly exhaustive study of the local grocery stores’ versions and the one from  Giant come out on top.  Surprisingly, Wegmans isn’t the winner in this case.

Looking for a video on the history of HCB, I came across one for making these at home.

Maybe that wouldn’t be a good thing!

 

A bit of HCB trivia: English folklore includes many superstitions surrounding hot cross buns. One of them says that buns baked and served on Good Friday will not spoil or grow moldy during the subsequent year.

Another encourages keeping such a bun for medicinal purposes. A piece of it given to someone ill is said to help them recover.

If taken on a sea voyage, hot cross buns are said to protect against shipwreck.

If hung in the kitchen, they are said to protect against fires and ensure that all breads turn out perfectly. The hanging bun is replaced each year.

 

Turns out there’s also a “Not Cross Bun” which is a variation on the hot cross bun. It uses the same ingredients but instead of having a “cross” on top, it is has a smiley face in reference to it being “not cross” or “angry”.

The not cross bun was first sold commercially in 2014 by an Australian bakery in response to supermarkets selling hot cross buns as early as Boxing Day (December 26)

 

Mar 04

It’s National Grammar Day!

grammar-day

 

National Grammar Day is observed across the United States each year on March 4th.

According to Global Language Monitor, the estimated number of words in the English language is 1,025,109.  There is some controversy to that number, but it’s safe to say it is over a million.

Language is something to celebrate.  Some people might suggest that grammar is a set of rules for language, but really it is a system for understanding a language; how the words are structured.   Understanding the system and the structure helps us to better understand the language, and can help us to learn new languages.

There are some hard and fast rules in grammar, though.  Even some of those come up for debate from time to time.  Have you ever heard of the Oxford comma?

 

HOW TO OBSERVE

Do your best to use proper grammar and use #NationalGrammarDay to post on social media.

 

HISTORY

Martha Brockenbrough, founder of the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar, designated National Grammar Day in 2008.

As the National Grammar Day website states, “Language is something to be celebrated, and March 4 is the perfect day to do it. It’s not only a date, it’s an imperative: March forth on March 4 to speak well, write well, and help others do the same!”

For more information and ideas on ways to celebrate National Grammar Day, visit the website at: http://nationalgrammarday.com/

 

Mar 04

It’s Grammar Day

grammar-day

 

National Grammar Day is observed across the United States each year on March 4th.

According to Global Language Monitor, the estimated number of words in the English language is 1,025,109.  There is some controversy to that number, but it’s safe to say it is over a million.

Language is something to celebrate.  Some people might suggest that grammar is a set of rules for language, but really it is a system for understanding a language; how the words are structured.   Understanding the system and the structure helps us to better understand the language, and can help us to learn new languages.

There are some hard and fast rules in grammar, though.  Even some of those come up for debate from time to time.  Have you ever heard of the Oxford comma?

 

HOW TO OBSERVE

Do your best to use proper grammar and use #NationalGrammarDay to post on social media.

 

HISTORY

Martha Brockenbrough, founder of the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar, designated National Grammar Day in 2008.

As the National Grammar Day website states, “Language is something to be celebrated, and March 4 is the perfect day to do it. It’s not only a date, it’s an imperative: March forth on March 4 to speak well, write well, and help others do the same!”

For more information and ideas on ways to celebrate National Grammar Day, visit the website at: http://nationalgrammarday.com/

 

Mar 04

March Forth/Fourth

Today would probably have been a better day for the Music Man post since it’s about marching forth on March Fourth.

In honor of dedicated musicians and performers of many diverse styles and backgrounds, Marching Music Day celebrates all varieties of the art forms bringing us “music on the move.”

For centuries, the beat of a drum has kept military units moving in unison. From the training field to the battlefield, the football stadium to the Broadway stage, small gyms, auditoriums and grand arena spectacles, fifers, pipers, buglers, drum corps, marching bands, parade groups, drill teams and color guards bring music to life to the delight of millions of performers and spectators.

The military roots of the drum corps have evolved into an art form which moves us during somber memorials and thrills us with their ability to perform delightful music while executing intricate routines with exact precision. Drill squads, marching bands, drum lines, and drum corps name but a few of the many styles of marching music which have developed over the years, engaging hundreds of thousands of performers of all ages, abilities and experience levels.

We see marching music in schools, military units, community celebrations and local auxiliaries. The music is as varied as the ensembles themselves. Instruments may be limited to brass in some settings or may include woodwinds and electric guitars in others. Dance teams, baton twirlers and color guards perform to soundtracks ranging from traditional, standard marches to rock and roll, jazz, contemporary and electronic dance music.

And marching music keeps changing! Spectacular string bands incorporate their own unique sound and elaborate costuming. Technology has brought about the production of lighter, electronic and digital instruments making it possible for musicians to march with violins, cellos, basses and synthesizers to entertain crowds in unique and creative new ways.

Today, March 4 (“March Forth”) is also National Grammar Day. In past years, the National Grammar Day organization promoted the annual date as follows: “Language is something to be celebrated, and March 4 is the perfect day to do it. It’s not only a date, it’s an imperative: March forth on March 4 to speak well, write well, and help others do the same!”

Mar 02

Happy Birthday Again, Dr. Seuss!

drSeussBirthdayGreeting

My Little Free Library has a *few* Dr Seuss books in it

Meanwhile…

Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss) was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, where I also grew up and went to High School.

The Springfield Library Quadrangle has been home to the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden since 2002.

seuss-memorial2 seuss-memorial

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