This comming weekend

Yes, I know it is a bit early to talk about the weekend, but I just wanted everyone to know that Hercules Mulligan and My 3 Kilts are playing this Friday night a The Flying Shamrock in Goldsboro. The marquise and I will be there. If anyone else can make, you should. Its gonna be a great party.

Happy Thursday

Happy Thursday to everyone! One more day til the weekend. We have almost made it through another week. Yippee! Just a quick reminder for all of you that are in the RDU area. Hercules Mulligan will be playing tomorrow night at Tir Na Nog. Come on over for a pint and enjoy the music. It is a great way to start the weekend!

Hercules Mulligan and DL Token

Last Friday night, the Marquise and I went out to the 'Nog to see Hercules Mulligan during their monthly performance out there. It was good to see them out at full strength! All four of them were out, Julie, Mike, Dave and Chris. Julie on the fiddle and the concertina was great. Actually, I think I liked the concertina a little better than the fiddle. It provided a little "depth" to the 3 or 4 songs she played that was not quite there with the fiddle. Mike did a great job on the banjo, which is usually the case. I'm not sure I've seen him with a bad night. Chris and Dave seemed to enjoy the company up there and were a little more relaxed than the last couple of times I've seen them. It'll be fun to hear them once they have had some more time playing together.

The big surprise of the night was DL Token. They were the "headliners" for the evening. Normally the Marquise and I leave after the Celtic band has done their set. For some reason, we stayed around to hear these guys. I think we were both interested to see what was coming. During their set-up, I only saw the two guys with their guitars. I thought that was a little strange considering the second band of the evening is usually a good sized band (usually 4 or 5) and usually has a full drum set. The Marquise and I were wondering how these 2 guitarists were going to stack up. Well, about 5 minutes before the band was supposed to start in comes a third member with (not sure of the name) lap? drum. A single drum you hold between your knees and play with your hands. Whatever that is called, he had one and he could flat out play it! I kept looking over there because I was expecting at least 2 drums, if not more, for the rhythms he was creating. The 2 guitarists were equally as talented as the drummer. The 3 of them produced a sound that most larger bands can't even match. I think the Marquise and I have found another favourite local band! Our musical dance card is gonna get real full at this rate!

Celtoberfest!!!!!

Yeah, the great Celtoberfest starts this weekend! The Marquise and I are heading out to Williamsburg Va for the Williamsburg Scottish Festival. We will be there most of the day on Saturday. (at least that is the plan right now). They have a great music lineup with Albannach, Barleyjuice and Rathkeltair. The boys from My Three Kilts will be there, so it will be fun to drink with them again.

Speaking of M3K, they are going to be playing out at Tir Na Nog on Wednesday, Oct 8 for their kilt night. What is REALLY cool is that Albannach will be there also! It is pretty cool that they are opening for such a great band (YIPPEE!)

Speaking of Tir Na Nog, Hercules Mulligan should be playing the following Friday out at the Nog. It is always a treat to see them play. They are all such great entertainers.

I don't have a "speaking of" segue for the next events. Great Big Sea will be here the end of October (the 29th, I believe, it should be a Wednesday) and somewhere near the end of October (think it is the Saturday after Halloween, M3K will be at their annual festival at the Nutless Hound Pub in Goldsboro.

It's a good thing there are 3 pay periods this month! I'm gonna need the extra money!

Houston, we have a commute.

Well, I don't think Houston really cares, but I was able to successfully use public transportation to get to work today. All in all, it went pretty well. The connection out was quick and easy. The return, however, needs a little fine tuning. I misjudged the bus time for my particular stop (all right, I got it all wrong) and ended up standing outside for about 1/2 an hour. Normally that would not be bad, but it was about 100 here in Raleigh today! Of course, since it is a new office park, there are no mature trees anywhere close by the bus stop. I did however, have my trusty umbrella, which works quite well as a sun shade.

The time involved is a lot more than it would be driving (not unusual) so I have some more "lifestyle readjusting" to work out so that I'm not wasting all that time on a bus. I already started packing my breakfast to eat once I get to work since I get there early. I may start packing my dinner also since I have about 1/2 hour after work before my bus leaves. I'm thinking about doing the once a week cooking thing and having the meals already packaged and ready to go. I've almost always got some crochet (and hopefully knit) project going that I can do on the bus. I already know from today's experience that I'm gonna have to keep the projects simple on the bus. There is a lot of shake, rattling and rolling going on with those buses.

My goal this week is to use the bus thru Thursday (I can't take it Friday, because Hercules Mulligan is playing Friday night at Tir Na Nog.) and then re-evaluate over the weekend to see what I wanna do in the future.

Just so that everyone knows, I am still not particularly happy with CAT, but I have to work with what I'm given. At least I'm using more of our tax money.

Odds and Ends

Just a little bit of this and that.

First off... Beer.

The second batch of beer is actually getting much, much better as it ages. It is probably about 1.5 months old now and it is quite different than when it was new. It is mellowing out nicely. Of course, since I have no patience what so ever when it come to my home brew, I have just about finished my part of the batch. Maybe I can swipe some from the Marquise; she's on a low carb diet now.

We have the third batch bottled and it has been aging for about 2 weeks now. We tried some of it last week and it was much better than anticipated. If you had tasted it when we were bottling, you would have dumped it out right then and there. It was incredibly sweet. The bottle we tried was still a little on the sweet side but was still very drinkable. I think I'll leave that at the Marquise's until it's ready. One because we didn't make that much and two, if it is way over at her place there is no temptation for me here.

Second.... Hercules Mulligan

I have not made mention of our good friends HM since St Paddy's day because they haven't been doing a whole lot lately. I'm gonna have to get on them and find out what's going on.

Third......Wine

We made a quick wine trip last weekend to Silk Hope and Benjamin Wineries. We had hoped that Silk Hope would have had their white wine ready. They did not. Bummer. Since we were in the area, we stopped by Benjamin and I got another bottle of their Carlos wine. A very good semi-sweet muscadine wine.

We also swung by Saxapahaw to see if the meadery was open. It was not. Another bummer.

Now that I write it out, that little trip was not particularly productive. Oh well.

PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!

A little bit of my world


Me at the Cary Hibernian. The Great Marquise grabbed the camera and snapped this picture before I even knew what happened!


Hercules Mulligan at the Cary Hibernian. Same night as above. It was right before Christmas and there was a least one Christmas party going on. We didn't get our normal seats that night. We actually had to sit on the "other" side of the bar. (Ya kinda hafta know the place)


The great move! I helped the Marquise move some of her stuff last weekend. We were taking this to the swap shop and almost lost the load! My next vehicle will NOT be a truck! No more moving for me.


The Marquise's new place.


Beer and pizza after the move.


My puppy, AJ. He is a Goldendoodle! Half golden retriever/half standard poodle.


AJ's little sister, Ginger. Also a goldendoodle.


My socks!!! Yes, I have a picture of my socks. These are the first socks I ever crocheted. (so far they are the only ones also) I made them to go with my kilts, so they are basically knee socks. (the correct term is actually kilt hose.) I made them out of wool and I think there will probably be about 4 weeks a year when it will be cold enough here to wear them. I will probably make another pair out of cotton for the warmer weather.

Back Amongst The Living

I had a really bad ending to a great night last Wednesday. As usual, I was out watching Hercules Mulligan with the great Marquise at the Cary Hibernian. We did our usual, I was there on time, she was late, I ordered and ate before she arrived, she ordered and ate throughout the evening, we both drank. Now I admit it, I drank a little more than I usually do, but just a little. (the Hercs were great, as usual) When I got home that evening, I was feeling a little queasy. I figured, it was just that "little bit" of extra Guinness. Well, it wasn't. At 1am all hell broke loose. The bathroom and I became close friends. If you haven't guessed by now, I got food poisoning. I know it was from dinner, and I also know it wasn't something rampant in the restaurant because the Marquise had the same meal as I did and she did not get sick. I was lucky, however. I only had to go through 24 hrs of hell and another 24 of purgatory before I started feeling better. Unlike the Marquise who went through about 36 hours of hell and another 3-4 days of purgatory when she underwent her gustatory dilemma earlier this year. It had been many years since the last time I had food poisoning and I had forgotten how horrible it makes you feel. Everything hurts. You don't want to move, but you have to get up every "so often" and make a bathroom run. Once all the fireworks stop and you think you are on the road to improvement, your GI tract reminds you it is still not happy every time you drink a glass of anything more filling than air. And then comes round 2 and you get to start all over again! YIPEE!

Well, my bacterial experiments are over, hopefully for another 20 or so years.

Raleigh Kodiaks Rugby and Hercules Mulligan

OK folks, my favorite rugby team, the Raleigh Kodiaks, is playing this weekend. They are just returning from a back to back victory in Nashville! (sorry, but waaaay to far for this fan, I missed the games). Yes, believe it or not, they played two games on the same day, with about a 20 minute break between. They are better men than I. They are playing this Saturday at 1p at the Raleigh Rugby League pitch off Poole Rd. I hope I got that right. Anyone in the area should try to make it out there.

It's also that time of the fortnight again. It's time for the Hercs to play at the Cary Hibernian. It is this Wednesday. The festivities start at 8p and stop somewhere around 10p. Come early and grab a bite to eat. I recommend their burgers, no salt on the fries.

Busy Weekend

I had a busy weekend, well actually, it was a busy Saturday. I already mentioned the Halfway celebration at Tir Na Nog. Unfortunately, the Marquise was under the weather, so she could not make it. The guys from Hercules Mulligan sounded great. I did, however, miss the bass. Zack was out visiting with family. We (the Marquise and I) had mentioned to them previously that we really wanted to hear them play on a weekend again. Don't get me wrong, they have a great set up at the Cary Hibernian, but there is a big difference between playing on a Wednesday and playing on a Saturday. Everyone is a little more relaxed on a weekend, since most won't have to be at work the next day. There was a good crowd at Tir Na Nog and everyone was in a festive mood (slightly drunk). We even got the band to perform "Alice". As good a participatory song as you are going to get. At least as far as a bar full of drunk people go.

I was, of course, the only one in kilt, which draws as much attention in a straight bar as it does in a gay bar. It's a little disconcerting for me to be hit on by a couple of women. I am definitely NOT used to it. Actually, it was disconcerting that I realized I was being hit on. Usually I am blissfully unaware of such things. But this time, the women were not particularly subtle.

Let me back up just a little and tell y'all what I did in the morning. I attended the Responsible Dog Ownership Day event that was sponsored by the American Kennel Club. It was held out at the Fairgrounds this year. It started at 10a and ended at 2p. I helped the dog rescue groups set up and did "crowd control"; I walked around and answered questions, greeted dogs and picked up poop. It was a really good crowd. Lots and lots of dogs. Just about everyone brought at least one dog. Surprisingly, there were very few problems with the dogs. A couple of them obviously did not like each other, but most were very well behaved. I found it interesting to note that dogs seem to make immediate decisions about other dogs. Sometimes dogs would pass each other without ever taking any notice, other times they would decide that they just had to meet this other dog. I tried to see if there was a male/female thing going on, thinking that might be the cause of the sudden attraction. I really couldn't tell if that was the case. It seemed like some dogs just immediately liked other dogs.

There were several demonstrations that went on throughout the day. The flyball and agility demos were amazing. Flyball looks exactly like it does on TV. The dogs are going crazy and barking and running like mad to get the tennis ball and then get back to their owners. The agility demos were fun. It was very evident that the competitions on TV are the very best of the sport. The folks on TV make it look so much easier than it is. Several of the dogs were just beginning their training and did not quite make it through the entire course. We all cheered any way. If you ever get a chance to see a flyball or an agility contest, you REALLY need to go. They are a lot of fun.

A Great 4th of July

Well, all, I had a really good 4th of July holiday. I was able to spend the day with two great friends, Meg and the Marquise.

I went over to Meg's place that afternoon. She recently adopted a very pretty kitty she has named Gustav (I'll see if she'll let me post a picture of Gustav). Her father is somewhat of a tinker and built her a kitty condo. Now, her father lives several states away so he dissassembled the **** thing and mailed it to her. It is my job as the resident testosterone generator and repository to put this kind of stuff together for her. So, I loaded my little bundle of joy, AJ (a 85 lb goldendoodle) and off we went to Meg's place. You kinda need to know that AJ's experience with cats is that he chases them and they run away from him. He has never gotten face to face with a cat before!!! (I knew this was gonna be fun) I really have to give Gustav a lot of credit, he (all 2 lbs) stood up to AJ very admirably. Needless to say, it turned out that AJ was relatively well behaved and Gustav finally decided he was OK and started to "stalk" AJ's tail. Well, in between AJ wanting to be petted/played with and Gustav wanting to play with AJ's tail, the kitty condo was finally assembled. I DO NOT certify that it will stay assembled, but it is assembled right now.

So after performing my responsibilities and assisting the damsel in distress, we went out for lunch and parted ways.

That evening, I met up with the Marquise for dinner and drinking and Hercules Mulligan. We decided to eat at Carraba's Italian Grill (mostly because it was next the Hibernian). Neither of us had been there before, so it was a new experience. I was not the brightest bulb in the restaurant that night. I have mentioned before that I am in the process of getting braces (read the post below), well, my teeth still hurt. Friends, do not eat a house salad with carrots and celery when your teeth hurt. Very Bad. Very, Very Bad. However, the entree was great, the salad dressing was much better on bread than on the salad. The sangria was good (a bit expensive) and the Marquise made damn sure that every drop was poured from the pitcher.

After dinner we walked down the road a bit to the Cary Hibernian to cheer on our favorite band Hercules Mulligan. The beer was good (Paulaner Heffe-Weisz), the band was even better, the irish carbomb (Guinness and irish cream) sucked. The beer is not something I would really want to drink all the time, but it was good for the evening. It didn't get upset that it had to share a room with sangria, if ya get my drift. The band was really good last night. We had a really responsive crowd and Chris K. was determined he was gonna have a good time and determined the rest of us were gonna have a good time also. He started off with a rousing rendition of "Star Spangled Banner". I can honestly say that I have never been in a bar before when the anthem was sung. It is a lot more intimate than at a ball game with 50 or 60 thousand of your closest friends. And finally the carbomb, oh the carbomb. Just say no! Every once in a while you come accross a concoction that just doesn't work. A half/quarter pint of Guinness and a shot of irish creme just don't mix.

This Wednesday, July 4th

For those of you in the Triangle area that don't want to put up with the heat, parking, and crowds of the public fireworks display (please do not have your own fireworks display due to the lack of rainfall) come on out to the Cary Hibernian restaurant and enjoy Hercules Mulligan. They are the best Irish-Bluegrass band with an upright bass in the Triangle!!!!