[ConorMacNessa]

Old Ironsides



AY, TEAR her tattered ensign down!
Long has it waved on high,
And many an eye has danced to see
That banner in the sky;
Beneath it rung the battle shout,
And burst the cannon’s roar; —
The meteor of the ocean air
Shall sweep the clouds no more.

Her deck, once red with heroes’ blood,
Where knelt the vanquished foe,
When winds were hurrying o’er the flood,
And waves were white below,
No more shall feel the victor’s tread,
Or know the conquered knee; —
The harpies of the shore shall pluck
The eagle of the sea!

Oh, better that her shattered hulk
Should sink beneath the wave;
Her thunders shook the mighty deep,
And there should be her grave;
Nail to the mast her holy flag,
Set every threadbare sail,
And give her to the god of storms,
The lightning and the gale!




Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Lamh Foistenach Abu!

[left that other site]

How I Almost Started War with Belgium
Back when I lived in Boston, I had the privilege of serving as Activities Chairman for a Motorcycle Club headquartered at the Harley Dealership near Boston, MA.

As the club grew, it became time to take a picture of the entire group, so we took all the bikes down to the Navy Yard in Charlestown to have our picture taken in front of the USS Constitution, the oldest commissioned vessel in the US Navy, known as "Old Ironsides".

At the next pier was a small vessel from the Belgian Navy that was visiting on a NATO mission. The sailors were very excited to see the Harleys and were milling around the bikes, admiring them.

One very cute sailor asked me in broken English if i would give him a ride, and he hopped on the back of my bike. I immediately sped off and took him on a three hour Harley tour of my beloved City of Boston.
(I knew every street and alleyway because I had been one of the original Marathon Bicycle messengers, but that's ANOTHER story!)

As he hung on for dear life in his foreign navy uniform, flipping off the drivers who were cutting us off and honking horns at us (typical Boston drivers),
we were a sight to behold. Middle aged, overweight, leather-clad female biker driving teenage foreign sailor around town, who was making naughty gestures at all the drivers.
It is a wonder we weren't arrested. But we were having so much fun sightseeing that we lost track of time!

Meanwhile, the captain of the ship was interrogating the rest of the crew as to WHERE the young sailor was, as he had not even had permission to leave the ship, nor had he his passport, or any other documentation on him, and I had, in effect, kidnapped him, in a foreign port and taken him to parts unknown!

The entire club stayed at the ship until we arrived, innocent and exhilarated by our ride. We thought we had only been away about 15 minutes, when actually we had been gone over three hours! When the club and I explained what had happened and that the sailor really had no control over the situation, we gave everyone rides on the backs of the bikes around the huge parking lot to cement the deal that the sailor was indeed forgiven.

And that, my friends, is how a bunch of Bikers saved me from what COULD have been an International Incident!