Happy St Patrick's Day.

Don't forget "The Breastplate of St. Patrick"

It's a hymn with words translated from the Gaelic by Cecil Frances Humphreys Alexander in 1889, and music of "St. Patrick" by Charles Villiers Stanford in 1902.
Words and music at www.leannepayne.org/home/stpatrickmenu.php?view=hymn, among other sites.

A Happy Saint Patrick's Day to you all from New York City from a Yank and his Dubliner wife.

Since we're posting song lyrics, here's one of my favs:

The Pogues

Thousands Are Sailing

The island it is silent now
But the ghosts still haunt the waves
And the torch lights up a famished man
Who fortune could not save

Did you work upon the railroad
Did you rid the streets of crime
Were your dollars from the white house
Were they from the five and dime

Did the old songs taunt or cheer you
And did they still make you cry
Did you count the months and years
Or did your teardrops quickly dry

Ah, no, says he, 'twas not to be
On a coffin ship I came here
And I never even got so far
That they could change my name

Thousands are sailing
Across the western ocean
To a land of opportunity
That some of them will never see
Fortune prevailing
Across the western ocean
Their bellies full
Their spirits free
They'll break the chains of poverty
And they'll dance

In Manhattan's desert twilight
In the death of afternoon
We stepped hand in hand on Broadway
Like the first man on the moon

And "The Blackbird" broke the silence
As you whistled it so sweet
And in Brendan Behan's footsteps
I danced up and down the street

Then we said goodnight to Broadway
Giving it our best regards
Tipped our hats to Mister Cohen
Dear old Times Square's favorite bard

Then we raised a glass to JFK
And a dozen more besides
When I got back to my empty room
I suppose I must have cried

Thousands are sailing
Again across the ocean
Where the hand of opportunity
Draws tickets in a lottery
Postcards we're mailing
Of sky-blue skies and oceans
From rooms the daylight never sees
Where lights don't glow on Christmas trees
And we danced to the music
And we dance

Thousands are sailing
Across the western ocean
Where the hand of opportunity
Draws tickets in a lottery
Where e'er we go, we celebrate
The land that makes us refugees
From fear of Priests with empty plates
From guilt and weeping effigies
And we danced to the music
And we dance

Speakin o’ Guinness . . .

An Irish man walks into a pub. The bartender asks him, "what'll you have?"
The man says, "Give me three pints of Guinness please."
So the bartender brings him three pints and the man proceeds to alternately sip one, then the other, then the third until they're gone. He then orders three more.
The bartender says, "Sir, I know you like them cold. You don't have to order three at a time. I can keep an eye on it and when you get low I'll bring you a fresh cold one."
The man says, "You don't understand. I have two brothers, one in Australia and one in the States. We made a vow to each other that every Saturday night we'd still drink together. So right now, my brothers have three Guinness Stouts too, and we're drinking together.
The bartender thought that was a wonderful tradition.
Every week the man came in and ordered three beers. Then one week he came in and ordered only two. He drank them and then ordered two more.
The bartender said to him, "I know what your tradition is, and I'd just like to say that I'm sorry that one of your brothers died."
The man said, "Oh, me brothers are fine----I just quit drinking."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the Britain Beer Festival, in London, all the brewery presidents decided to go out for a beer.
The guy from Corona sits down and says, "Hey Senor, I would like the world's best beer, a Corona." The bartender dusts off a bottle from the shelf and gives it to him.
The guy from Budweiser says, "I'd like the best beer in the world, give me 'The King Of Beers', a Budweiser." The bartender gives him one.
The guy from Coors says, "I'd like the only beer made with Rocky Mountain spring water, give me a Coors." He gets it.
The guy from Guinness sits down and says, "Give me a Coke." The bartender is a little taken aback, but gives him what he ordered. The other brewery presidents look over at him and ask "Why aren't you drinking a Guinness?" and the Guinness president replies, "Well, I figured if you guys aren't drinking beer, neither would I."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well now, you see it's like this....

A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the rear that are killed. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole because only the fittest survive thus improving the general health and speed of the entire herd.

In much the same way the human brain only operates as quickly as the slowest of it's brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol kills brain cells, as we all know, and naturally the alcohol attacks the slowest/weakest cells first....

So it is as plain as the nose on your face that regular consumption of Guinness will eliminate the weaker, slower brain cells thus leaving the remaining cells the best in the brain.

The end result, of course, is a faster more efficient brain.

If you doubt this at all, tell me, isn't it true that we always feel a bit smarter after a few pints?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An American walks into an Irish pub and says, "I'll give anyone $100 if they can drink 10 Guinness's in 10 minutes." Most people just ignore the absurd bet and go back to their conversations. One guy even leaves the bar. A little while later that guy comes back and asks the American, "Is that bet still on?" "Sure." So the bartender lines 10 Guinness's up on the bar the Irishman drinks them all in less than 10 minutes. As the American hands over the money he asks, "Where did you go when you just left?" The Irishman answers, "I went next door to the other pub to see if I could do it."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seamus was walking along the coast of Galway early one morning with a bit of a sore head when he tripped over something in the sand. Reaching down, he picked up a lamp and starting rubbing it. There was a huge crack of thunder, an awesome amount of smoke, and lo and behold, a genie appeared.

"Mornin' boyo," said the genie. "For releasing me from two thousand years of bondage, I'll be grantin' ya three wishes."

"Isn't this grand," said Seamus. "Can I have a pint of Guinness?"

"Sure of course ye can," said the genie. And poof! a pint appeared in Seamus's hand. Seamus starting sipping away at the pint. "For the love o' Jaysus, this has to be the best pint I've ever been tasting."

"Of course it is," said the genie. "I'm an Irish genie, after all, and I do know a bit about pints. Now, let's get on with business. You've got two more wishes left, and I haven't got all day!"

"Now just be bidin' yer time," said Seamus. "I want to enjoy me pint."

"Ah," said the genie. "That's a magic pint."

"And what do ye be meanin' by that?" asked Seamus.

"Well," said the genie, "as soon as it's done, it'll fill right back up again just as good as the first."

"Is that so," said Seamus, finishing off the pint. Sure enough, back up it came, and when he tasted it, it really was every bit as good.

"Now," said the genie, "about those other two wishes?"

"Ah," said Seamus, "I'll have two more o' these!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Happy Saint Patrick's Day to one and all!

THANKS T. HAPPY SAINT PATTY'S DAY TO ALL

I can't drink Guiness. Any suggestions on how to drink it? Other than not being a weenie? (Mr. Melbell can't drink it either)

I've got a corned beef boiling right now, potatoes and cabbage to follow.

Anyone have any ideas for a finish on the corned beef? I was thinking of a honey mustard glaze and toss it under the broiler for a few minutes.

Help this poor guy, would you?

I've got a corned beef boiling right now, potatoes and cabbage to follow.

Anyone have any ideas for a finish on the corned beef? I was thinking of a honey mustard glaze and toss it under the broiler for a few minutes.

I just hope you added some beer to the corned beef while it was simmering. Shadowdancer just adds the beer to herself, and throws the corned beef away.

A man walks into a pub in Dublin for the first time. After finding a seat, he orders three pints of Guinness.

When they arrive, he drinks all three, by himself, taking a sip out of each pint in turn. He does this every day for a week, after which time the bartender works up enough nerve to suggest that the beer might be fresher if he ordered them one at a time. The man laughs and explains that he is one of three brothers, one of whom lives in Australia and the other in America.

The day they split to go their separate ways, they promised that they would each drink this way to remember the happy days they had together in Dublin. At that, the bartender nods his head approvingly. The man becomes a regular at the bar and he always drinks his Guinness in the same way: three pints drinking them each in turn.

One day in late February, the man looking rather somber comes into the pub and orders only two pints of beer. The bartender and other regulars notice the missing pint and guess its significance – something must have happened. After the man finishes his two beers, the bartender approaches him and says, "I don’t want to interrupt you in your time of sorrow, but since you are such a faithful customer, I feel that I should offer you my condolences. I am sorry about your brother."

The man looks momentarily confused and then says, "Oh, oh no, no cause for grief. My brother hasn’t died. I’ve just given up beer for Lent."

Nope, no beer here today.

Yeah, like I'd waste good money on corned beef instead of beer.

Large quantites would be my suggestion.

Aside from that, don't drink it too cold. Just slightly above room temp is about perfect.

Nope, no beer here today.

Freak.

Glad someone finally noticed!

>I can't drink Guiness. Any suggestions on how to drink it?

Give your tastebuds a workout with some habanero peppers first.

After those, everything either tastes good or has no taste at all.

Be warned, however, the following morning you'll likely have to unleash the dobermans at the back gate.

Flogging Molly sounds great.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

You need to try Smithwicks Irish Ale. It's a true ale (lighter than a Stout, darker than a lousy lager) that was brewed in Kilkenny and bought by Guinness back in the 70's. It's my favorite.

They just started importing it to the USA. They only sell it by the barrel so you'll need to stop by your favorite Irish pub and ask for a pint!

Class stuff! Happy Paddy's Day!

BTTT!