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themp
Supporter
Username: Themp
Post Number: 2671
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 12:05 pm: | 
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Friend's assessment:
"Green shirt; white collar, flipped up; shaved head. Multiply. They're all over and they're from Punchintheface, Long Island"
I find it to be a disquieting, cheerless holiday. |
algebra2
Supporter
Username: Algebra2
Post Number: 4012
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 12:16 pm: |
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Fat teenage chicks in hockey jackets with shamrocks drawn on their faces.
That was always my impression. The hockey jacket part may have changed in recent years. |
Oldstone
Citizen
Username: Rogers4317
Post Number: 642
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 12:33 pm: |
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and they had to make an announcement over the loud speaker in penn station saying "have a happy st. patrick's day" ??? where was the "have a happy purim" announcement?
green beer, green mashed potatoes, green bagels...UGH. |
jet
Citizen
Username: Jet
Post Number: 1057
Registered: 7-2001
| | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 12:54 pm: |
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If your not Irish , & you find the antics of the Irish annoying on this day, then do what your mothers told you. If you don't have something good to say then... grab your selves a big glass of STFU. |
algebra2
Supporter
Username: Algebra2
Post Number: 4013
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 2:25 pm: |
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I'm Irish and I am certain my ancestors never feasted on green beer and bagels.
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BGS
Citizen
Username: Bgs
Post Number: 780
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 2:30 pm: |
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I surely am not Irish but I have always enjoyed the festive atmosphere of this day. Green is a great color and while I am not crazy about eating unnaturally green food, I enjoy the joviality that seems to be in the air. Some colleagues and I went to a grocery store at lunch time looking for Irish soda bread and even the employees were in a good frame of mind...workmen there buying lunch had on green hats or tees or sweat shirts...even those obviously not Irish...If someone started a public Purim celebration, I'd be happy to enjoy that as well!!
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Oldstone
Citizen
Username: Rogers4317
Post Number: 643
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 2:36 pm: |
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hey, i'm not against st. patrick's day at all...just the stupidity that goes along with it...namely, the drunks who are loud, obnoxious and embarassing.
the fact that the country of ireland celebrated it as a religious holiday for centuries and then caved to the "tourist dollar potential" is disappointing. |
Flameretardant
Citizen
Username: Flameretardant
Post Number: 10
Registered: 9-2004
| | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 2:39 pm: |
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I am Irish (more than 75%) but I find the day a little much. My relatives in County Kerry don't celebrate it by clogging up the sidewalks, carrying around stupid green balloons, and puking on their shoes ... |
algebra2
Supporter
Username: Algebra2
Post Number: 4014
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 2:40 pm: |
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I don't need no stinkin' holiday as an excuse to puke in my shoes. |
Innisowen
Citizen
Username: Innisowen
Post Number: 1693
Registered: 3-2004
| | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 6:46 pm: |
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As native-born Irish, I long ago gave up on NYC's way of insulting my culture by permitting the city to turn into a miasma of alcohol, tasteless dress, fisticuffs, a collage of vomit, urine, and feces in the streets, and crass celebration of cash-in day for every bar in Manhattan.
I get as far away from it as I can (which means rural Vermont).
Next year, the coast of Donegal in March for me. |
Paddy
Citizen
Username: Paddy
Post Number: 200
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 7:06 pm: |
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The city has cracked down on the stuff and if you complain about it you obviously haven't been to the city recently for St. Pat's Day.
Although Dhún na nGall would be nice in March. Almost as nice as Liatroma. |
Innisowen
Citizen
Username: Innisowen
Post Number: 1695
Registered: 3-2004
| | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 7:16 pm: |
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Paddo, if you're speaking to me, I was last in NYC for St Patrick's Day in the year 2005, which I believe was just last year. And marching in the parade with my county association.
At the parade's end, starting up on 86 and heading downtown on 2nd, 3rd, Park, you could see your fill of what I mentioned above.
It's true I was in the city only once for St Patrick's Day last year, on the day itself, and didn't go the weekend before or the days after. So I might have missed those more genteel celebrations. |
CLK
Supporter
Username: Clkelley
Post Number: 2031
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 7:29 pm: |
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I have to agree with some of the more negative assessments of the day. I'm an Irish-American (half - the other half is pure orange Scottish/Northern Irish, and neither of my parents' families were too happy about that match).
However my husband is from Ireland (Dublin) and he gets disgusted by the green-beer thing and the drunkenness. He comes from a family of teetotalers, and he finds the celebration of drunkenness to be a very negative and incorrect depiction of his home country. He also finds the "corned beef & cabbage" thing hysterical, as he never tasted corned beef in Ireland! (though he ate plenty of cabbage there.) My Irish-Newfie-American dad ate it when the family had a few extra dollars, though the usual fare in his house growing up was salted cod and nobody's ever going to celebrate that ...
BUT if it's an excuse to have a pint of Guinness and listen to some good traditional music, then I'll take the excuse. Any excuse would do, actually. ;-) |
Innisowen
Citizen
Username: Innisowen
Post Number: 1698
Registered: 3-2004
| | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 7:53 pm: |
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CLK,
Newfies can celebrate their status as some of the best makers of Irish and Celtic music in North America.
There's a great cd called "Island to Island," mixing Irish musicians with their Newfoundland counterparts, and the result is outrageously good. Do you know it at all?
By the way, my family were "pioneers," teetotalers as well. And my exposure to corned beef and cabbage occurred on this side of the Atlantic. Not much salted cod for us, as we were not on the seaside, but salted bacons, salted tripe, and salted mutton did make their way to the table. |
Paddy
Citizen
Username: Paddy
Post Number: 201
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 10:08 pm: |
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Innisowen -- I was commenting on the improvements the city has made to the parade, not necessarily your comments. 10 years ago I would have agreed, today I think it's pretty good. There will always be odd bunch that disrupts the city but I actually enjoy the holiday now. |
Brett Weir
Citizen
Username: Brett_weir
Post Number: 1333
Registered: 4-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, March 18, 2006 - 11:21 am: |
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Innisowen- As an American of Irish descent, we know that the garish celebrations in the States are no reflection of the more staid and quiet celebration in Ireland. However, since before the American Revolution the St. Patrick's Day Parade was a chance for Irish-Americans, particularly Irish Catholics, to proudly display their heritage in a land where, until World War II many were still treated as an underclass. It is clearly an American expression of a cherished heritage, but it was also an expression of solidarity among Irish-Americans who were excluded from many aspects of American life until they forced their way in.
If I were native Irish I might be put off by the American (or Canadian) revelry on St. Patrick's Day. But my experience is that this one day was the only one on which my grandparents could openly rejoice in their Irish birth- they otherwise struggled for everything here and were considered less than citizens. Because it meant so much to them, it means as much to me.
Trust me, my dream-St. Patrick's Day would be to go to Ireland and celebrate with my family by going to Mass and having an intimate family dinner with my loved ones. Maybe some day. But in the mean, I treasure the struggles that my forbears endured to bring us here, and I bless their memory each year as I watch the day unfold. It's not very Irish, but it's very dear to us. |
Mayor McCheese
Supporter
Username: Mayor_mccheese
Post Number: 1012
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, March 18, 2006 - 11:30 am: |
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I had quite a few people yesterday asking me why I didn't wear any green. My response to them all was that I didn't because I actually have some Irish blood in me. |
CLK
Supporter
Username: Clkelley
Post Number: 2033
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, March 18, 2006 - 12:53 pm: |
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Mayor McC, that's funny .... my kid, who is 3/4 Irish (whatever these percentages mean anyway) wore red trousers & a white top yesterday, but her friends who are Chinese and Jewish were in green. (and they all looked adorable!)
Innis, my love for Celtic music started when I was very little. My Newf grampy sang sailor songs, and apparently even taught some of these to his parrot (I don't remember this bird). He was a fisherman and operated the hand-winch on the boat - so he had arms that make modern body builders look like wimps. I thought that he actually *was* popeye when I was a little kid, quite seriously.
My other grampy (the Scottish-Canadian one) was a fiddle player, and often played when I was little. One of my cousins recently found an old cassette tape of him singing & a little bit of playing. He was ad-libbing verses to songs, putting in his own funny lyrics. His fiddle was made by his great-grandfather in a logging camp in New Brunswick, and the cousin who found the tape has that fiddle now and plays too.
So it's on both sides, and I couldn't agree more about the music of the Maritimes. |
Crazy Guggenheim
Citizen
Username: Crazyguggenheim
Post Number: 880
Registered: 2-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, March 18, 2006 - 12:56 pm: |
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Call me crazy, but every st paddy's day I always hold out hope for spotting me a lucky leprachaun with his pot o' gold. |
Bajou
Citizen
Username: Bajou
Post Number: 75
Registered: 2-2006
| | Posted on Monday, March 20, 2006 - 12:29 pm: |
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Dear Paddy:
I work on Park Ave and 42nd Street. I am not sure which part of the city you frequent but I can tell you that while getting my lunch (5 min walk each way) I saw a girl (maybe 17) puke her brains out on the steps of the Library. Two people arrested in Bryant Park (apparently for indecent exposure) and in general herds of young kids drunkenly wandering in the middle of the street without noticing any lights at all.
The only saving grace is that all the drunks are color coded on patty day so you know that most people in green (especially with shamrocks drawn on their face) are probably blind drunk.
I actually think the color coding is a good idea. We should continue that and have a color coded system in place which will make you aware of the alcohol level of somebody. Life would be so much easier.
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parkah
Citizen
Username: Parkah
Post Number: 172
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - 9:05 am: |
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It's a bummer that naive teenagers/20 something meat-heads use this day to drink underage, act like complete arses and turn public opinion.
Us older Irish-Americans use the day to celebrate the religious aspect, but also the struggle our grandparents faced when they first arrived in America and the contribution(s) they have made in shaping this country. As Brett pointed out in his post... back in the day there was quite a bit of discrimination against the Irish immigrants arriving in America. Irish immigrants were thought to be dirty, stupid and lazy by the general population, and as such found it very difficult to find work and make a decent life for themselves and their families. NYC, in fact, had blocks of just Irish slums that even the police were scared to venture into. But, like most immigrants coming to America, the Irish were proud and worked very hard to change their situation… they took any blue collar job they could to make ends meet… this included many civil-servant jobs.
Today, the parade is symbol of our struggle and the pride we have for our culture and the contributions we’ve made here in the States. When you see block after block of Irish-American civil-servants (i.e., fireman, policeman, soldiers, etc.) marching through NYC, there is no mistaking how important our contributions have been. Meeting in our favorite watering holes after the parade is our way of patting each other on the back for a job well done. We joke, jest and salute those who have sacrificed so much so that we could have a positive and health future. It’s a salute to our grandparents if you will.
To me, my friends and my family… this is what St. Paddy’s Day is about.
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SOSully
Citizen
Username: Sullymw
Post Number: 1189
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - 9:34 am: |
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I marched in the parade this year and my observation was that the negative stereotype that you are referring to is a small percentage of the parade-goers...as per usual for any type of public event. Because they wear garish outfits and make a lot of noise they tend to get most of the attention. However, the vast majority of the spectators were families...from infants to grandmas. And I have to say that they were all extremely supportive...cheering and waving and blowing kisses, etc. Many unmistakable Irish faces celebrating their heritage with their families. Let's face it, in the USA we overhype everything and there will always be those who will take things to the extreme, but there are many, many Irish who celebrate and enjoy March 17 in a respectful, thoughtful manner. |
Stuart0628
Citizen
Username: Stuart0628
Post Number: 236
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - 9:51 am: |
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One more data point: I bought bagels for the co-workers on Friday, 3/17. 16 assorted plus 2 green bagels.
At the end of the day, 16 bagels were consumed. Wanna guess which ones were left over?
Moral of the story? I have no idea. |
Innisowen
Citizen
Username: Innisowen
Post Number: 1740
Registered: 3-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - 9:52 am: |
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I did not march this year but spent the day away.
I agree with SoSully that the great faces behind the barricades are a joyous map in America of the Irish nation. It's the one time of year I can walk down the street and see a lot of people who look like me, smile like me, act like me, even though there may be generations of difference.
That's something to write home about.
And it's not the parade I complain about. It's the aftermath and spill-over from 86 & 3 down to the 40's, down the east side.
That's not Irish, that's not joyous.
That's not something to write home about. |
Brett Weir
Citizen
Username: Brett_weir
Post Number: 1339
Registered: 4-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - 10:02 am: |
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I'm with you, Sully. The same drunken a-holes will be wearing stars-n-stripes in July, Yankee jerseys in October and standing in Times Square New Year's Eve. A drunk doesn't need a reason to drink, and a boor doesn't need one to be offensive; large-scale celebrations bring out the worst in both. But most Irish-Americans are joyful without being vulgar, and most non-Irish-Americans are quite flattering by joining in the revelry.
I was in the city this year as well, and the drunks were the exception. Most parade-goers were fine. The bars were another matter, but if you combine St. Patrick's Day on a Friday in NYC, it's going to be "Amateur Night". I enjoyed the parade, had a few beers with my association and went home for dinner at a family gathering. It was great! |
The SLK Effect
Citizen
Username: Scrotisloknows
Post Number: 1125
Registered: 10-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - 12:26 pm: |
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oh relax people. St. Paddy's is a silly AMERICAN holiday....
I have an idea-why don't you just avoid NYC on 3/17 every year? If you can't, the parade is one block from my office and I have no problem avoiding it and those involved.
Erin Go Bragh!
-SLK |
Grrrrrrrrrrr
Citizen
Username: Oldsctls67
Post Number: 435
Registered: 11-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - 3:02 pm: |
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OK, so Maplewood is now the last bastion of the cultural elite as well... |
Innisowen
Citizen
Username: Innisowen
Post Number: 1751
Registered: 3-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - 3:14 pm: |
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Oh, SLK:
You're still undefeated champion of never getting the point. |
Oldstone
Citizen
Username: Rogers4317
Post Number: 644
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - 4:02 pm: |
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the drunks will forever signify st. patrick's day in ny, just as the drag queens are what everyone remembers about gay pride day. |
SOSully
Citizen
Username: Sullymw
Post Number: 1190
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - 4:06 pm: |
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only if you're not really looking |
dougw
Citizen
Username: Dougw
Post Number: 775
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - 4:28 pm: |
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Why do I think none of you will be complaining about the Puerto Rican Day Parade?
Oh wait because you are all PC zealots.
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Robert Livingston
Citizen
Username: Rob_livingston
Post Number: 1813
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - 4:32 pm: |
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"OK, so Maplewood is now the last bastion of the cultural elite as well..."
Not quite. There's still a few people we need to purge... |
Brett Weir
Citizen
Username: Brett_weir
Post Number: 1343
Registered: 4-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - 5:48 pm: |
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"The Irish have been coming here for years
Feel like they own the place
They got the airport, city hall, concrete, asphalt
They even got the police"
-"New York" by U2, All That You Can't Leave Behind |
Oldstone
Citizen
Username: Rogers4317
Post Number: 645
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 22, 2006 - 10:53 am: |
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the puerto rican parade is marred by the marauding gang of machos molesting women in central park. the one bad element of EVERY parade is always what stays in everyone's mind.
if there are no bad elements, ie. the stueben day parade, the parade and day are remembered in the best sense. |
SOSully
Citizen
Username: Sullymw
Post Number: 1195
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 22, 2006 - 11:45 am: |
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are you German perhaps? |
Innisowen
Citizen
Username: Innisowen
Post Number: 1775
Registered: 3-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 22, 2006 - 11:53 am: |
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Donal O'Shaughnessy's 1987 ballad is the reason I like St Patrick's Day, and the reason I despise the puking numbnuts in the streets.
When New York Was Irish
I’ll sing you a song of days long ago
when the people from Galway and the County Mayo
and all over Ireland came over to stay
and take up a new life in Americay.
CHORUS
They were ever so happy, they were ever so sad
to grow old in a new world through good times and bad
all the parties and weddings, the ceilidhs and wakes
when New York was Irish, full of joys and heartbreaks.
We worked on the subways, we ran the saloons
we built all the bridges, we played all the tunes
We put out the fires and controlled City Hall
we started with nothing and wound up with it all.
You could travel from Kingsbridge to Queens or mid town,
from Highbridge to Bay Ridge,
from up town to down,
from the East Side to the seaside's
sweet summer scenes
we made New York City our island of dreams.
CHORUS
I look at the photos now
brittle with time
of the people I cherished when
the city was mine
O, how I loved all those radiant smiles
how I long for the days when we danced in the aisles.
CHORUS |
Oldstone
Citizen
Username: Rogers4317
Post Number: 647
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 22, 2006 - 12:00 pm: |
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no, i'm american, sull. british, scottish and russian background.
innisowen...that reads like a nice, sentimental song...how's the melody? |
Innisowen
Citizen
Username: Innisowen
Post Number: 1776
Registered: 3-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 22, 2006 - 12:08 pm: |
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It's in D major, I believe. And quite a lilting ballad.
I gave the wrong composer, by the way. It's Terrence Winch, released through Green Linnet Records.
O'Shaughnessy has performed it a good bit, however. |
Oldstone
Citizen
Username: Rogers4317
Post Number: 649
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 22, 2006 - 12:15 pm: |
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thanks innisowen. i will check it out. irish music is beautiful. i especially like loreena mckennitt and joanie madden. |
Innisowen
Citizen
Username: Innisowen
Post Number: 1777
Registered: 3-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 22, 2006 - 12:28 pm: |
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If you've Scots blood in you, oldstone, you should, if you don't already, listen to Dougie Maclean's music, some of the most moving Celtic music on earth, and his song Caledonia has been crowned the unofficial national anthem of Scotland. |
Oldstone
Citizen
Username: Rogers4317
Post Number: 650
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 22, 2006 - 12:52 pm: |
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thanks for the tip, innisowen. |
Brett Weir
Citizen
Username: Brett_weir
Post Number: 1347
Registered: 4-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 22, 2006 - 2:09 pm: |
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Green Linnett is a treasure trove of Celtic music. My favorite was OREALIS, though I don't thing G/L distributes them anymore- they may be out of print.
Orealis had a great tune called "Aftermath" that told of the day after St. Patrick's Day in Montreal. Very warm. |
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