Entry for March 28, 2007 Songs I Used To Sing !!

Yesterday morning Fluff and I were discussing humourous songs from our pasts and she went on to post one of hers ( recommended reading) about the poor mixed - up alcoholic Swedish Finn. Today I have decided to tell you about one of mine.

As most of you know by now I spent some 13 years .... from grade nine onwards.... in a Catholic seminary aiming at the priesthood as my final goal........ the first stages in Ontario and Québec and the latter part for my theology in Italy. Now since I was having doubts about my calling I came home to spend some time in my home settings with all my old buddies. I have already told you about my "bestest" friend , Bill , whose birthday you all helped us celebrate last January 27th. Now I'd like to tell you about another one , Doug Purske , who hailed from Grande Prairie , Alberta.

To make a long story shorter........ during the Summer of 1962 Doug and I put together a ragtag band of poorly dressed misfits who could play a few instruments and sing rather well from years of training with Gregorian Chant ... in fact we were not bad at all !! So we decided to make the rounds of all the parish picknicks in the Peterborough - Kiwartha Lakes area that Summer....... challenge their teams to a softball game and put on a show and eat their food afterwards. Back then the Everly Brothers were riding high so we would do Bye , Bye Love , Wake UP Little Suzie , etc ... I would do my favourite for which I had won a prize on my first trip overseas on the RynDam... The Purple People Eater... and then on to many Country 'n Western songs that folks in Ennismore and Bobcaygeon thrived on....... even throw in a couple of hoedowns and reels as Ben McNally from Moose Jaw and Ralph McQuaid from Prince Edward Island could really tan the fiddle.

There was one song that Purske and I sang together that folks always asked for at the end by way of encore and I shall post the words below. I shall likewise post a few pics as I feel lucky to have such great mementos from the past.

We had an old truck with a piano mounted up near the cabin. In above pic I am MCing the show. We also had our old blue bus .... left to right , Purske , Doug McNulty ( my first cousin ) , Paul Curtin and myself.

In our advertizing that Summer we said we would perform just about anywhere and this photo seems to say it all. And now for the song , The Barefoot Boy With Boots On , written by Asa Martin of Kentucky.

h, the night was dark and cloudy
The moon was shining bright
The stars were casting burning rays
On the storm that raged that night
Lightening struck the cowshed
And the cows all chewed their cud
Moonlight set the prairie on fire
In the middle of the woods

Oh, the barefoot boy with boots on
Come a-shuffling down the street
His pants were full of pockets
And his boots were full of feet
He was born when he was a baby
His grandma’s pride and joy
His only sister was a girl
And his brother was a boy

He never was a triplet
But he always was a twin
His legs were fastened to his knees
Just below his chin
And his feet were fastened to his ankles
Several inches from his shoulder
And when he grew up he became a man
And everyday got older

He married him a woman
Who quickly became his wife
For you see he could not marry her
And maintain a single life
Her head was full of notions
And her mouth was full of tongue
They raised a dozen children
All born when they was young

Six boys, five girls
And then another child
They never tried to raise them right
Just let them grow up wild
And late in the evening
They’d send them off to bed
Not sure if they was living
And they wished they all was dead

The youngest was a baby
But the oldest was one first
The good one was the bad one
But the bad one was the worst
They never knew their ages
No, they never seemed to care
‘Cause they knew they had a birthday
And it came ‘round once a year

They never knew their father’s age
But they always had a hunch
That he was born before their time
Was the oldest of the bunch
And when they died they could not speak
Their names they could not tell
The girls all went to heaven
And the boys all went to

The organ peeled potatoes
Lard was rendered by the choir
When the parson rang the dishrag
Someone set the church on fire
“Hole smokes!” the preacher shouted
As he madly tour his hair
Now his head resembles heaven
For there’ll be no parting there

Entry for March 26, 2007 We Is Friends !

We Is Friends

Me and you is friends

You smile , I smile

You hurt , I hurt

You cry , I cry

You jump off a bridge

I gonna miss your e-mails!

Entry for March 21, 2007 Cluck 'n' Moo Soup !!

I have noticed of late that many of my readers and friends are into gourmet cooking .... some posting recipes while one , our very own Céleste , even went so far as to give us a visual blow by blow demonstration ......one hand wielding the ingredients , utensiles and pan while filming the whole shebang with the other. With all the varieties of Surf ' Turf or Chirp 'n Turf already on the market these days I sincerely hope that my simple Cluck 'n Moo Soup recipe will bring simplicity and good taste back into gourmet cooking.

1. Late Chun Dynasty .... 13th century..... place mat and bowl to enhance ambience..

2. Lay chunks of chicken at bottom of bowl

3. Then add one full can of Campbells Italian Wedding soup..... beef , barley and spinach... on top of poultry cuts.

4. Sprinkle with seasonings to taste , adding a drop or two of tabasco

5. Microwave the whole for roughly 5 minutes.

P.S. Bringing together the above - mentioned ingredients in the manner presented herein is strictly optional....... meaning that one may either do it on purpose or absentmindedly by mistake.......... the latter way being the story of my recent experience with said substances!!

Entry for March 20, 2007 Château Beynac sur la Dordogne!!

Back in the 1980s and 1990s I lived and worked for prolonged periods of time in France ..... the '80s and early '90s mainly in the Bordeaux region whereas in the late '90s more to the Northwest in Brittany with the Breton people. In fact , in 1991 I taught anthropology at the Université de Bordeaux from January till May. Now as many of you wine lovers already know .... Bordeaux is the classical wine capital of the world ..... its manly , square-shouldered bottle being easily recognizable as opposed to the slope-shouldered one of its rival , the Burgundy wines. A quick look at the above map and you will probably see many familiar names that you have already noticed on the labels of wines you have bought for speacial occasions and festivities.

On the map you can see the two major confluents or rivers of the area coming together to form the estuary of the Gironde a few kilometers downstream from the city of Bordeaux which is on the banks of the southennmost one , the Garonne . It is the other confluent , the one flowing out of the northeast , which is at the centre of today's blogling. It bears the name , La Dardogne.

I'll get to the point right away rather than lulling you all asleep with two or three more verbose paragraphs explaining the topography and history of the whole region. Driving eastwards from Bordeaux .... heading upstream along the Dardogne on HIghway 703 ......I found a magnificent spot where I could relax with a superb panoramic view of of the Périgord countryside ......... all this while reflecting and meditating upon some of the finer and important issues in my life. The name of this enchanted place is Château Beynac.

As Beynac - et - Cazenac come into sight one is struck by the majesty of the stronghold above which dominates the whole valley of the Dardogne. There is a wee bistrot just outside the castle walls where I had a running tab....... even forgetting to settle my accout once and came back one year later to pay it off !!

The château itself dates back to the year 1115. People used to live in the grottoes dug out of the cliffs below the ramparts .... especially to escape the plague often running amock at lower levels during the Dark Ages in the more populated villages.

More than once have I sat on the very remparts where my friend , Ginette , is sitting ..... cold beer in hand and pen in the other while jotting down a few ideas about how great it felt to be alive and how lucky I was to have the leisure time and means to be at that precise spot at that specific moment ...... enjoying such an awe - inspiring , peaceful sight.........the stately Dordogne wending its way across the plain below. So I kept coming back .....to repeat that very special moment over and over again!!

P.S. Kindly enlarge map and pics for better viewing.

Entry for March 18, 2007 T ' Was The Day After Saint Pat's !!

Unlike oil snow is a biodegradable , renewable resource which keeps coming back every year like an old pain in the butt that we just cannot shake free of. In fact , we have not only the right but also the privilege of getting our free prolonged dose of it each Winter .... and this over a five - month period of time . Too bad it can't be used in our gastanks !!The following is a medley of photos showing today's snow levels and likewise some of what things looked like last year at the same moment......... and even further back in time demonstrating to some of you Southerners how northern kids combine practicing for acrobatic skiing and high diving competitions while performing normal household chores .

This is what things look like today after the Saint Patrick's Day storm. I had pretty much cleaned the snow off the roofs and the sundeck. However yesterday's wee " gift " of 20 inches of fresh white evil sort of changed the scenario adding to the oodles of the snow cover still remaining on the ground. Yesterday while Irishmen all over the world were singing " Sure a little bit of heaven fell from out the sky one day " .... alluding to the fact that God sent Ireland to earth from above.....we here in Québec were getting another gift from heaven and it wasn't green !!

This is another view from the gallery around the house looking towards the greenhouse and pool area of this Winter's bountiful crop except for the sundeck ( to the right ) which I just shovelled off.

This is a pic from the same angle and spot taken last March 18th , 2006. You be the judge as to whether we are ahead or behind schedule this year.

These are photos of son , Kevin , " frolicking " and showing off while clearing snow off roof in March , 1988. ........ a one and a half front flip into the snowbank. He was "big time" into acrobatic skiing and high diving ( 30 to 40 - meter board ) back then.

I'm getting too old for all this good stuff so I often conjure up this image in my mind's eye about this time of year. I wish all of you a most enjoyable beginning of Spring on Wednesday.

March 16, 2007 Lá Fhéile Pádraig Shona Daoibh !! Happy Saint Patrick's Day To You All !!

I found the pic above in a young lady's blog who was showing her readers around her home town ..... Cork or Corcaigh .... in Ireland. Unfortunately I have never been able to find her site since then so that I might ask permission to use it in today's salute to everything and everybody Irish...... so I shall simply presume her approval for such a good cause.

For me this wee pub , An Teach Beag or The Little House , symbolizes the warmth of the Irish way of life as well as the Irish people itself .......... small , clean , inviting , quaint...... and the fiddle and " bodhrán " ( winnowing drum ) repliqua hanging on the wall suggesting that it is a place for " ceol " ( music ) or perhaps even a " céilí " or social evening / gathering .......... and who knows ? Maybe also a few pints of Guinness as the sign would suggest " Guinness Gach Lá "..... Guinness every day ! The flowering window box likewise adds a bit of personal charm. The oldtimers always said that if the conditions and mood were right ..... an epidemic of friendliness and mirth could break out at any moment..... and it was highly contageous to all trapped ....... yeah quarantined .......inside.

So I would like to raise my glass to my enemies' enemies and especially to you , a chairde (my friends ) and may you cross the threshhold of the Pearly Gates at least a half hour before the devil finds out you're dead.......... and may the latter not happen in the near future .

Seo mo sheal ! Caith siar é agus ná lig aniar é !! So this is my round..... now throw it back down and don't let it back up !!

Go n-éirí an bóthar leat
Go raibh an ghaoth go brách ag do chúl
Go lonraí an ghrian go te ar d'aghaidh
Go dtite an bháisteach go mín ar do pháirceanna
Agus go mbuailimid le chéile arís,
Go gcoinní Dia i mbos A láimhe thú.

May the road rise to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields
And until we meet again
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

P.S. Go raibh míle maith agat , a cuisle mo chroí... Fluff.... and a big thanks many thousand times over to you , oh pulse of my heart.. Fluff ... for the new Irish background theme design.

Entry for March 02, 2007 Those Parking Lot Blues !!

We had driven down to Madrid that very morning from Segovia...... a good two-hour ride at normal speeds. Once in the heart of the capital city I signed us into a five-star fleabag ...... a clean , no frills room some four storeys up with balcony overlooking inner courtyard parking lot. Since it was a scorching hot day and I was quite tuckered out I decided to go fetch a bottle of rhum along with a litre of quality orange juice and set up shop out on the balcony in the shade. The photo above was snapped that afternoon and represents the sight I beheld from my fourth-storey vantage point.

While sitting there imbibing the local elixir and recharging my batteries I could not help but witness the very animated " goings on " unfolding before my eyes at ground level in the courtyard . People coming out of the restaurant or hotel would find their cars hemmed in by idiots , raise their fists to the skies calling upon all the devils of hell to punish the " cabrones " in the finest fires of the netherworld..... then head back into the establishments in search of the owners........ sometimes with success ....... whereas more often they came back emptyhanded since the guilty ones had set out on foot to see the sights of Madrid .

After about one hour and a half of this live entertainment there came a sudden lull in all activity below ...... the parking lot was partially empty here and there........ peace and quiet seemingly ruled the moment. Then the little white car ( green arrow ) pulled in and driver went into the nearby hotel. Soon afterwards the two red cars drove onto the lot and parked , one beside the white one , one behind it .... thereby partially hemming it in. However , there still remained enough wiggle space for " whitey " to back out of there.

At that precise instant an old familiar voice I knew so well piped up out of the blue......... it was the wee conniving troublemaker leipreachàn inside me , L'il Athol , who suggested I go down and move my rental car ( blue arrow ) to the space indicated by the yellow arrow ....... thus blocking off all possibility of "whitey's " exiting at all !!! And then sit back and watch the outcome !! Now just as I peered into those tiny beady evil eyes and was on the verge of giving L'il Athol a real verbal thrashing for his evil proposal I noticed some movement down below . A silver-coloured car had slipped into the very spot under discussion.... thereby fulfilling Athol's malicious wishes.

Soooo we both poured ourselves another rhum and watched......... and waited !! Finally out comes the owner of the white car , reaches for the heavens like the others before him once he sees his predicament ... then goes from one car to the other to check for keys maybe as seen in the pic above. Then he looked up and saw me on the balcony .... asking me whether I had seen where the drivers had gone....... to which I simply answered , " Soy extranjero.... no vi nada .... nadie !" .... " I'm a foreigner... I saw nothing.... noone !" Then I felt sorry for the poor guy and invited him to come up to my balcony for a drink and wait for the car owners to come back....... which he did. His name was Francesco ...... a shoesalesman from Valladolid. We chatted for about 40 minutes until the silver car's owner appeared ..... at which moment Francesco shouted down his appraisal of the other's main brain components....... shook my hand thanking me for my hospitality and good taste in rhum .... and then went down and drove off.

P.S. First of all there is much more to do and see in Madrid than sit on a balcony and watch a live performance of the Binary Arts Corp's game " Rush Hour" unfolding before your eyes. I had seen this same parking scenario all over Southern Europe but had never taken a pic of it before that afternoon and simply wished to share it with you all.