If you've come in from the original blog it's a bit like going through the back of the wardrobe into Narnia. Also, just like the old wardrobe, the old address will be where all my old junk is stored eg. archived blogs and lyrics and suchlike.
22nd
February
The little fellow celebrated his first birthday this week so we had all the in-laws and outlaws up to mark the occasion. He's beginning to walk now though still a bit unsteady on his pins so he tends to clump forward one step at a time, arms outstretched, like Frankenstein's monster. He has a vocabulary running to 'Mama', 'Dada' and 'Drink' which makes him sound like an infant Father Jack. He doesn't say 'feck' though but actually uses a much ruder Irish word (though I never knew whether it was a gaelic or a dialect word) which fortunately nobody here knows. He knows how to switch the CD player onto his favourite CD and can now turn the computer on and off at random......which is one reason why I haven't written a blog entry since December! He can also undo the catches on my guitar case and occasionally opens it for a little strum so hopefully this may be a sign of greater things to come.......or else he was just looking for some plectrums to swallow.
26th December
A glass of sherry and a...........Dundee.
It was Roy Wood, I think, who sang "I wish it could be Christmas every day" . What an absolutely idiotic thing to say! We´d be permanently knackered and broke! Well adults anyway, and the kids would long have lost interest before the first month was through. We can only assume that Roy managed to miss the hassle and expense of all the preparations and came up with the idea when someone gave him a Christmas twist of cocaine. No one in their right mind would want to go through all that even weekly or monthly. Christmas comes but once a year.........and that´s enough! I might be more in favour of it being organized like the Olympics - once every four years would be fine.
If every day could be like Boxing Day would be a better idea (even if it doesn´t scan so well). Lazy days with a book and a CD, eating turkey sandwiches is nearer to my idea of the perfect lifestyle. This year I´ve also treated myself to a Dundee cake. Cukrovi, the traditional Czech biscuits, are fine, and my wife makes some of the best, but there´s something about that moist slab of dried fruit held together with sugar and fat that seems the perfect creature comfort for getting you through the dark winter days.
Hope you enjoy your Boxing Day as much as I enjoy mine and hope to see you all sometime when the madness all starts up again.
2nd November
The summer is well behind us, we've had the first snow and the clocks have gone back and the long winter evenings are upon us. But if there's anymore like last Saturday evening in Olomouc that's no bad thing. To celebrate Samhain (Celtic Halloween) the dancer's from Fiach bán hosted a special ceili club dance lesson topped off with a session in Tibet Jazz Club. It was great to knock out a few tunes for the dancers with Ondra, Marketa and Roman again and particularly encouraging to see so many new faces. Good to see that Irish music will still be going strong in Moravia for a good while yet. Amazingly, despite having danced all afternoon, the girls from Fiach bán and Demairt were still stepping it out late into the evening. There must have been a few stiff legs on Sunday and maybe a few sore heads too. A few more nights like this and we'll see it through to Beltain no problem.
14th September
This week has a bluegrass flavour to it. I popped down to hear BG Nová, a local group of erstwhile renown, as they were preparing for a reunion performance next weekend. (When Pavel 'Joe' Dokoupil first told me the name years ago I thought they were a Bee Gees tribute band! When he explained that BG stands for Blue Grass I realized this was the band I'd always thought was called Beganová.) The lads seem to be very glad to be back together enjoying the old songs again and reminiscing over their glory days over a few jars. They'll be performing at a memorial festival to commemorate their banjo player/songwriter Milan Žourek who was killed in a collision with a Russian tank. I once heard that sometime after the accident, a Scottish pipe band that the group met in England, happened to be over for the pipe festival in Strakonice. Having heard of the tragedy they came to Šumperk and, as a tribute to Milan, marched through the town playing 'Pomněnka', the song he wrote and is best remembered for. It must have been quite a spectacle, especially in those days, and a big surprise for the locals.
My next bluegrass encounter was quite by chance. While walking across what used to be the old army barracks I heard music playing outside one pub there. Brno group Sváťa Koťas Band happened to be up visiting some friends and chose this spot to have their rehearsal so I ordered a beer, installed myself nearby and had a very enjoyable hour or so listening to some great acoustic music. Hopefully someone will think to invite them up for the Milan Žourek Memorial. I'd certainly recommend them.
31st August
The area round Ostrava is a tough country of industrial towns and exposed wind-blown fields. Every time I travel to Silesia the sky seems to get darker the further in you get. Last Saturday was no exception to this rule, in fact it was even raining too.
It was quite a surprise then when I finally arrived in Fulnek to play at their Town Celebration. It's a beautifully renovated old Sudeten town. The castle above the town was used as a headquarters by the German army during the Second World War and when the Soviets moved in to take over, the ensuing battle left little of the town standing. Old photos in the town hall show just the facades around the town square still standing and everything around it reduced to rubble. Now after decades of reconstruction it has all been restored to its former glory- and that's surely something worth celebrating!
23rd August
My old mate from Geoff Hardman from Anglesey is over for a visit so we spent an evening at the Irish Music and Dance Summer School run by Václav Bernard. Many thanks for the welcome and hospitality he showed us. It was great to see so many old faces again and that so many youngsters are getting involved.
The ceili was great crack apart from one caller, who could easily passed as Grahame Norton's brother, messing up the Walls of Limerick. It's one of the few dances that's so easy even I can do it and he had to make it more complicated! Shannon did a fair job and I enjoyed sitting in with the teachers in the second half. It's a pity though that there are so few players interested in playing ceili music. I remember the excitement in my youth when I first heard the rattling snare drum and box, fiddle and flute in unison. Soloists taking turns over a wash of DADGAD guitar is pleasant to listen to, but it doesn't get my feet tapping in the same way. Maybe with another generation of players the tide will turn again. The evening continued with a late night session but energy levels were already flagging somewhat. Despite that we still managed to keep going to a respectably unholy hour before crawling off to our sleeping bags.
17th
August
Šumperk's annual folklore festival was an even bigger affair this year and even included a wonderful veteran car show. The Slovak group put on a great show, as always, and the Congo group showed that you can still make great music with a few pieces of wood and a bit of bailer twine. Something to think about next time you're sulking over the fact that you can't afford that new Martin guitar or set of Overton low whistles.
Most surprising was the appearance of Kelt Grass Kilts. What the hell was that all about? Grandad and the kids, dressed in a variety of tartan, performed a dance they'd made up to the accompaniment of a bluegrass hornpipe. I can only assume there's a new category entitled "Invent Your Own Folklore Tradition". What next? The Bodhran-Trombone Dervishers? Or maybe the Didgeridoo Vacuum Cleaners Grass Skirts and Wellies? You've got a year to get working on it. Send me the video when you've got it together.
3rd August Morgana Python's Flirting Mistress
Isarno Celtic settlement held their annual Silácké hry (Contest of Strength) last weekend with myself, Ondra and Marketa providing the musical interludes between the guys and gals pulling logs and hurling huge rocks. An additional attraction this year was an exotic snake dance - an oriental dancer, shimmying and gyrating suggestively with a seven foot snake called Morgana draped around her shoulders. It would have given St. Patrick a heart attack. The two agents of Adam's downfall shamelessly cavorting together! Or maybe this was the erotic fantasy that tormented him at nights and caused him to drive all the snakes into the sea. There must have been something.
I'll shortly be working on this scenario for the next Michael Flatly production. We could call it Slither Dance. Provocatively clad Irish dancers could hop around with snakes while Michael plays the anguished lust-crazed St. Pat. The clergy will be outraged and the crowds will flock to see it. This would then, of course, be followed up by a thinly veiled Slovak copy Serpent of the Dance (aka The Hiss Takers), complete with pirate CD tracks and rubber snakes.
13th July
Foot Jive
Went up to see Holatka, a popular local Country band, play up near the reservoir and was surprised to see a dedicated group of line-dancers. The interesting thing about line dancing is that if you were to dance like that on your own you'd look a right twit but when a whole group of people do it in unison it suddenly makes it more socially acceptable.
29th
June
I've been looking at this billboard for the last few weeks thinking it was some kind of word play on 'living' and 'expire' but it turns out just to be a spelling mistake. The name of the second act also seems to be a combination of the Czech word kakání and its Latin based equivalent 'excrement'. The band itself fortunately sounds a lot better than the name suggests. They play blues in a Hana dialect and claim the word is from the Hana region around Olomouc.
7th June
This week was the European elections and, both here in the Czech Republic and in Britain, millions of us showed our disapproval of these deceitful, self-centred, egotistical, greedy, power-hungry politicians by refusing to vote and spending our time in more useful ways such as shopping, watching TV or playing blues guitar. Disillusioned with all the major parties, it truly was a dilemma to choose who to vote for. Better to abstain. When we can have honest, polite, respectful, modest, self-sacrificing, idealists to vote for we can re-enter the democratic system but, for the time being, we're just waiting patiently till someone asks us to step forward and be nominated. It can only be a matter of time before our country, or even the world, realizes how much they need us!
24th May
I'm often amazed at how Irish dancing has changed since my younger days. How did we go from groups of little girls in ringlets and dresses their mothers spent weeks embroidering, bouncing up and down after the raffle, to give the band a longer break, to posturing, sexed-up, Broadway-style productions like Riverdance? It's extravagance, blatant commercialism and super-egotism and cavalier attitude to tradition epitomize the 90's. A proper piss-take has been long overdue and Stavros Flatley is the man to do it. >>
When this phase has passed will Irish dancing once again regain the dignity Czech folklore dancing has? Or will Czech folklore be next in line for commercialization- with low neckline bodices and those whirling skirts revealing not white cotton bloomers but lacy G-strings?
17th May
Having seen a few photos beforehand I decided to give the Eurovision fancy-dress parade a miss this year. It was a surprise next morning to see the result. In my youth "Norvege-nul points" was almost the Eurovision catchphrase but, so it seems, even Norway finally has its day. The song itself is a cheery little number; the lyrics are a bit twee but there's a tasty bit of fiddle playing on it. Fair play to the lad! He can join our session anytime.
I find it quite annoying that every weekend the evening news talks about clashes with the police at 'anarchist' meetings. There was another one this week. Who organizes these meetings? And isn't the term 'anarchist leaders' a contradiction of terms? Real anarchists don't have people telling them what to do! Real anarchists would turn up anywhere they liked and at any time. They wouldn't be organized! This is a media slur to deliberately discredit real anarchy. Why can't they just call them troublemakers, malcontents, ne'er-do-wells, boisterous, over-excited, hyperactive, testosterone challenged or any other such euphemism for describing ignorant aggressive twats. As a protest I will be staging a demonstration of my own on Wencleslas Square next weekend.......... but probably won't go, on principle.
10th May
So we've now got a new government and one that works on state holidays too. My, they are keen! The first thing I noticed from the group photo was that their a lot more homogenous than the last motley crew. That's because they're all bureaucrats. Hey, wasn't the complaint against the EU too much bureaucracy? Getting this lot to reject Brussels will be like trying to drag your kids away from a funfair. Or like that part in Brave Heart where the Irish are supposed to fight against the Scots and end up shaking hands and embracing and joining forces against the English. They're brothers in bureaucracy, bound together in red tape! We now finally have a government fully in tune with the spirit of the EU. Oh, Mr. Klaus! What have you done?
3rd May
After all the planning and all the hard work by Aleš and the boys at Isarno this year's Beltain worked out pretty well. It worked on the principle of a three ringed circus so there was always something happening in some part of the area. The only problem we had this year was that all the fire eaters wanted to perform around ten o'clock. This is, as I have been told, the optimum time between sunset and the onset of drunkeness. To try and eat or blow fire while seriously under the influence can lead to a significant change in facial appearance............... and not for the better. Despite this we did manage to work out a pretty good programme.
Isarno still manages to retain its homely feel. Everybody helps with everything and everybody is made to feel at home. However,being in charge of trying to keep everything running to some kind of schedule was a difficult task, especially when each group wanted to perform longer and the audience were so willing to let them. In the end the the performances didn't end too late though and the session continued till morning. Many thanks to Jirka and Fiannan for keeping the singing going and to Ondra Volčík and various members of Shannon and LehAnam for keeping the tunes session going. Oh, what a night!
26th
April
We've been enjoying the May weather here a couple of weeks earlier than usual. Today there was a blustery wind added to the sunshine which, along with the pastel coloured renovated buildings and the odd fluttering flag gave the place a bit of a seaside feel. I often like to imagine on such days that just beyond the horizon is a vast expanse of glittering blue green water. Who knows, with global warming continuing at its present rate it may well come true!
Beltain Isarno is once again before us. Aleš and the lads down in Letovice have been hard at work preparing new stages for the musicians and dancers. By dividing the program up into three places we hope to keep the action going from start to finish. As well as some of the best Irish and Celtic music on the scene here we've also got a great Irish dance group from Brno and a number of fire shows. The night then continues with the usual late night session and, hopefully, Fiannon will again be leading a gentle singalong as we nurse our coffee over breakfast. Great music, great craic and a great bunch of people! The way Irish music should be.(IMHO)
13th April
Well it's been a great Easter. A welcome break from work, blessed with sunshine and blue skies, daffodils and Hot Cross Buns. Even the government has been handed over to experts instead of the usual crowd of amateurs. Finally the wide boys are out of their depth and ready to leave things to someone who actually knows something. This could be the second Czech revolution!
Good Friday turned out to be Bloody Marvellous Friday with a dream team of musicians at the session in Vernířovice for the annual Irish Literature week. Dun an Doras veterans, Paček (guitar) and Radovan (flute) turned up along with Mrs. Markus (Marw) on the fiddle. My trusty sidekick Ondra Volčik(fiddle) also brought along two mighty flute players from his new group and the set was completed by Tom Byrtus on bodhrán and a wonderful Conemara singer who's name I didn't quite catch. The music and drink flowed till the early hours until finally drink got the upper hand. looking forward to the next one (because of the music that is!)
31st March
The March Madness has finally come to an end and Patrick can go back to his prayers. Thank you to Galtish, Fiach bán, Ostra tráva, fellow Bottewashers and Great Moravians for keeping the party going. Looking forward to a bit of a break, catching up with friends, listening to some Blues and spending time with Lawrence.
The weather has also finally picked up after two dark cold miserable months, Spring is in the air and Beltain Isarno will soon be upon us. We were originally planning a smaller event this year but somehow it kept growing. It's going to be quite a packed programme and we've a great bunch of musicians this year so we'll surely be seeing in the Summertime in high style. The posters are now ready if anybody wants one to put up in their local kuturák/school/pub/church or even your bedroom wall. Just send me an e-mail.
15th March
The Kerry and Clare polkas and set dances were once decried as sinful foreign devices brought over to Ireland by the British Army. This puts the armed services in a whole new light. Imagine the lively debates that must have dominated discussions in the guard house- whether the soft shoe was superior to the hard shoe and how high the kicks should be. Imagine the sergeant on the parade ground: "Now listen carefully men while I talk you through a nice little muzurka I picked up in the Crimea." And what of today's soldier laddies? Are they to carry on this great tradition of international dance propogation? Will the next craze on European dance floors be the Afghan atta or the Bagdad Boogie? And how long before there are separate Clare and Kerry versions each with their own rules? This conflict could indeed go on for decades.
What started as Paddy's Day seems to have stretched into a whole month this year. It also gives me the chance to meet up with lots of other musicians and dancers involved in Irish music here. La Quadrilla put on a fine display in Karvina and will also be joining us for this year's Beltain Isarno in Letovice. Next week in Český Těsín we meet up with Dick O' Brass and dancers Galtish, who will also be attending Fiach bán's annual ceili in Olomouc. They'll be getting through a fair bit of shoe leather this month! It now seems that the name St. Patrick is probably more strongly associated with dance than even St.Vitus ever was.
3rd March
The name Lawrence apparently means "laureled". In Czech laurel is 'vavřinec' so St. Lawrence is Svatý Vavřinec, which also happens to be the name of one of the better Moravian wines. Truly an inspired choice!
St. Lawrence was due to hand over all the church's treasure to the Romans. He gave it away to the poor and on the allotted day presented an assortment of poor, sick and lame proclaiming that these were the churches 'true riches'. If you've ever had to deal with the tax office you'll understand how well this joke went down. Lawrence got a real grilling- literally! They roasted him on a gridiron. His humour still undiminished, he is reputed to have cried out "Turn me over, this side's done!"
St Lawrence is the patron saint of librarians, tanners and barbeques.
16th February Lawrence of Moravia
Born to the strains of Kate Rusby, after a 15-hour labour, Lawrence O'Reilly finally entered the world..... and he looked pretty cross! Whether it was the 15-hour labour or he doesn't like Kate Rusby we don't know. Hopefully the former. His mother who, after facing needles, knives and probably more pain than I've known in a lifetime, bore it stoicly. For me, for whom a stubbed toe is enough to release a stream of invective, it is unbelievable that even when the pain was at it's worse all she could say was "Ow! That hurts!" Thankfully our newborn son cannot yet talk or there would certainly have been some colourful language. After a drink though he was feeling a bit more sociable and ready to shake hands. That boy has quite a grip! Then he had a look around and started exercising his left hand as if he was playing the fiddle. Either this is finally a dream come true or he's already an expert on how to wind up his daddy. Only time will tell. Here's to you Laurie! Looking forward to some good times together.
8th February
Since the condition known as 'cellist's crotch' has recently been revealed to be a hoax I've been wondering what other musician's illnesses could be added to the list - 'fiddler's elbow' for example, or 'whistle finger' and 'digeridoo mouth', not forgetting, of course, 'bass player's amnesia' and 'guitarist ego'. 'Piper's drone' however is not an illness it's just how they talk.
We're a bit tied to home at the moment, anxiously watching the bump. The nipper should be appearing anytime now. Cot and fiddle are all ready and waiting.
26th January
After 8 years Bush has finally gone and we're all left wondering how it ever happened. Was it a mistake or bad judgement? We all make mistakes.........as the hedgehog said climbing off the hairbrush, But when the hedgehog looks at a cactus and thinks "Well it's not a hedgehog..... but it might be fun!"- that's bad judgement. Or when Robert Burns physician told him to bathe in the river daily when he actually had tuberculosis- that's bad judgement or maybe he just didn't like poetry.
A majority of Americans said that George W. Bush was the kind of guy they would like to have a beer with. Aside from this being an unreliable criteria for choosing a president he also happened to be a reformed alcoholic. This was not a good idea! But as Burns writes "The best laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley" or as our transatlantic cousins put it "Shit happens".
13th January
You have to go a long way to meet someone like Nick Clarke and many people do. We went up at the weekend for me to have a jam with him. Nick used to play in a punk band when both he and punk were young. Then he went off to work as a chef in a Paris restaurant, which is a few pegs higher than George Orwell who was a mere plongeur. Nick's memoires, however, would be more aptly called 'Getting Down and Out of Your Head in Paris'. Having travelled and worked in various places around the world he's now hidden himself away here in a place previously used by smugglers. After a tortuous ride facing backward on horseback, blindfolded you eventually come to their beautiful cottage in the Moravian-Polish borderlands. Here with his wife, Daša and son, young Joe Clarke (named not after his older bluegrass namesake but rather Joe Strummer of The Clash) he runs an eco-tourism business. So popular has it been that they've made it into the Guardian Top-Ten Eco-Friendly Holidays and are particularly renown for Nick's cooking. As with all enjoyable experiences the afternoon passed much to fast sooo......... to be continued. You betcha! Photos >>>
another pleasant surprise this week was to hear one of my tracks played on Colum Sands' Folk Club on BBC Radio Ulster. That's three favourite radio programmes so far! Just need the concert at the Albert Hall to complete the set.
I've recently discovered that this blog is being translated into German and Brazilian Portuguese so welkommen, bem-vindo!
4th January 2009
The holiday finally comes to an end, the cukroví are all eaten and discarded Christmas trees lie forlornly by the dustbins, the last silvery strands of their erstwhile grandeur fluttering in the arctic wind. Having spent much of the last two weeks eating, drinking and lounging in front of the TV I decided to join the other New Year resolutionists down at the local swimming pool. Not a good start. I could hardly get my trunks on. With a mixture of dismay and relief I then discovered they were Sean's (my 9 year-old son). I did complete my 50 lengths quicker this week so I can only assume they had something of a streamlining effect. Don't think I'll try it again though.
Of course the other seasonal ritual at this time of year is the sales. With businesses feeling the chilly financial winds blowing through the economy, down on Šumperk high street the frantic price slashing, bargain hunting sales fever has been...... entirely missing, despite the TV reports. In fact the majority of shops are closed until Monday for stock-taking, before those unwanted Christmas presents return I suppose.
2009 is already shaping up to be an interesting year musically. There are plans underway and some exciting developments on the horizon. But more about those nearer the time.
7th December
It's usual for us to try on clothes received as Christmas presents before removing the labels, in case they don't fit and have to be returned. Having cleared away the wrapping paper and sat down to a glass of sherry I happened to notice the tags still attached to me. The first read "Tried and True", a label I could easily live with. The next said "Wash separately" which we generally do these days, and the third: "Specially treated to give a worn and aged look. May develop holes with further use. This is not a fault, just part of the unique character of this item".
24th December
So here it is! The presents wrapped, tree decorated, plates of cukrovi and mince pies, fish ready for this evening and the turkey awaiting its turn tomorrow. And now it's even snowing!! We're all set for a peaceful and jolly holiday. Hope you have one too. Merry Christmas!
21. prosince
Když už ekonomická krize běží, zdá se mi, že Veselá bída je skvělý název v součastné době pro nějakou kapelu. Existuji již dlouhá léta a měli by být podle mého názoru na řadě pro vyšší uznání, a nejenom kvůli momentalně vhodně vybranému jménu. Během tolika let v této zemi, bylo málo koncertů co na mě udělal takový dojem, jak páteční vystoupení na zámku ve Vsetíně. Byl to perfektní začátek vánočních prázdnin - hezké místo, dobrá hudba příjemní lidé, a dokonce i trochu sněhu. Celá akce skončila s velkým finálem: všichni účastníci koncertu se sešli na podiu, hráli a zpívali jsme tradiční koledy a na konci, co jiného v tomto kraji než, Pásli ovce valaši!
11th December
The dark days of winter are upon us. There's been no sign of sun or snow for much of the last week, Šumperk has been shrouded in mist and the students have started to go into hibernation. There has been one ray of cheer to lighten the heart though. Frank Hennessy played two songs from my Christmas CD on Celtic Heartbeat last week. To hear your own songs on your favourite radio show is the stuff of childhood dreams. What a start to Christmas!
You can still hear it on the Internet for the rest of this week. Click on the link then on Last programme:listen online.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/radiowales/sites/celticheartbeat/playlists/20081206.shtml
Čeští
poslouchači mohou také slyšet některé
skladby, které jsem nahrál se svou tehdejší skupinou Happy to Meet
v roce 1999 na Radiu Proglas.
Milan Tesař v rámci hudebního týdeníku Slyšte, lidé! uvede v
sobotu 13. prosince od 19.15 třetí díl seriálu Galerie
Krtečků.
22nd November
Winter is here! Out with the coats, scarves gloves and sledge. And with the snow to put us in a Christmassy mood I finally set to making the filling for my mince pies- a sticky mess of apple, sugar, citrus and dried fruit. In fact that pretty much sums up British and Irish Yuletide cuisine. Christmas cake, pudding, mince pies and Dundee cake are all just variations on the same theme. As sultanas and spices certainly aren't native it's most likely down to Britain's colonial past just like the turkey. The Victorians, it seems were incapable of having a good time without conquering somewhere. Which makes me wonder, what will Iraq and Afghanistan be contributing to the American Christmas table?
17th November Commemorating the Fight for Freedom and Democracy
I remember talking to my pupils at Park Junior, Kettering in 1989 about the historical significance we were witnessing as each evening the TV showed the Berlin Wall being reduced to souvenir sized pieces, then the key-jangling Velvet Revolution and the end of the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia. I never expected the change to be so personal. Well it's certainly been interesting!
Šumperk's annual international Blues Alive festival is one of the few events worth catching here these days. Friday night had a good balance of electric and acoustic acts. I was particular impressed by the rhythmic style of one guitarist, Trevor Hunsbury who, as it turns out, is from Ennis Co. Clare. He tells me his parents were "ceili heads" and he also learnt to play the fiddle. There must be quite a few traddies now who also play Blues. Wouldn't it be great to have an Irish and Blues festival. My idea of heaven!
Saturday I played in the little Slovakian town of Kysucké Nové Mesto. After a frustrating week trying to put it all together and then the long journey I was wondering whether it would be at all worth it. It was! I was totally enchanted by the place and the people and the lads did a sterling job. Our "sound engineer" was the town's mayor, a kindly old gentleman who plugged the cables into a small mix then set the volume. No big stacks of equipment, flashing displays and acres of knobs but the cleanest sweetest sound I've had anywhere.
10th November
Before anyone start's quoting me, last week's contribution was intended as a joke but as it turns out it did have a grain of truth. Obama's great great great grandfather was from Moneygall, Ofally. (How appropriate to have a Moneygall man to solve the global economic crisis!) Next question: Why wasn't this exploited during the election? Well, it seems it wouldn't have won the Irish vote because he's descended from protestant shoemakers (or is that just a load of old cobblers?). Anyway, we now live in more tolerant times now and Irish resistance to shoemaking is not so strong as it was. In fact they've even written a song in honour of the USA's first chocolate Paddy president. click for video>>>.
O'Leary,
O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara,
there's no one as Irish as Barack
Obama,
From the old Blarney Stone to the green hills of
Tara,
there's no one as Irish as Barack Obama
5th
November
Sunset over Senova
It's been a beautiful Spring day here. (The Obama Effect or the Greenhouse Effect?) Well it's finally all over and we can all breathe easily again. Even John McCain found it hard to fain disappointment and looked somewhat relieved. Though with the prospect of another four years with the mad moose-hunter hockey mom waiting for him to pop his clogs, relieved is probably an understatement! During his farewell address he looked like a teacher struggling with an unruly class who's just heard the bell ring for hometime.
George Bush also seems quite relieved to hand over. His arm was already in his coat sleeve as the result was announced. Now is the time, if there ever was one, to get back to the alcohol and drugs! I can just imagine him sitting in some bar showing tourists his driver's licence to convince them "See tha? Thazz me! I wuzza prezident of the Yooonighred States of Morroco I was! Hic!"
Much has been made of Obama's muslim terrorist background but somehow the Irish side of his family seems to have been ignored. His great-great grandfather, Feargal O' Bamagh (popularly known as The O'Bamagh) taught members of the Free Ireland Movement how to dismantle and assemble rifles and make Molotov cocktails. He was a leading light in the Gaelic League, taught himself to play the uillean pipes and died of pneumonia in Kilmainham jail. With so much terrorism in the family at least Barrack Obama should have more idea of how to conduct a war than some priviliged frat-boy draft-dodger.
30th October
Free Halloween MP3- Nobody's Gonna Sleep Tonight
Seán (left)
with the Jack o'
lantern he made.
19th October
Election Round-up
Still time for Simon the Scaffolder, Tommy the Tiler and Danny the Damp-courser to have their say before the whole thing closes.
Meanwhile back here in the Czech Republic we've had our own regional elections. I started to read the list of candidates and was horrified to find they were ALL communists! Zdenka then pointed out to me that that was just the first page. There were 15 more pages of other parties: Democrats of various shades (Civic, Social, Christian, Satanic, Vegetarian....etc.), The Workers' Party and then names such as the Common Sense Party, the Moravian Monarchists (?!!) and the Party for a Dignified Life (presumably without the broken window, beer stains on the carpet and cigarette burns in the sofa.) There are literally hundreds of candidates of all ages, from students to pensioners, and all abilities from doctors to cleaners. All may apply. No experience or qualifications needed. It seems they must have entered it more like a lottery than an election- "Go on, give it a try! You might win!" Or did they think it was a petition and just added their names to the list? OK! Give me the pen.
Eoghan O'Reilly, Irish Music and Cheap Guinness Party X
16th October
On these moist autumn days as the evenings draw in one is apt to get nostalgic. I was having one of those "Things aint what they used to be" moments, remembering when the roads were free from arrogant noveau riche boy racers, groceries were packed in paper sacks, all Czech people knew a rake of songs and every musical event was attended by music fans of all ages together, when I noticed my tree was gone! Well, the tree from outside my flat. The tree where the squirrels played on our wedding day and which in winter, with its clusters of long resiny pine cones and snow on its branches, made it feel so Christmassy. Gone. Cut down in its prime. Admittedly it had been whipping about a bit in the hurricanes and the old ladies were afraid of it falling on them, but why the hell are those old biddies outside in a hurricane anway?!!! I thought of how I would look at that old stump with ivy and moss growing over it and remember those good old times. When I came home yesterday they had a kind of robot circular saw which was gradually shredding this stump into chips and sawdust. Removing all traces of its existence, spiriting it away like a KGB or CIA hostage. Next step will be Photoshopping it out of all pictures. What have they got against this tree?
On a more cheerful note I did wonder what such a machine might do to a Yamaha keyboard. Now that would be something to see!
4. řijna
Nové stránky pro nadšence irské hudby na Moravě! - najdete na www.ceoldownsouth.ic.cz zprávy o sessionech a koncertech v Brně a okoli.
20th
September
Summer, it seems, is over. The temperature dropped this week and the first snow fell on the mountains. The season's end was marked at Isarno, Letovice with Barbarské hody, a Barbarian feast. Contestants competed to out-eat each other on a 9-course pork menu consisting of , by the look of it, 9 types of pork fat. All sprinkled with salt and washed down with pints of beer. How those guys keep it down, I've no idea.
After this crowd had finished pigging-out at the Cardiac Café I was supposed to guest with Ostrá tráva. Unfortunately, due to illness they had to cancel so I was left to do the gig solo, which gave me a chance to do a few old favourites and even a couple of new songs. Many thanks to Anna, Katka and the gang for providing moral support and clapping and singing in all the right places.
Subscriptions for the Irish music classes are starting come in. We shall be starting in October and I hope to post up video and sound samples for learners. Watch this space!
6th September
The beginning of the school year here, as with its end, happens gradually. We teachers have a series of trivial tasks the last week of August just to practice getting up. Then when the students arrive on Monday there's speeches and a few administrative tasks before they're sent home again. That leaves just four days to get through before the weekend. It's a lot less stressful and I've never met teachers or students who have the back to school nightmares that were so common in England.
These two weeks have also seen the close of both party conventions in the U.S. with all candidates pledging to bring about change and kick out the greedy incompetent Washington administration, which does seem a bit bizarre coming from the Republicans. I have to feel a certain sympathy for John McCain though. I think they've done a Blair on him. He and Gordon finally got the toy they so long coveted after it's already broken. Did he step forward for the leadership or did all the others take a step back? Should he win, he has the unenviable task of cleaning up the mess without being able to blame the other side for it. And all that with a religiously zealous, gun-toting pushy woman shrieking in his ear. Only Obama can save him!
Spent the last week of the holls up in the hills of Wallachia in a shepherd's cottage once used by partisans while the SS burned the village on the opposite hill. There's a concrete memorial to mark the site. We had a bit of a session Friday night and the next day went to visit the oldest oppidium in Czech. Oppidium must be Latin for a pile of rocks. There's not much to see but an information board tells you that it was a sacrificial place from Celtic times right through to the Great Moravian Empire thus disproving the long held belief that these lands were uninhabited before the peace loving Slavs arrived. I can just imagine it: "Excuse me. Is this country taken taken?" " No no, go ahead. We were just leaving anyway"
28th August
Ronnie Drew (16th September 1934 -16th August 2008)
If you've ever played in one of those sessions in that smokey back bar in O'Donoghue's you've got Ronnie Drew to thank for it, as he supposedly started traditional Irish music there. The leader of that bunch of beardy growlers that inspired the likes of The Pogues and ZZ Top has become a national icon. Bono, Shane et al. did an excruciating tribute to him that doesn't at all do justice to the man's humour, sincerity and poetic style. The Dubliners had such an air of dank tenements, smokey Dublin bars and the taunting smell of a new pulled pint of creamy Guinness, as Dublin as Joyce, Plunkett or Myles naGopaleen, a brand image that so many have tried to copy.
I can't remember at what age I started learning songs from their albums but it was quite a shock when in the 70s they suddenly appeared on Top of the Pops. Even now it seems quite surreal. Suddenly everyone knew who they were and school mates were talking about them. It was like that moment Harry Potter suddenly discovers he's a wizard. Suddenly Irish music was not weird but had a certain kudos. Thanks Ronnie and God bless ya!
Interestingly enough he too started out as an English teacher abroad. Maybe I should have let that beard grow!
17th August
The great thing about the mountains here is not only the wonderful scenery but that often at the top there's a pub to reward yourself with a nice cold pint after the climb. This particular mountain actually has a beer named after it, the popular local brew, Šerák which means something like 'open sky'. It was a German association of hikers, possibly inspired by travels in the Tyrol, who built these lodges and established these peak to peak pub crawls. A drop of the amber nectar probably helped with the yodelling! There's a chair lift up one side of the mountain which also serves, I notice, for transporting laundry, groceries and, who knows, maybe even the beer. From the top you can see over the town of Jesenik, the end of the Jesenik mountain range and the plains beyond in neighbouring Poland. You can then walk on to Červenohorsko sedlo (Red Mountain Saddle) for another pint and maybe even on to The highest mountain here, Praděd (Great Grandfather) which also has a restaurant and its own liqueur.
5th August
Well the Židlochovice gig went ahead in the glow of a beautiful Sunday evening sunset. Demairt put on a very impressive performance, very polished and entertaining, probably one of the best I've seen them do. As well as sweet smell of koláč from the neighbouring bakery I also noticed a burning smell. This turned out not to be the girls' nylons in meltdown, as it well might have been, but twilight insects being barbecued on the halogen stage lights. You could even hear a sizzle from some of the larger specimens. Local residents have the chance to see the show again (aroma free) on cable TV.
The ad hoc line-up for the strongman games at Isarno was good fun. Ondra Volčik now has a formidable repertoire of fiddle tunes and a real authentic style. David Mikulášek provided driving rhythms to the instrumental sets and Ondra Riegl and I had the chance to play something different from our usual set. Lean on Me on low whistle and guitar is one I particularly remember. A great evening! Looking forward to the next one.
25th July
Yesterday's gig in Židlochovice with Demairt was cancelled due to rain. There's talk of putting it on tomorrow instead but it hasn't yet been confirmed.
Many thanks to Lussi for sending the photos from the Asparagus Festival in Ivančice and also to Martin for finding me a better album format for the photo page- now with titles!!
Slight change in line-up for Letovice on 2nd August. Radek is off to Greece to practice his language skills and pick up a few tips from the local bouzouki maestros so David Mikuláš from Marw will be accompanying us. Definitely something to look forward to!
18th July
Just back from England. They say you know it's summer there when the rain gets warmer, though from what I hear it's not been much better here. However, in between the showers we did manage to get out to visit some places. The kids enjoyed the rides at Alton Towers though personally the experience of being turned round and round, upside down and propelled at high speed has lost some of its novelty. There' a new ride there called Oblivion. You're held above a big black hole before being being dropped vertically into it. A bit like your fortieth birthday, except you know you'll soon be safely out the other side.
A far more pleasant outing for me was a trip to Foxfield Steam Railway with Sean. They weren't officially open to the public as there was a special day for handicapped children but a nice man at the entrance let us in for a small donation. We had a wonderful time browsing round the engine shed and rode the train up to Dillhorne and back. The Museum and line a re run by a group of enthusiasts- a great bunch of people, friendly, very knowledgeable and eager to talk to visitors. A nice change to the commercialism that seemed to pervade every other place we visited.
Moonlighting
click for video
On a stereotypically wet Manchester evening we went to see Michael McGoldrick unveil his new supergroup - Cairan Tourish and Dermot Byrne from Altan, John Doyle from Solas and Flook's John Joe Kelly. The ability of these musicians goes without saying but the thing that strikes you most is their absolute devotion and love of the music. They all work extremely hard and as well as often being quite innovative they retain a deep respect and enthusiasm for the tradition. Their repertoire draws on material they've covered in other groups but they also show that they can take bog standard session tunes and inject the same magic into them. The music twists and turns, changes speed, sweeps and soars with more excitement than any ride at Alton Towers. The name suggests that this maybe just a between bands project. It definitely has the potential to be something more but then that might lose some of the fun. Time will show.
They started in Sale for the simple reason that Michael and Cairon live nearby but they'll be continuing with a tour throughout the UK. Who knows, hopefully they might even make it over to this part of the world one day.
28th June School's out for summer!
Well at least here it is. I went to meet Sean outside his elementary school. The kids were all dressed up smart, the girls in the summer dresses, the boys at least wearing something clean, each with a flower for their teacher. They just go in to receive their end of year reports. Forty minutes later out they all came, waving their papers, hugging their friends who they won't see again, swapping telephone numbers, lighting up their cigarettes, or cigars in some cases, cracking open the beers......
I nearly got in a fight with one large disgruntled student who was smashing bottles on the steps to ease his disappointment. Suddenly all the policeman who had been in evidence earlier had all disappeared to escort little children across the road (typical!) and I was left holding him by the lapels wondering what to do next. Great to finish the year assaulting a minor! Luckily his friends grabbed him and dragged him off elsewhere. Poor sod! School doesn't seem to have done much for him. Times are definitely changing here.
Sean had a glowing report and came top of his class. Dat's ma boy!
24th June Keltská noc, Přerov
Letní slunovrat jsme uctívali na Přerovském folklorním festivalu. Na pohádkovém místě na hradbách, s krásným výhledem na řeku. Hráli jsme při západu slunce, pro nejslušnější a nejpozornější publikum, které jsem kdy zažil. I děti seděly trpělivě na zemi po celý koncert a zíraly na nás jako kdyby byly očarovány. Asi nikdy neviděly takový účes? Anna a její holky z Fiach bán konečně měly pódium odpovídající jejich umění i se speciálním mikrofonem, který zachytil jejich stepování. Fotky>> Další>>
15th June
Great run this morning. The morning sunlight is quite warm now so it's a relief when you plunge into the cool shade of the woods and the springy feel of the damp earth and pine needles underfoot. I've invented a new sport. It's called Disorienteering. You take any path that looks interesting and hope that eventually you come out somewhere that you recognize so you can get home again. I've seen many famous cities in the same manner.
It's a great way to get to know new places but probably not the best way to govern a country, as Gordon Brown seems to be doing these days. Crazy new rules on taxation and security seem to lead him nowhere except into more trouble. 42 day detention seems to have caused uproar and another dossier left on a train makes the governments manic data collecting in the name of security look laughable. It's like Big Brother with Altzheimer's. Big Brother is watching you..... but he's forgotten why and only has a vague feeling that he's seen you before. There are closed circuit cameras everywhere but their only use seems to be to collect comic embarressing clips ala You've Been Framed for Stumbleupon and You Tube.
While the Brits are at the geriatric stage our politicians here in the Czech Republic are still at the schoolboy stage. It's breaktime and they're trading sandwiches for marbles, hockey cards for bullet cases or a Lisbon Treaty for an American radar base. The trouble is that the Lisbon Treaty has the back off and the batteries are missing and the bell's about to go anyway.
I heard Bush claim this week that he was the candidate for change long before Obama. Then he quickly added "not in 2004 though, of course". Though in actual fact he can claim to have brought about more change than Obama can hope to achieve- just not change for the better however. He's visiting Britain at the moment. Hopefully they'll manage to lose him somewhere, on a train or bus perhaps.
6th June
I was passing the death notices on the High Street yesterday morning when I noticed two the same. Wondering if it was a mistake, or if 80-year-old twins had shared in the same perilous misadventure, I took a closer look. It was the same stiff alright but one notice was in Czech, the other in German. Bilingual death notices! This is something I hadn’t thought about yet. My only worry up until now has been whether, when they post my last gig date, they spell my name right. Now a new nightmare- a death notice full of English grammar and spelling mistakes. A humiliating end for an English teacher. Beware! My ghostly hand will return from the grave to cover it in red pen!
No worries yet however. The Healthy Life foundation Zdraví život were carrying out free tests in town that afternoon so me and the wife went along. After measuring our pulse, pressure, body fat, BMI and questions about how often we exercise and whether I eat between drinks they finally concluded that we’re both in fine form. What’s more, I have a physical age years younger than my actual age. Great news, it means all that running has not been in vain. On the other hand though, it means that having already crossed 40 once, in a couple of years I’ll be facing it a second time in physical terms!! And this time there’ll be even less to celebrate.
I did wonder though, when I handed in my results for their national survey, if I should point out that I’m not Czech. Such good results might skew the national statistic, so luring the population into a false sense of security, thinking they can fearlessly gorge themselves on pork, cabbage and dumpling, sausages and salami. I wouldn’t like to take the blame for the consequences. At least the government should be grateful though, as they are constantly complaining there is no pension money for the ageing population. So, hey Mr. Topolanek! You owe me a beer!
