Nine Step Plan to a Perfect St. Paddy's Day

In seventeen days, a Celtic invasion is coming to a town near you.  Whether or not you are Irish, prepare now to make the most of this festive holiday.


Scope out the best pubs in town for some live Irish music and a pint.  Make plans with your significant other(s) and friend(s) for a night of conviviality.  You'll know that your pub is authentic if it has a Snug, a smaller private room, oft favored by lasses.  And go early. My memories of living Arlington, Massachusetts (Boston suburb) include vivid images of Tip O'Neill-esque men walking about the town center with their bright red noses ... by 10 am.

Buy tickets to hear your favorite Irish band.  Or two or three.  If you are in Salt Lake City, please consider the Young Dubliners concert at The Depot on March 12th.  I bought 20 tickets to ensure that I have lots of friends jigging with me and I've only got a few left.  Hope I won't be left with any tickets or I might have to do a giveaway the week of the concert.   Look for special Irish bands playing all month. In fact, Piper Down, also in Salt Lake City, is featuring The Wailing O'Sheas on Friday, March 4th.  Ummm the fiddler of that band is a live wire and not to be missed.

www.your-kilt.com

Pull your kilt out of the closet and launder if necessary.  You might want to try it on first to see if it even fits or if you are going with Plan B, find your torn jeans and a green t-shirt.  Gather shamrock beads and green apparel, perhaps green cosmetics if you dare.

Calendar the parade.  Many cities have a parade for St. Paddy's Day and Salt Lake City is no exception.  The parade will be held on Saturday, March 12 at 10 am. The route runs through the Gateway Center.  Tell your kids and your friends and get your Starbucks coupons. If you're lucky enough to be in NYC, the Grand Marshall for the parade, running since 1762, is Mary Higgins Clark.

Refresh your jig.  My daily routine now includes morning jigging while I get ready for work to songs from Celtic podcast.   I download my Celtic fix from iTunes.  Totally free. Can't beat that. 

Eat your greens.  Avoid green runny noses on this holiday of holidays.  Be sure to eat plenty of fresh, green, leafy veggies, daily, to cancel the chance of illness. And pop those vitamin C tablets from Costco. Yummers.

Go green.  Recycle.  I don't know if recycling is highly correlated with St. Patrick's Day, but the practice is highly encouraged nonetheless.  And maybe you will find a leprechaun in the recycling bin.

Seek out Irish companions.  The Irish are a warm and welcoming people.  You may be Irish, but if not, you will be adopted in if you can say "shaleiliegh," which is a walking stick of dense, woody blackthorn roots shaped into a "T" at the top.  If you are Irish, ask your parents and grandparents if you are of the "Lace Curtain" or "Shanty" variety.  Maybe you already know.

Look ladies ... extra men!

Prepare for fun.  St. Paddy's Day is one of a few holidays where the entire emphasis is on having a great time. No big dinner to prepare, no presents to buy, no eggs to hide ... just a rollicking good time.

Websites
Everywhere
St. Patrick's Day
Finding a Pub
Finding the Parade
Celtic Podcast

Salt Lake City
Utah's St. Patrick's Day Parade
Piper Down Pub
The Depot

How To Be a Music Star ... Nine Easy Steps

The big summer concert tour may be within reach.  Whether you are a budding musician or an established star with some runway to go, here are a few unsolicited tips for making it to the big time in the music world.

Wow.  First impressions matter.  The stage entrance and first song energize the crowd and set the stage for the entire set.  Everything about your beginning should be flawless.

Believe.  Play like a star, even if you are the warm up band.  Half of being is believing.  Let your personnae, stage presence, set up, everything about you say "we are heading to the top and we are not looking back."  Be the whole package.  

Build.  Depending on the length of your set, you have 30/60/90 minutes or more to play. Each song should be better than the last.  Remember, you want to leave the audience on a high note, no pun intended.   

Mike. If your woodwind instruments, ie sax, flute, clarinet, are in front of microphones, this increases the likelihood that the audience will hear their melodious tunes along with the percussive drums and guitars. Otherwise, they're probably just taking up space on stage. 

Enunciate. If you studied choral music, you probably learned the fine art of over-pronouncing your words.  The line between fine art and obnoxious is blurry for some.  But without a bit of over-emphasis, you run the risk of your audience not hearing and appreciating your lyrics.  This is especially important for lesser known musicians, who are less likely to elicit a crowd sing-along. 

Connect.  Usually the drummer is four or five feet, or more, behind the guitars.  The music is loud. The acoustical qualities of the venue may be tenuous.  Headphones linking the drummer to the guitar's amp may help keep everyone together so the crowd doesn't have to decide which beat to dance to. 

Play.  Leave comedy to the comedians and storytelling to cowboy poets.  The audience did not come to hear you do a monologue.  People in the crowd are there because they love your music, so give them what they want. 

Passion.  Be energy.  Be in the music.  Feel the beat, believe in the lyrics, and be one with your instrument.  And above all, share your passion with the audience. 

Thanks. People have a choice about what to do with their time and money.  Reward them for choosing you by thanking them for being there.

Am I Becoming a Groupie?

My decision to attend the Dangermuffin concert by myself a couple weeks ago was maybe your first hint that maybe I really am becoming a groupie.  Wait, alas, after review of the Wikipedia definition of groupie, no, I'm not. 

A groupie is a person who seeks emotional and sexual intimacy with a musician or other celebrity.

 Definitely not me.  As noted, I went alone to Dangermuffin to have some "me time."

The celebritization of America's musicians, as well as actors/actresses, professional athletes, and politicians, frankly, turns me off, just sayin'.  When I go to the concert, I'm not jockeying to be invited to the "trailerhood" behind the stage.  I'm at the concert, body and soul, for the music, one of my lifelong passions.  I love being "in the music" as defined by me. It's as good as any out of body experience (at least I'd think so), definitely an altered state.

As a child, I was a nursery rhyme fanatic.  I've played flute since age 10.  And over the years, I have learned to appreciate all types of music, including most recently heavy metal.  My latest favs are world music and the group Pink Martini, a 40s-esque sounding group with catchy tunes and playful lyrics. So far as I know, they're not headed for Salt Lake City, so an out of town journey might be warranted.

I am awestruck by watching and hearing flawless musical execution, Tim McGraw, case-in-point.  He makes his songs and his gig look so easy, yet if you really observe, every move is calculated and choreographed.  He's at the top of his game.  In much different genres, the same could be said about the Scorpions or Dave Matthews.  But I can be equally moved when I go to the Cathedral of the Madeleine and hear the choir, with their luminous harmonies.

A confession ... I like the syncopated poetry of rap, too, but I have my limits when the lyrics degenerate.  When I saw BB King at Kingsbury Hall, he said he wanted to be a politician to make laws against rap singers singing such derogatory lyrics about the ladies.  When he said that, the audience broke out into applause.  I couldn't agree more and have similar opinions about the lyrics from other genres also.  But how far is too far is a question with a million answers.  I'm all about free speech and freedom of expression, and I have an off button on my radio and I know how to use it.

Interestingly, since I have attended so many concerts this year, people are beginning to ask me what music events are on the horizon.  "What's this weekend?" or "Another concert tonight?"  Could be.  This blog is about to undergo somewhat of a transformation in that I will finally have a focus.  Salt Lake City and Park City have enough going on that if your ears and mine need to be tickled, options abound.  In fact, even if I had an evil twin, we wouldn't have time to do all the concerts between us.

I've missed quite a few music events in the last week or so as I have been feeling under the weather, but yesterday is proof I am on the mend.  I helped a new friend move into her new apartment downtown.  No, I didn't lift the heavy stuff, but I helped.  Later today, I'm going to hear a Santana look alike band.  {Stay tuned}

Watch Out, Tide!

I'm not one to suggest to the austerity gods that I'm switching to their team, but unemployment has taken a toll on my cash flow. Even so, use of laundry detergent still scores fairly high on the need/want continuum. But, as I have learned, alternatives are available.

Tide won't lose its prominence in America's laundry rooms, but my laundry bill just got cheaper.  I manufactured my own laundry soap, in my own kitchen, in fifteen minutes, for less than $10.  And I have enough supplies left to make at least 24 more batches.

The Secret Laundry Detergent Recipe

1/2 bar soap (I used Ivory soap, but another good choice is the quintessential laundry bar, Fels Naptha)
1/2 cup washing soda
1/4 cup borax
1 1/2 gallons water

Gather all of the supplies.  You will need a large kettle for boiling water, a wooden spoon, a grater, a large bucket or other container for mixing, and containers for the finished laundry detergent. I bought the washing soda, borax, and soap at Smith's (a Kroger subsidiary company) in Cottonwood Heights.

Grate the bar of soap. Send the family outside, so they don't assume you are grating Monterrey Jack cheese for tacos. Maybe this would be a nice April Fool's Day trick ... note to self.

Place a large kettle on the stove and heat 2-3 cups of water to boiling. Add grated soap and stir until dissolved.

Remove the pot from the stove. Add washing soda and borax to the soap mixture.

Pour the mixture into the larger container.   Add remaining water to make 1 1/2 gallons. Stir well. Okay, you don't need to use a wire whip, but you will want to ensure that all ingredients are fully blended.

Pour mixture into bottles. If you use a funnel, it will be less messy. I retrieved my bottles from my laundry room trash.  Let bottles stand for 24-48 hours before using. Homemade laundry detergent may have a somewhat unique, white slime consistency.

Detergent making is one of those new "finds" I will probably continue long after I have a new job or source of income. In addition to the dramatic savings on the cost, imagine the mountains of plastic jugs in our landfills that will be eliminated if we manufacture our own laundry soap. Homemade detergent doesn't take much time to make, and since you are making soap, it doesn't mess up your kitchen too badly.  Best of all, it really does get the laundry clean.

If you are less adventurous than me, but still want to save on detergent, Mary's Laundry Blog does a weekly survey of the best prices for laundry detergent and supplies. I was amazed to hear of a blog like Mary's. No narcissistic "it's all about me" posts or even a regurgitation of Mary's latest life drama. Just good advice on stain removal and keeping clothes fresh and clean. Imagine.