Nice blog...but what's with the date?

So my crankiest friend of all my cranky friends (not you, of course) e-mailed me and complained about my using the "british" mode of listing the date on my blog page. Well, it's european I'll have you know, my friend. I was just getting myself into Irish mode for various reasons. So, after January 1, I'll change it and you can have it your stupid American way. See if I care. As Opus would say: "phhhhhbbbbbbtttttt!!!!"

The good news: we're getting our Colleen O'Sullivan handmade dinner plates at the session on Wednesday! I'll post a picture when we get them. We have mugs and bowls already, and now we're going to have to commission some dessert plates (if she doesn't kill us first). This woman is one talented artist, if you didn't already know, and quite a nice whistle player to boot!

I promised to post Carty's Jig again, but I can't get it up on the page! Grrrr! The version I have I got from one of Mike McHale's students. (I'll try to post it elsewhere for January and provide you a link.) Mike is great. He's got such flowing, beautiful versions of tunes, and he's a real pleasure to play with. You're more likely to get 'hold of him south of Catskill, where he lives, but sometimes he ventures into the great north (you know, Albany) and then, look out! Here come the tunes! If you play flute or whistle, you might want to consider taking a class with him at the Catskills Irish Arts Week (http://www.east-durham.org/irishartsweek/).

By the way, the date for Irish Arts Week has been moved out a week. It's now July 15-21, 2007. The organizers in Ireland moved the dates for Willie Clancy Week, and Paul didn't want to conflict with the father of all teaching weeks, so don't forget to put in for your vacation time as soon as you can. You don't want to miss this. From what Paul tells me, it's going to be a humdinger of a week.

Don't forget: slow session at Old Songs Wednesday, Dec. 13 at 7:30 PM. (www.oldsongs.org)