Kiss me I'm Shitfaced
(Ok, not really, but I was plenty drunk earlier tonight.)
So, it's been a LONG time since I updated here. I guess I usually feel like I don't have much interesting to say. Well, not this weekend.
Cut text - I'm in Boston this weekend... So, for those of you who don't know, my brother got married on Saturday. Yes, that was St. Patrick's day. I guess he feels a little connection to his Irish heritage, seeing how his name is Sean Patrick... I flew out of Sacramento on Thursday night, and got into Boston at 5:30, just in time to get to my parents house just in time for a snowstorm to start. It wasn't terribly bad by normal MA standards, but it was the first big snowfall in an otherwise dry year, and driving to the reception hall that night to set up took 2 1/2 hours for what should have been a 45 minute drive.
Cut text - And my family is a bunch of right-wing conservative nut jobs... As much as I miss my family some times (I haven't been out here since Christmas of '04) I was also reminded why I don't always enjoy these visits as much as I would like. The biggest topic of conversation is inevitably politics, which is funny because they all agree 95% of the time, so I don't quite understand how they can go on for hours. On the previously mentioned 2 1/2 hour drive I was subjected to a lengthy discussion of why exactly everyone thinks Mit Romney is the best current candidate for the '08 presidential elections. There was also the debate over who they are more scared of seeing win, Hillary or Obama. Other discussions heard over dinner at the wedding reception included how evil the "Chixie Dicks" (My uncle's oh-so-humorous name for the Dixie Chicks) are, how big of an idiot Al Gore is, and my personal favorite...how global warming is basically a huge left-wing conspiracy.
Cut text - But when they leave the politics alone, they're not half bad... I actually had a lot of fun sitting around talking to some of my relatives on Saturday night after the wedding. We shared many a humorous family story, most of which I have heard dozens of times before, but they never get old. There were even a few new ones in there that had us all laughing for minutes at a time.
Cut text - The real excitement for me was Sunday though... Today was my chance to see
moxiee... For some reason she went along with my crazy plan to drive into South Boston (Southie as it's known out here... You know, the predominantly Irish neighborhood featured in Good Will Hunting) to see the parade. As far as people in Southie are concerned St. Patrick's day starts somewhere around noon on Friday and ends whenever the hangover goes away on Monday. The temperature was just below freezing, and it was snowing a bit off and on, but we stuck it out for the full 2 hours. We then spent over an hour just trying to get out of there and make it to a bar to get some food and beer. Of course every bar in Southie has a $10+ cover charge and a line running half way down the block at this point. We finally made it to a brew pub (Boston Beer Works?) right across the street from Fenway Park for some delicious food and some pretty good beer. (Mine wasn't that great, but hers was excelent.)
Cut text - And then for the moment I had been waiting for... We finished dinner just in time for me to walk down the street to head to the concert I've been wanting to go to for years....The Dropkick Murphys...in Boston...on St. Patrick's day weekend! (For the uninitiated, DKM is an Irish punk band from Southie) This was by far the best show I have ever been to. I actually managed to squeeze myself to within 5 feet of the stage before the end of their first song, and spent the next 45 minutes in the middle of a 100 degree swaying mass of bodies. Eventually the combination of a gallon of sweat pouring down me and a half a dozen bruises from stray elbows convinced me to get out of dead center and find a safer, cooler place to enjoy the show. They played for somewhere close to 2 hours, Bringing a dozen bagpipers out for The Spicy McHaggis Jig, immediately followed by pulling 30+ girls out of the crowd up onto the stage for Kiss Me I'm Shitfaced. After the obligatory "Let's Go Murphys" chant from the crowd they came back to do an awesome punk rock cover of Teenage Wasteland, and then pulled another 30+ people up onto the stage (mostly guys, but it was a predominantly male crowd anyways) for their usual closers Skinhead on the MBTA and Alcohol.
And this my friends is where I sign off. It has been an extremely long and tiring day, but I definitely can't complain...
So, it's been a LONG time since I updated here. I guess I usually feel like I don't have much interesting to say. Well, not this weekend.
Cut text - I'm in Boston this weekend... So, for those of you who don't know, my brother got married on Saturday. Yes, that was St. Patrick's day. I guess he feels a little connection to his Irish heritage, seeing how his name is Sean Patrick... I flew out of Sacramento on Thursday night, and got into Boston at 5:30, just in time to get to my parents house just in time for a snowstorm to start. It wasn't terribly bad by normal MA standards, but it was the first big snowfall in an otherwise dry year, and driving to the reception hall that night to set up took 2 1/2 hours for what should have been a 45 minute drive.
Cut text - And my family is a bunch of right-wing conservative nut jobs... As much as I miss my family some times (I haven't been out here since Christmas of '04) I was also reminded why I don't always enjoy these visits as much as I would like. The biggest topic of conversation is inevitably politics, which is funny because they all agree 95% of the time, so I don't quite understand how they can go on for hours. On the previously mentioned 2 1/2 hour drive I was subjected to a lengthy discussion of why exactly everyone thinks Mit Romney is the best current candidate for the '08 presidential elections. There was also the debate over who they are more scared of seeing win, Hillary or Obama. Other discussions heard over dinner at the wedding reception included how evil the "Chixie Dicks" (My uncle's oh-so-humorous name for the Dixie Chicks) are, how big of an idiot Al Gore is, and my personal favorite...how global warming is basically a huge left-wing conspiracy.
Cut text - But when they leave the politics alone, they're not half bad... I actually had a lot of fun sitting around talking to some of my relatives on Saturday night after the wedding. We shared many a humorous family story, most of which I have heard dozens of times before, but they never get old. There were even a few new ones in there that had us all laughing for minutes at a time.
Cut text - The real excitement for me was Sunday though... Today was my chance to see
moxiee... For some reason she went along with my crazy plan to drive into South Boston (Southie as it's known out here... You know, the predominantly Irish neighborhood featured in Good Will Hunting) to see the parade. As far as people in Southie are concerned St. Patrick's day starts somewhere around noon on Friday and ends whenever the hangover goes away on Monday. The temperature was just below freezing, and it was snowing a bit off and on, but we stuck it out for the full 2 hours. We then spent over an hour just trying to get out of there and make it to a bar to get some food and beer. Of course every bar in Southie has a $10+ cover charge and a line running half way down the block at this point. We finally made it to a brew pub (Boston Beer Works?) right across the street from Fenway Park for some delicious food and some pretty good beer. (Mine wasn't that great, but hers was excelent.)
Cut text - And then for the moment I had been waiting for... We finished dinner just in time for me to walk down the street to head to the concert I've been wanting to go to for years....The Dropkick Murphys...in Boston...on St. Patrick's day weekend! (For the uninitiated, DKM is an Irish punk band from Southie) This was by far the best show I have ever been to. I actually managed to squeeze myself to within 5 feet of the stage before the end of their first song, and spent the next 45 minutes in the middle of a 100 degree swaying mass of bodies. Eventually the combination of a gallon of sweat pouring down me and a half a dozen bruises from stray elbows convinced me to get out of dead center and find a safer, cooler place to enjoy the show. They played for somewhere close to 2 hours, Bringing a dozen bagpipers out for The Spicy McHaggis Jig, immediately followed by pulling 30+ girls out of the crowd up onto the stage for Kiss Me I'm Shitfaced. After the obligatory "Let's Go Murphys" chant from the crowd they came back to do an awesome punk rock cover of Teenage Wasteland, and then pulled another 30+ people up onto the stage (mostly guys, but it was a predominantly male crowd anyways) for their usual closers Skinhead on the MBTA and Alcohol.
And this my friends is where I sign off. It has been an extremely long and tiring day, but I definitely can't complain...