Would it be okay celebrate MLK day by dressing in baggy clothes and wearing lots of bling bling or to dress up in outrageous pimp outfits? Is it fine to dress in a wife beater t shirt and shiny vinyl sweat pants and act like Tony Soprano on Columbus day? Nope. Then why is it permissible to get shit faced and act like an ass on the day that is supposed to honor the contributions of the Irish to this country?
Well, okay we may have brought it on ourselves what with our entertainment Irish American role models, case in point, that skeevy asshole Dennis Leary. Oy vey, I may have to start claiming my German heritage if that misogynist prick Leary says another stupid thing that brings shame and dishonor on all of us Irish Americans. And there's Shane McGowan lead "singer" of the Pogues. True, he's not an Irish American but he's close. And don't get me started on Bono, Enya, and all the Irish singers who do the never ending PBS fund drive specials.
Celebrating the Irish experience in America shouldn't begin and end with watching Darby O'Gill and the Little People, The Quiet Man, and stuffing gobs of corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes in your pie hole while you suck down Guinness after Guinness. It should begin with you watching that great movie about Bloody Sunday that starred James Nesbitt, finding a pedophile priest and punching him in the nads, and then running some guns to the Provisional IRA outpost nearest to you.
Now, you'll have to excuse me I have to run, my potatoes are boiling over, I need another shot of Irish whiskey, and my god damned U2's Greatest Hits CD is skipping. Oh the feckin' humanity. I curse my rotten Irish luck!
20 comments:
May the wind always be at your back...
I'm conflicted about St. Patrick's Day, too... My grandfather was Protestant Irish, emigrated to England for a few years before coming to America where he lied and said he was English, not Irish, so he could get a job. It wasn't until he died that we found out that we were actually Irish. Then I read the Frank McCourt books and felt so damn guilty about it all I had to go get drunk. Pffft.
Hope you have a good St. Paddy's day...
You too my friend.
Up the IRA!
(That's just me da talkin')
Yeah, I agree. I'm not very Irish, but find it sad how many people turn into total douchebags on St. Pat's. Drinking is one thing, but you don't have to dress up and act like an assclown.
How about a nice reading of Yeats and James Stephens (The Crock of Gold is a little Irish masterpiece) followed by a little jig?
I'm not Irish, but on this day, we all are.
i like the buttons that say "kiss me i'm irish"
i'm not , but hey...
I am frustrated in general by people's lack of historical knowledge, and the way people "celebrate" this occasion is no exception.
Of course, I come from a family that had the Irish Proclamation of 1916 hanging on our family room wall...
My Grandma's family was "Shanty Irish" which means poor white trash.
We love Darby O'Gill here!
We save the feckin' world from ignorance by copying, illuminating, and learning the wisdom of the ancients during the dark ages by teaching anyone who wants to learn, while the rest of the world is burning books and "heretics", and all we get is one drunken holiday in March.
It ain't a fair trade, but you take what you can get.
Doc
I never understood why this day caught on more than any other. I mean, why isn't there a day for other countrys where we go bat crazy about their sterotyped culture?
That said, my blog today has a pic of my kids in their greeniest! And they were excited to dress up. So what the freak do I know?
I can't say St Patrick's Day is a big deal around our house, but when you've got a German/Polish mix, it's best just to leave the day to those who can legitimately claim it.
I will, however, listen to Stiff Little Fingers today, but I don't need an excuse to do that.
I can understand hating John Wayne but I draw the line at Maureen O'hara. She is a goddess.
Hey Monkey I knew there was something about you I like. My mum is also 100% Irish, my grandparents came off the boat in the '20's. And me and my 7 siblings all identify 95% with the Irish side (my dad's of Polish decent and well, just not as funny - although he thinks he is!).
Anyhoo, come on over to see some good old-fashioned Irish yuks.
Don't forget, feckin' Bill O'Reilly belongs on the Irish Wall of Shame, and so does as Sean Hannity. My friend from Galway can't believe Bill O'Reilly is Irish. He says it's the epitome of embarrassing.
I have to admit, my mom makes a mean cairned beef & if I was in Chicago celebrating w/my parents, I'd be super-tempted to toss aside me vegetarianism for the day.
I've always connected St. Patrick's Day with an excuse to go out and get knee-walking drunk.
Now that I am a bit too geezerly to hit the bars; and corned beef and cabbage aren't worth the fat, salt and gas, I find the holiday sadly neutralized.
But I do have a joke for you.
What's Irish and stays out all night?
Paddy O'Furniture.
Hey, lay off The Quiet Man. It's a horribly sexist movie, but I still like it a lot. Those crazy Irish are hilarious! Ahem--I mean--it's an interesting portrayal of another culture and another time.
I don't get too hyped up about St Pat's day, since no one at work would dare pinch anyone else for not wearing green--fear of harassment charges, you know.
We all love stereotypes, don't we? But most stereotypes have their origins in a wee bit o' fact. The wee bit o' fact here is that there does seem to be a greater tendency toward alcoholism among the Irish than in most other ethnic groups. And wearing green on St Patty's Day comes naturally. Ireland is the "Emerald Isle," after all. So, since most of us don't have the nerve to find "a pedophile priest and punch him in the nads," even though we'd like to, and few of us would like to encourage the IRA in any way, it's no wonder that wearing green and downing some stout seems like the best way to celebrate the big day.
Happy St Patrick's Day to you. I'll leave you with this quote by GK Chesterton:
"For the Great Gaels of Ireland
Are the men that God made mad,
For all their wars are merry
And all their songs are sad."
And don't get me started about Sinead O'Connor!
I read up on St. Patrick on Wkikpedia the other day. Did you know he was never canonized by a pope? So he isn't an officially sanctioned Saint.
Also, I think that by being a missionary in the British Isles, he actually BROUGHT serpents to Ireland.
I'm questionably Irish and spent yesterday drinking and playing a Canadian video game. It was lovely. I believe I even shouted "Maggie Thatcher ...feckin' cunt!" Or not.
Then again, I watch football just to drink some Sundays. Can't stand sports.
But I do love me some Flogging Molly, Jameson, and a good salmon boxty. Yums.
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