Tuesday 17 March 2009

Happy Paddy's Day

If you're an Irish drinker, have one for me today. I'm gonna have a dry St Patrick's Day.

Why?

I figure I'm more likely to hold on to my wife if I don't look like this guy in five years.


But that's just me. All you heavyweights, have yourselves a ball.

Cheers!

26 comments:

Paul D Brazill said...

I had a dry St Paddy's two years ago, and will this year too, I'm sure.I watched the 7 samuari last time, I think.

marco said...

And I miss beer.

You've straightened up a little too much, young man. Sure a can or three won't make a leprechaun out of you.

Gerard Brennan said...

Paul - Nice choice. An oldie but a goody.

Marco - Don't tempt me. I'm already losing resolve and it's not even lunch time.

Hmmm, maybe just a wee naggin of something when the kids go to bed...

Dammit.

gb

Unknown said...

I'm losing resolve and it six in the morning here in AZ. One pint's not going to kill you, Gerard. Although I'll be staying dry this Saint Pat's (or so I say now, we'll see at the end of the day after 9 hours at the job and 5 hours of chasing a two year old around.)

Josephine Damian said...

Gerard, I haven't touched the drink since I was much younger than you are now so I'm afraid we'll both be dry together today.

Better to set the example I say than be proven a cliche.

Enjoy the day.

marco said...

So, did you really end the day dry as a widow's woman washboard?

adrian mckinty said...

Warwick Davis is a cool guy. You could do worse.

Gerard Brennan said...

Keith - Did you make it?

Josephine - Better to set the example I say than be proven a cliche.

Cool words to live by. Unfortunately, outside of lent, I'm such a cliché. Might work on that, though. Kind of enjoying the sober thing. Kind of.

Marco - I ended up taking the kids to my ma's house and she cooked up a couple of pretty nice pizzas for us. And I'm glad these days are behind me. I used to live a few streets from here. I don't think I was ever that nuts, though.

Love the washboard image, BTW.

Adrian - I'll admit, I had to google Mr Davis. No Idea he was the Willow guy and an ewok. Fantastic. Love this guy. His website has a fun section too.

Cheers all.

gb

Gerard Brennan said...

Adrian - I gave the wrong link in your reply. Meant to send you here.

Unknown said...

Gerard,

I did, my allergies were giving me too many troubles and I ended up taking some medicine and going to bed early. Oh well, there's always Friday night, which is my favorite weekly holiday

adrian mckinty said...

Warwick Davis is a sweet guy and great at his job and his IMDB credits are incredible but (and I hate to do this just because they are both little people) Peter Dinklage is a badass. Did you catch his turn on 30 Rock? Hilarious. And if you havent seen The Station Agent do yourself a favour and rent it.

marco said...

I wonder if my un-Italian fashion uncosciousness sets an example or disproves a cliché.

Unfortunately, outside of lent, I'm such a cliché. Might work on that, though. Kind of enjoying the sober thing. Kind of.

So you're just temporarily relenting? You're a religious guy?

Bar brawling is bad, but a couple of beers a day never killed anyone. Hic.

Alas, the washboard image was Townes Van Zandt by way of the Cowboy Junkies, not me.

Gerard Brennan said...

Keith - Ah, a fellow Friday fan. Not much longer now!

Adrian - Just watched that clip. Very intriguing. Love that guy. I'll track down the full length version ASAP. Haven't seen his 30 Rock either but I know him from a tonne of other stuff.

gb

Gerard Brennan said...

Marco - I'm kind of a half-assed catholic. In fact, half might be a generous estimate. More like a sixteenth. I'm not really very religious at all, in fact. Just enough belief pounded into me to make me feel mildly guilty once in a while about not going to mass. But I do lent every year. Probably more as an exercise in self-discipline than anything else.

Yeah, bar brawling is bad. I find it gets you kicked out, usually just after a fresh pint has been set down in front of you. Hate that. Luckily, it's been a few years since it last happened. And it wasn't my fault that time either!

Cheers

gb

Paul D Brazill said...

Yep. i was sober too! The Station Agent is a wonderful film.

Gerard Brennan said...

Paul - Good god. Whatever happened to the bitter, drunken crime fiction writer? We all seem a little too well-adjusted. Probably a good thing, though.

Definitely hunting out that film, then.

gb

marco said...

The concept of completely abstaining from alcohol during Lent sounds weird to me.
In our tradition everyone (well, except teetotallers) drinks a glass of wine during meals.
My parents observe Lent- no cakes, desserts or fancy foods, but the thought this could involve wine never crossed their minds.
Nevertheless, as an exercise in self-discipline I suppose is laudable.

Gerard Brennan said...

Marco - During lent it's common enough to give up alcohol or even smoking over here.

Our countries have very different drinking cultures as well. If the media is to be believed, there is much less binge drinking in places like Italy, France or Germany than there is in Ireland and the UK. You guys treat it as an everyday occurrence and have developed much healthier attitudes towards it. Us... not so much.

But some people choose different vices to abstain from. My wife doesn't drink as often as me. She has given up chocolate and takeaway food as that's more of a challenge for her.

gb

seana graham said...

I'll third it on The Station Agent.

I kind of like Lent as a practice, though I'm not formally religious at all. Sometimes I do give up something for it, and I usually am happy about it. Non-attachment and all. Thought I would this year, but with one thing and another, I didn't.

Peter Rozovsky said...

Fook, the guy may once have been a bad-tempered wee shite, but he's a well-behaved Carlberg drinker now.

I suppose if I really wanted a retreat from the tumult of American bars on St. Patrick's Day, I could have come to Ireland.

And The Seven Samurai is a fine way to spend any day, whether it is named for a patron saint or not.
==============
Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

seana graham said...

The Seventh Samurai is a great movie, and the basis for a book that I love dearly, The Last Samurai, by Helen De Witt. Although it does indeed refer back to this movie, it has nothing to do with the Tom Cruise movie of the same name, and is actually a book about, among many other things, trying to raise a gifted child as a single mother in London.

seana graham said...

I meant Seven Samurai, not Seventh. Although it made sense at the time...

adrian mckinty said...

Seana

Hows this for cross blogging. Wouldnt you agreet that The Station Agent is primarily a movie about friendship?

Paul D Brazill said...

I'm writing a story called Seven Brides For Seven Samuari at the moment.

Peter Rozovsky said...

Sounds like a knee-slappin', head-severin' good time!
==============
Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

seana graham said...

Adrian, excellent cross-blogging.They both even fit in the subcategory of unlikely friendships,don't they?

Patricia Clarkson was on a roll around that time. Station Agent, but also a movie I really liked, called Pieces of April.
A surprisingly good Katie Holmes plays April, with Clarkson as her mother. Let's just say that it's an excellent movie to watch around Thanksgiving if you have any 'issues'. Or really, just if you have any family. A knee slapping, head-severing good time, as Peter says, but in this case only the head of the unfortunate bird.