Friday, March 16, 2012

Luck of the Irish

I'm not really that big a St. Patrick's Day person mostly because in New York it just means people in mass getting drunk before noon and acting like fools. That said, given my confusing and at time obsessive love of Irish culture, I would be remiss in not wishing everyone a happy holiday tomorrow! I decided, partially because my laptop makes it so easy, and partially becauseI work from home now and it was raining on my lunch break, to record a little tin whistle playing for the occasion.

Believe it or not, this was the best of three takes. I clearly still need to work on my A-roll a little, but at any rate, here is my flawed, but spirited, rendition of the jig "Hole in the Hedge." Also, as one more note, this tune is usually played in sessions on a C whistle whereas here I'm playing it on a D. So, you know, if you've heard it before and it sounded different, it's not wholly because I f-ed it up. As a more spirited way to celebrate, here is someone who really knows their way around a whistle playing a couple of jigs. Just give me a few more decades, and I hope to be at that level.

As another way to celebrate, and also to embrace my love of baking, I brought some Irish Car Bomb brownies to the office yesterday when I went in on a visit. Like the somewhat offensively named cocktail of the same name, these treats incorporate Guiness, Baileys, and Jameson into the ingredients (specifically: Guiness in the brownie, a Baileys cream cheese swirl, and topped with a Jameson chocolate ganache). They were a hit at the office, although I couldn't really taste any of the alcohol. If anything it just brought out the chocolate taste all the more.


If you too are bored with making soda bread and want to give a try, I got the recipe from here and made no changes. Highly recommended.



5 comments:

  1. Your tin whistle playing is marvelous! My favorite St. Patrick's Days were in Chicago where they dye the river green. Sally

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  2. Thanks, Sally! I imagine Boston is pretty heavy on the celebrations too.

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  3. Great job playing the tin whistle! I wonder if the fingerings are pretty much the same as the flute...And I love that Dinah does not even look phased by the fact that you are playing. I think Arwen would have her ears flattened back the whole time. :)

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  4. Thanks, Rachel! I think it's more just Dinah is used to it :)

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  5. I love it. Even though Dinah turned away 36 seconds into it, I listened to the whole thing! You definitely need to have more videos!

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