Happy Birthday, BKDM!

A toast to my beloved on his birthday!

"Love Me, Love My Red Sox"

Here it is, 6:00am and I've been dragged out of bed to watch the Red Sox play an exhibition baseball game in Japan. (Siobhan's note: It's Opening Day!)
Well, I knew it was a package deal when we moved in together. Guess I'll go make some coffee....

Happy Easter, Everyone!

Here's my Easter basket - looks like a puppy and contains Pez, a chocolate bunny, marshmallow eggs and flowers. Thanks, Easter Bunny!
My gift back to the Easter Bunny: homemade mac/cheese. We're also having shrimp and coleslaw. A random, but by all accounts, delicious Easter Dinner of a sort.

This, My Friends, Is Why It's Called a Paddy Wagon

I'm just sayin'.
There were 17 arrests during the parade and we saw one of them.
There was already someone else in the wagon and the parade was at least an hour from making it to us.

Southie St. Patrick's Day Parade 2008

Maybe they dye the river green in Chicago for Saint Patrick's Day, but here it is the river of people that's green.

With every sidewalk filled and every rooftop lined, the parade commences sometime around 1:00pm near Broadway station. Every liquor store has a line, and most everyone who can fit one in their hand is holding a plastic red cup.










There was music.








There was dancing.







God help me, there were even storm troopers wearing green sashes. Hey, I'll see you guys next weekend at Anime Boston!


This event was unlike anything I have ever experienced. After the parade is over, people pour into the streets and have a giant festival, ebbing and flowing in and out of house parties, bars, and Dorchester Street revelry.

As for Siobhan and myself, we slipped around the corner by the old Iron Workers Local 7 and stopped in at Kiley's Tavern for a nip. If you're drunk and disorderly, or just a straight-up douche, the doorman will be happy to give you direction to Shenanigans. It's about four blocks that way and then take a right... next to the Burger King....

Dropkicks in Dorchester? Wicked Pissah

Here can be seen a tattered banner of the 103rd chapter of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, located in Dorchester, MA. It's on Freeport St between Beach and Park (near the Fields Corner T stop), this hardy group of workers say it loud, and say it proud.

As we waited in line to enter the building we saw next to the handwritten "beer bar" sign another sign clearly stating "AA is at the school" with an arrow pointing across the street.
Siobhan's note: Can you think of a worse place to end up as you seek your AA meeting?



We entered what reminded me of a high school gymnasium decorated for the winter dance (with the primary exception being that it was ringed with electrical workers on security detail). It was not a crowded show, and almost all of the people that attended were from the area. It was definitely a local show, which was fucking awesome. One man - originally from the area - came down from Connecticut for the weekend and was going to see the Dropkicks four times. He said his four-year-old daughter was asleep under one of the tables in the back of the auditorium! Hahaha, awesome!
Siobhan's note #2: See prior "Child Abuse, Masshole Style" post.



The show rocked so much: from the IBEW [bag]pipers opening, to the Dropkicks inviting all the crowd up on stage with them, to Ken Casey bringing out his grandmother on stage for a song or two. We reveled in every mad moment. Siobhan's note #3: They played "Which Side Are You On," "Tessie," and "Dirty Water," thereby satisfying my burgeoning Masshole tendencies.













Bosox Siobhan blew out her voice from yelling too much Siobhan's note #4: I've never been quiet for such a long time in my life, and BKDM got some nice scrapes from the pit. How can you not love these guys? Siobhan's note #: Looks to me like BKDM might have some latent Masshole tendencies of his own.

Bostonians, Mark Your Calendars

The St. Patrick's Day season is upon us, and if you like your social calendar heaving like a bountiful bosom, then be sure to check out the following line-up:



Sat Mar 8 - Harpoon St. Patricks Day Festival (too late, it is already over with)
Fri Mar 14 - Dropkick Murphys concert at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Dorchester (Now this is gonna be a wicked pissah...Siobhan's note: It's Wicked Pissah as an adjective; lose the "a.")
Sun Mar 16 - Southie St. Patrick's Day parade (This parade remains the high point of the St. Patrick's day season, with people coming from all over the world to attend. Event transpires in South Boston - Boston's oldest traditional Irish neighborhood)
Mon Mar 17 - Saint Patty's Day (I've already scheduled this day off work) Siobhan's note #2: I have a four-hour coaching and managing training that day. Great.
Sat Mar 22 - Comedy stylings of Ken & Nate, at the Cambridge YMCA Theater (Two One-Man Shows by Two Guys Wasting One Life Each). Siobhan's note #3: I work with Ken and he is one funny bastard. Anyone reading this who lives in Boston, go to the show!
Fri-Sun, Mar 21-23 - Anime Boston (If you've never been to or heard of an anime con, be assured this is a painful new low for this massochistic Bostonian. Complete with a masquerade ball where people dress up as their favorite anime character, to a live anime-only karaoke bar it is extreme dorkitude of the highest order. It may not be very Irish, but it is definitely worth blogging about. Hynes convention center, $30 at the door). Siobhan's note #4: There isn't a chance is hell that you will catch me with this bunch of dorks.










Also, I am sure we will find time to cross the Medford-Somerville city line (why the Medford sign gotta be all brown and broken? see photo) to grab brunch at Sound Bites, or another fine nearby brunch spot.
Oh ya, Easter and our jobs are in there somewhere...

Child Abuse, Masshole Style

I just saw this DVD at a local store. Talk about gettin' 'em while they're young.
The kid on the cover will be saying "Wicked Pissah" within 2 years; that I guarantee you.

Harpoon st patricks season kickoff

It has come to this blogs attention that st patricks day is more of a season here in boston. Harpoon brewery kicks it off with their annual tour and parking lot brewfest. We kick it off ourselves with el dub double fisting at the brewery.

10000 bc my ass

this movie was complete bullshit. when I heard a 12 yr old boy dictate in perfect english: what happened to your people? I knew this was bullshit. the people in "10000 bc" are as sophisticated as north american indians in 1846. I silently chant my mantra: "I am here for the special effects. I am here for the saber tooth tiger."

Best Make-out Spot in Boston?

It's a seedy, old building down by the docks. It's where old ships come in to get loaded and unloaded. Located on Black Falcon Avenue near Drydock Avenue.

Wine Drunk & a Little Sad

A now-meaningless picture of an old friend, walking in Berlin, away from the mixed district, and towards the wall.