Episode 29 - A Big, Fat, Irish Jambaroo

Check out the companion blog at http://emptychecking.blogspot.com! This week's episode is as Irish as the day is long! With St. Patrick's Day approaching on Saturday, I wanted to celebrate my heritage a little bit and talk about the Irish stuff I love. There's music from the Dubliners to the Pogues to the Chieftains to Flogging Molly to Dropkick Murphys, etc. I spend some time talking about Irish TV and movies too, including a segment on Father Ted. I talk about Irish literature including Angela's Ashes, a Flannery O'Connor story, and several others. I talk about random Irish stuff including my favorite Irish adult beverages from years gone by. There's a lot of Irish stuff in this show, is the bullet point to take away from this paragraph. Here's the time index: 0:00 - Introduction and opening remarks about being Irish and St. Patrick. 10:23 - Music Break #1 - "Battle Cry" from my "Grounds" album. 10:54 - A brief summary of Irish music I enjoy, both traditional and not-so-traditional. 26:12 - Music Break #2 - "Coming Storm" off the "Things I Meant to Say" album, which I also used last week, so please forgive me. 26:43 - An even briefer summary of Irish TV and movies that I enjoy. 37:44 - Music Break #3 - "A Song for Friendship" from my "Grounds" album 38:19 - A slightly less brief summary of Irish literature that I think is worth your time. 48:13 - Music Break #4 - "Of Death and Dying" from the "Ink-Stained Fingers" album. 48:44 - All the Irish stuff I wanted to talk about that doesn't fit in one of the above categories. 1:02:41 - Music Break #5 - "A Turning" from the "Out from the Light" album. 1:03:37 - Closing thoughts on being Irish, the racial problem facing it, and some additional thoughts. Thanks for your support!