Where to begin with describing this busy weekend?
I guess we'll start with Friday night -- that's when we got the pakage from Ken Casey, lead singer for Dropkick Murphys, one of Peter's favorite bands. If you aren't familiar with them, they're Punk Irish band from Boston. Think guitar and drums, plus bagpipes and penny whistle. They're probably now best known for having their songs in The Departed, which won the Oscar for Best Picture last year. If you haven't seen it, it's all about Boston Irish cops and Boston Irish mobsters. One of the songs from the film is "Shipping Up to Boston," one of Peter's favorites (and mine, I'll admit. Good running song.)
They also have a big connection to the Red Sox. They sing a song called "Tessie," which is a very old tune about a woman who loves the Sox. They rode in the Sox Workd Series victory parade this year, with Jon Papelbon, the Sox closer, jigging along with the band. Personally, I like "Wicked Sensitive Crew," which features the lyrics "In Pittsburgh they called us closed minded/but we know that's simply not true./Yeah, we're touchy, feely, sensitive guys/I ain't ashamed I cried when Mickey died in Rocky 2!" (Yes, it was Rocky 3, but that doesn't rhyme.) Plus, I like some other songs with titles I can't print in the blog.
So that's the band.
*******************
We knew we were going to this Irish party on Saturday, so ISabel and I looked for fun t-shirts for the kids. I saw a Dropkick t-shirt at a Bob's Store that I wanted to get for Peter (it says BOSTON IRISH on the front), but they didn't have his size. I called my Mom to see if they might have one at the store near her. She called back to tell me that my dear cuginita (little cousin) Christine was friends with the lead singer. Mom remembered his last name was Casey. "Kenny Casey?" I said. "I used to play baseball with him." He grew up in Milton, and he was a neighborhood kid, so we'd play pick-up baseball, or football, or basketball sometimes. I'd hardly call him a close friend, but I certainly remembered him. (He has the same face 30 years later.)
After I talked to Mom, I told Peter that I knew Ken Casey, and he about fainted. (He gets a little star-struck at times.) In the meantime, Mom told me that she had contacted Christine and hold Christione that Peter was such a big fan, so Christine called Ken Casey. Apparently, they knew each other well as teenagers, and have kept in touch. (Still not sure about the details of their relationship. Christine -- could you explain?)
Ken sent a package to out to us immediately: an autographed picture, two shirts, and a bunch of stickers. Here are Peter and John wearing the shirts at the St. Patrick's party Saturday:
Yesterday, we wrote to Christine to thank her, and asked if it would be OK to e-mail Ken Casey directly to thank him. She asked Ken if it was OK, and he agreed ("Anything for you," is what I think Christine said that Ken told her. Seriously, Christine, can you explain this relationship?). So Peter e-mailed him last night to say thanks. He wrote about two sentences, and I asked if that was all he wanted to say. "I don't know what else to say!" Peter told me, all nervous. "I've never written to someone who's world-famous before!" (Peter knows Dropkick is off to tour Europe in a few weeks -- thus, "world famous.")
So, thank you my dear cousin. You made Peter's week -- maybe his month. He'll be bragging about this at school for the rest of the year.
******************************
We had a good time at the St. Patrick's Day party (two weeks early, but that's what you need to do if you want to book an Irish DJ, apparently). Catherine especially enjoyed herself. She didn't stop moving the whole night. When slow songs came on, she danced ballet. When fast songs came on, she dragged someone out to the dance floor (usually me) or just ran around in circles. Here are some pictures:
John getting down, doing the Macarena:
Catherine dancing with some friends:
Peter doing the Chicken Dance. Instead of the clapping part, he makes armpit noises:
And yes, he really did write a piece called "Concerto for Saxophone and Armpit." But every time he tried to play what he'd composed so far (with himself on sax and his brother on armpit), John would laugh too hard to make it work, so he abandoned the project.
Discussing music makes as good a transition as any. Next entry: the kids perform at the Connectocut Young Musicians Festival, and Dad runs a 5k.
5 comments:
bob-o-maniac,
love the pictures. john is quite the character! the christie girls are psyched to be on someone else's blog! So....i just realized why the name Michael Pollan sounded familiar when you mentioned him the other night. It's because Kris Carr has a 'little online bookclub group' and that's the book they've been reading and she's been blogging about the book. i knew i recognized it. since i don't know your email address, i'll try just to paste the link here so you can read what she says. it's interesting. have you read his book "In defense of food." Sharon - cut and paste the link below
http://crazysexycancer.blogspot.com/2008/02/book-club-in-defense-of-food-pt-2.html
Bob...here's a snippit from Kris' post on Pollan's book.
Very compelling!
"Ya’ know why previous generations ate better for the most part? Because food was food. Food wasn't a multi billion dollar industry driven by corporate greed, manipulation and government subsidies. The food business has been overtaken by the chemical companies. And their inbred cousins the pharmaceuticals are standing by ready to mop up the damage – all the way to the bank."
Bob,
I wanted to elaborate on Mary's post the other day regarding The Dropkick Murphy's.
When Julia was in high school (I think Sophomore year) she played the violin in the orchestra along with several friends. At the time she was really into the Dropkick Murphy's. She wrote to the band and told them that if they ever make it out to Portland there was a group of high school girls that would love to accompany them on stage for a song on Violin and Viola. They wrote back and said yes. A few months later they did come to Portland to play at the Crystal Ballroom. Julia wrote them again to remind them of their pledge and they invited Julia and I believe 2 of her friends, to play on stage with them. Prior to the show the girls played for the band and they were impressed - but unfortunately there was no way to amplify their instruments so any one could hear them onstage. The girls' parents, including Mary and I, had bought tickets and were excited about hearing both the band and our daughters. The band knew that the girls were disappointed so they gave them seats on the stage (no one else was up their other than the band and their crew). Julia's friend Rachel brought her camera and took pictures of the band from the stage.
The band put on a great show, we all bought cds and tee shirts and have been fans ever since.
Message to Peter: This band is imminently approachable and down to earth. No need to be star struck, they are a class act.
Tom
Hey Bob~ The shirts are awesome!!! Im jealous actually, they are a class act and very generous,,i can explain the relationship...some other time:).....seriously though, Kenny hasn't changed and he would do anything for you, we were actually going to go see him this month but my friend is going to Florida this week for spring training and Kenny was going to tell his friend Papelbon about my friend going to see the Red Sox!!! Anyway im glad Peter and John enjoyed the shirts and the package, the pictures are great and i'll tell Kenney again thanks,,and your welcome:)
xxooChristine
OK another "small world" comment. What is it 6 degrees of separation? My cousin Terri Carriker was the Artistic Director for The Departed. I had forgotten that the Dropkick Murphy's did some of the music.
~Mary S-B
Post a Comment