Althouse: It's St. Patrick's Day, and you know what that means around here.

March 17, 2010

It's St. Patrick's Day, and you know what that means around here.

Happy Birthday, John!

28 comments:

Meade said...: Happy Birthday, John Althouse Cohen!; 3/17/10, 12:09 AM
Synova said...: Happy Birthday. :-); 3/17/10, 1:26 AM
Robert J. said...: It's not St. Patrick's Day, it's Evacuation Day!; 3/17/10, 1:28 AM
reader_iam said...: A conversation from way earlier this month:

Music teacher: We need to reschedule because of XX.

Me: Absolutely: What are the options?

Music teacher: Well, this, this or this. But I know this and this are already scheduled.

Me: They sure are! So this is OK.

Music teacher: Oh, but that's your birthday.

Me: Oh, that's OK. I've had a lot of them.

Music teacher: Oh, thank you.

Me: No problem.; 3/17/10, 1:32 AM
reader_iam said...: Happy birthday, JAC. I'm thankful for your blog, which posts I read without fail, and I appreciate the mind behind it. FWIW.; 3/17/10, 1:47 AM
reader_iam said...: I've got a bias here: I think March is the worst month for birthdays. Too much rain, too much gray, too much left-over whatever, and--if you were the child of music artists--a great ramp-up of rehearsals and gigs and either no rescheduling of private lessons or a doubling-up of private lessons in anticipation of rehearsals and performances. On top of extra rehearsals, practices, gigs & etc.

JAC is quite fortunate, in a number of ways, first on account of being the child of a writer and a visual/lawyer artist--and also in being born a bit later in the month of March and a couple of decades later in terms of time itself.; 3/17/10, 2:06 AM
reader_iam said...: There's no business like show business.

; ); 3/17/10, 2:13 AM
Chip Ahoy said...: Happy Birthday.

Here, have a song.

Tuesday night Comedy Central ran Trey Parker's and Matt Stone's Whale Whore episode in which Cartman covers Lady GaGa's Poker Face to hilarious effect.

Nuh nuh nuh Naaah
Nuh nuh nuh Naaah
Nuh Nuh Nuh Nuh Nuh Nuh

I wanna hold em' like they do in Texas Please
I Let Them Gamble But Its Fun Wen You With Me ( I Love It )
Russian Roulette is not the same without a gun
And baby when it's love if it's not rough it isn't fun, fun

Oh, WhoaOoh-oh-oh WhoaOoh-oh
I'll get him hard, show him what I've got
Oh, WhoaOoh-oh-oh WhoaOoh-oh
I'll get him hard, show him what I've got

Can't read my,
Can't read my
No he can't read my poker face
She's got ta love nobody
Can't read my
Can't read my
No he can't read my poker face
She's got ta love nobody

Pah pah pah poker face, Pah pah pah poker face
Muh muh muh ma
Pah pah pah poker face, Pah pah pah poker face
Muh muh muh ma

I wanna roll with him a hard pair we will be
I dont give a crap about whales so go and hugh a tree
I Love It
Russian Roulette is not the same without a gun
And baby when it's love if it's not rough it isn't fun. Fun.; 3/17/10, 2:38 AM
kentuckyliz said...: “May those who love us, love us; and those who don't love us, may God turn their hearts; and if He doesn't turn their hearts, may he turn their ankles so we'll know them by their limping.”

My parents were English. I asked an English cousin how it ended up that we were English and Catholic, since it was illegal and oppressed in England for centuries. He said some generations back we came over from County Clare, Ireland, for work. My last name is a common family name there. I was delighted to find out I'm partly Irish in background, as my Irish friends always suspected I had a touch o the blood.

My Anglophile sibs were not so happy...they had imbibed the snobby attitude towards the Irish, perhaps from ECUSA membership--I've sussed out the snobby attitude there.

I am wearing a green cardi and tank top today, and silver trinity celtic knot earrings, and a rosary bracelet with green shamrock stamped ceramic beads and a celtic cross dangling from it.

Kiss Me, I Really Am At Least Part Irish!

And happy birthday, jaltcoh.; 3/17/10, 5:59 AM
kentuckyliz said...: ^ I found out about my Irishness when this cousin was visiting for my father's funeral in July 2008. I've not known long! This is the second St Paddy's Day I've known I'm Irish. It's not celebrated around here, even though it's a Scots Irish area, but not much of a drinking area. Appalachian Calvinist fundie Baptist Bible beater religion. They don't know how to properly celebrate with alcohol socially. They can only drink in a damaging extreme way because they demonize alcohol and don't leave the option open for moderate social drinking. Pity.; 3/17/10, 6:02 AM
Lynne said...: Many happy returns o' the day to my fellow commenters of Irish descent! I'm wearing the small, silver Celtic-cross earings set with a green stone that my sweetheart gave me a few years ago.
He's been saying he needs something orange to wear to work today as he is of Scots ancestry.
I suspect any small local earthquakes are due to the twirling of our ancestors as they watch us together day to day.
Which, in the end, makes both of us perfectly American.; 3/17/10, 6:22 AM
Christy said...: Happy Birthday, JAC!; 3/17/10, 6:38 AM
KCFleming said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/17/10, 6:54 AM
KCFleming said...: Glad tidings to JAC and mother. Our daughter came home on St. Patrick's day, after being born a few days prior by C-section after 54 hour's labor ("out the window rather thru the front door" as Steven Wright noted). I can still see her in a little green knit cap, propped up on our tattered couch, eyes ablaze in wonder, and I was thinking: 'Now what?"

kentuckyliz, welcome to the Irish diaspora.

Padraig (St. Patrick) successfully converted that backward isle with what Akenson called "...a victorious formula. "I will tell you a tale you already know, but whose meaning was hidden from you." Later, one of his retinue asks Padraig if it was really such a great idea to adapt pagan beliefs, rather than snuff them out.

Padraig sighs and allows himself the trace of a smile. "I imagine that God met these people before I did."; 3/17/10, 7:06 AM
Fred4Pres said...: Happy Birthday. So over the years, how many of the cakes have been green?; 3/17/10, 7:13 AM
Fred4Pres said...: Evacuation day elsewhere too.; 3/17/10, 7:17 AM
salvage said...: You're going to get drunk on a green box of wine?; 3/17/10, 7:23 AM
salvage said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/17/10, 7:23 AM
kjbe said...: Happy Birthday JAC and sister-in-law, Kris Lane (yeah, I forgot a card...again).; 3/17/10, 7:31 AM
Treacle said...: i was thinking it meant green panties.; 3/17/10, 7:41 AM
JAL said...: I am part Irish also.

I got bit by an Irish setter once.

And Happy Birthday JAC.

(And is the river in Chicago really green today?); 3/17/10, 7:47 AM
chickelit said...: Happy Birthday, JAC!; 3/17/10, 8:24 AM
Peter V. Bella said...: Happy Birthday JAC. Is mom baking a cake? Is she staying home and baking cookies?

Or, are you all gong to do the traditional adult thing and go out and tie one on?; 3/17/10, 9:32 AM
Fred4Pres said...: Obligatory Latvian Irish theme music.; 3/17/10, 9:33 AM
Roman said...: Dittos!!; 3/17/10, 9:51 AM
From Inwood said...: Happy St. Paddy's Day to all, from one of the Ould Inwood Irish.

And Happy Birthday to your boyo, Prof A.

Two WSJ articles today on the Irish Americans:

Visiting Cagney's Neighborhood
Hollywood's version of the Irish-American world.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704131404575117904191346996.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEFTTopOpinion

&

Songs for Kellys and Cohens

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704131404575118133214075118.html?mod=WSJ_LifeStyle_Lifestyle_5; 3/17/10, 10:16 AM
ken in tx said...: Kentuckyliz, happy St. Pat's day. Glad you got the Scots Irish thing right. So many people refer to the Scotch Irish, which is two different kinds of whisky--correctly spelled without the e. BTW, around the seminary in Louisville, there is a popular drink called The Presbyterian. I don't remember what's in it except Scotch. Anyway, St. Patrick's mission occurred before the separation of our churches, so we should both be allowed to take part.; 3/17/10, 11:40 AM
Anonymous said...: St Patricks Day is trending on Twitter. I talked about it on my show from NYC http://bit.ly/939R8C; 3/17/10, 3:29 PM