The Even Slower Irish Jam

 

Today I worked on campus, and at lunch my colleague and I walked along the Lakeshore Path and then down to Library Mall to see the pro-Palestinian protest encampment. There are tents, which are illegal for some reason, and I didn't think to take a photo of those, but here is some sidewalk art.

It was very mellow when we were there, nobody was chanting or anything, but I read that later there was a fight down there. There were also people giving away free root beer, so we each took a bottle, but it wasn't cold... and then I noticed that it was diet... and then my colleague noticed that it was about to expire. No wonder they were giving it away to unsuspecting college students.

Of course my bus was late today, when I wasn't just going home and relaxing but had to head to an even slower Irish jam. It was at a distillery in Sun Prairie, and unlike the Slow Irish Jam at Cargo Coffee, where you can be sort of anonymous because there are always at least thirty musicians there, this was very small. I thought about bringing the fiddle, since this was advertised as VERY SLOW, learning each tune note by note, but in the end I brought the mandolin. We have been buddies for so long - even when I was a kid, I used to gaze at her longingly and fantasize about playing her. As it turned out, there were two other mandolin players, and the leader played a green fiddle made of carbon fiber, and then there were two people who just listened. I did enjoy an adult beverage there, and the proprietor joined us right at the end on his five-string banjo with a wooden body, so it had a more mellow tone than your usual banjo that is kind of like a drum head. The one mandolin player and I were not really beginners, so we picked up the two tunes we worked on quickly, and we even threw in some other tunes that we knew. It was so laid back; we spent at least as much time talking as playing. The one mandolin player says he has organized a medium Irish jam, but I'm not sure I'm ready for that. There is also a fast Irish jam at this distillery which is more popular, and people often come to just listen, so I may do that some time. I am definitely not ready to play in it!

Famous Hat