Today Travalon and I got going in time to go to the earlier Mass closer to us so we could get to Willy Street in time for the annual parade. As always, it was a crazy affair with the Brazilian drumming group, the Bubblemobile, a bunch of post-menopausal women dancing around while dressed as the Statue of Liberty, people on stilts, people fiddling, children on unicycles, a Balkan dance band, political chants, the Forward Marching Band, and two different LGBTQ floats, one of which threw me a piece of candy. (This list is not all-inclusive.) Like, right to me - there were no children around me. It reminded me of when the guy on that Mardi Gras float in Mobile, Alabama threw Hannibal O'Leary the Lime Green Lion right to me. After the parade, we went to the stand with the baobab shakes and the rice jollof, but we should have looked around more, because now there's a stand with tastier jollof and cheaper baobab shakes, as well as the place with the incredible lamb kebabs, but after splitting two servings of jollof, we had no room for them. I bought a pair of sunglasses to support our local radio station, and Travalon bought a Meep Meepleton T-shirt, his favorite shop on Willy Street full of vintage toys. I saw a faculty member and some of my Union peeps. On the way to the festival, we got coffee at Mother Fool's, who were doing a brisk business, and as we were leaving the festival, we got Dubai chocolate.
We met Mamastep, Anna Banana II, Jilly Moose, and OK Cap to see the final Downton Abbey movie, which was enjoyable but won't be winning any Oscars except maybe for costumes - the period outfits were fantastic. When the movie got done, I'd be late getting to the Irish session anyway, and also our band leader said no going to it, we were having band practice, so I went with the others to It's Good for You Pizza, where we sat outside and had an early dinner. Travalon and I hurried home so I could grab the mandolin, but before we headed to the far side of town, I checked my email, and the hostess had said, "See you all next week." I texted Hardingfele, who told me our leader had called her, and she wasn't going, and another fiddler was sick, and our bass player was going to the Irish session, so band practice was canceled. I wondered if our leader had actually gone to the Irish session and found me missing, so we headed over there, and I joined them for the final half-hour of the session. Sure enough, our leader was there, along with her partner, who was playing the ukulele. (As you find at all the traditional Irish sessions.) Famie was there too, but not the red-headed flute player, and our bass player was there with her fiddle, so I sat next to her, where I wouldn't be tempted to look at the music being projected onto a screen, because it was at my back. Our band leader said afterwards that since the bass player and I are always going to these Irish sessions anyway, the band will now go to them twice a month - that is, to all of them. I suspect part of this is because Hardingfele said she refuses to go to band practice every week, so if half the band is missing, then why practice? So if you can't beat 'em, join 'em... at the Irish session. We do supposedly have a gig coming up, so at some point we'll have to practice for that. Stay tuned...
Jilly Moose's nephews made her a clay moose head for her birthday.
This would have fit right in at the Willy Street Fair.
Famous Hat
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