Another "What trumps paddling post..."

I spent from August 28 through September 1 in Omaha and KC. I saw my favorite band, Gaelic Storm, three nights in a row and attended the KC Irish Fest through the Labor Day Weekend. It was a blast! The best bands were by far GS, The Elders, and Scythian. I also really enjoyed the Wild Clover Band, The Barra MacNeils, and Pogey. What the heck it was all great. I may have built Enter The Haggis up too much in my head, but I still enjoyed their show. Some video clips from the weekend:

Bad Haggis

The Barra MacNeils


Damien Dempsey performing Rocky Road To Dublin

The Elders



The Elders with a dancer.

The Elders with Enter The Haggis

The Elders with pipers.

Enter The Haggis




Gaelic Storm


Gaelic Storm - The Night I Punched Russell Crowe

Gaelic Storm with dancers

Gaelic Storm's Ryan Lacey

Gaelic Storm - Lover's Wreck

Gaelic Storm - Mechanical Bull

GS - What's The Rumpus

GS - Slim Jim and the Seven Eleven Girl

Pogey - Excursion Around The Bay

Pogey - Walk With Me

Pogey - What I want

Scythian.




Wild Clover Band... I found a Moore Street Girl!

And she had a friend...

Slideshow of some pictures:

What trump's paddling?

I did not get any paddling in this weekend. Though I do have some pictures on my hard drive from the past week or so that I still need to post sometime. But what trumped paddling this weekend, you ask? The Minnesota Irish Fair in Saint Paul, Minnesota! Great music, great times, great fun! Some examples of bands performing music: Flogging Molly, Wild Colonial Bhoys, Scythian, and The Elders. Also, I ran the 5k there on Saturday and posted my second sub 22 minute time this summer.

Scythian playing Devil Went Down To Georgia on Friday evening.


Scythian playing Cubicles and Tylenol on Friday evening.


Flogging Molly playing Rebels of the Sacred Heart on Friday night.


Flogging Molly playing Devil's Dance Floor on Friday night.


Wild Colonial Bhoys @ the Crossroads Stage on Friday night.




Crowd getting down to Wild Colonial Bhoys @ Crossroads Stage Friday night.


Ring of Kerry playing Rocky Road To Dublin.


Wild Colonial Bhoys @ Main Stage Saturday evening




The Elders and dizziness.


A friend of mine crowd surfing during Flogging Molly Saturday night. The security people failed to catch him, but he is fine.


How to lighten a crowd @ a Flogging Molly concert.


Flogging Molly on Saturday night. (Requiem for a dying soul)


McKinnis' Kitchen playing Lukey @ the Gateway Stage on Sunday.


The Fuschia Band and a song about playing a trick on a piper.


The Elders playing Sunday evening.




Water Drum!


The Elders playing Racing the Tide.




The Elders and the lovely Finnegan's Girls.


Scattering Set


After the festivities on Sunday, my friends and I went up to The Liffey (two of us were staying at the Holiday Inn in the same building) for supper and we enjoyed some bands playing until midnight. I even managed to ride in the elevator with the Elders.

Picture Slide Show:

PiratesoftheMissouri.com

I have just setup a new blog for my future paddling posts at my domain: http://www.piratesofthemissouri.com

This blog will be dedicated to all other posts... which tends to be concerts any more ;)

La Framboise Island Circumnavigation

As expected I went kayaking this afternoon. Today I circumnavigated La Framboise Island. The total cruise length was 6.0 miles.
As you can tell from my map I ventured through the inlet to get in between the island proper and the sandbar.

"Inlet"

North end of "Inlet"

A duck taking flight.

Bad River Expedition

Despite winds gusting in excess of 20mph (I think the gusts were close to 30, but I am not sure), I went out kayaking yesterday. I put in at the mouth of the Bad River and paddled upstream to minimize the affect of the wind on me.
The distance totaled 5.4 miles and, as you can see from the map, nearly reached the first Ft Pierre swimming hole (sewage lagoon). The point I chose to turn around at is the lone rapid on the Bad River. Not really much of a rapid but oh well.
I could not get any closer to the rapid because the water was too shallow. Had I portaged around this point, I don't think I would have found much more water further upstream either. By July, I probably won't even be able to make it this far.

Well, I better be getting ready for church; I will be going paddling later today though I am not sure where at yet.

Pierre Kayak Club Debut

The debut paddle for the Pierre Kayak Club went well. Or at least it was the first paddle I participated in. Since I am the third member, I am not sure if it can be considered a club before me ;)

I ended up paddling about 7.5 miles yesterday and it felt great!
I got some good shots of the pelicans.
And Scruff is starting to work on his kayak barnstormer routine.
Thanks to J_T_Adler, the founder of the Pierre Kayak Club, we have proof of three kayaks being out on Saturday!

Second Paddle of 2008... with pics!

I went out kayaking for the second time in 2008 this evening and I even have pictures this time!

The red path is my paddle from yesterday (2.6 miles) and the yellow is from this evening (3.5 miles).

Scruffy looking around for a ship to board ;)

Scruff taking a brief nap while enjoying the sun.

Taking a break on shore.

A shot of my kayak with it's spiffy new splash deck alongside my dog and first mate, Scruffy.

First Paddle of 2008.

Went out paddling today. I didn't take my camera, but I did try out my new splash deck and it worked well.

Saint Patrick's Day 2008

Well, I spent St Patrick's Day in Minneapolis and it was a great time. I don't have many (any?) readers and most of you were invited along but everyone except one could not attend. So I'll try to show what you missed. Simply put, a friend and I spent the day between Kieran's, O'Donovan's, and the Guthrie Theater.

I don't recall the names of all the groups we saw, but a quick highlight of my favorites: McInnis' Kitchen, Alicia Corbett, The Wild Colonial Bhoys. The Brian Boru Pipe Band made an appearance at many locations across the city and we caught them at O'Donovan's. The top reason for choosing Minneapolis was that Gaelic Storm was playing at the Guthrie Theater that night. I have to say, the Guthrie is the single coolest theater I have ever been in. No such thing as a bad seat there!

Next up, a slide show of pictures I took yesterday.





And finally, as I am known for taking videos at concerts... or my camera is known for being decent at video clips, some videos I uploaded to youtube.

Review for Jumper

Damn good movie. They rushed it a bit and it might be a little confusing without reading all three books (for the general idea(s)) but it was entertaining and enjoyable. Once again I laugh in the face of the so-called critics ;)

THE AWSOMEST SUMMER

I will dare to make a prediction for this summer. Last summer was great but this summer will blast it away. The greatness can't even wait for summer! This Sunday I am heading to Minneapolis to spend St Patrick's Day listening to Gaelic Storm and The Wild Colonial Bhoys, among other local bands. I do pl;an to meet up with a college friend (though he does not blog) while I am up there. In May, I'll be traveling to Texas with my family to visit grandparents. I also will be attending a wedding in Deposit, NY and then taking in NYC while I am there. I am sure I'll find many a concert to go to, as well as, weekend paddling opportunities. FYI, I believe the Clumsy Lovers are in Minneapolis sometime this summer. My whitewater trip might get postponed due to the combination of Texas and NY. Though if I can get it done over a weekend (maybe take a half day on a Friday) I'll go through with it. There are many more things I could mention, but I'll wait until closer to time.

This summer is going to be LEGEN... wait for it... DARY!

Revenge is Damp

Apparently I am trying the forward by reverse method of improving my Sea3d rank, but that is not the point of this post. Yesterday I ventured into my local library, I ended up checking out a book called A Dog's Life. So far this is a hilarious book... at least for me (a dog person). It is written from the perspective of the author's adopted dog. So far the best quote is "Revenge is damp." I recommend this book to anyone that considers themselves a dog person.

Back to Sea3d

It really is too bad I was born in the 20th century. I should have been born when much of the world was unexplored... primarily the age of sail. I bring this up not just because of my skills in the outdoors but because I have returned to playing Sea3d after close to 6 mos. absence. Sea3d is an online free version of Settlers of Catan. I consider myself to be quite good (and a little lucky) at the game. My highest rank on the site was 198 in October 2006 (std 4 player) and I am now trying work back to it from 430. To give a little insight to the ranks, there are 1,960 active players.

EDITED TO ADD: At 8:34 tonight I am at rank 378.

To One Great Week!

This has been a great week for me. Lately I have been getting bored and tired of my job, but this week I managed to find new energy for my job and the week went by quickly. The greatness is because I have discovered two new groups in Pierre that could provide me with much entertainment and fun in the near future.

Pierre Young Professionals had a social tonight to kickoff this new group. Apparently the founders doubted what there turnout would be, but it seemed great. We had to move to a larger building nearby for more space!

Thanks to the launch of the new SDCKA blog, I now know about the Pierre Kayak Club. Like I said it has been a good week. There was another great thing, but I will refrain from mentioning it specifically so as not to jinx it ;)

Life is Good, Life is Great, Life is Grand!

Kayaking is sexy...

Kayaking is sexy, how else does this older gentleman score this entourage?

(Photo courtesy of Canoe & Kayak magazine)

Just hasn't worked for me... yet ;)

Life is good, life is great, life is grand!

My Fav Youtube Videos

I can't let foolhardiness die... this blog will continue strong (somehow I am re-motivated to blog). Here are the youtube videos that I have favorited:

too many wants, not enough greenbacks

There are many things I am currently looking at getting, but I need to prioritize. This blog entry is more for myself than anyone else.

1. My pickup is missing two wheel caps and I found a better deal than the Chevrolet dealer in town.($35/ea.)
   
2. I also would like to get a cradle to attach to my rack to protect my kayak better. ($120 for either set)
3. Either $500 to have a spray-in liner put into my pickup bed or a $100 for a kit to do it myself (a lot of work though).
4. $950 for another kayak
   

I also would like to get myself a 42" LCD TV but I have a CD that I have called my new TV fund that is going to mature in 6 months (though I have rolled it over twice already).

I don't think the government should be handing out these refunds but I am not about to send mine back either. Instead of sticking in the bank for my ever dropping interest rates maybe I'll put it towards some of these items!

Conspirators Start Your Engines!

Now this could be interesting...

I have my canary...

I haven't been blogging much lately because I haven't had much to share with the online community. But before I share anything today, I first need to explain yesterday's post.

My friend, Cutler, met Julia through eHarmony this last fall (I think) and they are now engaged. This is the best advertising for eHarmony; now those that know either Cutler or Julia have an proof that it can succeed. That is why I decided to join eHarmony a couple of weeks ago. I have already found a couple of young women that I am interested in and have began to send emails through eHarmony. Will I have the same luck as Cutler? Time will tell, but it is easier than trying to figure out who is single in the bars! (well assuming everyone is honest on eHarmony, but I'd imagine the cost minimizes falsehoods)

Recipe for a Great Saturday

1. Get up at 5AM.
2. Coffee Up and Shower.
3. Head to RC.
4. Dunn Brothers Irish Cream Latte
5. Breakfast and coffee with Cutler and Julia at IHOP.
6. Few minor errands, Phoenix To Go, head back to Pierre (one last coffee from Dunn Brothers).
7. Scrumptious General Tsao's Chicken for supper.
8. Judd Hoos show at the Longbranch (downtown Pierre).
9. Back home at 1:30AM (technically Sunday).
10. Send email about recipe for a great Saturday ;)
11. Realize there are still two days left in this three day weekend! Oh wait, none of you are privileged government employees ;)

Time to "get re-psyched"

I really need to get re-psyched about blogging. So a week or two ago, I did something I have not done since before college (maybe even high school). I went exploring much like my wanderings in Yakima. I chose the hill behind my apartment, the public library, and the YMCA.



As you can see the Cultural Heritage Center is built into the hillside! I've always been very impressed with this structure.

Also, I was finally took the time to change a few lyrics to the Big and Rich song Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy:

(Intro)
DUM-DE-DE-DUM, DE-DE-DUM-DE-DE-DUM, DE-DAA-DAAAAA
DUM-DE-DE-DUM, DE-DE-DUM-DE-DE-DUM, DE-DAA-DAA-DAA-DAA-DAAAA!

Well, I walk into the room
Passing out Spanish pieces of eight
And it kills and it thrills like the masthead on my Sloop bow
And I buy the bar a double round of rum
And everybody's getting down
An' this town ain't never gonna be the same.

(Chorus:)
Cause I batten down my hatches
And I sail into the city
I make a lot of noise
Cause the girls
They are so pretty
Paddling ashore
In my old kayak Leroy
And the girls say
Save a boat, Sail a pirate.
Everybody says
Save a boat, Sail a pirate

Well I don't give a dang about nothing
I'm singing and Bling- Blanging
While the girls are drinking
Long necks down!
And I wouldn't trade ol' Leroy
Or my Sloop for your Escalade
Or your freak parade
I'm the only Blackbeard left in this town

(Chorus:)

(Spoken:)
I'm a frigate
That's what she said
In the bottom of my sloop hold
As I was gettin' buzzed on suds
Out on some empty blue sea.
We where flying high
Fine as wine, having ourselves a big and rich time
And I was going, just about as far as she'd let me go.
But her evaluation
Of my pirate reputation
Had me begging for salvation
All night long
So I took her out giggin frogs
Introduced her to my old island parrot
And sang her every Bilge Pump song I could think of

And we made love
(Chorus:)

What? What?
Save A Boat Sail A Pirate
Everybody says
Save a Boat Sail a Pirate.

A friend told me, "You sir have earned a place in the Club of Awesome Parodiers, wherever they are."

I replied, "So, Weird Al's basement?" Cletus T Judd might be a better fit ;)

A sad day for adventure seekers....

Edmund Hillary died yesterday. To commemorate his passing I propose that everyone find the tallest point within your town, go to the top, and reflect upon living life to the fullest and the great outdoors ;)