I mean the bizarre, ignorant and downright idiotic, with regards to our shared passions here, music and dance. So, as a seed I'll begin ~
North Donegal, late 70s, a group of us laying into a lovely set of barndances. In walks a very attractive young lady, in her 20s, and it takes out attention, and she has an instrument case. She comes over and space is made with a nod of welcome. We bring the set to a close. She comments in a strong American accent, with a kind of huff and a swing of her lovely mane, "That's not Irish. Where's the reels?"
That might be an over simplification of it. We were rude in response. I know that interest in her didn't last and that she found her own way back to wherever it was she'd come from, possibly Ontario? ( I hope nobody quotes me... )
"That's not Irish. Where's the reels"...may have been her chat up line to all and sundry...and where Donegal lads might not find their cue, us Corkonians would be in there with a reel like a rat up a drainpipe. In fact we'd probably play said reel, backwards, sideways, inside out, jigify it (sorry!), hornpipe it, and have it with a chaser in order that said attractive young woman's need was appropriately acknowledged.
We'd been holding a weekly session in a pub for going on two years. At the end of the session one day, the publican says to the session leader (who he'd been paying for two years to run a session) "You guys have been practicing for two years. When are you going to start playing?" Needless to say, we were out of there shortly thereafter, although I don't think the publican got any of his money back.
Someone asked at a fiddler at a session "Do you know the gravel walks. The fiddler thought for a minute and says Ive often seen pebble dash but never gravel walk
She had a point. I must say that barndances were not played all that much in the Gaeltacht of north west Donegal. My father said he never heard a single barndance played when he was growing up there, his uncles said the same. The first time I heard a barndance played live was by Altan. We do make a distinction between the old Irish tunes (which for us include highlands) and the very recently introduced tunes polkas, mazurkas, and Austrian barndances. There is a movement around these days that claims that barndances, and the rest, were the real music of the people in Donegal, this case has been vastly overstated. And the disproportionate space given to barndances in recent releases of archive material is a symptom of this unjustified new dogma.
Back in the late 70s I was in a Tyneside pub with a couple of mates. I forget the circumstances - maybe it was bang on closing time, or something - but our presence seemed to annoy the landlord; or, maybe one of us said or did something calculated to annoy him, which is perfectly possible. ("Can we play tunes here?" - "NO!" : that may have been it...)
We mooched about dissing this gloomy hell-hole and wondering aloud if they had anything except unspeakable keg cr*p to drink. The barman seethed. Eventually I pointed at a couple of hand-pumps at one end of the bar. "Anything in those?", I asked.
"NO!", he snapped. "THEY'RE FALLACIES!"
Convulsed with guffaws, we scarpered before he could throw a stool at us.
There is another word that sounds just like "fallacies", but is spelt differently...
"Do you know that tune? You must know it ? Play it for us. It goes diddley diddley diddley diddley diddley diddley.......... " continues ad nauseam.....
Well, Steve, I'm not the type of person you are probably talking about, but there actually is a valid argument about what zippy said. I'm not defending provincial American thinking at all, but how if you take a survey of all people from North and South America, how many Mexicans would call themselves American? How many Venezuelans would be considered Americans? Brazillians? Chileans? And so on. I would argue that most people of the world consider the term "American" as meaning one from the USA. However, I would say that Canadians have the most liklihood of being considered American also, because of a common language and some geneaology. I am American, but no, I do not drive a large pickup truck with a gun rack, nor do I prefer Coors to Newcastle, and trust me, there are plenty USA citizens who would question my being American because of it. There is a difference between American and Ugly American. I like to think I fall into the former category.
To help bring the thread back on-topic, my favorite comeback to obnoxious, belligerent people who say daft things in bars, regardless of the type of music, is "I remember my first beer."
I was once approached by some uncultured sloth and asked if I could play "Deliverence" . I replied "If you want Deliverence go to church"!
Incidentally if anyone ever comes across a bloke referrring to "The Ancient traditional celtic drum" that was another reply to a stupid question.
At a friends gig a few weeks ago after listening to ' Where do you go to my lovely?' A lady on the next table was asking a lady on my table who had sang the song originally. I pointed out that I thought it was Peter Sarstadt.
She looked at me thoughtfully and said "no no it was that guy you know. Who was the white Bob Dylan?" After a few stunned seconds I suggested that Dylan was the white Bob Dylan but that perhaps she was thinking of Donovan. "yes, she said that was him he did it " and went on to say that the only song she knew Peter Sarstadt for was ' My Resistance is Low' I gave up on the conversation at this point.
On the American/Canuckian thing, I've been lately referring to those of us who carry the Uncle Sam passport as "USonians", after Frank Lloyd Wright, particularly on line. People seem to get it, and it's less obnoxious than "America=USA, deal with it".
Are we the ONLY ones that live in North or South AMERICA?
Certainly not, Steve...r, but you're the only ones who call yourselves Americans.
ceolachan knows this very well, I think. He must have had a senior moment.
Quote from a very old fiddler at a session in Carlow in the 1970s, before launching into a fine set of reels:
"The cuckoo..... does she have a mother?
........Or is she a bastard?"
Once, when I was opening the case of my haamerd dulcimer, a lday came and asked me "Is it a music instrument" (now I do know I'm taking risk telling HD stories on this board...). I answered "no, it's an industrial device for cutting hard-boiled eggs to a standrd sandwich size", and then she - very seriously asked "Oh it must be efficent.."... when I started playing she came back, quite crossed, telling me I was bad to kid her...
Too often 'Canadian' is used for the reason of making a 'strong' seperation, a kind of "It's O.K., I'm not American, I'm Canadian." Having lived in both places and seen the rape of natural resources and the abuse of various poisons, and the corrupted and corrupting influences of govenments, greed and self interest ~ I don't see it as being that different, even when Bush was in government in the south of North America... They're all 'Americans' to me, in a North American across the Atlantic sort of being...
Back to daft quotes ~
"You're American?"
"Hell no, I'm from Ontario!" ~ ?
Now there's a province surrounded by poisoned waters and land... And a lovely lady fiddler as thick as two planks...
"USonians" ~ love it...
Barndances, Germans, Highland Flings ~ just good music to play, not distinctly 'Donegal', but I've played them all there too, as elsewhere in Northwest Ireland and beyond... Now if we eliminated all musical forms that weren't being played in Ireland before the 1500s we'd be damned short of music to play... I loved the variety of music I found being played in Donegal, including reels and jigs... I found that variety of dance and music all over the county in the 70s, in action and in memory...
English, Irish, Scottish, it's all the same thing... Might as well call you all British and be done with it, eh?
That's the same thing you're doing when you're calling everyone from Canada an American. It's not the same, and it is usually considered an insult, or at least not very polite. Not *quite* as strong a reaction as you'd get calling an irish person british...
Question from an interested polite visitor to our grumpy banjo player at a session some years ago. "Is that a Ukulele that you are playing"?
Answer from grumpy banjo player " No it's bagpipes"
Nice polite customer "How would you like your bagpipes showed up your arse, chanter end first then?'
There then followed an interesting discussion between the pair which I'll leave to your imagination.
Incidentally I often write to a relative in Ontario - Oregon in the good old US of A!!!
My Spanish teacher in high school was Peruvian, and said that in her experience, people of South America do call themselves Americans, to differentiate between Spanish-people on either side of the Atlantic.
Re: barndances etc.
There's an interview with Patrick Kelly of Cree, done by Ciaran mac Mathuna and transcribed by Brendan Taaffe, in which Patrick discusses the older types of tunes which used to be more popular in his corner of West Clare. His response is - polkas, mazurkas, Schottisches, and the like! He even remarks that when John Kelly last called he played a tune for him called "the Prince's Imperial Gallope"...who knows?
Nico ~ I stand by it. 'Americans'. I've never liked how folks have tried to make a strong distinction as if 'American' were an insult, as I have too often seen it used, but 'Canadian' were a complement. I'm more interested in the regionality of it all ~ Newfoundlanders, Cape Bretoners, Bostonians, Oregonians, Portlanders, New Yorkers, etc... Beyond that, it's North America, Central America, South America, but Mexico, and all it's regions, and Honduras, Brazil, now that kind of fine detail I do appreciate greatly... I should have started this as a wind-up on its own. I did hesitate before letting it slip out above.
Now where's me fiddle? There's music to tend to tonight...
In a pub in north London, old Irish geezer comes over to talk to the musicians.
Geezer: And where are ye all from lads?
Mandolin player: "Dublin"
Geezer - "Grand"
Guitarist "I'm from Finglas - He's from Cabra"
Geezer - "ah fair play to ye"
Me: "Carlow"
Geezer - "Go on Carlow!"
Fiddler (the most talented of us by far): "Croydon"
Geezer "Ah well, you're in good company!"
"That's not Irish. Where's the reels?"(in the same place as the beef in the infamous Wendy's commercials) Is this an example of a "reel" question or is it a "fake" question?
Thank you for that funny definition of a hammer dulcimer, Nikita Pfister. I will have to tell that to two friends from the old time folk music group who play hammer dulcimer.
"Hmmm. 'the Prince's Imperial Gallope'...
Would that be Camilla, then?('Neigh' she says)"
LOL, Forrest Tucker, that was funny although I live in the United States instead of Great Britain.
@nico: Actually, as far as I can recall, English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish _are_ all "British"... What _I_ object to is people using "English" as a general term for all citizens of the UK.
It is a bit sad how "American" has become mildly pejorative, even if there are plenty of my fellow countrymen doing their part to justify it's pejorative-ness. I had friends who were traveling and put Canadian flag stickers on their luggage, even though they were from Colorado! I am frequently asked if I am Canadian. When I have asked why people ask if I am Canadian rather than American, they explain that the Canadians get ticked off and insulted when you assume they are American whereas Americans are not that bothered if you ask if they're Canadian.
Yeah, sorry if that was rude, lol it was a pretty bad day.
I suppose i was thinking more of overseas. When I went to Europe and people asked me where I'm from, if I just said "America" they'd look at me funny so I ended up telling people I was "from the U.S.". Kind of like if you met a foreigner and asked where they were from and they replied "Europe" instead of Germany or France or whatever, they answered your question but at the same time not really since that much was probably obvious..... sorry my posts had nothing to do with the topic too... I did get called a "punter" in a cd shop in dublin though. was a little offended, but only cuz it was said so rudely, lol.
1) Would that be "The Prince Imperial's Galop" at all for your tune?
2) I too object to being called British! I am English, despite the fact that I regard England as being "that foreign bit of Yorkshire"!
I'm an American/USonian/etc. asking for help here. Is "punter" offensive? I just thought it was a general colloquialism for a bar patron. If that's the case then I guess it's all a matter of context, as a bar patron can be malignant, benign, or anywhere in between.
Punter can be offensive because it immediately delineates 'us', and 'you others'; the punters, We are the providers and you the consumers. Its not just a bar word, but used in many forms of trade.
I'm in a better mood today, music last night and this morning, and some very 'reflective'... I've enjoyed this, some laughs and also some things to think about as well, almost like some of the chat that has happened when I've gotten together with others for a little music. Thanks, and yes, despite being in a shight mood over Microsoft gremlins and a faulty fuel system on our car ~ I've mostly been laughing through this...
You're a great lot of nutters, and mostly it makes me feel at home here in this funny farm...
Was playing in a quiet pub, only some US tourists there. 'What's that tune?'. After saying it was 'The Glencolmcille', they wanted to know what that was. So one of the musicians went on at some length about how the town in Donegal was named after the saint, Colm Cille. After which one of the Americans came out with:
Where did all those jigs and reels and hornpipes come from? According to the Co Sligo flute player Seamus Tansey, they came from:
"The singing of the birds, the ancient chants of our forefathers, the calls of the wild animals in the lonely countryside
the drone of the bees and the galloping hooves of the wild horses."
"When I went to Europe and people asked me where I'm from, if I just said "America" they'd look at me funny so I ended up telling people I was "from the U.S.". Kind of like if you met a foreigner and asked where they were from and they replied "Europe" instead of Germany or France or whatever..."
That's interesting. In the British Isles, 'America/American' = 'USA', unless otherwise specified (We use terms like 'North America', 'South America', 'The Americas', 'The American Continent' etc. for anything else.). But perhaps that is not the case anywhere else in Europe. In Portugal, the term 'Americano' usually refers to a Latin American and then, by default usually to a Brazilian, since they make up the majority of South Americans in Portugal.
Ceolachan: "the corrupted and corrupting influences of govenments, greed and self interest."
Now, that's just depressing! Makes me want to move back to Ireland where of course you'll find none of that, it being a vastly more enlightened and totally moral place altogether.
Until then, it's back to abusing some poison for me...
"And yet another thread degenerates into Star Trek." At least this time it isn't my fault (said the recovering Trekkie) I used to have to attend weekly meetings of Trekkies Anonymous but my recovery has progressed so far by now that it has been many years since I have needed to attend a TA meeting.
"Until then, it's back to abusing some poison for me..."
"Save some of that poison for me..."
I will gladly drink to that if I had some Shiner Bock but I am at work right now and cannot drink anything alcoholic until I get home this evening.
Yes, Grego, there are plenty of H1N1 hand sanitizer dispensers in this hospital but I would get caught if I tried to get a buzz from them. Thank you for the suggestion, though.
And, what is furthermore, I got my official H1N1 shot Monday as mandated by law for all health care workers and I didn't like the way it made me feel for a few hours after I got shot.
Back to daft quotes, this one from me.
At band practice we were talking about an upcoming gig and how they would probably want us to play "Danny Boy", which we never play.
I said, "Well, I guess I'd better bone up my Derry Air."
Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
I mean the bizarre, ignorant and downright idiotic, with regards to our shared passions here, music and dance. So, as a seed I'll begin ~
North Donegal, late 70s, a group of us laying into a lovely set of barndances. In walks a very attractive young lady, in her 20s, and it takes out attention, and she has an instrument case. She comes over and space is made with a nod of welcome. We bring the set to a close. She comments in a strong American accent, with a kind of huff and a swing of her lovely mane, "That's not Irish. Where's the reels?"
That might be an over simplification of it. We were rude in response. I know that interest in her didn't last and that she found her own way back to wherever it was she'd come from, possibly Ontario? ( I hope nobody quotes me...
)
# Posted on October 21st 2009 by ceolachan
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
"That's not Irish. Where's the reels"...may have been her chat up line to all and sundry...and where Donegal lads might not find their cue, us Corkonians would be in there with a reel like a rat up a drainpipe. In fact we'd probably play said reel, backwards, sideways, inside out, jigify it (sorry!), hornpipe it, and have it with a chaser in order that said attractive young woman's need was appropriately acknowledged.
# Posted on October 21st 2009 by mickyfong
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
I smell another tee-shirt design in the works...
# Posted on October 21st 2009 by Reverend
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
We'd been holding a weekly session in a pub for going on two years. At the end of the session one day, the publican says to the session leader (who he'd been paying for two years to run a session) "You guys have been practicing for two years. When are you going to start playing?" Needless to say, we were out of there shortly thereafter, although I don't think the publican got any of his money back.
# Posted on October 21st 2009 by johnkerr
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
Yeah, well someone found out she was from Ontario...
She was a bit too much however, full of herself. There was no shortage of reels all night...
Corkonians and a skirt ~ any skirt!? ~
# Posted on October 21st 2009 by ceolachan
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
Someone asked at a fiddler at a session "Do you know the gravel walks. The fiddler thought for a minute and says Ive often seen pebble dash but never gravel walk
# Posted on October 21st 2009 by brians
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
Except Ceo if she was from Ontario she wasn't "American"...big difference....as you know eh?
Being from "America"...ie, the U.S.
Canadian are not Americans. U.S. citizens are Americans.
# Posted on October 21st 2009 by mtodd
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
"That's not Irish. Where's the reels?"
She had a point. I must say that barndances were not played all that much in the Gaeltacht of north west Donegal. My father said he never heard a single barndance played when he was growing up there, his uncles said the same. The first time I heard a barndance played live was by Altan. We do make a distinction between the old Irish tunes (which for us include highlands) and the very recently introduced tunes polkas, mazurkas, and Austrian barndances. There is a movement around these days that claims that barndances, and the rest, were the real music of the people in Donegal, this case has been vastly overstated. And the disproportionate space given to barndances in recent releases of archive material is a symptom of this unjustified new dogma.
# Posted on October 21st 2009 by whistleblower
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
Back in the late 70s I was in a Tyneside pub with a couple of mates. I forget the circumstances - maybe it was bang on closing time, or something - but our presence seemed to annoy the landlord; or, maybe one of us said or did something calculated to annoy him, which is perfectly possible. ("Can we play tunes here?" - "NO!" : that may have been it...)
We mooched about dissing this gloomy hell-hole and wondering aloud if they had anything except unspeakable keg cr*p to drink. The barman seethed. Eventually I pointed at a couple of hand-pumps at one end of the bar. "Anything in those?", I asked.
"NO!", he snapped. "THEY'RE FALLACIES!"
Convulsed with guffaws, we scarpered before he could throw a stool at us.
There is another word that sounds just like "fallacies", but is spelt differently...
# Posted on October 21st 2009 by nicholas
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
"Nice tunes. Now can you play us The Wild Rover?"
"Do you know that tune? You must know it ? Play it for us. It goes diddley diddley diddley diddley diddley diddley.......... " continues ad nauseam.....
# Posted on October 21st 2009 by sashiko calico
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
American Accent....Ontario
Was she from California?
Sorry
# Posted on October 21st 2009 by zippydw
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
Yeah, get on it, Pete - I can see it in me mind's eye. My sex, drugs and trad music shirt is nearing its last days.
# Posted on October 21st 2009 by will morgan
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
"Canadian are not Americans. U.S. citizens are Americans."
Really mtodd?...really? Are we the ONLY ones that live in North or South AMERICA? that's pretty lame...but really?
# Posted on October 21st 2009 by steve...r
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
sorry if that sounded too rude-you might have been joking- i just think its hillarious that people actually think that, lol
# Posted on October 21st 2009 by steve...r
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
Yes C - this is one of my favourite topics:
http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display/7966
The other is a chocolate bar with hazlenuts and nougat.... bedtime I think......
# Posted on October 21st 2009 by Nick Splease
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
I've never heard a Canadian call themselves American.
# Posted on October 21st 2009 by boxielady
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
Well, Steve, I'm not the type of person you are probably talking about, but there actually is a valid argument about what zippy said. I'm not defending provincial American thinking at all, but how if you take a survey of all people from North and South America, how many Mexicans would call themselves American? How many Venezuelans would be considered Americans? Brazillians? Chileans? And so on. I would argue that most people of the world consider the term "American" as meaning one from the USA. However, I would say that Canadians have the most liklihood of being considered American also, because of a common language and some geneaology. I am American, but no, I do not drive a large pickup truck with a gun rack, nor do I prefer Coors to Newcastle, and trust me, there are plenty USA citizens who would question my being American because of it. There is a difference between American and Ugly American. I like to think I fall into the former category.
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by Jimmy B
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
Oops. Sorry zippy, that was a brain fart, I meant to write mtodd. My apologies.
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by Jimmy B
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
To help bring the thread back on-topic, my favorite comeback to obnoxious, belligerent people who say daft things in bars, regardless of the type of music, is "I remember my first beer."
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by Jimmy B
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
I once told someone I played "mandolin and a little guitar".
She replied, "I thought a mandolin was a little guitar".
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by CleverName
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
^hahahahaha
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by Whiddler
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
You have lived up to your nom de guerre, CleverName!
Good one!
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by AlBrown
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
I was once approached by some uncultured sloth and asked if I could play "Deliverence" . I replied "If you want Deliverence go to church"!
Incidentally if anyone ever comes across a bloke referrring to "The Ancient traditional celtic drum" that was another reply to a stupid question.
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by Tony O'Rourke
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
"That's not Irish music... I've seen River Dance."
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by Phantom Button
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
At a friends gig a few weeks ago after listening to ' Where do you go to my lovely?' A lady on the next table was asking a lady on my table who had sang the song originally. I pointed out that I thought it was Peter Sarstadt.
She looked at me thoughtfully and said "no no it was that guy you know. Who was the white Bob Dylan?" After a few stunned seconds I suggested that Dylan was the white Bob Dylan but that perhaps she was thinking of Donovan. "yes, she said that was him he did it " and went on to say that the only song she knew Peter Sarstadt for was ' My Resistance is Low' I gave up on the conversation at this point.
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by flossie
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
On the American/Canuckian thing, I've been lately referring to those of us who carry the Uncle Sam passport as "USonians", after Frank Lloyd Wright, particularly on line. People seem to get it, and it's less obnoxious than "America=USA, deal with it".
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by Jon Kiparsky
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
"Where's the Reels"...
I love it
But that's because I can't help picturing it being uttered by the "Only and Excuse" characterisation of Frank MacAvennie.
Of course no-one outside of Scotland knows what I'm talking about.
-c hris
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by ramblingpitchfork
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
An overenthusiastic lady used to come along to our session and clap along to the tunes.
El Grumpo turned to her after one particularly bad offering and said "Clapping works so much better if it's in time to the music"
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by showaddydadito
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
Didn't they name a car park after him, chris? Think they might have made a film as well called The Burds!
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by strayaway
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
I know I'm being dull strayaway, but I don't get the car park joke. I have seen the film though
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by ramblingpitchfork
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
The car park on Soccer A.M. (a football show on Sky) is named after him.
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by strayaway
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
Are we the ONLY ones that live in North or South AMERICA?
Certainly not, Steve...r, but you're the only ones who call yourselves Americans.
ceolachan knows this very well, I think. He must have had a senior moment.
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by oldstrings
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
What did she have in the instrument case, c, and could she play it?
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by oldstrings
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
shockeroonie!
"I was once approached by some uncultured sloth and asked if I could play "Deliverence" "
A sloth? Ai!
I was asked by someone pointing at my mandolin "Can you play Duelling Banjoes on that ukelele?"
These days I just say "No worries, if you'll just bend over and squeal like a pig"
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by Bren
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
Right, thanks Strayaway - chris
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by ramblingpitchfork
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
The whole pig thing is a myth. I find they don't particularly squeel in that situation. Maybe I'm doing it wrong?
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by ramblingpitchfork
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
Quote from a very old fiddler at a session in Carlow in the 1970s, before launching into a fine set of reels:
"The cuckoo..... does she have a mother?
........Or is she a bastard?"
No. I still can't make sense of it.
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by RockyRoader
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
American, Canadians, North Americans, whatever...
It was a fiddle...
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by ceolachan
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
Once, when I was opening the case of my haamerd dulcimer, a lday came and asked me "Is it a music instrument" (now I do know I'm taking risk telling HD stories on this board...). I answered "no, it's an industrial device for cutting hard-boiled eggs to a standrd sandwich size", and then she - very seriously asked "Oh it must be efficent.."... when I started playing she came back, quite crossed, telling me I was bad to kid her...
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by Nikita Pfister
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
Too often 'Canadian' is used for the reason of making a 'strong' seperation, a kind of "It's O.K., I'm not American, I'm Canadian." Having lived in both places and seen the rape of natural resources and the abuse of various poisons, and the corrupted and corrupting influences of govenments, greed and self interest ~ I don't see it as being that different, even when Bush was in government in the south of North America... They're all 'Americans' to me, in a North American across the Atlantic sort of being...
Back to daft quotes ~
"You're American?"
"Hell no, I'm from Ontario!" ~ ?
Now there's a province surrounded by poisoned waters and land... And a lovely lady fiddler as thick as two planks...
"USonians" ~ love it...
Barndances, Germans, Highland Flings ~ just good music to play, not distinctly 'Donegal', but I've played them all there too, as elsewhere in Northwest Ireland and beyond... Now if we eliminated all musical forms that weren't being played in Ireland before the 1500s we'd be damned short of music to play... I loved the variety of music I found being played in Donegal, including reels and jigs... I found that variety of dance and music all over the county in the 70s, in action and in memory...
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by ceolachan
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
Nikita: "...an industrial device for cutting hard-boiled eggs..."
That's pretty funny. One time someone asked if there was a lecture in the pub today.
"A lecture?"
"Well, yer man over there's got a podium..."
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
"Yes, this is my friend Bob, he plays the table..."
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
Ceol, careful now!
English, Irish, Scottish, it's all the same thing... Might as well call you all British and be done with it, eh?
That's the same thing you're doing when you're calling everyone from Canada an American. It's not the same, and it is usually considered an insult, or at least not very polite. Not *quite* as strong a reaction as you'd get calling an irish person british...
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by Nico
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
Question from an interested polite visitor to our grumpy banjo player at a session some years ago. "Is that a Ukulele that you are playing"?
Answer from grumpy banjo player " No it's bagpipes"
Nice polite customer "How would you like your bagpipes showed up your arse, chanter end first then?'
There then followed an interesting discussion between the pair which I'll leave to your imagination.
Incidentally I often write to a relative in Ontario - Oregon in the good old US of A!!!
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by Free Reed
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
Re: Americans
My Spanish teacher in high school was Peruvian, and said that in her experience, people of South America do call themselves Americans, to differentiate between Spanish-people on either side of the Atlantic.
Re: barndances etc.
There's an interview with Patrick Kelly of Cree, done by Ciaran mac Mathuna and transcribed by Brendan Taaffe, in which Patrick discusses the older types of tunes which used to be more popular in his corner of West Clare. His response is - polkas, mazurkas, Schottisches, and the like! He even remarks that when John Kelly last called he played a tune for him called "the Prince's Imperial Gallope"...who knows?
--D
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by Danjo
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
Hmmm. "the Prince's Imperial Gallope"...
Would that be Camilla, then? ("Neigh" she says.)
Thanks, I'll be here all week....
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by tuckered out
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
I was in a hostel last week and this guy, who was wearing a camouflaged coloured kilt, asked me, "What's in the case."
"Irish bagpipes," I said.
"Oh," he said. "Why don't you play the Highland pipes?"
Feck off, mate, why don't you?
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by TheSilverSpear
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
Nico ~ I stand by it. 'Americans'. I've never liked how folks have tried to make a strong distinction as if 'American' were an insult, as I have too often seen it used, but 'Canadian' were a complement. I'm more interested in the regionality of it all ~ Newfoundlanders, Cape Bretoners, Bostonians, Oregonians, Portlanders, New Yorkers, etc... Beyond that, it's North America, Central America, South America, but Mexico, and all it's regions, and Honduras, Brazil, now that kind of fine detail I do appreciate greatly...
I should have started this as a wind-up on its own. I did hesitate before letting it slip out above.
Now where's me fiddle? There's music to tend to tonight...
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by ceolachan
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
In a pub in north London, old Irish geezer comes over to talk to the musicians.
Geezer: And where are ye all from lads?
Mandolin player: "Dublin"
Geezer - "Grand"
Guitarist "I'm from Finglas - He's from Cabra"
Geezer - "ah fair play to ye"
Me: "Carlow"
Geezer - "Go on Carlow!"
Fiddler (the most talented of us by far): "Croydon"
Geezer "Ah well, you're in good company!"
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by RockyRoader
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
"That's not Irish. Where's the reels?"(in the same place as the beef in the infamous Wendy's commercials) Is this an example of a "reel" question or is it a "fake" question?
Thank you for that funny definition of a hammer dulcimer, Nikita Pfister. I will have to tell that to two friends from the old time folk music group who play hammer dulcimer.
"Hmmm. 'the Prince's Imperial Gallope'...
Would that be Camilla, then?('Neigh' she says)"
LOL, Forrest Tucker, that was funny although I live in the United States instead of Great Britain.
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by fauxcelt
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
@nico: Actually, as far as I can recall, English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish _are_ all "British"... What _I_ object to is people using "English" as a general term for all citizens of the UK.
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by Crackpot
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
It is a bit sad how "American" has become mildly pejorative, even if there are plenty of my fellow countrymen doing their part to justify it's pejorative-ness. I had friends who were traveling and put Canadian flag stickers on their luggage, even though they were from Colorado! I am frequently asked if I am Canadian. When I have asked why people ask if I am Canadian rather than American, they explain that the Canadians get ticked off and insulted when you assume they are American whereas Americans are not that bothered if you ask if they're Canadian.
Nationality is a weird thing sometimes.
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by TheSilverSpear
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
Nationalism is a poison.
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by Lint - upon - Tweed
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
Yeah, sorry if that was rude, lol it was a pretty bad day.
I suppose i was thinking more of overseas. When I went to Europe and people asked me where I'm from, if I just said "America" they'd look at me funny so I ended up telling people I was "from the U.S.". Kind of like if you met a foreigner and asked where they were from and they replied "Europe" instead of Germany or France or whatever, they answered your question but at the same time not really since that much was probably obvious..... sorry my posts had nothing to do with the topic too... I did get called a "punter" in a cd shop in dublin though. was a little offended, but only cuz it was said so rudely, lol.
Anywho, time to play my banjo! :D
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by steve...r
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
1) Would that be "The Prince Imperial's Galop" at all for your tune?
2) I too object to being called British! I am English, despite the fact that I regard England as being "that foreign bit of Yorkshire"!
# Posted on October 22nd 2009 by Ebor_fiddler
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
I'm an American/USonian/etc. asking for help here. Is "punter" offensive? I just thought it was a general colloquialism for a bar patron. If that's the case then I guess it's all a matter of context, as a bar patron can be malignant, benign, or anywhere in between.
# Posted on October 23rd 2009 by Jimmy B
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
Punter can be offensive because it immediately delineates 'us', and 'you others'; the punters, We are the providers and you the consumers. Its not just a bar word, but used in many forms of trade.
# Posted on October 23rd 2009 by the wicked hacker
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
I'm sorry, USonian really sounds like it should be an alien race on Star Trek.
# Posted on October 23rd 2009 by TheSilverSpear
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
And yet another thread degenerates into Star Trek.
# Posted on October 23rd 2009 by TheSilverSpear
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
It could be (and has been) worse.
# Posted on October 23rd 2009 by tuckered out
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
I'm in a better mood today, music last night and this morning, and some very 'reflective'... I've enjoyed this, some laughs and also some things to think about as well, almost like some of the chat that has happened when I've gotten together with others for a little music. Thanks, and yes, despite being in a shight mood over Microsoft gremlins and a faulty fuel system on our car ~ I've mostly been laughing through this...
You're a great lot of nutters, and mostly it makes me feel at home here in this funny farm...
# Posted on October 23rd 2009 by ceolachan
Live long and prosper! \\//n
# Posted on October 23rd 2009 by ceolachan
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
More Americans:
Was playing in a quiet pub, only some US tourists there. 'What's that tune?'. After saying it was 'The Glencolmcille', they wanted to know what that was. So one of the musicians went on at some length about how the town in Donegal was named after the saint, Colm Cille. After which one of the Americans came out with:
'Ah, so was Glen his first name then?'
# Posted on October 23rd 2009 by continuo
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
# Posted on October 23rd 2009 by ceolachan
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
Silverspear:
>I'm sorry, USonian really sounds like it should be an alien >race on Star Trek.
If I remember correctly, many alien races on Star Treck really sounded like they were USonians.
# Posted on October 23rd 2009 by ramblingpitchfork
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
I know! Isn't it weird how everyone in the 24th century has an American accent? Except for bad guys like Cardassians who sound vaguely British.
# Posted on October 23rd 2009 by TheSilverSpear
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
I boot up the org this AM and what do I find?
1. Horrible puns on the Dick Mack thread
2. Star Trek in here
Ahyup, all is right with the mustard board this Friday, have a good weekend everybody!
# Posted on October 23rd 2009 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
Irish barndance ~ Vincent Broderick
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/1726
# Posted on October 23rd 2009 by Random_notes
Give it a rest c. ;)
Where did all those jigs and reels and hornpipes come from? According to the Co Sligo flute player Seamus Tansey, they came from:
"The singing of the birds, the ancient chants of our forefathers, the calls of the wild animals in the lonely countryside
the drone of the bees and the galloping hooves of the wild horses."
# Posted on October 23rd 2009 by Random_notes
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
"When I went to Europe and people asked me where I'm from, if I just said "America" they'd look at me funny so I ended up telling people I was "from the U.S.". Kind of like if you met a foreigner and asked where they were from and they replied "Europe" instead of Germany or France or whatever..."
That's interesting. In the British Isles, 'America/American' = 'USA', unless otherwise specified (We use terms like 'North America', 'South America', 'The Americas', 'The American Continent' etc. for anything else.). But perhaps that is not the case anywhere else in Europe. In Portugal, the term 'Americano' usually refers to a Latin American and then, by default usually to a Brazilian, since they make up the majority of South Americans in Portugal.
# Posted on October 23rd 2009 by OrganicPeatCreature
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
Ceolachan: "the corrupted and corrupting influences of govenments, greed and self interest."
Now, that's just depressing! Makes me want to move back to Ireland where of course you'll find none of that, it being a vastly more enlightened and totally moral place altogether.
Until then, it's back to abusing some poison for me...
# Posted on October 23rd 2009 by grego
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
Save some of that poison for me...
# Posted on October 23rd 2009 by ceolachan
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
"And yet another thread degenerates into Star Trek." At least this time it isn't my fault (said the recovering Trekkie) I used to have to attend weekly meetings of Trekkies Anonymous but my recovery has progressed so far by now that it has been many years since I have needed to attend a TA meeting.
"Until then, it's back to abusing some poison for me..."
"Save some of that poison for me..."
I will gladly drink to that if I had some Shiner Bock but I am at work right now and cannot drink anything alcoholic until I get home this evening.
# Posted on October 23rd 2009 by fauxcelt
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
Bock, now there's a poison I'm addicted to and can't get here... Sigh
# Posted on October 23rd 2009 by ceolachan
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
http://www.shiner.com/ ~ now it descends into drink... I think I need to go for a brew...
# Posted on October 23rd 2009 by ceolachan
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
I feel for you, Fauxcelt. Aren't there any of those anti-H1N1 hand sanitizer dispensers in your workplace? High alcohol content, from what I hear...
# Posted on October 23rd 2009 by grego
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
It's okay to descend into the drink just so long as you don't drown in it.
# Posted on October 23rd 2009 by fauxcelt
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
Yes, Grego, there are plenty of H1N1 hand sanitizer dispensers in this hospital but I would get caught if I tried to get a buzz from them. Thank you for the suggestion, though.
And, what is furthermore, I got my official H1N1 shot Monday as mandated by law for all health care workers and I didn't like the way it made me feel for a few hours after I got shot.
# Posted on October 23rd 2009 by fauxcelt
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
Back to daft quotes, this one from me.
At band practice we were talking about an upcoming gig and how they would probably want us to play "Danny Boy", which we never play.
I said, "Well, I guess I'd better bone up my Derry Air."
# Posted on October 31st 2009 by CleverName
Re: Daft quotes from sessions and beyond ~
Very good, CleverName. What did the other band members think of your comment?
# Posted on October 31st 2009 by fauxcelt