Cead Mille Failte! Its almost midnight my time, actually by the time I finish this post it will be St. Patrick’s Day. I’m not into the normal green beer and all the other revelry which goes with the day nowadays but this year I’m a bit contemplative of the man and his message. Its interesting that the man was not Irish but loved Ireland and dedicated his life by sharing his God with the Irish people. He also spoke out against those who mistreated others and was forgiving even when captured and mistreated with violence. Its my hope today that as we celebrate this day whether it is with green beer, staring at a green river, or attending a concert of Irish music as I will be doing later on we will do so remembering what Patrick really stood for. I’ll end with these familiar words. Christ, be with me. Christ before me, Christ behind me. Christ is me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me. Christ on my right, Christ on my left. Christ where I love, Christ where I sit, Christ where I rise. Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me. Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me. Christ in every eye that sees me. Christ in every ear that hears me.
Just came back from the Karan Casey concert at the State Theatre and although it was pouring down snow outside inside it was warm and full of Irish music. It was fantastic and I had a lot of fun just listening to the sounds and watching all the folks on the sidelines dancing to their own beats. I was a bit worried with the snow storm and all that Karan wouldn’t make it but apparently, the folks in charge went 250 miles and picked her and her band up and drove them here so we could hear her sing and them play. I felt blessed to be a part of the audience. I really enjoyed the piano playing by Caoimhín (major cutie and the ladies were shouting all night) that was the first time I heard Irish music being played on a piano like that. I appreciated the way Karan showed off the band (very generous of her). She just left them on stage playing a few tunes for the audience. Very talented three-some. I also enjoyed Kate Ellis on the cello very much. I have a thing for the cello at least listening to it. Yes folks Karan’s voice which I had heard one other time a few years back at an Old Songs Festival is worth the wait. Its always a treat for me when a singer can sing a song as good or better than it sounded on their CD and she did both and I was impressed. Enya’s voice will always have a special place in my ear but for a little lady Karan can belt out those tunes with gusto. Thanks for a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day. I won’t forget walking home with my friend Em, with the whistle of the wind and snow attacking our faces, our hearts still warm and our ears still ringing with the sound of Karan’s beautiful voice in it.
Oíche mhaith
Yesterday Microsoft released a patch to allow iPods to disconnect without getting corrupted. Apparently, some users were having corrupted iPod issues when they select the operating system’s (Vista) Safely Remove Hardware option to eject the music player. Well today, Apple released Boot Camp Public Beta 1.2 which supports the 32 bit version of Windows Vista. If you actually want Vista on your Intel Mac for playing games and testing those websites then head on over there and download it. Drats I don’t even have Vista on my PC at work thanks to Novell. I find it interesting though that the two companies are releasing updates for each others products especially with all this Mac vs. PC flaming going around these days. Nice to see they are getting along. 
