A Little Treat For You!

Greetings everyone!

The Milwaukee Irish Fest was a blast, as always!
Your favorite Peasant participated in the fest in three
capacities: as a performer (I sang with a singing group
that I have been with for five years, the Milwaukee Irish
Fest Song Circle), a volunteer (I sold CDs and DVDs
in a music booth), and as a festival attendee. I go every
year to the event, and have done so ever since I moved
home from Saint Paul in 2001. It is how I connect with
and celebrate my part-Irish roots; I am also English and
Germanic --- Minor is an English name, and my mother,
God rest her, had parents from Ukraine who were ethnic
Austrians; my paternal great-grandmother's parents were
from Germany. The Milwaukee Irish Fest is the largest
Irish festival in the world, lasting four days and hosting
dozens of Irish and Celtic music artists. This year we had
the pleasure of having Cherish The Ladies sing in concert
(with special guest Maura O'Connell!), The Makems & The
Spains (the Makems are the sons of the late Irish music legend
Tommy Makem, who has appeared in concert here many times,
and the Spains are friends and fellow Irish troubadors),
and Blarney, a local band of American fellows of Irish descent
who play each year at the fest and are good friends of mine.

There are also presentations on Irish culture, history, and politics;
Irish theatre, workshops on playing the Irish drum the bhorain
(pronounced bo-RAN), Irish cuisine (yes, there are many potato
dishes, but many other fine foods can be enjoyed at the fest as
well!), and a fabulous Irish mass on Sunday morning with a
bishop or cardinal from the Emerald Isle itself as celebrant.
If you want more exposure to Irish culture, you must go to the
country itself! That is something that I plan to do, as I have
relations in counties Tipperary and Mayo whom I want to visit.

Meanwhile, I haven't any articles to share this week but I do have
a little treat for you, my fantastic readers --- I found a great video
from a "Troopathon", a televised show dedicated to our brave men
and women in the military who are fighting our radical Islamic
foes in the Middle East. held every few weeks, this particular 
show features actress Victoria Jackson, who was a cast member
of the TV show Saturday Night Live some years back. Turns out 
that she has only recently gotten involved in politics and is a
conservative! She's one of us!! Who knew!!!
Gee, that will certainly be likely to burn bridges between her
and her old friends from that show, known for its biting
left-wing brand of humor! Listen to Victoria recite a poem of hers,
honoring our military folks and see her do a hand-stand as well!
It's all right here:

http://www.troopathon.org/

When you get there, click on "Program", then scroll down to the
fifth hour of the show (it won't be live, it is a taped show that you'll
see here) and click on her name by her photo. You'll have a ball,
I guarantee it!

While at the web site, do browse other sections and pages to see
other Troopathon videos and get the latest news on the show
as well as related news on our troops and the celebrities who 
support them. Move America Forward (MAF) is the fine  
organization that produces the Troopathons, and they are
a fantastic bunch patriots!

Next week I'll have some more news from the political scene
to share. Meanwhile, enjoy the Troopathon video footage!


MEM