To the Barricades! (Remembering that you can't spell Barricade without Bar)

Today Massachusetts and Wisconsin (?) celebrate my second-favorite "local" holiday. I speak of course, of Patriots' Day. (My favorite such observance is noted, more or less, here.)

Friend and fellow blogger J contributes this patriotic gem, updated for today's sensibilities. Important as Paul Revere was to the cause of American freedom, it should be noted that he had a substantially better posthumous publicist.

Fittingly, the Sox were allowed to win today, and I would also like to take this moment for congratulating our own Washington Nationals on 1) their sweep of the Brewers and 2) inching above .500 for the first time since May of last year! "Enjoy the next month" is the takeaway from that, I suppose.

Britannii Eunt Domus

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all, and for those of you in Suffolk County (MA), Happy Evacuation Day! (Those of you who read this previous post already knew that.)

The darkest beer in the house was a Baltika Porter, so we went with that and some Kerry Gold cheddar for an appetizer this evening. Remember, in Russia beer is food! (That picture is Russia's demographic outlook in a nutshell.)

I will leave you with the dentally inimitable Shane McGowan and associates:

Fun Massachusetts Holidays You Can Celebrate. Next Year, Anyway

Monday was Patriots' Day, or rather its observed version in Massachusetts, as well as Maine and, for schools, Wisconsin. The third Monday in April is the designated date, although this year the official holiday coincided with the actual anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord.

This highly appropriate holiday nevertheless pales in comparison to my favorite regional holiday of all: Evacuation Day. This commemorates the day the British army left Boston in 1776, having been forced to withdraw by the infant Continental Army. In what is perhaps an early example of delayed-action demolition, the British chose to depart on a day of great significance to a people that would become, having been driven from their land by a famine exacerbated by British policy, a large proportion of the City of Boston: March 17, otherwise known as St. Patrick's Day. Coincidence? I think not.

March 17 is a holiday in Suffolk County, which includes Boston. I distinctly remember walking past The Black Rose on my way to work (kitty-o'shea-corner from that pub, as it happened) and seeing the interior packed with city and county employees. That was on the way TO work, mind you.

New York City had its own Evacuation Day, "celebrated with much adult revelry and corresponding beverages," until before World War I, when the Royal Navy finally stopped impressing Americans on the high seas US-UK relations began thawing permanently. However, anyone who has lived in Boston could tell you that the Special Relationship never made it to Southie.

Shiver Me Yada Yada Yada

A nearly belated Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day to all and sundry! I am delighted to see that JJV cleverly referenced the newest of the September High Holidays in his post below.

My scientifically determined pirate name is Mad Davy Rackham. Obviously. Arr!

The above text translates as follows:

A nearly belated Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day t' all and sundry! I be delighted t' see that JJV cleverly referenced t' newest o' t' September High Holidays in his post below. Me scientifically determined pirate name be Mad Davy Rackham. Obviously. Arr!

I was disappointed to see that JJV was not referenced as a "scurvy dog" but as that is used for the other 364 days of the year I am not too concerned.