Truth be told, I’m fonder of my Scottish slice of DNA than my Irish slice. But on St. Patrick’s Day, the Celtic blend kicks in, and it really doesn’t matter. I decided to commemorate my heritage with the green-wearing masses at LA Live, downtown by the Staples Center. Bagpipers were on the agenda, and that usually means men in kilts, so you know I was there!
Big St. Patrick’s Day celebrations now remind me of my first real group celebration of the “holiday.” I was in New York on Spring Break during senior year of college, having an informational interview at a radio station. I was preparing to move to NYC after graduation and wanted to get some ducks lined up. During the interview, the huge St. Patrick’s Day parade came down the street, and no one noticed until we could hear the pipes up in the office. Everyone stopped, watched and listened while the bagpipers passed by, then went back to business. It was the strangest thing, and one of my fondest March 17th memories.
Today’s celebration included a dancing leprechaun (their introduction, not mine), the LA Police Emerald Society Pipes & Drums (and the kilted men), a marching band from Dublin, and Ken O’Malley & The Twilight Lords playing traditional jigs and tunes. That’s Ken playing the mandolin in the picture with the leprechaun. In short, it was a fun event enjoyed by a very diverse crowd, and just the sort of event LA needs in our sometimes boiling-over melting pot. What can we celebrate next?!
As a wrap up, I did move to NYC the morning after graduation, but “the music died” for me in the radio world before I even got to give it a real spin. And that’s OK, because the consolation job at Grey Advertising still opens doors for me, which leads to a whole different kind of green.
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