Things are pretty slow around here. Even the Indiana legislature isn’t doing anything stupid at the moment. Must be in recess. At least the Republicans are providing us Trump for amusement. What great job security for comedy writers and political cartoonists. It’s almost too easy. Maybe that’s why John Steward quit. Related to politics, I heard a great line yesterday; if conservatives think the Pope is too liberal wait until they meet Jesus.
Friday night and Saturday we spent most of the time at the East Lansing Folk Festival. One of the bigger name groups was the Tannehill Weavers. Two of the founders are still in the group after about 40 years. Great music and some very funny lines. Like, how does a Scotsman prevent seasickness? Lean way over the boat railing with a five pound note in his mouth. How does an Irishman prevent seasickness? Stand under a tree.
The Tannehill Weavers.
The Tannehill Weavers. Telling stories and jokes.
The Tannehill Weavers.
The Tannehill Weavers.
The Tannehill Weavers. Bagpipes are like bacon. They make everything better.
One of the events was a community sing, something I tend to avoid at all costs. My singing sounds like a cat being picked up with a pair of pliers. Then multiply that. Not much worse than karaoke except group karaoke. Wanting to see the next act in the tent we wandered up to the group sing. Then they started singing Amazing Grace. A Capella. Written by John Newton, an ex-slaver, there’s something about that song that just grabs the soul. Pretty much everyone within earshot, from teeny-boppers on up the age scale, joined in. Even I sang along, as softly as possible. It was kind of moving. The only thing that might have made it better was if the Weaver’s bagpiper provided accompaniment.
We heard a number of genre including Celtic, Creole, Cajun, Blues, and Caribbean. One of the Creole songs translated to something like; “All Parts of a Pig are Useful”. Which makes me think they know about scrapple.
The Cajun group.
The Cajun group.
The Cajun group.
The Cajun group.
The Cajun group.
Listening through the rain.
Lise in the crowd.
The Caribbean group. He’s from Trinidad.
The Caribbean group. The lady on the left is from Trinidad and the one on the right from Niger.
The Caribbean group. He’s from Detroit and his name is Mellow. Seen here singing a butt-kicking version of Smokey Robinson’s Motown hit, My Girl.
And just to show that there is some humor in East Lansing, this is the Monkey-Mobile.
Ed's and Lise's Biggish Years 