St. Paddy's Day at Hollywood Improv (3/17)

Greg Fitzsimmons' Annual St. Patrick's Day Show featuring Sarah Silverman, Caroline Rhea, Laura Kightlinger, Doug Benson, Amber Easton, and special guests (plus a big surprise) at Hollywood Improv (14120714)

LIVE: Hollywood Florida St. Patrick’s Day Parade 2026 | Rain Delay Crowd & Parade Coverage

Irish Latinos: Somos paisanos (comedy)

Irish-Mexican boxing champ 'Cinnamon Barrigan' aka Canelo Alvarez

I'm not Irish. I'm purely Mexican.

Canelo in Spanish is the masculine form of the word "cinnamon," which is a common nickname for redheads [19].

Jicama con chile (mx.pinterest.com)

In Mexico, it is common for people to associate red hair with the Irish soldiers who fought for Mexico. They were Los Patricios, "Saint Patrick's Battalion," during the Mexican–American War. Speaking about his ancestry, Canelo Álvarez once said, "There might have been an Irish grandfather somewhere back in my past" [18]. Canelo's neighbors nicknamed him "Jícama con Chile," which translates as "white root with red chili flakes" — a popular snack in Mexico and Los Angeles [20]. More: Canelo Álvarez Wiki (Who's his mother? Ana Maria Barragan).

• What is the Spanish word for "sneaky"? Furtivo (furtive)
• What does Somos paisanos mean? "We are paisanos."
• Irishman becomes Latino; Ana Saia; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

Irish Zen poem on St. Patrick's Day

SAINT PATRICK'S DHARMA: Welcome to Zen Buddhism Ireland (ZBI) with Myozan Kodo (妙山興道). Years ago, on March 17th, he delivered a little talk on Irish history concerning a possibly ahistorical figure named "St. Paddy" to mark St. Patrick's Day. Rev. Myozan Kodo lives his Zen Buddhist spiritual tradition on the Emerald Isle at zenbuddhism.ie, which is open to all.

New traditions

Welcome to ZBI: Zen Buddhism Ireland - Zen Buddhism Ireland

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Let's go beyond The Pale in Ireland

The Irish are nothing if not amazing storytellers. Our own resident poet, Seven O'Dhr, frequently performs his epic "Finnegan's Awake" to stunned crowds who cannot comprehend how there can be so many rhyming syllables delivered in a Gaelic cadence in what is ostensibly an all-English poem. The piece is, of course, a tip o' the hat to James Joyce and his magnum opus  Finnegans Wake, but both works are rooted in an old Dublin ditty everyone who's ever entered a pub has heard, "Finnegan's Wake." What now if the classic song were Buddhified? If the story of Saint Paddy can be, as certainly it was all dreamed up by the Church over the years to sanitize the genocide of the indigenous pagan "snakes" being chased off the snakeless island.

Finnegan's Wake (traditional)

"Finnegan's Wake" (Irish American comic ballad) Clancy Brothers and The Dubliners

Ballad of Tim Finnegan's Wake as explained and performed by The Clancy Brothers in Ireland

Tim Finnegan lived on Watlin Street

A gentleman Irish but mighty odd

Had a beautiful brogue so soft and sweet

To rise in the world he carried a hod

He had a sort of a tipplin' way

With a love of the liquor poor Tim was born

To help him on with his work each day

Had a drop of the craythur every morn

[CHORUS:]

Whack fol the dah of the di-do-day

Dance with your partner

Welt the floor your trotters shake

Wasn't it the truth I told?

Lots of fun at Finnegan's wake!

One mornin' Tim felt rather full

His head felt so heavy it made him shake

Fell from a ladder and dashed his skull

They carried him home his corpse to wake

Rolled him up in a nice clean sheet

Laid him out upon the bed

A bottle of whiskey at his feet

A barrel of porter at his head

[CHORUS]

His friends assembled at the wake

And Mrs. Finnegan called for lunch

First they brung in tea and cake

Then pipes tobacco and whiskey punch

Biddy O'Brien began to cry

"Such a nice clean corpse did you ever see?

Tim mavourneen why'd you go and die?"

Arragh shut your gob said Paddy McGee!

[CHORUS]

Patty O'Connor took up the job

"Ah Biddy" says she "you're wrong I'm sure!"

Biddy gave her a belt on the gob

That sent her sprawlin' on the floor

Then a war did soon engage

It was woman to woman and man to man

Shillelagh-law was all the rage

And a row and a ruction soon began

Mickey Maloney lowered his head

As a bottle of whiskey flew at him

Missed and fallin' on the bed

The liquor sprinkled all over Tim!

Tim revives see how he rises!

Timothy risin' from the bed

Sayin' "Whirl your liquor around like blazes

Thunderin' Jaysus do you think I'm dead?"

[CHORUS]

Finnegan's Awake (Zen version)

Seven O'Dhr for Wisdom Quarterly, St. Patrick's Day 2025

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Tim Finnegan did BE across kinhin street

A gentleman Irish but Almighty Odd

Had a beautiful OM so soft 'n sweet

To rise above the world, he sat in the sod

Tippin' over wave and save: awake!

He had a sort of a tippin' wave

With a love of Hardcore Zen Tim was reborn

To help him on with his work each day

Had a talk with the master every morn

[CHORUS:]

Work for the title of the Died-All-Day

Breathe with your partners

Welt the floor then your trousers shake

Wasn't it the Four Truths I told you?

Lots o' fun now that Finnegan's awake!

Welt the floor then trousers shake

One mornin' Tim felt rather dull

His head felt so sleepy it made him wave

Tipped right over and dashed his skull

He sprawled out his corpse to wake

Rolled his'self up in a nice bright sheet

Reclined his'self in lion's pose in bed

All bottled up frisky with cold feet

A barrel of sake's good till you're dead

[CHORUS]

His friends assembled at the wake

Then Mrs. Finnegan called for lunch

First they brung in green tea 'n cake,

Zen bamboo flutes with a sake punch

Biddy O'Brien began to cry,

"Such a nice clean corpse did you ever see?

Tim's in satori and he might die!"

Arragh, shut your gob said Paddy McGee!

[CHORUS]

Roshi O'Connor took up the job

"Ah Biddy," said he, "you're wrong, I'm sure!"

Then Biddy gave him a wordless belt on the gob

That sent him sprawlin' on the floor

Keisaku: Seven temples to experience Zen sitting meditation (zazen) (Jatrabridge)

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The keisaku is to awaken, but the shippei...

Then a debate did soon engage

It was man on woman and woman on man

Shippei-law was all the rage

And a row and a ruction soon began

Flicky Baloney lowered his head

As bottled-up frisky flew out of him

Missed and fallin' on the bed

The life sprinkled and touched ol' Tim!

Tim revives! See how he rises!

Timothy risin' from his deathbed

Sayin', "Whirl your hurl 'round like blazes

Thunderin' Dōgen, do you think I'm dead?"

[CHORUS: Whack for the diddle of the dido-day...]

Hardcore Zen: Zazen is NOT meditation

(Roshi Brad Warner) Zen punk on why Zazen is Not Meditation

• Everyone writes and sings it their own way: The Irish Rovers – Finnegan's Wake
• The Disturbing Truth About St. Patrick’s Day and Its Brutal History | by Three raccoons in a spacesuit | Medium
• Did St. Patrick Commit Genocide? Did He Kill Pagans? Did He Battle Druids? - Irish Myths
• Was St. Patrick Catholic? - Irish Myths
• Myozan Kodo, Zen temple Ireland, March 17, 2016; The Clancy Brothers; The Dubliners; Brad Warner; Dhr. Seven (parody poetry), Pat Macpherson, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Young Dubliners, St. Paddy's Day, LA

The greenest greens in the world

The lad Tim Conway Jr. (KFI 640 AM) is friends with Keith of the Young Dubliners, an Irish band from Los Angeles. They both lived in the Valley back in the day, along with 40,000,000 other Irish diaspora members and their descendants in the United States.

There are only 7,000,000 (2023) in Ireland, if a census can be believed, and who knows if that counts occupied British "Northern Ireland," a Bantustan cut out [the way Palestine is sliced up by illegal occupiers and genocidal overlords Israel] by neighboring England and forced to be part of the United Kingdom, with the advocacy and acquisition of many Royalist Protestants.

• Young Dubliners at Ford, LA, tickets, 2025 tour dates

Who still lives in Ireland?

England is eating our emerald island

Emigration (outgoing) from Ireland in the 19th century contributed to the populations of England, the United States, Canada, and Australia, in all of which a large Irish diaspora lives. As of 2006, 4.3 million Canadians, or 14% of the population, were of Irish descent [152], while around one-third of the Australian population had an element of Irish descent [153].

As of 2013, there were 40 million Irish-Americans [154] and 33 million Americans who claimed Irish ancestry [155], making a good argument for changing the name of the USA to New Ireland (rather than New England).

With growing prosperity since the last decade of the 20th century, Ireland became a destination for (incoming) immigrants. Since the European Union (EU) expanded to include Poland in 2004, Polish people have comprised the largest number of immigrants (over 150,000) [156] from Central Europe.

There has also been significant immigration from Lithuania, Czech Republic, and Latvia [157]. The Republic of Ireland in particular has seen large-scale immigration, with 420,000 foreign nationals as of 2006, about 10% of the population [158].

Nearly a quarter of births (24 percent) in 2009 were to mothers born outside of Ireland [159]. Up to 50,000 Eastern and Central European migrant workers left Ireland in response to the Irish financial crisis [160]. More

Is it Druid Genocide Day or St. Patrick's Day?

Matt Anderson (valknutmeadery.com.au); Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

This Day in History: Druid Remembrance Day

Celtic Druid, shaman, seer

On March 17th, we will not be celebrating someone greatly responsible for the cultural genocide of the Celtic pagans and Druids.

Instead, it's more appropriate to celebrate the life and culture of the Druids who were wiped out during Saint Patrick's missionary days.

Make sure to note that this was a "cultural genocide." So it doesn't mean Padraig went around killing all the Druids. Instead, he convinced the kings and leaders of the time to convert to a foreign religion, which meant no one needed Druids anymore.

WHO WERE THE DRUIDS?

Knowledge keeper

Ever since the Indo-European days, Druids were the keepers of the traditional laws, storytellers, wandering poets, priests, the philosophers of the time, astronomers, and king makers.

The name Druid means something like the Sanskrit rishi, "to see" (a "seer," "visionary"). They were the intermediaries connecting the people and the gods.

The word shaman (Buddhist Sanskrit shramana) is related to seer, meaning "one who sees in the dark."

They were the most important people of their time, roughly between 4500 BCE (before common era) to 400 CE.

Secret architecture of the Druids

The Celts, along with their Druids or seers, emigrated from Central Europe west to the British Isles and Ireland, taking their rich culture, art, and traditions with them. The ancient tales of their ancestors and their gods helped the Celts remain a fearless people.

Fearless people are hard to control. Thankfully, the Romans did not occupy Ireland, but their new imperial faith [and their worship of Ceasar's Messiah] did. It was an imposed faith that was used to bring all nations and cultures under the rule of one God.

WHO WAS "SAINT" PATRICK?

Rome's Gay Mafia the Vatican, with its cardinals, bishops and pope, rule the Catholic world.

Newgrange green, Ireland (Getty/Irish Central)

Here are two fun facts about St. Paddy. He wasn't Irish but rather a Roman Brit. He is mostly known for driving the snakes out of Ireland, never mind that there have never been any snakes in Ireland.

"Snakes" seems to have been a metaphor for pagans, because he wanted everyone to view them as evil for their refusal to following the new faith.

The conversions made the old Celtic faith irrelevant. The Romans eventually got rid of the Druids along with the culture of the people. Over time Druids ceased to exist. Written records were uncommon back then. The Druids were not allowed to write down their knowledge.

So all of that cultural history was lost. It had been recorded in the minds of the Druids, so once they were eradicated, their history was too.

Becoming a Druid involved a lifetime of study and dedication. So celebrating the Druids and their rich history is a much better way to celebrate Celtic pride than worshiping St. Patrick. Skål. Source

SPRING BEGINS with snow, rain in USA

Joe Rao, space.com, 3/20/23 at 2:24 PM PDT; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

Weather news girls celebrate springtime!

The glory of spring sort of begins. "Equinox" literally means when night and day are equal (equi - equal, nox = night).

But the earth must have flattened out or something, or perhaps the Gregorian reworking of the calendar -- taking the planet's timekeeping away from the moon -- has gone askew.

This year, "the length of daylight is actually longer than darkness by several minutes," reports space.com. Just look at this phony CGI being presented as actual video of the planet as spring arrives: jwplayer.com.

Take a virtual drive through a deserted, snowy Yosemite National Park (Weather Channel)

What are the best places to see wildflowers in the US? (The Weather Channel)

• VIDEO: Earth is spinning too quickly: Clocks aren’t keeping up (Live Science via MSN)
• How many moons does Earth have? (MSN)
• Space.com: Earth's history and atmosphere
  

Vernal equinox 2023 brings spring to the Northern Hemisphere with a not-so-equal timing twist

Joe Rao (space.com, 3/20/23)

Spring_is the season of flowers and showers (Fruehjahrswiese/Wiki)

Joe Rao, spring season "expert"

On the equinox date in March, the length of daylight is actually longer than darkness by several minutes.

 

It's time to say goodbye to winter -- at least in the Northern Hemisphere. On Monday (March 20) at 5:24 pm EDT (2:24 pm PDT) the spring (vernal) equinox occurs.

 

At that moment, the sun comes to one of two places where its rays shine directly down on the equator. It will then be shining equally on both halves of the Earth (Bhumi, Terra, Tierra, Ertha).

 

More precisely at that moment, the sun will be shining directly down on the equator at a point over the Pacific Ocean, roughly 1,900 miles (3,100 km) southeast of the Hawaiian Islands.

 

Not "equal" on the equinox!

What if NASA were to take flat footage and warp it into a globular circle?

Another complexity involving the vernal equinox concerns the axiom, "equal days and equal nights on the equinox." Yet each year I [Joe Rao] always get at least one or two inquiries asking why that isn't so.

 

Perhaps someone, skimming through the weather page of their newspaper on the day of the equinox, looked at the almanac box, which provides the local time of sunrise and sunset, and noticed that the length of day and night is not equal at all.

 

Banned! (ericdubay.com)

In fact, on the equinox dates in both March and September, the length of daylight is actually longer than darkness by several minutes. Check out the situation for New York City.

 

As the table below shows, days and nights are equal not on the equinox, but on Saint Patrick's Day: More

• Does the flat earth model do any better at explaining what's really going on? Let's ask the expert in the most trouble for daring to provide abundant evidence for a plane rather than a globe-planet, EricDubay.com
• We've been lied to about our moon. It's full of archeological evidence of ETs like glass dome that will be visible with filters during eclipse:
• theothersideofmidnight.com (Richard C. Hoagland)

Ban Eric Dubay! Obey the gatekeepers (Facebook.com/UniverseUnplugged)

St. Patrick's Day LA: Flogging Molly (video)

Shaun Platt, 3/22/22; Flogging Molly; Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

The evolution of Saint Patrick’s Day: Why we celebrate (irishcentral.com)

What d'ya mean "Buddha" Bar? Even an Irish pub would use Good Sid's name that way!

Flogging Molly: "Devil’s Dance Floor" live in Hollywood

(Flogging Molly) Flogging Molly played the Palladium in 2015, just as Flogging Molly and Anti-Flag are doing tonight for St. Paddy's Day 2023. Tour dates and tickets: floggingmolly.com/tour. Subscribe: flogging.lnk.to/youtube.

Pandemic scamdemic: COVID danger at the concert?

St. Patrick's Day in Los Angeles

(Shaun Platt) Man on the Street Shaun Platt, Comedian Shaun Platt takes on Santa Monica (coastal Los Angeles) to see what St. Patty's Day is all about.

Instagram: @shaunplattcomedy. Thanks to Sam Laponis: Instagram: @blkheart.audio.visuals

Stereotype drinking and fighting, Savannah, GA, 2012, with Keystone Cops

Flogging Molly + Anti-Flag + Skinny Lister 3/17 @ Hollywood Palladium (955klos.com)

There was an Irish Buddhist monk in 1800s?

A. Turner, L. Cox, B. Bocking; Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

The Irish Buddhist: The Forgotten Monk who Faced Down the British Empire

By Alicia Turner, Laurence Cox, Brian Bocking (4.9 out of 5 stars with 14 ratings)

The Irish Buddhist is the biography of an extraordinary Irish emigrant to the USA, sailor, and migrant worker who became a Theravada Buddhist monk in Burma.

He was an anti-colonial activist in early 20th-century Asia. Born in Dublin in the 1850s, [Mr. Laurence Carroll, who became the Buddhist monk] U Dhammaloka energetically challenged the values and power of [Christian missionaries in] the British Empire and scandalized the colonial establishment of the 1900s.

He rallied and energized Buddhists across Asia, set up schools, and argued down [debated and defeated] Christian missionaries -- often using Western atheist arguments.

He was arrested and tried for sedition, tracked by police and intelligence services, and died at least twice.

His story illuminates the forgotten margins and interstices of British imperial power, the complexities of class, ethnicity, and religious belonging in colonial Asia, and the fluidity of identity in the high Victorian period.

Too often, the story of the pan-Asian Buddhist revival movement and Buddhism's remaking into a world religion has been told "from above," highlighting scholarly writers, middle-class reformers, and ecclesiastical hierarchies.

More realistic map of Ireland

By turns fraught, hilarious, pioneering, and improbable, U Dhammaloka's adventures "from below" highlight the changing and contested meanings of Buddhism in colonial Asia.

Through this Irishman's story, Irish authors Alicia Turner, Brian Bocking, and Laurence Cox offer a window into the worlds of ethnic minorities and diasporas [populations that have left their homeland], transnational networks, poor whites, and social movements.

U Dhammaloka's dramatic life rewrites the previously accepted story of how Buddhism became a modern global religion.

The 1st Western Buddhist monk was Irish

Prof. Cox, Prof. Bocking (SSBU); Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Forgotten and Remembered: U Dhammaloka The Irish Buddhist Monk (02)

(Shan State Buddhist University SSBU) Aug. 5, 2020 Rainy Season Research Series (Rainy Season Research Series Talks 02):

Reviving the memory of first Buddhist rebel

Associate Professor Laurence Cox, National University of Ireland Maynooth and Professor Emeritus Brian Bocking, University College Cork, gave a lecture on "Forgotten and Remembered: [Venerable] U Dhammaloka The Irish Buddhist Monk" on July 24, 2020 via Microsoft Teams, which is an online platform.

This is the second lecture of the Rainy Season Research Series Talks.

The Rainy Season Research Series is courtesy of Transnational Network of Theravada [Buddhist] Studies and hosted for this season by Shan State Buddhist University and King's College London. This talk is organized and recorded by Prof. Kate Crosby (King's College London). #SSBU Media