"I am of Ireland," wrote William Butler Yeats in one of his most famous poems from 1933, and all we have to do is look at the stark images from the land where he lived and from which he absorbed his genius and his inspiration to know that this is true. Few poets have identified so strongly with the Irish landscape as Yeats; few poets have such heavenly imagery at their … [Read more...] about Yeats Country and Beyond
Music
Music: U2 Fans Find What They are Looking For
Throughout the 1980s, U2 would close their live shows with "40, their anti-war reworking of the New Testament's fortieth psalm. Over a loping Edge guitar figure, Bono would sing "How long/To sing this song" over and over and over, until every member of the audience joined in as one. The band would then leave the stage one by one, leaving the audience singing the "how long" … [Read more...] about Music: U2 Fans Find What They are Looking For
Las Vegas ROCKS
Maura O'Connell concert benefits U.S.-Ireland Alliance. ℘℘℘ On Friday, September 22, Maura O'Connell performed her first Las Vegas concert at the Regent Las Vegas, a new luxury hotel concerned with more than just the green that flows across its blackjack tables. The event was to support the US-Ireland Alliance, a non-partisan, non-profit organization founded by Trina … [Read more...] about Las Vegas ROCKS
Who’s Rappin’ Now?
Tom Dunphy talks to Chris Byrne of Unity Squad. Chris Byrne is an unrepentant Fenian bastard. That's not a smear by this writer, mind you: the Brooklyn-born uillean piper, who recently departed the Irish agit-rock band Black 47 after a decade in that group, will freely tell you that – and rap you that – himself. That's clear on "Fenians," a track from Seanchai … [Read more...] about Who’s Rappin’ Now?
Hibernia: Meanwhile
in Silicon Valley…
"Whizkid," "genius," and "scourge of the music industry" are just a few of the names thrown at Shawn Fanning, 19. Fanning is the brain behind Napster.com, the MP3 exchange website that sent the recording industry into an uproar. Recently the courts have stepped in to quiet the din. On July 26, the United States District Court of San Francisco ordered that the Napster online … [Read more...] about Hibernia: Meanwhile
in Silicon Valley…