17th of March

I was reminded of today’s date this morning on Facebook when a college fraternity buddy kidded about St Patty’s Day at UNH which had us in various pubs drinking green beer at 6am. It sounds ridiculous now but it had kind of a surreal delight “back in the day”. New England with its significant Irish population always treated St Patrick’s day as a big deal and UNH was no exception. Not that we really needed additional reasons to celebrate. It was the 70s. I remember lining up at Scorpio’s front door in the early morning  with my then girlfriend (future first fiancé) and my best buddy with his gal. We acquitted ourselves with honor in the best of Irish traditions. By late morning we were back in my girlfriend’s sorority room preparing for the rest of the day’s  events.

I'm Wearing the Green Hat

I ran across this photo during last year’s photo rummaging which captures that moment. A truly great time as we arose later in the day to party late into the night. I’d like to think I was still capable of such herculean efforts but I think my Favorite Panamanian would seek professional help for me if I tried. UNH seems to have wised up to the carnage this day usually entailed and scheduled their spring break during this week to empty the campus, at least when my son was attending. Probably a good thing but those memories of that special day are indelibly engraved, as they say.

Needless to say, this St Patty’s day will be decidedly more sedate, I have the aforementioned live in monitor. We drove up to David yesterday so my wife can take her mom to some medical appointments today. Tomorrow we fly down to Panama City for a wedding and then some Caribbean sightseeing. So I’ll probably be away from the blog for a few days. You are welcome.

We snuck out to the movies last night to see Shazam, Fury of the Gods. A sequel to the surprisingly fresh first movie was always going to be tough. The sheer innocence of teenagers thrust into the bodies of superheroes was a neat concept and ably exploited in the first film. They try the same thing here but its not as successful. Luckily the superb cast lifts the material into an amusing experience. Zach Levi once again is tone perfect as the lead effortlessly capturing the teenage angst at loose within Shazam. There are some very funny moments as the group of superheroes deals with a trio of 6000 year old sisters bent on revenges played with appropriate aplomb by Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu, and Rachel Zegler. Zegler proves that her West Side screen presence was no fluke. The usually dour DC universe needs this light touch and it was nice seeing the Phillies home park get smoked, but I digress. A lot of fun, an inch deep, but worth it.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                     

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete - my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor of the big river; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during him her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; PanaGals – female relatives /friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate– high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course