Summer is officially over, and its final weekend was a wet one. No, not an antibacterial wipe, but definitely super soaker soggy. I spent the last Friday of summer mostly indoors: caught up with a buddy of mine over dinner at Paul’s Family Restaurant in Elgin, a mom and pop place owned by… Continue Reading
Here’s a press release about something very Irish going on Thursday. Sorry it took me so long to post this: One hundred and twenty-five years after a group of Irish Chicagoans came together to strengthen their community and celebrate their heritage, the Irish Fellowship Club of Chicago will mark its 125th anniversary on Thursday,… Continue Reading
You might not think a damn-near-perfect day would get underway by going to the gym, changing into a kilt, and then dropping off electronics for recycling. But it did. The fashion choice was made for hitting a Celtic fest, Shenanigans on the Green, in Hoffman Estates. As per our tradition, Best Fest Buddy Tom and… Continue Reading
Man, July blew by. In some cases, literally, with monsoon winds and wetness — followed by a dry spell with more (temporary) silt islands popping up on the Fox River not far from where I live. My buddy Shay said we should have waded out there and claimed the newfound land for Ireland.… Continue Reading
I had a novel idea. A friend of mine is on a vacation to Europe. One of her first stops was Dublin, in part to celebrate Bloomsday, June 16. The single day in 1904 on which James Joyce’s set Ulysses. All 265,222 words of it. Of course, it took Joyce about 7 years to write… Continue Reading
Les Miserables describes pretty much anybody’s drive into Chicago from the suburbs. So I was in the right mood for seeing the final leg of the current national tour of Les Miserables at the Cadillac Palace Theatre. It plays there through Sunday, May 24. I first saw this pop opera decades ago when… Continue Reading
St. Patrick’s season is most likely finally over. I waited a week past March 17 just to make sure. Here’s a recap of my shenanigans. Grew a beard This was my attempt to look more Irish, like an extra in Darby O’Gill and the Little People, but with better teeth. Or the Notre Dame… Continue Reading
“The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” in concert is coming to The Auditorium in Chicago Friday, March 13 and Saturday, March 14. It’s fitting that the performances happen the weekend before St. Patrick’s Day – and when all the downtown falderal takes place. It’s been 25 years since the… Continue Reading
In time for Valentine’s Day, Steppenwolf Theatre Company recently opened its run of August Strindberg’s “The Dance of Death.” As the J Geils Band put it way back in 1980, love stinks. It’s a battlefield. In this case, it smells a bit Irish, too. Written in 1900, Strindberg’s play involves Edgar, a rapidly… Continue Reading
It’s Giving Tuesday. And like other nonprofits, the Houlihan family needs your help — and needs it now. The Houlihans are the South Siders behind Hibernian Media NFP, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to celebrating and preserving Irish and Irish American culture through film, radio, television and live events. “I am an old hand at… Continue Reading