The 2nd Annual Irish Music Association Awards, those for the year 2009, took place on Wednesday gone, January 27, 2010, at O’Malley’s 1842 Irish Pub in Weston, Missouri.

And luckily for you, Pete Maher of the Midwest Irish Focus was on hand to shoot some videos of the night’s performances.

Pete has posted videos of the following performers over on the Irish Focus‘ official blog:

• Michael Coakley (Irish Tenor)
• John Whelan (”Best Button Accordionist”)
• Tim Britton (Uilleann Piper)
• Darren Raleigh (Harpist)
• Wild Colonial Bhoys (”Best Pub Duo”)
• Quinn Patrick O’Malley (Fiddler, 7-yr-old)

There are also a couple of more videos of the Wild Colonial Bhoys, and all of these videos, along with videos of the recent Winter Storm in KC and the St. Louis Irish Arts Christmas Concert 2009, can be viewed on Pete Maher’s video channel on YouTube

Should you want to compare with the 1st annual Awards hosted by the Irish Music Association (IMA), you can have a look through the archives of the IMA site

Nominations for the 2010 will open the day after St Patrick’s Day - on March 18, 2010. Note that if an artist received an award for 2009 they may not be nominated in the same category for 2010.

Read: Irish Music Association Awards - The Videos »

Today, February 1st, is St. Brigid’s Day.

February 1st is also the 1st day of spring in Ireland

Brigid, a Kildare lass whose feast day of her sainthood never quite got the attention of that other patron saint, Patrick the foreigner, did at least give us a rather groovy cross.

Not surprisingly, just like all the nonsense we hear about St Patrick while drinking shots and belly-bumping, Brigid’s Cross didn’t appear until over a thousand years after the life of the saint. Have a look at www.IrishCultureAndCustoms.com to see how to make one yourself.

For the day that’s in it, I’m going to drink a large pot of tea - Irish-style - and go for a long cold walk before painting some Irish landscapes. What are you going to do?

See Other Little Differences:
   • Using Cannibalism for a Special St Valentine’s Day
   • I’m Reminded of the British Police by Valentine’s Day in the USA
   • Saint Patrick - Fact #1
   • Saint Patrick - Fact #2

Read: St Brigid’s Day »

Flogging Molly are playing at the Uptown Theater in Kansas City, Missouri on Sunday, March 14, 2010.

For those who don’t like their St Patrick’s Day to occur actually on St Patrick’s Day, the Irished up and punked up ballads of Flogging Molly on the weekend before should be right up your street - particularly if you live on Valentine or Broadway.

This Flogging Molly concert is part of the 6th annual Green 17 tour, and follows the release on March 2, 2010 of the new FM CD/DVD Flogging Molly - Live at the Greek Theater (If you pre-order it over at Side One Dummy’s website you get a free limited edition t-shirt)

From my days of running the website of the Brookside Irish Festival, I know that Flogging Molly coming to KC creates a lot of interest in Kansas City - though the numbers of green mohawks that turned up was also a strong indicator.

Special Guests
The Architects and Synthetic Elements are providing support for this Flogging Molly gig.

Times/Tickets
The Uptown Theater gig is an All Ages show with doors opening at 6:30pm and the show scheduled to start at 7:30pm. All seats are General Admission and cost $27.50 from TicketMaster

Location
The Uptown Theater is located at 3700 Broadway Street in Kansas City, MO - Phone (816) 753-8665 for more information.

Online
The official website of Flogging Molly is www.floggingmolly.com

More on Irish KC about Flogging Molly:
   • Flogging Molly’s Drunken English (not Irish) Influence
   • ‘Whiskey on a Sunday’ by Flogging Molly
   • Flogging Molly in Missouri: A Report
   • Photos of Flogging Molly
   • Flogging Molly’s 2007 Warped tour in Missouri

Read: Flogging Molly in Kansas City 2010 »

For anyone who doesn’t quite understand the art of apologising, here’s a nice post from Guy Kawasaki about an exchange that took place on twitter about a transgression by a popular blog.

Lessons noted were that if you are seeking a solution to what you see as a trangression, don’t get litigious, and if you’re the offending party - respond, admit you’re wrong, fix the problem, and admit you now need to earn back the other’s respect.

Remarkably simple. Or you can of course always pretend you have nothing to apologise for and just let things fester.

Read: Online Apologies »

The 8th Annual Elders‘ Hoolie takes place this St Patrick’s Day season on Saturday, March 13, 2010.

Again the hoolie takes place at the Midland by AMC in downtown Kansas City, Missouri.

As well as perennial favourites the O’Riada Academy of Irish Dancing, the 2010 hoolie also features the wonderful Big Smith.

Tickets
Tickets are $30 plus any applicable booking fees. They are available online at The Elders Online Store or ticketmaster.com, or charge by phone by calling 1-800-745-3000.

Tickets are also on sale at The Midland box office, Sheehan’s Irish Imports and Browne’s Irish Market.

Location
The Midland by AMC is located in the Power & Light District at 1228 Main, Kansas City, MO.

Time
Doors open at 7pm

The Elders
Once upon a time The Elders were the biggest celtic rock band in the Kansas City area. Now they are one of the biggest Celtic rock bands in North America.

More Information
See The Elders‘ website for more information

Hotel Phillips
The Hotel Phillips will offer special Hoolie rates for The Elders 8th Annual Hoolie at The Midland by AMC in Kansas City, MO Call 816-221-7000

Read: The Elders 8th Annual St Patrick’s Day Hoolie »

“Third Thursday on 33rd”, the monthly Irish entertainment feast hosted by Browne’s Irish Market and Deli, clashes with National Pie Day this Thursday, January 21, 2010. But it’s a happy clash.

Browne’s will be serving their popular Shepherd’s Pie for lunch and for dinner.

And as is customary for “3rd Thursday on 33rd”, there’ll be an Irish Music Session & Dinner 5–9pm. Corned beef, potatoes & cabbage, are on the menu along with the aforementioned shepherd’s pie, and there’s more including a new Kid’s menu.

Admission: No cover charge
Location
North America’s Oldest Irish Business is located 3300 Pennsylvania Ave in Kansas City, Missouri.

More Information
Phone: (816) 561 0030
Email: brownes@yahoo.com
Website: www.BrownesMarket.com
FaceBook: Group Page

Read: 3rd Thursday on 33rd Meets National Pie Day »

While I’m getting ready for the re-launch of Irish KC, which may not even happen, and since there are still the best part of 1,000 visitors to the site daily, let me point you at some photos of Ireland in the snow in what is reportedly our coldest and worst winter spell for over 50 years.

I’m posting some photos on twitpic, and some photos on my personal blog.

I haven’t compared the figures of this winter with other winters, but temperature lows of -12C are not uncommon. That’s +10F if you’re wondering.

There’s only been a few inches of snow, nothing like what Kansas City has had, or what Britain is getting (or indeed with the big snow in Ireland in 1982) but with the severe temperatures and the lack of salt/grit, it has brought much of the country to a standstill.

As I write this Dublin airport is closed. Buses in Dublin are curtailed in routes and times, with all services being cancelled several times in the last 9 days. Everything that uses the roads is struggling. Water services are also being shut down and under threat in some ares - so far my own has only had the pressure reduced.

I do know I haven’t seen such a variety of the types of snow we’re getting. On one day this week we got wet snow, dry snow, hail, graupel, and for good measure at the same time there was thunder and lightning over Dublin city centre.

All highly unremarkable if you live somewhere other than Ireland, but with no end to it forecast it could yet get even more remarkable for those of us here in Ireland.

Read: Ireland in the Snow »

A reminder of 2 things about New Year from an Irish perspective.

1. How to say Happy New Year in Irish (Gaelic/Gaeilge)

2. How the Irish celebrate New Year, and how that might differ from some celebrations in the US.

And with that I wish you a good and safe night. Go easy on the hugging though.

Read: Irish Happy New Year »