[ Irish KC ]
Kansas City Irish Festivals, Music, Pubs, & Events by an Artist in Ireland

As I did for 2006, here’s the year 2007 as it unfolded on Irish KC.

However this time it’s the more personal slice of the blog as to be honest there was way too much of the other stuff to pick out highlights.

And anyway Irish KC is really all about me.

Sorry it’s long, but at least it’s not a leap year.

JANUARY
After establishing that Ireland does have couches, I went on to outline the history of an Irish pub.

It was puzzling month for me as I wondered why people wouldn’t go out the In-door, how anybody could claim to invent the chicken sandwich, and if Kansas was flatter than a pancake.

Quieter moments like those in conversation warmed me, which is just as well as it got cold. In fact it got really cold. So naturally, I built an igloo. It had a remarkable effect in my neighborhood.

A very Irish weekend broke my heart, and suitably primed I then complained about End Times before cheering up by starting Funky Links

FEBRUARY
Perhaps the most popular post of the year was my comparison of Valentine’s Day with the British police.

Getting used to the cold I gave tips for coping with Winter and admired my very rare late night visitor. Passing post #1,500 February as ever seemed to be all about the rugby but to be honest I grew up in a world where I wanted Ireland to lose.

Irish KC got 4 Nominations in Irish Blog Awards but I asked people not to vote for me. I shared my votes but only some were shortlisted.

My 20 online ways to stay Irish got referenced heavily. Being still winter it snowed again, so I used a memory of snow in Ireland to reminisce about commuting times in Dublin before I left.

In pubs and beers I admitted where I got my worst pint of Guinness in KC, pointed out a way a certain KC Irish beer was marketed, and lamented on the closing of Irish pubs in KC.

MARCH
I made a haims of trying to show how unnecessary the shamrock is to be Irish. When the results of the Irish Blog Awards were announced I was disappointed not to see Sweary in there.

It was a good month for lists, with my list of paintings in progress, my easy to follow index to my Cycle Across America, the never forgotten parental advice, and 25 Things About Kansas City

As Irish KC turned 1 year old I outlined an Irish week in KC for me. I seemed to be alone getting excited about the Irish playing cricket but not alone in getting ready to drink. Yes, because it was my Paddy’s Day in the USA, which some people tried to tell me wasn’t big in ireland.

A conversation made the 1st of Primal’s Rogha as, after many years of planning, I launched American Hell.

Meanwhile Slugger readers came in their thousands to my collection of Bertie’s statements on the Peace Process

Customer Service in the US irked me, so I went camping where I could no longer get the smell of the city

I baulked at an unusual Sight whilst elsewhere in America others baulked at a chocolate Jesus for easter.

APRIL
With warmer weather it was time to reflect on hosting tourists. Things also heated up in terms of online arguments, notably with regard to a code for blogging, and a certain spree killing brought debates on gun culture to the fore again, though I was happy to be lucky in avoiding the local killing spree

The popularity of my photos of Dublin walls really surprised me. Blogorrah even noticed. So then I posted photos of Kansas City walls

And after a long wait The Wind That Shakes The Barley opened in KC.

MAY
With all the nonsense of Irish this and Irish that the greatest day to be Irish in KC went unnoticed by many.

David Shaughnessy, “the man who books our music”, (not a Happy Man) accused Irish KC of something not alone had it not done, but that it wouldn’t have been wrong if it had. My response brought threats of a lawsuit, and an awful lot of visits from people who were supposedly too busy to say thanks.

Differences in Irish and American approaches were highlighted in relation to tea and to watching The Wind That Shakes The Barley.

A lot of people were interested in my debunking of “craic” being an Irish language word, and that probably led me to rant against using bad Gaeilge as a badge.

After my 1st Mosquito bite of the year I got a lot of suggestions despite saying I wanted none. It was enough to drive me to the pub, though I still wouldn’t have picked an Irish pub as KC’s best example of nightlife.

As comment #1,000 was made Morrissey came to KC. It could almost have been a homesick cure, as could the 2nd most stupid question I was frequently asked in KC because I was Irish.

JUNE
Started the month by caving in and establishing a comment policy so to cheer things up I promised to publish a book on my American Cycle. And when I free my stuff from storage I’ll get back on it.

American Hell turned 50 as Cafe & turned 1, and Irish KC went on Twitter

A huge highlight of the year was my audio interview with Damien Dempsey so I could put together this review/article on Damo and his new album To Hell or Barbados.

Dave Shaughnessy called to again threaten lawsuits, this time for being called unapologetic whilst simultaneously stressing that he had nothing to apologise for. Both irony and reality seemed lost on him, and I declined his offer of $50 to take down the post on him. I was poor in 2007, but I’ve never been that poor.

A very hot Bloomsday, proved less debateable than my questioning of some Irish stereotypes.

Setanta contacted Irish KC and in an example of how to disagree with good manners made an admirable defence of a service I frequently criticize.

JULY
101 Things about myself stirred up some interest, but blogging wasn’t all self-indulgence

The reaction of the self-appointed Board of the Irish festival in Kansas City to the continued behaviour of David Shaughnessy, “the man who books our music”, was the final reason to pull the plug on continued free promotion of that event, the only event to suffer such a fate.

Meanwhile in Ireland certain brands of cars were outlawed or dogs maybe, so by popular request I finally posted a picture of my dog.

Floyd Landis fans missed the point that I was live blogging Landis on a radio show. Later in the year the decision was published and Landis was stripped of his Tour de France Title as I felt he would be - and should be. And yes I’ve read his side.

As the Irish KC MySpace presence was upgraded, I listed over 100 Kansas City related MySpace pages.

On the nostalgia front pub crawl memories showed I’ll happily resort to stereotypes myself.

AUGUST
A popular month for the Irish language with claims of American slang being rooted in Gaeilge causing a stir, and me ranting against the word Tír being deprived of its fada, before being more conciliatory in answering the most popular Irish language question I get in America.

I’m sure it’s unrelated but I couldn’t help but notice that in the Midwest pub talk extends beyond the pub. Commenters were gracious though, as on another post was the poop scooping industry.

And BP Fallon brought back memories of Glam Rock.

My video of Dog-dog is selected as Ireland’s featured video on YouTube.

Dublin v Kerry brought back memories from Ireland as I put my American memories in cardboard boxes ready for despatch to Ireland

And that meant it was time to close my online art store - which I hope to reopen in early 2008.

SEPTEMBER
As I readied for life in Ireland on the streets of KC things started to feel like home.

I didn’t go to the David Shaughnessy Irish Festival in Crown Center, but lots of other bloggers did. Meanwhile, the KC Irish Festival disowned the comments Dave Shaughnessy, “the man who books our music”, made on Irish KC.

8 Years, 5 Months, 2 Weeks and 3 Days after arriving, I said goodbye to Kansas City, and after only hours in Ireland I tripped around England.

Then it was time to readapt to comfort food in Ireland and go to the races in the Sterling area.

OCTOBER
Lots of photos as I travelled around Ireland. Downpatrick, Clonmel races, County Derry, and the Grand Canal in Dublin.

But the month was overshadowed by reaquainting myself with Irish officialdom, including the Irish Customs who didn’t believe I was really in Ireland or really not in America.

Finally though I was reunited with my bicycle so I could again cycle on Dublin’s streets.

NOVEMBER
I posted some of my old murals of Dublin while the smaller artworks of American Hell reached #100.

And then I went traveling again. which meant I got to see Dublin Airport’s new Pier D, even if I made a meal of getting there. The oddest part though was in London - when I was on a bus with online access. And I disclosed the reason I went to London.

Hamfisted as usual I announced that Irish KC was changing, and then proceeded to re-jig Irish KC by splitting posts into two distinct columns.

DECEMBER
Most of this month was spent traveling in England, so I posted more old murals, this time of a Russian toilet in County Kildare, and I told you the story of why anybody might want to burn a goat.

Irish Philadelphia reviewed Irish KC, saying some very nice things.

In England I was for the birds, specifically the long-tailed tits and the green woodpecker, so I told you a story of another bird in a Christmas photo story.

Traveling to Ireland on Christmas Eve meant I missed the build up, but there was still time for a city centre stroll.

And so the year finished with me here in Dublin for Christmas organizing a return to Kansas for Dog-dog.

Well actually it literally finished with me standing outside on this balmy Dublin night under skies filled with fireworks in all directions, a pint of Guinness in one hand and some money for luck in the other, as I wondered about the next 12 months and painted pictures in my head.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 31st, 2007 at 9:28 pm and is filed under 1-eolai. You can follow responses via my RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your site.