HossC

Japan

After a last minute invite, I got to walk in the St Patrick's Day parade today. It's fun being in it, but it does mean that I didn't get to see many of the other participants. Luckily, the weather stayed dry, but it turned cold afterwards. Combine the cold weather with the busy pubs and I decided to delay my Guinness.

I'm thinking that I might try a Guinness today. I mentioned ale above - have you ever tried it, Hobie. I see they sell Smithwick's in 14.9 oz cans in the US.

Seeing as it's St Patrick's Day today, I thought I'd post something special. The winners of the Eurovision Song Contest have to host the event in the following year, and 1994 was Ireland's second consecutive year with that duty after having won with Linda Martin's "Why Me?" in 1992 and Niamh Kavanagh's "In Your Eyes" in 1993. The captions tell the story, but this was the interval entertainment that went on to be a worldwide phenomenon. The music came in at #87 in the recent top 100 countdown. Bill Whelan - Riverdance

Here's another song from Bell X1 that came up on my playlist last night. A couple of the comments on YouTube say it sounds like Talking Heads. I've never thought of it before, but I think I can hear the similarity. I've always liked the odd lyric, "I love the way your underwire bra/Always sets off that X-ray machine". There's even a John Steinbeck reference - "Oh, won't you tell us 'bout those rabbits, George?" (I did 'Of Mice and Men' at school many years ago). Bell X1 - The Great Defector

To be honest, I'm not much of a drinker, and if I have a pint it's likely to be lager or maybe ale. I don't dislike Guinness, and it does taste different here, but I can't remember the last time I had one. My friend likes the 0.0 alcohol-free Guinness which I might try sometime since I usually have my car with me.

The first F1 sprint race saw the Mercedes cars lock out the front row of the grid, but second placed Kimi Antonelli had a bad start and lost several places. The Ferraris both had good starts and were soon challenging for the lead. Making his way back through the field, Kimi picked up a 10-second penalty for hitting another car. George Russell finally managed to make a gap at the front and went on to win the race with Charles Leclerc ahead of Lewis Hamilton. I really enjoyed seeing Lewis in a competitive car again and able to challenge the leaders. Current champion Lando Norris was fourth just ahead of Kimi. The highlights are here. Mercedes also locked out the front row for the main race, but this time with Kimi taking pole and becoming the youngest driver to so at only 19 years old. The Ferraris of Lewis and Charles were next with McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando behind them. Unfortunately for McLaren, both cars suffered electric issues before the race, so neither was able to start. The Audi of Gabriel Bortoleto and the Williams of Alexander Albon also failed to make the start. Both Ferraris again had a great start with Lewis taking the lead. Max Verstappen, who qualified eighth, had another bad start and slipped down the field. After a few laps, Kimi was able to build a lead, but the Ferraris spent a lot of the race swapping positions with each other, which didn't even stop when George got past them. At the flag it was Kimi who took his first F1 win, becoming the second youngest driver to do so (behind Max Verstappen) and the first Italian winner since Giancarlo Fisichella in 2006. George was second and Lewis third ahead of Charles. That's two third places this weekend for Lewis, and today's result is his first full race podium for Ferrari. Oliver Bearman scored a great fifth place for Haas. Max Verstappen had to retire his Red Bull with ten laps to go. The race highlights are here. The next race is the Japanese Grand Prix in two weeks, but then they'll be no races in April as the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix have been cancelled due to the war in the Middle East.

For a small island, they've made a lot of great music. I've been here over 20 years, and I've discovered a load of songs I'd never heard before over the last few weeks. The radio station spent the whole day playing the top 50 yesterday. No current chart music and nothing from outside of Ireland. They finished up with a show from a pub featuring some of the acts from the top 100 playing live. So many of the songs have an emotional connection to people, with listeners both loving them and fighting back tears. I'm also impressed that the top 100 included songs from last year back to at least 1970. Sadly, this song didn't make the list. While you guys are eating pancakes and waffles in the morning, we have this deli/gas station delight. It's basically a full Irish breakfast in a bread roll. It's been a while since I've had one, and it's making me hungry listening to it. Two eggs, two sausage, two rasher, two bacon, two puddings one black, one white All stacked like a tower on top of each other and rolled up good and tight If you're having some tea, the milks over there, and you'll find sugar in the bowl Says she, "Do you want some sauce on that?" Says I, "I do in my roll" Pat Shortt - The Jumbo Breakfast Roll

The top 100 greatest Irish songs countdown concluded today, and I said that the winner would be at least top 5 when I posted it a couple of weeks ago. Here's the top 10 along with selected others that I've posted on HNet. 1 Zombie The Cranberries 2 Nothing Compares 2 U Sinéad O'Connor 3 A Rainy Night in Soho The Pogues 4 Dreams The Cranberries 5 Take Me To Church Hozier 6 Crazy World Aslan 7 Brewing Up a Storm The Stunning 8 Killeagh Kingfishr 9 Fairytale of New York The Pogues & Kirsty MacColl 10 With or Without You U2 11 Grace The Wolfe Tones 13 Rocky Took a Lover Bell X1 14 Linger The Cranberries 16 N17 The Saw Doctors 17 Mandinka Sinéad O'Connor 41 Parachute Something Happens 44 Haunted Shane MacGowan / Sinéad O'Connor 50 Cannonball Damien Rice 52 Sarah Thin Lizzy 55 Heyday Mic Christopher 58 The Man Who Can't Be Moved The Script 60 Celebrate An Emotional Fish 77 Breathless The Corrs 83 Mary The 4 Of Us 100 Flame Bell X1 OK, so 'Nothing Compares 2 U' was written by Prince, but Sinéad O'Connor made it her own. U2 had the most entries with seven songs making the list. As you can see, as well as coming first, The Cranberries had two other entries. For Hobie, here's the one I haven't posted before. The Cranberries - Dreams

No, I’ve picked up some of the vocabulary, but not the accent.

Sorry, Hobie. I missed this comment. From what I've read, they picked their name from a selection of six because it was ambiguous and open to interpretation. Bono got his nickname from Bonavox, a hearing aid shop in Dublin (it's Latin for "good voice"). Bono and The Edge walk into a bar. The bartender looks up and says, "Oh no, not U2 again!". The British band UB40 took their name from Unemployment Benefit Form 40.

Like The Blizzards (above), brothers Frank and Seán O'Meara are from Mullingar. They wrote this song based on the true story of Grace Gifford's marriage to Joseph Plunkett in Kilmainham Gaol. Plunkett was one of the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising, and was executed by the British just hours after the wedding. It's a heart-wrenching and poignant ballad that's a bit different to the songs I've posted recently. The Wolfe Tones - Grace

Lover (See this post for the connection)

I posted another song by Bell X1 in the One Word Song Titles thread recently, but I heard this one today and it has too many words in the title for that thread. I known and liked it for a while, but never knew what it was about. According to the band, they used to see a man in his late-50s sleeping rough in Dublin. One day he had a female companion, and they invented this backstory for him. Bell X1 - Rocky Took A Lover Here's when they performed it live on Letterman in 2008.

Staying on the Irish theme... Mundy - July

Here's another Irish musician who remains a perennial favorite. I've just realized that this song is slightly older than me! Van Morrison - Moondance

Wanted

I'll try to keep up the Irish songs until St Patrick's Day, but not all of the great artists make songs with single word titles. Here's a great song about resilience and unsung heroes. It seems to have been an inspiration to a lot of the commenters on YouTube. Lead singer Danny O'Donoghue also spent some time as a judge/coach on 'The Voice UK' alongside Jessie J, will.i.am and Tom Jones. When you've been fighting for it all your life You've been struggling to make things right That's how a superhero learns to fly Every day, every hour, turn the pain into power The Script - Superheroes I'm now going to break the one word rule because I wanted to post a second song by The Script as we used to sing it in the choir. This one is about a man waiting for a girl to return to the corner where he first saw her. Paradoxically, given the title, I find it rather moving! Going back to the corner where I first saw you Gonna camp in my sleeping bag, I'm not gonna move Got some words on cardboard, got your picture in my hand Saying, "If you see this girl, can you tell her where I am?" Some try to hand me money, they don't understand I'm not broke, I'm just a broken hearted man I know it makes no sense but what else can I do How can I move on when I'm still in love with you The Script - The Man Who Can’t Be Moved

alive

MILLER'S MEADOW

Two cars failed to make it to the grid for the opening race of the season. The Audi of Nico Hulkenberg had issues on the way to the grid and local hero Oscar Piastri crashed his McLaren after a power spike turned him into the wall. Neither of the dominant Mercedes had good starts, and both Ferraris made good progress off the line. It led to a lot of back and forth overtaking between Charles Leclerc/George Russell and Lewis Hamilton/Kimi Antonelli over the first 10 laps. Then, on lap 11, after some good opening laps, Isack Hadjar's car lost drive and retired bringing out a virtual safety car. Mercedes chose to pit both of their cars while Ferrari left both of their cars out. That decision would prove decisive as George and Kimi went on to claim a 1-2 finish for Mercedes with Charles and Lewis in third and fourth for Ferrari. Reigning champion Lando Norris could only manage fifth ahead of Max Verstappen who made it to sixth from his 20th place start. They were the only six cars who finished on the lead lap. Oliver Bearman finished seventh for Haas and at 18 years old, rookie Arvid Lindblad became the youngest British driver to score points in F1. The top ten was completed by Pierre Gasly in ninth and Esteban Ocon in tenth. Cadillac had one of their cars make the finish with Sergio Perez in 16th - the last classified position three laps down. You can watch the race highlights here. Despite the varying outcomes, nearly all the drivers felt positive about the race. You can see their reactions here.

The 2026 F1 season starts this weekend with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. There have been many changes to the rules and regulations since last year, some of them controversial, and many of the drivers are unhappy with the way they have to drive to recharge their batteries. We'll have to see how the racing turns out. One of the favorites, Max Verstappen, crashed out in the first qualifying session without setting a time, so he'll start near the back in 20th place. Cadillac start their first F1 race in 18th and 19th, but they're expecting their first season to be a learning experience. In the final qualifying session, George Russell put his Mercedes on pole with team mate Kimi Antonelli in second. Kimi had a bad crash in the morning (see here), so the team did well to put his car back together. Max's team mate, Isack Hadjar, qualified in third, showing the Red Bull's pace. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton put their cars in fourth and seventh, sandwiching the McLarens of Oscar Piastri (at his home grand prix) and reigning champion Lando Norris. The top ten is rounded out by the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson and rookie driver Arvid Lindblad in eighth and ninth, and Audi's Gabriel Bortoleto. This is also Audi's first season, but unlike Cadillac who started their team from scratch, Audi took over the Sauber team. You can watch the qualifying highlights here.

I think I'd have to agree. Maybe you'll like the vocals more in this one. It was on the soundtrack of the 1991 Steve Martin movie 'LA Story', hence the clips in the video. Enya - Exile

The countdown of the 100 greatest songs by Irish artists started on the radio today, and they got halfway with some of the songs I've posted recently already appearing. It'll conclude next Friday, and I'll let you know which ones made the list. In the meantime, here's a song by an Irish artist who wasn't mentioned in the build-up to the poll. Cathy Davey - Reuben While I was looking for the video above I came across a version in Irish (as Gaeilge) with a couple dancing. It's fun.

IMPORTED kay-viar One of rich Rosco's first purchases (as pronounced by Cletus)