The Long Weekend Has Begun

Midnight rapidly approaches and I'm just getting in from the first night of the Great American Irish Festival. Despite the questionable weather there was a nice crowd, the music was good, and the beer was excellent. Yeah, it's the Americanized version of proper Imperial beer, but that's what makes it good. That, and the refrigeration. Why those poor sods insist on drinking warm beer is beyond me.

From the mailbag:

"Ha! You're being used by the Democrats!"- I assume this is in reference to the Julian photo which, I might add, provided a wealth of entertainment tonight. It took about ten minutes for someone to realize the boys looked exactly like Bill and Ted flogging their band, so "Wyld Stallions!" became the punchline for the night.

But I digress.

I'm shocked, simply shocked at the suggestion the photo might have come from someone that wanted to open both Mr. Julian and a member of his own party to mockery. Well, duh. So what? That makes it less funny? I'm not a fan of unquestioning tribalism, hence my merciless criticism of Republicans whose actions I find objectionable, and I'll take good material anywhere I can find it. An ass-munch is an ass-munch, whether he's riding a donkey or an elephant, and most of our local politicians are ass-munches first and party loyalists second. Anything that helps to make that more obvious is a very, very good thing.

Speaking of which, you should have seen the shameless schmoozing going on in the VIP tent tonight. There's nothing like an election year to turn a music festival into a full-blown political event, with enough facile back-slapping and glad-handing to make you reach for the hand sanitizer. A situation made even funnier because people were taking the "VIP" thing oh-so-seriously, as though it was a reflection of their actual importance. Believe me, if I could get in the bar was set pretty damn low.

Note: The timestamp reads 8:49 because of my clock settings, but this went up at 11:49. Over ten minutes to spare to make the daily deadline!