Taking up the Slack

In my absence, I see that Mark O Suileabhain of the irreplaceable Irish Elk has been keeping the parish up-to-date on piping news. The Boston Gaelic Fire Brigade Band copped a mention and a picture here. But is it only the fire brigade pipers? But that shortish fellow at the far left. . . .isn't that Alasdair Gillies? Sure looks like him to me.

And then there's the health warning. Apparently the hazards of piping are deafness, obesity, alcoholism, and marriage failure.

Mercy.

The pipes are pretty loud all right. When playing in an enclosed area, I use musician's earplugs. But the real hazard is those @#$% snare drums. Those'll deafen an angel. As for the rest, I leave it to you and the experts to decide. Too big words for me. I don't know if I'd be any skinnier without the pipes. I don't know if 5 or 6 beers in a week makes me an alcoholic or not. I'm sure the great white nanny in Washington could tell us. And finally I would have thought that a 10% marriage failure was considerably better than that of the general population, which the last I heard was something over half.

If worse comes to worst I still have my harmonica.