Posted on by mwhybark

One down?

Who knows if this will pan out, but NOLA.com is reporting that the 17th St. Canal breach is closed. Earlier today I flashed on how to get a satellite view of Editor B’s house, post flood, and, as expected, it’s clearly in a flood zone.

Amusingly, I also found Detroit-bound Mike Hurtt quoted in this pre-storm AP / CNN piece about Dr. John.

Finally, poking around that old BKB songlist site, I noticed that we at least took a running stab at The Lakes of the Ponchartrain, although we did a weird, downstream cowboy version that eroded the melodic charm of the original.

Happily, I found this decent Irish version with some liner notes to check out. Unsurprisingly, it also touches on themes that will have a bit of resonance in the coming days.

Posted on by mwhybark

Independence

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,

–That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

— The Declaration of Independence, 1776.

You know what? I’m pissed. I mean, really! Not like insurrectionist-type pissed, but the situation on the Gulf Coast can’t possibly be seen as anything less than a failure to meet the responsibilities assigned above under the very most basic covenants of our country.

Posted on by mwhybark

Wash day

Taking a break from doing laundry, I noticed that one P. J. Murhpy of Wexford, Ireland had posted his chord transcription for Lousiana, 1927. I can finally scratch an itch I have had for several days.

I wonder if Mr. Murphy is any relation to celebrated Father Murphy of song and story?

At New Orleans as the storm was passing

Oe’r drying streets of an emptied town

Fed’ral neglect sent the waters crashing

and brought the choppers from far and near

Then Mayor Nagin of the Old Ninth Ward

Broke down in tears with a warning cry

“Goddamn I’m pissed” came the raging curses

And stunned the nation from shore to shore.



Huh, that was too damn easy. I suppose I should point out that the link above is to Boulavogue, a song which celebrates the Irish Rebellion of 1798, and that the doggerel immediately preceding this paragraph is, I suppose, a filk version. Here are some lines from the traditional version that are of interest:

Look out for hirelings, King George of England,

Search ev’ry kingdom where breathes a slave,

For Father Murphy of the County Wexford

Sweeps o’er the land like a mighty wave.

…

Ah, Father Murphy, had aid come over

The green flag floated from shore to shore!

I’ve played Boulavogue for six or seven years, and to my embarrassment have never really looked into the history of the events recounted. Reading through the Wikipedia link, I note with interest that the heart of the rebellion’s threat to the Crown was the “unprecedented ‘unholy union'” of Irish Presbyterians and Catholics, common cause across cultural and class barriers to resist and roll back the power of King George. Of further interest is the record of two landings in Ireland by French forces. In the United States, the primary locale where French and Irish culture have rubbed up against one another for generations is clearly New Orleans.