A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div (End of Year subsection)

Well, there goes 2022 ........ Hope you have a safe celebration when ringing in the New Year.

Let's hope for a Happy and Peaceful 2023.

Auld Lang Syne as done by the Off the Wagon Bluegrass Band

St Stephen's or Boxing Day Geography Respite (Traditional Post subsection)

It's that time of year for two favorites for this day. The Mini-Bears wouldn't feel right if these weren't shared.

Here's the Irish Rovers doing Good King Wenceslas.

And here's the Christmas story by John Henry Faulk ........ It wouldn't be right not to play it.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div (Yet More Christmas subsection)

Terry Baucom and the Dukes of Drive doing Christmas at the Old Home Place from their latest album 

Here in the Country.

 Cindy Baucom - Lead Vocal, Terry Baucom - Banjo,  Will Clark - mandolin and harmony vocals, Clint Coker-  guitar and harmony vocals, Joe Hannabach - bass.

Geography Div (Borders subsection)

 Another rendition of the USA based on natural boundaries (Rivers, Mountains, etc) and populations.

Obviously Hawaii and Alaska are "as is" but Maine is a surprise. 

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass (More Christmas subsection)

Authentic Unlimited doing Silent Night.

Jerry Cole - Bass, John Meador - Guitar, Eli Johnston - Guitar, carry these Quicksilver-level vocals. Jesse Brock - Mandoli and Stephen Burwell - Fiddle

Geography Div (World Cup Fever subsection)

 It's in full swing, but what is the sport really called? Depends on where you live, eh?

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div (Wham subsection)

I didn't do Christmas songs last year, so the Minibears shamed me into getting with the holiday spirit.

Here's Becky Buller doing George Michael's Last Christmas from her new Christmas album The Perfect Gift.

Becky plays the fiddle (naturally)with Barry Bales on bass, Ron Block on banjo, Sierra Hull on mandolin, Dan Tyminski on guitar, and Todd Livingston on resophonic guitar. 

Geography Div (French Fry subsection)

 An ever popular question: what do you want with 'em?

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div (Happy Birthday subsection)

Guess who's another year older?? (Heck, I deserve it!)

Here's a humorous Happy Birthday from Nothin' Fancy.

Thanks guys ..........

• Mike Andes--mandolin/vocals
• Chris Sexton--fiddle/vocals
• James Cox--bass/vocals
• Caleb Cox--guitar/vocals
• Jacob Flick--banjo/vocals

Geography Div (Longevity subsection)

 Whoever said that your geographical location doesn’t play a factor in longevity may have been slightly mistaken. Whether this is due in part to cleaner air, water, better eating, or more outdoor living, there are clear differences across the states in how long people tend to live. 

California and New York are at the top of the list when it comes to having residents that are around longer. It looks like there is a stark contrast between Florida and some other Southern states. If you’re looking to extend your years,  you may want to steer clear of some parts of the Deep South.

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div (Chuck Berry subsection)

Dubbed the World's Fastest Banjo Player, here's Todd Taylor with his take on Chuck Berry's Johnny Be Goode.

Geography Div (More safe driving subsection)

 A couple of posts back, compared the US to Europe for traffic fatalities. Wonder if speed limits could have anything to do with it ???????

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div

Nick Chandler and Delivered doing a Doyle Lawson composition from their new album of the same name: Silver Bird.

Nick Chandler - mandolin , Gary Triviette -  bass , Bobby Powell - guitar  and Jamie Sparks - banjo

Twin Mandolin - Alan Bibey

Geography Div (Google subsection)

 Autocomplete for Turkish Google searches:

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div

I've always enjoyed Alan Munde's playing. Recently inducted into the Banjo Hall of Fame, here's one of my favorites, an instrumental version of Steve Gillette's Darcy Farrow.

Banjo: Alan Munde Fiddle: Dave Ferguson Guitar: Doc Hamilton Mandolin: Roland White Upright Bass: Roger Bush

Geography Div (Safe Driving subsection)

 Maybe it's because there are fewer cars?

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div (Lotsa Banjos subsection)

Becky Buller and friends doing the Earl Scruggs standard Groundspeed.

Ned Luberecki - Banjo, Trey Wellington - Banjo, BB Bowness - Banjo, Kristin Scott Benson - Banjo Nate Sabat - Bass, Thomas Cassell - Mandolin, Becky Buller - Fiddle and Dan Boner - Guitar

Geography Div (Trick or Treat subsection)

 It's that day (or night) again when the little ghosts and goblins will be knocking on neighborhood doors and extorting sweets from the populace. What are they going to get? Depends on where you live, eh?

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div

Talk about weird group names ... The Purple Headed Cobras doing Lonesome Without You at the 2022 festival in Galax, VA.

Bailey Coe: guitar, Ruth Shumway: fiddle, Andy Lowe: banjo, Joe Hannabach: bass and Gregg Welty: mandolin

Geography Div (Broken Treaty subsection)

Imagine what our Congress would look like if the "Indian Territories" negotiated over the years were states of the union. 

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div (Hall of Fame subsection)

The Dillards have been inducted into the Bill Monroe Bluegrass Hall of Fame.

Here's a cut of their most requested song Dooley.

Doug Dillard - Banjo, Mitch Jayne - Bass, Rodney Dillard - Guitar and Dean Webb - Mandolin

Geography Div (Population adjustment subsection)

 Here's an interesting redraw of the USA where every state has (more or less) the same population.

by u/mikevago

Methodology: I tried to respect existing state borders wherever possible (which is why you get a few western states chained together that are pretty spread out geographically). I got my data from the US Census’ very cool county-by-county 2020 population map, and the only counties I had to break up were Los Angeles and San Bernardino.

The average population of the states is 6.6 million, and most of these are within half a million of that. Brooklyn is the biggest outlier at 6153515; West Texas is the largest at 6894256.

And some state abbreviations you may be unfamiliar with (West to East):

PC is Pacifica (Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii, Guam)
CN/CC/CS are North, Central, and South California (flipped the abbreviation to avoid confusion with the Carolinas)
NG is Los aNGeles (since LA was already taken)OC is Orange County
WT/ET is East/West Texas
DL is Dallas
HU is Houston
NF/CF/SF is North/Central/South Florida (the southernmost part of Florida is part of Puerto Rico)
PT is Pennsyltucky
NY is Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx, and Jersey City
BK is Brooklyn, Staten and Long Islands
MD is still Maryland, and includes Washington DC.

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div

Heard this on the radio yesterday, nice song. Wildfire doing Quiet Country Town.

Robert Hale - Guitar, Curt Chapman - Bass, Johnny Lewis - Banjo, Matt DeSpain - Dobro, 

and Scott Napier - Mandolin

Geography Div (view thru the windshield subsection)

 Having driven on the left for nearly six years, it took a while to get used to the majority view.

Several countries have tried to "phase in" driving on the right, but starting with the lorries first didn't work out too well.

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div

Spending a week in Arizona, so thought I'd give some space to a favorite "local" band, The Sonoran Dogs.

Here they are from the Pickin' in the Pines festival held in Flagstaff last year doing Footprints in a Song.

• Peter McLaughlin – guitar / vocals, Mark Miracle – mandolin/vocals. Tyler James (Walls) – banjo / vocals. ... Brian Davies – upright bass / vocals.
• Sorry - couldn't find anything on the fiddler.

Geography Div (Elections subsection)

 Has your state ever elected a woman to the US Senate??

South Dakota has, but ........

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div

One of my favorite groups, Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen doing the title track from their new album, Hold On.

Frank Solivan - Mandolin and lead vocal, Mike Munford - Banjo, Chris Luquette - Guitar and Jeremy Middleton - Bass

Geography Div (what used to be subsection)

 Considering what we've had to put up with lately, maybe this would be an improvement.

Yet, there's hope ........

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div

Ashby Frank doing his cover of the 1991 Peter Rowan song Midnight Highway.

When I first heard this (I came to it in the middle) I thought it sounded very much like Northern Lights' Northern Rail.

Ashby Frank on Mandolin, Seth Taylor on guitar, Matt Menefee on banjo, Gaven Largent on reso-guitar, Travis Anderson on bass, and Josh Hunt on drums

Geography Div (Bear subsection)

I can guarantee that things didn't turn out well for the bears.

 

Sadly, A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div RIP subsection)

Sadly, Herschel Sizemore has passed away. Bluegrass Today has an excellent obit written by Richard Thompson.

I first heard him playing Grey Eagle and later his "standard," Rebecca.

RIP Herschel.

・Hershel Sizemore (Mandolin) ・Del McCoury (Guitar) ・Tom McKinney (Banjo) ・Sonny Miller (Fiddle) ・John Palmer (Bass)

Geography Div (What's in a name subsection)

 Looks like there are a few that don't have any  ............

                                                How to say the name “John” in Europe.

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div

River Full of Blues by Darren Beachley.

 Darren Beachley on Reso-guitar, Scott Vestal is on banjo, Clay Hess on guitar, Alan Bibey on mandolin, Stephen Burwell on fiddle, and Curtis Vestal on bass

Geography Div (Workin' for a livin' subsection)

 Today is Labor Day. .......... but it's really not "Labour Day" as seen by most of the world's countries, that would be May 1st. 

Oh well, our holiday is mainly dedicated to shopping and no one gets a day off!

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div

Dave Adkins' title track from his newly released album  We're All Crazy.

Met Dave at the Black Hills Bluegrass Festival a few years back; a very personable, down to earth guy.

Adkins on guitar and lead vocal,  Aaron Ramsey on guitar and harmony vocals, Jeff Partin on bass, dobro and harmony, Will Clark playing mandolin and singing harmony, and Jason Davis on banjo. 

Geography Div (Logo subsection)

Well, "tourist season" is almost over. But, just in case you wondered, here are the official tourism logos of each state ..........

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div

Time for some good, old-time banjo music. Russ Carson's new release of Bugle Call Rag.

Banjo: Russ Carson, Fiddle: Stuart Duncan, Guitar: Jake Workman, Mando: Aaron Ramsey, and Bass: Mike Bub

Geography Div (How much subsection)

Some surprises ...............

 

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div

North Carolina's Fireside Collective doing Movin' On Down That Line.

Joe Cicero on guitar, Jesse Iaquinto on mandolin, Alex Genova on banjo, Tommy Maher on reso-guitar, and Carson White on bass.

Geography Div (TV subsection)

 What's your favorite ?

Geography Div (Don't speaka da language subsection)

Esperanto never really caught on in the US, however .......... (folks in Ohio won't have a problem, eh?)

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div

The Dan Tyminski Band doing Rocky Road Blues.

Dan Tyminski - Guitar, Jason Davis - Banjo, Grace Davis - Bass, Gavin Largent - Dobro, Maddie Denton - Fiddle and Harry Clark - Mandolin

Geography Div (Old homeplace subsection)

 I Lived in Columbia, MD for nearly 25 years From it being 50% developed to it's completion.

Its claim to fame is the quirky names of the residential streets.

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div

Australian singer Kristy Cox with her new video Good Morning Moon.

Jason Roller on guitar and fiddle, Justin Moses on mandolin and reso-guitar, Gaven Largent on banjo, and Mike Bub on bass. Magnolia Williams and Jerry Salley provide vocal harmonies.

Geography Div (Underrated attractions subsection)

 Last week we looked at the overrated. Now the opposite .........

A Little Saturday Nit Bluegrass Div (Fishin' subsection)

Prolific songwriter Milan Miller sharing some summer fun. Trout Don't Live in Ugly Places.

Milan Miller- Guitar, Mandolin, Lead Vocal, Aubrey Haynie- Fiddle, Gaven Largent- Dobro, Jon Mabe- Harmony Vocals, Buddy Melton- Bass and Seth Taylor- Banjo

Geography Div (Attractions Subsection)

Well now that we've looked at cities, how about things to see in each state?

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div (Queen subsection)

The Becky Bueller Band paying tribute to the accomplishments of several bluegrass artists with an introduction by Queen's Brian May; We Will Grass You.

Becky Bueller - Fiddle, Ned Luberecki - Banjo, Jake Eddy - Guitar, Wes Lee - Mandolin

and Daniel Hardin - Bass

Geography Div (More ratings subsection)

A couple of weeks ago, we displayed the most overrated city ...... now for the underrated .........

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div (Adele subsection)

Irish Folksinger Danny Burns covering Adele's Someone Like You.

Scott Vestal on banjo, Billy Contreas on fiddle, Ethan Burkhardt on upright bass, Josh Methany on dobro, and Matt Menefee on mandolin. 

Geography Div (Fireworks subsection)

It's July Fourth and people who have no idea of what it's about are making noise.

Using a voronoi map, David Yanofsky for Quartz mapped the places in the US that are the farthest away from legal fireworks sellers in case you need to get away from the early celebrations. Or, people could just stop setting off fireworks at 1am. That would be okay too

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div

Yonder Mountain String Band doing Into the Fire.

Dave Johnson - Banjo, Nick Piccininni - Mandolin, Ben Kaufmann - Bass, Adam Aijala - Guitar 

and Allie Kral - Fiddle

Geography Div (Ratings subsection)

The minibears went on strike last week so Bluegrass and geography got missed ....... sorry.

Anyhow, Where does your state's locales stack up??

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div

Daryl Anger and his new band Mr Sun doing A Stranger Comes to town.

Darol Anger- violin, Grant Gordy- guitar, Ethan Jodziewicz- bass and Joe Walsh- mandolin

A Littlt Saturday nite bluegrass Not Div

Sorry, nothing this week ......................... 

Geography Div (Moving?)

Where do Europeans want to move ??

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div

Seems funny to me that I've never really wondered that there are so few Black musicians in the Bluegrass genre. Tray Wellington is an ETSU alum with a degree from the Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Country Music program. Here's the Tray Wellington Band doing Hartford's Lawn.

Banjo: Tray Wellington; Guitar: Drew Matulich; Mandolin: Thomas Cassell; Bass: Zach Smith

Geography Div (Amusement Park subsection)

Well, summer's here and people will be going on vacations. If you're in Europe, don't get confused.

 

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div (Northumberland subsection)

The Often Herd from Northumberland, England doing Sycamore Gap. According to the band, "Sycamore Gap is a dramatic feature of the Northumberland National Park's landscape, situated just to the right of Milecastle 39 along Hadrian's Wall. The tune was inspired by a windy visit to this evocative landmark in the winter of 2019."

Evan Davies - Mandolin, Rupert Hughes - Guitar, Niles Krieger - Fiddle, Sam Quintana - Bass

Geography Div

 Well. it's a holiday weekend and folks are probably doin' road trips. How long it will take depends on where you are. Drive safely.

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div

Strange name for a bluegrass group Pretty Little Goat .... oh well. From their third album of the same name,  here's  Big Storm.

Josh Carter (mandolin, vocals), J.T. Linville (bass, vocals), Jackson Dulaney (dobro, lap steel), Mallory Carter (washboard, kick drum, vocals), Owen Grooms (banjo, vocals), plus honorary member Barrett Davis 

Geography Div (Corruption subsection)

 Rankings/ratings for 2021 .... we're slipping

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass div

New group Stillhouse Junkies doing Colorado Bound

Fred Kosak (Vocal/Octave Mandolin), Alissa Wolf (Harmony Vocal, Fiddle), Cody Tinnin (Harmony Vocal, Bass)

Geography Div (Streaming subsection)

 There's nothing to watch !!

A Litle Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div (Solo subsection)

New Jersey instrumentalist Frank Ruck from his new solo album Americana Wandering, 

doing New Banjo Reel/Saint Anne's Reel.

No need to list musicians, Frank does everything!

Geography Div (Road trip subsection)

Can't make to Europe this week? Well, go to Ontario (the Canadian Province) and you can visit many of the principal cities on one tank of gas!!

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div

New single from fiddler Daryl Anger and Mr. Sun Breaker's Breakdown.

Daryl Anger - Fiddle,  Joe K. Wash on mandolin, Grant Gordy on guitar, and Aidan O’Donnell on bass.

Geography Div (Cultural subsection)

The US divided  into "cultural regions." Sure would make our Congress look different, eh ?

Cultural Regions of the U.S. - Round 4- The 50 States Reimagined.

by u/Inzitarie

Cultural Regions of the U.S., the fourth and final map.

Now with FIFTY sub-regions, a new & improved color scheme, and the inclusion of the unincorporated territories!

Beneath the borders of the 50 states lay 50 “other” states. This map takes a shot at mapping the ambiguous phenomenon of “culture” and answering the question “Does the US have it?” Well of course it does, we have tons of yogurt!“ ^{Waitno,notthattypeofculture!}

This map shows the U.S. as 6 major cultural regions divided between 50 sub-regions. Of course trying to define a concept as slippery and abstract as culture, then plot it onto a discrete visual medium is impossible to do perfectly, or at all really. So consider this map as more of a summary reference with limited granularity– aka sorry if you’re favorite hometown sports bar in a small suburb outside Cleveland didn’t get it’s own cultural sub-region on the map.

A Little Sad Saturday Nite Bluegrass (Goodbye Mom subsection)

Mama Bear was borne away on Tuesday, a little less than three months from her 100th birthday. She'd been wondering aloud for a couple of years why God didn't want her. Her passing is a blessing, as her quality of life has been going downhill for the past almost three years; she's at peace now. 

A photo of her four generations: Mom, my Sister, my niece and her great-grandchild ....... life goes on.

I will hold the memory of our last visit (her 99th birthday) lovingly in my heart.

Alison Krause and the Isaacs perform the Stanley Brothers' Angel Band.

Geography Div (Stargazing subsection)

Most everywhere else,  street lights, house lights, security lights, and so on  ..........

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div

A group from just up the road in Montana, Kitchen Dwellers doing Wise River.

Torrin Daniels (Banjo and Vocals) Max Davies (Guitar and Vocals) Joe Funk (Bass and Vocals) Shawn Swain (Mandolin)

Geography Div (From where? subsection)

Came here from somewhere else ........... 

Mandolinist Mike Compton has released an album (Rare and Fine) of unreleased and many unrecorded  Bill Monroe pieces.

Here's the video of Orange Blossom Breakdown.

Mike Compton on Mandolin, Russ Carson on banjo, Jeremy Stephens on guitar, and Mike Bub on bass, Rare and Fine also features Shad Cobb, Laura Orshaw, and Michael Cleveland on fiddle.

Geography Div (what's in a name subsection)

 

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div (RIP subsection)

Roland White, mandolinist in the breakthrough bluegrass group The Kentucky Colonels, passed away on April first at the age of 83.

I met Roland in 1965 when the Colonels were passing thru Arizona. How time flies.

Here's Roland and a whole passel of bluegrass greats doing a tribute to the Colonels.

RIP Roland ........

Geography Div (Chinese search engine subsection)

 Just in case you were wondering ..................

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div

New video from Wildfire, Quiet Country Town.

Robert Hale on guitar and lead vocals,  Curt Chapman, on bass;  Johnny Lewis on banjo;  Matt Despain on reso-guitar; and Scott Napie on mandolin. 

Geography Div (Northern neighbor subsection)

Mrs Bear and I just got back from our Florida Vacation. I heard lots of people from Canada.

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div

New video from Dunlap and Mabe, Can't Hold Me Down.

Jack Dunlap: Guitar, mandolin and vocals Robert Mabe: Banjo and lead vocals Alex Kimble: Bass and vocals Mason Wright: Fiddle

Geography Div (Arms sales subsection)

 Of course our providing military equipment to Europe were minuscule during the reign of the orange bastard. We're now making up for it.

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div (Furriner subsection)

From France, Bluegrass 43 doing Dear Old Dixie.

Philippe Ochin - mandolin Alain Audras- upright bass,  Jean-Marc Delon - banjo, Jean-Paul Delon - guitarist  and fiddler Anna Takayasu,

H/T Lee Zimmerman, Bluegrass Today

Geography Div (Collective Security subsection)

 Did you know Russia has its own version of NATO? 

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div

A fairly new single from Terry Baucom's Dukes of Drive, Hello Blues.

Terry Baucom - Banjo, Will Clark - Mandolin, Clint Coker - Guitar and Joe Hannabach - Bass

Geography Div (Speaking of Invasion subsection)

 

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div

All-around musician Chad Darou's new single is a song called North End of a South Bound Train, written by Ed Williams, where Chad demonstrates his abilities on reso-guitar, mandolin, banjo, and bass, supported by Ray Legere on fiddle and David Carey on bass. Mallory Evans sings the lead, with Chad and Kristin Darou providing harmonies.

Geography Div (Next US Solar Eclipse subsection)

 785 days until the next Great American Eclipse over North America. 

Facts:

• Maximum duration is nearly 2x the 2017 eclipse
• 32 million Americans already live inside the path of totality
• Many inspired by 2017 so interest will be off-the-charts 
  
• More at: https://www.greatamericaneclipse.com/

Mrs Bear and I visited the 2017 event in Broken Bow, NE and it was spectacular !!

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass div

Kinda fun  - -  I'll let John Lawless' article from Bluegrass Today sort out all the players.

Geography Div (How cold? subsection)

 There are 4 great February cold snaps that impacted large portions of the Contiguous U.S. – 1895, 1899, 1936, and 2021. Which one produced the lowest temperature? Using data from thousands of stations and creating a 30 km grid, the clear “winner” was February 1899.

by @Climatologist49

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div (Get well Pete subsection)

Founding member of Hot Rize, Dr Banjo,  Pete Wernick suffered a heart attack on Feb 1.

Hell, what's a heart attack to a guy that survived the crash of United flight 232 in Sioux City, IA in 1989 and played at the Winterhawk Bluegrass festival two days later.

Here's Radio Boogie, from Hot Rize's 40th anniversary show.

Get Well soon Pete!

 Pete Wernick,banjo; Tim O'Brien, mandolin; Nick Forster,bass; Brian Sutton,guitar. Along with Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas and stuart Duncan.

Geography Div (Love and Marrige subsection)

Well, it's Valentines Day so how 'bout a map of Matrimony ???

The State of Matrimony, GA Moray, 1909. (Photo: Courtesy Barron Maps)

Matrimonial maps survived into the 20th century, as evinced by the above creation, designed and published by New York restaurant owner George Edward Moray to promote his two eateries. This map is unusual in that the vast majority of the locations plotted are real place names. Three railroads labeled Ceremony, Elopement, and Common Law run into the State of Matrimony, while the Divorce Rapid Transit railroad runs out.

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div

The Goodfellers covering Don Henley's Dirty Laundry.

Lead vocals and guitar, Teddy Barncastle Harmony and mandolin, Ralph McGee Bass Tim Hill Banjo, Hersie McMillian Fiddle, Rex McGee

Geography Div (What Russia thinks subsection)

Since they've been in the news so much lately, here's what an autocomplete on a Russian search engine has to say about Europe. (Swedes being "tolerant" is a hoot).

 

A Little Saturday Nite Bluegrass Div (Don't look up subsection)

A truly weird reprise of the Doors People Are Strange, done here by the Dead South.

Nathaniel Hilts - Guitar Scott Pringle - Mandolin Daniel Kenyon - Cello Colton Crawford - Banjo

Geography Div (What's Russia up to subsection)

 I saw news about this recently. Seems that it's also in the heart of the Irish fishing fleets prime grounds; they (the Irish) aren't happy.