This could be described as a bait and switch. Today is the actual birthday of Kappa Kappa Psi, National Honorary Band Fraternity, but we’re showing you a video of a toddler birthday party instead. (Weird side note, a former Assistant Dean of Pledges at Howard University in that organization also shares a birthday with the fraternity so shout-outs to Gangster Psi, Ph.D reppin’ the Pershing Dough Boys and the D.) We digress…
The Word on the street is that Samuel really loves music, and music flows through his life experience from his ancestors. We don’t know if he will play the drums, organ, guitar, or tuba but he is bound to have an instrument choose him. In the YouTube video above you can see him dancing in the short, public version. (There is actually a much longer video with hilarious audio that we are only sending to the family -but you get the point.) Samuel had a really great time on his birthday and he was excited to receive the gift of music.
[Featured image is from Samuel’s Aunt Carol Squire, family archives]
Anyway I don’t know if you are following the numerology, but my son is at a prime number age and so am I. The last time that I checked, 2017 is also a prime number. Go ahead and dance around the room on that.
Lysa Cooper is on Instagram coordinating social media from Ibiza, Spain.
So my sister is super controlling and sometimes takes over and there is just no stopping her so you just hang on and go with the flow or you get your ass. Cheyann Benedict came through wearing all the fresh caftans. Camellia Clouse, brought her husband and two children so Samuel could have someone to frolic with. Heather Harmon gave us guided tours of the Takashi Murakami exhibit that she works with on Ibiza. Emilia Menocal made a special appearance. Drena DeNiro took some time away from her father’s yacht to have lunch with us. Karen Binns had a mini surprise reunion at that joint.
Alright. That’s enough claimbombing. Here is some art to make up for my sins. Sorry for that. I get hype.
[Intro – Martin Luther King Jr.]
We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now
Because I’ve been to the mountaintop; I don’t mind
Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will.
I am told that in all of Andalusia people like to party in the street. Andalusian people are festive and they don’t need much reason to throw down at a moment’s notice. Dancing in the streets is common and the Flamenco style is apparently in their blood.
My family and I were walking down the street, minding our own business, and this elderly gentleman just started playing the guitar. Another stranger started to bang out a beat on a box that he found. Two ladies that were having lunch nearby started dancing. My wife joined in but I pretty much started filming like a tourist, even though the entire scene was reminiscent of African cultures.
People all over the world aren’t really that different, I suppose. If you are ever travelling through Spain, you might want to take part. The next big party in Andalusia is La Feria in Jerez and Seville in May. The people have been warming up since March, when this video was taken. The orange blossoms are filling the air with a sweet smell and the weather is already quite warm in the South.
We are going to get with you at a later date. You have got to come to Spain!
We stay on the primrose path at Jardín Escénico, Jerez De La Frontera.
Well I finally got the wide angled HD shot that I was looking for in the procession of the Holy Virgin, Mary during the first procession of Semana Santa. Everybody wants more Samuel, anyway, so peep my best effort below. I told you that I was going to get with you at a later date…
I am not a professional photographer, folks. I got really distracted by my beautiful wife and cute son, but I managed at least one close-up of the statue of Mary. In addition to a solid silver platform you can also make out the rich gold embroidery in the long shawl covering the back of the statue. You can probably tell from my previous post on the subject that I am not a big fan of mixing materialism with religion but I also realize that Catholics aren’t the only one’s. (Reverend Creflo Dollar recently made headlines by asking his Baptist congregation to foot the bill for a brand new jet that costs somewhere upwards of $65,000,000.) You have to be really careful out there, people. Plenty of meaning is lost on folks when they get caught up in the almighty dollar and I am pretty sure it is irrespective of denomination.
Money isn’t everything, folks. I can think of plenty of things that are more important.
My wife and teething son await the procession of the statue of the Holy Virgin Mary -for free.
Let me apologize in advance for not going full wide screen with this video of my son, Samuel, at his first Semana Santa in Jerez de la Frontera. You really need to see this in the full HD glory to appreciate the magnitude of all that gold.
Holy Week is a really big deal here in Andalusia. There are plenty of religious relics and important statues strewn about Europe but I am told that Jerez goes above and beyond the call when it comes to commemorating the crucifixion and resurrection of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. There will be parades like this all week.
Folks dress in tunics with pointy hats and walk solemnly through the city streets with heavy statues depicting various aspects of Catholicism. Spain is a Catholic country after all. My wife explained to me that the valuable statues and the various marchers are indicative of an extensive subculture of laypeople devoted to religious organizations. Of course there are meetings all year long in order to ensure that the events are well-coordinated and go off without a hitch.
I never knew that Holy Week could be so lucrative. People pay big bucks to anonymously accompany the elaborately adorned statues. Older and richer people pay even more money (all year long) just to have a seat in one of the many grandstands along the parade route. Even the people working the hardest in the Andalusian heat carrying the relics have to pay to join the religious associations for the privilege.
It kind of makes you wonder what Jesus would think about all this gold. We haven’t even gotten started about the Virgin yet. We are going to get with you at a later date on that, but please consider this photo as a preview.
My son has no idea what is going on during the parades of Semana Santa, but maybe nobody really understands.
I hope you are out there being responsible and all that good stuff. Just so you know, I’m wearing green. Oh you already knew that it was St. Patrick’s Day just like you knew that the DeMatha Stags won the ACIT. You probably also knew that the Notre Dame basketball team (in Indiana) won the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament Championship later on that night. Did broadcasters mention that Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey graduated from DeMatha in 1971 1977? Did they mention that Notre Dame has a Player of the Year candidate and ACC Tournament MVP winner by the name of Jerian Grant that graduated from DeMatha in 2010?
My son Samuel outside the cue at Notre Dame in Paris.
There will be more on that stuff at a later date. We should all spend more time in our lives talking about the saints that we actually met. (Anyway, shout out to my Irish-DeMatha-Music homey Coleman Mellett who is no longer with us.) My wife tells me that Semana Santa or Saints Week is about to pop-off in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain very soon, so I know at least one fat baby boy that has some traveling to do. I’m wishing all of us out here safe travels and may God’s grace and the luck of Irish be with ye!
Where do I begin with this lazy Saturday filled with basketball? I know that the high school kids out there took the SAT this morning but I didn’t think that the brain drain would extend itself to someone so far removed from such mental gymnastics. Everything is going in circles during this floor routine. Maryland lost to Michigan in the Big 10 basketball tournament semifinals today. Nobody can find Vladimir Putin all of a sudden. Then my ray of hope. (No, I am not one of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology prospective students waiting to hear from their admission committee via the special blast they planned for today.) I am referring to the picture of my wife and son in front of the Eiffel Tower on a cold and gray afternoon.
My wife and son hold down the Eiffel Tower in Paris on Pi Day, 2015.
My day was made, and I am truly thankful. There really isn’t a whole lot to say here other than I hope that all of you out there have the opportunity to travel the world with your family or the people that you love. I am one of those people that believes that the world is getting smaller. People are a blessing and a curse when it comes to travel. As fast as we discover the wonders of this world, people end up destroying or ruining other parts that might be equally wondrous. Be a good steward in the world, people. Take care and enjoy your Pi Day.
The Chronicles of Six 