Congratulations go out to Bawb and Monique!

Saturday May 1oth the couple exchanged vows at the Branford House in Groton, CT.

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Gabi and Felix Freuler at their wedding on March 17, 2008 in Riehen, just north of Basel.

Apparently Monday, we all hoisted a pint in celebration without even knowing it.

Congratulations!

Just in case you’re home, nursing a hangover and are feeling sorry that St. Patrick’s Day and the attendant drunken silliness is over for another year, fear not!

The Mariners are gearing up again for the Mystic Irish Parade which is right around the corner. And by gearing up, I mean I have to figure out which corner of my truck I threw my uniform into and perhaps, if it really really really needs it, wash the shirt and pants. Never, NEVER the jumper.

Notice two things: my jumper is hung up (on a hanger) AND I know where it is.

“Woody,” the latest legend-in-the-making incarnation of the pirate in chains, was at my house last night, begging for more leather to replace the shackles and chains he lost in New Haven. He claims there was a woman involved. I say, Who loses their chains? Ridiculous. In case you’re wondering, I gave him the leather, but only on the condition that he stand up on a bar in Mystic and sing us a song.

Anyhow, the Parade is running quite late this year because Easter Sunday is running exceptionally early.

Aside from the Mariners, the other guests of note are available here. A quick perusal yields many of the usual suspects, but one new group of four footed fame was brought to my attention, The Budweiser Clydesdales. Now I can’t say that I’m a big Budweiser fan, but I have enjoyed some of their advertising in years past.

Here’s the original classic:

And here’s another, that makes me glad there’s a whole summer of shenanigans ahead.
The Parade steps off @ 11am, from the lot opposite Mystic Seaport Museum and ends up just across the drawbridge. The Mariners will then be seen throughout town wherever fine beverages are found.

Only seven more days before the Mariners open their 2008 season on the windy streets of New Haven. We’ve been in spring training since late January and can only hope our tunes, hands and hearts are ready. Some of us also hope we know where our uniforms are.

It’s been 49 years since a group of Guilford Men decided they and the Fife and Drum world were both ready for this group, and as we prepare for our 50th Anniversary Festivities for the summer of 2009, we tip our collective bandannas to their visionary brilliance.

The current incarnation of the Mariners is also full of visionaries- from the musical, to the theatrical, to the poetic, to the just plain ludicrous. Here’s two now:

Anyhow, another such latent talent has emerged in the last decade in the form of our own “Little Dick” (another story entirely) giving us his own version of ‘100 bottles of beer on the wall’ or ‘the 12 days of Christmas.’ He posts a tidbit for each of the 100 days leading up St Patrick’s Day (differently each year, dear reader) I could try and wax philosphic, somehow trying to explain these bits of witty and truly trivial bits of knowledge, but instead, I’ll share seven with you, for the days until the Mariners take to the streets of New Haven.

Seven: “96 days until SPD in NH (AND a fun sexual position for dyslexics!). ”

Six: “88 days until SPD in NH. 88 is a great number. It is a numeric palindrome; it reads the same forward and backward. It also reads the same upside-down! Finally, it is the hull number for INDIGO; she was the 88th boat of her type produced. 88 is the number on our sails. ”

Five: “64 …will ya still need me, will ya still feed me….”

Four: “56 days until SPD in NH. 56 is the sum of the first six triangular numbers (making it a tetrahedral number), as well as the sum of six consecutive PRIMES (3 + 5 + 7 + 11 + 13 + 17). Adding up the divisors of 1 through 8 gives 56. Since 56 is twice a perfect number, it is itself a semi-perfect number.”

Three: “49… Little Dick, sorry to steal your thunder, but I was awake, and I’m so fired up about the parade, and so bummed out at nothing new to read on the board I figured I’d post Saturday’s count for you. I know, it was out of line. Sorry.” J.Mawn

Two: “33 days until SPD in NH. Rolling Rock - From the glass lined tanks of Old Latrobe we tender this premium beer for your enjoyment as a tribute to your good taste. It comes from the mountain springs to you. “33”

One: “27 days until SPD in NH. 27 is a perfect cube (3×3x3=27). If you are 27 years old, the last time your age was a perfect cube was when you were 8 (2×2x2) and probably didn’t notice. The next time will be when you are 64 (4×4x4) and probably won’t notice again!”

Well, that’s our countdown and a random selection of the brilliance that is our own Little Dick.

Parade steps off at 1pm, The Mariners will be at Rudy’s shortly after sunrise.

A memorial for Sean Egan, snare drummer for the Mariners, will be held at the hall for the Company of Fifers and Drummers tomorrow, Saturday February 9th at 2pm. Anyone that knew Sean is welcome to come by. If you are coming, bring a pot luck type dish and a story. For those that have never been there, The Company hall is in Essex, CT.

For the second year in a row Swiss Mariner bass drummer Pascal Kottmann had his design chosen for the Fasnacht plakette. Each year many designers vie for the right to have their design used on the ubiquitous badge that is sold throughout the city of Basel, Switzerland during their annual Fasnacht celebration.
 

 
I would like to tell you more about the design and what it represents, but my German translation skills are a bit rough and I’m hoping our Swiss friends can help us out here. Here is, however, the official photo that fasnacht.ch posted of Pascal.
 

 
I much prefer this photo, however, that I took of Pascal in the Schafeck, mug in hand, during our trip to Basel.
 

 
In all seriousness, Congratulations Pascal! Great work, we’re proud of you!

Our brother Sean Egan, a drummer with the Mariners since the early nineties, passed away a few days ago. Sean was prouder than any man I know to be a drummer in the Mariners. Another Mariner captured our collective feelings well by saying that we ‘will miss your company, your drumming talent, your BRUTAL sense of humor…breath easy my friend!’