Celtic Thunder

I fell in love with Celtic Thunder this week. If you haven't seen them on PBS, it's a group of five guys, all solo singers, who were brought together like the Il Divo group. It's an interesting group as they range in age from 14 to 39. The oldest guy, George Donaldson, is a Scot, Paul Byrom of the classically trained tenor voice is from Dublin, and the other 3, Ryan Kelly, Keith Harkin and young Damian McGinty are from Northern Ireland. Ryan Kelly (love that name, so Irish) comes across as a sexy, bad boy. He describes his on-stage persona as "evil" as you can see in his solo Heartbreaker and in the duet of That's A Woman. Damian's version of Puppy Love brought the house to its feet. What a big voice he has for a fourteen-year-old.

I made a pledge to my local PBS station so I'll be getting a CD eventually. (Probably could have bought it cheaper, but I like to support PBS.) I enjoyed the concert so much, I watched it twice, recorded it the second time, and watched part of it again while I was working on author information forms for my latest story. If you like Celtic music, check your local listings for the concert.

I've long been a lover of Irish and Scottish music. I adore the pipes and nothing beats a raucus pub song. Back in the 1960's, when my friends were caught up in Beatlemania, I was more into The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem and the Irish Rovers. Not that I didn't like the Beatles, I just loved folk music more. I come from a long line of Scot Irish Presbyterians (the orange part of the country), but the stories of rebellion always appealed to the romantic in me.

I'm embedding this video of Ireland's Call from YouTube. This was one of my favorites; in fact, the first time I heard it, I was ready to sign on to the rebellion, lol. Guess I don't have Celtic blood for nothing. I love the way they lit up the stage in green and orange. I wonder if Ireland will ever be re-united.

Does anyone else like Celtic music?

Linda

More Sense and Sensibility

As I've mentioned before, I love Jane Austen and her works and a visit to the Jane Austen Centre in Bath was a highlight of my trip to England in 2003. Here's a picture of the townhouse at 25 Gay Street where Jane lived for a time.

Last Sunday I watched the second part of Sense and Sensibility on Masterpiece Theatre and loved it. I teared up more than once as Marianne and Elinor both suffered broken hearts and sighed when, at long last, they found love. LOL, it's not as if I'm not familiar with the story, but it's one I love and the production was good enough for me to get caught up in the emotions. I didn't remember Brandon fighting a duel with Willoughby but that was a fine scene. I loved it when Brandon drew blood.

The Masterpiece Theatre pages at pbs.org are wonderful. My favorite is the Men of Austen page which includes dating profiles of each man. I was surprised to realize how fabulously rich some of her men were. In today's currency, Colonel Brandon's 2,000 pound income would be equal to $1.2 million US, and Mr. Darcy's 10,000 pounds per year is the equivalent of $6 million! Even Edward Ferrars 100 pounds per year income translates to a respectable $60,000 income in today's money.

As much as I enjoyed the story, I can't help comparing social conditions then with now. I wonder how many of today's mothers would consider the thirty-five-year-old Brandon a suitable match for a seventeen-year-old daughter? Of course, there is that $1.2 million income to consider.

Who's your favorite Austen hero?

Linda / Lyndi