Catherine, Called Hammer

As Aaron Carter would say, here's a little bit of old school for ya.



Circa 1997, this was a revolutionary text for one young Mary Catherine. First of all, circa 1997 I was unaware anyone else spelled their name the same as me...yes, even in Ireland.

But most of all, I was really into historical fiction as a youth. That, and books about the Holocaust.

After reading this book I began incorporating 1290s slang into my journal. A typical entry might read something like this:

June 8, 1997

GOD'S TEETH!! Mother and Father hath questions about my diet of wheat and berries and vegetables! [It should be noted here that my parents had zero problem with my vegetarianism/obsession with "erasing the endangered species list."] Me lady in waiting (Nell) shall be my only confidante in this terrible matter.

It was the beginning of a long and beautiful tradition of pretentious journal entries.



I leave you with something that has been preoccupying my mind these past few days:

Me: Why are Robin Thicke videos so very, very bad?
Christian: Yeah, I know. They're horrible.
Me: Especially this one for "When I Get You Alone."
Christian: Oh wait -- you mean the greatest video of ALL TIME.

How I Feel About Astral Weeks

I do not love many things more than Cher. Astral Weeks is one of those things. It is one of Van the Man’s first albums, back in the days when he was drunkenly rampaging through dive bars and gargling Irish music to people who did not appreciate him. To this, I can only say: Van,



It’s got that special something. Lines about driving chariots? Check. Harps? Check. White man with soul? Check.

But THEN, as though the creation of this album wasn’t enough, Van goes ahead and does a complete live recreation of it at Hollywood Bowl in 2008. When I heard about this I actually might have peed a little. The live album is exactly what you would expect from an aged veteran of Irish soul music, i.e. you cannot make out a single thing he is saying. I love you, Van.




(Is it just me or does he kind of look like my dad?)