Keeping With This Weeks Piping Theme…..

 If you are looking for the Colorado Report check HERE:

It has been a while since I posted any thing of any substance and for many reasons.  Yesterday,  I open my e-mail and find a comment awaiting moderation I click the link to see the comment and its from one of my fire fighting brethren from a far off state.  He posted a comment about my post a while ago “Top 5 Baddest Fire Department Pipe Bands”. 

I was curious so I check the stats on my site and found nearly 500 visits to that post, some how the link has made it to several of the bands I listed and they have posted on their sites.  In return I am going to list their sites so you may further check out these great bands.  If you feel so inclined I recommend purchasing some of their shirts, hats, stickers or even their Cd’s.  The bands are made up of people who love the fire service and the tradition of the fire service and don’t get paid for what they do.  Most of the time, and I can speak from experience, you spend a lot of money just to be in the band but it pales to the honor you can be a part of when you are in the band.

Next Friday I am leaving for Colorado Springs for the IAFF Fallen Fire Fighters Memorial with my best friend Tom.  This year is a particularly solemn year we are going to see Michael Reilly’sname added to the Memorial wall.  Michael served proudly in the USMC with my friend Tom in Iraq and was tragically killed in the line of duty while serving the Fire Department of New York.  Tom wanted to go and asked if I wanted to so I said abso-friggin-lutely. 

I will write a full report on my return.  If your at the memorial you can find Tom and I belly up to the bar at Jack Quinn’s on Tejon street.  This is where we spent most of our time in 2002 when we went.  We will be the ones wearing Union shirts and drinking an insane amount of Guinness. 

 If your going to be at the Memorial shoot me an e-mail HOOLIGANMIND@Comcast.net.

See you at Quinn’s,

Hooligan

“TOP 5 Baddest Fire Department Pipe and Drum Bands or Fire Department Emerald Society Pipe and Drum Bands”

Number 5

Band: Cleveland Fire Pipes and Drums

Location: Cleveland, Ohio

HOOLIGAN Says: As much as it pains me to admit anything good actually does come from Ohio in this case I must.  Powerful pipes and drum corps they will literally be at anything fire related whether it be a funeral or a party these guys come to play, and play they do.  I have seen them both at the IAFF Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial and at FDIC always give a powerful performance in a bar in the street or in a parade they play it well and with great honor.

NUMBER 4

BAND: DCFD Pipes and Drums

LOCATION: Washington D.C.

HOOLIGAN Says: Want to know what a drummers salute is?  Watch the drum line from the DCFD.  Nice sized Corps lots of young and painfully talented players. 

NUMBER 3

BAND: Seattle Fire Department Pipes and Drums

LOCATION: Seattle, Washington

HOOLIGAN Says: One of the smaller corps I chose but their numbers pale in comparison to the sound they bring.  HELLA nice guys,  show up at most major events.  Their game is real tight from marching to playing.

NUMBER 2

BAND: Techinally its called the Florida Pipes and Drums but its the Orlando, Palm Beach County and Tampa Fire Departments Pipes and drums

LOCATION: Florida

HOOLIGAN Says: If you dont want to party and drink an insane amount of adult beverages then heed my warning and stay far far away from this crowd.  The Palm Beach Boys are famous for their party behavior and they attend EVERYTHING!  From Florida to Maine to Washington to Cali there is a group from Palm Beach County.

NUMBER 1

BAND: FDNY Pipes and Drums

LOCATION: New York City

HOOLIGAN Says: The FDNY epitomizes Fire Department Pipes and Drums.  As dedicated to the tradition and honor of the pipes and drums as any band in the nation, hands down.  They go absolutely everywhere not only in the nation but in the world to play. To see them play live and in person is quite a sight and sound to behold and is nearly deafening.  To give you some indication to the dedication these guys have they played at 343+ funerals following the terrorist attacks of 9-11.  They most recently played in SC at the funeral of the 9 Charleston Fire Fighters.  They travel on their own dime just to pay tribute to fallen fire fighters the world over.  They come in droves and they come to play the Pipes and Drums. 

Most of The Time its Hard to Explain

 I got a call the other day from an acquaintance asking what was all of the pomp and circumstance surrounding a fire fighter funeral.  My reply was simply “If you don’t know I doubt you will ever understand.”

Nine Charleston, S.C. Fire Fighters Killed

A dark day.

Charleston Mayor Joe Riley confirmed on CNN this morning that nine firefighters were were killed Monday night in a massive blaze at a sofa store and warehouse here.

Most were killed he said, when a large set of shelves collapsed in the rear of the one-story building. He did not think there were sprinklers in the building. He also said the firefighters were looking for employees at the time and had no warning about the inpending tragedy.

Read more about this tragedy HERE.

The Laws of Eating Cease to Exist on Holidays and Special Events

This has been a severe annoyance of mine for a great many years I am now going to burden you, my faithful readers, with my bur.

Casa De Hooligan is run on a schedule and strict adherence to aforementioned schedule is highly encouraged.  Breakfast is at 7am (unless its the weekend then its 8am) lunch is promptly eaten at 12 high, and dinner is at 6pm.  Bed time for minors is 8pm no questions asked. 

For reasons unknown to me, and it would appear everyone that I polled yesterday, holidays defy all logic when it comes to eating times.  We had lunch at 3 pm yesterday this is absolutely preposterous.  Why on holidays and holidays only do the times suddenly and inexplicably change.  Would the earth spin off of its axis if we ate a meal at normal meal eating times on a holiday? 

The Blood Cleans Off Them Quite Nice…..

Yesterday my kids returned from my moms house each sporting a pair of these shoes.

They weren’t this color thankfully but this was the style.  I have seen these around town and I just don’t get it?  Many moons ago when I work in the OR at the Detroit Medical Center we all wore shoes nearly identical to these.  They were rubber and had no holes in them.  The reason we wore them is they could be cleaned of blood and other bodily fluids quite easily.  It was not so much a fashion statement as it was a necessity.  At the end of the shift we would throw them in our lockers because they were simply too dorky looking to wear in public.  Now it seems they have crawled out of the OR and into the mainstream.  They are still dorky by the way, I wonder whats next fashionable surgical scrubs????

Westboro Church Gets Owned

A video about the people we all love to hate perhaps if this happened wherever they went they wouldn’t come around anymore? Nice Work Seaford, Deleware.   

I saw a t-shirt the other day in a magazine that I am going to get it said:

“I know violence isn’t the answer, I got it wrong on purpose”

Songs You Wished You’d Written

So I was reading The Scolai and he threw down the gauntlet on the Hooligan…almost baiting me in to sneaking a peak at my play-list? HA!!!! I will not fall for your clever rouse, but I will answer your question.  Simply stated I don’t wish I would have written any of my favorite songs.  All I can think of is my perfectionist touch of OCD when it comes to things I personally create, the things that have been born of my own hands and my mind.  For these are the items that vex me so, I see every flaw, the second guessing if I had only done it another way, added this or taken away that.  Even though others don’t notice I do and it annoys me like the fleas of one thousand camels has infested my armpits. 

I imagine the same would be true if I actually wrote music or lyrics.  I would find the subtle flaws the strange nuances that make me secretly despise that which I have created.  Because of this I will just let musicians create the music I love, spin the prose that I connect with on a very personal level because if I would have written it I wouldnt love it nearly as much.

The Curious Life of Human Cadavers

I just finished a really good book titled “Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers” not counting the Tucker Max book probably one of the better I have read in recent weeks.  The author goes into vivid detail the lasting impact human cadavers have socially, scientifically, and educationally.  She describes a multitude of testing and some improvements that have been made in the automotive industry and in other areas of research.

It makes one think, just what percentage of the population of this planet are worth more to the world dead than they were alive?  You could, and many do, wander aimlessly through life not contributing a thing to society but in death their body could possibly make a safer airbag or a better bulletproof vest for police officers or a better helmet for our soldiers. 

I am starting a petition campaign to have Paris Hilton’s body donated to science god knows she is the poster child for being worth more dead than alive.

Please Do Not Leave Children Unattended…..

I was in a small group from my Fire Department Union that attended the yearly Muscular Dystrophy Conference in Mt. Pleasant  last week at the Soaring Eagle Casino and Conference Center.  We arrived early and parked the car and while I was walking through the parking lot I was met with a strange sign it read: “Please Do Not Leave Children Unattended In Cars, We can provide Childcare.” Thinking that this was an odd and unusual joke I glanced around the parking lot and saw this sign posted about every 50 feet throughout the lot.  I shutter at the thought of what occurred in the parking lot of this casino that would warrant such a sign and cringe at the fact that such a sign is actually needed.  There should be an application process to become a parent.

On a lighter note I took the House for quite a sum of money at the Roulette table and I could possibly be the worst golfer in the world.

I will be posting in the near future the history of Professional Fire Fighters and MDA or “Jerrys Kids.”