T-shirt #221: Worcester Irish Music Festival

My mom got me this shirt when I went with the fam to the, you guessed it, Worcester Irish Music Festival back in June (see blog here: http://davestshirts.blogspot.com/2010/06/t-shirt-164-upei-dept-of-athletics.html). Tonight, the fam and I are going to see Cynthia MacLeod (www.cynthiamacleod.com) play on her home turf at Brackley Beach.

Speaking of beaches, it wasn’t much of a beach day on The Island today. It was cool and cloudy, and showered on and off most of the day. My dad managed to get in a round of golf while I had lunch with my mom at Beanz (www.beanzespressobar.com), a nice treat because I hadn’t eaten there in a while. After lunch I was successful in picking up a couple of the no-bounce hockey balls that had become harder to find down in the US. Game on!

I do love Irish/Celtic music and hockey. Both are a pretty big part of my life. So, what could be better than a song that combines them both? Here’s Great Big Sea’s Helmet Head, one of my favorites…

I was just seventeen, when I made the AHL

I couldn't skate in junior, but my fists rang like a bell.

I'll never win a title, and I'll never win the cup,

But when it comes to ladies, I've had the best of luck.

My first one was a sly one, hanging round the rink,

But they sent me off to Cornwall, as fast as you could blink,

In Moose Jaw I was right in love, the daughter of the coach -

He traded me for nothing, didn't take to my approach.

So good-bye, fare thee well,

There's no time for delay,

You'll see me at the face-off, or catch the play-by-play

So good-bye, fare thee well,

I'm glad you shared my bed,

But never trust a fellow with a helmet on his head.

Chantal was from Moncton, elle a jouer avec moi.

A tongue as sharp as razors, but she had a fancy car.

Her husband was a bruiser, played senior in Quebec,

If he'd had the rights of it, it would have been my neck.

Nancy couldn't watch me fight, she'd always be in tears,

Waving from the bleachers, and screaming in my ears,

Dee I should have married, and we had a dandy fling,

But I had a one way contract, blew the money for the ring.

I should have sent a letter, and it would have been polite,

But I'm cleaning out my locker, and time is getting tight.

I'm calling from the station, perhaps another day,

Cause they're calling up a rookie, and they're trading me away.

T-shirt #220: BOSTON COLLEGE, National Champs 2008

Only my sixth BC shirt, this was part of a donation from my good friend Patrick…thanks again, dude! Here are my other BC shirts:

http://davestshirts.blogspot.com/2010/01/t-shirt-8-boston-college-superfan.html

http://davestshirts.blogspot.com/2010/02/t-shirt-32-boston-college-old-time.html

http://davestshirts.blogspot.com/2010/02/t-shirt-39-boston-college.html

http://davestshirts.blogspot.com/2010/03/t-shirt-65-bc-beat-caner.html

http://davestshirts.blogspot.com/2010/04/t-shirt-98-boston-college-football.html

It’s another nice day on PEI today. I started my day off with a family Sunday breakfast that included Tim Horton’s doughnuts, so I can’t really complain. To work off the calories, I played a marathon wiffle ball game with my brother, his wife, my nephews, and my dad. Not sure what the final score was, but there were plenty of runs, hits, and some great plays in the field. Later I think there will be some beach time (which may involve more wiffle ball), and tonight we are going to a charity hockey game that Bruins player and PEI native Adam McQuaid is playing in. Good times on The Island…

T-shirt #219: COW WARS

Like my Trailer Park Cows shirt (http://davestshirts.blogspot.com/2010/04/t-shirt-110-trailer-park-cows.html), this shirt is from Cows Ice Cream (www.cows.ca) in Prince Edward Island. This was a gift from my brother’s family (I believe back in 2002 when Star Wars Episode II came out), and I thought it would be a good one to wear on my first full day on The Island.

No time records were broken (see my Uncle Charley) in the trip up yesterday. There were two accident delays near Portland, ME that knocked our trip back by a couple of hours. But we made it to PEI safe and sound with my brother’s family to greet us, and in time to watch the end of the Red Sox-Yankees game (Yay, Sox!).

It’s beautiful in Millcove today, a typical “PEI DAY” as my mother’s license plate says. After breakfast, I played Jarts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawn_darts) with my nephews. Luckily we have a newer, safer version of this game that is made with rounded plastic instead of the metal points that would stick into the lawn (and possibly eyes). After Jarts, my father joined us for a nice game of Wiffle Ball before lunch.

Heading to the beach later, a perfect start to my first day here…

T-shirt #218: WHAT ABOOT IT?

Making another trek up to Canada (see also: http://davestshirts.blogspot.com/2010/07/t-shirt-182-canada.html) today, which is always something I look forward to. This time my brother’s whole family will be up in PEI too, so I’m sure my nephews and niece will keep me busy. I think I ordered this shirt online, but I don’t remember where. The sleeve says “Paul Frank”, and I found this site (http://shop.paulfrank.com/), but not this shirt. Off to PEI, only 650+ miles to go…

T-shirt #217: WISCONSIN HOCKEY

My friend Tim who recently visited brought me this shirt…thanks, Tim!

Four years ago I may have had serious issues with wearing this shirt. The Wisconsin hockey team (http://www.uwbadgers.com/sports/m-hockey/wis-m-hockey-body-main.html, http://www.uscho.com/m/wisconsin-badgers/mens-college-hockey/team,uw.html ) beat my beloved BC Eagles for the national championship 2-1, a game that ended with BC hitting the post with 1.8 seconds left in the 3^rd period. This year, the BC hockey team (http://bceagles.cstv.com/sports/m-hockey/bc-m-hockey-body.html, http://www.uscho.com/m/boston-college-eagles/mens-college-hockey/team,bc.html) routed Wisconsin in the championship game, 5-0. Had the heavily favored Badgers came out on top in April, I doubt if Tim would have brought me this shirt.

In more t-shirt news, I was cashing a check at Bank of America today. The teller Denisse asked me why I didn’t have an account with the bank and I told her it was a long story that would be in my book someday. She laughed and asked me if I was serious, and I told her I was a writer and handed her one of my t-shirt blog cards. She asked the manager Joe if they had any shirts, and I walked out with a Bank of America shirt. Then, when I got back from the bank, there was an email from Snorg Tees (www.snorgtees.com) saying they were going to donate 2 shirts to the blog! You’ll have to wait to see which ones I picked…

T-shirt #216: I HOPE, THEREFORE I SURVIVE.

Not long after I started working at Hope Lodge, I designed this shirt with the plan that it would be available (for guests and for others to buy) in all the Hope Lodges across the country. I made one for my boss to bring to a national meeting of all the Hope Lodge managers. After all of the managers has gone around and given updates on their Lodges, my boss whipped out this shirt and passed it around. All of the managers loved it and said they wanted to get a bunch for their Hope Lodge. Unfortunately the ACS budget couldn’t be stretched enough to allow for Hope Lodges to carry them, so this remains as the only one of its kind…for now.

T-shirt #215: IRELAND

This shirt was a gift from my awesome cousin Katie…thanks, Kate! It served me well playing roller hockey for 3 hours today, and didn’t get as many comments as my CLEMENS SUCKS shirt (http://davestshirts.blogspot.com/2010/08/t-shirt-214-clemens-sucks.html) yesterday. A few “great shirts” and even a “I’m a Yankees fan, and I agree with you…” Sox was a great, fun, exciting game, although my season record is now at 1-4…ouch. By the way, I will get to Ireland one of these days…going to O’Connor’s for dinner tonight!