Flash Jam!

What do you get when a tree that's full of ripe plums gets struck by lightning?

That's right: It's a Flash Jam!

That's also what you get if you use electronic means to announce a drop-in music session on short notice. Which is what we're doing here!

Friday, June 27, starting 6:30-ish, Riggity Jig will be hosting a jam session at Pioneer Park, corner of Branigan and Farnham in Woodland, California. All are welcome to sit in with the band, sing along, hum, bang your handtools in time, or just listen while your kids play on the playground.

So make time in your schedule! It's literally the last Friday in June, 2008, ever! Maybe the smoky haze will let up! Maybe they'll turn the sprinklers on! But you may never know if you don't drop by.

We'll be watching for you!

Almost Famous!

The local, beta version of Riggity Jig's global media blitz continued Monday with a write-up and some great photos -- one on the front page straddling the fold -- in the Davis Enterprise! Take a look at the the pix at the Enterprise website. No, that's no 'zouk I'm holding, but it sounds a lot more interesting that a mandolin -- or maybe it's easier to spell for the caption?

The reporter waxed rhapsodic and he spelled our names right, too. He also included our URL, and properly captured the lilt of Lee's pennywhistle, "like it's rolling over green hills." Ahhh.

In contrast to Saturday night's cold and rain, Monday night we played outdoors in pleasant weather on Little Prague's patio, and once again to a fine, appreciative crowd. Thanks to Vaclav and Eva for making us feel so welcome and so well fed.

Now it's back to our day jobs as we plan the next step in our plan for global domination. See you then!

A Fine Night, & More to Come!

Thanks to all who came to listen to Riggity Jig on March 15 and cheered us on. If you missed us Saturday night, all is not lost: We'll be back at Little Prague for the genuine St. Patrick's day, Monday night March 17 from 6 to 9 pm. Once again, reservations are advised.

Thanks also to our generous tippers, all of whose tips are going straight to St. Baldrick's to fund childhood cancer research. Riggity Jig's shaving team (see photo) has raised around $700 so far, with a goal of $1,000. Visit our team page if you'd like to make a donation, too. This year's preliminary total for all St. Baldrick's Day contributions worldwide is in excess of $8 million. That's a lot of pipettes and Petri dishes, but every extra penny will help.

It's still a little bit of a shock every time I look in the mirror and see that hairless scalp. But I know it will grow back, and I'm grateful that I when I lost my hair it was by choice. All of those kids and adults who lose their hair to chemotherapy have a choice, too, I suppose, but it's a much tougher one than I've ever had to face. Thanks to the good folks at St. Baldrick's Foundation for raising so much money to help these folks and for raising my own consciousness about one little bit of what they face each day, too.

Ides nor 'air?

More than just a close shave for Caesar, here. Wouldn't St. Baldrick have liked to take a razor to those marble locks? Speaking of which, we're still looking for sponsors for the Riggity Jig shaving team at St. Baldrick's this Friday in Sacramento. If you haven't signed up yet, go have a look and pitch in if you can.

I suppose Julius could have done with a bit of the luck o' the Irish that day back in the Senate, on the Ides of March these many years ago. Had it only been a year like this one, with St. Paddy's day falling in Holy Week, he might have spent the day of March 15th in a pub toasting St. Pat's name a few days early (by order of the Bishop of Rome, no less!) instead of famously uttering his last words to his betrayer from that cold, marble floor.

Don't you make that same mistake. Let this be a lesson to us all! Beware serious undertakings this year on the Ides of March! Instead, join Riggity Jig at Little Prague Restaurant in Davis as we honor the Crook-Bearer of Erin, that Chaser of Snakes, the man who blessed the very water of Waterford -- in short, isn't it St. Patrick himself that we'll be toasting this Saturday?

So grab the phone and call the folks at Little Prague to make sure they have a table set aside for you. Then set yourself apart from the toga-and-dagger set this Ides of March, and have yourself a proper Irish feast, complete with fine music and of course a suitable beverage.

Erin Go Bragh!

Hair Today . . .

Hey kids! Here's a new official Riggity Jig band picture that you add to your collection! We'll be playing at Little Prague again on March 15, but several of us will also make a musical appearance and tonsorial sacrifice March 14 at the UC Davis Cancer Center in Sacramento for this year's St. Baldrick's benefit.

Founded in 2000, St. Baldrick's has raised over 34 million dollars worldwide to support research on the prevention and treatment of childhood cancers. The money comes courtesy of thousands of volunteers -- this year including a few of our own -- who set aside both vanity and sanity for the few minutes necessary to have their heads shaven clean of hair. Yes. Exactly how that translates into money is not entirely clear to me, but friends assure me that it does work somehow. It seems to have something to do with other people (you, for instance?) making pledges to St. Baldrick's in support of a shavee.

What do you say? Make a donation to the cause and we may well dedicate a song to you at our next gig! Wow! You'll certainly have our gratitude, as well as the gratitude of children and their families who find themselves coping with cancer every day. Sometimes it feels awfully lonely when you're facing such a serious problem as this, but it's gratifying to know that other people care enough to support the research that can reduce cancer and the suffering that comes with it.

St. Paddy's, Two Days Early?

Riggity Jig reverently joins in with our pious brethren by celebrating St. Patrick's Day a few days early this year: we're playing our customary St. Pat's gig at Little Prague Restaurant this year on Saturday, March 15. Why's that? Well, Easter is what the Catholics call a moveable feast, see -- and that doesn't mean it's a picnic (though a lot of people DO have Easter picnics), it means it doesn't fall on the same calendar date from year to year. In Easter's case, it brings the entire Holy Week with it wherever it goes, and you just can't have special Saint's Day masses during Holy Week. It wouldn't be the thing to do. Likewise, the Church frowns on loud, colorful, and festive parties and parades so close before Easter. Parades on Easter? Maybe. Just before? Nope.

In addition, band members noted that a Saturday night might get us a better audience than a Monday night. Maybe better tips. And then there would be the matter of getting up for work Tuesday morning.

Let's just say the forces of organized religion, the movement of the planets and moons, and plain common sense have prevailed on us this year to play the gig a few days early. It's a good thing! Come out and hear us play! As ever, you may want to get reservations in advance. The food will be great, and the place may well be packed. One hopes.

By some stroke of Irish luck, St. Pat's hasn't fallen in Holy Week since 1940, so you can bet there was a lot of rummaging through rule books when folks realized that this year was the odd exception. So don't be late for the celebration this year -- make it two days early, and join us for a fine evening of food and entertainment at Little Prague on Saturday, March 15, starting at 6 pm!

A Right Guid-Willie Waught

Thanks from the band to all who came to see us play at Little Prague on January 25 and at the private party the next night, and even to those who would've come but stayed home on account of the rain. We saw lots of familiar faces along with plenty of new, and the kilts were in evidence as were some authentic Scottish burrs. In case you missed the festivities, there's always next year!

But don't deprive yourself of the Bard just on account of a little rain or a small streams advisory. Remember, you can find Burns online, and he's always well worth the reading. Take a look at "To a Mouse" or "A Red, Red Rose" and you'll see, once you've looked up one or two unfamiliar words, that the man had a wonderful gift for words and remarkable insight into the way we live, and feel, and love, how we stumble, and how we go gracefully on.

Happy reading til next year, and maybe then you'll want to read out a poem or two with us!