a tribute to Vinny

Whistle
1

One of the long time members of this forum and my first supporter is Vincent S. DiGloria.
I owe him an email, but instead of that I decided I’d let folks know here know how much I appreciate him with a poem.

CELTALIAN
I know a great Sicilian man with nary a drop of Irish blood,
But in his heart of hearts wells up the purist of Erin’s flood.
VSDG he signs his mail, and Celtalian be his handle;
But I know many a Celt that wouldn’t hold a candle
To this big Irish hearted descendant of Italia!
Baloney or blarney none, 'tis a tribute to Vinny DiGloria!

So tilt your glass of Chianti, or take your mug of ale;
And lift it high in tribute to my friend beyond the pale!

When asked for an identity I’ll have him on my side:
True Irishman indeed in an Italian hide!

-Mack Hoover, 10/18/2002-

2

Mack, I’ve heard it said that there are still isolated pockets of celts living in Italy to this day, although I don’t know the details. A bit like Galicia, but on a smaller scale, if the stories are true. So, who knows, your friend might be more than an honorary member of the family. (I mean the celtic family of course, just in case you were wondering.)

[ This Message was edited by: Wombat on 2002-10-18 11:49 ]

3

He’ll probably be on here to avow he’s 100% Sicilian.

By the way, I am looking for a politically incorrect poem I learned as a kid that starts:

“Biga Irish cop dat walks hisa beat by disa peanuta stand…”

I took the meter for vinny’s tribute from it.

Looking for it via Google brought up lots of bad Irish jokes!

4

Well Mack Hoover . . .

You never cease to surprise me! (or delight me!) I’ve never been poetized before (it feels kinda funny).

Yep, I’m 100% Sicillian. 2nd generation American. But I have a reel soft spot (pun intended) for Celtic culture in general and Ireland in particular. We went to Ireland this summer for the Dublin Prayer Conference and WOW! what a beautiful country filled with delightful people. And the history: The Book of Kells (exquisite!) Glendalough: the 6th century monastary started by St. Kevin: its’s hard to imagine there’s beauty anywhere else in the world when God’s put so much of it in one small place.

It’s always a delight to hear from you Mack, but you never owe me an e-mail!

Thanks my friend,

Vinny

[ This Message was edited by: Vinny on 2002-10-18 14:53 ]

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Congratulations Vinny! One day maybe school children everywhere will be dissecting the poem and wondering who this Celtalian really was. :smiley:

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Lotsa Italians just know how to play everybody’s music. Many South American countries have Italian immigrants as musical leaders in particular. They take on the national character and excel in it.

Argentina, of course, as it has a high Italian ethnicity…but the national music hero of Venezuela is Antonio Lauro, second generation. In Brazil, Gnattali for one.

I have already met several Italo-Am celtic musicians here in Bay Area. And across America, the pre-shopping Mall reality was many music stores, with teaching studios run by Italian families, contributing to the music of their respective communities.

The 1/4 Italian Weekender

PS Olive skin makes good kin.

7

On 2002-10-18 15:15, The Weekenders wrote:


The 1/4 Italian Weekender

PS Olive skin makes good kin.

Ah LL. Now it comes out. And you were calling me the mixed up melting-pot job. Well, that’s OK, I am a mixed up melting pot job … too.

cheers.

8

Vinny, a great tribute from one of the “original” members of this board to a person who helped me through the rough times!!! :slight_smile: We need more “Vinnies”, “Macks”, and people like Teri-K and Terry Kissling and Loren to keep this board going strong!!!

~Larry

9

Vinny added another year today!

Play a tune for his big day!
These words go to The Irish Washerwoman and a few other familiar jigs:


Hey Vinny, happy birthday! I haven’t kept score
Wish you a good one and a good many more!
May the road rise to meet you , the wind at your back
May God always bless you and keep you on track!

So here is to you; I wish I was there
To sing you a song and offer a prayer,
To give you a hug and a slap on the back!
But hey, I remembered…happy birthday!
Mack

10

Oh, good! I got worried when I saw the title here…I was worried you were going to tell us Vinny had passed on. Happy Birthday Vinnie!

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Ok, now I’m feeling poetic. I don’t know Vinny, aside from seeing his post here, but here goes.

There were two cats belonging to Vinny,
who thought there was one cat too many.
They scratched and they bit,
They fought and they fit,
Till insted of two cats,
There wern’t any.

12

I wonder if the Romansh people in Switzerland may be the same way (any idea, Amar?). I have heard samples of Romansh music, and it sounds very Celtic.

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I find a certain similarity in sound among folk musics of various parts of Europe, and also the United States, Canada, and Latin America. They ARE related.

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Even though everybody is related through Adam and Eve, we have to be cautious when we say that cultures are related. There’s been a lot of study on languages, for example, that proves that it’s not uncommon to see a lot of accidental/coincidental similarities between completely unrelated languages. We need more than just similarities to say that 2 cultures are related.

15

That may be true. I have found in particular, and strangely enough, that the old rock-and-roll I-vi-IV-V turnaround is also quite common in Irish and Celtic/Bardic music.