and the first kiss came only after we decided not to

There are interactive pets with functional AI's now, on the grid? Interesting. And news via Dr. Mason on the adult continent of Ursula--far be it from me of accusing any Linden of possessing a sense of humor, but it seems there just might be a reason behind the name, and it's not because of Ursula Andress--or "Ursula Andrews", as Blondin first said.

It may very well be due to Ursula von der Leyen, a current conservative German politician, who has a knee-jerk reaction to Kinderpornografie--in that, she sees it everywhere--who spearheaded an effort to...how did they put it on the Wiki page...

"She advocated the initiation of a mandatory blockage of child pornography in the internet through Internet service providers via a block list conducted by the Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany."

So, in essence, the ageplay hysteria; the not-so-occasional attacks on dolls, small furs and short avatars; the reason I now have a "Back off, she's a doll, I am not an ageplayer" section of my picks now in the profile...all her fault.

And now they're naming a continent after her.

Wonderful. So now, not only are the Lindens cocking up the grid with the half-assed adult continent concept in the first place...but they will again be pissing off Germany to do it. Just dandy.

Can Lindens be impeached? Or are we just allowed to follow them around when they're being stupid and tell them so? Like, CONSTANTLY? Would that help?

back to back in a parking deck
I was pretending to count the stars
and that wine was going to my head
and all I could hear was my heart

Dyri from Taisgeal Clachan wrote in, thanking me for the mention, and telling me they're soon to come off of hiatus, Alarick and him; in fact, they're two or three songs from finishing their first album. This is wonderful news and I will be waiting most impatiently. I've been listening since, off and on, to the songs now on their MySpace page, and what I said before remains true--instrumental pieces, thick and rich with mood, driven on by reverb and a spine-curling bassline, like watching storm clouds ride in along the seacoast. Beautiful, beautiful stuph.

back home we started writing maps
of all the places we'd never been
and in the end I let myself collapse
into the kind of love I'm in

So it's a good time to go back to the Celtic music entry and cover some of the new folks mentioned. People like Fiddler's Green, who play what they describe as "speedfolk"--fast exhilarating versions of traditional songs, like The Night that Pat Murphy Died, a fun grinning romp through Pat Murphy's wake.

Tarry Trousers
Queen of Argyll (compare that version with Silly Wizard's much more traditional Queen)
Folk's Not Dead (BWAHAHAHA...)

They have a MySpace page. They're German. And they're a HELL of a lot of fun. Give 'em a listen.

And have I mentioned Enter the Haggis yet? Canadian bad boys, fierce musicians armed with tradition and youth to fight the good fight, and keep the old songs remembered.

One Last Drink
The Litter and the Leaves
And this is an odd one--"Murphy's Ashes" performed live, but overdubbed with the studio version of ETH playing the song. But hey, it works.

And this must be seen to be believed--a really wild salad and a "bottle blowing" contest. Hee!

They can be found at enterthehaggis.com.

and the first kiss came only after we decided not to
and this bliss came only after we had lost it all
so maybe the only choice we've really got is
how to take the fall
whoa, ohhh...
how to take the fall

Also mentioned in the comments were Maidens IV, who are mostly traditional (two fiddles, guitar and bodhran, how can you not be traditional?), but incorporate modern rhythms in the mix.

Here they're performing live at Mayfaire Renaissance Festival in 2007; here they're playing what looks like an indoor concert; and their site calls them "One of Ohio's premier Irish ensembles".

Ohio has a lot of Irish ensembles, then?

But they put heart and soul into their work, and they're lovely to hear.

Another one mentioned was Homeland, another Ohio band with Celtic edge; they're hard to get a good feel of, because their YouTube offerings (recorded by fans) possess such abysmal sound quality. But they also have a blog, and at the very least, you have to go to their home page, hit the play button on the Homeland Radio widget, and listen to "Mrs. McGrath". Simple, nearly unadorned instrumentalists.

They also have an official MySpace page.

yeah, the first kiss came only after we decided not to
and this bliss came only after I had lost it all
so maybe the only choice we've ever gotten is
how to take the fall
whoa, ohhh...
how to take the fall

Finally, a reader known only as Tony hit me with a whole bunch of Celtic metal/"bagrock" bands, namely the Bluehorses out of Cardiff, Tartanic out of Houston (who apparently broke up since December of '08), The Mudmen, and Prydein.

Bluehorses:
Waes Hael
Blackleg Miner (for how impressive this is, you have to hear Steeleye's take on it too)
Tom o'Bedlam (and compare that to one of my favorite versions, Heather Alexander's Bedlam Boys)
Skyclad

The Mudmen:
5 O'Clock
The Highlander (and perhaps their biggest claim to fame to date: pairing this song with a wrestling duo in the WWE)
Drink & Fight (pitch is off, it's a bad recording, but the swell and launching promise is worth it)
Underdog

Tartanic:
performing live in Texas at a RenFaire
performing live in SoCal's Pleasure RennFaire
Sack of Stones

Prydein
Bagpipe Rock
Minstrel Boy
Run Runaway
Stairway to Scotland/Auld Lang Syne (live)

Lastly, on my wanderings to proof out this entry, I ran across Laurie Anderson again. Still out there. Still recording missives from the edge of society. Wonderful to hear. I'm going looking for the "Homeland" album now.

(And damn it--I made a new tag! WOE!)

(Lyrics transcribed from listening to the song on Juliana Finch's site; I'm also amused that on a search for footage of Juliana, or more mention of this song, I wandered onto Grace Buford's YouTube channel; she's known to more of you as Cylindrian Rutabaga. And can her fiddler play--Whee!)