ZOUKI'S POSTS TO IRTRAD, 1995 TO PRESENT

The following represent most of the humor attempts that I (or my alter ego, Zouki) have made over past years to the Irish Traditional Music Mailing List, or IRTRAD.

IRTRAD 2014 alas is a shadow of its former lively self, having fallen victim to the same forces that have produced Facebook, Twitter, and numerous websites dedicated to the topic of Irish traditional music. I made my first posting to IRTRAD in 1995,  nearly twenty years ago - an eternity in terms of today's technology of apps, etc. But IRTRAD was certainly a lively spot to be involved with back in the day, and to me seemed more communal than today's social media where the focus seems to be on the Self in its various manifestations and less on the Group or Clan or Tribe or whatever IRTRAD represented. There were no pictures or profiles or birthdays, no "friending", nothing much more than text files (no attachments PLEASE!) to express what the posting individual wanted to say. IRTRAD would undoubtedly be considered primitive by today's standards, but those of us who were involved in it thought it was pretty neat. Some of us actually learned a few things!

A great deal of any humor that may be inherent in this material would be understandable mainly to people who play or are otherwise involved with Irish traditional music. It's not that the various pieces are "in-jokes" - I would hope that their appeal is a little more universal than that - but certainly familiarity with the weird and whacky world of Irish traditional music would be a big help in squeezing every last chuckle and/or titter out of the material.

For historical accuracy's sake I should note that not everybody thought my attempts at humor were successful, although enough people did think so to provide me with a reason for continuing the efforts on a systained basis. As the years passed, however, it seemed to have become harder to tickle the collective funny-bones out in IRTRAD-land, so I decided that the time had come to hang up my Pointed Wand of Satire and do something else with my time.

Where I thought it would help, I have done some editing of these pieces, removing references to individuals or incidents that were of concern at the time but are not any longer. In most cases where the post was part of a response to a specific stimulus, I have mentioned that fact in the new heading, in the hope that whatever humor content the material contains will hold the interest of readers unacquainted with the reference.

The material is arranged in no particular content order, so you can jump in anywhere. If you find that some of these are still capable of tickling your funnybone, let me know (you can email bill@capeirish.com).

It's probably way too late for other comments, criticisms, etc. but take your best shot if it makes you feel any better.

And now, without further ado, I present ...