The Buffalo Touch "Everybody's Polish On Dyngus Day"

Well, you'd be forgiving for thinking that I was pulling some kind of prank, telling you it's Dyngus Day.

It IS April Fool's Day, in case you forgot.

But it's also the Monday after Easter.  And in many Polish-American communities, the Monday after Easter is celebrated as Dyngus Day.  No Fooling!

And just like everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day, everyone is Polish on Dyngus Day!  Just ask The Buffalo Touch.


The Dyngus Day promo, on Youtube.

Bing Crosby "Easter Parade"

I hope your Easter and/or your Passover are as delightful as a Bing Crosby song . . .


Hear the song on Youtube.

Paul McCartney & Jimmy Fallon "Scrambled Eggs"

Here's another Weekend Post:

Perhaps you are coloring eggs today.

Does it color your view of the classic "Yesterday," to know that as Paul McCartney was creating the song, before he came up with the word "Yesterday," he dropped in the phrase "Scrambled Eggs."  Really!

He went on to perform it on Jimmy Fallon . . .


Hear the song on Youtube.

Ice-T "Colors"

It was late.  My wife was still at work.  The kids were in bed.  And I was thinking about The Egg Lady.

For a certain (deviant?!) part of the audience, the name “Egg Lady” sends you straight to “Pink Flamingos.”  Perverts.


See the John Waters scene on Youtube.

I'm talking about a different Egg Lady.

I met the Egg Lady back in the 1990s when I was working at a small radio station in Virginia.  She’d come on my show every year, right before Christmas, and again right before Easter.

My wife would say that the “Egg Lady” was the kind of woman who was “put together.”  Meaning, she was older (I’m going to guess 50+), but she clearly took care of herself.  I don’t mean that she was a super-model or anything.  But she always showed up tastefully fashionable, and age-appropriate attractive, leading with a hefty dose of charm.

Who the Egg Lady really was, was a PR person hired by, no lie, The Egg Council Of Virginia.  He job was to criss-cross the very long state of Virginia, promoting eggs.

She'd stop into my station at Christmas and talk about clever recipes for Egg Nog.  In fact, one year she gave us gift certificates that could be redeemed for a dozen free eggs.  I will tell you that this was one of the most successful promotions I have ever been a part of in radio.  People LOVE free eggs.

Of course Easter was the rush season for someone in the egg business.

And lest you think the Egg Lady was some silly souffle of a concoction, let me tell you that she was also a scientist.

She, along with the science department at Virginia Tech, had done extensive research on the best way to prepare Easter eggs for coloring.

Have you ever hard-boiled an egg, and when you peel it, it has a skin underneath the shell, that pulls chunks of the egg white out?  She went into the lab to try to prevent that.

Longer boiling times.  Shorter boiling times.  Cold starts.  Boiling starts.  She tried them all.

What she discovered was this:  You are better off not using super-fresh eggs.  If you buy eggs and boil them the same day, you are more likely to have hard-to-peel eggs.

To this day, against instincts to use the freshest ingredients, I buy the eggs I'm going to use for Easter 7 to 10 days before I'm going to boil and color them.

Thanks for the life advice, Egg Lady, wherever you are.


I was waiting for the water to boil, thinking about marriage equality.

I've been glued to the news, following the arguments before the Supreme Court on marriage equality.  It's an issue that I don't have any close stake in---I'm not gay and I don't have anyone immediately close to me who is unable to marry or is being denied benefits---and yet I feel like someone who does.  It is highly personal for me.

In the gaps between news, I've enjoyed following the fun side coverage (like these pictures of protest signs), and reading comments on Facebook.  And of course I've seen the many, many iterations of the Marriage Equality symbol.

An mvyradio listener on Cape Cod had, as of this morning had over 600 shares of an image he created, using the Constitution as a backdrop.

But of course I am partial to the Bacon/Equality symbol.

My mind, of course, made the connection.  Bacon.  Eggs.  Equality.  Eg-quality.  Easter.

It was late.  My wife was still at work.  The kids were in bed.  I knew how I'd be spending the next stretch of time.

Remembering the Egg Lady's instructions, I boiled a couple of the eggs I'd bought last weekend, and I got out the vinegar and the food coloring.  After dyeing the eggs a light pink, I laid them out on a red dish towel and voila.

Tying the Resurrection of Christ, to the coloring of eggs has always been an odd pairing.

Now they were both tied to Marriage Equality.

And just to make things extra sublime, you know what song was in my head?  The one that is always in my head, inappropriately, when I color Easter eggs each year.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong "I'm Putting All My Eggs In One Basket"

Despite what the song says, it's probably okay to put all your eggs in one basket today---so long as they're hard boiled.

Happy Easter!


Hear the song on Youtube.

Paul Westerberg "Mr. Rabbit"

Every bunny that has hopped through our yard over the last 12 months, according to my daughter, is named "Easter."

She's been waiting for him to drop some dang candy at the house.

Tomorrow, finally!


Hear the song on Youtube.

Ryan Montbleau "Eggs"

An Egg song for Easter!

I saw Ryan at The Narrows back in March, and at one point he asked the audience to choose the next song, and this fan favorite won the shouting match.

Happy Easter!


Easter, eggs and Ryan Montbleau---they're for the kids!

See the video on Youtube.

Jim Bianco "Sinners"

In yesterday's post about only tangentially-related-to-Easter songs, I didn't really go down the religious route. But I could have found more than a few cross songs (Prince's "The Cross," Scott Miller's "Is There Room On The Cross For Me?").

Earlier this week Jesse Barnett pointed me to this tune, and sure, on the day between the Crucifixion and The Resurrection, why not play a song about sinners and (maybe) forgiveness.

Thanks Barnett and Bianco!


See the video on Youtube.

The Beastie Boys "Eggman"

What with Easter coming around again this weekend, I am pulling out the old playlist of only-tangentially-related-to-Easter songs.

I mean, Christmas has a pile of songs related to it. But (as years of church going in my youth taught me) Easter is a much more important holiday. Why are there no related contemporary songs?

That leaves the work to songs that really have nothing to do with Easter . . .

So you play Echo And The Bunnymen. Bunny Wailer. Eddie Rabbit. Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers. Or songs from Patti Smith's record "Easter," for a stretch.

And you can pull out all those candy songs you played on Halloween, like "I Want Candy," "Candy Everybody Wants," Iggy Pop's "Candy," Elvis Costello's "So Like Candy."

Did the Easter Bunny bring you Twizzlers? Add in Aimee Mann's "Red Vines."

You can scrape out a few lyrical connections, like the Sheryl Crow song that says "He's got a daughter he calls 'Easter,' she was born on a Tuesday Night." Or play The Black Crowes "Good Friday" and Tori Amos' "Crucify."

And then there are the Egg songs. Because nothing says Easter like eggs!

It's a good excuse to pull out my favorite record of all-time, "Paul's Boutique" and play "Eggman." And there's "Einstein On The Beach For An Eggman." Ryan Montbleau's "Eggs." And "I Am The Walrus."

Goo goo g'joob!

Being a DJ is fun. And silly. And seasonal!

Happy Easter to you!


See this video on Youtube.