By Paddy Notar
Turnagain Times Correspondent

Happy St. Paddy’s Day! By the time most of you read this, you’ll have had a Guinness and corned beef and cabbage at Chair 5 and watched the first round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament. March Madness is here and it falls on St. Patrick’s Day. I wonder how many people are going to work on Friday? Not many. By the way, I like Kansas to win it all.

If you’re coming into town head by O’Brady’s and watch the NCAA Tournament. It’s always fun and they, too, will be serving some of the most tender corned beef around. Mo even serves it with your own, personal, jar of deli mustard. Nice touch.

Why isn’t corned beef and cabbage on someone’s menu year round? It’s like Thanksgiving turkey with the all the fixings that comes around once a year. Why?

Check out Peter Rowan on March 18 at the Sitzmark. He’s a Grammy award winner as well as a five time nominee. Peter is one of the best Bluegrass players around. Jerry Garcia used to play with him as many other big names. Tickets are $20 advance and $30 at the door and the show is from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Don’t forget about the Alyeska ski bus that runs on the weekends from 8:15 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. It’s round trip bus transportation from Eagle River or Anchorage to Girdwood and a lift ticket – all for one price. Go online or call to check it out. It’s a great deal.

March 20, Apres Ski with the Big Wild are playing 70’s covers from 8 p.m. to midnight at the Sitz. Where were you in 1976?

The U.S. Adoptive Alpine Nationals are going on from March 21-27 at Mt. Alyeska. These people race the downhill, super G, giant slalom, and slalom at speeds of about 70 mph.

When you’re done watching people travel faster than your car check out the Eric McFadden Trio at the Sitz. He’s an incredible guitarist who will be playing with his band on March 24-26 from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. They always put on a great show.

March 27, there’s a wine dinner at Seven Glacier’s featuring Ghost House Vineyards and Conn Valley Vineyard. The Chef is putting a tasting together to complement the wines. Call or check on line for more information but if you’re going to spend a little extra on yourself and someone you care about this is the event to do it on. Can you imagine a nice, sunny day at the top of the mountain drinking fine wines and eating great food?

If you just want to watch more music at the Sitz try out Last Train on March 27 from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. The cover is only 5 dollars. An even better deal is Pete Townsend playing on April 3. Its’ a free show that will start around 8 p.m.

The Silvertip has their own line up going with Ukulee Russ and the Harmonica Guy on March 19 from 8-11 p.m. Pete Townsend heads in on March 25 from 8-11 p.m. and then Scout and Dave play on March 26 at the same time. Scout is a great singer and worth checking out. Homegrown is playing on April 1 and Pete Townsend does a follow up on April 2. Both shows start at 8 p.m. Go to the Tip in the afternoon, get a huge, juicy hamburger that you can barely finish, go home completely satisfied, take a nap, and then head back down for some music. Sounds like a plan.

If Maxine’s still has their Weathervane Scallops on the menu, with pistachio butter, order them. It’s an incredible combination. The wonton tacos with Japanese turtle beans, Thai curry sauce and tomato ginger Pico is also very good. Open mic is every Wednesday from 8-11 p.m. Show up, have a couple of drinks and let go behind the microphone.

Are you an Aries or know anyone who is? Aries people always feel that they’ve been wronged. Aries don’t mind taking one on the chin, for the sake of a friend or humanity, but they want everyone to know that they’ve suffered accordingly. They’re always talented and dabble in the arts. They lean towards music and are picky about everything. They see the hair on your sweater and observe their entire world under a microscope. In the end they’re a nice guy but they’re just so neurotic that it can drive their friends away. Next time we’ll talk about Taurus. Wow, do these people focus on money and they are very much hands on when it comes to their careers.

Enjoy, drive safe or not at all, and eat corned beef while watching the March madness. Life truly is this good.