Blimey! The Aerosmith show at the Breslin Center is canceled, and the green eggs and beer breakfast at Crunchy's is already sold out.

But the luck of the Irish can still grant you a good time on St. Patrick's Day — no matter what your idea of fun is.

Dancing Irish jigs until your green socks fall down? Slurping down Shamrock Shakes until your brain explodes like a potato in the microwave? Drinking so many Guinnesses that you start speaking in Gaelic? Or quietly reading William Butler Yeats' poems fireside?

The MSU community has quite a diverse agenda for the holiday and plenty of local choices.

"I have big plans. I'm throwing a party at Snyder Hall as an alternative to the bar crawls and mass drinking that usually goes on," said sociology graduate student Temple Smith.

Smith, an assistant hall director at Snyder, believes a lot of students drink because they have nothing else to do on St. Patrick's Day. So she set up the "Shake Your Shamrock" party in the basement of Snyder Hall, which is being held tonight at 9 p.m.

Besides providing an alternative to drinking, the "Shake Your Shamrock" event will provide laminated cards with a list of taxi services to call on St. Patrick's Day.

Advertising junior Mike Whited has quite the opposite plans.

"I'm going to the bars," Whited said. "I usually get drunk by 3 p.m., sleep for a few hours, then do it again. It's a pretty tight schedule. You gotta get into the spirit of the thing."

Whited plans on getting into the right frame of mind at Rick's American Café, 224 Abbott Road, and The Riv, 231 M.A.C. Ave.

Rick's is opening at 9 a.m. and will have green beer flowing all day. The Riv also will serve green beer but will be opening an hour and half earlier at 7:30 a.m., serving breakfast and providing a DJ to spin booty-shaking tunes in the afternoon and into the evening hour.

Electrical engineering freshman Steve Shane is looking to hang low and stay clear of the hooligans.

"I'm going to be avoiding Grand River, especially all the bars," Shane said. "Other than that, I'll probably wear green and white and watch my back. Probably horrible Irish accents will be committed sometime that day."

Whatever your plans are it's good to know some St. Patrick's Day facts to impress your friends. It's important to what your celebrating or attempting to deny.

What's the deal with St. Patrick?

He was born in Wales in 385 A.D. with the given name of Maewyn. And at the tender age of 16, was kidnapped by Irish brigands — gang members who lurked in forest and mountain areas, and generally ambushed and robbed folks — who brought him to Ireland.

From there he was sold into slavery and started becoming more religious, closer to Christianity's version of God. And after six years in bondage he escaped to Gaul — present-day France — where he studied under St. Germain in a monastery for more than a decade.

Then bam, he went back to Ireland to establish monasteries, and set up Christian schools and churches.

Largest untrue myth about St. Patrick:

Supposedly he rid Ireland of its snakes by forcing them into the Irish Sea.

But snakes have never been an inhabitant to the country. Most likely the myth started because snakes can be used metaphorically to represent Druidic religions.

And after St. Patrick spread the word of Christianity in Ireland, Druidic religions began to disappear.

Why March 17th?

Well, St. Patrick died on this date back in 461 A.D.

And one reason why the holiday has become so popular is because it's so close to the first day of spring — March 20. Green is notoriously connected with new growth and Ireland so everything fits very well together equaling green beer all around.

What's going on in Dublin?

The city is expecting to draw around 1.5 million spectators for the St. Patrick's Day Festival. Fifteen thousand pounds — 7 metric tons — of fireworks will be launched into the Dublin skyline.

And the pubs will be open, which is a big deal since the pubs were closed on St. Patrick's Day in Ireland as recently as the 1970s by law.

It's likely that a considerable portion of the 1.9 billion pints of Guinness beer consumed around the world yearly will be gulped down in Dublin and in bars around the globe on St. Patrick's Day.

But whatever your plans are: Have fun, be safe and remember to wipe the green dye off of your tongue in the morning.

Staff writer Margaret Harding contributed to this report.

If you want some direction to your drunken wanderings on Friday, check out some of these local bars for specials that will keep your pot o' gold from dwindling too low.

Spartan Sports Den and Grill, 1227 E. Grand River Ave.: Green beer and specials throughout the day.

The Riviera Cafe Restaurant and Lounge, 231 M.A.C. Ave.: Opening at 7:30 a.m., serving breakfast and green beer with a DJ throughout the day.

Crunchy's, 254 W. Grand River Ave.: The bar's breakfast is sold out, but it'll have 25 oz. of green beer for $2.50 and happy hour until 7 p.m.

Buffalo Wild Wings, 360 Albert Ave.: Opening at 7 a.m. for a free green eggs and ham buffet, open to 21 and over. They'll have $3 green beer all day, along with green wings. With the NCAA satellite package, all games will be shown.

The Peanut Barrel Restaurant, 521 E. Grand River Ave.: Harp bottles for $2.75 and happy hour from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Mac's Bar, 2700 E. Michigan Ave. in Lansing: Hosting a St. Patrick's Day Irish Explosion, with Capitol Cities, Hey Sailor, Thin Fever and The Hotness set to play. There's a $5 cover and it's for 21 and over.

Moriarty's Pub, 502 E. Michigan Ave. in Lansing: Irish music will be played throughout the day, with bag pipers making an appearance. There will also be beer specials.

• The "Shake your Shamrock" extravaganza is going down in the basement of Snyder Hall starting at 9 p.m. The event is free for students. A DJ will play music, prizes will be handed out and green punch will be served. Plastic cards will be handed out with taxi cab phone numbers for those who wish to drink on St. Patrick's Day.

St. Patrick's Day:

•"Always Blooming Flower Sale," one day only at the Union concourse. Green St. Patrick's Day carnations will be sold from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

• Don't forget to wear your green. Irish fiddler Liz Carroll and guitar and bouzouki player John Doyle will perform at the Erickson Kiva for an Irish celebration concert. The show kicks off at 8 p.m. and tickets are $5 for MSU students who are Ten Pound Fiddle members, $10 for Ten Pound Fiddle members, $10 for students and $15 for the public. For more information, e-mail Dawn Martin at marti778@msu.edu or call her at (517) 355-9543, ext. 108.

• It's not quite Michael Flatley in the "Lord of the Dance," but STOMP will be at the Wharton Center, Friday through Sunday. The opening night performance is at 8 p.m. and tickets are $25 for students (sold only at the box office with a valid ID). Tickets range from $25 to $45 for the general public. The eight-member group finds rhythm in the strangest places — Zippo lighters, hubcaps, matchboxes, etc. — and will also be performing an afternoon and evening show on Saturday and Sunday. And if you close your eyes at just the right time, you can hear Michael Flatley marching on stage with his high-stepping groove.

• Free ice skating at Munn Ice Arena to celebrate St. Patrick's Day — and the skate rental is free, too. The slippery good time starts at 9 p.m. and the first 200 people receive a free Lemon Chill or Melting Moments frozen treat. For more information e-mail the University Activities Board at uab@hfs.edu or call them at (517) 355-3354.