Wearin' o' the green

Rico says that, being of Irish descent through his mother's side of the family, he refuses to abide by the 'wear green on St. Patrick's Day' rule. Stefano Esposito of the Chicago Sun-Times has an article about everyone else, including the wacky ones:

A bolt of green— shiny, glittery, and sometimes booze-soaked— pierced the city's foggy gloom Saturday, as hundreds of thousands of revelers lined the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade route downtown.
Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day, including 6-foot-6-inch tall Jeff Walter, 25, of Chicago. Walter dressed in lime-green angel wings, a low-cut, skin-tight white T-shirt, shiny platform shoes, bling hanging from his neck, and black-and-white-checkered stockings. He called himself the Leprechaun Fairy. "She's not that popular here in America, but [she is] definitely from Ireland and [she] spreads Irish glitter," said Walter, a crowd favorite on the edge of the parade route. "It's Chicago pride, Irish pride and gay pride, all of it in one outfit today."
Others in the crowd were a little less showy, but no less proud. That included the Irish prime minister himself, Brian Cowen. "Your parade is world-renowned," Cowen told spectators after he marched in the parade, which was attended by an estimated 250,000 people. "When you turn your river green, the whole world sees it, and everyone knows it's a green day for the Irish everywhere."
Mayor Daley, Governor Quinn, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, and Senate hopeful Alexi Giannoulias were among those who marched in the drizzly weather, which likely accounted for the crowds being less than last year, when an estimated 400,000 people attended. As of Saturday evening, police said there had been no significant arrests.
There were Irish dancers, drummers, flag-carriers, and bagpipers, 5-year-old A.J. Lehman's favorite. Look for A.J. in the parade next year. The Palatine boy has decided he wants to play the bagpipes and march. He doesn't own a set of pipes, but it didn't trouble him Saturday. "I like their sound, they sound like trumpets," he explained, with a little prompting from his mother, Katie Lehman.
For a deeper understanding of St. Patrick's historical significance, reveler Russell Mattas, 30, of Joliet, was eager to share his thoughts of Ireland's patron saint. "He was a little leprechaun, I suppose, and God bless him!" said Mattas, standing arm-in-arm with a large group of friends, some of whom appeared to have been celebrating a wee bit much.

And, for a good Irish joke, go here.