Intermission

Since the story of this wee walk of ours is taking some time to get told, I thought I’d cover off a few other things in the meantime.

I’ve taken a real shine to Cottiers, a bar/theatre in Glasgow’s West End. Cottiers is housed in a converted church, and has one of the nicest beer gardens (that is a patio in Canadian-speak) in the city. The theatre portion is housed in the former nave of the church. I recently managed to catch the thoroughly fun band Salsa Celtica (their music is a mix of – surprise – Salsa and Celtic) and the observational/storytelling humour of comedian Daniel Kitson. Watching a comedian liberally sprinkle his material with profanity while drinking a pint in a former church, complete with pulpit and stained glass windows? Sacri-licious!

I went to my first official whisky tasting the other day at a pub in Edinburgh. This particular one was held by Glenmorangie. By the fifth full glass, I wasn’t really picking up on much of what they were saying, but the whisky sure tasted good. Best new terminology learned that night: “unleashing the serpent”. This is what happens when you add a dash of water to the whisky to release the flavour and in turn create an almost oily effect in your glass. I look forward to unleashing the serpent again soon.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is in fact as good as you’ve heard. Clever, visually stunning, and heart-warming all at the same time.

I am drowning in wonderful music at the moment. Keane’s “Hopes and Fears” is even better than what I had hoped for. Ash’s “Meltdown” is power pop the way it is supposed to be done. And Morrissey’s “You Are The Quarry” is a brilliant return from an artist who hasn’t released new material in far too long. You have to respect a man who releases a single with the chorus “I’ve been dreaming of a time when/the English are sick to death of Labour and Tories/and spit upon the name Oliver Cromwell/and denounce this royal line that still salute him”.

With the weather having been particularly beautiful recently, and it not getting dark until past 10pm, it’s certainly a good time to be in Scotland!