cool.as.hell!!

I always thought it would be cool to have friends.

On the other hand, its sort of fun to be thought of as a complete fruitcake whacko. :)

Seriously, some of these'll probably only appeal to the more religious of you, or any closet Anglophiles, but I've had a number of cool experiences as a result of my religious friends in the UK. Here's a few:

1. "Scotch day". Taking a tour of the Glenfiddich distillery, then going to the gift shop and discovering that their 100-year-old scotch, at 10,000 pounds a bottle, was sitting right out in the middle of a table with all the rest, not behind lock and counter. In a room with very narrow aisles and me and my fellow gawking tourists. I was afraid to breath for fear of knocking it on the floor. Then a friend of mine -- former Brit Army -- took me to this little "Whisky Store" in a town of a couple thousand. Sold nothing but whisky....about 300 kinds.

2. "Anglican day." Sunday morning service using 1662 version of the Book of Common Prayer. Afternoon touring to Alnick Castle and Durham Cathedral (a/k/a the sites where Hogwarts is filmed). Having my picture taken with a cardboard cutout of Hermione, Harry, and Ron. (unfortunately, this was before I had a digital camera, and it didn't come out...fuckin kodak moments).

3. "Bute" weekend. Isle of Bute lies west of Glasgow, off the Scots coast. Main claim to fame either 3rd Earl, crony of Geo III and briefly prime minister, or first Marquess (1790s). Anyway, the Bute family seat is called Mount Stuart, and a friend of mine, who also lives on the Isle, is one of the world experts on the whole thing. So when I visited, she got me a special "in the back door" tour of the place, including virtually everywhere "behind the ropes." Including a private chapel that had mirrors on the three non-altar walls AND the floor. Maybe 12' square. Various icons and other pieces no doubt collected in the usual British imperial way. We had to wear these special slippers. It was really strange walking on the mirror. Vertigo. Plus I wasn't quite as heavy as I am now, but I was heavy enough that I kept asking "you sure it's okay for me to be on this?"
That night we ate take-out haggis-and-chips and drank single malt scotch.

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Good stuff, Wade.

Haggis.

I aspire to possess that kind of mettle.

The single malt would be wasted on me---you can mix that with coke and ice, yes?

:tongue3:

Hehe...only if you don't want to get out of the Highlands alive.

But contrary to American liquor snobs, the Scots will say that the proper way to drink whisky is *not* neat. You are supposed to add just a tad (like a teaspoon or so) of water.

Personally, I think the snobs have it right. But then I prefer the lighter malts (Dalwhinnie, Mortlach). If I were a more peat-y malt, I'd probably add the water I suppose.

http://www.templetonrye.com/home.shtml [img]http://www.templetonrye.com/home.shtml[/img].

I did buy some vintage port when in Portugal, but I'm trying to hold off at least 3 years before opening the 2007, and maybe 5-10 before opening the 1997.

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I just watched a show on that. I think the guy that goes all over the world chowing down and getting liquored up....the guy with the earring--I forget his name.

They were at the mecca of scotch drinking. The town straddles the highlands and lowlands. Go north, you got the "complex" ones, south you have the more straightforward swill, or somesuch--

I do remember one ice cube is OK, plus the water to bring out the "character" or whatever.

Do you know that the city council turned down an offer to have that fire put out by some local guy for $250.00 in Centralia?

They suspected him of starting it or something, plus they thought his fee exorbitant, plus they thought it would actually burn itself out. They thought this while straddling the largest seam of anthracite coal in the world, a place where you can take a five gallon bucket and fill it up with said coal in less than five minutes- on the surface- TO THIS DAY.

Over a billion dollars later and still burning, I'd bet they have come to the realization that they should have come off the 250.

That's just me...these Pennsylvanians aren't exactly invariably eaten up with the smarts, plus they can be a tad stubborn. :violent3: <---sorry for the awkward sentence structure, my wife monitors my "dissing" of Pennsylvania and the inhabitants, so I gotta roll charitably, lol

Drink brewdog! 

Anyone ever notice that the words "anthrax" and "anthracite" look an awful lot alike?

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glenfiddich?? yummmmmm.