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Day 14 Post Tour - Sunday Morning

Posted by Dave Rat on

Good morning sunshine! I can't say it exactly a haze I am emerging from. More accurately it feels like "velocity differential acclimation" sort of like when I look outside the car window at world around while driving and all is smooth and normal. I sit in a comfy seat watching it slide behind me yet if I were to step out of the door while traveling 60 miles per hour, the "velocity differential acclimation" experience would be quite life-disruptive. In fact the velocity differential would be so great great that rather than acclimate, I would most likely end up absorbing the 60 miles per hour in a flailing arms tumble to an eventual big owie stop. That is how these last two weeks feel except without out the big owie part.

So before I work my way up to now, how about a bit of catching up on then......

Day 455 - Over the Pond, Again

The final bit. Three shows, one our own and then two mirror image festivals. For me as a sound engineer, today is the last real day with all the toys. So over we wander and stumbling across delicious delectable's makes me smile, Yummy!

Oh, and speaking of yummy, we roadies went a wandering and once again stumbled upon the same place we ate here last time. Or was it the time before?

Either way, greasy bar food was exactly as we remembered it.

And once again we chickened out on ordering the Haggis, though I regret it now and won't make that error again. Next time for absolute sure. For those of you wondering what haggis is, well like so many things, you have two choices from which to pick

1) "A haggis is a small four-legged Scottish Highland creature, which has the limbs on one side shorter than the other side. This means that it is well adapted to run around the hills at a steady altitude, without either ascending or descending. However a haggis can easily be caught by running around the hill in the opposite direction."

Or

2) Haggis is a traditional Scottish dish.

And lucky you! I have included a recipe for y'all to try at home.

"Here's a recipe for the beloved Haggis of Scotland. In addition to the other naughty (read 'delectable') bits, the lungs are traditionally included in Scotland, but are omitted here as it's illegal to sell lungs in the U.S. (Any clues as to why, anybody?). Some folks also think that liver shouldn't be used ..."


1 sheep's lung (illegal in the U.S.; may be omitted if not available)
1 sheep's stomach
1 sheep heart
1 sheep liver
1/2 lb fresh suet (kidney leaf fat is preferred)
3/4 cup oatmeal (the ground type, NOT the Quaker Oats type!)
3 onions, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 cup stock


Wash lungs and stomach well, rub with salt and rinse. Remove membranes and excess fat. Soak in cold salted water for several hours. Turn stomach inside out for stuffing.
Cover heart and liver with cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Chop heart and coarsely grate liver. Toast oatmeal in a skillet on top of the stove, stirring frequently, until golden. Combine all ingredients and mix well. Loosely pack mixture into stomach, about two-thirds full. Remember, oatmeal expands in cooking.

Press any air out of stomach and truss securely. Put into boiling water to cover. Simmer for 3 hours, uncovered, adding more water as needed to maintain water level. Prick stomach several times with a sharp needle when it begins to swell; this keeps the bag from bursting. Place on a hot platter, removing trussing strings. Serve with a spoon. Ceremoniously served with "neeps, tatties and nips" -- mashed turnips, mashed potatoes, nips of whiskey.

Hello Scotland and if I was to vote on the most likely birthplace of sarcasm, this would be it, I like this place .

**** Teary Eyed Goodbye ****

Well this is it. The Double Hung PA I designed for this Pepper's tour now hangs it's very last hang. I have no idea what the future will bring. We do have two more shows to go after this but those are festivals with typical V-Dosc rigs and sound pressure level limits so strict that if it was near the sea, the ocean would get fined for it's waves being too loud.

Say bye bye double hung PA

**** End Teary Eyed Goodbye ****

To bloggery back soon,

Dave Rat

 

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Greg Cameron on :

See you soon Dave! Welcome home for a while. Greg

Gordon Mcgregor on :

Glaswegians sarcastic nah, just you colonials are too literal. Glad you enjoyed the visit, the gig seemed to be good from everyone's perspective Glasgow is a good place to perform in if your good if your bad then on your head be it!! Gordon

Graham on :

Have you heard the story of the lonesome Haggis? Haggis come in two types - clockwise (where the legs on the right are shorter than the legs on the left so they travel around the mountains in a clockwise direction) and naturally enough anti-clockwise Haggis with the opposite orientation of long and short legs. A ‘Lonesome Haggis’ (and I’m afraid there are many) is what happens when a Clockwise Haggis falls in love with an Anti-clockwise Haggis. If the Clockwise Haggis attempts to turn around on the hill to follow his loved one the differing sized legs are now entirely unfit for the direction of the slope resulting in a tumble do the bottom of the mountain where he may be trapped for ever in a Glen (or eaten by a Highland Cow) and can never find his true love again. A sad tale but that doesn’t make it any less true! The best way to eat Haggis is not to think about what is in it, the same is true for a lot of food. Had a grate time at the Glasgow gig, sound was great, show was great - thanks for bringing your friends to town.

Rob F on :

Good luck Dave, thanks for the blog and insights into life. I watched a DOCU on Punk bands last night hoping to see you via Black Flag but didnt..Take care.

Rachelle on :

Hello Dave - yay so good to see you back =) ooh sad - last day with the toys. It was such a great show Dave - so a good show to finish on! Sad that we didn't get to say hi or bye to you, but we felt you there with us in spirit. We thought it would be nice to finish on a show being situated near the front, and it was too cool to be in the front row. So again, thank you and the crew and the band for a magical RHCP year - four shows and some amazing friends I have made. As for Scotland, what a beautiful country - we made it to Edinburgh after the show, which was probably the most beautiful city I have been to thus far. Cool people, amazing architecture and the sun was pouring down for the last days of the Edinburgh fringe festival. I too was tempted to try haggis but too chickened out - perhaps I will try your recipe one day ... hmmm. Yes the pub you went to was a wetherspoons, a british chain of pubs renound for reliable 'cheap and cheerful' food. They all seem to have pretty quirky names and decor too, giving each of them their own personalities http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wetherspoons Look forward to some more blogs Enjoy home Shell xxxx

DrBundy on :

Mmmm...HAGGIS! I can't get enough every time I'm in Scotland. However, I'm originally from South Louisiana, so we eat equally "disgusting" things on a regular basis down here. Try "boudin" (pronounced locally as "BOO-daan") next time you pass through the area. But, as with most sausage products, don't ask what's in it. Cheers! ~A

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