Dave's Birthday...

[glee]

Graham, what was Dave's favourite alcoholic beverage?

We all know you're own taste for Belgian and Portugeuse beers. What Belgian ones do you favour?

Duvell and the one with the label of the ostrich hiding its head in the sand.
Dave was partial to a Guinness, vodka and orange, a fine drop of red and Escorial Green which he liked partly because of the bottle.

[glee]

Just by the way, have you all set your display to local time through your profile? The board would normally show posts in relation to AEST but you can set an offset so it displays things relative to your own zone.

[robweb]

Duvel - head wrecker.

[glee]

Do you know what the one with the ostrich on the label is called? I also liked the one that translated as Sudden Death

[Urpal]

Exceptional taste as you might expect. Sadly, I've got no Duvel in but recently sampled the blue label version (I think it was blue but after a few other Belgian beers it's a bit difficult to picture the bottle too well).

I don't generally drink Guinness outside the realms of St James' Infirmary (Dublin Division), so that's off the menu.

In the right company Vodka's fine without the orange and I've got a vintage stock of the genuine article from yesteryear downstairs, but before I go to raise a glass I'd like to bring us home to Bonnie Scotland - if Dave's not Scottish with that smile then I'm a Dutchman (Johan, we may live in parallel universes )

Here's a Clannish toast all too familiar to me (at least the first verse) from past family gatherings and posted by the spirit of Rabbi(e) Burns:

Here's tae us
Wha's like us
Damn few,
And they're a' deid
Mair's the pity!

May those who live truly be always believed,
And those who deceive us be always deceived.

Here's to the men of all classes,
Who through lasses and glasses
Will make themselves asses!

I drink to the health of another,
And the other I drink to is he
In the hope that he drinks to another,
And the other he drinks to is me.

Then let us toast Davey McComb,
Each man a glass in hand
And may his great prosperity
Ne'er fail in No Man's Land

OK so I've taken liberties with the last stanza, but I'm sure Robert would join the toast.

[Sando]

I shall raise my glass of Ribena, as alcohol ne'er flows through my system no more. Nicotine, yes. Alcohol, no.

[gsalmon]

Do you know what the one with the ostrich on the label is called? I also liked the one that translated as Sudden Death

I didn't know but a quick Google Search learns it must be "Natte" ("wet one":

"Natte
tasted 9/21/02

Any beer drinker familiar with Michael Jackson's Beer Hunter videos -- the ones produced for the Discovery channel -- will recognize these beers. They are featured in the video about the beers of Belgium and the Netherlands, the brewer is an eccentric fellow, identified as a musician and philosopher. The brewery is the called the 'Brouwerij T'ij' which means 'of the egg', which I believe is a reference to a nearby river. This also explains the appearance of an ostrich on the label. Natte is a beer that appears to be in the style of a Trappist dubbel. It is deep brown in color with a rustic aroma of malt, sugar and fruit, perhaps plums. The flavor of this ale echoes the aroma -- more fruit flavors and a lot of candy sugar and deep caramel malt flavors. A soft mouthfeel, not too carbonic, and dangerously easy to quaff. The strength is notable at about 7 percent by volume. A very rich ale with some beguiling flavors and aromas. Recommended for anyone who likes darker beer or Belgian-style ales. "

Sudden death = Mort Subite

[glee]

Thank you for the research. Is there a a turn of phrase - as drunk as an ostrich? This ostrich had its head definitely in the sand which is very apt.

[gsalmon]

No there's no such expression.  I guess the image of an ostrich sticking his head in the sand was the first image that came to the brewer's mind when thinking of having a hangover 

[glee]

I'm figuring out a good way to set up a downloads page but, in the meantime, here's a pdf of The Good Fight Issue 1 edited by Dave and Brian Waldron (who I sometimes have a beer with on Friday nights). There's a small piece by Dave, a poem by Bleddyn, it's a bit fuzzy, still learning how to make good pdfs. It's also 800kb or so.
http://thetriffids.com/holding/TheGoodFight1.pdf   

[Urpal]

Thanks for the present, Graham.

Well, so far I've found time for a few singles, Calenture and presently working my way though Australian Melodrama (well it is getting late here). Oh, and it's just turned midnight local time so HB Scottish Dave.

"Drink up, it's getting dark now...."

How right you are.

One thing that's possibly only noticeable about that Dave grin on the front of NME at the original scale is the marked gap between his middle front teeth in the style of Madonna Ciccone.

I obviously can't claim this feature as an exclusively Scottish genetic preserve (although Madonna got married in Scotland), but I have a slightly lesser gap these days. In Chaucer's day it was a physical trait which apparently signified a person of a sexually promiscuous nature of the Wife Of Bath variety (adds up with Madonna by all accounts but I might put the lie to the scientific basis for that claim  ). Certainly not seen much in the US these days thanks to the wonders of orthodontistry.

I like to think that gap is where the cranium widens to let in the light















 

 

[robweb]

Ah, Australian Melodrama - worst title ever, destined to make everyone think this was a whole LP of tunes from Neighbours, Sons and Daughters and Home and Away...........

Did the band pick it Graham?

[Urpal]

All I can say after reading that poem by Bleddyn is that my confidence was not mis-placed (in fact I underestimated his literary talents) and so "take as long as it takes, Bleddyn - and even longer if necessary". Clearly a man whose vision extends beyond the focus of his camera lens.

On mobile phones these days we have something called predictive text. It almost writes the message for you. Sometimes you have to work "down in the basement" a bit longer before you can move upstairs to step into the light.

[Urpal]

I hope you're enjoying those beers Graham.

I expect you had a bit of a wake up call a moment ago.

The small glass of vodka blended well with A Little Bit Of Rain, Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness, Still Alive And Well and the Abrahams track from WJKS last night. A true flavour to savour.

Nostroviya!

(Don't let the fact that UrPal's Wife was not exactly singing the Ode To Joy either last night or this morning prevent you from having a restful sleep )

[Cassiel]

Excuse me if my English falters, but my hands are still shaking from excess. Somewhat appropriately I spent last night in a boozer with a few mates, including a couple of Aussies, the  drunker of which insisted on belting out 'Wide Open Road' , despite only knowing the three words of the title, across the pub at full volume just before closing time when I told him it was the lbirthday of the late lead singer of The Triffids.  He then got a bit homesick and maudlin. I left when he and his mate began a rendition of something called 'Working Class Hero' by someone called Barnesy. Given these two are about as working class as Camilla Parker-Bowles, I presume some irony was intended.

Good evening though.