Pleasant conversation in the early morning

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A for alcohol

 

With a can of Tennent’s (which I got from my neighbour, oh bless her, for ‘saving’ her dog) standing on the table, I am now ready to write something about one thing that begins with an A and which, coincidentally, is alcohol.

When one thinks of Scotland, the first thing that usually springs to mind is whisky. The word whisky (etymology, here I go again!) derives from Gaelic uisge beatha which in turn is a translation of the Latin term aqua vitæ, meaning water of life, although aqua mortis would seem more appropriate (especially if consumed in excess). There are a few kinds of it (single malt and blended are the ones I’ve hear of but if you think that you’ll see people consuming this beverage on every corner, you’ll be disappointed. Although still considered the national drink of the country and despite the fact (or my opinion) that it is still one of Scotland’s main exports, whisky has had to give way to other types of alcohol. I’ve only had it once (back in 2005) and I thought it was horrid but I’m sure many people would disagree. So, Scotland is not a land flowing with just whisky and honey anymore and thank God for that. Many hectolitres of other alcohols are drunk each day.

Beer (ale and lager) is at the moment, I think, the most popular alcoholic beverage in the country and since everyone is familiar with it, I see no reason why I should comment on it further. I will only say that there’s one quite well-known lager from Glasgow – Tennent’s (I wrote well-known, although I’d never heard of it before coming here, I got this information from the said can on my table which reads: Made with pride in the heart of Glasgow (it’s actually made in the East End), but famous far beyond its home city – for a crisp taste and refreshingly clean finish. Ok, fair enough, I quite like Tennet’s.

What I don’t like (and not for it taste, ‘cause I’ve never even tried it, but for what it does to people) is Buckfast. It is mostly drunk by neds and research as well as my observations confirm that it fucks up your brain (this might explain its colloquial names ‘wreck-the-hoose juice’ and ‘commotion motion’). What’s weird (or maybe not) is that it’s not made in Scotland but in England by monks (apparently!) at the Buckfast Abbey.

An article from the BBC: Monks reject Buckfast wine link to crime in Scotland

Now, if you want to buy alcohol in Scotland, you need to go to almost any supermarket, newsagent’s or an off licence but be sure to do it between 10am and 10pm and the law says that alcohol cannot be bought from shops outside these hours.

Ok, I think that’s enough, for drinking alcohol is much more fun than writing about it :P

ABC of Scotland

Writing ABCs of different kinds is not a new idea so I'm not going to pretend to be some kind of a genius and say that I invented it. However, I haven't found anything of this sort on the internet (maybe I haven't looked well enough) and surely there isn't anything like that written from my perspective (how could there be? :)
So, over the next several weeks I'm hoping to produce a full ABC of Scotland with an emphasis on Glasgow, since that's where I've lived for the last few years. Actually, this isn't going to be an ABC of Scotland as such, as I don't feel I know the Scotland outside of Glasgow that well but that’s how I’ve called it. In short, it's going to be mostly about Glasgow, with some points universal for Scotland (and sometimes for the rest of the UK) and some referring to the rest of the land but not to this city.
Makes sense? Hope so!

In my ABC, I will try to write down my observations and opinions about different aspects of life here and I’d like to make it clear now that these are solely MY personal observations, opinions and feelings and that I understand that other people can disagree with me.

A for alcohol

B for Britain

C for climate

Piszesz nieskładnie

 

 

Dawno tak się nie uśmiałem. Powiedzcie, że Wasz też to śmieszy, bo ja nie mogłem się opanować przez dobrą minutę :)

Avatar

 

So, I've just come back from the cinema where I saw one of the most talked about films this year - Avatar. Having heard a few people's opinions, I must say I didn't expect the film to be much more than some nice special effects, a mediocre plot and a tribute to sex equality and political correctness (by the way, who the hell came up with the phrase 'gender equality'?!).

But let's start from the beginning. The ticket, with a student discount, was £6.30 which was much cheaper than that I paid last time I went to see a film in 3D (The Final Destination - one big shite) in Edinburgh but I also had to pay extra for the glasses which, judgeing by the number of new films coming out soon in 3D, I will have to keep. Initially, my eyes got quite sore and even watered a bit (something that didn’t happen when I was watching the previous film in 3D) and I was quite worried I wouldn’t be able to watch comfortably but they soon adjusted and the pain eased off. I know I’m not going to write anything revealing but there you go. Just some chaotic, random thoughts.

I knew what the film was going to be about so I wasn't surprised at all when it turned out that the killer 'savages' from the forest were actually the good guys; but even this knowledge didn't reduce my enjoyment of the picture.

So yeh, the plot... Unlike many people who have seemed to indulge in criticising it, I thought it was great. Adventure, clash of civilisations, good versus evil, love, betrayal - these are timeless themes that have been known for millennia to be components of many great works and they certainly added value to this film. You cannot make a bad film about these things, can you?

When you first see the human technology, you can't help but admire the sophistication and advancement. The shiny metal, computer screens, engines and so on look very close to home but the more time you spend with the Na'vi, you become more hostile to technology and more appreciating of their way of life and the strong bond they have with nature. At least that's how I felt. The Na'vi were amazing. Their behaviour and character in many ways resembled those of humans but at the same time there was something noble and, despite their lack of using advanced technology, something, erm..., advanced. Their religion, if it was a religion, a subject of yanks’ mockery, made so much more sense than human made up beliefs. It was embarrassing to see people, who believe in an invisible man because some ancient books say that he exists, laugh at a civilisation which believe in and have proof for existence of a benevolent force or  deity which they call Eywa.

The yanks were the baddies in this film (finally a picture where they don’t save the world from an asteroid/comet/alien invasion/deadly virus and what have you). And after the destruction they had caused, it was really satisfying to see them having their arses seriously kicked. Their corporate greed, illusion of superiority, general stupidity and a bit of bad luck led them to their ignominious fall.

Now about the special effects. There isn’t much to say apart from: WOW. And I meant it, they were very impressive, the colours, especially those of bioluminescence, were delightful, the whole world of Pandora looked very convincing and the scenes of riding animal, chases, falls and battles were breathtaking. The only negative comment I want to make is that sometimes certain objects looked blurred but I think that might have been due to my eyes not fully adjusting to watching films in 3D.

The music was great too, at one point it even resembled music from the Terminator (which, for those you don’t know, was also directed by Cameron). If anyone knows the title and the singer of the song that was played at the end, please write in the comments below.

The only flaw of the film that I can think of is that the fauna (including the Na’vi) and flora looked too earthly. I don’t think it’s possible that evolution on other planets or moons could have gone almost the same direction as evolution on Earth, I mean, come on, the Na’vi were mammals! But I don’t care, we’re used to watching films set in ‘galaxies far, far away’ were the main species look just like humans and where English is the most widely spoken and understood language :)

If I had a choice between living here or living with the Na’vi, I wouldn’t hesitate one moment and say: take me there!