Quote book?

When it's cool, you only have to say it once.

OMG Solas is Amazing

Holy shit we just saw Solas, one of the greatest Irish bands in the world today, and it was amazing. The button accordion player, Mick McAuley, was gracious enough to have his pick taken with Heather. They were fast, accurate, extremely fun, and soulful in their performance. I could have listened to them the whole night.


This first tune is a bit more 'modern' than their set tonight, but it is a better recorded number than I found on Youtube. The set tonight was extremely traditional, thoroughly rehearsed, and utterly fantastic.



Here is a good old fashioned sit in with what they really, truly sound like.

Oh Stephen Fry...

How we love you.





--EDIT--

Cannot.
Help.
Myself!!!

This was our rental car

No joke.

Jon Stewart's Opinion on Pizza

Big Black Rooster Stout

This has been an evolving recipe for most of my brewing hobby. It's basically a slightly stronger dry Irish stout, which is ready in just over two weeks. It is quite chocolatey, not very hoppy at all, and mildly acrid. This iteration--which should be the best yet--isn't going to be soured or oaked (since it will be served young), but it certainly could be. In fact, some toasted coconut in the mash would probably be fantastic.

• 10 gallon batch size
• 22 lbs Marris Otter
• 1.5 lbs roast barley
• 1 lbs chocolate malt
• 0.5 lbs dark crystal malt
• 0.5 lbs light crystal 15
• 2 oz Kent Golding hops, 60 minute boil

Mash at 151F for 60 minutes, sparge with six gallons of water, and ferment with an appropriate English or Irish yeast. For this iteration Wyeast 1945 Neobritannia will be used (and harvested for a brown ale that is being planned for the weekend--yeast harvesting rocks!).

And Watch This

The Mexican, Unironic Tenacious D

We saw them the other night, and they were fupping amazing. I'll get some home grown footage in a bit, but you have to check these two out.

Waiting for Decemberists

And here we are

Sahalie Falls

Heather Saving a Duck

Quick set of videos of Heather saving a duck from a sheep herding dog in Buxton. The owner of this dog thought it would be a good idea to walk it off it's leash in the park, and spent a good ten minutes chasing it before we stepped in.

No ducks were harmed in the making of this video, except for perhaps some ducky pride.

Extra Super Windy

This is for Stephen

Yeah, we're this fuckin' meta.

The Insane Wind at Hadriens Wall #1

60-70 mile an hour winds. These were easily the strongest winds I have ever felt.

Piper Parade in Fort William

An unexpected troupe of pipers, color guard, and military in a parade along the high street of Fort William. It was really, really loud.

Concerts Coming Up

We may have been back for less than 20 hours, but we already have a show to go see on Sunday. This weekend we are heading over to Bend to see the Decemberists (check out their latest album, it is one of their best).

The Colbert Report
Tags: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

And, for September I just bought tickets to see Ray Lamontagne. Ray is an incredible folk musician who recently added a band to his show. Here he is the other night on Letterman from his latest album.

Steampunk Train

As in real, actual steampunk. Like the stuff before punk. So, I
guess it would be just a... uh... steam train? Anyway, the brass was
glorious.

British Train Museum

It turned out to be a hell of a lot cooler than I thought it would be.
This particular train has wheels as big as me.

Bunroy to Fort William

There were a series of Lochs between our cabins and Fort William, and this tiny but terrifying road-damn lay across our rural route. It absolutely did not feel safe in any way.

The view out of our cabin

We had a view of one of the neighbors of Ben Nevis, the tallest
mountain in the UK right out of our cabin. The photo may not look
like much, but this area + Glencoe is the most majestic landscape I've
seen since Yellowstone. It is fucking breathtaking.

Edinburgh from Edinburgh Castle

Aside from the INSANE FUPPING WIND Edinburgh was a fantastic city. I
will absolutely go back. Not too many people, not horrible traffic,
wonderful architecture, and it didn't seem too expensive.

Interior of the Grog and Gruel

Which was a *fantastic* pub in Fort William. Unfortunately the
weather in Ft. William was far, far from fantastic.

The Stronlossit Gang

This is a group of chaps that we hung out with for several days--Noel
on the left who has hiked every Ben (mountain) in Scotland; Morris the
bartender who was absolutely fantastic; and Ian the ex Metallica and
Madonna roadie.

Joanna's Blog!

Joanna has been writing a blog since she and Daniel moved to Devon, England.  She is also writing about our trip here.  Check it out!

www.durrantduo.tumblr.com

Fort George

Fort George was a fantastic military base that still functions, but was built in the 1700's just after the Jacobite uprising.  It's huge, fantastic, and the rain finally stopped after we got there.

Random Scottish Shenanigans

First up are scottish black sheep.  Second is a fella who just applied black top to the road to our cabin, and was cleaning his shovel with a propane torch.  It smelled... fragrant.

Really, really old Scotch

One of these pictured is a 1968 scotch that was fantastic.  It smelled of Port and tasted of fluffy clouds.  The other is a Bruchladdaich in bourbon casks that was also effin' fantastic.

Glencoe

Glencoe is an amazing area just south of Fort William.  Pictures do not do it justice!! The mountains aren't as tall as Colorado, but it is the same sort of feeling.

William Wallace Monument

Stirling Castle

Totnes Castle

--
www.spacecreates.com

chagford action pictures

So we go into a pub in Bannochburn...

To see if we can get a pint and some food. Daniel asks the bar lady
if they serve food, and she says no. I go up and ask if there is
anywhere they recommend, and by the time I turn around someone had
brough a pile of sandwiches, plopped them down on the table, and said
they were on the house. The tuna sandwiches were quick toothsome.

Since they were free, I left a fiver under the platter. I returned
later that evening and at least half a dozen patrons ribbed me for
leaving a tip. They just don't do that here it seems.

Caerlaverock Castle

It's the only triangular castle in Scotland (and maybe England as
well), and it has an impressive moat and set of earth works behind me.
Inside the gates were some traffic cones that I put on my head, then
declared myself THE GRAND WIZARD OF CAERLOVEROCK! YE WHO ENTER THIS
CASTLE MUST PAY ME A POUND!

Ancient ancestor?

Here at Caerlaverock castle I found this little bit of graffiti. Do I
have relatives from Annan, and if so could this be one of them? HEY
MOM, CHECK IT OUT! :D

The Blue Bell, Annan Scotland

We've been to this pub several times, but on this visit the publican
presented us with something quite special. It turns out there is a
very, very small brewery trying to open in Annan. The barkeep was
friends with this gentlemen and had a sample bottle that he just gave
to us out of the blue (it turns out shit like this is gonna start
happening more often, but that is for later posts).

This was a fantastic Imperial Stout flavored with licorice. It had an
alcohol content of over 10%, which is really quite remarkable since
almost ever beer in the UK is 3%-5%. It was soft, smooth, creamy, and
the licorice was not overbearing. Nobody in the states will likely
ever see a bottle of this stuff, which is an absolute shame.

Brougham Castle #2

To think that these fools were tagging ancient monuments while in the
United States we were valiently trying to end that Perculiar
Institution. Don't they have any sense of perspective?! How rude!

Brougham Castle

It turns out people have been vandalizing/tagging castles for a long,
long time. What I particularly like is that many of them in the
1700's and 1800's had such nice typography.

Cheshire Cheese Inn. Why Not?

We didn't stop here, I just couldn't resist snapping a photo of this
re-diculously named place. It was just down the hill from a Norman
castle that we wanted to go to, but didn't make it (the wind was gale
force at the time). Instead we picked up a snack and pushed on
through. This was in the Peak district, just after Buxton.

Am I doing something wrong?

Why so scared?

Breakfast at Buxton #1

Buckingham hotel, a kitschy but lovely hotel in Buxton. Hopefully
Joanna/Dan have more pics of the actual city.

Outside Grange Place

This is the view right outside the Georgian mansion at Grange place.
It was quite pastoral. There are horses in the distance, cows in a
pasture to the right, chickens, pheasants, and beatiful gardens.

Inside Tom Cobley's pub

Right before a fantastic brekkies.

Guess what we found in Castleton

Hampton Court Hedge Maze #1

Winchester Cathedral

"Winchester Cathedral at Winchester in Hampshire is one of the largest cathedrals in England, with the longest nave and overall length of any Gothic cathedral in Europe."

Built upon a former swamp (and the crypt still floods), Winchester Cathedral was a fantastic stop.  When we were there the pipe organist was practicing some really dramatic pieces, so it made the whole experience even better.  From the stained stone you can see that water and flooding is still a problem, but all in all it is phoenominal--right up there with York, Wells, and Salisbury.

Itinerary for Today

View Larger Map
We are heading out of the Peak District (which is lovely, more pictures to come) to Annan Scotland. We have stayed at this place before and it's fantastic. On the way we are going to stop at Carlisle Castle and maybe a few other places.

Quick look at a church in Goring, England

Thirty or so seconds of a small church just across the Thames from where we stayed (the Miller of Mansfield) in England.

Tom Cobly Pub, Spreyton, Devon

Miller Of Mansfield #2, The Thames (pictures)

Miller Of Mansfield #1

This is one of our favorite places near London. Good food, comfortable rooms, and easy to access. We recently discovered more excellent pubs nearby, but we have come back to this B&B on every trip to England.

My Wife, Windsor Castle, and Armed Guards

Kinda speaks for itself.

I needed this

Royal Oak in Windsor.  Pictured is a Wadsworth 6X.  Malty, slightly sweet, no hop aroma I can detect, and a small amount of bitterness.  We drank these pints a few blocks from the Queens residence.

Hampton Court Pictures, #2