BS: Strange American Custom?

Subject: Strange American Custom?
From: Megan L
Date: 19 May 00 - 02:13 PM

Now I've met some pretty strange folk in my time - we won't mention the chap who used to take his pet traffic cone for a walk - but I wonder if this is some strange new American custom or is there just a clothes shortage over there. A recent visitor to the Ring of Brodgar and Skara Brae jumped out of the tour guides vehicle tore her clothes of and did a quick tour of the site before putting them back on and asking to be taken to the next site of histerical, sorry historical intrest.

Honestly if you guys are short on clothes we could probably send you parcels from the best Red Cross shop in Scotland.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: MMario
Date: 19 May 00 - 02:16 PM

Megan, if there was a clothes shortage I doubt if we'd remove anything, as the chance of their still being around later would be nil. Most likely it was just someone who prefers to be skyclad.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: DougR
Date: 19 May 00 - 02:28 PM

Megan, the young lady probably just wanted a spot of sun or something like that.

DougR

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: catspaw49
Date: 19 May 00 - 02:34 PM

Probably just a raving attack of paranoia after her first view of a Haggis and being told people actually eat the stuff.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 19 May 00 - 02:51 PM

Maybe it was a penance she'd been given by a priest with a wicked sense of humour...

"Next stop Sauchiehall Street"

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: The Shambles
Date: 19 May 00 - 02:57 PM

Is her next stop the Cerne Abbas Giant?

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: The Shambles
Date: 19 May 00 - 03:02 PM

The link to the thread works but the link in the thread to a picture of the offending member does not appear to work now.

Fear not This will take you there.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: paddymac
Date: 19 May 00 - 03:36 PM

Might be she was just "taking the air".

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 19 May 00 - 03:44 PM

Actually I found an interesting custom (I think) in Glasgow. Twice I visited Pizza Parlours, and both times tomato soup came (unasked for) with my pizza. Is this common? Nothing wrong with the soup...just asking.

Rick

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: Fortunato
Date: 19 May 00 - 03:48 PM

I don't know who this Brodgar is or who gave her the ring or why her bra is scary. But it's obviously a very spiritual place. Quite possibly it is one of the little known universal sex centers described in the Kuma Sunna and the woman, was simply overcome (so to speak) by the lustful vibrations thereabouts.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: catspaw49
Date: 19 May 00 - 03:49 PM

Perhaps paddymac is onto something............It was her personalized rendition of "Londonderry Air."

Spaw (and why am I not wanting to ask about a "Scottish Pizza?"

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: Peter T.
Date: 19 May 00 - 04:05 PM

Mary Queen of Scots (and Queen of the French) invented the porridge omelette, which would go well with Scottish Pizza.

yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 19 May 00 - 05:10 PM

We Americans will get naked at the drop of a hat...or, really, at the drop of any piece of apparel. The English, however, seem self-conscious about their nudity, displaying it only in the safety of the boudoir or at the rare British nude event, such as the Nuthall Freckle Festival,Nuthall, Flummox,Hampshire.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: Irish sergeant
Date: 19 May 00 - 05:57 PM

Meghan: As far as I know it isn't a strange American custom. Just strange. Perhaps she wanted to draw attention to herself. Tomato soup with Pizza? That is a new one! Of Course when I was in Scotland I had Haggis and Cock a leekie soup. Delicious by the way but most Americans wouldn't want to klnow what is in Haggis. reguards, Neil

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 19 May 00 - 05:57 PM

"...get naked at the drop of a hat..."

"He let go the hat, but the hat didn't fall - a Blessed Miracle!"

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: Micca
Date: 19 May 00 - 06:23 PM

This was a "custom" created by Billy Connolly in his TV series "Billy Connollys World tour of Scotland" shown by the BBC in the UK about 4 years ago. there were further reportsof people copying his actions afterwards...

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 19 May 00 - 07:01 PM

Loved it, McGrath. Story had a great point.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: catspaw49
Date: 19 May 00 - 07:06 PM

So the point was? Perhaps, Home is where you hang your hat?

Just wonderin'

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: Dharmabum
Date: 19 May 00 - 08:23 PM

So that's where cousin Lydia has gotten off to.

Don't worry, she did the same thing in Venice last year but no one noticed.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: Billy the Bus
Date: 19 May 00 - 09:03 PM

A technical question, Megan - was the lassie blue? If so, she was either very cold, or was trying to revive the ancient Celtic custom of wearing woad. As we know, "woad's the stuff to show men"

Cheers - Sam

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 20 May 00 - 12:05 AM

er..point! Story had a great point...ah, forget it.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: MarkS
Date: 20 May 00 - 10:38 AM

Perhaps it was the only sunny day for a long while, and she was overcome with joy. After all, it was Scotland, a lovely place known for friendly people and overcast sky.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: Willie-O
Date: 20 May 00 - 12:45 PM

Isn't Skara Brae sort of a 5000-year-old (archaeologically very important) communal farm in the Orkneys?

Maybe she was a 5000-year-old, but well-preserved hippie doing the customary homecoming ritual.

A few years back a former co-communard friend of mine, a serious practicing pagan, got the nomination to represent the NDP (centre=left Canadian party) in a provincial election, in a rural riding. The NDP didn't know about his religious interests and were embarrassed when the fundamentalist opposition tried to make him out to be a Satanist. His interesting response was to invite the media to film a "sky-clad" ceremony. It's not often you see a serious political candidate prancing around a fire in his altogethers--that was the end of his campaign.

W-O

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: Megan L
Date: 20 May 00 - 01:21 PM

That's what I love about Mudcat the fishing is always great.

Rick The tomato soup isn't the strange bit I once got served pancakes with the soup Suck Sauchie aw heck they just moved the shop round to Bath Street.

Will pass on the information about Cerne Abbas, she will probably want to add it to her itinery, any other suggestions of where we can tell her to go.

Would book her into a certain Mudcat hospital but it seams to be rather full this weekend.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: Barbara
Date: 20 May 00 - 03:41 PM

Megan, if Micca's serious -- and I don't know why not -- it sounds like it's a home grown fruit, not an imported one. Or at least the ritual started with Billy Connolly, who I believe is one of yours. Of course, on this side of the pond we call it streaking, and it has been de reguer at graduation ceremonies for years now.
Blessings,
Barbara

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: Irish sergeant
Date: 20 May 00 - 07:25 PM

How the Hell did I forget about streaking? Oh Yeah, I tend to get 19th century at times. I do hope it was warm although it would have been really interesting if it wasn't. Damn it there is a latter day Lady Godiva song in all of this somewhere.. Neil

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: gillymor
Date: 20 May 00 - 07:46 PM

I think she may have anticipated meeting a Scotsman in a pub and was preparing herself to one up him in the event he offered the ancient Scottish plaint when the tab comes: "I've left me wallet in me other trrrousers."

Frrrankie

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 20 May 00 - 08:58 PM

"It's not often you see a serious political candidate prancing around a fire in his altogethers"

Well, "Even the President of the United States must have to stand naked sometimes..." I reckon they should make it part of the procedure for electing them. The TV debate, nothing concealed. After the excitements you've had with Slick Willy (does that word have the same meaning in the States as it does in England?), it would be a natural progression.

I mean, surely people are entitled to see what they are buying.

Hans Christian Andersen had the right idea.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: kendall
Date: 21 May 00 - 06:08 PM

I visited both of those places in Scotland, but, it must have been her day off...damn.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: Hollowfox
Date: 22 May 00 - 11:25 AM

McGrath, if it didn't have the same meaning before the current administration was elected, it does now.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: Gervase
Date: 22 May 00 - 11:58 AM

Dunno about strange American customs, but the Scots have some wierd culinary ones of their own - particularly with pizzas. There's a chippie in Aberdeen which gained some notoriety a while back when it started serving deep-friend Mars bars, straight off the shelf, dipped in batter and then dunked into boiling beef dripping. In the interests of research I went there to try one and it was, as you can expect, disgusting - hot, gooey and completely inedible to a Sassenach like me. "If you're nae too keen on the Mars bars, maybe ye'd like to try the pizza," says the bloke in the chippie - and then he presents me with a blob of greasy fried batter the size of a quarter-pounder, inside which was the remains of a particularly disgusting once-frozen pizza. It's hard to think of anything that could be more horrible than a greasy battered Mars Bar, but that Aberdeen chippie managed it. Haggis I love - lungs, lights and all - but deep-fried Mars Bars and pizzas have to be up there on the banned list alongside Scottish country dancing and incest!

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: catspaw49
Date: 22 May 00 - 12:37 PM

Ya know Gervase my friend, I think it must be some kind of human trait to want to deep fry damn near anything. The American midwestern county fair may be the bastion of this perversion.

If its dough....FRY IT. From donuts and crispy powdered sugar waffles, to elephant ears and funnel cakes, there's nothing like something sweet and greasy!!!!!

There's the classic "Pork Tenderloin" sandwich......Its an eighth of an inch thick and about a foot across on a 3 inch bun.......And hey, if it lives in the water, boil it in oil...we'll eat it. All manner of shellfish and fish in some batter to hold the grease........

Of course there is always cheese......whip it on a stick, batter it up and hang it in the fryer!! Swiss, cheddar, whatever ya' got.

A few years back, veggies got real big. There had always been potatos, onions, and mushrooms, but now we have the zuchini, broccoli, cauliflower, squash, eggplant, okra, carrot, green pepper......even deep fried corn on the cob. Now I love corn, but deep fried ain't no way to prepare it!!! The veggies coincided with the "healthy foods" craze as if somehow these greasy-ass battered bits were healthy.

Then there is the bizarre category....where your Mars bar fits in..........My personal favorite here is deep-fried pickles...quartered dills in battered and thrown in the fat. Also I have tried the bananas, apples, bread(fer gawdsake) and ice cream..........

Hey if you can eat it, toss it in the fat. Then pick up a copy of "My Friend, Mr. Cholesterol" to read while you crap your guts out and listen to your arteries harden.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: Midchuck
Date: 22 May 00 - 12:42 PM

I assume "Chippie" means something different in Scotland than in the USA?

Peter.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: Gervase
Date: 22 May 00 - 12:43 PM

Hey 'spaw - be careful when you say "...where your Mars Bar fits in" - I couldn't hold a candle to Marianne Faithfull

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: catspaw49
Date: 22 May 00 - 12:44 PM

LMAO....great line!!!!!!!!!

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: wysiwyg
Date: 22 May 00 - 02:13 PM

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: kendall
Date: 22 May 00 - 03:08 PM

sure wish I knew what praise is trying to say

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: catspaw49
Date: 22 May 00 - 03:42 PM

Its a new American custom being tried out in Pennsylvania. Its called the "Non-Post" and Praise has been doing it on a lot of threads. Very pleasant.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: MarkS
Date: 22 May 00 - 09:20 PM

Spaw - Dont forget the other mid-west favorite. A prime steak cooked rare with lots of fat running down the dish, and topped off with several pats of butter. You can feel your arteries starting to harden when you place the order, but, my heart, does it taste good. I guess the cheese sauce on the baked potato takes away the cholesterol, kind of like the French paradox uses wine to neutralize the goose fat.
MarkS

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: GUEST,Steve Latimer
Date: 23 May 00 - 01:12 PM

I just returned from a golf trip in Wheeling, West Virginia. 'Spaw has it right about frying. I think the best example of this I saw down there was the snack "Food" deep fried pork rinds. I thought our Canadian dish, Poutine, was the worst possible thing one could ingest, but I don't think anything could come close to Pork Fat fried in oil.

Then there's the Chicken Fried Steak, some kind of steak battered and thrown in the fryer.

I think my favourite culinary experience on this trip was when a group of us ordered a bottle of Merlot at dinner in a steak house. It came dripping with perspiration as it was straight out of the 'fridge. Please tell me that this is something peculiar to Wheeling and not practiced in other parts of the U.S.

I too have seen the deep fried frozen pizza, this was in a cafe in England just south of the Scottish border. Disgusting.

Americans often find it odd when we Canucks ask for vinegar and ketchup for our Chips (French Fries).

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: catspaw49
Date: 23 May 00 - 01:20 PM

WHEELING??? An hour and a half from me Steve.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: catspaw49
Date: 23 May 00 - 01:25 PM

And I suppose you played Ogleby Park didn't you? Lots of "carry" holes...neat course....used to love it.

And you should have eaten at the "Stone Fox".........If you had contacted me (you jerk) you'd have known.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: GUEST,Steve Latimer
Date: 23 May 00 - 01:46 PM

'Spaw,

Yes, it was Oglebay. A group of my golfing buddies have been going there for about fifteen years, although I haven't been since '97. I really like Robert Trent Jones Sr. course there. They've just opened a second course, designed by Arnie himself, also very nice, more of a links course, lots of golf ball eating fescue.

Didn't hear of the Stone Fox. We were at a place called Zeins(?) where we had the chilled red wine. You would have loved Saturday's dinner, 5 guys stuffed into a Yellow Cab going through the Hardees drive through. I was still laughing about it the next day.

Could we have passed by yoy on our way? We took Hwy. 79 south to 70. Of course we stopped at Good Ole Uncle Bob's Tavern in Mars, and at the Three B's in Zelionople.

I won't make the mistake of not contacting you the next time. Perhaps I can shed my "Jerk" status.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: catspaw49
Date: 23 May 00 - 01:49 PM

Awright.........I forgive you..........THIS TIME.........let me know the next or you're in deep accumpucky.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: GUEST,Steve Latimer
Date: 23 May 00 - 01:53 PM

Thanks 'Spaw, you can't believe how relieved I am.

Steve

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: jeffp
Date: 23 May 00 - 01:56 PM

Spaw, I used to spend a week at Oglebay Park every summer when I was growing up. That was the site of some of my earliest exposures to folk music, in fact. We would rent a cabin for a week and there were programs of all sorts every day, including music, dance, crafts, hayrides, even an observatory with astronomy programs. Thanks for stimulating some very fond memories!

jeffp

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: GUEST,Steve Latimer
Date: 23 May 00 - 02:04 PM

...and how about the Capitol Music Hall? Saw Willie Nelson there one year we at Ogelbay. What a beautiful theater, great sound, very intimate setting. The home of WWVA.

Subject: RE: BS: Strange American Custom?
From: wysiwyg
Date: 23 May 00 - 03:28 PM

Haw haw Spaw!