from the Borderlands to Snæfellsnes



25 October 2013


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Friday 25 October 2013--I meet W for lunch at The Ubiquitous Chip in Ashton Lane. The Chip, founded in 1971, is a Glasgow institution. Owner Ronnie Clydesdale made its reputation by taking two big risks. The first was basing his restaurant on Scottish cuisine, at a time when that was regarded as a contradiction in terms. (I assume the name is an ironic comment on the popular conception of that cuisine.) The second was moving into Ashton Lane, a moribund back alley, in 1976. The Chip was instrumental in the transformation of the lane into the center of bohemian student café culture. Like many such places--New York's Greenwich Village and Toronto's Yorkville come to mind-- it has lost much of its countercultural edge in the ensuing decades. Still, it remains a lively and artsy little corner of town.

All that said, The Ubiquitous Chip is just too highfalutin' for my swollen and fuzzy brain this morning. W seems to be similarly afflicted, and we spend most of our lunchtime trying to suppress our giggling. Eventually we escape and go for a walk through the university and Kelvingrove Park. W then goes on her way. I walk a while longer, circling back to my hotel for a rest.

Alan Reid, erstwhile and longtime member of the Battlefield Band, meets me at the corner of Byres and Great Western Roads. I have a ticket to see his former bandmates at Òran Mór this evening. Alan has another commitment, but has agreed to have a pint with me beforehand. He tells me that the lads are in Tennents, just down Byres Road. He hasn't seen them in a year, and it's a convivial reunion, with handshakes and backslaps and lots of laughter.

The lads deliver their usual high-octane show, although I have to say I miss Alan's songs mixed into the set. The venue itself is disappointing, a basement room with a ceiling so low, Mike Katz can't play the pipes standing up.

Next



The Ubiquitous Chip


But Is It Art?


Kelvingrove Park


Kelvingrove Park


Kelvingrove Park


Kelvingrove Park


Kelvingrove Park


Kelvingrove Park


Kelvingrove Park


The River Kelvin


Inn Deep On The Kelvin


Familiar Faces At Tennents


Tennents


The Battlefield Band At Òran Mór

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