4th Nor Cal Rabble Burns Night Supper (photos & videos)

[Pour1Malt]

Arlen- please watch it again- can you honestly say they are laughing WITH Burns and not AT him? I cannot... maybe if he took the silly hat off... maybe if he didn't pretend to lose his place and then laughed... maybe if he even tried to say the poem with some degree of respect... maybe if he didn't keep turning around away from the audience to giggle like a buffoon... maybe if the images were not done comically... maybe if the images were not paraded around behind him- distracting from the poem...maybe maybe maybe... it would be what you are trying to say it was... but it wasn't...

this appears to be a very clear attempt to take the piss out of Burns, the Scots language, haggis (which is much more than just a food item- as you I both know), and Scottish patriotism...

oh.. and you lost me on one thing... no one said it was racist or mentioned Nazis but you.... I'm not quite sure where you are going with that one...

[Monkey@Arms]

Arlen- please watch it again- can you honestly say they are laughing WITH Burns and not AT him? I cannot... maybe if he took the silly hat off... maybe if he didn't pretend to lose his place and then laughed... maybe if he even tried to say the poem with some degree of respect... maybe if he didn't keep turning around away from the audience to giggle like a buffoon... maybe if the images were not done comically... maybe if the images were not paraded around behind him- distracting from the poem...maybe maybe maybe... it would be what you are trying to say it was... but it wasn't...

this appears to be a very clear attempt to take the piss out of Burns, the Scots language, haggis (which is much more than just a food item- as you I both know), and Scottish patriotism...

oh.. and you lost me on one thing... no one said it was racist or mentioned Nazis but you.... I'm not quite sure where you are going with that one...

Since we are getting a bit personal here, I shall weigh in. I am sorry anyone took offense, it was not intended.

The general goal was simply to provide a light-hearted translation of some of the more arcane language used in the Address. I have the Address well memorized, but Star and I both work full time in our respective professions and live in different cites, and so did not have a chance to rehearse our joint presentation. I had to look backwards towards her to know when it was time to give the next verse, which did actually cause me to lose my place, at which point I had to ad-lib briefly. Any "mockery" on my part was self-mockery, and not directed to Burns.

I am guilty of having introduced the fez one beery night to the Nor Cal Rabble, because it went with my monkey side, and I am afraid it just caught on, because that's just the way we roll. We enjoy each other company, we like to have fun, we like kilts, and we like good food and drink (I for one eat haggis every chance I get), and we try not to take ourselves too seriously.

I can't speak for Robert Burns, as he is long dead, but I suspect the man who collected "The Merry Muses of Caledonia" would not share your moral outrage.

Best regards,

Jake