Thursday 20 October 2011

For Those Who Are About To Rock... Wau Salute You!


Wau Cafe's just across the road from Kelvingrove Museum, along that strange little strip of Old Dumbarton Road. It's a Malaysian place with an interesting looking menu, kitsch interior and very friendly owners. Popped in for a bite to eat before heading off to the museum's AC/DC exhibition.

Prawn fritters to start. Cucur Udang? Odd but tasty and a very generous portion. They had a cake like texture with little flecks of dried shrimp throughout. Udang and Sotang Sambal's for mains (prawn and squid).

Both were really good although the squid tasted preserved rather than fresh, it reminded me of those little tins of 'squid in their own ink' you find in supermarkets.

Very nice none the less and the Nasi Goreng accompaniment was exceptional.

Sides were peanuts with tiny little fish and a bowl of chicken stock... I've no idea why, but it mixed nicely with the rice. The fish packed a taste punch well beyond their stature.

They spoke the truth, you wouldn't want to be in a rush. Luckily we weren't and the prices are remarkably cheap. There's no alcohol, instead some very tasty soft drinks like rose petal spritzer. As I sipped it through a straw, Bon Scott turned in his grave.

Kelvingrove Museum's AC/DC exhibition's well worth the £2 entrance fee for Bon Scott's letters alone. They also have some footage of an extraordinary performance at Glasgow's Apollo from 1977. Unfortunately there's also quite a lot of stuff from after Bon Scott's death... when, as far as I'm concerned, AC/DC died too.

Saturday 8 October 2011

To A God Unknown


A few years ago, making my way through old archive tapes, I came across a fragment of an interview between a journalist and a former Moderator of the Church of Scotland recorded 20 years before.

It's not the sort of thing that normally grabs my attention but I recognised the journalist's name. All that was saved was the very end of the interview.

Journalist: "What do you think happens when you die?"

Former Moderator: "I've given a great deal of thought to that question over the years. Eventually I decided that it probably boils down to nothing more than the moment just before death. In that instant you either feel great joy or tremendous regret."

Journalist: "And that's it?"

Former Moderator: "That's it, there is nothing else".

I'd recognised the journalist's name because he'd died suddenly a few weeks before.