BIGGLES

Gents, Shetty and the rest of you who did not turn up...

The review and the post party details are a little delayed but I was busy getting drunk last night to be inspired what to write today...But all excuses aside and without further ado, here's the story of A Wednesday...

Well it started with myself arriving a little late because i had to drop off the car and pick up a few people and also make sure that Dwight was along as well...(psst....what....they don't know who Dwight is? ok...)

So for all of you who were not present at the unveiling and introduction of Dwight, just to let all of you know, Dwight is the unofficial mascot of Discover a Bar on Wednesday nights and will have photos uploaded soon. By the way we realised that night that other than Dwight always being right, he has super powers as well. The kind of attention he got us that night, don't think anyone of you guys got me that kind of attention, but lets get to that detail later.

So after arriving late and making Royston wait for about half an hour (he used that time well to get acquainted to the friend he brought along, his new blackberry), we were still not sure where we were headed, Cactus Jack or Biggles. After a quick scan of both venues (they were practically side by side), it was unanimous that we all needed some live music and a bit of World War I memorabilia and hence Biggles is where we all bundled into. Our first agenda for the night was to take a head count we realised that it didnt matter as we were just a handful. There was Dom in his new sleeveless sweatshirt, flexing his muscles, Sangeet who was next to him, scanning the menu for something vegetarian to eat other than pop corn (I recently broke the news to him that mayo is made from eggs, so he had to give that up as well. options for him as so limited these days). Facing him was Roy who still wasn't confident enough to call for a beer, and next to him was Amit, the other Jain on the table who has done the smart choice of taking to seafood these days, and then there was me who was staring at the propeller on the ceiling that just kept going round and round and round and round...Shetty who is normally a core member of this group was absent becasue he was rebelling by revelling at another gathering at the Belgian Beer Cafe.

So with all the orders placed and the beers on the table and I having a Guinness in my hand for the first time, we cheered and drank. the Guinness did taste a bit flat but it didn't matter as the band was on, and they were pretty cool for the night. Next was to make sure that Dwight was photographed at Biggles, so I decided to place Dwight at the far end of the table with the band actually performing in the background. So as I was setting the frame with my cheap slim camera, and fiddling with the flash settings, I kinda attracted the attention of one half of the two piece band with the flash going off a couple a times. To my credit I did attract the pretty half which was also the curious and suspicious half. So a little bit of curiosity and a whole lotta suspicion brought her off the stage in the middle of her performance and walk to our table. As she neared it I can only imagine the kind of thoughts that were running through her head considering the kind of stereotypes that are portrayed by bald beer guzzling men. It could be possible that she was getting ready to use Roy's most used line, "SECURITY, get in here". But as she did approach the table, and she saw Dwight's sexy smiling face, she just couldn't resist and with a good laugh all possible stereotypes went out the window. Now the bald man was funny...I Like...

From then on the beers kept flowing, a pizza followed as well, french fries with no mayo please as well. the lady, (whose name I never got, which I am sure I will in the course of time) got us involved in friendly banter, asked about Dwight (who by then was sporting a cape over his flashy suit), invited him to sing a song on stage. She was Dwight's No.1 fan from then on. She also made sure as a true fan she got a picture taken with him. And Dwight the sport that he is signed an autographed tissue just for her. He doesn't have a phone yet, else you can only imagine the calls that he would be having to deal with. Then all of us were introduced to the game play your cards right. Simple, effective, and quite involving. One lady was a card away from picking up 1300 bucks. How she will be ruing not going with her table and calling the last card higher. But yeah good fun, the prize money rolls over to next week, so for all you greedy guzzlers, you know where to be if you feeling a little short on the moolah...

So after all the noise we made from the table and me going on stage, I somehow did attract the attention of also some organisers who deemed that I should be entitled to a Guinness which would be on the house ( i felt again that the beer was flat again but it was free and cold, so sipped it without knowing any better). So people I take this as the first success of our efforts. We managed to sway people for one free beer. Wooohooo...For the lot who don't know what i am talking about, do refer to the preview mail...where I said we would sway the world...well just people for free beers...

Well then just as we were about to call for our last drinks for the road, in walks Cyril, who is as thirsty as can be on a hot Dubai summer night. So in come his drinks, Dom by then is on Hoegaarden no. 5 and we are all feeling the need to call it a night. But me in a middle of a sermon, putting forth my views and possibly even forcing it down the throats of people present, i met with opposition from another over well opinionated man in Cyril. Well after he sucked me in the verbal duel which was really not going anywhere, I suddenly realised that the band had left, and so had the lady (didn't get her name), and most of the other people around. the waiters were just hanging around to make sure we paid before they asked us to leave.

the bill worked out to around 500 odd bucks which was pretty reasonable for the six people around. The band was pretty decent though it did seem that they were lip syncing that Britney number. But all credit to them for getting the crowd involved and keeping us in the spotlight with the friendly banter. Would really recommend it for a good evening out with select friends. Watch out for the themed nights they have going out. I think Friday nights are karaoke and Mondays may be Quiz night (don't really remember it after all the beers now....)

So well past 2 am is when we walked out drunk, stuffed, happy, smelling of smoke and not really looking forward to the day ahead. Just like the good ol days...

Watch out for more long mails and a lotta pics. Looking for suggestions for coming Wednesday. Let me hear it people...

Cheers

The Man...The Machine...The Beerman...

Gonz Beer Trivia

Guinness may be unsuitable for a vegetarian diet, as the production process involves the use of isinglass, made from fish. It is used as a fining agent for settling out suspended matter in the vat. The isinglass is retained in the floor of the vat but it is possible that minute quantities might be carried over into the beer.