To honor him, the Scots and their friends get together regularly for dinner and readings of his works. You can recognize the attendees by their funny skirts. And that's just the men.
Anyway, the meal begins with a special reading and the welcoming of the haggis. My understanding is that the haggis is lamb intestines stuffed with various nuts and a bunch of chopped up lamb organs.
The pre-dinner conversation spreads like wildfire.
"Have you ever tried haggis," the others at the table warn with a sour frown.
My problem is I tried it and liked it. Of course, I was the kid who always for my birthday dinner would pick calves liver just to watch my brother and three sisters have to suffer through it.
Anyway, if you haven't done a Burns dinner, I strongly recommend it. But make sure there's plenty of single barrel scotch to wash down any ill effects or headaches you might have
Henry, the Bavarian, does a great Scottish meal!
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Elsewhere around town, if your sports schedule doesn't include UC Irvine men's basketball and men's volleyball, you are missing out on two of the best shows around.
Wednesday night, the Anteater men's basketball team beat Cal State Fullerton, 83-68, improving to a 7-0 record in Big West Conference play. The team ranks second in the nation among all Division I programs in three-point shooting. Second, as in better than Duke, better than Arizona and better than UCLA.
How good is this team? I don't know, but former Los Angeles Lakers star and Memphis Grizzlies General Manager Jerry West was on hand to find out. Former Bruins coach Jim Harrick was also on hand.
UCI started its off-conference schedule strong, with a surprising win over Stanford, but then it faltered some with lesser teams. However, with a little luck they could easily be 15-4, rather than 11-8.
