Celtic Christmas Ceilidh

 

Christmas at the Kilt & Thistle

Saturday’s Celtic Christmas at our retail store in the Reed Opera Mall was over the top terrific. Probably one of, if not the best, in store events we have ever done. Music was supplied by Chris Buckle’s new band Bold Riley. An traditional Irish three piece band, Buckley on guitar/vocals, Andi on fiddle/vocals, and Romney on bodhran. Pulling of a great performance with only two months in rehearsal. This band has great potential. Colin Robertson came through with a cadre of dancers from Celtic Footprints, the premier dance group. The sword dance, highland fling, and the chant-ruse were all done to the delight of a very healthy crowd. The Reed Mall , home of our retail store, saw a great many more shoppers than I expected with the iced roads and poor weather. Special thanks goes to Rebecca Maitland of the Reed Opera Mall for doing the heavy lifting for this event, as well as Chris Buckley and Colin Robertson for making this all possible. We will have videos and pics up as soon as we can get them sorted out.

Don’t be a Kristmas Customer

 

Why is it that a guy can remember the name of the tight end for the Green Bay Packers that scored the winning touchdown in the 2003 Super bowl, but can’t remember his wifes Birthday. Let alone her sizes and dare I say her taste in , well anything. OK you’re pretty sure that she prefers red when it comes to tool boxes and naturally Delta skil saws are her preference when doing construction. But guys, what is so hard about knowing the least little thing about your significant other? There are men that do pay attention, but why does being John Wayne include a deep lack of knowledge about what your wife or girl friend would want for Christmas?
I bring this up after many years in retail seeing a battalion of men stumble into our retail store one after another, with what I call “deer in the headlights” look on their face. They shop once a year, and not really sure why! They go for something safe jewelry, because to pick out clothing would require even more work, the rare knowledge of her sizes.

Now I will brag a little here , but I do not consider me that unusual , or work extra hard at knowing the least little thing about my wife, but I do pretty well.
I must say as much as I considered my father to be a great guy, he was just as bad as many others.
He once confided in me a story that finally even embarrassed the John Wayne of our family. My Father after many years of vain attempts to buy things for my Mother he finally gave up. He told me that year after year everything he would buy would go back as he called “trading stock”  for the after Christmas returns. So he decided why go through the effort, he finally went into the Nordstrom ladies department, ask one of the sales girls to pick out some things according to his budget, her choice, and then proceed directly to the gift wrap department. He had no idea what he had bought, but there were always presents under the tree for my Mother. Until one year, you see this kind of apathy leads to more apathy, and one year he forgot his trip to Nordstrom. My Mother was devastated, and at the time, we kids were to young to buy for her and she had nothing under the tree. Now before you judge him too harshly, that man went to a job he hated for thirty two years straight, and never called in sick. He always made sure we had food on the table and a roof over our head. Born during the Depression, he knew that the essentials were a little more important than a few presents under the tree. But what is your excuse? We have know fifty years of the greatest prosperity on the planet, and you don’t even know your wifes dress size.
One year a good friend of mine wanted me to go Christmas shopping with him. I found out that he wanted me to help him with things for his wife. When he wanted me to help him pick out intimate apparel for her, I was a little suspicious. did he think that I had seen something that I should not have? Frankly I knew her sizes exactly, not because I had intimate knowledge of her sizes , but once you know the least little bit about womens clothing, it really is not that hard. Small women are easier, the larger the girl, the harder it is to estimate some specific sizes. I have also spent a great deal of time and energy, on my own with women of all sizes, purely as an investigation mind you. Once he gave her the presents, I found out that I did guess wrong on some of the colors for that intimate apparel, she doesn’t like green, but I got the cup size exactly. Go figure!

New Merchandise

Since 1996 the Kilt & Thistle has built it’s reputation on importing and selling Scottish Quality merchandise at reasonable prices. This establishes the main premise for our business “ true value” . Over the years the introduction of Scottish style merchandise imported from China and Pakistan entered the market. The worst proliferation being in Scotland itself. We were not unaware of this merchandise, but the quality remained well below the standard we set for you, our customer. Junk is still junk at any price. However this last year because of the economic downturn we listened to you, asking for merchandise that fit the tighter budget. We went in search of merchandise that we would wear and be proud to sell. We found our Great Value Line and our new Halifax Line of merchandise.
I am the first to tell you that this merchandise is not from Scotland. Much of the merchandise now sold in Scotland was not made in Scotland. Some companies will present it as Scottish, or companies over here say “ imported from Scotland”, but imported from Scotland is not “made in Scotland”. Just as many will describe their kilts as 100% wool, but miss telling you what weight of wool it is.

Our three lines are as follows, our Kilt & Thistle Premium Line, comprised of merchandise actually made in Scotland or of Scottish quality such as L&M Highland Outfitters the makers of our Premium Line of sporrans and leather items. This merchandise is made in Nova Scotia , but is frankly as good or better than anything any Scottish sporran maker ever put out.

Our Halifax Line is imported at our request and to our specifications. The closest to Scottish quality we could get outside of our Premium Line suppliers. The quality is a high quality product that competes with our Kilt & Thistle Premium Line , but with a more favorable price.
Our Great Value Line is exactly that , a great value. A budget line that looks to solve the budget problems of the young gent just getting started in life, or the budget minded individual that wants to wear Scottish apparel , but just does not have the budget to step up to premium Scottish merchandise.
What ever line you choose , we will work with you on your purchase as if it was us or our best friend, because the goal is to have you as a “customer for life”.

Going Galt ?

Just received emails calling for a “Going Galt Day” and I really like the idea. I thought “ yeah, I will close my retail store for the day and make sure all my customers are aware why we are closed for the day. As a real capitalist I have been reading Ayn Rand for over thirty years and read Atlas Shrugged for the first time in 1978. After that I started my first business. I sold the business several years later and moved on. In 1996 I started my second business and thirteen years later I am a leader in my industry. During a recession as my competitors drop off I am still here and looking to be the last man standing when this recession is over. If the recent tax legislation passed by the Oregon House I will close my business here in Oregon and move it to a state that actually wants my business. I have spent my life as John Galt and am prepared to Go Galt at anytime. What are you thinking? Reading further the protest is to have average working people call in to work “I’m going Galt” and take the day off. What is the end game here? What are you really trying to accomplish? Sure I know what you want to accomplish, but you are spending a dollars worth of capital to get a dimes worth of results. Could you not have people boycott liberal businesses, or wear a button at work promoting capitalism? I am afraid in this climate of high unemployment all you are going to do is tick off the employers of some very well meaning employees. By the way there are over thirteen percent of Oregonians looking to replace them in a heartbeat. The Tea Parties have established serious political capital and I hate to see this capital blown in a meaningless attempt. For those of us that are really prepared to be John Galt, it means locking the door walking away for good, not call in to irritate my employer. Keep the attention of the Tea Party Protests on taxing and spending and pointing out the stupidity of politicians. Stay away from capitalism if you do not understand it.

 

William Duncan
Capitalist

Single Malt Scotch

As a novice drinker I will approach this topic , not as a self proclaimed expert, but rather a learning enthusiast. I have spent most of my life a as a very light drinker. At Christmas time I would buy a bottle of 12 year old GlennFiddich and it would last me the year. Since I very rarely entertain male friends at home , I drank at home only occasionally. My Scottish roots have had the sad catch 22 of being both , too cheap to spend good money on Scotch, and the other, if your going to spend good money, what better to spend it on. I also figure that I am old enough to do a few gentlemanly things that my Forefathers enjoyed. So at the young age of Fifty I started the educational process of learning the time tested tradition of drinking Single Malt Scotch. If I was not so picky and were to drink just anything, one might be accused of being a drunkard. My understanding is that to truly be called Scotch, that it has to be distilled in Scotland. That may no longer be true as I seem to see Scotch from other lands these days. There are a number of blended whiskeys out there and from time to time , I will try these just to make the comparison.

Gentlemanly Pursuits

This starts an area of my bog www.plaidtothebone.wordpress.com that will feature all those things natural to real men, smoking, drinking, and women. I will also occasionally talk about other manly pursuits like hunting, fishing, and building. I am not sure why these things are no longer considered proper pursuits, because you can not ignore these natural laws any more than the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of property. Anyone that knows history will know the Founding Fathers originally intended it to say “pursuit of property” instead of pursuit of happiness. But was rewritten to avoid the slavery issue. I consider this an important part of a man’s pursuit of his Scottish heritage. These are the very things our Forefathers fought and died to defend and protect. It all boils down to freedom, and the freedom to do what you want as long as you are not hurting anyone else. I will cover the above natural laws to man one at a time in future blog posts.

Let Feeedom Ring

As a person of Scottish Heritage the fight for Freedom goes back long before Sir William Wallace. For nearly two-thousand years , the Vikings, Romans, English , have had a desire to acquire Scotland. We finally succumbed on a dark day in April in 1746 at the Battle of Culloden Moor. This story may not be unlike your heritage, and all the more you would desire freedom to reign whenever possible. The major media outlets seem to have moved on, but the protests for freedom continue in Iran. Make no mistake , that is what these protests are about. It’s not about a single election, it’s about an oppressive government that will do anything, including kill all that oppose them, to remain in power. Below is the mass graves the Iranian Government has dug to bury the hundreds of Protesters they have and plan to kill. This photo is from the Times Online in England. The European news agencies are still reporting what our news agencies here refuse to.

Speaking of Brogues

The Ghillie Brogue is the standard shoe to be worn with the kilt. I do not always follow the rules. The real problem I have had with ghillie brogues is that almost all of the shoes are what I call a “novelty shoe”. Nothing more than a cheap product to fill a need. Then again many people treat the kilt and the Highland attire nothing more than a costume. I do not look at the iconic image of my Forefathers as a costume, and I certainly do not wear it on Halloween. I am also a person, and I hope you are to, that wants to purchase quality. There are many reasons to buy quality product, as in the long run, they end up costing you less than if you purchase a cheap product and then have to buy it again and again. It also may seem odd, since I own a retail business, but I do not like to shop. No, not even for stuff I like. I research my purchase and then make a purchase, done. I buy the best I can afford and that way I have to shop less by not having to buy it again latter. Ghillie brogues are one of those excellent examples. For the first few years we were in business, I did not carry brogues in our shop, because the quality of the shoes out there was so poor. After a while and many, many requests by customers I broke down and bought the best we could find at the time. Naturally I bought a pair for myself and went about wearing them. It was not a dozen wearings and the upper leather cracked at where my foot bends. So here I am buying another pair of ghillie brogues. We recently renewed a relationship with a popular dance shoe company that has come out with a new premium line of shoes. Six options in all from an economy brogue to a high end military shoe and everything in between. My purchase will be a pair of the Premium Dress Leather Sole shoes, because I wear leather sole shoes for all dress occasions, and predominantly I wear my kilt in dress situations. I am so impressed with this line of shoes that we are producing videos of the benefits and differences in each of the models offered. For those who purchase a pair of brogues from you will receive a demonstration video on how to tie your ghillie brogues.

http://www.kilts.com/ghillie_brogues.htm 

If the Shoe Fits

Over the many years we have been in business finding quality product should have been easy. Just buy everything from Scotland, and that is all you need to do. Well , I wish it was that easy. From our main page of our web site many of you are aware that, just because it is sold in Scotland, does not mean that it was made there. Much of Princess Street and the Royal Mile is full of merchandise that is knocked off in Pakistan. There are many manufacturers in Pakistan and everything made in Scotland has been ripped off by somebody in Pakistan. Now they have every right to make products there, and retailers in Scotland have the right to sell them. As long as they honestly present them as a product that was not made in Scotland. But that is not always the case and in fact we have received product from a distributor that was made in Pakistan , but promoted as made in Scotland. That said one of my biggest disappointments has been the shoes worn with a kilt , ghillie brogues. There are no shoes actually made in Scotland. The shoe business left there years ago. There is one manufacture left in England that produces a high quality ghillie brogue. The retail is near three-hundred dollars and that scares most customers away. So most ghillie brogues are made in Brazil , China, or some other third world country. The majority are nothing more than a poor quality novelty shoe and I was very hesitant in promoting the shoes. That has all changed with our new shoe company. Made in North America, these are a top of the line quality shoe and I could not be more pleased. Take a look at these new shoes as well as the videos for them. It only took thirteen years to get to this point.

http://www.kilts.com/ghillie_brogues.htm 

On the road The Kilt & Thistle

Well it’s Highland Games Season again. Well actually it has been for some time and depending on where you live , it is always Games Season somewhere. The was a time we started the year in January with a booth at the local Burns Celebration and then a small local Festival in April, before Tartan Day was proclaimed officially a real day. These days we do a small Tartan Day event in Washington 

http://www.tartanday-wa.org/ a nice event that has real potential. I hope you folks in Washington can get behind this one. Next this year for us was the Sacramento Highland Games in Woodland California. It seems like all the big events are not in the town they stated in for one reason or another. The Sacramento event really kicked ass on many levels. I only wish the Portland Highland Games , the closest event to our Oregon retail store, was this caliber of this event. Obligatory sip of Dalmore Cigar Malt and back to the post. As a side note, I thought I would by a blended whiskey for the summer Bar-B-Que season for whiskey and coke. Bought a half gallon of Grant’s. What a waste of money. I had no idea what a Single Malt Snob I had turned into. Now on to the rest of the post.
We then turned our sites to the local event in Eugene Scottish Festival, another newer small event with plenty of potential. However read my post Oregon Vs. Washington to get the flavor of these two small events and the vast differences. In the Northwest the Bellingham Highland Games , the first weekend in June really kicks things off up here. We have started limiting our events based on ROI , translated , return on investment. Two years ago we were doing twelve events a year this year we have cut that to less than half. For all these events and more see our events schedule posted at http://www.kilts.com/events.htm . Our next event is the Skagit Valley Highland Games in Mount Vernon Washington. We were personally invited to this event thirteen years ago when they were just getting started. It has grown to an attendance of over twenty-five thousand for the two day event. The folks that put this on, Skye Richendrfer in particular, have made this one of the must see events on the West Coast. You can get more info at http://www.celticarts.org/ the second weekend in July. Next in line for us is the Seattle Highland Games now names the Pacific Northwest Highland Games http://www.sshga.org/ and naturally it’s not in Seattle, it’s in the cute little town of Enumclaw. at the Expo Center. This is the largest event in the Northwest for an approximate thirty-five thousand in attendance for the two days. We were on a waiting list to get into this one, and I see why. If you live in the Northwest, try to make this event and be prepared to stay two days , because there is simply that much to see and do. August has several small events in Oregon with the best one being the Douglas County Highland Games http://www.dcscots.org/ . We no longer are a Vendor at this event, but I highly recommend it as one of the better small events when it comes to the variety of music during the two days. So we are in the store for August and then, for the first time, off to Pleasanton, California. By far the largest Highland Games on the West Coast. Last years attendance was sixty-five thousand and for our first year there we will probably not be fully prepared for what happens. I will certainly have a full report when it’s all over. We hope those of you that we have come to know by phone and email will stop by the booth to say hello. That buttons up our year and we settle back in to our retail store for the winter.