Speedupdate!

(By Chris) Ah man, I'm just a happy guy. Lauren and I are official and totally adorable, PLUS Scotland is such fun! Went to a Burns' Night Dinner the other night, with the full haggis, neeps, tatties, and scotch. There was singing, bagpiping, and amazing poetry; this one fellow recited the entire Jolly Beggars poem/song, which runs forty minutes, and then sang a whole bundle of hilarious original tunes.

After that, though, we had to be sure to catch the State of the Union speech; unfortunately for us, that would be airing at 2AM. Because my interns are fellow college students and political dorks, though, about 16 of us got together in our office with a bunch of beer of a SOTU drinking game. If he says "jobs," anything post-partisan, gets an across-the-aisle ovation, etc, take a swig of beer and wait for the next one. Seriously, it's a limited group of people that would all be excited about getting together in the middle of the night for a presidential address + beer.

Besides that, it's been rather laid back. We're attending our 3 classes per week, going on various tours, and talking to officials in the Edinburgh Council, a retiring Westminster MP, etc. Slowly but surely I'm getting a grasp on the system, the parties, the history between them, and how it's all come together in the modern parliament.

Ooh and other good news: apparently the US authorities are going to chill out on the import of haggis (a relic from 1989 with the UK mad cow scare) so I think I'll be eating a lot of that. It's seriously one of my favorite things ever.

Wishing all of you the best!

Chris

Glasgow

(By Rachel)

I have an inane habit of forgetting my camera, especially when going to places that beg to have pictures taken of. So I deeply apologise that there aren't any photos from today's trip to Glasgow.

The first port of call was the house of family friends where I had a yummy lunch of lasagna and cherry pie (with leftovers to take home :D), and then we went to visit the Burrell Collection, which is this insanely amazing collection of art housed in a building in Pollok Country Park, which is worth visiting by itself because of all the open green space that's there. It's got pretty much everything ranging from Rodin sculptures to suits of armour to Islamic prayer mats, and it all belonged to one Sir William Burrell, who somehow made enough money through industry and owning ships to buy over 9000 pieces and then give it to the city of Glasgow as a gift in 1944.

It turned out the Necropolis wasn't far away, so we stopped by before I took the train back to Edinburgh. This was where I really regretted not having the camera, because not only are the gravestones awesome, everything is situated on a massive hill where you get a pretty good view of Glasgow itself (similar to standing outside Arlington House and looking over at DC). The largest one we saw was the monument to John Knox, near the top of the hill.

This is where I totally cop out and use a web image, but I'm doing it because I haven't seen that many monuments on that scale that aren't dedicated to military figures:



The base alone was taller than me. Impressive, no?

(By Chris)

Man, how the momentum of everything has just picked up! Between classes, various intern tours, etc. it's been hard to find time to update this. ...I mean, there's totally time, but there're so many other exciting things to be doing!

There's a totally amazing Italian place on the corner, which I think I mentioned earlier... Here we have a delicious cappuccino, with house-made prosciutto + mushroom tortellini! Part of our intern homework is doing media reviews, where we check coverage from different sources on the same stories to get a feel for Scottish media, the various newspapers and their editorial leanings, etc. Anyone that knows me knows that's exactly the kind of project I love, so I got to have d go at the Scotsman and the Herald (the rival Edinburgh and Glasgow papers, respectively) with a highlighter over some magnificent pasta. Victory.
Went on a bus tour with some folks, too! That way I got to go up north a bit and see Leith and the port, 'cause otherwise it's a little tough to get there. Also, those open tourist buses are excellent for taking pictures of Parliament!
I've taken to wearing my sandals. With the snow gone, I'm gonna rep my homeland! Ultimately, I'm more Californian than I am sensible when it comes to footwear.

This is Lauren! She is awesome, and we had an epic trek up Arthur's Seat. We're like cute, dorky fourth graders, we've decided. :D
And here is me + Leith! (and the Firth of Forth, with Fife beyond that)

I just have to take this opportunity to thank everyone that's helped me get here. My dear parents, all the generous family members who gave me spending money, USC for offering such opportunities... I haven't even started the parliamentary work yet, and this is already the experience of a lifetime. Cheers!

Chris

More awesomeness, yada yada. :D

(By Chris)

Whew! No pictures this time, so it's very quick to update. Everything's been feeling more and more routine (in a good way) since we started classes. With something to structure time around, I'm feeling much more relaxed and content, started going to the gym again (thanks to the companionship of my fellow interns) and I'm slowing down with the eating out. All good things.

Today we got to go to First Minister's Questions at the parliament, and it was most excellent. I'd sat in the gallery before, but to have the whole body seated there, all going back and forth and harumphing was just too cool. Also, it's great to go to this kind of thing with the interns; I think probably 1 in 20 people would normally find it remotely interesting, but being in a group of 20 political interns tends to select for my fellow dorks (in an awesome way).

*thinking*

(Update)

Ah yes, had the USC welcome dinner last night! Many thanks to Sharkey for organizing the whole thing; we got Indian food and got to see Sound of Music, which is just such a great show, haha. Had a great time! The songs are still stuck in my head, of course.

(/Update)

Yeah, that's it! Going on a bus tour tomorrow around the city, so I'll bring the camera for that. Gotta get my tourism doses, still!

Best wishes everybody! If I am updating less, it's probably because I'm just having a delightful time. No news is good news, I suppose!

Cheers.

Royal tour

(By Rachel)

I had intended to go down to Leith for the day, but once I found out Bus 35 to Ocean Terminal had a stop at Holyrood Palace, it was nice to kill two birds with one bus trip.



This is Holyrood Palace from the forecourt. When the Queen arrives, the place becomes this grand parade ground where she gets presented with the key to the city (or palace? I forgot).



The main quadrangle. This was as far as I could get with picture taking since no photos were allowed inside. The decor was commissioned by Charles II, with the idea that people going to the King's apartments passed through a series of grandly decorated rooms before reaching his, which included increasingly elaborate plaster ceilings (the last one had a painting in the middle). There was also a lot of emphasis on the Stuart heritage, and the gallery where people are granted the Order of the Thistle is filled with restored paintings of Scottish monarchs. Interesting tidbit: Mary Queen of Scots lived here for a while before being forced to abdicate in favour of her son, and part of the tour includes her private apartments where her secretary was stabbed to death by her second husband. Morbid stuff.



The ruins of the abbey connected to the palace. Similar to Rosslyn Chapel, it was attacked by an anti-Catholic mob and most of it got torn down. :(

Afterwards, I hopped on the bus to Leith, which is about 20 minutes away. It's been gentrified a fair bit, although the little I properly saw consisted of uniform blocks of flats next to the docks. There were also these cute little "I Love Leith" signs (didn't get a pic sorry) along the way, which reminded me of the meet-and-greet people they have down at the Navy Yard metro station to make the place more friendly and approachable.



I couldn't get a full size picture of HMY Britannia, given its size and location. But it's absolutely amazing both in and out. As per the Royal Family's wishes, it's not particularly flashy, but I liked the combination of simple elegance + souvenirs from trips.



Not the best picture of the outside; on the upper deck looking down at the lifeboats and part of the port side.



The Duke of Edinburgh's bedroom. I know it's probably not what one would expect from the Queen's consort, but that's pretty much in keeping with the decor of the rest of the royal apartments. Audio commentary mentioned that the sheets/blankets are identical in style to the Queen's, only without the lace.



A stuffed wombat in the fan! It was given to the officers as a gift from a Lady in Waiting (presuming that it would be well looked after) and instead they used it to play "wombat tennis", which involved chucking the poor fellow into the fan and then batting it around. That same room contained a little wooden monkey that no one was supposed to touch, but somehow managed to move around every day before ending up in the glass case behind the bar. The things you do when you're stuck at sea for days on end looking after the Royal Family.



The royal barge used for going ashore, specially designed so that everyone could see the Queen and Prince clearly.

There were a lot more photos, mainly of trivial things such as the massive laundry room (with separate collar and cuff pressing machines) and the admiral's ensuite bathroom (a rarity, since even the other officers had to share facilities), but it was fascinating how all the crew have specific tasks to keep things running smoothly, ranging from 6 outfits for the Royal Marine Band (all to be stuffed in their tiny little lockers) to having their caps off outside so the royal family wouldn't have to keep returning salutes because they would technically be out of uniform.

All in all, a pretty good day. And I came back with a wombat of my own! Iz kyoot :D

Arthur's Seat! Muddy and fantastic.

(By Chris)

This morning I woke up feeling pretty lazy. Had an epic night with the flatmates, and the last thing I thought I'd be doing today is jogging up a frickin' hill.

For whatever reason, I was able to rally! I pulled on my old sweatshirt and some sweats, and set off, straight down the Royal Mile (and all of it's touristy monstrosity) until I hit Holyrood Palace and the parliamentary complex at the foot of Holyrood Park. The land was set aside centuries ago, last used for agriculture in the 15th century or so, and was used as a royal hunting park until it was opened for public recreation in the... mid-1800's, if I remember right. It was brisk, so I didn't study the signs too closely. :D

As soon as I started up the hill (you can see the asphalt running path at the bottom of the hill, here) I saw a small ruined wall standing up on top of a crag. I had to go check it out, and it turned out to be St. Anthony's Chapel, constructed in the 15th century and out of use since 1581. I was kinda dumbfounded that such an object was just hanging out on the hillside with everyone running past.

Not looking too bad for something of its age. I would have guessed it was more recent if not for the little plaque nearby.
The journey up itself was pretty tough... there was still snow on much of the trail, and whatever wasn't snow was mud. With the clay-like soil texture and some very slippery grass, going was tough but I fought on hard and it was all the more satisfying (I took the concrete path back down, since such slippiness is a horrible thing to tussle with when it's ganging up with gravity).

I had some other pictures that showed more in the way of buildings, but this is the only one I had that really gave a sense of just how high up the peak is. The wind was blowing straight into my face, and I had to shoot it 3 or 4 times 'cause gusts kept making the camera shake. Working my way up was fine, windwise, but once I got onto the exposed crest it just... *foom!* Sandblaster, without the sand. Or something.

I loved all the couples and families out there on the gorgeous Sunday. This was my first chance to really enjoy some blue sky, and the adorable little kids with various British accents trundling about just made it awesome.

Man-made lake (or Loch, what have you) set up when the park was opened to the public. Frozen over with birdies! No significance besides its prettiness.

More adorable families, feeding the birds! At least at home, we just have some mallard ducks and some exceptionally irritable geese, but they had real swans. The kids were very into it.On my way back, I remembered to stop by a garden I'd found the other day. It was set up in the last 30 years or so but is modeled after a 17th century garden. This picture is basically identical to my current phone background; when I was there the other day, I was feeling a bit out of sorts, but the silence of the place along with a light misty rain was a panacea. It's set up just 20m or so from the main tourist drag on the Royal Mile, but both times I've been there it's been entirely empty and the only silent place I feel like I can get to in the city. Basically, I think I'll be there a lot. :)

Classes tomorrow! I've been doing reading to get up to speed, and I think I should be able to hit the ground running. I've had a great week off, but I'm certainly ready to start learning about the country I've been exploring. Hears to an excellent program!

Productive tourism :)

(By Rachel)

I had a lovely productive day, and by "productive" I mean "visited 2 tourist attractions in 2 completely different locations and then did some much needed shopping".

We were told earlier by Paddy that Leith was a bit of a yuppie place that most self-respecting people wouldn't choose to live in, but the big draw for me was Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia, which is moored down at Leith docks. So after visiting Holyrood Palace (former residence of Mary Queen of Scots and current summer residence of Her Majesty), I took the bus down to Leith. The visitor's centre for the yacht is inside a decent shopping mall, so I stayed a little longer and found an SD card reader! Yay! So this post will be updated later with pics and tales (and the previous post has some pics to decorate it now too)!

Visited Parliament!

(By Chris)

We went on quite the trek yesterday, and I had the camera then, so I'll have to give a full write-up of that later. In the meantime, though, I got to visit parliament today! Beautiful grounds, and I was able to go in and sit in the gallery of the main chamber, which was a trip.

It's only about a a 15 minute walk, so I could see doing that to save on some bus fare. Even more notable, though, was I felt sun on my face for the first time in over a week! This is a big deal, promise.

In other news, the people here (locals, interns, and fellow study-abroaders) are still wonderful. Gonna miss some of them a lot, I can tell already.

Sometimes shades can be prettier than colours.

(By Rachel)

With all the free time interns now have and the fact that Edinburgh is so darn easy to walk around, I went for a little stroll along Prince's Street just now. I was actually searching for Charlotte Chapel, which someone had recommended I see, but somehow missed it while walking as far as Sandwick Street, so I just used the time to meander a little bit and duck in and out of the various buildings along the way.

The weather here is actually quite enjoyable to an extent. The lack of sun is basically turning everything into shades of grey, but the light snow today created a nice effect along the way, especially on the hills. Plus, it's not too windy at the moment so one can go for a nice long stroll and not have their face sandpapered off.

Prince's Street is this cute duality of shops and ancient tourist attractions. On one side you get the monument to Sir Walter Scott, St. John's Episcopal Church, the National Art Gallery, and a nice view of Edinburgh Castle, and on the other, you get....three Carphone Warehouses, Gap, Footlocker, and even a Build A Bear.

Finally, a cautionary tale: There is a Piemaker on South Bridge, and the pies there are excellent, especially when you can get a sizeable individual pasty for less than £2. I highly recommend it. But while I ordered it "to go", I also attempted to eat it on the go. Did not work.

I did, however, manage to munch on a tasty crepe on the way back.

Bistros and Graveyards in my backyard?

(By Chris)

I went out this afternoon to take a little walk and enjoy the first blue sky I'd seen so far, and ended up finding an amazing Italian bistro and seeing some early 17th-century gravestones. Didn't bring the camera, unfortunately, but absolutely should have.

The bistro was, like, actually Italian, for starts. All the staff and about 2/3 of the clientele spoke Italian with the most excellent waving of hands, and their paninis (parma ham, basil, and fresh mozerella) + espresso were to die for. I grabbed a newspaper so that I could have an excuse to hang out there longer, but the destruction in Haiti sprawling across the pages gave me one of those "I'm-so-lucky-and-ungrateful" sort of moments. Those are always good to have every now and then.

Across the street, I ducked into Greyfriar's Kirkyard, a cemetary with all sorts of dignitaries of old Edinburgh from about 1500 on. It started snowing as I went in, and I was wearing a black coat, so I could see the snowflakes in very high contrast before they decided it was time to melt.

Around the edge of the yard were the most impressive grave sites, with ornate carvings of skulls, bones, hourglasses, and bells (recurring symbols for death, I assume?) surrounding the deceased's family history. They were written in Latin, as I suppose that would be the classy way to document ancestry. Many of them were from the first half of the 1600's, and the whole thing was just stunning.

So now I'm back inside, the blood has returned to my fingers, and I'm waiting on this adorable little single-serving coffeepress that my flatmate has loaned me. Yessss.

Greetings from the Phantom Trojan!

(By Catherine)

Hello all! I finally figured out how to work this crazy thing, and can now inform all the dedicated blog viewers that I too have safely arrived in Edinburgh and am slowly becoming acclimated to the new surroundings and culture. I think the biggest change I've experienced so far has been the inordinate amount of free time I have here. The university level education system is structured very differently in the UK, and instead of having a constant stream of classes throughout the week with interjecting papers, quizzes, and exams, we will have about 3 hour long classes every week during the classroom portion of our internship program. Additionally, because our program's start date was postponed a week, we've had even more free time to explore and meet people both in and out of the program.

I'm one of those people who likes to go, go, go, and I think it's been really soothing to ease myself into the social and school cultures in Edinburgh in the absence of immediate testing, reading, mock trial practices, choir rehearsals, chapter meetings, etc. So far I've discovered that eating cheaply is not difficult at all in this city, perhaps because restaurants and stores try to cater to the immediate student population. A large baguette from Tesco is only 1 pound!! Biblos, the restaurant right down the street from Kincaid's Court, our dorm building, has full meals (and yes, I mean full, satisfying meals...) for only 5 pounds! This is definitely a city of paradise proportions for someone who appreciates the beauty of good food, and is trying to conserve funds while traveling abroad.

As far as exploring goes, Chris has done an excellent job of summing up and documenting the touring that some of us have been able to do together. I also had the exciting opportunity to hit up the George Street clubs with one of my American friends in my building, as well as about 10 Scottish and British students. The bar and clubbing scene is definitely a change for we American students. Imagine my surprise when no one asked to see my ID as I was entering my first club. Also imagine my surprise as I look around and notice that every single girl in the club is wearing the typical "going out" attire that girls at USC would sport in the 65 degree nighttime weather, with coats no where to be seen... even though temperatures can drop to about 20 degrees at night here. Alas, my friend Daryl and I were content to look like outsiders in our heavy boots and cardigans that evening.

All in all, I've gotten off to a great start here, and am looking forward to the weeks to come. Updates and photos to follow! Cheers!

Meeting the other interns and getting settled

(By Chris)

Whew! Crazy few days, here. By all accounts, classes were intended to start on 11 January, but the internship courses don't actually begin until the 18th. Thus, we interns have been enjoying each other's company and exploring the city!

This picture is from a day or two ago; the snow has since melted off, leaving only a few patches of ice and more slush than anyone knows what to do with. Drivers are spinning their wheels constantly, apparently not accustomed to snowy driving, and I'm so very glad I don't have to drive here (also, manual transmissions on some of the city's sloped streets would be so frustrating). Ooh also, I must send out a huge thank you to my dear sister, Carol, for lending me her camera. The blog would be relatively lifeless without it.

Yesterday, Paddy (our internship director with a prodigious beard) took us around Edinburgh and showed us the most pressing sites:

A monument to Scottish American Soldiers, presumably in the Civil War, given the statue of Lincoln on top.

View from the top of... the hill! I can't for the life of me recall what it's called, but this is the view looking north towards Leith (neighboring port city) and the sea. I am also in the picture, per Mom's request. :D

After our freezing history lesson, it was time to go to the pub. Cultural experience, you know. We bonded over karaoke and some student-discount pints:

Our dear BZ, my only fellow male intern so far, singing a seductive rendition of "Use Me," if I remember correctly.

Catherine and Alicia repped the US with "Empire State of Mind."

... and here's me, with Avril Lavigne's "Complicated." It was a crowd favorite, 'cause everybody loves that song. Always.

And then today, we headed off to the National Museum! First, for my dear pal Blau, we have Sir Jackie Stewart's 1971 Champion Formula One car:

I drooled properly. On the rear of the black display there's a short film on his amazing career. Inspiring fellow.

Guillotine! This little wonder was built in the mid-16th century, and was the end of about 120 folks.

This is a Tartan index from back in the day (recording the various clans and their respective plaids)! The scale in the picture doesn't do justice to just how massive this book is; to have a collection of FABRIC in it basically means that the thing isn't less than six inches thick.

Finally, we stopped by The Elephant House, which is a great coffeeshop where JK Rowling is supposed to have written the Harry Potter books. There's some controversy surrounding the claim, and Paddy mentioned another location which seems to have a more water-tight story, but either way: individual coffee presses, elephant decor, and an incredible view of Greyfriar's Kirk (the churchyard at the bottom) and Edinburgh Castle.

And of course, a rousing "FIGHT ON!" from all of us at Tartan Trojans!

BA = Bad ass, and not in the good way

(By Rachel)

If you're flying to the UK, don't take British Airways. Virgin may cost more, United's seats may not be that comfortable, but they will get you there eventually.

I woke up at 5am on Friday morning to check if there had been any cancellations. This kind of backfired spectacularly, as checking schedules while one is still half asleep and has the vision of a bat with a concussion is not particularly effective and can lead to false alarms. In this case, I ended up calling my parents in a panic because I thought my flight from LAX to Heathrow had been cancelled; it turns out I was looking at the status for the same flight, but for the previous day. Later, a couple of hours before leaving, I decided to double check my flights again and make sure that I was fully checked in. So I logged in.

“Your flight BA 1448 LHR-EDI has been cancelled.”

Well, fuck a duck. Now it was time to panic.

I made a second panicked call to the parents, and was told that I should try and get another flight through BA once I’d reached Heathrow, and be prepared to spend a night at the airport. Now that didn’t sit very well with me, because I didn’t like the idea of flying to Heathrow while thinking about the possibility of being stuck there for hours and trying to get another flight before classes start. I wanted some confirmation now. But no luck.

Hallelujah for the very patient BA staff member at LAX whom had overheard the counter next to me booking a British Midlands flight for a Edinburgh student in the same position of having her connecting flight cancelled. She managed to get me a spot on that same flight, at no extra charge.

On arriving at Heathrow, it turns out that BA had cancelled all flights to Edinburgh, Newcastle and Manchester. Bizarrely, its flights to Glasgow and Aberdeen were still operational. What gives? The first indication of snow and it shuts down at major airports, but keeps its flights open to an airport even further north?

Long story short, after delays, technical issues, and last-minute panic about whether the flight would be cancelled even after everyone was on board (which had happened to the previous flight to Edinburgh), I arrived at Edinburgh five hours late.

Could've been worse though. I've safely arrived, meet some cool people at orientation, and start classes tomorrow. Will probably hit the hay soon.

Scottish Breakfast!

(By Chris)

The traditional Scottish breakfast is amazing, for the record. in the case above, I actually forgot to take the picture until I was part-way through, but it still gives a full representation of the platter-'o-awesome. Clockwise from the upper left, there's toast, an egg, a potato scone ("tattie scone"), black pudding, beans, hash browns, bacon (more like salty ham, in American lingo), sausage, and... in that hole in the center, there used to be haggis. It turns out that it's totally fantastic, with a unique, gamey flavor that makes it worth the gastronomic leap. There's no way one could eat this with any regularity and stay trim, but for an occasional weekendy treat it's perfect.

We got our orientation today and got shown around campus, too! I'm absolutely exhausted though, less from jetlag and more because I haven't gotten much sleep 'cause my flatmates are too much fun. Not complaining at all, but with actual obligations tomorrow (advising, classes?, etc), I'll probably turn in very early. Phew.

Welcome to Edinburgh

(By Chris)

I've safely arrived (36 hours ago)!
My first adventure started before I even boarded the plane, as I managed to lose my carry-on after leaving it in the waiting area for ten minutes or so. Fortunately for me (and unfortunately for the thief) there's really nothing but T-shirts and sweatshirts in there, so they managed to get little more than what amounts to a Goodwill Combo-Pak. Mom and Dad are helping send a box with some of my spare clothes, so that solves that!
With that little mishap in the past, though, I went through Amsterdam airport (which was unfortunately far from the city center, so I couldn't go explore) and found a fancy thing the European Starbucks have:
Adorable espresso-sized cups! And, if you order one "for here" you get a full ceramic saucer with a tiny little espresso cup, unlike at home where they just throw everything at you in the 3 typical paper cups.
Also, the Dutch vending machines look like iPods.
Anyway, as I arrived at about 4:30 in the afternoon, the sun was already pretty much down for the day, and I felt like a dragon blowing smoke everywhere out in the cold. The city is incredibly beautiful, though, with buildings centuries old hanging out right next to a modern H&M outlet:
I've been having a great time wandering around when I get the chance, so the various errands like setting up my phone (07954 987 736) and getting a hat have become total field trips.

It took a certain amount of calling around and visiting various offices to get my internet working and all that, but I'm settled for the most part. I look forward to writing more in the near future; I have to report on the Scottish Breakfast! Oh, and Pete Carroll, please please stay. If for no other reason than to leave on a high note, stick around for another year or two. *sigh*

T-Minus....Jetlag?

Unlike Chris, who is being prudent and getting to Edinburgh early, I've decided to wait and arrive on the set date for general move in (Jan 9th) just to avoid finding alternative housing. Now given that I spent two years moving in early for band camp, and therefore witnessed the mass chaos that was move in day for everyone else, I really should have replicated that for this occasion, especially when factoring in the insane crippling phenomenon known as jet lag.

But I seem to be more of a masochist than I thought.

That said, I'm almost complete with Operation: One Checked Piece of Baggage, and everything else seems to be in order, so it's all good, and I absolutely cannot wait to be there!

T-Minus Two Days!

Well, it's about two days before I ship off to Edinburgh! The packing is 90% done, and I'm wedging in those last pairs of socks and visits with friends. I'm getting more and more excited as departure time approaches, so I hope that that enthusiasm will buoy my spirits through the tightened security procedures and full day of travel!

This blog should be kept up during my trip (until I come home in early May) and will be filled with various adventures from scotch-tasting to castles to the Holyrood complex (presuming they allow cameras). Hopefully, my two fellow USC parliamentary interns will contribute as well, and we can document our experience as Trojans abroad. As there are certain restrictions on blogging and politics in the UK we likely won't be able to elaborate too much on the day-to-day events in Holyrood, but something tells me we'll find plenty of fancy Scottish things to write about and photograph.

Happy New Year, and FIGHT ON!

P.S. Wallace tartan, that of my 1/16th Scottish heritage, is also conveniently cardinal and gold, and thus is shall be the background to the header. :D