The 2010 winning squad, plus some dude in a chain

It's never a good idea to rest on your laurels – trust the Tramps on this one – so when it was recently announced that the resurgent Curry Capital of Britain competition was cranking up for 2011, current title-holder Glasgow was one of the first cities to through their hat into the ring. Last year, the crack team of Balbir's, Koolba, Mother India and Mr Singh's India brought the spicy trophy back to Glasgow ... but can they make it two in a row? Or will Bradford or Wolverhampton (or Leicester, or Birmingham) snatch the crown? Close reading of the Curry Capital website reveals that Glasgow only won by two points last year, so it looks like it's going to be close ...

So how will it all go down?

So might Glasgow make it two in a row? We think it probably could, and will be throwing TATTGOC's considerable weight behind the bid. Although it probably wouldn't hurt to go for a full redesign for the campaign? The current early branding, though nice enough, seems like little more than a palette swap of 2010. And if you're striving for two-in-a-row, you gotta want it. You gotta crave it. You gotta earn it! So start voting for your favourite restaurant, because with your help, Glasgow could again poppadominate! 

SOME OTHER RECENT TATTGOC NEWS POSTS
"Drunk Scotttish Dwarf", Recommmended By Ooor Paaal
Tweet Chilli: TATTGOC's Search For Some Real Twitter Characters
TATTGOC 2011: The Director's Cut ...
For Puris Only: The Lost TATTGOC Primer

KEY QUOTE: "I'm frae Glasgae, stay in Glasgae, brought up in Glasgae ...  this is the hottest place in the world, by the way ... Curry Hell!"



SOME OTHER RECENT TATTGOC "NEWS" POSTS
Tweet Chilli: TATTGOC's Search For Some Real Twitter Characters
TATTGOC 2011: The Director's Cut ...
For Puris Only: The Lost TATTGOC Primer
Those Scottish Curry Awards 2011 Winners In Full ...

You'd always expect the Tramps to be teetering on the bleeding ledge of digitalism – we're talking about guys who don't just push the envelope but usually lick it for good measure. And as well as THIS VERY BLOG, which is updated WEEKLY, they've also got a reasonably popular Facebook group, to which you are all warmly invited. But what about the new microblogging sensation known as Twitter? Is it the future of global communication and citizen journalism, or little more than 140 characters in search of a plot? After dipping their toes into the cyber-ether last year (you may remember The Tramp live-tweeting the Scottish Curry Awards 2010 over at @buggenhagen), the Tramps recently jumped in headfirst with their golly-things-are-serious-now joint account @tattgoc.

OK, so everyone immediately follows Lady Gaga, Stephen Fry and Lily Allen, but what if you're obsessed with Glasgow, curry and Glasgow curry? From a spicy perspective, where are the real characters on Twitter? Let's go find 'em!



(Click here to read on ...)

The Khyber, nr Shields Road

The Time: June 2, 8.30pm

Booking Name: Mr Chris Cameron!

The Place Aforehand: The Tramp’s new Southside base.

In Attendance: Trampy, The Tramp, The Bulldosa, The Duke, Rumpole Of The Balti, Ravi Peshwari, Rogan Josh Homme and possibly nervous first-timer Greg.

Decor: While the actual room and furniture are pretty functional, there’s plenty of stuff on the walls at The Khyber, including some nice rugs, a picture of a rose and a wicked ceremonial dagger (perhaps wisely situated behind the main counter).

Expectations: The Khyber got a thumbs-up in The Herald, and Hector over at Curry-Heute liked it too. So, yeah, expectations were warmly optimistic.

The Experience:

So. The Tramps – and by extension, the entire TATTGOC brotherhood – are no longer Curry Lovers of the Year, having passed the weighty mantle to that man Tam Cowan. Aroondaboot this time last year, though, when the Curry Club were still pure flying from their first Scottish Curry Awards win, they travelled en masse to Chillies West End. In their misplaced triumphalism, drunk on their own spicy awesomeness, they committed one of the most heinous ordering cock-ups in TATTGOC’s long, increasingly shopworn history. (Stories are still told of that fateful evening, where The Tramps had to cart away roughly half the food ordered in a doggy bag.)


With this lasting shame in mind, where best to go for TATTGOC’s first post-Curry Awards 2011 outing? Trampy had been keeping an eye on the new-ish Pakistani Café at the bottom of Byres Road since persistent rumours had reached his ears that a special curry/India Pale Ale night was in the offing as part of Glasgow Beer Week. (As it turned out, this proposed night failed to materialise – a pity, for Tryst Brewery’s Raj IPA sounds grand.) For his part, The Tramp was in the midst of relocating from sunny Partick to sunny Pollokshields – a venue south of the river would possible suit him better. When those fine TATTGOC supporters at Kingfisher sent along a couple of commiserative crates of their fine lager, an idea arrived fully formed in the minds of the Tramps: a social meet-up at the Tramp’s new house to tan some Kingfisher, then a short amble down to St Andrews Road to try out The Khyber. At the very least, the report’s headline would take care of itself ...

(Click here to read on ...)

Everyone likes to think that the greatest art springs fully formed from the mouthpiece of the muse, yadda blaydda yadda. Instead, in most practical cases, iteration is king ... as in this instance, where it took one or two passes for the Tramps to lock down how best to sum up TATTGOC 2011 In 60 Seconds. At first, everyone's favourite spicy chieftains skewed toward the studiously industrious beats of Trent Reznor and his cleaned-up Social Network soundtrack: the result 'twas forthright, catchy, undeniable.

But this first rough-cut version was ultimately considered just a little bit too pulsating for the Scottish Curry Awards 2011, and so things were mixed and muddied up with the help of Waylon Jennings ... the better to create something a bit more laidback, in keeping with the Tramps' increasingly Lebowski-esque worldview.

Thanks to the power of the internet, though, the Tramps can reveal the original demo version of their 2011 showreel ... but be warned, it's insistent! Very insistent! (And just as good, with an added sausage pic!)