Michael: The Beatson Institute had it's annual International Conference this week, celebrating 24 years of Ras in Cancer Research (.. for those scientists among you reading this!) and it was great to be plunged into this area of research for me. Last night was the conference dinner and ceilidh.

Ceilidh band in Oran Mor

It was great to be part of this very Scottish experience. A ceilidh (a visit) is basically a big Scottish style party with Scottish dancing fuelled mainly by beer and whiskey. This one was held at a beautiful church called Oran Mor, in the West End. In keeping with tradition, the haggis was piped into the room, ceremoniously addressed and lanced. Sorry I don't have any pics of this - but I wasn't close enough to the front!

Ceilidh dancing in Oran Mor

I did, however, manage to get some pics of the dancing and even some video. Not sure how this can be posted to the blog, so I'll have to email these to you by request : )

The lanced haggis turned out to be a stand-in though, because our entree of haggis, neeps (turnip) and tatties (potato) was a neat little stack, done very 21st century style. It was excellent! The remaining courses were very international. Roasted chicken breast served with kipflers and other assorted vegetables and a VERY rich creme brulee served with (Scottish) shortbread.

The ceilidh was a great opportunity to get to know members of the lab and the Beatson a bit better and pick out who was uncoordinated and who wasn't!
The conference itself was EXCELLENT. There were a great many big players in the Ras research field including the original discoverers present and I've learned heaps. I won't bore everyone with further details here.