May 2007

Only if you’ve got five minutes to spare, are sentimental about old broadcasting palaces, and have a broadband connection…

Back home after one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had aboard a Shetland ferry. Wasn’t sick, but only because I remained prone for the entire voyage. Well, most of it. When I wasn’t trying to clear up the copious vomit of the (let’s allow him anonymity) offspring in the bunk below mine. Problem was…

Magnus has returned from Blackpool, where he was doing an intensive five-day driving course. I subsequently spent part of the weekend in the Berlingo’s passenger seat while Mag conducted us about Knightswood and environs. He’ll be ready for his test, which is booked for 7th August. If I don’t have a heart attack first. We…

Very impressive indeed. The GAP Kids video is priceless, as is the Paul Newman ‘Services to Salad Dressing’ awards speech. Peel The Onion!

I was seeking out a motorcycle repair shop called Gremlins today, and in finding Unit 10, Andrew Court, a hitherto unknown aspect of Clydebank’s industrial life was revealed. At first sight, Clydebank looks as if its heavy industrial past has been all but erased in favour of shopping mania. I’ve been told the retail park,…

That’s Lord Reith’s desk I’m sitting at. Lord Reith, the man who made the BBC. Are the inkstains his responsibility, I wonder? George Orwell allegedly based 1984’s Ministry of Truth on the BBC’s London HQ at Langham Place, where that desk was once located. Room 101 actually existed among what was (and is, only with…

Very smooth trip down on the Hrosseyland last night, featuring for tea my first NorthLink baked tattie, which was…not disastrous. Manage to avoid the bar, the awful beer (no matter what, from bottle or tap, it all tastes foul aboard ship, and I have no idea why)and the worse red wine. Memo to self: remember…

Another great thumping carbon footprint imprinted on the peatscape of Shetland last night, as I had to Berlingo young Martha into Lerwick so she could catch the boat to Barcelona. Not that the NorthLink ferry goes directly to Spain, you understand. The voyage south to Aberdeen is just the first leg on the Brae High…

Understandable, really, what with funerals, elections and everything else. Still, I am a bit concerned about, well, my lack of concern. It was the Shetland Folk Festival this past weekend, and I forgot about it. I can tell you, come to think of it, some of the names involved: Crooked Still, Sharon Shannon, Mary Black,…

….if only life were like the wondrous Napoleon Dynamite! And if you haven’t seen it, rent, buy or download immediately. All will become clear concerning the Scottish Elections. Let me point you in the direction of the most insightful and wittiest commentary I have seen on the debacle so far: My BBC colleague Brian Taylor…