Including this week’s Bear-infested Beatcrofting. And goodbye to Robbie.
The Tall Ships have come to Lerwick and gone, leaving many happy memories of friendships made, the astonishing range and depth of Shetland’s musical, crafting and artistic talent revealed, wonderful food and drink consumed…
…and Covid contracted.
Maybe we’ll never hear about how the 37 ships’ crews and cruising tourists were affected, but there’s no question that huddling several thousand people in close proximity over four days of partying has meant a major upsurge in infection.
Some have refused or simply shrugged off testing, suffering flu symptoms ranging from mild to completely disabling. In our local GP surgery, masks are firmly back on for consultations, and as the agricultural shows (Voe and Cunningsburgh) kick off, followed by packed dances in local halls, there’s little doubt that the virus will spread.
Most of us being triple-vaccinated, albeit a long time ago now, the symptoms are likely to be mild or at least rarely fatal. But the risk of the elderly and unwell contracting the disease and being badly affected is very real.
And for many, it’s as if the pandemic never happened. Everything is as ‘normal’ as can be, with gigs, parties, dances and indiscriminate canoodling the order of the day and night. There is still no news from any of the UK Governments about booster vaccination in the autumn.
As for those three years of fear, contagion, isolation, disconnection, grief and – never forget – the death of millions, it sometimes seems as if we’re determined to pretend it never happened, And learn nothing from it.
One academic believes a new wave of infection is already underway and set to get worse in September. According to Christina Pagel, a professor of operational research at University College London, in The Guardian, “We are flying blind. What worries me most is if we get a repeat of the last winter NHS crisis this winter again, with Covid, flu and RSV all hitting around the same time.”
All I can say is…be careful. And always remember.
Meanwhile, you can get a visual taste of the Tall Ships during the glorious sunshine of day two of the visit, Thursday, here:
https://www.shetland.org/videos/recent-videos/tall-ships-lerwick-2023-day-2
Here’s this week’s Beatcrofting, back on 60 North Radio and available on Mixcloud here:
https://www.mixcloud.com/tom-morton2/beatcrofting-with-tom-morton-friday-4-august-2023/
Chunks of the show were inspired by the terrific soundtrack to Seasons One and Two of The Bear, available to watch on Disney Plus, and one of the best-acted shows I’ve ever seen on TV. Much praised for its depiction of restaurant life, and the writing, I have a few reservations about plotting (it sometimes seems like a Tom and Jerry Cartoon in its sledgehammer farce, uber-tragedy and slapstick) and the detail on cooking can leave other aspects of restaurant life very broad brush. Season Two trail here:
The whole question of booze is left untouched in Season Two, until magically, Grand Cru wines and a staggeringly well-supplied bar magically appear. I suspect an incoming sommelier with a French accent in Season Three.
The other thing is that I got rid of the late-life crisis Audi TT convertible ( it was a great top-down spring and summer, but emissions and steering saw it fail its MOT) and now have a truck. Two trucks, if you count the surgery’s emergency HiLux. The one I acquired last week is actually a van, one of the smallest made, a Vauxhall Corsavan. 2009, cheap, does 80mpg on diesel. It’s Low Emission Zone incompatible, which means that on arrival off the boat in Aberdeen I have to turn left or wait for a while in the Union Square car park and then turn right to go south. Or it’s a £60 fine. Can’t even get to the beach by skirting the harbour, home to some of the most heavily polluting supply ships in the world.
All this and the tiny Corsa is more expensive to tax and insure than the 150mph 225 horsepower Audi. Maybe it’s the alloy wheels.
I would argue that’s a green option – an efficient, 15-year old car, renewed, recycled, capable of carrying a couple of bikes, and not dependent on questionable lithium and cobalt extraction industries. Or dodgy charge points. It will go from Shetland to Southampton on a single tank of fuel. Just not via Aberdeen beach.
The Beatcrofting playlist for Friday 4 August
Warren Zevon — I Need a Truck/Johnny Strikes Up the Band
Elvis Costello — Watch Your Step
REM — Strange Currencies
Mavis Staples — You Are Not Alone
Replacements — Can’t Hardly Await
John Fahey — In Christ there Is No East or West
Steely Dan — Showbiz Kids
Bryn Haworth — Keep the Faith
Linda Ronstadt — Tumbling Dice
Rolling Stones — Casino Boogie
Kurt Vile — Pretty Pimpin’
Nick Drake — Pink Moon
Mazzy Star — Fade Into You
Kinks — Powerman
Mickey Jupp — Cheque Book
Neil Finn and Eddie Vedder — Throw Your Arms Around Me
https://www.mixcloud.com/tom-morton2/beatcrofting-with-tom-morton-friday-4-august-2023/
Finally, the death of my colleague Robbie Shepherd is the end of an era. He personified how the pungently local can become internationally relevant in broadcasting, his Doric tones taking the glories of north-eastern culture and Scottish country dance music to every part of the globe.
He was a superstar in Shetland especially, where each broadcast of Take the Floor on BBC Radio Scotland, which he presented for 35 years, was greeted with rapt attention and reverence. He was also hilarious in person, and extremely kind, friendly and welcoming to me personally during my 11 years at BBC Aberdeen. Here he is reflecting on his life after receiving his honorary doctorate at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
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