Uncategorized

Every piece of advice I’ve received about taking up running can be summed up in two words: Don’t. Walk. Or, at the very least, walk with short periods of almost-jogging. More sort of…joggling. Or jiggling. In my case, these tend to last a maximum of a minute and a half before exhaustion sets in. I’ve…

As you will see if you check out my booze blog over at Drinking for Scotland, I’m currently engaged in 30 days of alcohol-free existence. Which is proving both surprisingly easy and oddly irksome. This is today’s post: Third fierce coffee of the day. Dave Hammond and his German TV producer colleague arrived aboard the…

Lovely trip back to Shetland in bright sunshine, and a nice smooth flight. A very short trip away – two nights – and a great time was had in Alva, as part of the BBC Radio Scotland Soundtown project. Hugely impressed with the musical quality of the pupils…watch out for Gamu Nhengu, who will be…

It’s years since I’ve been in Alva…I’d forgotten how spectacular the setting is, with the Ochils soaring behind the town. Fine day, too. Tremendous enthusiasm here at Alva Academy for the show – three school bands are set to perform, we have a quiz between teachers and pupils and some other teachers are being sent…

It was a brutal old day yesterday (Sunday), with 80mph winds and enormous seas crashing onto the Zetlandics. With an offshore wind, the top of the cliffs at Eshaness was no place to venture from the car, or even stay for long. A Citroen C4 was probably safe enough, but I wouldn’t like to have…

According to Norrie (cheers!) and The Sunday Mail (Billy Sloan) Springsteen is to play Hampden on July 14th. Which means a potential expenditure for the dedicated live music fan of, oh, lots. Because you could very possibly go to Ry Cooder/Nick Lowe/Flaco Jimenez (9/10 July)T in the Park (10/11/12 July) and then Springsteen the same…

…Festival Theatre, 9th and 10th July, which is right on the edge of (and indeed into) T in the Park territory. Evening News story here. Tickets available from Monday, and it’s only an 1800-seater so be ready. And be ready for vast prices, too.

It was going to be thousands and THOUSANDS of pounds for a new Rayburn, and thousands more to have it connected to the (oil-fired) central heating system. After long and anguished conversations with plumbers and various other mystics, we settled on replacing the old,worn-out (rusted out) Rayburn with a stand-alone solid fuel cooker/stove. Still looked…

I’ve been aware for some time of the existence of several other Tom Mortons working in what might generalise as ‘the media.’ This one broke cover the other night in Channel Four News. He appears to be some kind of advertising guru. There’s another TM in Australia, a broadcaster and writer, oddly enough, and I…

I always knew that removing the old Rayburn Supreme range from our kitchen was going to be a serious piece of heavy metal motion. Had to be done, though. The thing is over 40 years old, the seals have gone, it's lately been refusing to burn properly  (solid fuel; peat, natch) and sometime this week…