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It’s like Thunderbirds, or possibly something from a James Bond movie: the Science Centre, I-Max Cinema, Tower of Doom, Armadillo and the Beeb from/at Pacific Quay in Glasgow together make up a vision of the future as…well, resembling what I imagined as a child, from viewing the aforementioned, plus various Dr Who episodes way back…

I tried to cancel the boat an hour ago, but failed to get through on NorthLink’s reservation line. Suddenly, I just couldn’t be bothered with all the discomfort and potential sickness involved in travelling aboard a flat-bottomed floating car park in a force eight. It sounds worse than that at the moment, but I’m hoping…

The scene from the Victoria Pier in Lerwick earlier today. One of the benefits of being in Coalfishreek, the Capital of All the Shetlands is being able to revive the ancient habit of ship-spotting. Not much in the town bit of the harbour but a dirty great oil survey ship and the Banff fishing boat…

I just got a new compact digital camera in the Amazon sale (a Samsung S1070, 59 quid, much more expensive now!) and decided to see how its movie facility worked…this is a pretty rough compressed QuickTime version…and I think YouTube have removed the Beach Boys soundtrack for copyright reasons! Anyway, Susan and I went off…

….was missed by me, of course, though weirdly I was wakened at 5.30am by…something. I thought it was the tin of Guinness I had before going to bed… Anyway, I’m grateful to listener Allan Milligan for pointing me in the direction of this excellent website – it’s a daily ‘seismic monitor’ which tells you where…

I’ve just about finished Roberto Saviano’s astonishing book Gomorrah (the movie is set for a foreign language Oscar) which is subtitled ‘Italy’s Other Mafia’ and is a journalistic….immersion is probably the best word…in the world of the Camorra, the Neapolitan ‘mafia’ – a ‘system’ (Saviano’s word) at least four times bigger than its better-known Sicilian…

Much against the instincts of my inner protectionist hack, may I recommend this celebrity New York Times column by Mr Paul Hewson?

Back in November, on my way to a journalistic assignment in Stornoway, I stopped for a delicious bacon roll at the Black Mount, above Rannoch Moor. There has been a tame stag haunting the lay-by for a number of years, treasured and protected by locals. I was horrified to be told today by listener Deborah…

Some scenes from Shetland over the past few days. Those seals are just a few yards from the back of the Toll Clock shopping centre in Lerwick. They’re virtually tame. The red sky was at dawn on Saturday (shepherd’s/sailor’s warning, and how). It was a day of brutal weather. That glint of sunshine shows the…

The world’s first collaborative online orchestra…