Golf Tango Foxtrot

It's a beautiful spring day here in rural Angus.  The sun is shining.  The trees are in their first bloom. The larks sing and all seems to be well. I am making use of my right to wander over this beautiful countryside.  Down by the side of the River South Esk, at the old railway crossing just above the historic Bridge of Dun. Little remains of the railway bridge.  I think it was even a pre-Beeching casualty. One side of the span has been retained for the use of anglers crossing the river. The metal plates that form the footpath are rusted and weathered and the masonry piers they join make a fine sight in the bright day. The river flows underneath and the sound of the water is soothing. Dippers skim over the surface before diving into the water.  I sit on the river bank and enjoy the sun.  A sign notes that this is "private angling". Many years ago the Brechin Angling Club of which I was a member would get a day on the Montrose Angling Club's water a...

Swaying about on the train trying to write something which might possibly end up as a Blog post.   But who knows?  My screen is back to back across the train table with a weedy looking dude with a big motherfucker Dell laptop screen which leans over into my space.  Fortunately my Chromebook only has a modest size screen and is easy to maneouvre under the beast opposite which is almost blocking out the light. It’s got a good wee keyboard I have to say.  Far more usable than the Samsung Netbook I used to fart about with.  There are fewer unforced spelling errors but a distressing lack of a “delete” key.  So far I need to backspace if I want to remove my errors. At least there is no-one in this carriage howling into their mobile phone to tell their interlocutor they are on the train.  The wifi which I haven't bothered connecting the Chromebook is notoriously inadequate and exists only to kid passengers on that they really can do some work on...

It is Scottish Labour's conference in Perth. Oh what a grand excuse to stuff the Nats.  That is the only thing they do. Q.  How many Scottish Labour Lords does it take to change a light bulb? A. It's all the fault of Alex Salmond..!! The party of Labour?  My arse.  Labour gave up on socialism many years ago.  The impressive thing for me was how they managed to convince otherwise sensible people to keep voting for them and to join them for decades. For years I knew many people who were Labour Party members.  Without exception, every one of them was in Labour in order to change its direction. This leads me to the conclusion that the Labour Party must be the most undemocratic institution in Scottish public life. The Labour Party changed for sure. For the worse. Under the "New Labour" branding they won thirteen years of government where inequality got worse. That means wealth was re-distributed to the rich.  Not the poor.  The rich benefited...

Had a rather nice evening last night at Montrose Folk Club.   The guests were Fiona Hunter on Vocals, Cello and Shruti Box accompanied by Mike Vass on Tenor Guitar, Fiddle and Guitar. They opened the set with the old Robert Tannahill chestnut "The Braes of Gleniffer" and it  was a fine assured version.   They moved on immediately with "The Cruel Mithir". The "Cruel Mithir" is a hard song to get across.  It is lengthy and deals with weighty themes of infanticide and supernatural haunting and damnation.  Many times I have heard it attempted and the effect has been one that trivialises and makes one want to snigger.  Not so this version. The interplay between the Fiddle and the muted Cello between the verses called to mind the strings in the shower scene of Psycho.  The singing was clear and told the story in a way that seemed effortless. The effect was chilling. The mood was lightened by the "Laird O' Drum" his courting described in all...

I first met the artist Angus Neil in Glasgow in the early 1980s.  I was living in Garnethill and married with a family and gainfully unemployed. This was the height of the "Thatcherschina" and times were hard, particularly in Glasgow.  Nonetheless Garnethill was a wonderful community to be poor in. There was a diverse mix of people from a great variety of ethnic groups, The clergy were simply crawling all over the place, with a convent, a buddhist temple, a chapel, a synagogue, a free presbyterian mission and a host of other faiths.  My stepson went to a primary school where thirty three languages were spoken at home. The Glasgow School of Art was the most imposing building in Garnethill, in a close contest with St Aloysius' School.  The Art School ensured a continuing connection with Bohemians from an earlier age.   Bill MacLellan and Hamish MacQueen were prominent in these circles. One very dark and dull day it was a signing on day and as usual the day...

Today (Monday 24th February) the cabinets of not one but two governments are meeting in the vicinity of Aberdeen. The Westminster (UK) Government Cabinet meets in a "secret location" which everyone knows is really the BP headquarters in Dyce, a suburb of Aberdeen.  Immediately after their deliberations they are jetting back south. The Scottish Government Cabinet meets in Portlethen, a dormitory town for Aberdeen just across the municipal boundary in Aberdeenshire.  Immediately after their deliberations, they are having a Q&A session which is open to any member of the public. To what do we owe this embarrassment of riches?  The last time the UK Cabinet met outside of London was 90 years ago.  They met in Inverness in 1922 and the major talking point on their agenda was independence for Ireland. I'll return to the significance of this point later. The major talking point on the UK Cabinet's meeting today is of course independence for Scotland. They pretend ...

September gives us a chance in Scotland to begin a transformation.  A YES vote gives us a chance to begin a change in this country.  A change that can halt the downward spiral into barbarism that characterises this hateful political union. Those of us who are sick to the stomach of the blame for the economic mess being laid at the feet of the poor.  Those of us who blame the unscrupulously wealthy thieves who profit from recession as they profit from boom. Those of us who loathe the attacks on migrants and the disabled Those of us who abhor illegal wars.  Those of us who oppose weapons of mass destruction. Another Scotland is coming... But it won't be because of the contribution to debate made by the State Broadcaster BBC "Scotland". Researchers at the University of the West of Scotland published research casting doubts on the impartiality of the BBC. The study indicated that the BBC (and to be fair other TV Stations) seemed to favour the NO campaign. The B...