Witterings & Wanderings

Earthquakes & Tidal Waves

2008-07-26T01:17:00.007-04:00

There has been a tremendous earthquake in the form of an SNP victory over New Labour in Glasgow East constituency, the heartland of Scottish Labour. There was a massive 22% swing to the SNP dissolving the 13 thousand Labour majority from the last election to an SNP slim majority of 365.

This is huge!!! Gordon Brown has lost major elections all over the UK and now in his backyard. Glasgow has been a hotbed of Labour support for generations. Its practically synonymous with being Glaswedgian. John Mason, the newly elected MP, has been a dedicated councillor in Glasgow East for ten years. He is popular but not charismatic. This was not some random protest vote. This was a vote of discontent. But also, a vote for change.

Everything I have read about the vote yesterday, has detailed that the real deciding factor was in the professional vote - the working vote - after six o'clock. Young professionals, and not so young professionals came to the polls to express a desire for a different political future for Glasgow. Contrary to what Labour hoped, independence for Scotland is no longer the bogey man that has voters scurrying to all corners.

I don't believe that somehow the voters in Glasgow have suddenly changed their ideological perspective. I believe that underneath the city beats a heart of socialism. However, I do believe that those voters now perceive the Scottish Labour Party for what it truly is - a branch of the UK Party. The voters in Glasgow East are not asking for a change in political ideology. They are asking for a change in political perspective. They now see their future as inherently tied to Scotland. They wish Scotland to be their political perspective.

The New Labour Party is hemorrhaging at the seams. I feel very sorry for Gordon Brown. He is witnessing his dreams and ambitions dissolving before his eyes. The keys to 10 Downing Street, handed to him from Tony Blair, were a poisoned chalice. The American sub prime economic melt down, eight years of economic greed in Wall Street has destabilised the UK economy. Biofuels have created a global food crisis, and we are beginning to feel the affects of the finite nature of carbon fuel. These global crises have landed on Gordon Brown's desk.

This is a very difficult situation for Gordon but even without it he would not succeed. I feel sorry for him because he wants so desperately to be a leader but he lacks completely the charm, personality and charisma that the job requires. He tries desperately to be something he is not. He tries to please everyone without staying true to who he is as a person.

I believe that Scotland is on a path to independence. I think that a Tory government in Westminster will only increase the pace. I would like to see Gordon Brown wake up to this reality and come home. A politician of his skill and experience could have a positive impact in a new Scotland. I think Gordon Brown is an example of what Scots have done for three hundred years: exported their talents to the running of the British Empire from the sidelines.

Scotland is finding its voice, is finding its confidence and realising what its future could hold. Scotland as an independent nation can come home to its socialist leanings and follow the examples set by our Scandinavian neighbours. Labour had to re-invent itself "New" to gain acceptance in the South of England and in doing so lost its ideological base. In an independent Scotland Labour can return home to its socialist aspirations of wealth distribution, universal healthcare and education.

There has been an earthquake in Scotland and behind it comes a tidal wave that will end in the dissolution of the Act of Union and the rebirth of the Scottish nation.

Vegan for the Future

2008-05-29T21:17:00.006-04:00

I am a flip flopper. I have flip flopped between many eating regimes in the past. My longest was when I was vegetarian for 8 years. I, similarly to most humans, like the taste of meat and I drool over a prize cut of steak sizzling on the grill. However I know from my brief year as a vegan, that whilst my taste buds earn for the taste of meat, my body actually prefers not to eat meat or dairy. I was happiest when I had the discipline to eat vegan and practice yoga, both things that I have strayed from - my blasted taste buds get me every time!

I have been reading headlines about the world food shortage and feeling guilty. My Western lifestyle in the hedonistic wasteful land of America has undoubtedly contributed to the rise in fuel costs that have subsequently driven food prices up. Yet my, small fuel efficient car is not the only culprit. I know from my time as a vegan that eating grains, nuts, legumes, vegetables and fruit places significantly less stress on our fragile planet than eating meat everyday. I have followed my errant taste buds to the wasteful place of eating meat often and daily, and I feel guilty.

I am not advocating that everyone become vegan but I am hoping more people become less addicted to the notion of meat everyday. ( I see the irony of such a statement when I am moving to Houston, Texas for the summer .... Texans giving up meat ....?). I feel even more guilty as I really should be vegan because I feel much better physically as well as spiritually, eating that way. Giving up meat, or seriously curtailing the amount you eat, is now more than ever, a political statement. It says that I am unwilling to take an unfair portion of the worlds resources just to satisfy the cravings of my errant taste buds.
I need to do this for my health, for my peace of mind and because whilst I give up meat there will be someone in China adding more meat to their plate. So maybe my effort will at least help balance the status quo.

This time it will be more challenging for me. When I was vegan I didn't know I was allergic to gluten (celiac). I now do ... I'm going to have to be very disciplined but I know it will be worth it.

War = Golf?

2008-05-15T17:54:00.004-04:00

The idiot, ahem ... I mean the President of the US has announced that he too has sacrificed for American freedom. All those families who have sent loved ones overseas into an uncertain war can now feel reassured that their commander in chief is feeling their pain through his own self sacrifice.

George W. Bush has made the tremendous self sacrifice of giving up GOLF!!!

Not surprisingly most service personnel and their families have not felt their hearts warm to the news but rather their blood pressure rise and started to feel rather hot under the collar!!

Can someone please wake me up when this idiot has left office .... thanks.

A True Historic Leader

2008-05-09T20:01:00.002-04:00

I have just watched an old interview with Obama on the Tavis Smiley show on PBS - you can see it here. Wow, I am even more impressed than I was before. This man has such a confidence, an assuredness that is inspiring, yet at the same time he exhibits a modesty that does not appear false in any way. I feel that he is one of those rare individuals that can change history, and make a difference positively in this world. His message of 'hope' is not spin, not a gimmick, not a political catchphrase to lure votes, he truly believes that he can give hope back to this country and the world.

He talks about himself as someone who has lived in another country, someone who knows what it is like to have family members struggling to survive in poverty, and someone who has worked in the housing projects seeing firsthand the real issues people have to deal with. He is also someone who has a grandmother in Africa living in a hut without running water and electricity in a village that has been decimated by AIDS. I get goosebumps at the thought of the American President being such a person - as he says, when he goes to Africa and sees suffering it really means something to him personally.

He has never supported the Iraq war and I thank him for that. I remember sitting in Scotland during the build up rubbing my eyes with disbelief. I felt like the small boy in the Emperor's New Clothes. I agree with Obama when he attributes the support for the Iraq war being a direct consequence of the political game that is played in Washington. I think he is correct when he says that it blinds good people to what is directly in front of them and they find themselves doing what is expected of them.

I am excited. I truly have hope that America will rise from the ashes and be a positive place to live and a positive influence in the world. This country was founded on such wonderful principles of liberty and equality. It has not always found it easy to follow in the spirit of its beginning but in Barack Obama I believe this country will find a way back to what is good and great about the United States of America.

Now if only I could vote ..... (I probably won't get citizenship in time .... close ....)
...... so I'll be pounding the pavement and hassling all citizens I know ... you have been warned!!

Obama/Sebelius 2008

2008-05-08T14:04:00.002-04:00

An American Expat in England suggested Sebelius for Obama's VP. I knew very little about her but having done a bit of research she may be onto something. Obama/Sebelius 2008?
Maybe they can have the thrilling uplifting parts of Sibelius symphonies for their adverts!! :)

Money down the drain ....

2008-05-07T13:52:00.003-04:00

Clinton lends her campaign 6.4 MILLION Dollars!!! That is a lot of money that could be spent on so many many things ...... granted its her money to spend as she sees fit but really .... think of the many many charities that could make a big difference in peoples' lives with such a figure. Instead this money is going to be spent on advertisements telling us how Barack is bad and Hillary is good, spent on filling up the gas tanks of tour buses and aeroplanes, the printing of fliers, banners, bumper stickers, badges, pins and many many leaflets. The world has precious resources and I'm not convinced this is a good way of using them. In addition to this, funding this faltering campaign makes the Obama campaign spend more money on the same things using more and more precious resources .... plus shouldn't this money be saved to battle the dinosaur in November.

I'm not sure I could trust someone with my taxes who is willing to pour their own money down the drain like this. Enough is enough!

Enough already!!

2008-05-07T00:58:00.005-04:00

Enough ... please let this be the end of the road! After talking like a redneck, downing beers with whiskey chasers and proposing that a savings of $28 for the average gas guzzling American over the summer would make a difference, Hillary lost North Carolina and as of just now looks like she may hold Indiana ... but by the skin of her teeth!! Considering the battering Obama has been taking in the national media and he has done so well, this really should be over.

I am sad. Not because I am a fan of Hillary Clinton but because I am so sad to see a strong, incredibly bright woman prostitute herself politically in order to get elected. She has been brainwashed by the Washington political game to the extent that she has lost her own integrity. This is such a tragedy. I would have had so much respect for her if she had been positive, stayed true to her intelligence. Instead she pulled out anything she could find to fight dirty and sadly that included making a fool of herself: the Bosnia sniper fire tall tale was ludicrous; the remodeling herself as a member of the working class when she so clearly is an East Coast privileged member of the elite; the lowering of her IQ with statements like she doesn't believe in Economists (on her gas tax 'holiday'); the lowering of her sophisticated position as an intelligent woman to that of a girl who can drink beer and shots with the guys. It is all so incredibly sad.

So please, please let this be the end. I have no desire to see Hillary destroy herself further. She is such a talented woman and this country needs intelligent talented people right now, desperately. My only hope is that she has the self respect to bow out gracefully. My fear is that she won't and she will end up looking like a fool.

I am very pleased for Obama, I am also sad it had to come at such a price.

WTF?????????

2008-05-02T19:31:00.004-04:00

Can I wake up now, please? I cannot seriously believe that London voted Boris Johnson as their Mayor!! Really???
This guy is an idiot, a snob, and a buffoon. Can Londoners not see what electing someone with those credentials has done to America and the world? They want that for their city??
They've all gone mad. I understand if they wanted to get Ken Livingstone out (he's done some stuff some folks don't like, although I think he's done a decent job but I don't live in London so I can't really say), but Boris? Couldn't they have voted in the Liberal Democrat candidate? He's not an idiot surely ....

I am so ashamed and embarrassed for London. Good job its not a city I would ever wish to live in (big smelly sprawling grey mass of yeuch).

Can I wake up? Now? Pleeeeeease .......???

gut churning

2008-04-25T20:47:00.000-04:00

Right now my 'hope' is scared.

Amazed by Obama

2008-04-21T00:10:00.002-04:00

It been a loooooooong time since I posted anything on this blog. So consequentially my appeal to Al Gore now looks ... well ... sort of pathetic ....

Since I last ranted on the democratic candidates we are now down to two - Clinton & Obama. Everyday Obama impresses me more and more and Clinton less and less. The chance of her becoming the nominee are so slim and yet she is willing to tear down Obama for all she is worth regardless of the advantage it gives to that old political relic, McCain. Maybe she thinks she would be more likely to be employed in a McCain administration than an Obama one.

I'm too scared and not a rosy optimist (hey I'm Scottish not American) enough to say that Obama will win in November .... but its possible .... I'm summoning my courage to have the audacity to hope.

Draft Al Gore to run for President

2007-10-12T15:35:00.001-04:00

He's a Nobel Peace Prize Winner. He could turn this country around. He could REALLY help solve climate change!!

PLEASE, AL

RUN for President in 2008 - we NEED you!!!

And please everyone who agrees with me go to draftgore.com and sign the petition - America needs you, the world needs you.

Old Rab C Nesbitt Sketch - Hospital

2007-09-25T16:01:00.001-04:00

This one's for Ashley - if you can understand this one I'll buy you a drink!!! ;)

And this is what Americans think a Scotsman looks like...?

2007-09-21T17:13:00.000-04:00

I have just read this interesting post in the Guardian's blog Comment is Free. Apparently new research shows that most Americans associate Scotland with Groundskeeper Willie from the Simpsons (which is, of course, an American creation with a voice created by an American!). Sean Connery has lost out to this guy???

It doesn't come as a surprise to me as I have had way too many incidents with the American public where they reveal their unbelievable ignorance about Scotland.

I had an instance in Cleveland when I was working in a national bookstore chain as a cashier and a woman asked where I was from (they ALL do...) and proceeded to tell me to have a nice vacation!! - I was working for $6.25 an hour and I was in Cleveland Ohio!!!! I have also been told more times than I can count that my English is very good - to which, if I'm in a testy mood, I often reply "Thanks, so is yours!!". Darren's Grandma has told me (in a very thick Virginia accent) how my English is better than the Chinese girl that works at her old folks' home!!

The one that took the biscuit was lately when again I was working as a cashier. A woman asked where I was from (they still ALL ask) and she proceeded to tell me she was a high school teacher. I asked what she taught and she said English as a Second Language. She described her job and how challenging it is for her poor Mexican students to learn English - then she added - "of course, you'd know how difficult that it is" - I said "excuse me?" and she clarified - "you know how difficult it is to learn English from when you had to". My jaw slammed onto the floor and I picked it up informing her that I can't speak any other language - just English!! I guess my argument was too complex for her to grasp because she left the store still going on about how well I spoke English!!!!

From this vast mountain of experience I read the Guardian article a little puzzled. The subtitle is :
Americans don't know much about Scotland and what they do know is mainly bad. Should the Scots be worried?

The thoughts of the Scots being worried about this makes me roll around on the ground laughing. Americans still tell me (incessantly) how they want to visit Scotland (and often assume I'll plan their trip for them) and tell me (again incessantly) that they consider themselves Scottish. I have over time developed the guts to reply to this statement thus:

You are not Scottish, you are American!! To qualify as Scottish you have to be brought up there and have the prerequisite accent (or to Americans - bad English). The man who was born in India and his parents moved to Scotland when he was 1yr old is Scottish of Indian parentage. If you've endured the biting cold horizontal rain walking home from school in the dark of 3.30pm for your entire school career, then you are Scottish!! My kids will be American if they live here - American with a Scottish mother.

The classic example of all of this was when I was at the St Patrick's day parade here in New Orleans and I wore a sign saying "I'm Scottish throw me something". I had several "Irish" men shout "The Irish hate the Scots!" - and I'd laugh to myself - the Irish love the Scots - so all these men claiming to be Irish did was reveal how un-Irish they truly are!!

I take no responsibility for my grammar or spelling or vocabulary - I can't be held accountable I'm only ScAttish!!
(I'd also like to stress some Americans are very knowledgeable and treated me very well .... its just some ... well ... don't - so if you are one of the former please know I do not mean you - and if you are one of the latter ... you read my blog?? ... wow your English is better than I thought!!!)

Jena Six

2007-09-14T13:30:00.000-04:00

I can't believe this and yet sadly I can believe this. A group of black students at a high school in Jena, Louisiana asked if they could meet under the tree in the school yard where white students normally congregated. The principal said yes and the next morning there were nooses hanging from the tree. What followed was ugly racial fighting of white students against black and black against white.

The criminal justice system stepped in and made everything worse. The white students were charged with assault or battery. The black students were charged with attempted murder!! The case includes one student who is a very successful student and athlete who is expected to win a major scholarship to college for football if he doesn't get found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in jail that is.

You can read more here. I am plain disgusted.

BILL MAHER ::SEPTEMBER 7 2007:: PART SIX

2007-09-14T13:08:00.001-04:00

Wow - I can't believe I had to hear about the Jena Six from Bill Maher! There is also some brilliant stuff on Obama - I particularly like the theory that because the country is "f**ked up" then a black man will become president - because they always give departments/jobs that are "F**cked up" to the black man so he can fail....!!

Parallel Universe

2007-09-13T11:01:00.000-04:00

Woke this morning to a parallel universe: first Scotland beat FRANCE 1-0 at fitba!!!!!!

Then I find out that the Labour Scottish Prime Minister (of Britain) invited this old hag, bitch, evil monster, to tea at number 10!!! He invited HER!!!

Pavarotti - Nessun Dorma

2007-09-06T15:07:00.001-04:00

I cried

RIP Maestro

2007-09-06T15:01:00.000-04:00

Pavorotti died this morning. He will be sorely missed. I shed more than a few tears today listening to him sing. He was truly gifted. We are lucky he shared that gift with the world. RIP

depressing state of the union

2007-08-20T11:07:00.000-04:00

I read the Guardian mostly everyday. It is my way of keeping up with news at home (as well as the BBC) and of reading commentators that I like who keep my weary brain cells ticking over. One such is Gary Younge. His pieces are quite brilliant. His book "Stranger in a Strange Land" is a brilliant collection of his Guardian writings from America. I highly recommend everyone read it and I'm ever grateful to my dear friend who gave it to me as a gift.

I have just read another of Younge's posts in today's paper. He outlines the depressing failures of the Bush administration and highlights a most disturbing trend that has been fostered and developed by the same administration. The trend is for the administration to see itself as separate from the "reality-based" consciousness and as acting upon situation not assessing them. That this American Empire can act upon its own whim without any analytical thought of the consequences is quite petrifying! The fact that the administration appears quite proud of that fact is astounding!!

One commenter on Younge's article put it perfectly and left me thoroughly depressed:

America's decline is a result of structural, systemic and ideological factors beyond George W. Bush, but he (with a little help from Bin Ladin) has certainly accelerated the decline dramatically.

In the space of a generation it has gone from the nation that put a man on the moon to the nation that took 5 days to get water to the Superdome. It has gone from the nation that played a critical role in defeating Facism to the greatest threat to peace on the planet. It has gone from a being promoter of human rights to being a nation practices torture and 'rendition' and that clings to the archaic vengeance of the death penalty. It looks up more of its own people than any other nation in history. It's failing healthcare system has led to financial nightmare, reduced life expectancy and even shorter heights for its citizens. It must borrow or sell assets to the tune of $2.5 billion every day in order to get by. It is a pariah, albeit a powerful one, among the world community.

America will never recover from the Bush presidency.

Please will you be my president!

2007-08-13T20:30:00.000-04:00

I live in America. I have been living in America for seven years. I am a permanent resident. That means I cannot vote (on how my taxes are spent, how the roads are maintained, the schools taught etc etc).

I have just had coffee with a friend and the topic turned to politics. This topic, right now, in this country is depressing. The US right now feels like the UK did during Thatcherism (although she was popular for some of her "reign"). It feels hopeless and helpless. The light at the end of this tunnel, we hope, is the 2008 election.

So my friend and I discussed our opinions of the candidates. Hilary Clinton is the democratic front runner. She is experienced, intelligent, and well equipped for the job. Barack Obama is dynamic, personable and an amazing speaker. John Edwards is passionate on the behalf of the poor with a smile to melt any heart. Mitt Romney is a Mormon and supports the Iraq war. John McCain is (in my opinion) a little unhinged. Giuliani is plain scary.

Any Republican would (and always will be) in my book be a very bad thing (this country is far enough to the right as is!). So I turn to the Democrats.

Clinton is the front runner. I would love to see a woman in the White House but I worry what that woman would have to do to get there. Just as Thatcher wasn't really viewed as a "woman" in the UK (she had more testosterone than Attila the Hun!!), I feel that Clinton is having to become harder all the time and prove that she does not have all those silly sentiments attributed to the weaker sex. Feminism has come a long long way in forty years but some of the American electorate are stuck back in the fifties. I fear that her gender alone may mean that she would not make it through the White House doors and it pains me to say it!!

Obama is dynamic. He began his campaign promising to be different, to be untainted by the normal Washington filth. But I feel he is becoming more and more mainstream as the game is played. He is against the Iraq war and that is a tremendous thing but he is incredibly naive in his foreign policy attitudes - as the Pakistanis can attest. His speech making has not been as electrifying as I had hoped. Maybe he has a grand finale planned, who knows. However just like with Clinton, I think it would be amazing to see a black man in the US presidency. It would be a visual realisation of MLK's dream. But this country has swung further to the right than during the civil rights movement. This country, though clothed in the vocabulary of political correctness, is so conservative in its outlook that I fear a black man would not be allowed to grace the living quarters of the White House and I would fear for his safety. And again it pains me to say so.

So Edwards. The southern, white man with the electric smile. I like him. People like him. He's a likable guy. He has all the qualities to get elected. That hometown southern drawl is so attractive to voters in the US and his passion for the everyman who is struggling in this rocky economy is tangible. But sadly, very sadly, his wife is ill with cancer. What if she dies whilst he is president? How could a grieving widower with two small children cope with the burden of high office? It is so sad and I hope everyday that she can announce that she is cancer free - it would be brilliant news for her, her family and this nation!!

So who is left. I cannot vote and wish I could. The person I wish I could vote for and who I feel this country needs desperately and the world needs desperately is Al Gore. He won in 2000! This country voted for him in 2000! He has the experience, the credentials for the job but so much more. He realises the biggest threat to the world is global warming (that's global warming not 'climate change')!! As president he would have the ability to change policies to affect how we address this vital issue. I feel he is the strong steady, intelligent hand that is needed to guide this country out of the mess it is in. And it would be poetic to allow the American people the opportunity to vote for the man they wanted to run their country in the first place, to right a wrong done by the Supreme Court (I read somewhere that Bush won the 2000 election by 5 votes - 5 Supreme Court votes!!).

I know Al Gore is not in the running. But I hope he is thinking about it. I would be ecstatic if he would run. I'd batter every door down in my neighbourhood and tell everyone to get out and vote. I'd drive anyone eligible to vote to the polling booth myself. So my appeal (not that Al Gore likely reads this wee wittering blog) is that everyone speak out and ask Gore to run. Tell him we need him. Tell him the world needs him.

Ahm affay sorry ken

2007-07-31T22:24:00.000-04:00

ah've jist been hayin' a geck at ma past posts on doric an ah found a comment fae a man that runs the scots wikipedia site an it turn oot that it's mastley in doric - ah must've nae been affay guid at readin' it ken. so ah jist winted tay pit the record straight an also to thank Dereck fir commenting and pitting me richt - ah wid love tay tak up his offer oh jinin 'em bit ah'm nae affay guid at figurin' oot the wiki thingy (there's een fir N'awlins thit ah cannay de either) so ahm hopin he'll forgive this daft quiney her misreadin' an he'll keep up the guid work!!

Here's his comment:

Maist o the fowk contreebutin tae the Scots Wikipedia are aether Doric spikkers, Borderers or Scots lairners. "Central Belters", eejits or itherwise, dinna seem tae be sae interestit in warkin on it, tho there are ane or twa. A'm ane o the foonders an contreebutors an, like yersel maist o ma faimlie on baith sides are Doric spikkers at hame, sae whan A pit onythin in the Wikipedia A've nae chyce but tae pit it in Doric syne A dinna ken onythin else. Whit micht be leadin ye astray is that aw the Wikipedia editors contreebute wi the ae staundard Scots spellin. Sae if ye didna ken the richt wey tae sey "wh" or "i" in Doric, ye micht think that A wis writing in Central Scots. I can assure ye, that if ye heard me reading the airticle oot lood, ye'd hae little doot that the maist o the Scots Wikipedia wis written in Doric. The lave o't is quasi-Scots written by Scots lairners and needs reddin up but nae apolgies. We're short o fowk that can contreebute at ony level and we're nae sae prood but that we'll tak wha we can get.

In fact we're aye aifter mair contreebutors that can actually spik Scots, (Doric spikkers by preference since Doric is the healthiest Scots dialect an it's far mair likely that Doric spikkers actually ken the richt wey tae spik Scots), sae if ye dinna like the wey that we're daein things ay noo, we'd be richt glad if ye'd jine us and help tae set things richt.

Cheers

Derek Ross

Gordon the Gopher and Curious George

2007-07-31T21:50:00.000-04:00

Having just wasted five minutes of my life looking for photos of Brown and Bush, I find it rather telling that I can't find any the normal way I pillage for legal visuals for this 'ere blog. This shows how in the grand news circle of the USA, Brown meeting with Bush was a non-event. In many ways it is an accurate assessment.

Lets see. We had George spout off about what a funny guy Brown is and not a 'dour scot' at all (pronouncing dour to rhyme with sour instead of poor) and how they'll be fast friends. I have an image of Bush boring Brown silly with tales of 'my great great great great grandfather' was Scottish and 'oh I went there on holiday' (- oh well it was the G-8 summit but you get the picture).

[One of my favourite sports is informing Americans who claim to be Scottish too (yes they actually say this) that no they are not - they have Scottish heritage and you can't be called Scottish unless you've put up with horizontal rain pelting your frozen forehead as you walk home from school in February at age 10. If I'm particularly successful I follow it up with saying that someone who has Indian parents but has been born or brought up in Scotland with the accent and everything is Scottish!]

Back to GB meets GB. Brown on the other hand looked like he was about as pleased to share two meals and a dubious golf cart ride with George as a colonescapy! No friendly remarks made about the blithering dunderheid to his left. Just an agreement not to rock the Iraq boat for now and help get George focused on something actually humane and worthwhile like world poverty and Darfur (likely payment for no boat rocking antics).

Gordon is coming into his own by all appearances in the UK. Everyone seems relieved to have someone less concerned with holidays with the rich and famous and more meat and potatoes politics. It should not be surprising that after ten years of smoke and mirrors Blair governance, warts and all Gordon is a welcome relief. But I think Gordy's slippery salmon to the North may prove to be more of a challenge than he thinks (see here for a brilliant take on the recent flag debacle)

The funny aspect is that Cameron's emulation of Blair appears to be backfiring in a serious way!! Maybe he'll finally go back to admitting he's an aristocratic toff after all?

GlasGO or at least Glasgae

2007-07-02T10:57:00.000-04:00

The attack, on Saturday, at the Glasgow Airport was disturbing to me. I have walked through those very doors several times in my life and when I look at the photographs of the charred remains I am amazed that no one was killed or even hurt. It is disturbing to me to face the reality that Scotland is a target in international terrorism. However considering the Lockerbie bombing this is not the first example. Luckily Scots are not prone to panic and we are more likely to 'just get on with things' and this certainly appears to be what is happening in Scotland right now, as much as I can judge from this distance.

Having said all that there is one fallout from all this that is really disturbing to me personally. That is, that I have had to endure hearing SO many American voices mispronounce Glasgow!!!! The most common is that they make it rhyme with 'cow'. Another is that they put the syllable emphasis on the 'as' and make the beginning sound as if is it "Glass go". Along with the common mispronunciation of Edinburgh as EdinburG, this is driving me BARMY!!!! I know it shouldn't and the many hours of phonetics I sat through in English Language at Edinburgh Uni should make me a very understanding person ..... but please, anyone American reading this spread the word for the sake of my sanity - its GLAsgo.

If you can't manage that then you can always go for a more local pronunciation:
"GLAsgae"

Here's the door - don't let it hit you on the way out!

2007-06-27T10:42:00.000-04:00

At LAAAAAAAAAAAAssst!!! Tony Blair has left Downing Street and now has the grand title of EX-prime minister!!! Parliament gave him a standing ovation at question time ..... kinda odd...

Enter new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. He's doing things a bit differently already - he's asking members of other parties if they would like to be in his cabinet, he's talking about getting rid of 'top down' style of governing. He's already surprising people. We'll see if that continues now he has the top job.

And he is a Scot. He has a growling Fife accent that no manner of polishing will erase. But this is no Scottish friendly prime minister. Like many before him and bred from the 'canni dee it attitude', he has to shun his Scottishness, prove his Britishness (ie Englishness) in order to take himself, and for others to take him seriously. He infamously told Scotland that we should support England in football - yeah that went down well....!!!

We will see how our new Prime Minister makes his mark on Britain. We shall see how he deals with the irritating little stone in the bottom of his shoe that is the Scottish Parliament and the SNP with Salmond at the head. To be continued......

"Cannae dee it" Attitude

2007-06-13T11:23:00.000-04:00

I just read Gwen's comment on my last post:

"think you have hit the nail on the head with your comment on the "Cannae dae it" attitude. I have over the years in a variety of jobs, seen many a person with that attitude. No wonder we get nowhere. We have to, as a nation, get ourselves some confidence that we can work hard and build an efficient economy. How do we instill such an attitude? Maybe its down to teachers in schools and parents to start this off at an early age. If it doesn't happen we just won't get anywhere."

"How do we instill such an attitude?" is the question for Scotland right now. Having lived in the country where people believe they can do anything (even fly to the moon...!!) I think I have some suggestions.

Being brought up in Scotland means never "getting above yourself" and participating in self deprecation. To actually admit that you are good at something is seen as a negative personality trait. If you've got a talent you'd better hide it under a bushel.

This is present also in parenting. To tell your kids that they are brilliant is considered a faux paux. To brag in anyway about your offspring is looked down upon.

Things are changing with parenting these days. Children have gone from the Victorian "be seen and not heard" to the center of every family activity. I personally think its gone a little overboard.

I think that in order to instill confidence in Scotland, confidence needs to be instilled in individuals from the start. We need to be proud of our children, we need to be proud of ourselves. Scottish pride seems to only reveal itself when someone is dead. Anyone who gets too famous or "above themselves" is quickly cut down or derided.

Scotland needs to admit to its hopes and dreams and see them as achievable goals. Scotland needs to believe that it can do anything. Scotland needs to stop cowering in England's shadow.

The one difference in the report I talked about in my last post is that all the small countries that are better than Scotland are independent. They rule their own affairs within Europe. They have not crumbled and failed without a larger country to cling to like a limpet. They have flourished.

I don't believe that Scotland needs to adopt an American attitude. It would be insincere. I do however think that Scotland needs to adopt a Scandinavian one. They work hard and look after each member of their community. They are a practical people who get things done. They have similar population to Scotland and some even are very similar topographically (I once took a flight from Aberdeen to Stavanger and it looked like we'd just flown in a circle and landed back in Aberdeen!).

I think one of Scotland's problems is the fact that the central belt can't seem to remember that it is attached to the rest of Scotland. The Labour run country for the last 50 years has been forever trying to strain forward to Westminster. Hopefully Alex Salmond, representing a North East constituency, will change some of that. Scotland has always looked to England and Westminster for answers instead of seeing our potential within the country.

If Scotland is at the bottom of the league for small countries in western Europe then what is the big risk in going independent? We can only get better.

Of course I am saying this from 3,000 miles away and I can just hear my sister thinking "what is she wittering on about? she doesn't pay taxes here or live here day to day!". True. But I think I have a different perspective because I am looking at my homeland from outside. I have a perspective that puts Scotland into context in the world. Sometimes when you live in a place you can't see the woods for the trees. So I hope that my witterings may give some Scots some pause for thought.

I am not in Scotland right now so I do not know the answer to this (although I've noticed a buzz in the blogosphere about it) but I hope Scotland is nervously excited for the future. I feel the SNP slender win over Labour is a tentative step towards trying something new, maybe trying a little confidence in ourselves.

"worst wee country" in western Europe

2007-06-11T13:59:00.000-04:00

Apparently and in contrast to Jack McConell's phrase "the best wee country", Scotland is the "worst small country" in western Europe.
Shock, horror!!
You mean Scotland isn't better than Norway? Sweden? Denmark? Holland? Austria?

Ehmm. I'm nae surprised!!

We have a love of fried food that makes New Orleanian's look health conscious and there is a pesky gene going about that insists on knocking us down with heart disease - although it is given a hand by the amount of salt, fat and sugar that the population devours. So Scotland is hardly healthy ... yet?

OK so we are not making loads of cash either. But with our moaning whinging, "we couldnae dee it" attitude I'm not surprised. Hopefully we'll slowly see that Ireland is the model for Scottish economic growth - Oh yeah didn't I mention that Ireland, the country most Irish were dying (literally) to get out of, is doing far better than Scotland.

Scotland has a great deal of untapped potential. It has culturally a lot in common with the other small countries in western Europe. Its yet to be seen but maybe one day Scotland will start to gain in confidence and the wee country will be a wee bit further up the line to the title of "best wee country in the world".

Scary Alex - does Blair think he'll get "Salmond"ella?

2007-06-03T21:20:00.000-04:00

"He never writes, he never phones..."

So said Alex Salmond when asked about Tony Blair.

On Friday, Gordon Brown, the soon to be and sorta kinda really already is the next PM (Prime Minister) of the UK, phoned to congratulate Alex Salmond on becoming the First Minister of Scotland. Great, but a little tardy at 16 days after Alex got the job.

Tony? He's abroad, he's too busy, he's (in my opinion) really pissed off!!

Tony is swanning around Africa indulging his massive ego with a farewell tour of places he likes to think he did real swell in - Libya, Sierra Leone... etc.
["Rule, Britannia! rule the waves:
Britons never will be slaves." - yeah right! ]
I personally think he missed out on the better tour - the US where the ability to speak in complete sentences is regarded as a miracle after so long with a monkey at the helm (sorry I'm likely insulting monkeys here). Everyone here can't get enough of Tony but then the majority of people wanted to go to war in Iraq. Oh and its easier to like someone you didn't vote for and doesn't actually have anything to do with running your country.

If Tony had a pair he'd be touring the UK apologising!!

But back to Alex. Alex Salmond has a tough job ahead of him. He will be the first person to actually test out the theory of devolution: the theory that the Scottish Parliament actually has control over a chunk of their own affairs. He has a minority government and will have to govern Scotland by doing things the way devolution was set up to do them - by cooperation between rival parties for the betterment of the common good of the country.

So far, Alex is doing a great job of trying to achieve this.

But, as Mark Douglas-Home writes in today's Observer, the issue for Alex will be communicating with the PM (Gordon). There has been little need for much coordination of such things before as all the First ministers of Scotland and Wales have until now been members of the Labour Party. They are all in the same club, singing from the same hymn sheet.

Uh oh! Alex is not in the club - he's not even allowed in the car park!! (although I don't think he wants to go anywhere near the sewer infested place...) He's likely to be pushed around by the members, be picked on as the odd one out. He really is the weakling considering he has to operate in a mode of cooperation or his governing days are over.

So what has happened? Tony disnae phone. Gordon has to have his arm twisted (press outcry) and 'sorta' phone but make sure and do it late. If this doesn't sound like bullying ....

Labour hate the SNP with vitriol. I'm sure Tony would rather walk naked through Baghdad before talking civilly with Alex Salmond - he may after all contract a case of "Salmond"ella.

Gordon is painting himself as more English than the English and wants to signal to England how much he cannot abide the man who will be governing the devolved Scottish Parliament - even though as MP for Kirkcauldy in Fife in Scotland that very man (Alex Salmond) will be making decisions that directly affect the people he (Gordon Brown) has been elected to serve.

All this is great. I love it. It shows blatantly how the Labour Party is a bastion of tradition which is out of date with the postmodern world. Tony and Gordon took to spinning till we all got dizzy but they can't hide the reality underneath. The SNP victory has slipped a knot in the carefully constructed fabric and the curtain is unravelling in front of the wizard of Oz.

Modern day Britain, modern day Scotland, modern day England, Wales, Northern Ireland are awash with multicultural aspects that no longer mold to traditional politics. The world is becoming more individualistic, more autonomous. Politics needs to catch up. I am excited at a political environment in Scotland where people have to debate, discuss and resolve issues for the common good. The system at Westminister has demonstrated how easy it is for a government with a big majority to allow an egotistical PM to do what he wishes - take the country to war against the wishes of its people.

The UK is one of the oldest democracies in the world. Before we make claims about exporting it, I think it would be good to address whether our system should be changed to fit with our changing world and country.

If Tony ever gets round to phoning Alex I'd love to hear Tony's excuse for being so late in calling....

Totally pointless and unimportant

2007-05-31T16:18:00.000-04:00

Gwen has tagged me to reveal 8 interesting facts about myself. I apologise firstly - this may turn out to be highly dull and uninteresting as the subject is ME.

1. I was born with a third ear. My Dad flipped out because I, as his eldest, had to be perfect. As he was a doctor at the same hospital he organised a team of surgeon to remove said ear. The "ear" I must explain was more like a skin tag - it may have developed into an ear, I don't know but my Mum wasn't going to let me stay in the womb for another few months to find out (although by all accounts I was happy staying in there). So the surgeon tied a piece of string around my third ear and got ready with scalpel and bloop, it fell off of its own accord. So that's how I lost my perfect pitch at birth.

2. I have a fear of birds. Flapping birds throws me into a fit of squealing and rushing to escape. Dazza made me watch Hitchcock's "The Birds" - not one of his most romantic gestures....

3. Before I came to America, I had zero desire to ever visit America. I now live here and am even married to one. Never say never...

4. I once tugged the Queen Mother's skirt. I was five at the time and at Balmoral Castle. Prince Charles was coming home from the Falklands and the royals and the staff at the castle were all milling around. I as the granddaughter of one of the staff was milling around with the royals too. I saw a bright pink skirt and tugged it saying "Granny granny", looked up and saw the Queen Mum and screamed and ran for cover......

5. Sean Connery gave me $3,000 and I didn't even have to sleep with him (sadly). He has a Trust called the Scottish Education Trust that gives one off grants to Scots embarked on furthering their education in the Arts. So to come and do my masters he gave me $3,000!! Nice man.

6. I hate heavy metal. I mean the really heavy stuff. I hate Iron Maiden, Metallica and most of Guns and Roses. My sad admission is that I spent several of my teenage years pretending that I did like them. Dazza will attest that now every time he tries to get all nostalgic and play heavy metal I start bitchin'. So when he is at home alone I guarantee you the house is shakin' from him playing air guitar to Iron Maiden.

7. I used to suck my thumb ..... and sometimes in the middle of the night when I can't help myself because I'm asleep I still occasionally do....

8. Phew last one (I'm boring myself I think)... I love ab sailing. I have only done it once and I was about ten but I loved it. I can still remember the joy of letting go and jumping back off the cliff into nothing. One of my ambitions is to do it again.

I'm not going to tag anyone (gaaaasp - blogging fo pah....) because most of the non-Nola types have done this already and most of the Nola types don't participate in this tom foolery.
So paperback writer, Travelling Mermaid, Guilty With an Explanation, Longayelander, I Dream of Haggis, Sara B...... or anyone else
If you feel in the mood please reveal 8 facts about yourselves - if you don't, then have a good day and then blog about it - oh and please make it funny!!!

What is Doric?/Fit is Doric?

2007-05-28T00:26:00.000-04:00

This een is gang tay be a dual post - een in Doric (this een) an an ither in English. Am going tay hay a go at tryin tay explane fit this weird dialect ahm tryin tay write in is. First aff Ah'd like tay tell ahbody thit Ahm dyslexic so dinnae get in a stooshie aboot ma spellins cos there's nay onny spell checker fir fit Ahm tryin tay de OK?

Doric is the dialect o Scots thats spoken in the Nor Aest o Scotlan. It varies a lot depindin on far aboot ye are in the region. Ah grew up in Keith half wiy atween Aiberdeen an Inverness. My Granparents lived in Ballater, an oor awa, an they iwise telt me that Ah soonded like Ah wis fae Keith. So if yer fae Huntlee or Towie or Inverurie or Stonehaven, yer Doric is aye gan tay be a wee bitty different fae other places. Fir example I wis aye telt aff by my Mum (ah wid say "mither" but she hates at an she'll nae like it if ah use at wird) fir sayin' "windee" for "window" 'cus in Crathie in Deeside they niver say "windee". Ma Granda fay time tay time wid say I soonded like a Keith kyard or a tink. The "Tinks" were travellin folk that selt stuff naebody wanted an their kids wid come tae skweel fae time tae time an they wir nivir excepted by onny oh us fa lived in the toon. Ah dinna think folk on Deeside thoucht that much oh folk fae Keith.

Keith is an odd toon. Its nae completely country an its nae a fishin toon either. There used tay be a big textile mill there ca'id "Kynochs" but they went oot oh business afore I even went tay school. So fan I wis growin up it wis a toon that wis tryn tay stay alive but wis really dyin. Culturally is wis a backwater wi nae idea oh whit wis oot in the world. But I learnt the value oh folk fae growin up there. Ah went tae skweel wi kids that didnae ken far their next meal wis comin from. Ah wis aye aware ah wis different but ah learnt foo tay get on wi as mony folk as ah could.

Ye see this doric dialect is nae easy tay pick up, especially if ye'iv nae growin up in it. Fan Ah went tay school Ah wis ca'id a snob cos Ah didnae spick doric, Ah didnae spick like abody else (we maestly spoke English at hame 'cos oh my Dad). But ma granparents did. So fan Ah wis Four an went to the skweel fir the first time Ah picked up the Keith version quick. Nae that it made muckle difference as they Ah kent Ah wis oor muckle different fae them ah tay iver be accepted.

Fir reference my Dad wis fae Inverness far they dinna spick doric (Ah've heard folk say that the best English in the hale oh Britain is spoken in Inverness) an fan my Dad first went tay my Mum's hame tay meet my granparents he didnae unnerstan a wird. Ah wis affa impressed wi ma American man bein able to decipher fit wis ga-in on aroon him fan he first went tay Deeside - he must've deen sometin richt 'cos my Grannie winted tay adopt him fae the start!!

The innerestin thing aboot Doric fir me is that it is definitely my mither tongue. Fan Ah meet a baby, even in America, Ah ayewis fine mysel spickin doric tay them an Ah divnae evin realise fit Ahm dee-in. Folk here gee me an affa queer look!!!

This one is going to be a dual post - one in Doric and one in English. I am going to have a go at explaning the weird dialect of North Eats Scots that I am writing in. First off I'd like to explain that I am dyslexic and there is no such thing as a doric spell checker so don't judge me on my spelling.

Doric is the dialect of Scots spocken in the North Eats region of Scotland. It varies depending on where you are in the region. I grew up in Keith halfway between Aberdeen and Inverness. My grandparents lived in Ballater, an hour away, and they always told me that I sounded like I was from Keith. If you are from Huntly or Towie or Inverurie or Stonehaven the Doric you speak is going to be slightly different. For example I was always told off by my Mum for saying "windee" for "window" becuase in Deeside, where she grew up, no one ever said "windee". My Granda from time to time would say I sounded like a Keith Kyard or "tink". The "tinks" were travelling people who would sell things people didn't want or need and their kids would come to school from time to time and never be accepted by those of us who lived in the town. I always thought that people on Deeside never thought much of people from Keith.

Keith is an odd town. Its not completely a country town nor is it a fishing town. There used to be a large textile mill there called "Kynochs" but it went out of business before I went to school. So when I was growing up, Keith was a town trying to stay alive when it was really dying. Culturally it was a backwater, with no idea of what was out in the world. But I learnt the value of people growing up there. I went to school with kids that didn't know where their next meal was coming from. I was always aware I was different but I learnt how to get on with as many people as possible.

You see, this Doric dialet is not easy to pick up, especially if you've not grown up with it. When I first went to school I was called a "snob" because I din't speak doric (we mainly spoke English at home because of my Dad). But my grandparents did. So when I was four and went to school for the first time I picked up the Keith version of doric quick. Not that it made much difference as they all knew that I was much too different from them to ever really be accepted.

For reference my Dad was from Inverness where they don't speak doric (I've heard people comment that the best English spoken in the whole of Britain is in Inverness) and when he first went with my Mum to meet my grandparents he didn't understand a word that was spoken. I was terrible impressed with my American man being able to understand what was going on around him when he first went to Deeside - he must have done someting right because my Granny wanted to adopt him from the start!!

The interesting thing for me is that Doric is definitely my mother tongue. When I meet a baby, even in America, I always find myself speaking Doric to them and I don't even realise what I am doing. People here give me a very queer look!!

For those English speakers - Doric is often referred to as the "Fit, Far, Fan" language becuase of the preponderance of those words. "Fit" means "what; "Fan" means "when"; and "Far" means"where". So the sentence "Fit fit does 'is shoe fit?" means "Which foot does this shoe fit?". There is a whole "Scotland the What" skit on this - "breeks" spelt T_R_O_U_S_E_R_S, "breeks". Doric is traditionally an oral dialect and rarely written down. So it demonstrates the clear division between the hierarchy of written and oral language and the hierarchy of English over Scots. Interestingly writing this post, when I swapped to translate into English the voice in my head suddenly sounded very posh and not all that unlike HRH Queen Liz II !!

Bit fit aboot Doric? Ken?

2007-05-22T20:35:00.000-04:00

I'm nay affa happy i day. I wis hayin' a geck at a quine's blog fae Utah an she hid an interestin post tellin ye ah aboot a new Wikipedia in Scots. That'll be just gran ah thoucht an so ah clicked on her link tay see it.

Oh its affay fine and bonny. Its just grand. Bit its nay. Can somebody tell me fit wye they wid hay a hale wikipedia site on Scots an in Scots weeoot ony mention o Doric?? There's even a post on Aiberdeen weeoot onythin on Doric. Bit they gang an and an aboot Scots Lied and Lawlands Scots. I'm likely aboot tay offend some peer crater but ... fa spicks Lawlands ony mair? It smacks o central beltism - they dinna realise foo mony folk there are that dinna live atween Edinburgh and Glasgow!!

Doric is the dialect spoken in the North East of Scotland. I grew up speaking it, my maternal side of my family speaks it and it is still very much in existence. It has long been a neglected form of Scots - relegated to the stereo-types of North East Choochters - or "farmers". There is a lot of North East culture that has been overlooked or never leaves the small enclave of the Grampian mountains. I am appalled that there should be a "Scots" wikipedia without Doric.

If only I was computer savvy - I'd get onto the site and post an article on Doric ....

So if there is anyone out there computer savvy from the North East please rectify the situation for me!! Thanks

on yersell big man!!!!!

2007-05-16T18:46:00.000-04:00

It's very interesting to read the views that have been posted on the BBC website on Alex Salmond's appointment as First Minister.

My favourite is

On yersell big man!!!!

Shuggie, Glasgow

More here.

A New Tartan Government

2007-05-16T11:51:00.000-04:00

Alex Salmond has been voted in as First Minister of Scotland. The vote was 46 for Jack McConnell ('the best wee numpty in the world') and 49 for Alex Salmond. The Greens and SNP voted Salmond in with the Lib Dems, Conservatives and Margo MacDonald (independent) abstaining.

Alex Salmond will now form a minority government. Every decision of this new government will have to be made in a spirit of cooperation. MSPs will have to negotiate and debate in a mature fashion in the interests of the Scottish people. In his acceptance speech (I've included it at the bottom of this post) Alex Salmond described the parliament as a tartan of diversity, highlighting the first Scottish Asian MSP.

If he governs in the model of this speech I have hope for Scotland. Even though they are called the Scottish Nationalists I have always been glad that this has nothing to do with race. Salmond's vision seems to be of an inclusive Scotland where anyone is welcome. Given the state of immigration in Europe right now and the UK, I believe this is a mature, positive approach.

As an aside though, its interesting to me, the last time I went home (October 2006) I saw little difference in the people in the North East but I heard a lot of difference. There are a lot of Eastern Europeans emigrating to Scotland and they all generally look very similar to Scots. But sitting on a bus you realise they are speaking Polish, Latvian, Estonian.

And as a final aside I find this appointment personally interesting. I've know Alex Salmond since I was a child. My parents got interested in the SNP and canvassed for them in elections a bit. The late Margaret Ewing was a friend of my Mum's. I vaguely recall Alex Salmond coming to our house. It's interesting that at that time the prospect of him being First Minister of a Scottish Parliament was a total pipe dream.

Here is his acceptance speech:
This parliament, created by the people of Scotland in a referendum, is bigger than any of its members or any one party.

I believe that Scotland is ready for change and for reform. This is a small nation with a big future. But it is also a small nation with big challenges.

"It was said the other day that Scotland is a divided nation. Given the closeness of the election result, I can understand that in some ways.

However, it's not the case.

Certainly, the gap between rich and poor is too great. We need to grow faster. We need to heal the scars of the past. We need to be greener. We need to be still smarter. But we are not divided.

We have a sense of ourselves. a sense of community and, above all, a sense of the 'common weal' of Scotland.

In some ways we're not even a divided parliament. Of course, in this part of the chamber we seek independence and equality for Scotland - not everyone agrees.

But there is a broad consensus on the need for this parliament to assume greater responsibility for the governance of Scotland.

There is an understanding that we are engaged in a process of self government - and an awareness of the distance we have already travelled.

In 1961, Bashir Ahmad came to Glasgow to drive buses. In 1961, the very idea of a Scottish Parliament was unimaginable. In 1961, the very idea of a Scots Asian sitting in a Scots Parliament was doubly unimaginable.

But Bashir is here and we are here, and that part of the community of Scotland is woven into the very tartan of our parliament.

And we are stronger - so much stronger - as a result. We are diverse - not divided.

The nature and composition of this third Scottish Parliament makes it imperative that this government will rely on the strength of its argument in parliament and not the argument of parliamentary strength.

Despite all the challenges we will face together, I welcome that as a chance to develop a new and fundamentally more reflective model of democracy.

The days since the 3rd of May have been understandably dominated by questions over the structure of government - will there be a coalition or will we have minority government?

Let me say to parliament that what matters more to the people we all represent is less the structure of government and more what we, all of us, achieve of the people's behalf.

Presiding officer, all of us in this parliament have a responsibility to conduct ourselves in a way which respects the parliament the people have chosen to elect.

That will take patience, maturity and leadership on all sides of the chamber. My pledge to parliament today is that any Scottish government led by me will respect and include this parliament in the governance of Scotland over the next four years.

In this century, there are limits to what governments can achieve. But one thing any government I lead will never lack is ambition for Scotland.

Today I commit myself to leadership wholly and exclusively in the Scottish national interest. We will appeal for support policy by policy across this chamber.

That is the parliament the people of Scotland have elected, and that is the government that I will be proud to lead.

Farewell my slippery friend!!

2007-05-12T12:25:00.000-04:00

I would like to start off by stating a fact. Tony Blair is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He is not the head of state. He is not a president.

I am starting thus, not to enlighten my American readers (I flatter myself but my American readers are way too intelligent not to already be totally aware of this fact!) but rather to ground what I am to write in that fact. The press in the UK and the world are acting as if Blair is a president who is resigning. The level and degree of attention are completely in line with a presidential farewell.

The UK has no president. We have the Queen as our head of state. She is a figure head who firmly stays out of politics. We have a prime minister who is the leader of the ruling party of government. For the past ten years that has been New Labour and their leader has been Tony Blair. I have always thought this system to be a good one in theory. Good because no prime minister could get infected by a God complex and would always be kept in check by their party.

This theory worked to a degree. It worked until Margaret Thatcher. She changed things. She ruled by crushing her opposition. She was elected on the promise to put the "Great" back into Great Britain. So she attended international meetings as if Britain still ruled the waves and the world and bullied other leaders into place with her infamous handbag. Thatcher showed that given the right circumstances and leader, a God complex was indeed a possibility for a British Prime Minister.

This was the political culture that Tony Blair inherited. It is the form that he so quickly took. He quickly forgot that one of the main reasons for the 1997 landslide victory for New Labour (N.B. New Labour not Tony Blair) was that the country wished to be delivered from the ruling hegemony of Thatcherism. The UK was asking for deliverance from a political policy dictated by one prominent ruling figure (John Major was a last gasp demonstrating how corrupt, embittered and pathetic the Tory party had become).

I voted for New Labour in 1997. I celebrated all night with my fellow students. I went to so many flats in Edinburgh where everyone was on a complete high. The clouds had parted and the sun was finally shining.

I remember discussing Tony. He seemed like a family man, a Christian - one of those who see their religious beliefs driving them to do good for the less fortunate in this world. We discussed all the wonderful people who would be forming the new government - John Prescott, Robin Cook, Jack Straw, and the wonderful gusty, leftist, Clare Short. Yes, we saw all the spin doctors following Blair at every step but we put that down to "whatever you have to do to get elected" and after the hell the country had been through, the hell that was my only experience of political life in the UK, we were OK with the concept of "whatever it takes". Everything looked rosy and possible.

2007. The UK is a better place to live for a great many than it was in 1997. The NHS is better funded, education is better funded, the poor are better taken care of and the economy has been strong as an ox for ten years. New Labour have under Blair managed a great deal of success.

So why all the cheering for Blair's departure? Should this post be about how the UK will go to the dogs without Blair and everything is doomed?

Blair over ten years has embodied the much quoted saying "Power corrupts and Absolute Power corrupts Absolutely". He took his inheritance from Thatcher and wore the presidential pretender badge with pride.

He charmed the world. He and Clinton were great buddies. Both can charm the socks off a centipede and they know how to play the game of media spin. But they both had a certain grounding. I do believe they both saw it as their responsibility to improve people's lives - but only on the "down low". Neither wanted to offend anyone with a large bank balance. Instead they courted them. But while the rich weren't looking they quietly improved the situation for the poor around the world (Africa for example) and fought for injustices where they found them (Kosovo).

I believe that Blair with Clinton by his side had a degree of sincerity and maturity which enabled the two of them to use the "special" relationship between the US and UK to better ends. Northern Ireland is now a country at peace because of the brave steps they took. Collecting debt repayments from poor African countries became something to be ashamed of and concern that we may be harming our own environment became something that was accepted.

Until 2001 I believe Tony Blair was doing a good job. Perfect? No. But good. I didn't like the media hype and spin that followed him around like a bad smell but I felt proud of my little country.

I think the point of Blair's undoing, the seed of his unpopularity in the UK, the moment he changed from Blair to BLIAR was when the supreme court gave the US presidential election to George W Bush. Bush and his cronies have poisoned America. So many people are angry with him. So many people are so sad at what the American nation has become. He slipped into the presidency like a snake. His residence at the White House has felt like a bad dream.

When I witnessed Blair befriending Bush I thought it a bit odd. I presumed, along with others, that Blair, being from a center-left party, would have little in common with Bush and that there may likely be some conflict between the two men.

Then September 11th happened and everyone in America "rallied around the President for the sake of the country" (I didn't see the need to rally round him, more ask questions of how this could happen on his watch - but that's another post). Blair said some eloquent things. He sounded like the serious leader speaking with reason and judgement. He wasn't going to shout about 'smoking anyone out of a hole'.

Ah ha, I thought this is why Blair had befriended Bush. He would be the voice of reason guiding this snake away from creating harm in the world. He would appear the lapdog but really be the sheepdog guiding things from behind the scenes.

I forgot, we all forgot in Britain about Tony's religion. It wasn't reason, or the political guidance of the world's superpower that steered Blair to Bush but rather their religious convictions. I believe that one major reason that the US and UK are in Iraq right now if because of the shared belief that these two men have that rescuing this country from Saddam is the just and right thing to do in the eyes of God. Whether it is conscious or not the whole thing smacks of the crusades. Bush also had God put in a word for him to make a huge amount of cash out of the project - Tony on the other hand was just happy being right.

This is the point when Blair went off the boil in the UK. I was in Scotland for the first part of 2003 and I remember watching the BBC news reports that showed that they were considering taking action against Saddam. I remember thinking they've got to be crazy, what does Saddam have to do with Al Qaeda? I remember rubbing my eyes in disbelief as they started trotting out "evidence" of why we should invade Iraq.

I wasn't the only one rubbing my eyes. The whole of the UK was in jaw dropping disbelief. Where was the Blair we elected? Where was the Labour Party, all be it "New" and shiny? I naively believed that the leftist MPs in the Labour party would keep this kind of thing in check. I was wrong.

Blair has created a structure of power within the New Labour Party where he governs in the mold of the politburo of Stalin's Soviet Union. There are circles of power with him at the center controlling everything. My friends and I have always been amazed that every cabinet reshuffle changes the names of the cabinet ministers but everything remains exactly the same.

Blair has taken the God complex from Thatcher to a whole new level. He had the nerve to take a country to war kicking and screaming. He ignored mass protest by the electorate who voted him in. He was no longer representing the people. He was representing himself. The whole Iraq fiasco has felt like a deep betrayal to the UK people. Instead of listening to the country, Blair decided to 'do what was good for us' as if we were an incapable child.

It does not feel good that the Iraq war has been such a disaster. It does not feel good to know that my gut instinct watching the BBC news in 2003 was correct. It does not feel good to know that Blair and Bush were wrong.

This is why Blair is deeply unpopular in the UK. It makes me angry that after what he has dragged us through in Iraq he can give a sugar coated, slick press conference full of emotion to announce the date of his resignation (the date - not his actual resigning like Harold Wilson did). All his pomp and circumstance being drawn out over his long farewell are sickening. There has been no apology over Iraq only carefully drafted spin that hints at it. Blair said in his "farewell" speech

"Removing Saddam and his sons from power, as with removing the Taliban, was over with relative ease. But the blowback since, from Global Terrorism and those elements that support it, has been fierce and unrelenting and costly."

This is no apology and his careful referencing of the Taliban and Saddam together shows his continuing adherence to the Bush doctrine of invading Iraq under the auspices of his "War on Terror". Blair shows that he does not believe him to have been wrong only those pesky terrorists who keep popping up like a hydra.

I am glad Blair is going. It has taken him a long time to go. He claims he is going for the good of the country. He is going because his party is forcing him to. He is going out like a victor in blaze of glory but behind all the fireworks and staged crowds the UK knows this charmer for who he really is. He is a snake in the same mold as George W Bush.

SNP turns green

2007-05-11T13:12:00.000-04:00

The SNP have signed a deal with the two Green MSPs. Its not a great pact for power but at least it is movement. Scottish Labour seem poised to pounce if Alec Salmond wavers even slightly.

I think the most telling thing that has come out of the Scottish Election is that fact that the Scottish Labour, Lib Dems and Tories are all still very much ruled from London. It has shown that devolution is a sham when the ruling government (be it one of the three just mentioned) will do the bidding of their party in London.

So the SNP are facing being a minority government with the Greens. Shaky? Yes. But at least it will be a truly Scottish government concerned only with Scotland and Scottish interests.

It is going to be very interesting to watch and see what happens. I'm hoping for a breath of fresh air!!

Update: there is also now a SNP and Lib Dem coalition agreement - not for Holyrood - but for Edinburgh City Council (this is a big deal as Labour have been a monopoly there for way too long). Read this post for more info!!

Going going going going going......

2007-05-10T08:57:00.000-04:00

Blair is to stand down on June 27th. The longest farewell in UK politics. The presidential pretender announced his decision amidst his faithful supporters in his home constituency.

The UK media have finally been able to take their carefully crafted pieces on Blair down off the shelf and use them (after blowing off the dust). The Guardian has a big section (and I don't know if it is just coincidence but they've a new look website too - the UK is changing already?), the BBC too but I particularly like Nick Robinson's post on his blog and the multitude of comments.

I know its difficult for Americans to comprehend (with W and cronies in power) but Tony Blair is deeply unpopular in the UK. He is not our president so we voted in the New Labour party back into government not "Tony Blair" - he just happens to be the leader of the party. Yes, he has a brain and yes, he knows big words and how to use them but his arrogance, self importance and spin spin spin have left most in the UK glad to see him gone.

Oh and there's IRAQ.

It takes a real brass neck to go to war without the support of your country behind you.

I am going to read and ponder further before ranting fully on the man who says he will leave soon ..................

The French have Lost Their Heads!!!

2007-05-06T17:58:00.000-04:00

This guy is now the president of France. President Sarkozy.

He and Angela Merkle will make a pretty couple and no doubt seek to steer Europe towards the right. With all the problems with immigrants and racism in Europe right now this is very bad news. This man is a slippery customer and will no doubt be serving up some tasty treats for the village idiot in the White House.

The left is still alive with 47% of the vote but licking its wounds. I hope that the left that was born out of 1968 keeps a close eye on this guy and they learn some lessons. Le Pen would have been much much worse but I am heartily depressed at the French. Maybe when he dissolves the 35 hour work week they will wake up to themselves. I cannot actually believe that part of the message he ran on was that he wanted to enable people to live to work!!!!!!!!!! I hope when the French realise how opposite this concept is to their lifestyle and culture they may remember where they lost their heads and resume thinking!!

Historic Knife Edge Victory

2007-05-04T17:15:00.000-04:00

They've done it. The SNP have won the Scottish Election. The results are as follows:
SNP 47
Labour 46
Conservative 17
Liberal Democrats 16
Others 3

This is the first time Labour have been voted out in Scotland since 1955!!! This is a historic event. This sends a message to Scottish Labour that being Tony's lapdog is unacceptable.
Alec Salmond (pictured) as the leader of the SNP said:

"There may well be Labour Governments and Labour first ministers in the decades to come but never again will we see the Labour Party assume that it has a divine right to rule Scotland."

I for one hope he is correct.

There is also the problem of the chaos of the election itself with 100,000 spoiled ballots. In a country of five million 100,000 is a sizable chunk. The SNP, if they hold power, have promised an inquiry into the fiasco. I did read that Alec Salmond commented thus:

"The inquiry will have the fullest powers and the most searching remit. It will be charged with laying bare the outrage of why over 100,000 Scots were denied their democratic voice."

Now before anyone in England starts making plans to emigrate to an Independent Scotland this victory means we are still a long ways off such a thing happening. The Scottish Parliament is set up in such a way that the only way to govern is through a coalition. So the SNP need to partner with another party. The stumbling block in this process is likely to be the SNP's wish for a referendum on an Independent Scotland. The Liberal Democrats have their instructions from the UK party not to buddy up with the nationalists if they insist on a referendum. I think Labour would rather jump off a cliff than share power with their sworn separatist enemy. That leaves the wee Greens and the "others". One of the "others" is Margo Macdonald who used to be in the SNP but due to some "issues" between herself and Alec Salmond, she stood and won as an independent candidate. So Alec might have to grovel on bended knee to quite a few old foes ... we'll see.

The behind the scenes bargaining must be chaotic right now but at least there is change afoot. Which way that leads us we can't know. I still hold out the hope that one day we'll quite simply grow up!!

One Hundred Thousand Disenfranchised Scots

2007-05-04T13:04:00.000-04:00

Wow, I thought election ballot controversy was something only America did so spectacularly but no, Scotland is fast on their heels. According to the Beeb -
"The counts in Aberdeen, Argyll and Bute, Edinburgh, Eastwood, Perth and Tayside North and Strathkelvin and Bearsden were suspended until later on Friday due to technical problems."
And
"The polls have been hit by major problems with seven counts suspended and up to 100,000 ballot papers spoilt."
I have been bemoaning the fact that I am not classed as a Scottish citizen and therefore unable to vote in this election but if I was in Scotland, allowed to vote, and faced with this kind of fiasco I'd be really really pissed off!!

The Scotland Office said in a statement
"The independent Electoral Commission will undertake a statutory review into the conduct of this election. It is important that they look as a matter of urgency into delays in postal ballots, the high number of spoiled ballot papers, and the performance of the electronic counting machines."
And there was this from the commission:
"A commission spokeswoman said she could not comment on whether the election would have to be re-run."

OK, can we have more bungling please? When will people realise there is something authentic about a pencil, a piece of paper, a box to cross, and people at tables into the night counting by hand whilst supervised by officials. Computers crash, programs malfunction - is speed and convenience more important than democracy - ask the 100,000 really pissed off Scots who were disenfranchised by bungling politicians and their new toys.

Scotland & England: its been a wonderful three hundred year marriage but perhaps its time for divorce?!

2007-05-01T16:14:00.000-04:00

Today is the 300 year anniversary of the Act of Union in 1707. It is the Act that created Great Britain and her United Kingdom. On Thursday the Scottish people go to the polls to vote for their representatives for the devolved Scottish Parliament at Holyrood. The near synchronicity of these dates is nicely significant. This is an election where the Scottish National Party (the SNP) look like they may steal Labour's thunder and actually form a devolved government in Scotland.

The SNP stand for Scotland's Independence from the UK. Since the seventies they have been a growing force in Scottish politics. During the days of Thatcherite Britain when the poll tax was introduced to Scotland first to test the system, Scotland was a bleak place full of a disheartened and disenfranchised populous. The almost total rejection of the Tory government by the Scottish electorate meant that there was a political schism between England and Scotland. When Labour were finally elected in 1997, Blair held true to his promise to let the people of Scotland decide if they wanted their own parliament, devolved not separated, from Westminster. And we most certainly did. The referendum was an over whelming resounding yes.

We got a parliament and our very own building built with plenty of political corruption, cronyism and cost. The parliament building was a financial fiasco but if you are ever in Edinburgh it is well worth walking to the bottom of the High Street to go on a tour, it is a gorgeous building that deserves the high praise and accolades that were bestowed on the late architect, Enric Miralles.

The parliament has been a hot button issue ever since its arrival. It adds another level of government to a country which already has local, national (Westminster), and European governments. It therefore also provides another level of cost to the Scottish people.

However to a country with our own education system, banking system (the Scottish pound is the same legal tender as the English but its still Scottish), and legal system, it seemed preposterous not to have our own government to identify us as a separate nation. Well, separate but with the kitchen apron strings still firmly attached.

Since its inception the parliament in Scotland has been run by a coalition of the New Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats. And in my opinion it has not been overly successful. The cronyism, and small mindedness of the Scottish Labour party has been transferred into government. The question always seemed to be, would there or could there be any power in a parliament run by the same party as Westminster? Could there be a major disagreement and how would it be resolved?

It is my opinion that Tony and his cronies have run the UK parliament akin to the old power structure of the communist block. He is only prime minister but he acts presidential. It has filled me and my friends with despair that with every cabinet reshuffle the only difference is in name. Policies and decisions remain unchanged. It is also my opinion that the Scottish Labour party is run very much in the same mold.

So whats the alternative. Well the big one would be Independence. The SNP have always stood for the policy of a referendum on Scottish Independence within the European Union. When I was in my teenage years their policy was very much based on the utilisation of the oil in the North Sea in Scottish waters to enable the country to become financially solvent and prosper along the lines of Norway and Sweden. The arguments against this perception or claim were that establishing rights over waters in the North Sea would be difficult and removing such a cash flow to Westminster could do serious damage to England, which as our nearest trading partner, would be a foolish move.

I now find the argument of oil for Independence redundant. With global warming a reality, building a country on oil seems extremely foolish and irresponsible. I do however, see a bigger argument for Scotland going it alone by looking across the water to Ireland. Ireland is now one of the fastest growing economies in Europe. Where immigrants used to leave the Emerald Isle in search of better things the Emerald Isle is now attracting immigrants for the self same reason. If the Irish could do it why not the Scots?

We're not good enough. We couldn't possibly. We need looking after. Scotland is a proud nation with a distinctive culture of its own. A big part of that culture is what is called in literature, the doppelganger: Scottish identity is always double; it is always Jekyll and Hyde. On one hand we pray with all our might that we thrash any English sports team into next week, we bemoan England for neglecting to remember that Britain also includes Scotland and we take great pains to point out that we are not like England. But on the other hand we are quite content to sit back and be led from Westminster, to be a part of Britain. There is the pride, the strength that whimpers at the prospect of actually really running our own affairs.

I don't know if it is because of the connection between the Scottish Labour Party and the national Labour Party, but it always feels to me like a whispering campaign - "you couldn't do it", "you're not capable". Blair would have had a real political fight on his hands at every election without the steady stream of Labour loyalists in Scotland dutifully going to the polls for him come election day. It really is not in New Labour's political interests to have an Independent Scotland.

My gut instinct is that Scotland will never grow up until we take care of our own country. I don't make this statement out of brimming nationalist fervour but rather out of a fed up exasperation at my kin and country being so pathetic. Am I overwhelmed by Alec Salmond? No. Do I especially like the SNP or trust them? No. [as a side note I have always hated the fact that they are called the Scottish National Party - there are too many parallels with the fascist nationalist pasts of other countries - I really don't know why they are not called the Scottish Independence Party] But I don't see why we feel incapable of balancing our own budget, of running our own affairs. Scottish independance from the UK would not be a complete leap in the dark we would still be in the European Union and have a seat at the main table of that same Union instead of peering over another's shoulder.

I don't know what will happen on May 3rd. I have no way of affecting the outcome as I cannot vote (as a British citizen I can vote in the British election as an expat but there is no such thing as a Scottish citizen so I am disenfranchised). I am pretty sure the Scots who read my blog will have already turned in their postal votes by this time - so I am perhaps just meaninglessly wittering here. I know that the issue of Iraq is front an center in a lot of minds. How can a party be trusted that tows the line behind their leader in spite of public outrage? What is the alternative? Two very dear friends of mine commented that their hope for an alternative to a Blair (or Brown) government is an Independent Scotland - and they are English! I hope that one day my country will grow up and see all the great things we are so proud of, all the Scots who achieved so much, are all signs that we should take the risk.

300 years ago today the Act of Union was signed by the Scottish Parliament. It was signed by the Scottish elite who had lost hope in Scotland's prospects after the country was practically bankrupted in the Darien affair. The Union was signed against the wishes of the Scottish people for economic reasons by Scottish Nobles eager to win favour with the King who was so much more an English King than Scottish. The Union was an alliance that enabled the building of an Empire, it was an economic force to be reckoned with. That Empire is now dead and gone. The new economic force to be reckoned with is Europe and I think it is in Scotland's best interests to have a front row seat in building that prosperity because the last 300 years have proven we make one hell of a team mate.

P. S.
For a most brilliant analysis which says everything better than I can and if you're curious about Scottish humour go HERE to watch a video which had me in stitches!!

Scottish Election Warm up

2007-04-26T08:15:00.000-04:00

I am going to do a long post on this subject (hell, I can't vote in this election , so at the least I can voice my opinion in the blogosphere). In the meantime here is a small podcast with photos from the Guardian. It is an interesting starting point - and has some beautiful pics of Edinburgh - although it is only focused on the capital. (there is a tendency in Scotland for some only to ever see the central belt - Edinburgh & Glasgow and the area in between - and forget there is a whole rest of the country).

For political ranting and disenfranchised expat raving, watch this space.

Class Structure in the 'Land of the Free'

2007-04-24T18:36:00.000-04:00

My last post, and particularly the comments from it, got me thinking about American class politics and structure. The Romantic image that we are brought up with in Britain is that the USA is the 'Land of the Free' - the land free from class barriers, free from artificial restraints of birth, the land free with every possibility. This Romantic ideal haunts the history of the American pioneers, the pilgrims and the cowboy. The Declaration of Independence sounds like this ideal is sealed into law:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

It is a most attractive proposition. It sounds like Utopia. It sounds too good to be true. It is.

America has a class structure. But it is different from the long established aristocratic familial one in Britain. At the time of the Declaration, most white affluent men owned slaves who were never accredited the title of "Man" written by their masters. Women were disenfranchised and powerless. The poor immigrants from Ireland were kept one step away from slavery by the nature of their skin. Thomas Paine's idealism bore little relation to the class structure of the New States of America of his day and the acknowledgement of every man being created 'equal' came also with an equally large blind spot. Its a stirring message in theory, full of hope and value but in practice it has never been fully applied.

In America there are still the upper class that [pay to?] go to the vaulted Ivy Leagues of Harvard and Yale. There they find there is a commonly accepted and even encouraged means of solidifying such class structure - the Greek System of Fraternities and Sororities. When I first came to this country I was dumbstruck by such institutions. Here were these students voluntarily joining "houses" where they lived like they were at a private boarding school in Britain - only with alcohol thrown in for good (or bad) measure.

They have "rush" week where freshmen attend parties where they are tempted by the lure of each house and then vetted by each house until they are finally accepted or rejected. The general means used for vetting? Who they are! What does their father do? How much does he earn? Which school did they go to? What is their major and how much are they likely to make after graduating? And is she still a virgin or at least has she been faithful and pure towards her high school sweetheart?

Acceptance then means the ushering of a degree of hazing. All Frats and Sororities claim they have outlawed such behaviour but it persists. New members are made to perform demeaning and degrading tasks for senior members. Their desire to be part of this exclusive club is tested to the very limit. After all this is how to win friends and influence people. This will be the social network that will guarantee your career. This will solidify your place in the class structure. This will even help you find a perfect mate for a future perfect family. This is clear because this is what your father and/or mother did so before you.

Amongst this upper class are the WASPs. This stands for White Anglo Saxon Protestants. They are a group at the high end of American society that have held onto power and privilege since they arrived by boat in the 18th or 19th centuries. This breed can mostly be found in such states as Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and Delaware.

Then there are the family dynasties. The oil rich Bushes. The bootlegging Kennedys.

For all the talk of freedom that abounds in this country everyone knows their place and generally stays there.

But there are the exceptions. This is where I perceive America as different. Only in this country could a poor peanut farmer from Georgia become the 39th President of the wealthiest nation on earth. Only in this country can a poor black girl from the ghetto rise to the top to become her own brand of "O". Only in this country can new money be spent as old resulting in the perpetual fantasy of the lower classes: the American Dream.

I believe it is this dream that keeps America's class structure in check. Why would you revolt against the rich when you hold onto the dream that you too can join their ranks? The upper classes let the occasional Donald or Martha into their exclusive club in order to let the others see from below the glass ceiling that they should tow the line, behave, because they never know when they may be given the key to the golden elevator of upward social mobility.

I think that the American class structure is so very sad for this very fact. The belief that riches are but a dream away placates so many from taking issue with a system that shuts them out.

But as with everything in this country there is also another side and its what I love about this country. For all the people adhering to the system there are others who do not. The Amish, the Mennonite, the Mormons all step outside the mainstream culture that slices society into class. There are people who pioneer outside the boundaries in a progressive activism of thinking and living outside of class. There are the vibrant and varied Gay communities in every American city with San Fransisco and New York leading the way. There are right wing and left wing anti-government types who hanker after the days when not every state was under the federal United States government. And then there are always the crazies. The ugly men dressed as women in South Beach, the freewheeling eternal backpackers and hitchhikers and those who provide fodder for shows on crazy lifestyles or crazy homes for a sleek coffee table book.

America has a class structure that can and does determine a great deal in regards to upward mobility and professional success. But America still retains that glow of the Romantic ideal, the image I was fed growing up, where some individuals step outside that structure and operate in their own way be it for religious, political, ethical, environmental or crazy reasons.
I can never pin this place down.

UK Spin

2007-04-21T13:07:00.000-04:00

It was an interesting day for me in the blogosphere yesterday. I got angry at my country being accused of banning the Holocaust when it was untrue. I was really surprised by how upset I got and considering my recent post on what life like an expat is like, I suppose I am still very much patriotic for home in spite of all New Labours bungling and Blair's obedience to his master Bush. I still believe in the integrity of the country I grew up in. I believe in the justice system and the press (excluding the Daily Mail!!) to keep that same system in check.

However as I also wrote in my last post, I was taught in History lessons, in Scotland, all about the causes for the First and Second World Wars. Hitler's rise to power was facilitated by certain factors all lining up. It wasn't that Germany suddenly woke up and decided to persecute the Jews. It was a long build up of perception that the Jews were causing or aggravating the plight of the "german" people. And whilst the UK has not banned the holocaust from the class room, what I learnt in history tells me to be extra vigilant in looking for the signs that resentment is building in a civilised nation to where it could tip into uncivilised thinking and actions.

July 7th 2005 began murmurings in the press and society in general in Britain about Muslims. I remember talking with my friends about it. It was awkward. How do you address fanaticism in the Muslim community? How do you address a group of people who like to create their own community within a society and do not necessarily want to assimilate? How do you address the growing feeling that immigrants are changing the country from how it has always been perceived?

The UK is still very much a class based society. The recent split between Prince William and Kate Middleton has allowed the aristocracy to reveal their distaste for Kate because of her aspiring upper middle class mother and return William to the fold and set about finding him a true blue blood for the future throne. Oxford and Cambridge are still bastions of privilege and old boys clubs. Yahs still frequent the trendy bars in Edinburgh. Which school you went to and who your father is can still get you further in the UK than ability alone.

The difference now is that this class based society does not want to be seen as such. David Cameron, the leader of the Conservative Party, has gone out of his way to prevent a photograph of himself being published. Is he nude? No. Is he drunk? No. Is he wearing women's clothes? No. He is photographed as part of an elitist old boys club in Cambridge. He is in short, photographed as a toff!! He knows this is not the image to win votes. You have to be young cool, green and hip with none of the stuffiness of Oxford dons or polo matches.

The UK is a country of spin, thanks to New Labour. This is a country where perceptions are spun to hide the truth beneath. So we elected a party and prime minister in 1997, who was young cool and hip (alas not green enough..) and who seemed to care for people and making a difference in a way the population was starved of after so much thatcherite incompetency. That election was incredible. The whole country was on a high. It was like the good guys had finally triumphed over the forces of darkness and were riding home in victory. It was infectious.

Finally rid of the Tories, the UK seemed like it may modernise and shake off the class ridden power basis. We may find that the UK could become one of those trendy socialist countries that everyone is envious of - Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Holland. That was the perception. That was the spin.

Underneath it all everything was the same. We were made to feel one thing when the reality was something different. So I suppose we did "modernise" into the ultimate "postmodern" country of Baudrillard's "Simulacra" where we are always spun away from reality. I did not know of Tony Blair's righteous Christian beliefs. I did not for a moment think that He and George Bush would have anything in common. New Labour might have had a face lift but surely they were supposed to be somewhat close to the left? Blair's beliefs had me thinking he was one of those Christians who truly care about the poor and helping people and to be fair I think some of that is true. But I was totally unaware that that would morph into a "holier than thou" attitude that invading foreign lands to liberate suffering people was OK. I suppose the high he got upon being first elected must have lasted too long.

Britain is a country of two faces. One is the outward modern one that has a diverse multicultural society that welcomes immigrants (I personally believe that after taking over half the world its only right that those people we colonised should be able to come and live in the UK too - although I can guarantee they won't like the weather). The other is a conservative class structure that wishes to preserve power and influence. I fear what would happen if the conservative elite ever felt truly threatened. I fear they would hold onto power at all costs. The compromise right now is that through the spinning of the simulacra everyone can feel hip and cool and modern and open and free whilst the mechanism doing the spinning is the same fixed structure that its always been.

UK is NOT banning Holocaust from School Books!!!

2007-04-20T08:44:00.000-04:00

I was wondering what to blog about this morning when I saw this headline:
"E-mails are circulating around the world, claiming that the UK has banned the teaching of the Holocaust in schools."
You can read the BBC article here. I am so disturbed by this and have already read one blogger post on the subject. (I know this is not about N'awlins but I'm so angry that I'm posting on both my blogs!!)

It pains me to think that people (highly intelligent thinking people) actually think that my country would do such a thing. When I was in school in Scotland our History classes were focused on the causes of the First and Second World Wars. I know more German History than Scottish. Why? So that we could learn that we are all susceptible to Germany's mistakes and that our country had a large role in causing the First World War which led to the Second.

We have war veterans who liberated the concentration camps in eastern Europe. We adhere to the Geneva convention. We have a free and very vocal press. If this was true they'd be shouting it from the rooftops!!! And yet people will believe an email!! And not research this wild story!!! I am disgusted. I am angry and I am sad.

Update: The blog I read this on has recanted the initial claim that the UK had banned teaching the Holocaust. [thank goodness because I really like her writing and her blog!!]
I know that it must be very challenging for teachers to teach the Holocaust to some (not all) Muslim students who are taught at home that it never happened but it is a challenge that must be met head on. As Edmund Burke (allegedly) said: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

thinking blogger award

2007-04-12T10:33:00.000-04:00

I just received a nomination from Horizon for a thinking blogger award. I am touched and honoured - she has so many blogs on her roll and so many wonderful people comment on her blog I'm quite shocked that she picked my blog!
The task is now passed to me to do the same for five blogs that make me think.

I wish I could nominate the entire New Orleans blogging community, but as it is here are a few bright sparks:

Mark at Wetbank Blog. Always hard hitting, always controversial, always makes me think. My IQ goes up after every visit.

Traveling mermaid was my first foray into the NOLA blogging circle. I love her blog - full of fun, feisty political commentary and music (really like Rotary Downs that she linked to recently!).

Adrastos is a Nola blogger with a taste for British politics. My two worlds converge somewhat, under his posts. I am also glad to hear of someone else who reads the Guardian in N'awlins.

Ashley Morris is way more intelligent than I could ever hope to be and my wee brain cells get quite the workout following all his witty comments and links.

And finally a non-N'awlins blog:
Katie at Longayelander is an American girl from Long Island who is experiencing the joys (and irn bru, pub culture, and vomit...) of living in Glasgow. Its definitely thought provoking to see my country through an other's eyes.

My Art

2007-03-23T13:01:00.000-04:00

This is an oil painting I did about 6 years ago from our deck in Cincinnati. It was one of those paintings I thought I'd more to finish on it and then realized I liked it just the way it was.
This is on a box canvas - it stands about 4 inches out from the wall - arylic (Golden - they rock!)
This I intended to be a background for something and then Dazza said he liked it just the way it was - it reminds me of Louisiana swamp (or a little - OK a very little - like Turner's expansive skies).

This was inspired by the last - and I like to think of it as a Miami hurricane - the wind blowing, the green sky of a storm all framed in Art Deco pink.

This is the last in this inspirational mode. It reminds me of the formations we saw in Moab last summer.

Autism and Blogging

2007-03-12T11:53:00.000-04:00

I have just seen the most incredible video on Apophenia blog. I urge you to watch it - its the youtube after her incredible photos of a deserted factory in Michigan. After watching the video click here.

Books and Their Covers

2007-03-07T21:25:00.000-05:00

I've recently discovered the joys of Library Thing. I actually stumbled across it quite a while ago and was intimidated by the scale of the website and putting in my books. Then I saw a book widget on another blog and suddenly I was hooked.

You see, I love books. Really love books. I have an inherited problem whereby I find it next to impossible to pass a bookshop without entering and buying books. So much so that as an English Lit student at Edinburgh Uni I used to avoid walking on the same side of the street as the Waterstones on Princes Street. There is one at either end so I knew I was safe if I stuck to the middle (but I often lapsed - and that's not mentioning Thins, and the smaller equally yummy bookshops around George Square).

I love text, I like how it looks, even from before I could read or write. Books to me are almost too good to be read. When I look at a book I see the endless possibilities of what is within it. I almost don't want to read it because I don't want to be disappointed. But I also cannot wait to read it. That's why my favourite books are so inherently exciting to me because they fulfilled my dream of what they could be and why the ones that let me down are so disappointing. Have you ever noticed the emphasis that is always placed on settling down with a good book- what if its not?

I also love book covers. I like the different designs and graphics and I know "Never judge a book by its cover". I'm sorry but I do. There I said it! What a book looks like and feels like and what the typeface is so important to me.

I was lucky to have the most fantastic job during my masters. I worked in the university library's conservation department. My job was to repair the library's book collection. I had to mend tears, restitch book blocks, mend covers. I loved it. I was even luckier in that the guys who ran the department were not only the nicest guys and great for a laugh but also were kind enough to teach me how to make a book from scratch. I learnt how to make a small 'normal' sized book which I gave to Dazza for his birthday a few years back. And they helped me make our wedding album - which is huge.

Patriarchal Vienna

2007-03-04T17:55:00.000-05:00

The Vienna Phil have long been renowned for their playing, for the gusto and bravado of their Mahler and Strauss, their exquisite molding of the classical melodies of Mozart and Haydn. They have also long been known for their adherence to tradition. They have a distinct sound, an exact idea of how things should be played in the Vienna Philharmonic.

They have also long been known for traditionally being an all male orchestra. In this modern era where orchestras have a much larger proportion of female musicians in the ranks (the New York Phil has a ration of 40% women; and the introduction of screens particularly in America has increased female musicians in orchestra by 50%), it is almost baffling that this orchestra is still in the dark ages when it comes to gender equality. Don't get me wrong they claim to want to increase their female membership (which used to consist of a lone harpist and substitute musicians - or musicians that are members of vienna state opera but not the phil). But they do not follow through.

They claim that their tradition is what gives them their greatness and their sound. Their tradition definitely keeps them in the nineteenth century. Their claims make it apparent that they still believe that women musicians are not as capable as their male counterparts. The they that I am referring to is the orchestral musicians themselves (who are, ehhhm, lets see ... oh .. yeah men) as they pride themselves on being a democratic organization where the members vote on everything. Saying that they wish to increase their female membership and then not hiring any women speaks volumes about how the Vienna Phil really feel about gender equality.

I heard this orchestra in Carnegie Hall a few years back. They were exciting and vibrant. Haitink was conducting and I was enthralled. The interesting thing is that this performance which had every ounce of me invested in every note had a significant number of women in the orchestra. I realise that they were probably all substitutes (orchestras commonly use quite a lot of subs when they go on tour - which is why when I saw Berlin at the Proms in London ten years ago there was a woman in the double bass section!). I would be very interested to hear if anyone would try to make the claim that the orchestra would have sounded better without them!

I have to sadly agree with Justin Davidson whose post on Newsday brought this sorry affair to my attention, that I too will forgo any chance to hear this orchestra until they start to play from the same hymn sheet as the rest of the twenty-first century.

Scored!!

2007-03-03T17:04:00.000-05:00

Just found these weird and wonderful scores!! Definitely a challenge to read - but then every since john Cage scores have been fair game for artistic license - I do wonder how some of these sound though but I'd love to have them hanging on my wall.
For more see here.

St Kilda Opera

2007-03-02T16:36:00.000-05:00

I am excited to hear about a new and innovative project that the Gaelic Arts Agency is developing involving St Kilda (see here). An opera of sorts has been commissioned. I means of sorts because the "performance" on June 22nd & 23rd of this year will take place in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany and Scotland simultaneously. All places will view the same script, score, pre-filmed material and satellite link-up to St Kilda itself. There will be vertical dancers (see here) from France and traditional and new song in Gaelic. The basis of the story (although they're not giving much away on their website) is the tough life of the St Kildans before they were evacuated in the 1930s.

I have a soft spot for St Kilda. Not just because of the romance of "the islands on the edge of the world" or the tight knit community that clung to traditional ways for survival in such an inhospitable place but because when I was a child my Dad used to go off to St Kilda for two week trips. He went with the National Trust to help in the rebuilding of the only village on the island. He would come back with stories of the St Kildan mouse, wren and soay sheep. We would sit as family around our big oak dining table and watch the slides he took of this magical place. He told us also of the little boat that would carry the team out to the islands and how the sea was so rough that the boat would be almost vertical at times but that didn't bother him as he inherited his sea legs from my great-great grandfather who sailed schooner ships from the west coast of Scotland to the 'New States of America'.

My sister, brother and I were always fascinated by the St Kildan 'post' which was a slightly more sophisticated "message in a bottle". They would put postcards and letters in a vessel and make it sea worthy and set it off to be carried to the mainland by the waves. We were always fascinated when the postcards he sent us arrived - normally after he had been home for a few weeks.

He told us of the St Kildans who developed an unusually large big toe to be able to climb down the enormous cliffs (one being the same height as the Empire State). The St Kildans ate sea birds to survive and would use every last bit of each bird to make oil, soap etc. They had little connection with the outside world until Calvinism arrived in the form of a minister in a boat and a Kirk was built. They were a democracy. Every morning the men would meet in the street to decide the day's business. When little needed doing this meeting was more like a sewing circle. All the food that was caught was shared out equally regardless of who caught what or how much. And they had no mirrors. This last fact has always fascinated me.

I am deeply curious about this opera and hope it is a big success. I wish I could see it. The website says there will be a DVD so hopefully I can get a hold of one. I like how the definition of 'opera' is being broken down in this aspect. I know some die hard traditionalists will gripe and moan about it (because they always do) but I like the use of modern technology in Art. It adds perspectives that were unseen before and can link experiences thousands of miles apart.

Blog Facelift

2007-03-02T14:26:00.000-05:00

I've decided what I'm going to use this blog for. Its going to be the receptacle for all the political ravings, silly ramblings, and probably some reviews or thoughts on the current books I'm reading.
I'm also going to post more links to stuff I find procrastinating online. Like this and this and this and maybe that.
I have no idea what will appear or if any of it will be worth reading but it'll keep me occupied and off the streets ....

to be continued ......

Farewell Miami

2007-01-04T09:55:00.000-05:00

We bid Miami and all its craziness farewell on Christmas Eve. I have to admitt neither of us was sad to leave. Miami is crazy, bright, busy but also cold and heartless. It is like a big shiney present with nothing inside.

Who knows what I'll use this blog for, if at all. We are grateful for having the experience of living in this weird place and it was a welcome jolt after the sleepiness of Ohio. But this is not our kind of place.

So farewell.

Nawlins Updates

2006-10-23T11:08:00.000-04:00

Will be driving back to Miami on Sunday (and see Dazza .. yippeee) until that brand of craziness returns I'm writing a bunch of stuff on my Nawlins blog.

back to craziness

2006-10-06T16:18:00.000-04:00

Dazza and I went for a stroll down to the post office on Washington Ave this afternoon and were immediately confronted with the reality of living in South Beach: a woman urinating in squating position, pants off, in the middle of the sidewalk!!

Oooh ooh - we crossed the street asap and shuddered but admittedly she could have been doing much worse.....

In contrast we were walking down Lincoln road avoiding as many tourists as we could (very challenging) when we heard a great squalking coming from the palm trees. We looked up to see lots of green birds which looked like budgies poking out at the base of the palm leaves.

It also goes without saying that we passed many half naked bodies, people muttering to themselves, ugly men dressed as women, fake breasts and way way too much perfume and cologne!!

Sad News

2006-09-27T06:36:00.000-04:00

My wonderful Granda is in the hospital and is dying. He is 86yrs old and has had a long and rich life but I wish we could have another year.
So I am flying back to the UK today and flying to Aberdeen from London on Thursday. I know I may arrive too late but I want to try my best and at the very least be there to raise a dram and give him a proper send off.

New Blog: New City

2006-09-26T13:48:00.002-04:00

I fell in love with New Orleans. I have only been there for two weeks and neither of those were Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest or Halloween. But this is a city that seduces quickly and you soon learn to know what it is to miss New Orleans.

I have so much to write about what I saw, experienced and felt in that city, that I have decided that it is worthy of its own blog. To please go to my new blog at
kursetnawlins.blogspot.com
Or you can also click on the link to the side that says "My New Orleans Blog"

This blog will primarily be for Miami and my other wanderings.

New Car: must be a grown up!!

2006-09-08T07:37:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we bought a new car - so brand spankingly new that we haven't even seen it yet!!! Its a Honda "Fit" (for those in Europe its the same as a honda "jazz"). Its a wee car but its a 5 door and the seats fold brilliantly so there is lots of space. Of course because this is America they make a HUGE deal about how much SPACE they have - like they want to say this is a small car but really it is modelled on the Doctor Who tardus and it is mammoth inside. I was extremmely amused by this - europeans know that its a wee car and that's great!!
Anyway the reason we haven't seen our purchase yet is that they are "hot" (not stolen - popular!!) and "cool" so they are all sold before they reach the showroom. We need the car asap as I'm off to New Orleans with our volkswagen and Dazza need to get to work. So we needed the next one that is coming in next week - so we ended up with the "sport" version and no choice over the colour. So what colour is it? It is SO Miami: it's white!!!
So we now have another sizable car payment - wee hee!! But we'd rather buy the car than lease it with all the worry of damage and going over the mileage and then you have to give it back with nothing to show for all your money. We know that Honda is reliable and we should be able to drive the car to its grave.
The big discussion now is whether Dazza gets the new car or me - do we add more miles to the volkswagen that already has a lot of miles on it or do I put them on the new car?
Anyway, I'm feeling very much like a grown up now having bought a car and having a proper job. I suppose its about time now I'm 30!!

N'awlins

2006-09-07T09:35:00.000-04:00

Got some amazing news yesterday. I have been offered a job in New Orleans!! I have to leave on Monday for the Big Easy. I am so excited for this new experience and the job. Dazza will be staying in South Beach and I'll come back as often as I can (the job is until May and I won't know until April if it permenant). So my blogging will be sporadic until I find a library to use the computer and I will post photos of N'awlins when I am back in Miami. I know I will have plenty to write about - from the reconstruction, the devastation, the music coming back, the politics of it all and of course the food!! (one of my friends has already told me to skip the gumbo - it's "minging" apparently!? I guess I'm also going to hear plenty of creole in the morning now!!

Raindrop Abstracts

2006-09-05T14:08:00.000-04:00

These are some silly photos of some raindrops on my window:

Raindrops keep falling on my head

2006-09-05T13:49:00.000-04:00

You would think I would be an expert on rain, coming from Scotland. But I am finding out that there is one type I have not known: Miami rain. It is pouring outside - and I mean pouring, like there is an old woman with a bucket pouring water down upon our heads. It has been like this for two days now and I'm beginning to feel a bit cooped up in our tweeny weeny apartment. It is still warm - 83 farenheit, 27 celsuis. So maybe I'll do an impression of Gene Kelly and go jumping through some puddles. I'll just have to watch out for frogs and toads. There were a group of them outside our window again today - maybe they were having a party as my Granny would say.

Che Guevara: turning in his unmarked grave!

2006-08-30T14:15:00.000-04:00

Che must be turning in his unmarked grave at the knowledge that the hurricane/storm called after him should turn out to be such a flop. It also seems like tempting fate to call a storm aimed at Miami, Ernesto.

Our Ernesto [the alternate 'Motorcycle Diaries']

2006-08-28T13:20:00.000-04:00

We awoke Moday with butterflies. Our apprehension grew as it appeared that Ernesto wanted to visit us directly.

I went for a walk with intentions of strolling up the boardwalk along by the ocean and pondering the storm brewing a few hundred miles away. My intentions were thwarted however, by the heat. It was a beautiful day - perfect blue sky with glorious sunshine and very little humidity, but hot. Apparently what happens before a storm you have a beautiful day with greatly reduced humidity because the approaching storm sucks in all the moisture. It also causes it to be hotter. I feel that I have definitely been adjusting to Miami heat but I could only muster going round the block!!

Dazza came home from work loaded with a flashlight ('torch' in UK terms) that also glows in the dark, batteries for our fan and radio, and masking tape for the windows. I went to town taping up the windows - although I fully appreciate that I was probably going overboard as we actually have hurricane strength glass but it made me feel better and I'd rather be ridiculously over prepared than under. And anyhow I quite like the new look of our latticed windows!!

Dazza was eager to go for a stroll to the beach, his earlier anticipation having given way to adventurous excitement. The calm before the storm is beautiful and the strong breeze in the evening had dissapated the unbearable heat of the day. the hummidity gone from the atmosphere, we could see the stars over the beach and watch the puffs of clouds racing along with the wind.

When we went to bed, the news reports were stating that Ernesto was likely to arrive in Miami as a tropical storm, not a hurricane. This was very welcome news, however they were also saying that they were expecting winds of 70mph, only 5mph below hurricane category one. Basically, we can predict a great deal when it come to hurricanes but nothing is certain until Ernesto arrives. After all only three days ago Ernesto looked like he wanted to visit Mexico instead of Florida.

We woke to my Mum calling just to see how we were doing and what out plans were. Dazza finished putting all our things off the floor in case of flooding - I particularly like the trainers on the bookshelves! Then we loaded the car with things we can't do without and drove to Dazza's boss's place to leave our stuff. The drive was quite beautiful - the sky was pink and orange with puffy white clouds.

Dazza then went to work and I went to Starbucks armed with a New York Times, magazines and my journal.

12.30 pm Tuesday August 29th
The sky has an ominous dark cloud threatening in the distance and the wind is testing its strength, getting prepared for its big show, by tusselling some obliging palm trees.

1.45 pm Tuesday August 29th
The rain has begun thrashing the tarmac. The wind has taken a break. Its like two warriors taking turns to warm up for battle.

Time passed and the internet (slow) at Dazza's work was reporting that Ernesto was tired and didn't seem to want to pick up steam. We also must have done something to offend him because he was deciding to make a path more towards the west coast and the retired folks in Naples.

By the way Borders closed at 12 noon and I had to abandon my wandering amoungst books. Then my peaceful sipping of coffee was aborted when Starbucks closed at 4. Dazza's work was still open and looked like they'd not close, now that the storm was less threatening.

Dazza and I decided we'd be OK going home to South Beach - we'd rather sleep in our own bed (well, futon...). So after dinner we picked our stuff up from his boss's place and headed home. There was rain and wind but nothing too bad. It was novel to be driving with such little traffic. I pictured everyone in Miami sitting at home sipping mohitos while the rain pounded the windows.

Once home we turned on the local news to hear that Ernesto was indeed tired and would arrive as a weak tropical storm in the middle of the night. So we went to bed.

I woke a couple of times around 1am to some rain and howling wind but I have to admit I've experienced much much worse in the north of Scotland. We are very grateful that our first Miami hurricane experience shoul be gentle and that we still have all our possesions.

Until next time..........

Hurricane and Cockroach: FUN!!!

2006-08-28T08:48:00.000-04:00

Hurricane Ernesto is looming over Cuba and threatening Southern Florida - and Miami in particular!! I can't believe after two weeks of being here AND it being the FIRST hurricane of this year's season that it is headed straight for us!!!!
South Beach will more than likely be evacuated - so we are going to have to find one of Dazza's work colleagues who can put us up. So we'll make some friends! :)

Hopefully we will return to South Beach and our stuff will be OK (you can't get renters insurance on South Beach). The major threat is flooding - we are on the first floor but about 6 feet above the road. Fingers crossed!!!

On top of this we discovered our first cockroach running about our apartment this morning - yuech we squished him and squished him good!!!

Hulk Hogan; and Creole in the Morning

2006-08-26T14:01:00.000-04:00

Wow, yeeeeaa, squeeeel - I saw my first famous person on South Beach today!!! I was strolling up Alton Road (sweating profusely of course!!) and low and behold this BIG guy gets out of an SUV and crosses the street. He had BIG tanned muscles (not unusual for SB) and almost white blonde hair with a handlebar mustache. It was HULK HOGAN!! And there were two guys - roadsweepers I think - calling on their cell phones, giggling and pointing - I guess they were thinking the same thing.

The place where I work (that shall remain nameless and so too the folk that work there) for a part time job is a real eye opener into how different this place is from anything else I've every experienced. For a start I am definately in the minority both in the colour of my skin and the fact that I am not bilingual. All around me I hear several different languages. The predominant one doesn't seem to be English but Spanish and I want to start learning some asap so I don't feel so stupid - or cut off, or 'white colonial-esque'! I had a thought this morning as I was performing one of my many meanial tasks - I love the sound of French Creole in the morning. It is quite beautiful and god bless the Haitian woman who sings creole songs to herself as she works.

Scottish Exports

2006-08-23T19:27:00.000-04:00

This is hilarious and only too true:
go to the link to hilarious first foot and click on the link "brit's abroad"!! It had me in tears - of laughter!!

Fish & Feathers

2006-08-23T12:56:00.000-04:00

Fish and feathers as decorative emblems are all over south beach. I was particularly struck by this bird - with dancing naked figures on his wings.

South Beach certainly is a fishy sort of place.

at the frog interface of cyberspace and reality

2006-08-22T15:37:00.000-04:00

I look out my window and see something moving between the apartment blocks outside that are getting renovated. I presume it is a rat - a pretty sizable rat.

I look again.

Its not a rat nor a chipmonk, prairie dog or even large mouse.

Its a frog. A brown and cream speckily frog with big bulging brown eyes perched on the top corners of its head and he's sitting squarely on his hind legs looking at me.

I wonder if he's thinking is that a Cuban, a Columbian, a Mexican? No its a quine fae Scotland. Now that's exotic!

So he lumbers a few times between sitting squarely until he finally dives into a pile of wet leaves.

I get online to write this amphibian incident and the page that is open has an advert for a mortgage company or some such and that advert consists of a frog - much more conventional bright 'green' tree frog - lurching in an out of the frame.

I definitely feel that today is a frog kind of day - lots of rain and thunderstorms. I wonder if I'd be enjoying this day more if I were one.

Cuban Hospitality

2006-08-22T07:01:00.000-04:00

So yesterday I had to get some new keys made for our tweeny apartment. I stumbled across a little hardware store on Alton Road. It must have been there for decades because the cluttered store was full of merchandise covered in serveral years of dust and grime. Matching the store was the man who runs it. He must be around my grandfather's age, in his eighties and had white hair and a matching handle-bar mustache. Even though he must've been there for so long, he spoke practically no english (Miami is known as the capital of Latin America afterall). I managed to let him know that I needed two sets of new keys made and he revved up his ancient key copying machine. After he produced the keys he asked - well mimed - whether I would like a shot of cuban coffee. I thought this was such a great gesture. However when I came to pay he didn't have enough money in his register to give me change of $20 - so I gave him all the change I had but I was short about a dollar and fifty cents. I tried to go back at 5.30pm but he had closed up shop. I felt bad because it seemed like it was possible I may have been his only customer of the day. So one of my aims in the next couple of days is to go back and give him a couple of dollars. And I have to admit I enjoyed the whole Cuban hospitality so much that I'm glad I've got an excuse to go back.

ps apologies - spell chk nut wurcin agin

Just Like Tobermoray ...bit a wee bitty different

2006-08-20T18:42:00.000-04:00

Went for our first excursion into the weird and wonderful world of south beach. The art deco buildings are stunning - like perfect cakes with fondant icing. They also, in a parallel universe sort of way, reminded me of Portree harbour or Tobermoray bay. Perhaps they could have the American version of ballamoray (sp?) in South Beach?? The heat wasn't too bad and there weren't too many people around (probably all still in bed on a Sunday afternoon recovering from partying on Saturday night).

We also went to the arts center on Lincoln Road. They have lots of artists studios and lots of artwork to see and, if you've got any money left over after rent in this place, buy. They have a particularly spectacular floor which swims in mosaic swirls of ceramic tiles. I am so excited to find out that they have art classes and in particular life drawing class for only $10!! And I can just walk a few blocks to get there!! It has been way too long since I had access to this stuff. They also have a public darkroom facility - perhaps I'll get around to getting a new lense for my SLR and take some black and whites and try to remember how to develop photos in the darkroom again.

Here are some more South Beach 'candy' pictures - all very sugary!! I especially like the prisoner transport van on the beach and the guys shooting a video!! Oh and by the way we passed the biggest blondest transvestite with the deepest voice strolling - or maybe I should say teetering - down Washington Ave. Things don't seem to get dull here although it would be a very scary day when seeing the myriad of weird characters around here became dull and common place.

Many different "America"s

2006-08-19T07:39:00.000-04:00

Now we are up and running with our high speed internet we are back connected to the world. I had a great tiime catching up with friends and seeing lots of different "Americas" this summer.

New York was shining. It sparkled with energy. I felt like I was finally waking up from my midwest slumber. I always feel that that city is the gateway to the world. That things are happening. It was awesome.

Atlanta, Georgia, was hot and a shining new city (it got burned down in the civil war) but the disappointing thing was that the city is still very much segregated on racial lines - my friend stays in the white north of the city and I hardly saw any african americans the whole time (very sad for the hometown of Martin Luther King). I had a great time with my friend. She showed me every nook and cranny of her neighbourhood. The huge houses in the rich part boggled the mind!!!

Indianapolis (Carmel really), Indiana was as scary as usual: every house looks the same and I swear the stepford wives club actually exists there. Time I found goes very very slowly there - maybe it is twilight zone - I am also convinced that there are little elves that come out in the middle of the night to cut every blade of grass to perfect exacting specified length.

Houston, Texas, was hot!! Not sit out hot - sit indoors because it is unbearable hot. The humidity there is unbelievable - you could slice it up and serve it with ice cream, the air is so thick. It is one of Americas big sprawling cities. I didn't have much time to see much but we went to a great place for BBQ which had a lot of character.

The Trip from Houston to Nashville was a hoot - Kristen, her sister Sara, and me in a rickety old van towing Kristen's car. It took us WAY too long but we had plenty of daft songs to sing on the way. We drove through lots of little Texan towns and some "dry" counties (ie no alcohol allowed!!). It is amazing when you see cliches unfolding before your eyes - the old man sitting on his front porch in a rocking chair.

We rolled into Nashville, Tennessee, at 4 am. We were exhausted. The next day we explored a bit after breakfast at Ihop - Ihop is an American institution - it stands for International house of Pancakes. It is a diner type chain restaurant which specializes in breakfast - lots of food and not much of it is good for you :) Nashville has a small town feel to it. We avoided the tourist strip downtown and explored a nice grungy neighborhood with an excellent coffee shop and used bookstore. There was evidence everywhere of cowboy hats and boots!!!

Miami. Florida. Our first impression was this is nuts we are moving here!! Palm trees abound. There is lots of brightly colored buildings and down town is a jungle of high rises with more being built. After a saga with apartment hunting we finally found our place in south beach with the reasoning that if we are going to live in a crazy place we may as well live in the craziest part of it for the full experience.

Salt Lake City. Utah. Wow, amazing mountains!!! The city nestles at the base of a mountain ridge of some of the most stunning mountains I have seen. The city however is weird. It is a mix of outdoor snow types, hippies and conservative straight laced mormons. We visited the mormon temple - scary in itself. The mormons believe the weirdest stuff - that a guy in upstate new york in 1832 had a sign from god to find 'golden tablets' in a hill on his farm, and that the ancient eqyptian writing on them could only be translated by this same man, Josh Smith; they beleive that prophets from biblical times came to America and had a civilisation here that died out and that Josh Smith and the subsequent 15 prophets after him are talking from God. I went with the attitude that I was open to anything and sort of wanted to see if they would/could try to convert me. I came away feeling more convinced of the craziness of their beliefs. I think the mormons are very like a cult - a cult of people who are very 'nice' and smile all the time - oh and don't drink alcohol, coffee, soda or condone homosexuality or equality for women.

Steamboat Springs. Colorado. The journey through the mountains to colorado was beautiful and we saw some odd things on the way - like prairie dogs eating road kill fearless of being knocked down by a car and a big giant plastic pink dinosaur on the side of the road. Steamboat is a typical colorado town with lots of wealthy people and outdoor types who have no money. The mountains are beautiful but to be honest they looked just like all the other colorado mountains I've seen. The Rodeo at night however was brilliant. It's amazing to see the cowboys at work and their skill. I wouldn't get on one of those bucking broncos or bulls for the world - definitely scary. The funny part was when they got all the kids between 6 and 12 to go down into the ring and then let a calf out into the ring with a ribbon tied to its tale. The first kid to catch the ribbon from the calf got a prize. You should have seen the petrified expression on the calf's face when it was faced with a crowd of kids running after it. They did the same thing with the under 6 year olds and a sheep - I think the sheep got the better deal. There was also a six year old who did barrel running - that is when they ride around three barrels in the stadium at a full gallop. The six year old was amazing on a big horse going full pelt.

Moab. Utah. The drive down from Steamboat to the dessert was astounding. The landscape slowly split and moved into being a wonderment of canyons and red red stone. It felt like going back in time. The rock formations were like the ruins of ancient castles. The heat was unbelievable. I actually felt like my brain was cooking. We were glad that the little hairdryer on wheels that Darren's work had hired us at least had air conditioning. Moab is a small town in the dessert with a big wide main street. The main industry there is definitely tourism. There are lots of shops to spend money on nothing. It is a bizarre place because it almost feels like it is incomplete due to the dry rock surrounding the place. I think if you lived there you would dream about trees and grass lawns. In the morning we went to Arches National Park. It was breathtaking. The rock formations were so varied and wonderful it was difficult to believe (I'm afraid that Mum's geology explanations of Arthur's Seat are going to fall a bit flat after this). This is a place unlike any other and somewhere everyone should see once if they can. Only do yourself a favour and don't go in the summer unless you wish to experience your brain frying - it got up to 115 degrees farenheit!!!

Now sitting in South Beach I am amazed by how many different Americas there are in this country. I feel very lucky to have seen so many of them. This country can never be pinned down. As soon as you think America is one thing something pops up to contradict it. There is lots of go get em enthusiasm in parts of America but there is also extreme conservative pessimism too. There is so much to explore in this one country that it is no wonder that so few leave to explore the rest of the world. I've had a rich and eye opening summer. I feel lucky to have had such opportunity.

Moab Dessert

2006-08-18T22:08:00.000-04:00

Airline Humour....

2006-07-20T13:50:00.000-04:00

I meant to post this last week. When my plane touched down in Houston from Atlanta lastweek, the airline steward went through the usual rigmerole of thanking us passangers from flying with them and then tagged this on at the end:
"We hope that next time you wish to rcket through the skies in a pressurised metal tube, we hope you'll choose us!"

Mormon Smiling Contest

2006-07-20T13:30:00.000-04:00

Yesterday Dazza and I went to temple square in downtown Salt Lake City. For those who are not aware this is centre of the Mormon church - or 'the Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter Day Saints' as they generally preferred to be called. The square consists of several buildings including the tabarnacle where their famous choir sings, a conference center, office buildings, a chapel and most crucially The Temple. The Temple is a grey building built over forty years by the Mormon's who came and settled Salt Lake City in the 1840s. They are extremely proud of how long it took them to build it and how 'beautiful' it is but I have to admit that it didn't strike me as particularly special - probably years of living beside an English cathedral (Wells) has tainted my ability to appreciate Mormons architecture. When I get to Miami and set up our computer and figure out the whole photos and posting them online thing you can judge for yourselves.

They give tours of the square led by their 'sister' missionaries from all over the world (young women that they call sisters - I don't know if they are 'nuns' or not). Our guides were Ahn from South Korea and Adhadhe from Ghana . They were lovely, sweet, gentle, kind and never ever stopped smiling!! They told us about how happy they are to know that God is their father and that Jesus Christ is the center of the universe. They told us the story of the seagulls: when the Mormon pioneers first came to Salt Lake they planted their first crop but that year there was a swarm of black locusts that descended eating everything; at first they tried to fight off the insects but to no avail; so they turned to prayer and prayed and prayed and then a miracle happened; a flock of seagulls appeared and ate the locusts leaving the Mormons with a small but viable harvest. They told us how the seagull is the state bird of Utah and that they have a beautiful fountain with gold seagulls atop to honour their miracle. They told us that they believe that a group of prophets left the holy land in 600BC and came to America and wrote of their prophecies on gold tablets and hid them in America until Joshua Smith came and found them through a vision from an angel and translated them from an unknown ancient Egyptian language into English and compiled 'The Book of Mormon'. They told us that they believe in the living prophet and believe that the current one (the man who is head of the church) talks directly from God. They told us all this and did so still smiling and smiling. They sang us two songs and their voices were sweet and the envy of every girl guide troop the world over. And they smiled.

They were so nice that they deflected all questions. They were so nice how could you possibly wish to deflate their bubble of niceness by suggesting problems or queries about what they believed. So we found ourselves smiling and nodding and smiling again. My ambitions of getting answers to why they think it is ok to try by whatever means necessary to 'cure' homosexuals, or why God would have no prophets after biblical times until an immigrant in northern New York state in 1832 and thereafter have a direct succession of fifteen prophets or why they don't believe in evolution or where is the evidence for a people emigrating to the Americas 600BC? - all those questions were rendered mute in the face of those smiles. I suppose I naively thought that I may find that they would want to engage in discussion - at least try to convert me. But instead their means of conversion is much more subtle. Their message is become a Mormon and you too can smile like us, can have the power of smile.

I left with my cheeks aching and my brain dazed. Dazza and I both agreed that we felt violated by niceness. None of our questions had been answered and we didn't feel that we knew much more about the Latter Day Saints. So we went to their book store (a trip in itself - with books with titles like "What I Wish I'd Known Before I Became a Missionary" and "So I Married a Mormon") and bought a copy of 'The Book of Mormon'. As I get more answers I will have more to write and ponder. The most profound thing I learnt however is the powerful deadly precision of a smile. Perhaps the Israelis and Hezbollah could take a leaf out of the sisters book of Mormon magic and just smile with avengance.

Update - gut instinct restored

2006-07-19T14:26:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I wrote an email to Monica about the apartment and how it affected us. We thought that would be the end of it and we'd achieve that holy grail of (usually american) psychology "closure". Well, I received an email back from her today and turns out the 'new roommate' was a ruse. The true situation is that her parents are in dire financial straites and Monica needs to sell her apartment in order to help them out. She made up the other roommate excuse because she couldn't face telling us the truth.

I feel terrible for her but yet I am also pleased that my gut instinct has been restored. I was mostly upset that a person whom I thought to be full of sincerity and integrity would up and dump us having led us on. I am pleased to know that she is not that kind of person and my first instinct was correct. I wrote back and hopefully we can meet up when we get to Miami and still be friends. I am just glad that I took the time to email her and find out the full story. I am also glad that being genuine and honest people doesn't mean that Dazza and I are doomed to be screwed over by others. In fact hopefully this very aspect will mean that we can still gain a great friend - watch this space.

Lebanon Crisis

2006-07-19T12:53:00.000-04:00

I feel terrible. I have just read an account of what is happening in Lebanon right now in the Guardian. It is an account by a young woman who is an artist forced to witness all her hopes and dreams come crumbling down. I have also found a blog that is also a must read: thelebanesebloggers.blogspot.com

This conflict is complex but there is one basic reality that is coming out of it: innocent people are dying, are injured, are living in fear. Israel is bombing the infrastructure of a country. They are targeting trucks - how is humanitarian aid going to be able to help without trucks? With Bush at the helm I am fearful for the outcome and it breaks my heart to read of the reality for the poor people in Lebanon. When will people realise that violence is not the best method - violence complicates matters, it violates lives, it harms those who have no part in the mess that created it.
The sun may be shining today in Utah but I have a heavy heart.

Salt Lake City

2006-07-18T17:03:00.000-04:00

I am now in Salt Lake City for the next couple of weeks while Dazza finishes the end of his training. There are the most beautiful mountains on either side of the valley. Last night we went up to Park City which is a small town in the mountains reminiscient of Aspen but not quite that rich - yet!! We had ribs at a local restaurant and wandered about. This morning we went hiking for the first time (for me not Dazza) and saw a MOOSE!!! - that's the big hairy kind with antlers not the scottish small rodent kind that I co-habited with in Edinburgh for 5 years!! It was a magnificent animal and quite happily munched on some flowers as Dazza and I ummed and awed. The views up in the mountains are stunning and if it weren't for all the ski parifinelia then you'd feel wonderfully in touch with nature.

The most bizarre happening was on the way down. We met a long crocodile of young girls being frog-marched up the mountain by a blonde woman dressed as snow white!!! I kid you not. We felt so sorry for all these prepubescent girls being tortured by camp leaders who think nothing of dressing as though they work at disney world and stomping up mountains in Utah.

So, a lot has happened since I last wittered on this site. I had a fantastic time helping my friend Kristen move from Houston to Nashville with the added bonus of having her sister Sara along for the ride too. It took us 18 and a half hours to get to Nashville and I think such craziness deserves a post of its own - watch this space!!

Then I went to Miami to meet Dazza to look for apartments. This turned out to be much more of a saga than first anticipated.

We had set up a plethera of realtors to meet, apartments to see and also a girl to meet to see if sharing would be a good answer to the thorny issue of how expensive everything is in Miami. The first day, Thursday, we saw a bunch of yuechy yuechy beside D's work, we saw this girl, Monica's not quite finished 2 bedroom apartment and a few places in south beach. We didn't really want to be in south beach because of the commute to work for D but the cost for having a non-yuechy place near his work in Pinecrest was proving very difficult. So ... it was coming down to south beach or if this girl Monica was nice then a room share near D's work.
Monica hadn't been able to meet us to see the apartment that morning so her Mom did it instead. So we met her that night. She is a pretty girl with long dark hair and eyes. She has just graduated from Columbia with a comparitive lit degree and is currently working for one of the democratic hopefuls for Florida governor. She is lively and intelligent and talks a mile a minute. We hit it off immediately and thought our prayers had been answered. Dazza felt exactly the same - I was somewhat surprised as he'd not been keen on sharing again as its been 6 years since we last had a roommate. So we called Monica and said we'd like to take it. Great she said and arranged to meet the next day, Friday, in the evening to discuss furniture and moving arrangements.
So we had a great day on Friday driving around Miami getting to know the place. Both of us have jaws that are kind of dragging on the ground at the realization that we will be living with palm trees!! Anyway, that evening at 5 we went back to our hotel (doubletree in coconut grove - awesome by the way found on priceline for $100 a night) to get a snack before meeting Monica.
The phone goes..... its Monica. She tells Dazza that she's decided to go with someone else for the apartment. They apparently could pay more and after discussing it with her parents and she had to think of herself blah blah blah... We were gutted!! Here we thought we would have a great new friend and have our apartment stuff sorted all in a one-er. But instead we had to scramble to find places to look at on a Friday night in Miami ....aaaaaAAAAAAAAArrrrrrrrrrrrrrghhhhhhh!!!

We got on craigslist (thank god for craigslist) and set up 4 places to see that night. The first was a studio in South Beach. It was on the pricey side but the photos looked great. We were not disappointed. It is only a year old and has stainless steel kitchen and a washer and dryer in the apartment. It is small but not too small and feels safe. We took it. So we will be in the north of south beach in prime position to watch all the craziness - the movie stars, the body builders, the tanning obsessives, the transvestites, the tourists, the multitude of bright colours everywhere. Although the apartment situation with Monica was a terrible thing to happen, I think we will enjoy south beach much more (her apartment was in dadeland across from the biggest mall I think I've ever seen.....!!!).

So now we just have to decide how much of our stuff to take and how much to leave in Indianapolis. Until that time though we have two weeks to hang out with mormons (we are going to visit the temple), climb more mountains, and chill out before the craziness of moving and realty hits.

(PS apologies for typos and just my weird and wonderful spellings - just in case anyone wanted proof that I am actually dyslexic or as I prefer to term it dephlumphlic - but this library computer won't let me do spell check!!!)

What A Privilege

2006-07-07T17:38:00.000-04:00

Time ticks by at the speed of a giant sloth. I feel like I'm in a kind of stupor. I'm in another universe where the trees and grass all abide, loyally, by the laws of geometry. I have an erie feeling that I don't really exist and am merely playing a role in a very large film set.

The houses all sit obediently in perfect rows and the sun sits smugly in its sparkling blue sky. The only sounds are the occasional bird and the perfect laughter of the perfect life of the perfect families.

Nothing disturbs here. No one steps into the dangerous territory of being 'different'. The only difference allowed is of the colour of the skin of the nice people who serve the perfect people. This is of course allowable because people who serve don't really exist. They are only extras on the movie set and will not have their names on the credits.

An time ticks slowly by, quietly so as not to disturb anyone. So no one notices that everyday is like the last and each season like the same season the year before. Everyone smiles as they sleepwalk, slowly, imperceptible through their wonderful, perfect lives. What a privilege.
Suburbia, USA

Atlanta Botanical Gardens

2006-07-01T02:33:00.000-04:00

If you ever visit Atlanta it is well worth taking the time to go the Botanical Gardens. Not only was the orchid house filled with some stunning specimens but they have some really amazing fantastical sculptures. A couple really grabbed our fancy. One was a rather naughty fountain of three women where the water was shooting out of their reclining mouths AND breasts!!! They other much cleaner one was giant skull which was so big you could sit inside it. All the sculptures are made from colorful pieces of glass, beads, stones and mirrors constructed in a mosiac fashion. All the figures are very portly and cheerful. There were totem poles, lions, whales, snakes - a veritable garden of eden in technicolor.
Then to polish off the day, last night Darren and I went with some new friends - Louise and Jared - to movie on the green. There were 17 thousand people gathered to watch 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' (the original version). It is totally free event in a large park in Midtown. There were people from all walks of life, all there to enjoy the evening. There was the added bonus of everyone cheering at the good bits (like when Charlie gets the golden ticket) and singing along with the favourite tunes - ompahlumpah being by far the favourite!! We had a great time and would recommend it - the picnic was good too!!

Atlanta - hh-h-hhOT!!!!

2006-06-23T15:22:00.000-04:00

I am in Atlanta visiting my awesome friend Ginny. We left Cleveland - great joy to all!! - and moved all our stuff to Indy. The drive to Indy was interesting. D was driving the U-haul with a trailer on behind so the speed didn't really manage to get above 65mph and the average must've been 60. I managed, even with the car totally loaded with two basses and stuff, to get 36 miles to the gallon!! It did go through my mind that if I drove that slow everywhere I could save a lot of gas - but who am I kidding it took us an extra hour to get to Indy at that speed!!!
D's folks, Steve and Jean were brilliant when we got to Carmel. They helped us put our stuff into the storage shed and probably saved D and I from tearing each other's heads off. When all our stuff is beautiful and in our apartment and all the books look great etc. D calls it "our" stuff but funnily enough when we have to box it all and move it it suddenly becomes all my stuff!!
After all the moving and sorting Dazza had to go back to Salt Lake City for training. We didn't get to hang out much and being apart sux. However at least we only have ten day periods before we see each other - much better than our year apart due to the wonderful US immigration system. Anyway Dazza is having a whale of a time in Salt Lake going on lots of hikes and surrounded by mountains - the only danger is getting accosted by the mormons (which happened to him on his first plane journey out there!!).
Meanwhile I am having a proper summer. I had three wonderful days in NYC with my friend Heather. We stayed in the Millenium Hotel just beside the UN building on 44th street. The view from our hotel was astounding!! Waking up to see the empire state and crysler building was a very rare treat. Luckily for us the beeb were footing the bill. We had a great time catching up on our lives, events and world politics. However I have to admit I liked the fact that Heather got a kick out of seeing a yellow american school bus!
It was perfect timing for me: NYC woke my brain up and shocked it out of its midwest slumber. I felt better than I had for what felt like years. I do not think the midwest agrees with me. I get a severe allergic attack of apathy and blah-ness when I am there.
But we are gone now so my brain no longer has any excuse for apathy or slumbering through life. Miami will definately be a culture shock after the midwest but a welcome one. I can't see us being there for very long but I am looking forward to the adventure of it all. The response so far has predominantly been "its SOOOO hot" and "hurricanes ..dan dan daaaaaaaaaa!!!". But I welcome the challenges and am fed up 'living in fear' which I found infected me in Cleveland. Afterall I am the girl who got on a plane to a place I had never been to be picked up from an airport by a guy I hardly knew (and then married....).
So now I am in Atlanta. I drove down from Indy on Monday. It took longer than it should of thanks to a wreck outside Nashville and roadworks on the other side. There were some very pretty spots in the mountains/hills of Tennesse and at one point an absolutely gorgeous lake.
I like Atlanta: it is fresh and new and it doesn't hurt that the sun shines most of the time! However it is very hot right now - my car thermometer registered 105 but it is normally off by 5 or so degrees - but still that is HOT!!! All very good practice for Miami.

Storm clouds

2005-11-16T10:19:00.000-05:00

The wind and rain tore at our little cottage last night. Winter is arriving today for what is likely a long visit. Temperatures are falling and hibernation seems like a very good idea.
My heart is heavy with the weight of the world today. The future's possibilties are only perceivable in negative today. I feel like I need some emotional fuel to get me through today. I wish I could just drive to my grandparents house and talk about nothing all day. And hear granda say "athing'll come aright in the end". Really, if he could keep faith through 4 years of a japanese prisoner of war camp, then I surely can in much lesser circumstances.
Sometimes it would be nice to have a crystal ball but only to see the positive. But then you would never have the thought of 'what was I so worried about' when what you are aiming for is achieved. Life is certainly a journey - it would just be nice to see a route map from time to time. So perhaps the best way to put it is life is a journey but we are only able to look backwards.

Peatbog Fairies

2005-11-13T12:30:00.000-05:00

I am listening to celtic connections - radio scotland - on the internet and the first on the playlist is a band called the "Peatbog Fairies". They are from Skye and are a funk-celtic fusion band. I'm not sure how much I like their music but I love thier name!!. It makes me think of kelpies and the stories of the supernatural wee beasties of my childhood. I remember thinking how the twists and turns of heather must hide tiny homes with tiny magical lives inside. I remember some vague notion of girls who changed into seals by night and sprites who could put strange curses on you. This makes me want to dig up these stories. Who knows perhaps I will.
Oh no the next track on celtic connections is awful - a sort of country and western meets bad slow ballad meets tune that you kind of recognise but it doesn't quite fit - oh and there is a really dire accordian track in the background!!! Yeuch!! Time to put on some archives of GMS - aaaaah that's better. (how sad am I the little music bit (which is very dramatic!! - of course because it is news) is strangely comforting). I could almost be in Scotland - which I suppose raises questions about notions of what makes a country - can you be 'in' a country just through sharing the same media - or mediums? but then perhaps it only works if you have a memory/association to base such a claim upon. Or perhaps these are the normal witterings (yes, sad ones) of the expat!!
Pixies, Peatbogs, Kelpies, Fairies, Sprites - all much more palatable.
ps. told you I would be wittering!!!

Witterings

2005-11-13T09:59:00.000-05:00

Good sunday morning. The new areana of blogging has now been opened to me. Somewhere for me to empty the rubbish that polutes my thoughts. Somewhere for me to rant about the many issues in this world which make my blood temperature rise. Perhaps a place for me to write a bit of doric when homesickness kicks in. A place for me to create.

Today is new and open.
Today is positive.
Tomorrow is possibility.
Tomorrow is opportunity.

My mantra for the moment.

Ooooooh technology - scaaaaary!!

2005-11-12T14:24:00.000-05:00

OK, so this is my first attempt at this. I thought it might be a fun diversion to post my random witterings online so my friends and family will know what useless junk floats around in my cerebral dimension.
I hope this works.......