Tell No One

Now, here is a really good film to go and see.   Tell No One  is an American story, but a stylish and thrilling French film – and, yes, it is subtitled.   Don’t let that put you off.
Eight years ago, Margot Beck was murdered by a serial killer.   Today Alexandre Beck, her husband, deals with this [...]

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Don Giovanni – RSAMD

We went with some friends to see Don Giovanni at the Opera School in Glasgow, and we were seriously impressed.
Small scale opera productions can actually be so much more meaningful than big ones playing to huge houses.    In the intimate surroundings of the New Athenaeum theatre, Patrick Young’s well directed production really hit the spot.  
The [...]

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Grumpy Bus Drivers

Another trip on Megabus yesterday to the (Scottish) big smoke.   Big queues to cross the Forth Road Bridge due to Highland Show traffic.   The driver did really well using bus lanes etc. so we were not too late into Edinburgh.
The bus back was going from Edinburgh to Inverness, and boy, was the driver grumpy.    These [...]

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Popular Politics

Alex Salmond and the new SNP administration have been introducing popular politics.    On the face of it, all ‘good things’ like apple pie:   no more bridge tolls on the Forth and Tay bridges, no more prescription charges for the very sick, more money for free personal care for the elderly and the abolition of graduate [...]

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Cybercafes – a dying breed?

I was asked at the weekend where the nearest cybercafe is, and to be honest, I could not find one in the Perth area.     One had closed down in the town fairly recently.
Now, I know that visitors can get free internet access in Perth and Kinross libraries, but that’s not much use when you need [...]

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The Naked Portrait

We went round The Naked Portrait exhibition at the Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh today.    Almost 200 portraits of people in the nude – paintings, photographs and so on.     And all shapes, sizes and ages were on display.
It was quite a challenging exhibition.    We are presented with endless sexualised images of scantily clad beautiful people everywhere.   [...]

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Spraying Window

I have oats to spray, and a rather short growing window to get the spray on.    The trouble is, it has been really windy here these past few days – a nasty raw easterly which does not die down at night.
Normally, wind can die down in the evening, allowing some late spraying, and early spraying [...]

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Lawnmower problems

Does anyone own a Hayter Harrier 48 with a blade brake clutch?    Mine is in its 5th cutting season and on its 4th clutch.    It is ridiculous.    (For those who don’t know, a blade bake clutch stops the blade immediately, allowing safe emptying of the grass container).
I got the first three under warranty, but have [...]

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Central Heating Boiler problems

Central heating boilers are far too complicated for their own good.   I have three Worcester oil-fired combi boilers, and they do not have a great track record.    The problem is that they are so complicated and need special equipment to set them up safely.    Which means calling out an expensive engineer when things go wrong.
Now, I like to [...]

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Fruit Nets

We have a fruit bed in the garden with strawberries, gooseberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants and blueberries.   Despite the horrible cold east wind all last week, things are ripening in the strawberry world, so it was been time to look out the net this afternoon.
Quite a few years ago now, we were on holiday in Fife and [...]

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