/image%2F2046930%2F20170121%2Fob_e6a01b_1339787536-puffin-01b.jpg)
Pages
Newsletter
Top posts
-
of the moment -
I used to work with a boss who always cut everything very fine. He’s always end up sprinting to trains at the last moment, turning up to meetings a few minutes late, jumping into taxis across time to just make it to a meeting on time, etc. He seemed to...
-
Rewind a decade
Rewind a decade or two, and imagine that you have been approached with the following offer . . . “ We’ll provide you with a reassuringly shiny hi-tech device (which you’ll have to pay for) THAT WILL : ● listen to, analyse and record all your conversations,...
-
walking solitude and silence into a meditative,
Beside that walking affords me countless hours of solitude and silence apart from the meditative, steady pounding of feet and especially when done in the beauty of nature, it is not surprising that people eventually think about some of the big questions...
-
A result as to an indifference to public affairs
. “The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.” As I love maypoles, bright colours and freedom of mind and body, I'm glad I wasn't born in the interregnum. And no one can dispute that the Cavaliers had a more...
-
Raging as the decades passes by
"Rage, rage against the dying of the light” wrote Dylan Thomas about passing years, and so should we as we face the might of Father Time and the many fears that life can bring, though we may not write a wondrous tale that’s bereft of tears, we should,...
-
Sensor detector alive in the cities
Sensor detector Making sensor in Barcelona Making sense all around To be more invovled The noise areas Sesnsors where put by the citizens The citizens that were empowered Sesnsor installed Data on the noise Noise in the city changed through period Government...
-
Creating an ecological world ourselves?
Many of the building materials used in conventional housing are far from being ecologically sound, imported rain forest timber, hardwoods ripped out of our diminishing forests and the fuel.energy costs associated with their transport and purchase is highly...
-
Scotland gave the world
Scotland gave the world theories/mathematical formulae on electromagnetism, modern day philosophies on capitalism, the steam engine, the television, the telephone, the bike, penicillin discoveries, anaesthetics, the first cloned mammal, the decimal point...
-
Pockets are for the wee people
Pockets having them or nor is often a class identificator Women who work wear pinafores have with pockets on them, or aprons. Men who work wear overalls and tool belts have pockets on them. The further away from manual labour you get the less pockets...
-
Politics as Pantomine
As someone who has been a massive fan of the Pantomime genre because of the cheeky humour, hilarious innuendo and the use of coded language it has been terrific entertainment but I fear we are about to witness its tragic demise. If ever there was a natural...
-
A Welsh New Year
Imagine: it is New Year’s Eve. You are a small Welsh child. You hear a knock on the door. You open it. Looming over you is a creature with a horse’s skull, wearing a long, billowing cloak and trailed by people chanting. In the horse’s eye cavities are...
-
Silence is so wonderful - understated - beautiful
Silence is so wonderful - understated - beautiful Silence still has the upper hand. It is when nothing is said and my friend and I are, for example, walking side by side, that I can best detect something of the true nature of his regard. I don’t mean...
-
Something Broken? why not fix it?
If something is broken and you need to buy another one have a go at fixing it first, what have you got to lose, apart from time spent learning? I started with a toaster, it wouldn't stay down to toast, turned out to be a small spring which had come loose....
-
Dates popular in years
Dates are the fruit of the date palm tree, which is grown in many tropical regions of the world. Dates have become quite popular in recent years. Almost all dates sold in Western countries are dried. You can tell whether or not dates are dried based on...
-
Not a musician, just a listener
I am not a musician, just a listener. I like Elgar a lot, but then I also like Brian Eno whose compositions may be considered great classics one day in the future. Cage, Glass, Reich, Schoenberg, Webern or even Zappa have taken their place as the more...
-
Bats are remarkable creatures.
Bats are remarkable creatures. They find their way using ‘echolocation’, sending out high-pitched calls that echo back and create a ‘sonic map’ of their environment, pinpointing potential prey with incredible accuracy. They hunt tiny insects, avoiding...
-
Wonderful times
These are wonderful times for black female writers, mostly because of the internet. It has reconfigured how we present ourselves to the world at large, as well as bringing previously marginalised social groups and writing to the fore in ways hitherto...
-
The ecocide gangsters
We now know the names of the 20 fossil fuel companies whose relentless exploitation of the world’s oil, gas and coal reserves can be directly linked to more than one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions in the modern era. They are the usual dreary roll...
-
Literary festivals
Literary festivals give readers the opportunity to see their favourite authors – but they're also a chance for authors to meet their heroes too. There are a few writers whose gifts make you curious about their public persona, So it will be intriguing...
-
Scottish Gaelic erased from history?
Scots Gaelic has had a colourful history. It has declined from a position of strength in the the early tenth or eleventh century where the bulk of the population spoke Gaelic, to a situation now, where about 1.6% of the population speak it. It would be...
-
Scottish Gaelic revitalisation
Scottish Gaelic has been erased from history to the extent that most people with Gaelic ancestry are unaware of their own linguistic and cultural heritage. Gaelic revitalisation is about overcoming the damage done through miseducation, discrimination,...
-
Booker Prize or Death
When asked about not being given the Nobel Prize, Graham Greene said that he looked forward to a greater Prize - which was Death. And indeed it is the years ahead that determine an author's standing, which can fluctuate beyond the grave, what with the...
-
Scottish Gaelic - Positive Links
Scottish Gaelic is spoken in Scotland (Alba), mainly in the Highlands (a' Ghaidhealtachd) and in the Western Isles (Na h-Eileanan an Iar), but also in Glasgow (Glaschu), Edinburgh (Dùn Eideann) and Inverness (Inbhir Nis). There are also small Gaelic-speaking...
-
Edinburgh
Edinburgh events as Krakow have an International Book Festival At the same time that the Krakow International Book Festival will soon start we hear from Edinburgh that they will also have another new winter event with Tom Fletcher, songwriter and lead...
-
Soon is a Scottish Independence
Yes, independence for Scotland now regardless of the fact or form of Brexit, and I think we should use the Referendum Act to get on with scheduling a referendum for this spring and summer with a vote in September 2020 and demand the transfer of the necessary...