Cats and dogs were falling from the sky that lunch time. Falling so heavily that they were bouncing back off the pavement as we hurried back to school. We were not happy as there was a long way to go. And the rain did not look like stopping before Christmas. There were three of us, all neighbours, all wishing we didn't have to go back to school - ever again
Never ones to miss an opportunity, it appears that virus writers are capitalising on the aftermath of Katrina. Under the guise of a bulletin offering updates on the disaster, you're taken to a web site which passes a virus on to your PC. You have been warned! PS, Why is it that mankind is so quick to use the fallout from disasters as a means of d
I've watched with a mixture of horror and amazement the events in and around New Orleans in the last week. It is painful to see so many people left stranded and homeless. And it was equally painful to watch President Bush not coming across very well in interviews following on from this disaster as his administration looks for a solution to the devastation left in Katr
A dozen pairs of gleaming eyes reflected the beam of my torch as I swept around the cellar. Their feral brightness startled me and the hairs on my neck bristled. "Rats!" "So what if we are?" a high pitched voice squealed in challenge. I inhaled sharply. "Rats can't talk," I muttered as I peered along the beam. "Who's there?" "They c
I stood at the top of the gentle incline and studied the grazing herd. I had been tracking them for several days and was now tired and very hungry. My furs were damp and muddy, leaving me feeling cold and uncomfortable. "Well, here goes nothing." I raised my club above my head. Then I screamed as loudly as I could and launched myself down the slope. The club
I looked down from my tree and saw a large, furry animal feeding upon the remains of a smaller but equally furry animal. At first I felt sickened but quickly mastered the urge. "Nature must run it's course," I declared. "Cobblers!" the green and red parakeet I shared my perch with exclaimed. Silence enveloped us once more and we watched the red
Every once in a while, I do a little bit of writing. Usually short stories but sometimes other little bits and pieces some of which may come across as being somewhat off the wall. I long time ago, I worked for the computer division of a large Scottish bank and the work - computer programming and systems analysis - was sometimes very dull. In one of these troughs, I pe
I watched with some pleasure as Scotland conjured a 2 goal lead in last nights international friendly against Austria in Graz. In the first half, the Scots played well and were actually performing as a cohesive unit. Kenny Miller's opening goal in 3 minutes was very sweet, as was Gary O'Connor's low drive on 39 minutes. At half time, I was thinking that if they mainta
I didn't get to either watch or listen to this game at the weekend but the result and match report suggest a team rich in Eastern Promise. Check out the link below for more details. What I can say is that things are looking up with the arrival of Shunsuke Nakamura and the continuing goal scoring form of Messers Hartson and Beattie. All we need now are for a
I encountered one of life's little ironies this morning on my way to work - that's an 18 mile drive from the village in which I live into the main town on my home island. Having left the house at 8 a.m., I wasn't in any hurry so was doing a fairly steady 60 m.p.h. along the road. There were no cars in front and none behind, which is nice after having lived amidst the
Well done, Celtic. And way to go Gordon Strachan!!! Okay, so the Bhoys haven't managed the turn around that would have stunned the football world and seen them make it into the next round of the Champions League but they have done themselves and their manager proud. WGS has done his job just as well as MON and in the space of a week has shaken things
I listened to the Celtic game on the radio last Saturday afternoon and was all smiles by half time thanks mainly to the goal-scoring prowess of John Hartson. A hat-trick by half time and people are saying he isn't good enough to play?!? They've obviously forgotten who the SPLs top scorer was last season. And, the Artmedia thing aside, three goals in your first two gam
Artmedia 5 - 0 Celtic?!?!?!? This was the worst performance I can remember by a Celtic side in Europe or anywhere else for that matter. Sure there have been some disasters at home against Rangers and Caley Thistle to name but two, as well as the crash against Nuechatel Xamax... So, what did go wrong this time? Well, some will say it all went
As London is once again subjected to a terror attack - which failed and makes the terrorists look not so much frightening as foolish (though let's never forget they remain a threat) - I wonder about the UK Government's proposed Identity Card scheme. Can such a scheme really serve to prevent this sort of attack? Well, I don't believe it can. Especially as it s
And so to the second astounding tale of the day... This is another band that I had been aware of for a while but had not really checked out, despite having heard rave reviews of this their first album. Then I heard the song "Eriatarka". The power of the song left me thirsting for more and so the only option was to pick up the album from whence such majesty ca
It's not every day that you encounter an album that really blows your mind. As it happens, I've just had one of those days when you find two albums that blow your mind. This is the first of them. I had been aware of this Swedish progressive rock outfit fronted by Daniel Gildenlow and his impressive vocal, lyrical and guitar playing talent for some time. In
The news here is not so good as it was yesterday. The first thought of I and my colleagues on hearing the news from London today was: "Bloody hell, I knew the French would be hacked off at losing the Olympics but this is going a bit far." I know, I know, not politically correct by any means and terribly offensive to our friends across the channel. So, my hear
I guess congratulations are due to the people of London and those responsible for securing the right to host the Olympic games in 2012. It's good that they have managed to pull of this coup especially as Paris looked like the favourite for so long. However, I take issue with one of their selling points - that this will be a benefit to the whole of the UK. I
I know I won't be the first to say it, but Bono, Sir Bob Geldof, Midge Ure, and all the other organisers and performers who made the Live8 shows this weekend such a success deserve serious respect! Though I only saw the event on tv, it came across as a resounding success and can only help to spread the message about cancellation of debt and making poverty history. I h
It's nice to see some comments being generated by my post. I'd like to add that it seems unlikely you could divine anything about anyone's reading habits, typical or atypical, just from knowing details of the book they read last. For instance, the last book I read was "lost boy lost girl" by Peter Straub. All you can infer from that with any certainty is that the last book I read was "lost boy lost girl" by Peter Straub. In much the same way as this li
It never ceases to amaze me the conclusions that people draw from statistics. For instance, I heard on tv today about how nobody is reading books written by women any more. The reasoning behind this claim is that in a survey, 4 out of every 5 men interviewed said that the last book they read was by a man. Mmmm. What about the last but one book th
Well, what can you say? The new release by giants of progressive metal Dream Theater hit the streets today and it hit them running. Or perhaps charging! I have followed these guys ever since I bought a copy of When Dream And Day Unite just because I read a review in which Mike Portnoy was hailed as the new Neil Peart. To me, this was a hell of an accolade as he along
One of life's great religions is Football (and I mean Soccer). And just like every other religion, it comes in various flavours. My particular flavour is Celtic FC, one half of Glasgow's Old Firm. Yesterday afternoon, Sunday - even Football encompasses this day - Celtic were within 3 minutes of winning the Scottish Premier League. They just needed to beat Mot
As well as Cowboys and Indians, we also played marbles a lot as kids. We played at home and we played at school even though the teachers always threatened to take the marbles away - something about them being dangerous. Anyway, back in Primary school (P4 - which made me about 9), we were all settling back into class after lunch. Apart from one boy - I think
As I add to this blog, I hope to give some insight into my background and life. Some items will be humourous, others less so. But whatever you may read, I'd advise you to keep some salt on hand as you will ceratinly need to use the odd pinch or two. Anyway, this is apparently a true story... On the street where I grew up, there were three families living in
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