Beattie Scores Again & Saves His Country

Life doesn’t get any better than this? A last minute goal against Georgia lifts a whole nation of also rans & victims of Imperialism into what we really are & that, this a country deserving of respect & self-determination.

Beattie’s goal gave us our pride back. I watched the game on tv & the atmosphere was electric. Driving back home from my In-laws & listening to the events post match, there was something huge happening.

I wouldn’t tempt fate & go along to those optimistic ally mcleod days, but there is just an outside chance, we could be at the top table & qualify for the European Championships. Commentators are saying this is what it is like to win ugly! This is despite the fact that we have Italy & France in our group!

We all know how often we get these impossible draws while England get the minnows. I will save that conspiracy theory for another day.

After such a boost, I knew that the gig with the happy highlanders would be a blast. Although they are having a harrowing time at this moment, Jackie Leven @ King Tuts was just the diversion they required.

I have seen the great man at the same venue maybe a year ago, I will have to check this blog’s archives for an answer. His new cd ‘Oh What a Blow that Phantom Dealt Me!’, is packed with superb songs. Seeing him perform live however gives another dimension to his art. His voice for me cannot be beaten.

The Day of the Jackal

You have seen the original film & the remake. Just check these passport photos & check this guy's passports. Some very suspicious cirumstances here & some highly controversial countries visited.

All the stans: afghanistan, pakistan, iran, balkans, saudi arabia, nepal, hindustan............
Political hotspots throughout the world. Is there more to this seemingly reserved librarian than meets the eye?

What could be a more suitable cover story? Or has he just read too many books?

Does he look familiar? Have you seen him just seconds before some catastrophe?

Me & My 2 Sons



This is an excellent photo of me & my 2 sons after watching 'Little Miss Sunshine' & crying our little hearts out!

Song of the Highwire Shrimper


Following on from Archimedes Badkar. This indeed has been a revelation. The 2nd album in particular has me thinking I am listening to either Soft Machine’s 3rd album or ‘Wire’ magazine’s featured artist, Terry Riley’s - Poppy Nogood.

As I listened to it this a.m. from 7.00 a.m. the street sounds, e.g. bleepy electronic car keys, passing emergency vehicle, children’s voices on the way to school & birds morning choruses, washed in to the perfect overall soundscape.

I have been listening to Radio 3’s Mixing Programme for 16 years, since the start. In their wisdom, the bbc has pulled it.Why??


Fortunately, Resonance FM has given the boys a slot. However, I used to pick it up under the listen again umbrella & as yet Resonance doesn’t have this facility!

The heading refers to a track on Tim Hecker’s Radio Amor. I was enjoying this & raving about it to anyone who would listen (no-one!) & there was a review in the ‘Wire’ stating everything I had thought about the album. It’s great when someone re-enforces opinions you already hold.

Archimedes Badkar & Belle & Sebastian



Another weekend, another Scottish rugby defeat, another Celtic failure, this time at the hands of Falkirk’s bairns. Why settle for second best?

Some would suggest it is our fate, as we have no form of self-determination. Unlike other small countries, we have no real say in our own affairs. No wonder we are losing everything except our pride. This must change soon.

On the positive side, I did finally hear the soundtrack song to the Belle & Sebastian series. It was by Les Poppies & it is awesome. I also managed to source some cds from that esoteric NWW list…………..e.g. .Archimedes Badkar’s first couple of albums & I am looking forward to getting to know them.

The Wealth of Nations

I just heard today that the Bank of England is withdrawing Edward Elgar from the £20 note & replacing him with Adam Smith one of the leading instigators of the Scottish Enlightenment.

Is this a sign that we are being recognised as a nation?

Freedom?



Hold on a minute! What is going on? Tony Blair & George Bush are arming to the teeth, with the latest nuclear weapons, a small country in the northern hemisphere, that is heading towards its inevitible independence.

Did I miss something? Oh yes the people of that country are proud & always box above their weight. Even although they do not want these weapons, perhaps they may use them to get some revenge for being exploited all these years!

Bring it on.

King Tubby’s Wah Wah Hut

What a hectic week. Not only are Celtic out of Europe, but they were also beaten today by the forces of darkness.

During this week I had to make a trip up to King Tuts to collect tickets for Jackie Leven’s upcoming date.

On Wednesday, I had to drive out to Dunblane for a Joint Conference for I.T/MIS & Librarians. It was exciting, but sometimes you just crave that pipe & slippers in front of the fire.

I also was made aware of a couple of photos of myself floating around in a Community Scotland report. I cannot remember 1) the photo being taken 2) where I was & 3) giving permission for the photo to be used.

I know this is rich coming from me with such a cavalier attitude towards copyright, but I just want some control over my crazy life.

What did keep me going however were the following little gems:

Crippled Black Phoenix- Love of shared disasters

Tim Hecker – Radio Amor

Avey Tare & Kria Brekken – Pullhair Rubeye

Life in a Scotch Sitting Room, Vol 3 part 4

Ivor & John gone but not forgotten.

Daddy what was life like back in Glasgow when people didn’t care about money & they just tried to get on?

Well one of the pleasures in my simple life included meeting my girlfriend, now my wonderful wife & going into The Ceylon Tea Centre (Sri Lanka) in Buchanan Street for a meal. You could have a wide selection of, what was at that time quite a radical idea, fresh salads & a large pot of tea with a boiling water refill on the side. The salads were to die for I can still remember the huge portions & the tremendous value for money. Friday nights were special of course & although I frequented roughly the same area of Sauchiehall Street as todays’ bright young things, there was not the same level of sleezy, drunkiness that exits now. It was a happy peaceful time, man.

Often into The State Bar & then onto the Maryland across the road to see some spectacular sights both on & off the stage, e.g. Edgar Broughton Band erupting into ‘Out Demons Out’ at the end of their set. It still brings a smile to my lips whenever I fall nostalgic & put it on.

Turkish Delights


‘Bridge to engine room’. Isnt it odd how everything appears to be connected. Listening to Potemkine’s ‘Triton’ (1977) this a.m., I was amazed at how much the violinist reminded me of Jerry Goodman of Flock & later of the Mahavishnu Orchestra.

This sound of 70s retro jazz rock would excite one of my happy highlander friends.

Wasn’t ‘Battleship Potemkine’ a movie by Serge Eisenstein? I have so many new Kazakh & Russian acquaintances at work.

Also last night TCM showed ‘Zabrieski Point’, another of my favourite movies & one with the best soundtrack & the best beginnings & end sequences. I realised how much of the actual music was left off the album. This also reminded me of how the sound on Antonioni’s films outstrips everyone else. He has a great ear for the sound quality of his films.

Why are the phones & the walls of my house covered with photos of Davy Robertson from BBC Scotland news. Is there a cult?

I have just acquired a number of Turkish psychedelic albums & I would suggest that perhaps I might have the largest collection of Turkish psychedelia in Scotland? Actually to be honest much of it sounds closer to krautrock.

I am reminded of my last days in Istanbul, when the atmosphere was tinged with agent provocateurs & the tension was tangible. It was November 73 just around the time of the ‘Midnight Express’ bust. I took to my room in the hotel with an Iranian friend & a large of supply of wood blocks for the stove.

Afro Harps

There it is I have done it again. You make all these plans & then something else comes along & you get pulled in another direction.

Sun Ra’s ‘Sunrise in Different Dimensions’ started the whole shebang.

I just acquired a copy of another Dorothy Ashby cd ‘Afro Harping’ ‘big wow factor’ on this one folks. I have gone on at length about her other cds on these pages. This one has been playing all morning end to end.

You can see where Alice Coltrane (r.i.p.) got many of her ideas.

On that desert island, I would love to have a pile of Dorothy Ashby, Alice Coltrane, Sun Ra, Martin Denny, Moondog, Sun City Girls, Miles Davis, dvd highlights of my last 500 ‘tap-ins’ from my 5-a-side matches & a copy of the Dewey Decimal Classification latest edition. (Only kidding about the latter!).

Having a High Llama Time

Sometimes in order to learn you have to immerse yourself totally in the subject.

This is a technique I have employed in the past e.g. in order to learn Arabic.

Although the High Llamas have always been chipping away at me, I have frequently shelved this as ‘one day I will need to gather up all my High Llama cds & just play them end to end. I am at this stage now. I always thought of the band as a modern take on the Beach Boys & that is not a bad thing. Is it?

This is causing a little internal conflict due to the death of Charles Gocher. I have accumulated a wealth of new (for me) Sun City Girls items. They are for other days.

The sun has come out over the past few days as we drift into march amid crocuses, daffodils & Mad March hares & the High Llamas are providing the best sunny soundtrack.

Siege the Day

I will have to stop watching these epic historical movies e.g. Troy, Kingdom of Heaven & Alexandria, because every time ‘Muttonchops’ the mad mental window cleaners’ ladder appears, I put the oil on the stove.

I have had to speak to him in the past for crushing my flowers by leaving his ladders on top of my flower beds. Obviously, he is not a gardener. I had negotiated a minor discount from him for leaving his ladders in the garden for days & I am sure we will have to chat again real soon.

I am trying to introduce a gutter cleaning clause into our dealings, so I will have to keep him sweet & stop pouring the boiling oil onto him.