111 Hertz

This is the frequency that targets that part of your brain used for trance or meditation. Use it wisely!

God save us from the people who live their lives within the parameters of ‘What happens if?’. Sometimes thinking things through is a good thing, but why are people so scared to take decisions & procrastinate?

Don’t they have any faith in God’s plans for them?

My belief is that you have to jump in straight away. As Allen Ginsberg said, ‘First thought, best thought’. This was reinforced by Timothy Leary telling us to always ‘Think for Yourself’.

Or it could have been in a ‘Fools & Horses’ sketch, ‘He who hesitates is lost, Rodney’.

Fan Dan

I thought I would supply a few guidelines just in case this site is monitored by the CIA/FBI/MI5/MI6/Black Ops……etc. Perhaps I am being paranoid; this would never happen in what is called a democracy.

Perhaps a definition is required here: democracy= one of those concepts that our half of the world is killing the other half in order to achieve.

You can measure the success of this imposition in Iraq for instance. I remember last week asking David Pratt foreign editor for the ‘Sunday Herald’ about the obvious weakness of the imposed leaders in the Middle East & how would allow America to continue with running these countries to fulfil their own evil ends.

Anyway back to the guidelines: this blog seems to address the same themes at various times. Obsessively writing about 1) Free Scotland (moving a little on this recently) 2) Free Palestine (the writer keeps drawing a comparison between these 2 countries) 3) Radical Music 4) Radical Books 5) Football & cricket (contains an unhealthy attitude to Celtic FC!)

The writer also believes he can right some wrongs in the world & stand up against oppression & exploitation. His passports show he has visited many of the countries on the axis of evil & his fluency in Arabic & his love of Arabic/Islamic culture makes him someone well worth watching.

Gulag Orchestar – Beirut

Often bands do not live up to the hype. This one does. It has taken me an age to get around to listening to ‘Beirut’ but it has been on repeat play ever since.

It’s like the Hawk & the Hacksaw’s flirtation with Hungarian gypsy music, It’s the soundtrack to the Jodorowsky film not made yet & a blend of all the best bits of 3 Mustaphas 3, Penguin Café Orchestra, Muzikas & the most beautiful Beach Boys harmonies that mad, mental Transalvanian vampire hunters can muster.

On the subject of vampires, we kept a dvd on lesbian vampires in the workroom, but after a heated discussion, we decided that in this so-pc world, surely lesbian vampires have their rights too, so we will have to put the dvd on display.

Remember those back streets in Zagreb & the gypsy violin & brass that drifted from the open windows in the dark.

As we approach the marching season (again) you often wish those bigoted, misguided, drunkards would play something like this, instead of those old anthems of hatred.

Those trumpets take me back to a Scotch Sitting Room in rickets-riddled, Govan, eating brown bread & butter & sugar (no wonder my teeth are scoobied!), Eddie Calvert ‘Oh Mein Papa’ on the radio, my father over the water (where I was to end up) – a temporary split-up & me touched by the hand of God for the very first time.

Truth

Although I have been attending almost all of the West Dunbartonshire Literature Festival events, I was deeply impressed by the talk by David Pratt of the Sunday Herald.

His travels as a war-torn correspondent in obscure corners of the world reflect my own travels as a peace seeking librarian in obscure corners of the world.

I haven’t yet read his book on the ‘Intifada’ but hopefully given time I will.

I could ask questions on Afghanistan & the Middle East. In fact the question & answer session elicited a lot of terrific information that shows how committed to real events & real news he is. This refreshing approach to the truth is remarkable when we are fed so many lies by corporate media.

Born Bad

Over the years I have occasionally lapsed into a fondness for 60s garage or psycho rockabilly.

For some reason both musical forms are obsessed with the subcultures around them. This might be an unhealthy attitude to horror movies, b movies, sci-fi or life as a juvenile delinquent.

I finally caught up with an excellent compilation ‘Born Bad’ that begins with the Bossweeds classic ‘Faster Pussycat Kill Kill’.

I was surpised to find Holly Golightly in among a lot of this material. I had recently heard her haunting track on the superb ‘Broken Flowers’ soundtrack & this urged me to search out her other work & she seems to be categoried amid those other krazy psychobilly kats.

What’s in the (Ministry of) Bag, Jack?

Glasgow is certainly where it’s at. Last nights Spanish invasion for the excellent UEFA Cup final @ Hampden Park showed the City at it’s best. It was interesting that the new First Minister was filmed alongside Michel Platini at the event. What chance a Scottish Republic?

Tonight sees the return of Jack Bruce to play the RSAMD, where he began his career @ £1 per ticket. I would jump at the chance to go but I have to take a class in Alexandria (no not that one ya ninny).

As a teenage Cream fanatic, I always felt there was more depth & adventure in Jack’s songs. This was later evidenced in his first solo album, ‘Songs for a Taylor’, still one of my favourite desert island discs.

As a Govan- born lad I was very pwoud, that he named another of his early albums ‘Harmony Row’ after a street I frequented in that town. Alex Ferguson another Govan boy seems to be doing ok as well.

Von sudenfed-tromatic reflexxions

giffoni, charles-welcome home

katharisis-666

le revolution de emiliano zapata-s/t (mex psych)

kovac, boris-east off europe

conrad, tony-fantastic glissandro

pfangen, crista-watch me

fujimoto, yuichiro-komorebi

fujimoto, yuichiro-mountain record

bailey, derek & parker, evan-arch duo

davis, miles-big fun

davis, miles-live evil

riley, terry-descending moonshine dervishes

up, bustle & out-city breakers

up, bustle & out-live @ bbc

up, bustle & out-urban evacuates

basho, robbie-voice of the eagle

coyne, kevin-knocking on your brain (x2)

jodorovsky, alesandro & r frangipane & don cherry-holy mountain' (ost) (x2)

gemini-rising

kovac, boris-amamenisis

if-live stockholm

morrison, van -astral weeks live

humble pie-live @ bbc, 1970

lillies, andrew-black mamba

various-greek electronic music, vol 1

hecker-sun pandemonium

bloomfield, mike & al kooper-live adventures of

various-batchelors guide to the galaxy

artwoods-art gallery

henry cow-unrest

nurse with wound-gift cd

yoko ono-fly

dependables-klatu berada niktu

ekseption-beggar julias time trip (1970)

retsiem, bokaj-psychedelic underground (1968)

linhardt, buzzy-buzzy

groundhogs-blues orbituary

gospel oak-s/t (1970)

graham bond organisation-sound of 65 & bond between us

parker, evan & lawrence casserly-solar wind

moss, david-full house

galatic explorers-epitaph for venus (1972)

bailey, derek & parker, evan-topography of the lungs

bailey, derek -aida

hopper, hugh & gowen, alan-2 rainbows daily

merzbow & genesis p orridge-perfect pain

milky lasers-voyage

mission of burma-vs (1982)

stefana, alessandro-poste e telegrafi

residents-commercial album

brazda brothers-s/t (canada 1973)

jeck, phil-vinyl code IV

colleen-les ondes silencie

nadler, marissa-songs III

mendes, sergio-pure bossa nova

waits, tom -live ebets 74

chilton, alex-man called destruction

minekawa, takako-athletica

amps for christ-circuits

galardini, r & lessman, k-live in prato

rose, jack-split 7"

baby grandmothers-tune in drop out (1967) (sweden)

princess nicotine-folk & pop burma

ohio express-beg borrow & steel (x2) (1968)

blues control-puff

charlatans-amazing (1969)

the flow-greatest hits

john dummers blues band-ooblee jubilee

brigade-last laugh

nurse with wound-stereo wasteland

throbbing gristle-in the shadow of the sun

throbbing gristle-blood pressure

psychic tv -allegory & self

magical power mako-harmoniym pts 1-5

coltrane,john & alice-cosmic music

milky chu-dope coarsa

tokumaru, shigo-lst

noriko, tujiko-shojo toshi

santana, carlos & coltrane, alice-illuminations

santana, carlos & laswell, bill-divine light

santana, carlos & mclaughlin, john-love, devotion & surrender

connors, loren mazzacane-live pittsburgh

vanaconcellos, nana & towner, ralph-contramusicao

art ensemble of chicago-reese & smooth ones

duke, george-feel

farmers manual-no backup

fourtet-eps

wiese, john-collected tracks

haino, keiji-abandon all words (x2)

reiko, ike-kokotsu no sekai

rlw-piroutten

shalabi effect-trial of st orange

moore, r stevie-hobbies galore (2005)

help yourself-s/t (1971)

dark-around the edges (1971)

herd-anthology (x2)

jan & dean-s/t (1966)

maxfield parrish (kaliedoscope)-it’s a cinch

mckendree spring-tracks (1973)

golden earings-desconocido

fushitsusha-1516 (1991)

dylan, bob-1969 (bootleg)

dylan, bob-1970 (bootleg)

dylan, bob-1973 (bootleg)

manson, charles-indestructible spirit

traffic-low spark demos/out takes

one ensemble of daniel padden-wayward the 4th

graham, davy-playing in traffic

science, chico-da lama ao caos

souleyman, omar-highway to hassake

te-kotoba

bittervetch-masters & demos (1964-68)

mason, dave-alone together

excalibur-1st album

tazartes, ghedalia-total eclipse of the sun

hyun, shin yung-in a kadda da vida

crest, jason-senile mysteries black mass

mikami, ken-live

universe zero-rio festival milan 1979

sam gopal-escalator (1969)

farlowe, chris-out of time (x2)

st john green-s/t (1968)

stained glass-crazy horse roads (1966-69)

stone garden-s/t (1968)

zwerling, andy-spiders in the night

ray, bob-s/t

golden, lotti-s/t

alexander, gordon-gordon's buster

north sea-esquisite idols

amber lions-pink panther blood 3"

mazurek, ray-carmina burana

mazurek, ray-doors myth (x2)

schulkowsky, robyn & nils petter molvaer-hastening westward

coster, tim-blackberry - rowboat

radio tarifa-cruzando el rio

steamboat switzerland-live

wyatt, robert-mid eighties

bulldog breed-made in england

dave dee, dozy micky & tich-s/t

embryo-rock session

chatham, rhys-thudergod

tilbrook, glen-acoustic unfinished

branca, glen-hallucination in city

neon pearl-s/t

anderson, arild-molde concert

hafler trio-dislocation

styers, michael-s/t

varten, sylvie-est ce que tu

mount st mary's college-experimental music of frank zappa (63)

humble pie-thunderbox

weeds-s/t (lollipop shope)

basinski, william-short wave music

zappa, frank-tengo na minchia tanta (92)

haino, keiji & sataa the-animamima (x2)

fushitsusha-withdrawe

haino, keiji-feat weasel walter

hyakkei, koenji-2

mako, magical power-super record

3-sanburn no sun (75)

licht, alan & loren maccane connors-hoffman estates

chatham, rhys-an angel moves too fast to see

beach boys-pet sounds acapella

harrison, george-all things must past demos

comus-boxed 2 lps & singles

beefheart, captain-live london 74

grateful dead-blues for allah

brown, pete-a meal you can shake hands with

carter, dorothy-troubador

windy & carl-antartica

bardot, bridget-la madrague

gall, frances-bebe requin

various-kranky (x2)

seals & crofts-year of Sunday

baker, chet-s/t (1959)

belhom, thomas-cheval oblique

my cat is an alien-cosmic light of the 3rd millenium

weber, hajo & ingenbold, ulrich-winterreise

chang, asa-hana

100 sights of koenji-s/t

I just thought it was time to insert a recent list of what fab new music we have been grooving to at our pad. Apologies to the taste police. Yes, I know there is a lot of Japanese noise. In the words of Miles Davis: so what!

Booked! 07

I had to take a long weekend to try & catch up with myself. Its that time again; The 7^th West Dunbartonshire Literature Festival. Yours truly has to make many appearances at events. It goes with the territory, it is expected.

This year, I made a special effort to attend the first event: Alastair Pearson Lecture & what drew me what the fact that Christopher Rush was the speaker.

As I had been impressed with his book on Robert Louis Stevenson’s journey through the Cevennes: a journey that he was to repeat 100 years later after a family tragedy, I wanted to go.

I had been told that the view out of the Millenium Hall, Gartocharn was breathtaking & it certainly was, even on an overcast evening with rain in the air.

I couldn’t make the Thursday event, although I did get to Ann Cleeves talk in Balloch Library on the Friday. I hadn’t read any of her novels, but if I ever get to choose a book to read & the time outside of my 2 Reading Groups, I will endeavour to read one of hers, as she certainly gave the audience the desire to pick up her titles.

Sometimes getting out of the house & making the effort to attend these events, that you do not expect to be all that rewarding, can be such an uplifting experience. Certainly this is true with many of these author visits.

I Lost My Sherpa @ Tchai Ovna

I finally got around to having tea @ tchai ovna, Otago Lane, Glasgow west end. I had been told about the place & read how ‘trendy’ with the belle & sebastians & pastels ….etc of this world it was. It is also a fine haunt for library types.

I have a soft spot for houses full of Dickensian nooks & crannies, mazes, hidden rooms & to be honest I was taken back to those snow-bound, welcoming tea house in katmadu. I am sure with a roaring fire in the winter the reverberations would be stronger.

With the current fad for coffee, I must admit I have become lazy in my tea making techniques. Not that long ago, I used to take great care & spend time brewing ‘proper’ tea, but like everything else today, its got to come quicker, faster, instant as we rush through our lives to what end? Are we happier with all we can achieve in a day, rushing, speeding, pushing, pulling……..It is time to ‘slow down world’ as mr leitch called one of his albums.

Sipping tea in Otago Lane certainly gets you to take stock, catch a breath especialy if you attend on a Monday night & Yaman (steve) is playing sitar & flute. (I was chatting to him outside during a smoke break as we looked over a sodden view of the Kelvin below – it could have been the Himalayan foothills? – it was odd to stand there chatting about the music school, that he attends in Varanasi (Benares), that I can still remember after all these years!

Other memories come flooding back…e.g. throwing clay cups onto the railway line after a hot, milky sweet cup of tchai. I did mention before about my fondness for the old Ceylon Tea Centre that was in Buchanan Street.

Pint mugs of tea in Manchester as I was studying for my exams. Small glasses of sweet arab tea & a sheesha pipe in Saudi Arabia. Tea houses in Turkey, Iran, Pakistan & India. Afghani tea stops, where I shared a roaring fire sheltering from sub zero temperatures, with pilgrims on their way to Makkah. I quickly earned respect by moving away from the fire when new pilgrims arrived out of the cold.

Winning Ugly

This is a new phrase I have picked up but it is certainly appropriate as a description of the achievements of the Scottish Premier Champions.

I have watched many awful games at the end of the season. It certainly was not entertainment. There was rarely any evidence of the beautiful game. The only bit of class came from the man from japan. It has got to the stage where although there are very few games left, I will not watch them. This is not just my personal opinion. I have a friend, who is more passionate about the game than me, as he is a season ticket holder, but he feels the same way & hasn’t been attending matches.

The games I have watched & when the victors ground out their 1- 0 result, there was very little celebration amid the crowd, only relief.

Let’s hope the new season will be completely different.

Numbers, patterns, Sequences & Remarkable Coincidences

As I sat down to scoff mackerel fresh out of the Sound of Mull the night before, I thought about how this fish’s great grandfather might have fed my great grandfather, as he repaired the town clock in Tobermory. Then I remembered that I should listen to the Raymond MacDonald/George Burt cd that was recorded about the clock.

Next thing you know, I am watching Bill Murray in ‘Broken Promises’ (I had just watched ’Lost in Translation last week!) & I am back on Arran, where I first saw this moody film. I was totally entranced by the Ethiopean soundtrack to this film & along with recent Tinawaren albums, I am hearing the real deal in world music. There is a lot of dross in the World Music arena at the moment so it’s great to hear something real.

Another thought just hit me as I mused over this month’s ‘Wire’ mag. Mark E. Smith is Johnny Cash.

Let Know Man Steal Your Thyme

Latest vinyl only lp to turn up digitised at our house is the first Pentangle album.

Prior to reliving my glorious past, I caught my wife listening to Merzbow @ 8 a.m. Fearing for her health as someone used to a diet of Tammy, Dolly & Demis I quickly hit fast forward.

Was this a sudden turnaround for her, no : I had merely left it on when I left the room.

Back to that first Pentangle lp, it still sounds as fresh & vibrant today. Its no wonder that the current batch of American free folk or freak folk, spearheaded by Devendra Banhart, Cul De Sac & Sunburned Hand of the Man have adopted much of the acoustic acid folk of the 60s/ early 70s as their mentors.

Good & Evil


Sometimes its so hard to tell the difference these days between what is good & what is evil.

I know an unjust war is bad. I know that building a wall across Palestine is bad.



I know that the pulling down of the Berlin Wall was a good thing.



Now the evil men are thinking about building a wall across Iraq, because their foreign policy beggars belief!

I know that having your own country & running your own country is a good thing.

4 Ways of Saying 5


I recently watched the pilot episode of the 'Lone Gunman' & its all true. Here was the actual plot of the 9/11 attack!

A whole step by step guide to the headlines of that day.







I am not really a conspiracy freak, but it shocked me when I watched it unfold. Not sure of the exact date that Chris Carter made this X-files offshoot, but it was well before 9/11!






I also watched 'Pan's Labyrinth' & I now know who took all that bad acid @ Woodstock!

Talking of dvds, this writer is getting very excited at the upcoming release on dvd of 'El Topo' & 'Holy Mountain'. These were made by the man who took all the good acid @ Woodstock.

6 Ways to Avoid the Evil Eye

I was listening to Ed Yazijian’s ‘6 Ways to Avoid the Evil Eye’ (sound advice these days!), but by the time I got to track 5, it was too late!

I went to pick up a Chicken Biriani from Fred’s last night & started chatting in Arabic to the Kurds & the Palestinian lad, who has just started there. The Palestinian wants to attend university in Glasgow to study art. He has been given an instruction from the English home office to go home as his visa is just about to expire.

Of course he has no homeland & his family are exiled in Jordan, so he has to go back there & re-apply for another visa. He went to his MP & his local councillor, foolishly thinking that, if Scotland had its own government, then surely they would have the power to sort things for him. He was naïve in thinking this as they told him, in effect; they have no power as this really rests with Tony Blair & the English Ministers. So he has no alternative.

This Palestinian is constantly exposed to this ‘Scottish Labour’ campaign, which is a total misnomer & it is there to dupe the voting public. This is very much an English Labour party especially when it comes to immigration & double plus plus when it comes to 1) Palestinians & 2) Moslems

"Six Ways To Avoid The Evil Eye"
by Ed Yazijian

Limited Edition Lp by One Tree (2007)
Released on Limited Edition CDR originally on Feed and Seed Records (2006)



"Wanted to make the world aware of a new release of vinyl called Six Ways To Avoid The Evil Eye. This album is a reissue of a super limited CDR from last year.


These are mysterious recordings that seem to be immersed in an innerspace composed entirely of serious reverb jello, all instrumental-style with loads of tabla and slide guitar and international/continental/other worldly instruments & sounds.


The artist is Dr. E'weerd Yijji (aka Ed Yazijian) who should be known for his work with serious folks like Dredd Foole and Pete Prescott (Mission of Burma, Volcano Suns) and many others(not to mention occasional live performances with the mighty Sun City Girls).


This is his first solo release."

Ed is a teacher of Asian Studies in South Carolina
http://www.furman.edu/depts/asianstudies/yazijian.html




The limited edition Lp is available Here,


http://www.forcedexposure.com/artists/six.ways.to.avoid.the.evil.eye.html
&
http://www.flippedoutrecords.com/sixwatoaveve.html

Terry Riley in Glasgow

Gregor asked if I was going along to see Terry Riley as did my younger son. I honestly don’t know, I have been busy lately stuffing leaflets through your door trying to convince you that we should be free.

I have been talking to people who say the strangest things like: we don’t want independence? Or we need to combine with England, in case anyone attacks us. I mean who was the last country to attack us (if we exclude the German airades that destroyed Clydebank, before the present English Labour Government & local English Labour Council tried to finish the job): yes: you are correct it was England!

Who would attack Scotland? All our enemies throughout the world, are there because of the axis of terrorism stretching from Washington via Downing Street to Garshake Road.

I suppose given Riley’s advanced age, he is now concerned about tracing his Irish roots & this is the reason for his concerts in Ireland, according to this month’s ‘Wire’. As soon as you go searching for your Irish roots, It’s time to put your house in order. So I will make a special effort to go.

I am sad today because I cannot remember so many deaths in such a short time. I am fortunate still to have one of my parents alive. I should ensure that I see her more. God bless Nancy & Alec.

The Road to Damascus

Is life getting weirder or what?

One minute you are on a coach to Blackpool, the next instant you are sitting an assessment for a minibus test, next I am teaching a pc passport class & then I am inside my pc trying to re-connect a component that had drifted loose & all the time I had merely a dodgy mouse.

During this latter mad week my younger son got the keys to the house next door. Does this mean I will gain some living space? Does this mean he will cease asking me for ‘change for the bus’ most days?

I could have bought another house in this street with all these bus fares over the years. He did state he bought me a couple of cd singles that I had suggested. One was a Beady Belle sampler containing 5 tracks, many of which I have on the albums.

The other one was very disappointing as I had recently seen Paul Napier as support to Jackie Leven @ King Tuts, but the cd single I just got was uninspiring.

The Happy Highlanders are used to a crazy hectic schedule & they paid el rapido visit during all this chaos. They had to push on as they were going up to the hospital, then to see Allan Taylor in concert & then straight home to Glenmore. I am fond of Allan Taylor & I remember a track called ‘Sometimes’ that may have been on an album of the same name. (Mental note, I will have to check this!)

Somewhere during this period my sister-in-law, who incidentally

lives just across the road, had fallen in the street while coming over to our house. She is ok, but we are concerned as this is not an isolated case.

I am concerned about how sentimental I am becoming. This a.m. as I was forking out yet another batch of change to my homeowner son, I flashed back to a land far away when his mother was taking him aboard a plane & he wanted to stay with me. It broke my heart then to leave him & the pain still aches occasionally. It did this morning.

Divine Right’s Trip

Oh right where was I? Now I remember a dreaded first visit to Blackpool. I can now wear the t-shirt ‘I survived Blackpool Pleasure Beach’. Reminds me of the gung ho t-shirts available in Saudi Arabia after Gulf War One.

‘Don’t knock it till you try it’. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience although I was living vicariously through the wonder & shock & awe of the young children in the party.

Speaking of which, my ego got yet another dent as we boarded a Beaver creek’ canoe with our designated young person & his dad, when the official advised strap in well son & your dad & you too, granda!

Does old age happen to Deadheads, too?

On reflection, the reason I enjoyed the trip so much, was not so much for the event, but totally to do with the people that came with me.

This echoes what my Sierra Leone, table tennis opponent at Bell College used to say, when I asked him if he had been out & about to e.g. Loch Lomond. He stated why would he go there? I told him it was one of the most beautiful places on God’s earth. He replied that he didn’t know anyone there, he had no friends there, and therefore why would he go? People were what counted, not places. I do believe he has a very valid point.

Travelling Without Moving


‘Isnt it Funny how time slips away’.

Sporting a Turkish away top (thanks liam), I was pondering my first trip to ‘weegie’ heaven.

This is not strictly true. I did arrive in Blackpool train station by accident rather than design, after I boarded the wrong connection from Preston, when I was coming home for a break during my 3 years in Manchester.

I remember when I was younger, I used to enjoy the journey more than the arrival at my destination. Now that I am older the opposite is true.

Last year, I was invited to Blackpool with the International students, after the event. This time I have had advanced warning. It is only for a day (I hope!) & I trust I will not find it ‘too tacky’.

It seems a bit odd, when we live in the most scenic country in the world & yet we are going down to England’s Las Vegas.

Moving Without Travelling



‘Catch a falling star; put it in your pocket save it for a rainy day’.

Sometimes the searching for something elusive can be more pleasurable than obtaining the result. Not always. Life can often create disappointments.

This week has resulted in the acquisition of materials from 2 exceptional bands. This has been a gnawing irritant on the back burner since the late 60s.

After a search of some 37 years, I was certainly not let down by Mandrake Memorial, who have been criticised by others as being 2nd division psychedelia. This is a nonsense, possibly put out because of their incredibly, high level of musicianship. In my humble opinion this band are way up there at the top of the Premier, period.

The other band is Jan Dukes de Grey. I have been looking for this since I saw the covers on the Deram/Dawn label? Recently I discovered they were on the NWW list. I just got a cd named ‘Sorcerer’, but as this is 67 minutes long & the average lp of that period was around the 40 minute mark, I suspect this may be a compilation. I will check a discography to find out.

It hasn’t grabbed me yet maybe it will take a little longer. I remember this came out around the same time (& perhaps on the same label) as Comus. Now they stand the test of time exceptionally well.

Down But Not Out, Yet

If we cannot beat the world champions, who can we beat? Andora? Let’s hope we don’t slip up against the Faroes. We have done so before!

On the night of that disastrous result, I was getting a Lithuanian haircut, she cut it fast as she knew I was anxious to catch the match. Strangely enough, Lithuania is also in our European championship group.

A proud nation that always expects that it can punch above it’s weight.

I was fortunate enough to hear alex neill, snp give a speech on Friday night that would raise those hairs on the back of your neck. There is & will be a huge backlash from the Unionist establishment including the Orange Order (In Scotland!) warning Scots about voting for Independence. Even Ian Rankine, a writer whose work I admire, claimed that Scotland is not ready for Independence!

Just look at how these other small countries have developed since they gained their freedom: Estonia, Ireland, Lithuania, Latvia, etc….the list is endless.