Sporting integrity

Here's a cat who looks like a cat (Syrus)  we lost about five long years ago. We were both pretty upset when Syrus disappeared and searched for him for months, years even. That's what cat people do. Ali spotted this fellow a few days ago and for a moment was...not sure. Today I saw him perched on a wall and looked him up and down and met his gaze. He's a nice, placid, well worn cat but he's not Syrus. You think that anyway and then you start thinking about the film Sommersby, mistaken identity, loss and almost exact replicas. No, it wasn't him.

So far 2012 has been the year of the phrase "sporting integrity". A fashionable term that's un-managed use has allowed footballing professionals, pundits and fans the opportunity to jump from scandalous quicksand to a moral high ground made of concrete - set up in their own mind's mixer. The trouble is the more you use the phrase the less it comes to mean and the more the concrete turns to quicksand. In life the truth is that you cant really trust anybody or be sure of very much...even cats are confusing these days.

Knitting the Olympics

Just back home from a week in the Perthshire hills feeding and having fun with a variety of my children and grandchildren. Some random photos may follow but right now I've just had a really good "good night's" sleep and a strong cup of lukewarm coffee. It's Sunday morning and I feel fine if a little sore in places.

In the wider world the Olympic Games in London remain difficult for the parochial and conflicted Scots to handle as the build up progresses, most of us just don't get it and dislike the corporate big boys, politicians and BBC running the whole show in a way that squeezes the joy and life completely out of it. Nice therefore to see this alternative knitted tribute...

Cabin fever

Regular rain, the unravelling of the great Scottish summer, TV on the Fritz, maybe too much chocolate or bacon, excess amounts of corn syrup, lack of sleep or space or whatever. These things spawn strange pastimes, generate new skills, boundary stretching artworks and explorations around the edge of all gravity and ability.

Abandoned petrol station

There are plenty of used up, closed down petrol stations here and there but this one is a pretty good example of a business that's just died as a result of enforced road changes and neglect. Nobody it seems has tried to convert it to a car wash or Chinese restaurant either so it's slowly rusting back into the weeds and damp landscape. It's just by the old A9 in Calvine, a few lonely miles north of Blair Atholl, Perthshire, Scotland. The rerouted (and always controversial) A9 runs past only a few yards away, close but not close enough.

Public service assistance

If your for sale sign becomes dangerously squint then there are people driving around who will quietly and carefully fix it for you by applying the universal rule of three. That means: First we spot the problem. Second we give you an unspecified but reasonable amount of time to fix it. Thirdly, we note you've done hee-haw, you're ambivalent towards stuff, maybe lazy or stupid so we intervene. We cannot tolerate a maladjusted and crooked universe,  we must fix things, it's what we do. Next on the hit list: RBS, Barclays, the Conservative Party, the music industry and Syria.

BBC Retweet

John Barclay @Johnbarclay1 @TommyReckless @BBCComedyCafe Heard the show, of course you were fab. Radio time seems twice as fast as normal time! 01:56 PM - 06 Jul 12 via web Retweeted by The Comedy Cafe @BBCComedyCafe To 1509 followers. Learn more about @BBCComedyCafe. View their profile

Friday's trousers

Friday's trousers were/are a nicely proportioned 1950s style grey selection that I imagined would almost render a man invisible should he happen to be walking in the clouds.  They currently match the gloomy, unsummery weather that hovers across the Stone Roses fans at the T in the Park site and down to the Firth of Forth where bridges are being built. In life it's often comes down to the choices you may make about blending in or standing out in the crowd; it seems that apparel is pretty important in this - you have to be careful. Anyway I went about my business, worked a bit, shopped at bit, domesticated a bit, taxied a bit, cooked a bit and listened to Tommy Mackay on the Radio Scotland Comedy Cafe. I did all these things whilst quite invisible, all thanks to my superb Friday trouser choice.

Band of Gypsies

A few deja vu moments from the Edinburgh Tuesday Night Monsoon Sessions. If you're thinking that these folks look like they can really play then you're quite right.

Frankly disturbing

Yesterday's blog pic was perhaps a little disturbing. I don't really want to represent myself as a ranting idiot, angry at the notion of god (with a small g) or organised religion in any of it's many forms. I respect other beliefs but I can't quite take them seriously - they don't make sense. So as an antidote piece I offer something that's not too cute but still pretty good, natural, small and full of the magical wonder of things that makes life good. Ladies and gentlemen I give you a bird holding onto a stalk of grass.

Meanwhile, a good jammin' and hootin' time was had in the subterranean suburbs of Edinburgh at Mr FB's birthday event last night. Some great playing, singing, tootling on the sax, percussive ace action, guitar chatter and a whole lot of cake. Nicer than nice and better than the summer weather.

Mysterious Ways

Yes indeed, God moves pretty mysteriously and also says some interesting things about himself/herself/itself.

Her Royal Highness Princess Victoria Sponge

Today's question of the day is: Is there a name for that highly tasty and pleasurable thing that happens when you bite into a tiny Victoria Sponge cake and somehow you manage to inhale a small amount of icing sugar that catches at the back of your throat and palate just as your teeth descend upon that soft spongy outer and that cream and jam luxury interior? I'm sure that the French have a word for it and possibly even the Germans.

The afternoon was nice, a famous Formula 1 driver bought me a drink, I saw a well respected author, the great and the good surrounded me, I enjoyed the rain because I ignored it, I let some hard worked young pipers ahead of me in a queue and my lovely wife looked beautiful. There also was the memorable cake experience.

Woody

From the kitchen window, near Selkirk in the beautiful Scottish Borders.

I like woodpeckers, the way they look, the way they fly and the tap tap noise they make. They also like to bully the smaller birds and shove them out of the way on the bird feeder but then that's nature for you. Did I mention that my middle name is Wood? That's really all I have to say about woodpeckers at the moment.

Buzzed by swifts

So wildlife photography, or any kind of proper photography clearly isn't my thing. Anyway here's a quivering shot of the tiny swift that's nested up and bedded down in our 19th century coal cellar (there isn't much call for coal at the moment around here, even in the current damp climate). The tiny bird stays up in there most of the day defying the cats outside on a lazy sentry duty, the puzzled toads, scurrying rodents and the army of snails - there are also a few rubber necked humans who blunder around and occasionally get neatly buzzed in a confined space on those rare moments when the bird actually leaves the nest. You'll notice the bird does have something of a glint in his/her eye, clearly a plan is forming.

Harumph!

Waiting from the rain to stop so that I can surgically probe the MX5's roof and water management systems.  I have two special tools devised and modified from curtain rods and coat hanger origins that I intend to insert and thrust into the tiny drain and so remove what appears to be a significant blockage. This blockage has resulted in a wet footwell and carpets, a problem already encountered and lived with in the old long lamented Cougar. However until the rain stops this life saving  procedure cannot be undertaken. It's tough at times like these to be both mechanical and medically minded as well as cack-handed and clumsy. Maybe it'd be for the best if it kept on raining.

Go and chill

This (otherwise very good) week has been blighted by things out there, in the wild woods, wider worlds and media that for some reason have got to me. It's mostly the Tories, they are easy to hate, Cameron and Osborne - setting up Chloe Smith with Paxo, pushing and pulling, U turns and talking bollocks, they have no idea. Barclays Bank and it's clearly criminal activities. RBS with their bungled outsourcing backfire and we'll just "blame it on the poor Indian staff" routine. Rangers Football Club, cheating for twenty years, not a shred of honesty or integrity about them, swindling fans and the game and no sign of an apology or acknowledgment of any error. Alex Salmond for being a smug and unfunny human being,  Alistair Darling for being a big wet kipper and then the never ending incessant June rain. OK, said it all - now to just sit under this here mystical tree and drift away.

Glayva

Actual photo of our actual glasses, actual ice and actual bottle.

Nice to relax with a Scottish Liqueur , watching the football, discussing life with all it's layers and complexity. No time for all this blogging nonsense really.

Five Stones of Wisdom

The Five Great Stones of Scottish Wisdom. These stones are between 3500 and 2000 years old, their meaning and use has been lost somewhere in the deep mists of time. They are the true representation of history captured in stone, ancient, rough and elemental, fashioned with primitive care by unknown hands and forces, mysterious and signifying long gone ways and wisdom. Times past, never to be recalled, never to be reenacted, from the blue flames of the occult and from the early pre-Celtic light  of new knowledge acquired. I found them at the bottom of my wardrobe next to a vinyl copy of Big Country "The Crossing".

A door in Edinburgh

What can be on the other side?

Getting the most out of life

Traditional pot (showing tear-off ragged edge)

The classic corner model

The swirling but irritating artisan

Part #1. A big part of getting the most out of life involves getting the maximum benefit from your hourly, daily, weekly, (delete as applicable) carton of lovely, creamy, fruity, nourishing yogurt. Failure to choose and partake of the most efficient spooning carton can have serious consequences and render you unable to "get the most" out of your yogurt and therefore life itself. You may be crushed and rendered as an outcast from popular society by a poor selection of outer dairy carton. Careful research into the design of  the yogurt carton and levels of spooning satisfaction are therefore essential to avoid disappointment and a low or negative score in "getting the most". The actual spoon also plays a part, make sure it's clean and not too big, a nicely shaped teaspoon works best. Then pick the carton - I don't want to damn any major brands here (for fear of litigation) so I'll just go for basic shapes, here are my findings:

Traditional cylinder pot - performs well but it's hard work to clear the (non) corners,  7 out of 10.

Swirling artisan pot - usually has good or exotic flavours but inner geometry is flawed allowing contents to stick, hard for effective spoon action also, 6 out of 10.

Corner tri-pot - excellent dump function and clean and open spoon area. Generally satisfying on a number of levels with user choice and mix ratios well indulged, 9 out of 10.

Pump action tubes - messy, awful, bad even for kids, best ignored, 1 out of 10. Not even worth posting a picture of the messy gunk either.

There you have it. Many thanks to the Scottish Government, Muller, the National Lottery and "The Fifty Shades of Grey" Specialist Barbershop South Queensferry for sponsoring my ongoing research. More news soon.

Home studio

Just spent the last seven hours in the err...home studio (or dining room filled with miscellaneous cables and boxes to be precise) playing guitar, this is how I feel, not quite how I sounded however. I'm also pretty tired and my fingers are sore. I need some cheese, some tomatoes, olives, wine and French bread.