Blogs

The BBC commemorate the liberation of Auschwitz, 70 years ago, the site of almost one million murdered, but also a symbol of the six million other Jews killed and hundreds of thousands others killed in a genocidal purge of the pure Aryan-Nazi race that took place in a ring of hundreds of other camps. As a Catholic the service itself was one I was familiar with. The solemn intonation, readings from extracts of Primo Levi, If This is a Man ...

How many times have you been told NO just to go back umpteens times to work and perfect that YES! Umpteen times?Anyway, as much as the "never give up speech" is all inspiring and crucial, if we're being honest with ourselves ,it's a further dissappointment to hear! Am I right? I'll speak for myself then,it is. It reminds me of the long long longggg journey ahead of me. I know it. I understand it. I just don't want to hear you say it...,maybe...

'They're just a bunch of trees.' Wrong! Woods can tip us topsy-turvey, grannies become wolves, witches jump out at us stealing babies to imprison for life because they can't let go, giants quake the ground. There are love-rat princes, weird magic beans and worst of all we can lose the path. Lost in the woods! Stephen Sondheim's clever musical travels well to the screen.Several fairy tales are meshed together in a singing, running, suspenseful...

It’s difficult to summarise a book that spans over 300 years, rich with knowledge and learning, which runs to over 600 pages. But it’s really quite simple. He who own the land owns the people. The Highland Clearances are an example of this. But Devine notes the Scots were always a nation on the move. Only Ireland and Norway have exported more of its people. But neither of these nations have done as well as the expatriate Scot abroad. Start...

The time was 1970. The place, my backyard. The 1970′s was a great time for a child growing up. It seemed like parents were a lot more relaxed about where we went, what we did, and who our friends were. We had the run of the neighborhood, and were the lords of our block. After dinner, we came home when the street lights came on, and never wasted one sunny day inside. Are you kidding me? There was too much to do! Riding our bikes, meeting friends...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01n1vhr I don’t watch many silent movies. I’m not as old as some people make out. The only time I watched silent movies when they were on the telly on a Saturday morning and there was nothing else on. And that’s going back a few years. I guess you could say I came to appreciate the genius of Harold Llloyd and Laurel and Hardy. Ok, Laurel and Hardy weren’t silent but they were geniuses. This is the kind of era in...

Our poem of the week is from PhilipSidney, one of those rare writers who can produce poetry and prose of equal quality: http://www.abctales.com/story/philip-sidney/snowdonian-stone Picking this week's winning story was equally as difficult but it's this from OliviaStJames: http://www.abctales.com/story/oliviastjames/under-my-skin If you find a particularly affecting and effective story or poem please do let us know and also, if you read...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02dlcf3 Lots of folk may be asking why I’m watching Insane Fight Club when I live in Dalmuir and am living it. Well, quite simple. I went out to watch the Celtic game in the Horsie and we couldn’t watch the second half because the internet was buggered and it was a crap game. That’s the kinda insanity I’m forced to put up with and if I put insane before most of my actions it makes them looking slightly...

I can't stop running,I won't stop running, I have to keep running. What would happen if I stopped? I'd have to stop to find out and I can't do that. No no sir,there is no mystery here, I am an open book. I don't know who I am, I wasn't who I was and I lost sight of who I am supposed to be. That's everything you know about me and everything I know about me.I am an open book, you see sir,there is no mystery here. I'd have to stop to find out and I...

Being Scottish we take a perverse pride in the weather. It’s too cold. It’s too wet. It’s too sunny. And that’s just in a morning. Made in Scotland. It’ll never last is the common refrain. That’s just about right. We do however take a particular delight in snow. Kids love it, for ten minutes. Adults love to moan about the state of the roads. Everybody’s happy because they are unhappy. This week it’s meant to stay below zero. Ho. Ho. Ho. We say...