Journal Entries
Glasgow Street Art
Posted Dec 10, 2011
Every couple of weeks I drive past a Glasgow chip shop called the Val D'oro on the way back from the Barras where I've been getting Mrs swl's cheap fags. It's at Glasgow Cross, the junction of the Trongate & Gallowgate and there's always a queue of traffic at the lights giving you time to look around. The Val D'oro is, like most of the businesses at this end of town, a rather grubby looking establishment with a neon sign in the window proclaiming "Home of the Famous Glasgow Fish Tea". I've never heard of a Glasgow Fish Tea but I have heard of the owner because he was in all the papers a couple of years ago. Apparently he's the son of Italian post-war immigrants and he is quite the opera singer. An accomplished tenor "Gee Gee" as the Weegies call him or Luigi Corvi as his dad named him, belts out opera songs in between serving sausage suppers.
Here he is - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eOqRvoLlWY
Certainly adds local colour 
But that's not what I'm writing about. Outside the chippy, above the facade is a brilliant piece of art. Put there for the Pope's visit it's hung at the spot where (before the chippy was built) Scotland's only post Reformation Saint was hung and gralloched (disembowelled) in 1615. John Ogilvie http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ogilvie_(saint) was a priest who ministered to the very few Catholics who dared to remain in Scotland after the religious hysteria typified by John Knox saw Catholics hounded from Scotland by Protestants. The East End of Glasgow is still strongly Catholic to this day though, perhaps due in part to Ogilvie's sacrifice and the reason he was made a Saint by the Pope.
Anyway - the picture http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/49424484.jpg
It's huge and dominates the street. Obviously the bloke being crucified is Ogilvie. To the left is Peter Corvi, father of Luigi and the man who established the Val D'Oro, offering up a fish supper to the dying priest. But the figure who always makes me smile is the wee boy by the cross, offering up his bottle for the crucified man to take a swig from.
This to me typifies Glaswegians. Generous to a fault, they have a warmth and spirit that you find in oppressed communities the world over, interspersed with a real sense of humour. The wee boy - in England he'd be a Chav but in Scotland he's a Ned - is undoubtedly in my mind shouting in that unmistakeable high pitched nasal Weegie whine;
"Haw big man! Gaun then, try an' swally that ya walloper", safe in the knowledge that his Buckfast is safely out of reach for the man with his hands nailed to the cross-member.
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Latest reply: Dec 10, 2011
Choosing a car
Posted Nov 29, 2011
It's that time again when I have to choose a new company car and I've spent this afternoon poring over the list sent through from the office. 145 cars - 10 brands, 15 models, umpteen different specs. Once upon a time the choice was limited to colour - the make and model being strictly dictated by paygrade but since the Government started taxing users it's been recognised that it's something drivers should have a say in. I lose about £3500 out of my tax-free allowance each year because of my car, so it's not cheap and I also have to pay for any private mileage at 14p per mile, so it's not quite the "perk" a lot of folk think it is.
So what do I look for?
1) Comfort
I drive around 1000 miles a week so that seat had better be comfy and supportive. I also don't want to be thrown around like a clown on custard at every roundabout, so the 4x4s and "Crossovers" are out.
2) Power
No, not so I can go speeding (6 points is 6 too many thank you) but so I can cruise at 70 on the motorway without the engine screaming for hundreds of miles and giving me a splitting headache.
3) Space
I have to be able to get the wife's disability scooter in the back, plus all the paraphernalia from work. If the work junk isn't stored in the car, it's all over the house.
4) Reliability
OK, this isn't a deal breaker really as it'll be serviced like clockwork and got rid of at 120,000 miles. Most cars are bullet-proof nowadays up to those mileages. With the exception of Citroens, Fiats and Skodas.
5) Toys Pretty much a "must" is an aux-in socket for my iPod. I have no idea how I got by before without this. Dual zone climate control is good for when Mrs swl needs a flow of cool, fresh air for her emphysema but I don't want to freeze to death. Cruise control is good for those interminable Average Speed zones which crop up all the time and the long haul up the M6 through Cumbria with speed cops on every flyover. Satnav is nice so I won't have a box and wires all over the dashboard and I've got kinda used to auto windscreen wipers and headlights.
So, I've narrowed my list down to:
i) Ford Mondeo Estate 2.0 Tdci 163 Zetec
ii) Seat Exeo Diesel Sports Tourer 2.0 Tdi 143 CrS
iii) Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer 2.0 cdti 160 Exclusiv Nav
I took the shortlist through to the wife, ready to point out the pros and cons of each but she forestalled me by saying "What colour will it be?" 
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Latest reply: Nov 29, 2011
Moderate moderation
Posted Nov 16, 2011
Just caught this on another site -
"Just to clarify in case it isn't obvious.
We use a word filter for certain terms on this website because we have been advised not to let those terms be used on the website.
If users continually try to circumvent the filter then those accounts will be banned.
This is for our own protection as well as yours, please play nice and stick to the rules.
If you do not like the rules then please let me know and I will disable your account."
Straight and to the point.
All I really expect in moderation issues is consistency and communication. If the rules here said "Three spelling mistakes and you're on pre-mod" that would be fair enough if it applied evenly to all. Hootoo site, hootoo rules.
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Latest reply: Nov 16, 2011
Getting old and troublesome cats.
Posted Mar 1, 2010
I must be getting old. I fell down the stairs this morning. Skinned my hand trying to hold onto the wall, battered my tailbone off half a dozen steps and landed in a heap at the bottom, winded and convinced my heart had stopped due to an incredible pain in my chest.
Fine now. I blame Trubble, the black cat that distracted me then stood staring as I thought I was dying. He never offered to help, to phone an ambulance or nothing.
He just stared.
And licked his lips.
He's getting booked into the vets to get his balls chopped off. I've decided. Just as soon as my knees stop trembling long enough for me to stand up.
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Latest reply: Mar 1, 2010
Off campaigning again.
Posted Sep 13, 2009
Sorted out our candidate for the Glasgow North East bye-election today. Isn't it nice when weeks of planning and work pay off? When the announcement's made in ten days or so, it'll make headlines - and not just in Britain.
But there's so much to do. Sort out campaign office(s), hire staff, get press shots done, video to make, book billboards ... 
This time around I don't have to put my ugly mug in front of the camera. Instead I get the far more interesting job of pulling the strings behind the scenes.
So, I'm going to bow out of here again and return after (I expect) Nov 12th with a story about winning a bye-election.
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Latest reply: Sep 13, 2009
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