Trivia and Susannah

I rarely watch TV these days. I got out of the habit in Sri Lanka and for the last month of course it's just been by election all the way so the only things I've watched have been the news and political programmes and even then, I missed half of them. So, tonight, I was looking forward to watching some trivia. Until I watched it that is.

Honestly what are these people Trinny and Susannah all about? They devoted an hour to a programme that helped shopaholics shop a little less and shopaphobes shop a little more. Now we're not talking about shopping to feed starving children or anything important, instead we're worshipping the act of clothes shopping. There were women crying and saying they couldn't bear to shop - here's my solution, don't bloomin well shop then! Go online, buy out of a catalogue or just make do with what you've got.

Worst thing though was that they used a neurosurgeon who attached something to each shopper's head to measure their emotions when shopping. That told the ones who hated it that they weren't happy. It also told the one who loved shopping that, in actual fact, she wasn't happy. She says she is but the skull cap with the electrodes says different! What a waste of the neurosurgeon's time - he could be off saving someone from a brain tumour instead of waffling on about this nonsense.

Aaaargh, that's it, no more TV for me. There will be no trivial pleasures left at this rate, I can't even enjoy magazines these days. What's happened?! Oh, and that has just reminded me that I DO have something worth doing. I bought a copy of Lewis Grassic Gibbon's Sunset Song today. Not read it since I was 16 but a quick glance reminded me how easily I can get lost in this book. So that's exactly what I'm going to do - I'm off to get lost!

The Northern Irish Accent

My sis's friend Doreen was travelling to Port Glasgow with her family from her home in Ballymena today when she called my sister and said that her husband said:

"we're in Norway"!

"What?"! asks my sister.

"We're in Norway" repeats Doreen.

"What on earth are you doing in Norway?" exclaims the sis.

"No, Janet, we're AN HOUR AWAY" replies an exasperated Doreen. Just thought I'd share it with ye all :-)

All the world's a stage ...

What I love most about the SNP's spectacular by election victory last Thursday is the fact that it's made headlines across the world. My favourite has to be The Sun's "Gordi's been Glasgow kissed" but there were some other interesting articles as follows:


Par example this, en France.


This was the New York State of Mind.


"Schock fur Brown" is how it was described in Deutschland.


And the reports from Down Under.


"Humiliation" according to this Spanish newspaper.


Fox News picked up on it too.


"Labour in freefall" as far as the Swiss are concerned.


"A bleak weekend for Blair" according to reports in New Zealand.


Scotland has "dealt Brown a blow" according to Boston journalists.


Finally, not speaking a word of Italian, I have no idea what this says but I did recognise the word Glasgow ...


Talking of recognition and Glasgow, who in the world would have cared far less noticed if Labour had won? Nobody gets excited about more of the same and we only ever seem to make people sit up and take notice when we start standing up for ourselves and voting SNP. They can't even use the argument any more that people are voting for the opposition because we're halfway through an electoral term. They can't use that argument because the SNP is NOT the opposition in Scotland, it's the government. Scotland has much to offer the world and the world is watching and waiting with interest - let's not let them or ourselves down any longer!

I belong to Glosgaw

I was in the SNP rooms in Glasgow today and spotted a letter addressed to John Mason MP. Big smiles all round. Till I noticed that according to Dods - the first name in political information and communication don't you know? - he is the MP for Glasgoe East. GLASGOE?! Simple typo I know but what's happened to attention to detail? Still, John Mason MP - love it!

Total Politics? Not in Scotland.

Someone emailed me today to say they were voting me no 1 in the Total Politics Guide to Political Blogging to be published soon. Happy was I although I do realise I need more than one vote! My smile soon disappeared when I read the introduction which said the book will be on sale on the exhibition stand TP is taking at the party conferences of Labour, the Tories, the Lib Dems, the Green Party and the TUC. What about the SNP? Why on earth would you go to every major party conference (and one not so major) but ignore the conference of the party that is in power in Scotland? Do we have to wait for Independence to be taken seriously or even acknowledged by these people? It's a shame because SNP conferences are very well attended and as anyone who reads blogs knows, we probably blog more than any other party in the country so I would have thought it worth their while to be there.

The first ever bloggers' hen night

Had a much needed night out last night to celebrate the forthcoming wedding of Alison Thewliss. We were joined by Jennifer Dunn and Aileen Campbell so it was a bloggers' hen night. Aileen was of course responsible for the silly hats but that's where I drew the line. And funnily enough it was a step too far for VODKA VODKA in the city's West End who snootily told us to remove the hats before we went in (when pressed they said it lowered the tone!). We started off on the Glasgow Bus Tour which was great fun, had a quick drink at VV before going for dinner at Brel, a Belgian restaurant - Alison worked in Brussels for a year. We wanted to book a private booth at a karaoke bar but we'd left it too late to book so we sat outside a few bars in the West End and sipped on cocktails. It was a great night out and I was very happy to be there to celebrate Alison's forthcoming wedding.

Sochalisum

My friend Lesley lives in Belfast these days and she was telling me she had to get up early on Friday morning to do a 12 hour shift followed by a 6 hour shift. You can imagine she wasn't looking forward to it. Anyway she was grumping around and switched the TV on and guess what the first thing she saw was? Yep, me jumping up and down and apparently with the biggest most genuine smile she's ever seen - she was right, it was totally genuine and I was very happy. Anyway it cheered her up and she was telling everyone "that's my friend Anne".

Trouble was, there was no-one else there but that's nothing new for Lesley, she's quite happy to talk to herself from time to time. Certainly happier talking to herself than some of the new friends she's acquired since arriving in Belfast. She went on a protest against George Bush when he visited a couple of months back and made the grave error of giving her number to some "socialists" she met there. They've not stopped phoning since and it's driving her mad. Apparently they call up and say "we're going to watch a video about the miners' strike in nineteen canteen, do you fancy coming?"! Lesley is genuinely quite shocked and almost offended that they think she'd spend her Saturday night doing that. I laughed as she was telling me this particularly as she described them as lovely people but "you know the type, all grungy, not very streetwise and STILL like Nirvana"! As I say I laughed and kept to myself the fact that the best party I ever had was in January when a big group of us watched by election coverage from 1988 and 1989! But that's different ... isn't it?