Monthly Archives: September 2016

  1. We Value Your Business – And Your Trading Safety on the Internet

    We Value Your Business –

    And Your Trading Safety on the Internet

    Very recently a 60-year-old woman in Dumfries and Galloway was conned out of £30,000 just a week after a similar scam netted £10,000 for the fraudsters when a 71 year old was scammed by someone claiming to be from BT. The second scam in Stranraer was from a caller who said he was contacting  the lady about problems with her internet.

    We live in the internet age but we all must ensure we are safe on line especially when people cold call you in order to gain remote access to your computer.  The message to all is never give out any banking details or account numbers over the telephone to people who have called you. Banks, building societies and reputable businesses never ask for this information.

    My bank sent me these simple steps for safety on the internet:

    Stop, Think, Check – Assume They Are Rascals

    Before

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  2. Holy Toledo Batman – Can I Dress as Charmeleon from Pokémon?

    Holy Toledo Batman –

     Can I Dress as Charmeleon from Pokémon?

    As those of you who are regular readers of the Musings know I am an avid Sci-Fi fan and although I don’t take this as an excuse at the drop of a hat to dress up as a Storm Trooper from Star Wars, I prefer light sabers myself, I do understand those who want to dress up as their favourite character and hang out at Glasgow’s fifth annual Comic Con

    Glasgow Played Host to 3,000 Sci-Fi Fans

    More than 30,000 sci-fi fans attended this year's MCM Scotland Comic Con at the SECC in Glasgow where they met the small but highly talented Star Wars actor Warwick Davis and former Doctor Who the Hobbit actor Sylvester McCoy. It was a chance to get away from the humdrum and act out fantasy and possibly to meet the authors

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  3. Time’s Arrow and Stirling’s Bowling Green Restored – Hoping to Find Evidence of Cromwell’s Siege

    Time’s Arrow and Stirling’s Bowling Green Restored –

    Hoping to Find Evidence of Cromwell’s Siege

    A green that was part of a garden designed in 1713 for Cowane’s Hospital in Stirling and which is the oldest surviving bowling green in Scotland is to be restored to how it was more than 300 years ago. Cowane’s Hospital is an A listed property quite near to Stirling Castle and it was originally an almshouse for the poor of the area. It was built a bequest  from local man John Cowane. John was a prosperous merchant and great benefactor to the town. By the later part of the century it was the place of the guildry. And there the leading lights of the town were then the first to bowl on the green.  The Guildhall Bowling Club took over the green in about 1903 and over the years the original green spread. The new renovation will take it back to its former size

    Going Back in Time - Huge Project Delves

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  4. The Great Fire of Glasgow – Mackintosh’s Immense Creation Set for Re-Birth

    The Great Fire of Glasgow –

    Mackintosh’s Immense Creation Set for Re-Birth

    If you saw the great fire of Glasgow in 2014 you’ll know that the national treasure that was the Glasgow School of Art went up in smoke when a carelessly left light set fire to the building which was just about totally destroyed.  After which there was a dreadful hoo-ha about whether to rebuild this, the work of Scotland’s greatest artist, or shove some concrete blocks up instead. It made quite a stink and I wrote about it here at the time. But the decision was finally taken to rebuild the beloved old pile. Now Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s architectural drawings hold the key to the proper and authentic reconstruction of Glasgow School of Art, with nary a concrete block in sight.

    Original Papers Original Intentions

    Now the rebuilders have been able to see Mackintosh’s original papers with his scribbles

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  5. Whut! Sunburned Dolphins and Scotland to Host Alternative Olympic Games – Global Warming Headlines Gift Olympics to Scotland

    Whut! Sunburned Dolphins and Scotland to Host Alternative Olympic Games –

    Global Warming Headlines Gift Olympics to Scotland

    ‘Whut! I cannot believe it!’ In the words of Victor Meldrew it seems that the world has gone mad. Now I knew of a young dolphin that they called “Spirtle was in trouble,” no doubt because it had to go to ‘hos-spirtle,’ he he he. When the little thing was stranded out of water on mudflats at the Cromarty Firth back in May it got badly sunburnt. The young dolphin was stranded for near 24 hours.  But the beast was refloated and has since been seen with a heck of a sunburn, but otherwise doing well. And she was spotted off Moray Firth recently alive and kicking.

    Sunscreen and Scotland

    Now I can get that. A dolphin isn’t designed to stuck on mud flats

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  6. Andy Murray Needs a Rest – He said it Himself

    Andy Murray Needs a Rest –

    He said it Himself

    I was off on Saturday to a friend’s fiftieth birthday and twenty- fifth wedding anniversary, but I couldn’t go until I had factored in the Davis Cup semi final with Argentina in Glasgow. As you probably know I am a huge Murray fan and I was agog, yes truly agog, to see the matches especially after Andy lost to Juan Martin Del Potro on Friday. This was a grudge match after Andy’s defeat of the giant Argentine in Rio.  Andy even missed his grandfather’s funeral to play the match. There’s commitment. By the way Del Potro is one of my favourite players too as he’s come through loads and is a refreshingly generous opponent for the greats of tennis.

    Davis Cup Thrills

    Anyway it was great when an obviously jaded Andy was helped along by big brother Jamie, who for a short period this year was world number 1 in doubles. Having lived

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  7. “Freedom an' whisky gang thegither! Take aff your dram!” Robert Burns – Whisky Sales on the Up After 3 Year Decline

    “Freedom an' whisky gang thegither! Take aff your dram!” Robert Burns –

    Whisky Sales on the Up After 3 Year Decline

    But First a Toast to Go with the Dram.

    Lord keep our pots distilling weel
    Lord send the excise man to the de’il
    Lord bless our couthy meal
    Amen

    The water of life is on the rise again after a short period of slowing in international sales. An incredible 533 million bottles were shipped from Scotland in the first six months of 2016 the Scotch Whisky Association said and the biggest markets were France and the USA, but they also indicated a surge in exports to India.

     Toast the Old Alliance

    The French are the biggest fans of Scotch per capita with some 90 million bottles whisked off to La Belle France in the first half of the year, cheers to our old ally. And it is an enduring alliance cemented with many a dram. Everyone hopes

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  8. Not Many Things Hold a Candle to These – New to Us and Made in Scotland

    Not Many Things Hold a Candle to These –

    New to Us and Made in Scotland

    If you’ve been keeping up with the series Victoria on ITV you’ll know that in Buckingham Palace the used candle business is a vital perk to the butler Penge, played beautifully by Adrian Schiller, and part of the intrigues upstairs and downstairs that keep us all fascinated. Meanwhile the lovely Jenna Coleman, AKA QueenVictoria, faffs around before falling for young Albert. There is no great tension there as we’ve all heard of the Victoria and Albert museum and know that Albert died of “drains” in Balmoral. It’s true it’s on his death certificate.

    None of Your Beeswax!

    Anyway back to candles. While Penge stops the German governess installing gas into the palace, we get an insight into the cost of proper beeswax candles which even back then were a luxury. Penge threatens the former German

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  9. Not Balsam for the Soul – Nastiest Weed Since Japanese Knotweed Invades Royal Dee

    Not Balsam for the Soul –

    Nastiest Weed Since Japanese Knotweed Invades Royal Dee

    The banks of the royal river the River Dee are today a battleground as an alien invader is wresting great swathes of land from the indigenous locals. And it is mostly the fault of Storm Frank which struck last December and caused chaos on Royal Deeside. As well as the enormous flood damage to houses and businesses the storm swept millions of  Himalayan balsam seeds across vast areas of the valley and now an army of volunteers is needed to stop the progress of this nasty ten foot high invader. And just as Royal Deeside was very much a creation of Queen Victoria it was her subjects importing the plant in the nineteenth century that has caused the present day problem.

    Royal Approval

    That other nasty foreigner the Japanese knotweed is a darn sight easier to remove because they don’t scatter seeds.  The effort to get

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  10. Bake Off Is Offski – The Show That Launched a Million Brownies Leaves BBC

    Bake Off Is Offski –

    The Show That Launched a Million Brownies Leaves BBC

    Mel and Sue aren’t going for the dough and Paul and Mary haven’t risen yet. A fact which leaves Great British Bake Off fans desperate to know what the future holds now Channel 4 has prised the show off the BBC.  We are all holding our breaths, but baking fans in Scotland had their very own Cake Fest to celebrate the magic of the mixer and oven and I tell you some of the things that went on took some crust.

     Taking the Rise

    The Skye Bridge and Dumbarton Castle are among some of Scotland's buildings to have been recreated in cake form in an edible map of the nation, a real treat for the sweet toothed among us. A woman from Glenrothes reproduced Falkland Palace in a cake form.  Both amateur and professional bakers took part in Stirling's Cake Fest as part of the 2016 Festival

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