How others see us

Carol Gould at Pajamas Media:

Another glitch for Britain’s image in the world came on February 6 when television presenter Jeremy Clarkson, in an interview in Australia, referred to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown as a “one-eyed Scottish idiot.” The prime minister is visually impaired, is a Scot, and is believed by a large swathe of impoverished Britons to be an idiot, but the Clarkson gaffe made many feel that public decorum and the greatest of British attributes, graciousness, has evaporated.

Back in the saddle

Phew! That took rather longer than originally expected. I'm finally back in the saddle, and bear the scars of a rather traumatic house move and a complete absence from the blogosphere for three weeks. I spent the first ten days like a lost sheep, wandering around aimlessly, unable to understand how any question, even the most simple, could be answered without a 2Mb broadband connection and the assistance of Mr Google.

It's nice to be back. Lots of reading to catch up on though. Posting will resume in due course.

Thanks for your patience. 

Away

F*%&^$g B!@@&y Tiscali have cut off my broadband a week before I move house! I'll be offline for a week. Thanks guys.

Could this be the world's best cludge?

The other day, when I posted about Amit Varma's best public convenience competition I thought my suggestion of the gothic spendour of the Isle of Bute's finest was a good one. But it turns out that the Victorians' finest has been put in the shade by the, erm, delights of another, via here:

 

Offline for a few days

I'm going to be offline, probably until the end of the week. Isn't work a bore?

Good Friday

On Good Friday, one of the baby bishops asked:

"Daddy, why is it called Good Friday? It wasn't a very good day for Jesus, was it?"

So why is it called Good Friday? 

By 'eck

Dinner in the garden. At the start of April. In Scotland.

Global warming isn't half great, innit? 

The Bishop and glamour

The Bishop and glamour have a relationship roughly akin to that enjoyed by a divorced couple. We can go for weeks and months without ever setting eyes on each other but, just occasionally, a meeting, or rather a confrontation, is forced upon us by social necessity. Something to be endured rather than enjoyed.

Last night was one of those occasions, as we were the slightly nervous recipients of an invitation to a book launch in Edinburgh.  Our friend Gillian has written a novel, and it has been published by a real publisher. Cor! So, having hoovered the dust from the shoulders of my city jacket (which mercifully still just about fits) and having levered myself into a not-too-rumpled pair of smart trousers (which, alas, had shrunk rather since their last outing) we headed off in the episcopal courtesy car for an evening of metropolitan sfistication.

And it was all very pleasant in fact. The Bishop did feel a little out of place amongst the legal and literary set, but having consumed rather more of the free wine than is perhaps strictly necessary for a man of the cloth, managed to relax enough to enjoy himself. As far as I can recall, I managed not to disgrace myself either.

The book? It's a legal thriller set in Edinburgh featuring a detective called Alice Rice.  It's had a very good review from Alexander McCall Smith, and there seems to be a bit of a buzz developing around it. I reckon it's going to be a great success.

You can get it from Amazon here.