P & J

http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1088640

Skype

We haven't Skyped for a while, but our camera is set up and we're available this weekend.


Footy for Ross and Gary this afternoon and CAMRA meeting for Colin and I, then it's off to Woodend Barn tonight to see Benny Gallagher (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benny_Gallagher).


The golf course is open again at last and, so if the weather behaves, I'm hoping to get a game tomorrow - I'll need some practice before I head off to Tenerife on Friday.


The start of our 3 day week at the canning plant was reported in the local Fraserburgh Herald on Thursday:

The Press and Journal were also on the phone to me yesterday, but I didn't call them back - they've got the press release I wrote and I really don't want to add any more to that. No doubt there'll be something in today's paper.

I'm having a 60th birthday lunch at the golf club - I had originally hoped to do it on the Sunday nearest to my birthday, but the caterers are on holiday then, so it's going to have to be the following week - 15th March (beware, beware, the Ides of March! - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ides_of_march). I thought of holding it over until the following Sunday when the Lesinas are here, but that's Mother's Day and the place will be mobbed then.

T-n-C again

Yesterday's Piper article: http://www.deesidepiper.co.uk/news/Tor-na-foiled.4996405.jp

T-n-C

Here's the full article from yesterday's P & J. Note Roxanne's comment about the hotel needing £1m. of refurbishment - this really sticks in the throat in light of the way they forced the squash club out through alleged lack of maintenance. If this is to be believed, the only decent part of her property is now the squash courts which we refurbished at vast expense - but too late for the legal system as it turned out.

So, after owning the hotel for 18 years or more, Roxanne is now admitting that, not only has her business been run down to a non-viable condition, but the very fabric of the hotel is apparently falling apart as well!

Yours disgustedly,

Btw - don't believe Jo's blog - she is losing weight, even if the scales don't show it yet.

Tor-na-Coille

I forgot to mention the good news - http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1083467

Round 5 to the objectors - seconds out, prepare for a long fight.

Tuesday in Glasgow

I met Jo at Stracathro - I was late but we had an easy drive down and made it to Glasgow in very good time. It was too early to eat and we couldn't go to Barry's as he and Helen were still at work and I don't have a key for Foxbar Drive any more, so we decided to pay Dad a visit. As usual he was seated in his favourite chair by the window, dozing away. We didn't disturb him to start with as we both wanted to use the loo in his room first of all!

Dawn had left a diary/notebook last week - she wanted to know what Dad got up to each day and what exercise/activity he did. It had only been going for a week, but each day different staff had written - "Rennie happy, dancing and singing along to Patsy Cline". Of course, when we woke Dad and asked him about this, he said who's he? (Check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patsy_Cline to see why this is funny). Her CD was, indeed, on Dad's CD player.

Dawn had tried to get Dad to come to hers for dinner on Sunday but had failed - he's so reluctant to go anywhere or do anything - but at least he's happy. Jo and I walked him round the corridors then sat him down for his dinner:

Time for us to leave - we thought curry might be best, so we headed off to Mitchell St and had a quick beer in the Bon Accord:

Cafe India used to be adjacent but we discovered it had moved a couple of years ago, so we had to settle for PJ's, just around the corner. We both went veggy and the food was fine, but Jo didn't take to the decor - high polystyrene ceilings and bright lighting put her off a bit.

Glasgow Concert Hall is absolutely excellent - viewing is good from anywhere and the accoustics are superb. Tom Paxton is 71 now but he did 2 stints supported by just a lone guitarist/mandolin player. If you lived through the 60's, his music is very nostalgic - his tunes can veer towards almost nursery rhyme - in fact many of them were written for his kids when they were young - but there's often a harder underlying message - he was one of the 60's so called "protest" singers after all. He opened the concert by letting us all know in no uncertain terms what his political views were - he said "thank the Lord - we've got our country back again!". He talked about Dubya going back to Texas where he reckoned they would call him "all hat and no cattle"! Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_paxton

We stayed with Barry and Helen, who apologised for the fact that it's still a camp bed in their guest (front) room. It was tight for the two of us - and sore!

We headed north early this morning and I dropped Jo off at Stracathro where we swapped cars - Jo had offered to try to clean up the chewing gum on my car seat, but I guess it had been there too long - I've just had a "whoops" message from her!

Poll results

OK - three of you have now responded - who's the latchy one then?

Seems like only one of you so far likes my lists and quizzes, so what else can I do to add a bit of variety if I can't do these features? I would prefer the content to be mine rather than just plucked from the web - and I don't do funny - although I could, I suppose, tell you more about daily life chez Stewart, particularly what Jo says and does - her blog is only the tip of the iceberg!

The following comment is definitely not intended to be related to the last paragraph - we were listening to Radio Scotland this morning and it was the news reporter John Suchet talking about his wife's dementia and how she's happy in her own world and really it was he who was suffering - he had "lost" his wife although her body was still there and he had the responsibility of looking after it. I thought of my Dad and also Dave Edwards. My Dad is surrounded by carers and is well looked after, safe and comfortable. Doris, on the other hand, has the unenviable task of looking after Dave all by herself. They're coming to Tenerife on our golfing trip next week - it'll be interesting to see how Dave is with Doris there, and whether there is any noticeable deterioration since our Florida trip in November.

There - I told you I don't do funny.

This afternoon, I'm meeting Jo at Stracathro and we're driving down to Glasgow to see Tom Paxton in concert tonight. We're staying with Barry and Helen and then back up the road in the morning. Will also pop in to see Dad sometime.

Here's some Tom Paxton from 1970:

Thanks

Thank you to Jo and one other - Kelly/Lucy/Gary? - for completing my poll - results totally inconclusive at this stage however.

Been to Fraserburgh this morning - first day of the 3 day week now in operation in the canning plant - a little eerie with no production going on - and very sad too. Perhaps it's time for me to go part time as well? Maybe I'll hold a separate poll on this one.

Curious

Questions:

1) Why did Gary select all his favourite TV shows when I asked only about game shows?

2) Why did nobody answer my poll questions on the sidebar of my blog when I had gone to all the trouble of re-designing my blog with new features?

Incidentally, did everyone read the Sunday Times Culture section today? It listed the top 100 blogs and the link below was one of them:

http://photos.tmz.com/galleries/memba_them_2008

List time

Time for another list - game shows you have loved - or not!

The Krypton Factor had some merit the first time around - and it's back on air again, although I haven't watched it yet.

I suppose everybody must have watched Blind Date at some time in their lives - although most would now deny it.

Call My Bluff was fun in its time - mostly due to the panel members.

Have I Got News For You? is still great as is QI, and I've grown to like Mock the Week - but definitely not Argumental - contrived and very not funny.

I like some periods of Never Mind the Buzzcocks but Jo won't watch it, so I seldom see it. Likewise, Pop Quiz and They Think It's All Over. A Question of Sport used to be essential viewing but it's lost the plot now.

Back in the 50's and early 60's, What's My Line was about the only panel game on TV and was very watchable, even if it was really a radio show on TV.

Whose Line is it Anyway had its moments but I never quite got Shooting Stars.

Catchphrase and Countdown could be fun as well.

The £64,000 Question was, I think, fairly good, although I can barely remember it. More recently, Blockbusters and Fifteen to One were essential viewing.

Mastermind and University Challenge were, and are, classics of course.

Top of the Form is from a bygone era but surely the most successful game show of all time has to be Who Wants to be a Millionaire? The Weakest Link was fun for a while but it's at least two Wicked Witch facelifts overdue to be removed from screen.

Personally, I can't stand most of the more recent reality shows. Corny though they were, Take Your Pick and Double Your Money leave far fonder memories.

3-2-1 had Ted Rogers of course, but Jim Bowen on Bullseye? How has he managed to become an icon now?

At certain times in our lives, Generation Game and the Golden Shot were unavoidable peak time viewing and even Mr & Mrs, Play Your Cards Right and The Price is Right were popular for a while.

What's your favourites? Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UK_game_shows or the American version - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_game_shows