Friday frustrations

Well, I didn't go to the KGV meeting last night after all - I just stayed home and vegetated - catching up with some of my Sky + recordings and transferring them to my laptop for next Friday's headbang - talking of which, our host Dave may have a problem with making it back up from Reading in time. He suggested changing it to Saturday night - but I didn't think that would go down very well!!!! Let's hope he can make it on Friday.

I sat through a good live concert from a small club in Memphis while Jo was having a bath. It was on Sky Arts HD and the quality was excellent - you really got the feeling you were there as Elvis Costello and the Imposters ran through their act.

Our golf group continues to frustrate - they keep changing their minds. I thought the dates for the spring trip were finally settled yesterday, but today it's all change again! Well, at least it looks like the revised dates will suit me a bit better - out on 27th February - but I'm not booking anything yet until I get absolute confirmation from the rest.

Fiona Kennedy (Clark) will definitely be making a cameo appearance on stage with Beth Nielsen Chapman tonight - looking forward to it, although I hear Beth's "got religion" - I just hope she doesn't overdo the sanctity.

I think we're all either mentally challenged or there really aren't many modern songs with Scottish place names in the title - but here's one I'd never heard of before - Glasgow Star - Eddi Reader - check http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=oE_1npcLIbk. There's also, of course, the execrable Mull of Kintyre by Wings.

Believe it or not, it appears that the UK place with the most songs mentioning it is Birmingham - although many of them refer to other Birminghams - Alabama etc. A lot of them I've never heard of:

Paint Me A Birmingham - Tracy Lawrence

Birmingham - Amanda Marshall

Boulder To Birmingham - Emmylou Harris

Birmingham - Randy Newman

Bethlehem In Birmingham - Toby Keith

When Jesus Left Birmingham - John Mellencamp

Postmarked Birmingham - Blackhawk

Sparrows Over Birmingham - Josh Rouse

Halfway Back to Birmingham - Mark Chesnutt

Hello Birmingham - Ani Difranco

Birmingham - Drive-By Truckers

Atlanta & Birmingham - Deana Carter

Breakfast In Birmingham - David Lee Murphy

So my lists are morphing in to quizzes - if I said London (including places in London), how many can you get?

Booked at last

It's finally done - read your e-mails. We travel Friday-Friday. Now get your holidays booked. Kelly and Craig still to sort out their travel plans and, of course, likewise Lesinas with their transatlantic trip - they will be coming to Banchory some time round about 20th March (Jo's birthday), I think - then fly out from Aberdeen to Tenerife with us, return from there, then head back to USA again.

Of course, it could be that Kelly and Craig might also come to Scotland for all or part of that first week? One way flights to Tenerife from Aberdeen are £139.99 on 27th March.

Well, that's one lot sorted out - believe it or not, you lot are a lot easier to deal with than our golf group! We're looking at next year's spring and summer trips, which, ironically, could both also be to Tenerife. We had our 10th anniversary of our Iberian Cup (on tour) trip recently - to Florida of all places - but it will most likely be back to known pastures next year - Tenerife is the favourite, but Marrakech is favoured by quite a few. This is on a line of latitude with Tenerife and also, believe it or not, Orlando! Perhaps the terrible events overnight in Mumbai will deter a few from travelling to Muslim Morocco however. Incidentally, Michael Clark was due to fly out to India tomorrow with our sales manager on a Food For Britain exploratory trip - naturally, they've cancelled now - they also need to go to Thailand soon, but Bangkok airport isn't exactly a place to head to either just now!

The early spring golf outing, which was in Cape Town this year, will also be the 10th anniversary of our "Desert Classic" - and it looks like being Tenerife as well. We usually go late February, but there are some logistical problems for the rest of the group and they're trying to put it off until 13th March now - this would mean me going out, coming back for a week, then going out again on 27th March! I'm trying to get them to change their minds and we're hoping to have another chat about it this evening.

I'm supposed to be attending a meeting of the KGV development group tonight - they're keen on building squash courts there too, but their time scale is even longer than the Laird's Hill of Banchory project. Don't know if it's worth my while or not. Besides which, I feel tired and sore after playing 5-a-side at the school last night. I've been nursing a lower abdomen pain for a few weeks - Jo thinks it may be a hernia - and it's tender again today.

Tomorrow night, we're going to Woodend Barn to see Beth Nielsen Chapman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beth_Nielsen_Chapman). By coincidence, Francis Clark walked in to the office on Monday and said to me "where exactly is this Woodend Barn?". I asked him why, and he said there this was this girl staying with them this weekend and they were going to see her sing. It transpires that Fiona ("Kennedy") knows her quite well and they've even written a song together - maybe Fiona will make a cameo appearance herself on stage tomorrow?

Come on - songs with Scottish place names!

Friday flights?

Final, final call! Flyglobespan flights on Friday 27th March cost £259.98 (incl taxes) for everyone (including children). This is a little better than I said earlier. Please confirm asap that I can go ahead with this.

Edinburgh

So - it looks like we are going for the Sunday - Sunday flights then? Kelly's comment about Craig having to see when he could get his holidays gave me temporary collywobbles - especially as I've now booked and paid for the villa! I presume Kelly meant they didn't know how much additional time Craig could get off? I take it as read that both Kelly and Craig will manage to be in Tenerife for at least as long as we are all there?

I went down to a dinner in Edinburgh last night. It was held in the grand surroundings of the Signet Room library - see link below for details. The speaker had a name like a second rate porn star, but he was actually very interesting:

I got the train down and back and stayed at the King James hotel overnight - a lot easier than driving up and down and haring back in the small hours of the morning.

I'm disappointed that nobody has come up with any suggestions for my last list of modern songs featuring Scottish places. I thought that Jo, in particular, would have suggested the Proclaimers "Sunshine on Leith" at least - not to mention their very first record "Letter from America", which listed a number of Scottish towns - remember "Lochaber no more, Methil no more, Irvine no more, Linwood no more, Bathgate no more" etc? Come on you lot - you can do better!

Tuesday

Nobody seems to mind whether we go on Friday 27th or Monday 29th - except Lucy, who prefers Friday - so it's now time to book the flights - last chance to stop me!

Heading for a dinner in Edinburgh tonight - I had originally planned to drive home afterwards, but, what with the weather and the thought of putting more miles on the car, I've decided instead to catch the train, which means I'm staying overnight there.

Tenerife

The villa owner has said that it's available for the 4/5 April so if we want to go Sunday - Sunday instead of Friday - Friday, that's OK with her.

Now, all you fence-sitters, time to come down and make some decisions - and take some action. Lucy has a slight preference for Friday-Friday, despite the slightly higher costs. Kelly doesn't mind either way, so what about Jo, Ross, Gary and Carole?

The cost of the villa is my treat for the week, but I trust you can all manage your own air fares? I'm happy to book and pay for them just now and you can perhaps all recompense me later?

Tenerife

Kelly says she and Craig may well go to Tenerife for 2 weeks so we can just go ahead and do our own flight bookings and they will fit in with whatever days we choose. I guess now it's up to the villa owner - if she can accommodate us, it might be better to fly Sun 29th to Sun 5th? Comments please.

Sunday morning

I've decided not to get dressed today - no need to go anywhere, plenty of sport on TV and Jo picked up the Sunday Times on her way back from church.

I did go out yesterday after all - to play squash - the 3rd time this week - haven't done that for a long while. The roads were very tricky, though and I don't intend to repeat it today - tomorrow's soon enough to be going out in the car.

I've just discovered another flight to Tenerife, which leaves on Sunday instead of Friday - and it's a bit cheaper - it's Fly Globespan (the other is Airtours, operated by Spanair). The Sunday flight departs at 7 am and arrives just before noon, with the return leaving at 12:40 pm getting back to Aberdeen at 5:30 pm.

The Spanair Friday flight, however, has almost the opposite schedule, leaving Aberdeen at 12:55, arriving at 17:40, with the return leaving Tenerife at 7:05, getting back in to Aberdeen just before noon.

I've asked the owner if the villa is still available on 4/5 April - but I've just realised that it may not be so easy for Kelly and Craig to change from the Friday flights. I've done a quick search and it seems there are flights from Exeter to Tenerife on Tuesdays and Fridays. Sod's law, the Tuesday one is cheaper (£232) - the Friday flights are shown as £331 - unless Kelly knows any different? The Tuesday flights would not really be cheaper, however, if Kelly and Craig had to stay an extra 2 nights in a hotel.

Travel to Glasgow

It's gorgeous this morning - the snow yesterday and last night is now lying. Jo's blog has the photos. I'm glad it's the weekend and I don't have to travel - we can just snuggle up, put the heating on and keep the door firmly shut!

If the snow stays, there'll certainly be no golf tomorrow - the skiers, sledgers and snowboarders will be in full flow down the 3rd hole. Maybe Luca will get a chance to try it this year?

I drove up to Fraserburgh on Thursday morning for our management meetings then headed south to Glasgow via Alloa. I stopped for lunch at what used to be the Little Chef at Brechin - it's now a Bervie Chipper!

I mentioned Alloa - why? Well, I had agreed to drop off a couple of cases of festival glasses at Williams Brothers brewery (http://www.williamsbrosbrew.com/). Tom-Tom only took me so far - after that, I had to hunt out the exact location. Eventually, I managed it and I was handed a mixed case for my troubles (I gave it to Barry for putting me up). The funny bit was getting out of Alloa and getting back to the motorway. Tom-Tom was directing me over the Kincardine bridge and I was almost there when I spotted a sign saying Glasgow - there were some brand new roads. Poor Tom-Tom got really confused - it kept recalculating and was urging me to turn back - the screen showed me apparently crossing fields and eventually walking on water as I crossed the Forth! It was the new bridge that had just opened the day before - Tom-Tom's chip is not up to date and didn't recognise it!

I went to Foxbar and Barry, Helen and I went to see Dad. He was in his jammies - perhaps a little accident? - otherwise, he was fine:


"How are things in Glockemorra?" was the usual constant topic but I tried to get Dad to remember some other songs he used to sing - particularly "Me and Jane in a Plane" which I distinctly recall him singing to me in bed as a youngster - but he has no recollection of this song at all. It does exist - honest - check http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=8x99YXVrLQw

Barry, Helen and I went to the Three Craws (http://www.emberinns.co.uk/thethreecrawsglasgow/) in Crow Road for some food - it's quite nice there and some decent beer too. They're copying Wetherspoon's - Thursday night is Curry Night.

Up early for a breakfast seminar at the Hilton, followed by 2 meetings, then I dashed up the road to try and beat the dire forecasts of heavy snow for the North East. There was nothing until I got to about Auchenblae - Cairn o' Mount was closed and the Slug Road was not advised so I turned off and went past Durris. It all looked good until I hit about a mile of black ice - not nice.

I listened to my Archos on the journey up and down - the end of the audiobook Jazz, Sounds of the Sixties and a couple of Bob Dylan's Theme Time radio shows - the last one I listened to was themed California - he opened it with Al Jolson's California Here I Come (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=awbGc8XPFJ8) - another fond memory from childhood - very non-PC nowadays, pre-dating the Black & White Minstrel Show from the 60's. If you haven't heard of Al Jolson, he was often described as the world's greatest entertainer. The first ever talking picture, the Jazz Singer featured him - check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_jolson

There were lots of other songs about California on BD's TTR - Calfornia Dreaming, Do You Know the way to San Jose? among the more obvious. That got me to thinking about today's list - why are there so many good songs featuring American locations and so few about Britain - especially Scotland? Of course, there's lots of kitsch old "tartan and shortbread" songs, but nothing modern and decent. I vaguely remember Abba mentioning Glasgow in Super Trooper back in the 70's, but can you name any other modern songs featuring Scottish places? Over to you to complete today's list!

Carole's birthday

It's a very happy birthday today to Carole. She dodges the camera, but was happy to pose on this occasion, sheltering from the rain at the church when Donald got married:

Looks like I'm heading down to Glasgow tomorrow on my own after all. A confusion of times/dates means Jo won't be able to come with me as she's having lunch in Inverurie with Carole and her Mum. Never mind.

Got squash on tonight again - twice in one week!

What a beautiful red sunrise there was this morning as I drove along the top road towards Garlogie. It was gone in just a few minutes - I should have stopped and photographed it.

The villa owner seems to be having some internet connection problems - I only hear from her intermittently - I think we're OK for leaving Aberdeen on 27th March, but I'm not ready to book flights until I'm absolutely sure we've got the villa.

Dan Corbett

I've made Dan famous now - his little ditties of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah can be viewed in 3 parts on You Tube at:


http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=I5r9eszhl3k and
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp_EzTCvzFo
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=SKOtxYhKk9s

and, of course, the original can be found at http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=rf36v0epfmI

The better (best?) version can be found on Jeff Buckley's classic Grace album and there's a version of him singing it on You Tube at http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=AratTMGrHaQ

Short day

Squash was good fun last night and there was still some Xmas pud left when I got home - great! We watched QI - probably our favourite quiz/comedy, then Mock the Week - 2 good belly laugh programmes.

Today was also short - my car had to be picked up at Arnold Clark - I had taken the pool car home yesterday - so I got a lift over with one of the girls who lives at Cove. That left me with plenty of time - to fill the car with diesel, get a haircut, get my driving glasses fixed, set up a new optician's appointment - and still be home before 4pm - Jo was a bit surprised to see me.

Got some meetings in Glasgow on Friday morning so have to head down there on Thursday - not ideal, as I have to head north to Fraserburgh first. Jo took pity on me and has offered to come with me to do some of the driving.

I'm almost at the end of the lengthy audiobook Jazz - a history of jazz in the 20th century. I'm simultaneously trying to finish Stuart Maconie's book Cider with Roadies. Colin gave it to me and I started to read it on my way to Florida. He and I both bought different Maconie books when we went to hear him at Pitlochry early this year - both are signed - I gave mine to Kelly, who's a fan.

I've also had the Pink Floyd biography from Harry for several months - and haven't even opened it yet. Need to read it soon and return it to him.

We've got another headbang coming up in a few weeks and I'm working on the categories now. Of course, we'll start with the usual Obituary spot - Levi Stubbs and Mitch Mitchell featuring this time - then I'm thinking of repeating a few of the features (with videos so far unseen) from our last show:

Blues Legends

Corny Country

Festival Rock

Original and Cover

Then and Now

Followed by some new features:

Family Favourites

Father and Son

Guitar Heroes

Jock Rock

Secret Pleasures

Rock Chicks

Soul of Stax

Bad start to Monday

Felt sore and tired when I got up this morning - couldn't figure out why until Jo said she had a terrible night of dreams - I didn't ask for details - we might hear in her blog later - but this would inevitably have meant a restless night.

It went from bad to worse as I drove up Mount St and the car could barely crawl the hill. I looked down and noticed the warning - "engine management system". I diverted and limped along the south Deeside road and headed straight to Arnold Clark. My car had had its 54,000 mile service while I was in Florida - I thought this would save time, but now it's broken down and I've had to take it back anyway.

I waited for a while and then got the usual response - "need to order parts". So, it's now almost 11:00 am and I've finally arrived at the office, having missed over 3 hours of work. So why am I wasting more time sitting here and writing this blog entry? Frustration, that's why! Anyway, better get on with some work now. No time for a list.

Got the pool car and I'll take this to squash tonight and bring it back tomorrow - but why does nobody put fuel in the pool cars? That's more time I've got to spend doing useless things. Incidentally, Gary, I don't do long lunches - in fact, I seldom leave my desk during the working day - apart from the fact that there's nowhere to go round here, going out for lunch is such a waste of time - I'd far rather just work through and leave the office earlier - yes, I do have the flexibility to do this at least. Maybe Jo would go back to making me a lunch box every day? (Joke!) Long lunches were consigned to the bin back in the '70's when I left Black & White.

That reminds me - Lucy saw Dad's display cabinet in our room on the webcam on Saturday and wanted to know that we had a stock of miniatures in there, just like Mum and Dad always had. I had to confess there were none, but I remembered I had brought up one Black & White miniature with me - so that's now in pride of place you'll be pleased to know, Lucy!

Remember my previous rants about John Anderson, the former Sales Director of Scofish, who brought the company down with his corrupt deals, lies and forgeries? Well, we're still sue-ing him - in fact, I have another meeting with our lawyers tomorrow. I heard this morning that he's just got out of hospital after 10 days with a heart attack. Friend or foe, that news would normally produce some sympathy at least, but I have to admit that my first thought was "is it true?" - or is it just another of the many scams and webs he weaves? Is this shameful of me - or just a typical reaction from bitter experience?

Anyway, Lucy - here's the photo of me in my kilt that you asked for. It's from January, 2001 when Jo and I were at Gleneagles for a Clydesdale Bank ceilidh:

Beautiful Sunday

Another glorious day - golf was fun, even although it was cold - dry and sunny is always good. I had a chance to have a quick chat with Doris in the car park - she finally managed to get Dave to go back to the hospital on Thursday and he's now officially been diagnosed with vascular dementia - it's a relief that the D word is finally in use - perhaps some progress will be made now. They're going back for another scan on Tuesday. Doris also volunteered the information that she thinks Dave can manage golf at Banchory - familiar surroundings with friends he can probably just about cope with - perhaps the occasional day trip away as well - but, by deduction, he won't be able to go on golf holidays with us any more. I'm glad Doris said that and we didn't have to tell her.

Dave has also been stopped from driving - that's another relief - but what a shame - he's 3 weeks younger than me.

A spot of TV watching and snoozing and then darkness falls suddenly - the days are getting really short in NE Scotland. We're catching up with Stephen Fry in America - Wyoming and Idaho so far. Last night we couldn't find anything on TV to watch so I started trawling and stumbled across Father of the Bride - what a great film - Steve Martin is so funny and his films have a nice mixture of bitter/sweet pathos. Who can forget "Fronck" the wedding organiser, played by Martin Short?

Gary's replacement birthday present arrived yesterday - he says he will come and pick it up soon. We Skyped with Lucy yesterday - Cade and Braeden were in good form and you'll have heard about Cade's project from Jo's blog - feel free to add your own bit of "Scottishness" for him. Would some Scottish lists help Cade? People:

John Logie Baird - invented TV

Sean Connery - the first James Bond on film

Andrew Carnegie - of Carnegie Hall fame - steel magnate and philanthropist

Alexander Graham Bell - invented the telephone - "Ma Bell" named after him

John McAdam - modern road construction ("tarmacadam")

Sir Alexander Fleming - penicillin

Charles Macintosh - waterproofing (coats used to called macs or macintoshes)

Tony Blair & Gordon Brown - last 2 Prime Ministers of UK - both born in Scotland

Things we eat:

Mince & tatties

Pies

Haggis

Dumpling

How's that for starters, Cade?