Pencaitland

I went cycling with Shaun this afternoon to Pencaitland and back.  Fat Mac was supposed to have come, but he is suffering from general malaise at the moment.  He’s virtually a basket case, and has not had the energy to even get to the offie for over a week.  I think he caught a chill when he fell asleep in the bath a while back.  Basically, he doesn’t get enough fresh air.

Anyway, the bike ride turned out to be quite interesting, and the weather was fine as well.

At Pencaitland there’s a stone cross by the side of the road.

Pencaitland Cross

Plaque

The plaque explains the history of the cross, and was compiled by Ralph Barker.  In the 1950s I went to primary school with Ralph and his identical twin brother Harry.  Many people could not tell them apart, but after a while it was quite easy for me and their other friends.  A couple of times I went out to their house in Pencaitland, ‘Rose Cottage’, for birthday parties.  I still have a cactus that came from a cutting of a cutting of one otheir mother’s cacti.

Shaun and I looked for the old railway at Pencaitland, and eventually found a track that took us nearly all the way back to Carberry.

Along the route of the old railway

There were various information signs alonng the track, one of which explained that spectators used to travel by rail to get to the football at Ormiston.

HyperSmash

Blocked

I found out, during our trip to China earlier this year, that many websites were blocked there, including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and WordPress.  Alternative Chinese sites were sometimes available.  The government blocks western social media sites presumably because it fears social media that it can’t control.

Talking to some UK National Health Service (NHS) information people the other I learnt that the same sites are blocked from their work networks.  This is presumably so that they don’t waste time whilst at work, though on the same principle many books and other printed material should surely be banned as well, as it is equally possible to waste time reading non work related stuff.

I can understand, to some extent, Facebook being blocked.  So much interesting, useful and possibly work related material can appear on Twitter that blocking it is more difficult to understand.  Why on earth WordPress and other blogging sites should be blocked is very hard to understand, and puts such people at a disadvantage.  Some scholarly journals are now being published on WordPress, and there’s a lot of serious, quality and informative material that appears on WordPress blogs.  When I searched Google for “wordpress university library blog” there were 233 million hits.  Not all will be WordPress blogs, of course.

The NHS people I spoke to were not entirely sure what other sites were blocked at their work, but were aware that many sites that many of us take for granted were simply not available to them.

The new Nature Publishing Group blogging network for scientists, called SciLogs, is a WordPress-based site.  It would be ludicrous if this site is blocked.

Presumably, blocking of some websites happens in lots of work places. I’ve just read that More than half of UK business leaders ban Facebook & Twitter in the workplace.

Hamish

Band money

I found this envelope on the kitchen floor, and it made me think that maybe I spent my own working life in the wrong business.

Hamish and offspring

Hamish is a bull – a pedigree Highland bull.  He lives in a field in the Trossachs, outside the Trossachs Woollen Mill about a mile north of Callander.

His full name is Hamish McKay Denovan, he’s been on TV and he has his own Facebook page where he has over 270 friends.

If we’re on the way north to climb hills or stay somewhere in the campervan, we usually stop at the Woollen Mill for a coffee and smoko, and it’s while we’ve been parking the van there that I’ve noticed what a fantastic attraction Hamish is for the tourists.  Many touring bus trips stop at the retail outlet and the tourists actually run over from their buses to take photos of Hamish.  They also buy vegetable blocks from the shop so that they can feed him, and they get quite excited about seeing highland cattle.  Hamish does very well, and so does the Mill shop.

These sorts of things are exactly what tourists, and children, like to see, and there’s nothing wrong with that at all.  It’s part of the Scottish heritage.

What I visited Edinburgh Castle a few weeks back I didn’t see any people in kilts or highland outfits, and no-one playing bagpipes.  Maybe there were some men wearing kilts, but I certainly didn’t see them.  This is a shame, as the place heaves with tourists, and they surely would be delighted to see such things.  At every tourist attraction we visited in China, back in May, there were local people in traditional dress, either acting as guides, or selling things, or dancing or just walking around, and they looked beautiful.

Average White Band clears the bar

Tonight we braved the acoustics of the Queens/Queen’s Hall and saw the Average White Band play, as part of the Edinburgh Jazz Festival.  We are very fortunate to have so many festivals in Edinburgh at this time of year.

This is the start of Lindsey and my musical extravaganza this summer.  Still to come are: Neil Innes, Grandaddy, The Beach Boys, and then the big one, Papa Nez.  I don’t think that I could ever imagine a better lineup than that one.  OK, add The Eagles, or even The Dutch Eagles, and it would be perfect.

The acoustics in the Queens Hall are weird, but by the second half the mixer got things right, and the band sounded great and very tight.  This is where I have to admit that the only song I really know by the AWB is Pick Up The Pieces.   Lindsey knows the band’s songs much better, and told me that they were THE band in the late seventies/early eighties, at parties and discos.

Well, where was I when they were being played at such parties?  In the queue for the cludgie?  Looking in the oven for stashed carryouts?  Having a ciggie outside?  In those days you didn’t have to go outside for a smoko, so I have no idea.  But somehow I missed most of that band.

The band tonight were hot.

What I noticed tonight was that women of a certain age were really and totally into their sound.

Women love AWB

From the first song onwards, they were up and jigging.

Most of the attendees were about our age (oldish).  The bar was so heaving when we arrived that I had to use some EFT (extreme flatulence technique) to get near the counter.

The busy bar

But what I noticed when I went for a second drink, half way through the band’s second set, was that the band was so good that they had cleared the bar!

Half way through the second set

Not many bands can do that.

AWB at the Queens Hall

Retirement ‘do’

Yesterday I went to Eve’s retirement presentation, out at Riccarton, where I used to work.  Eve has worked there for a long time, and several ex-staff as well as all the existing staff attended, so it was a really good ‘do’.

It was strange, but nice, to talk to some people I’d worked with many years ago, including Penny, Doreen, and Jackie.

Retirement ‘do’

As usual, Gill gave an excellent summary of Eve’s time in the library.

Since I left, there have been numerous changes and improvements to the library, and some more organisational changes are on the way.

Jamie’s 23rd

Wednesday was Jamie’s birthday!

Shaun baked a cake, and did really well apart from running out of icing.  Anyway, it tasted very good.

The cake that Shaun baked

Shop opening

Last night we went to a shop opening – Kathy’s Knits, 64a Broughton Street.  Kathy is a long standing friend, and she’s realised a dream she’s had for a long time of opening a shop selling yarns, patterns, accessories, finished garments and Veronica Stewart jewelry.

It’s a nice shop near the centre of town.  I don’t know much about yarn, but there is a variety on offer, centred around Scottish breeds.

Colourful displays at the opening

I like the shop logo, and also the website design by Kevin at Arrow-i.

Shop logo

Lindsey at the opening

So – what happens at a shop opening?  Well, you sip a glass of wine and discuss the products on display, the logo and the web design.  I don’t really know my mohair from my alpaca, but if you like knitting, Kathy’s Knits is obviously the place to go.

I think that Pinterest would be a good place for Kathy to develop a presence, as yarns and knitted garments lend themselves to visuals.

Beinn Chabhar

We took advantage of the very brief break in the wet weather to climb Beinn Chabhar on Saturday.  It’s in the same range as Cruach Ardrain, which we climbed in June.

It was raining as we drove up to the Beinglas Farm campsite on Friday, and it rained on the way home on Sunday, but there were only a few spots of rain on the Saturday.

I can’t really recommend this hill as a good walk.  The initial stages are steep, up a path with stones and rocks which make for awkward walking, and then it’s a slog through some boggy moorland which involves many detours, and it isn’t until you gain the ridge that there’s much enjoyment or views.

A lochan along the ridge

View south, towards Ben Lomond

View north, to Ben Lui

In the evening, we had a meal in the Drovers Inn.

The Drovers Inn

The Drovers Inn has a unique atmosphere, with many very old and dusty stuffed animals in most rooms, including the bar and the Laird’s Bothy, where we ate.

There’s a stuffed bear at the entrance

A wall in the Laird’s Bothy

There have been sightings of ghosts.

It was very busy on Saturday.  The proximity to Glasgow is obvious when you’re in the bar, and the barman asks you, “Whut yeez wan ‘n?”

Papa Nez

Some cats got it, and some cats ain’t.  One cat that definitely has it, is Papa Nez, the wool hat cat.

We used to play one of Michael Nesmith’s CDs in the car, to the kids.  They loved the ridiculousness of the words:

I got five million Tahiti condo
Ha, five million Tahiti condo
I got six trillion Jacuzzi pools
Uh, six trillion Jacuzzi pools

He should have run for President.  Some folk know that, and I once saw a “Nez for Prez” badge.

Nez for Prez

Would you trust a man with a face like that?  I would.  Here’s an interview with him, in 2010.  He’s genuine, but with a slight edge that shows hidden intelligence.

I really can’t emphasise, more, how much I like his music, and although the man himself didn’t like the following track, I think it’s one of the best, for tightness and bounciness.  If there’s such a thing as a zone, then that band was in it, the night they played that track.  Of course, Nesmith is better known for other songs, such as Joanne, and Rio.

Check out his Monkees audition tape, available from this page.

I thought he was finished with touring, but amazingly, he’s coming to Scotland in October.  As soon as I saw that, I booked several tickets.

What a summer of gigs we have, coming up.  Neil Innes, Grandaddy, The Beach Boys, and Michael Nesmith!

Bookings

I seem to have spent an inordinate amount of time booking things recently.

Tickets for Neil Innes (Monty Python, the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band and The Rutles) at North Berwick, campsites for a weekend away in August and a hill climb in a week or two, Grandaddy at the ABC in Glasgow August 30th, the roofer to repair our roof, the bathroom people to give an estimate for a new shower room, a meeting with the people who are developing the old Job Centre along the road, the Beach Boys show at the Royal Albert Hall (there’s a Google Play: The Beach Boys Interview available on YouTube, and if you want a laugh, check out the section from about 13.50 to 14.25 to watch a previously semi-catatonic Brian Wilson make a very funny joke to show that he’s still got it), a flight and hotel for that trip, and tickets for Gus Casely-Hayford & Alastair Hazell at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

As we all know, it can take a little time, sometimes, to make bookings online, but the only problem I had with any of the above was with the Book Festival.  Their booking system sucked!

OK, so they have a busy site.  And they send out a pre-booking date message saying “You will be able to buy tickets online from 8.30am on Friday 29 June. Please note: our opening day of ticket sales is always extremely busy and you may not be able to access online booking immediately.”  But it should not take hours and hours to buy a ticket for something.

At first I was put in a queue for a basket.  Some people didn’t get that far, I believe.  I was 1820 in the queue, and nothing happened for a long time.  Someone on Facebook suggested refreshing the browser, which I did, and nothing happened.  There were no instructions that I could see.  So I logged off and logged in again, and was given another, higher, basket queue number.  Then this number started to go up, rather than down.  Then I was thrown off the queue and had to start again.  Some shows started to sell out even before I could get a basket (according to their Twitter account).

Whoever was manning their Twitter account was very busy.  At one stage there was a tweet:

@edbookfest

Hi, the queue numbers going up rather than down is connected to the issue where numbers aren’t moving. We’re investigating both.

After more than an hour I gave up.

Fortunately, later that day I tried again, there was no queue and I bought tickets.