Soppy time already?Another one of Gerry’s great wildlife pics…Bloody Scottish weather.Kolugljufur Canyon, Iceland.Leo doesn’t want to get up.France’s First DogO’Connell Street, Dublin.Portree, Skye.There’s that damned bridge again, covered in Saltires.All for one, and one for all.The Baras… any idea when?Field of lupins in Iceland.Bee Eater.Happy families.I’d like to draw it to your attention that if my bowl were full of food (which it is not) I wouldn’t be able to hold it like this!Whale shark.mmmm Breakfast…Baby Emus.Did I mention I’m fond of these three bridges.OK…that’s yer lot till next week. I’m off to Panda Paws’ for my lunch! She’s a sucker for a pretty orange face.
Tris, the Barras photo – when? Not strictly The Barras, it is Calton. The giveaway is The Oxford Tavern (now gone). As to date, the 18A tram ran from Springburn to Shawfield, service introduced 1955, withdrawn 1961. The car to the left of the pic is a Vauxhall Cresta, probably PA model produced 1957-1962. I’d guess photo taken around 1960. I’m sorry, I can’t say who any of the people in the photograph are 🙂
I was just thinking that if the photie of the 18A tram was taken because it was one of the last before the service ended, that would have been on 2 June 1961 or shortly before, as I’m sure andimac could have told you. The tram itself does seem to be the “subject” of the photie. From the light and what I can see of the people’s clothing – quite light but not summery – a late May / early June date seems like a possibility to me, though I don’t expect we’ll ever know for sure. The source I’ve used says that buses were introduced on the route on 3 June 1961, so if that’s correct, it sets an absolute latest date.
I saw that about Scotland being the most beautiful country in the world, and I thanked the Empire and her Britannic Majesty for making it so. Obviously!
Tris……The aerial view of the three bridges is breathtaking. As is the night view at river level. The new bridge looks better and better. Even its lighting scheme is beautiful. Please ask Mr. Munguin to convey my very best wishes to Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Prince Philip next Monday.
Will Her Majesty break a bottle of champagne over the bridge….omitting of course the part about God blessing “all who sail in her?” I understand that in 2014 the Queen broke a bottle of Islay single malt Scotch from the Bowmore distillery to christen the Scottish-built HMS Queen Elizabeth. I hope the bridge gets similar appropriate treatment.
The brightly colored houses on Skye are pretty, as are the blue flowers in Iceland.
Amazing how quickly your readers identify historic pictures…….right down to street names, automobile makes and models, places of business, etc. (Disappointing that the names of people on the street are not known.) Anyway, is there concern in Munguin Towers that MR readership may be underrepresented in the age 18-29 demographic?
Munguin will certainly remind her majesty of his long help opinion that you should be made a duke or something.
All I can say is that breaking a bottle of perfectly good drink over a bridge, even one as lovely as this, is a waste of good liquor!
I’ve not been to Skye for a long time, but I have two memories of it… the beauty of everything there (which made me want to stay), and the midges (which made me want to leave!)
We’re thinking of introducing articles to encourage the under 30s… but the trouble is, Munguin isn’t quite sure what they talk about these days!
He was wondering if some Latin verse might be appropriate…
LOL Tris……yes, Mr. Munguin’s Latin verse idea is indeed quite telling. Perhaps a media consultant is in order.
It occurs to me that the Midgies (or as I call them…….Culicoides impunctatus) may be Scotland’s best kept secret. In the USA, the image of the Highlands and the Islands are regions of unsurpassed natural beauty, (with the very occasional rainy and windy day.) Midgies are little known in the states.
I recently saw this travel piece on “Scotland’s 10 Most Beautiful islands.” Interestingly, Skye is not included. It is said to be overrun with tourists, and visitors are warned not to come if they haven’t booked lodging in advance. My first of the 10 choices would be Iona, since it is simply dripping with history.
However, the travel info fails to mention that the abbey on Iona is a twentieth century reconstruction on the SITE of St. Columba’s original church. (Which makes me think that the remains of those SIXTY Scottish, Irish, and Norwegian Kings it talks about probably aren’t actually around there anymore.) And of course it doesn’t mention the Midges. 😉
I think I remember quite a while back that a British peer was in a US prison. Maybe that was Lord Black. It does seem that the actual police advice was good. An influx of 50,000 tourists in an area with 10,000 permanent residents must severely tax available accommodations.
There’s an old BBC documentary called “Civilisation” (available on DVD now) that has some very interesting material about the abbey on Iona. Apparently the old structure really didn’t survive the reformation.
Probably was. Most peers manage to avoid prison.. something to do with the title, I suspect. So they stand out in memory.
The paper has, though, since his departure, become suitable only for packing china.
Another British peer, Lord Clark, did the Civilisation thing. I’m told it is VERY good, although I’ve never seen it… another “to do”!
Clark’s son was Alan Clark, a Tory minister and utter devotee of Mrs Thatcher…(and anything else that wore skirts.)
I think he’s most famous for, as a junior minister in Mrs T’s government addressing the House while well under the influence of a few bottles of Claret.
Clare Short, I think it was, called him out on it.
Interesting about Clark’s son. I’d not heard of him.
The Clark family over generations was filthy rich from textiles and sewing thread. His father was also named Kenneth. Wikipedia says: Kenneth Clark senior worked briefly as a director of the firm and retired in his mid-twenties as a member of the “idle rich”, as Clark junior later put it: although “many people were richer, there can have been few who were idler”.
The Civilisation series is posted on YouTube. The small piece about Iona is in Episode 1 from 18:30 to 23:00.
I think you may be mixing him up with Ken Clarke who was also cabinet minister under Thatcher, Major and Cameron. Ken is a relatively smart cookie by Tory standards, and has been chancellor, home secretary and justice secretary (he’s a QC).
Lord Clark’s son of the claret fame was Alan Clark, a rather different fellow altogether. I suspect that his son was also inclined to idleness.
Well Tris now I’m totally confused….LOL. Actually all I know about the famous art expert Kenneth Clark (Kenneth Mackenzie Clark, Baron Clark) who made the BBC Civilisation series is what his Wkipedia article tells me. It talks about his wealthy family (from textiles and sewing thread) , and describes his anecdote about his “idle rich” family being not a rich as some…..but none being more idle.
Wikipedia says he had three children, and here’s what it says about his oldest son Alan who went into politics. “The Clarks’ relations with their three children were sometimes difficult, particularly with their elder son, Alan. He was regarded by his father as a fascist by conviction though also as the ablest member of the Clark family “parents included”; he became a Conservative member of parliament and junior minister, and a celebrated diarist.”
So that seems to be the son Alan you mentioned.
I don’t really know anything about a Ken Clark who was a cabinet minister under Maggie Thatcher. (Although I thought you brought up the Thatcher connection in your earlier posting above.)
Anyway, I’m OK about the guy who made Civilisation and was from a wealthy idle Scottish family of textile merchants. Also OK with his son Alan who went into politics. But I’m not asserting a Thatcher connection at this point……LOL.
LOL Tris….I blame it on Wikipedia. I had to read the Wikipedia comment over and over to get it straight. They use the term “junior” in a a way that is confusing, and it’s not really all that clear on quick reading which Kenneth Clark of which generation they’re talking about.
This is disturbing. If I can’t understand what Wikipedia is saying, then I’ve lost my expertise in almost every field of endeavor. 😉
Midges are maybe little known in the states Danny but if you’ve been around the Great Lakes as much as I have then you quickly, and painfully, discover that Mosquitos are an extremely miserable alternative. They’re bigger, just as hungry and their favourite food is Scottish people.
And with all the rain this year they are quite plentiful and some even carrying West Nile. Great pics. as usual Tris. Conrad Black is often a guest of John Oakley on AM640 Toronto
Oh yes greig! We CERTAINLY have mosquitoes. I’ve encountered swarms of them in Florida. Really miserable! I guess they’re anywhere there’s water around. They are a real problem in the northern Lake country as you said. I’ve never been in Alaska, but I’m told that areas of Alaska are effectively uninhabitable from mosquitoes. At least for southerners from the “lower 48.” Maybe the native Alaskans are immune from them……LOL.
Doug…..I’ve heard about the serious problem of West Nile Fever in some areas. Fortunately, yellow fever and malaria are not around anymore, but were a problem well into the 19th century I guess. Tourists are sometimes surprised to learn that we do occasionally have plague in the Mountain West, west of the the 100th meridian……sometimes called the “plague line” (Wiki says.) But we can’t blame that on mosquitoes. Then there are the rattlesnakes. It’s a jungle out there!
So all in all, it sounds like the midgies are a piece of cake….relatively speaking. 😉
Danny, there has been a few reported cases in the Toronto area but i don’t know the number. Tonight we are having thunder storms due to the tail end of Harvey and 2 low pressure systems, so more breeding grounds for them.
Et ne nos inducas in tentationem de Stirling,
Sed libera nos a malo eiusdem.
Requiem Edinburgi dona eis, Domine,
Et lux ipsius luceat eis.
A porta tristitiae de Stirling,
Erue, Domine, animas et corpora eorum.
Credo gustare vinum Edinburgi,
In villa viventium.
Requiescant statim in Edinburgo. Amen.
Fresche fragrant claretis.
Domine, exaudi orationem meam,
Et clamor meus ad te veniat.
Oremus.
Loose translation:
The broon sauceless food west of Stirling cannae beat the Kebabs of Edinburgh, ye can get wines other than Buckie and ye can rest peacefully in yer bed…
Nah, Niko, we just blued out the super new bridge so that it won’t be too easy a target for the English bomber force, or Duffwaffe as it’s often known. An historic force, mind you, well-known too for its Stinke skive-bombers. its Shitfire and its reknowned squadron, the Dumbasterds. Chocks away, chaps!
Last week, Dugdale was accused by some SNP supporters of timing the announcement of her resignation as Labour leader in Scotland to coincide with the opening of the new Queensferry Crossing over the Forth. The inference was clear: Dugdale, in a final, petty anti-SNP act, had sought to siphon off some positive news coverage of the opening of the new bridge. I doubt this very much. Anyway, if you’re in the business of always seeing cynical media manipulation of the news then look no further than all those Scottish government supporters queuing up to cite the new bridge as an icon of what modern Scotland looks like.
It’s a bridge for God’s sake and there are already two of them across that stretch of water. It wasn’t designed or built by the world-class Caledonian engineering genius of legend but by a posse of foreign-owned firms in the absence of Scottish companies deemed capable of possessing the experience and skills for such a massive undertaking. Perhaps we need to take another look at who they’re letting into the engineering courses at Scotland’s universities and what they’re getting taught there.
I’m not suggesting for a minute here, by the way, that the Scottish government shouldn’t boast about the successful completion of this grand and beautiful bridge. But I have yet to be persuaded of the reasons behind building a third crossing over the river in the first place. And I don’t need to be persuaded of the case for doing something meaningful to address the issue of unfair and unequal Scotland.
I like the bridge.
It’s the tallest bridge in Britain and also the longest three-tower, cable-stayed bridge in the world and by far the largest to feature cables which cross mid-span. For Edinburgh folk interested in technological achievement I’d just point out that picture no.11 is of a thing called a tram, they can provide a transport system across a whole city not just do a wee shuttle from one end of the road to another.
On a shop in West Maitland St during the construction there was a poster showing labyrinthic maps of tram systems in Europe. Underneath them, a map of Edinburgh’s; the punch line was “We must stop this before it spreads!”
There are lots of poor people in England – hasn’t stopped them commissioning HS2 which is far less necessary than replacing the failing existing road bridge.
Now please stop trolling. I know Tris indulges you but I find you very wearing. Now I’m off to see my orangutan visitor. I’ll probably get more sense from them than you!
And of course, you are right. HS2, is utterly unnecessary, although all other large EU countries have fast trains covering most of their area. Cross rail wasn’t entirely necessary either.
And instead of spending all that money on Buckingham Palace, the queen could have moved full time to Windsor, and the Houses pr parliament could have moved into a modern building a lot more cheaply that the £12 billion or so that it will cost to do up the present wreck of a building.
O0eer! Handbags if you close your eyes very
tight and put your fingers in your ears you will
Never hear or see any horrible things in Scotland
Ever again….suits you
As I understand it the reason for building the bridge was that the old one wasn’t able to cope with the kind of traffic that now travels over it every day. It wasn’t built for ANYthing like the amount of traffic it carries
Just like, I suppose, why did they build the old one when there were perfectly good ferries doing the job… except of course, they couldn’t cope with the volume of traffic that needed to get into Edinburgh from the North.
Today, if the bridge fails, the economy takes a huge hit; people can’t get to work, chaos.
It’s already happened, when they had to close the bridge for repairs a couple of years ago.
20 years ago they were talking about building a bridge because the old one couldn’t cope. But they couldn’t find the money.
As for why it was an international effort… Mainly that’s the way things are today. Although clearly in the light for Brexit we will have to look at that.
And yews, he’s right… our schools and universities will have to start pushing engineering and technology rather than media studies and PPP if we have to survive outside the EU.
I don’t like the bridge becasue it was the SNP that built it, any more than I would dislike the trams because it was Labour that built them.
I don’t think the trams were necessary but they are beautiful and add to Edinburgh’s elegance.
I think the bridge was necessary.
I don’t know whether Dugdale decided to make her announcement to take away from the bridge. If she did, it didn’t make any difference. I looked at what was trending on Twitter. The bridge was; she wasn’t. The BBC may have thought it was important; the Twitterati didn’t.
But the bridge IS what modern Scotland looks like, no matter who or what built it. That it was built in cooperation with other countries is surely something to be proud of. That in 5 years that will be much more difficult and expensive is something to worry about.
I had to look it up actually. I’m not certain that we Americans accept the word at all, but it looks like it’s probably OK to use it to describe coastal waters in Scotland and England.
The term “Firth of Forth” is very confusing to Americans, and so its use should probably be discouraged. (I doubt that Trumpy has a clue about it.) 😉
Here’s the thing Niko. If folk want to take some pride in a bridge, then where’s the harm? Who are you, the yoon press, the armies of Satan or Kevin McKenna to say otherwise? There’s little enough to be jolly about at present for fcuk’s sake so why is it such a crime to celebrate something good that’s happening? For a country that’s continually told we’re rubbish and dependent on handouts from our benevolent neighbour to, for a wee while, feel good about itself. Just what is your problem with that?
Kevs article doesn’t make him the enemy, he’s just saying stuff that was true last year or last week and will no doubt still be true next year. All he was doing was twisting a good thing because he was short of material to meet a deadline and that doesn’t make him bad.
It just makes him a journalist.
PS. Who the fuck cares whether McKenna’s convinced about the need for a third crossing, the pompous arse.
Tris, the caption to the last pic of the little orang says, ” I’m off to Panda Paws’ for my lunch! She’s a sucker for a pretty orange face.” I’m not so sure Panda Paws will be too pleased at that – doesn’t that Donald Trump fellow have a “pretty orange face”? 🙂
No, you’re right, but I was thinking along the lines of pretty stupid, pretty obnoxious, etc. Maybe I should’ve written not “pretty orange”, but “garishly orange”. I was probably too upset at any possible comparison between a charming, intelligent creature like an orang-utan and the tangerine-faced dolt who’s currently POTUS.
LOL PP. He thinks he’s beautiful… and he lives in his own little universe… oh and did you know he had the biggest crowd at his inauguration in the history of the whole world.. and other places too?
That frog with the umbrella? There have been arguments about ‘tool use’ by animals. Like they are starting to get a clue. [I could bore you all to tears about ant extraction and stuff], but protecting yourself against the rain?
That is so English. Who knew the frogs – that was not a synonym – could do that.
New to me.
Quite remarkable.
You may have added another dimension to the drip, drip, drip of animals catching up upon us.
Given that frogs like water, I think its rather a weird photo, and probably a bit photoshopped. But I thought it was pretty appropriate given how much rain there has been this year.
The leaf umbrella must be one of the most appealing Soppy Sunday snaps. The brats love it.
The difficulties in building this bridge pales into insignificance compared to building bridges with the EU when the fecking ‘negotiators’ describe the EU as ‘silly’ and ‘black-mailers’. Interesting times ahead!
Munguin has a mate who is a frog. His name is Ed the Frog, because he was acquired in Edinburgh (actually in Morningside, if you please, so rather a posh frog) I must include a picture of him at some point.
I think Mr Fox must be one of the stupidest ever cabinet ministers. Not content with disgracing himself once, he appears to have decided to do it all over again.
Sorry to go O/T but I’ve just been told Kate Middleton is pregnant with her third child. Since the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha’s are the largest collectors of State Benefits in the U.K, does this mean that she will have to prove that she has been the subject of a serious sexual assault before she can claim any new benefit? Is’nt that what the Tory law now says?
I was looking at the pictures. Looked like decent weather, although cloudy, with the ceremony going off without a hitch. I saw no whisky or champagne bottles broken in the newspaper accounts.
Niko…..No one bashes socialism like a right wing Republican Texas politician. But of course they are the first hogs at the public trough when federal money is being doled out to Texas, for disaster relief for example. The politicians like Cruz never rise a finger to curtail SOCIAL Security or Medicare either, because they know how popular these federal programs are among the Texas voters who don’t make the “socialism connection.” There’s no verified instance of a socialism-hating right wing Republican ever returning a Social Security retirement check to Washington. 😉
Of course, a natural disaster is a long way from the utter greed of the bankers and the city, but Texas is mighty rich. However, Texans also pay Federal Taxes so it is right that they get something back a time like this.
I just wish that Washington would admit that weather events like this are on the increase and listen to the scientists.
Yep…..we have socialism for the rich and free enterprise for the poor.
Studies show that a larger proportion of federal tax money flows back to the “red” (Republican) states in proportion to their tax load than it does for the “blue” (Democratic) states. So the blue states are paying the federal taxes that disproportionately flow to the red states (whose voters scream about “socialism.”) The statistics are skewed somewhat due to the powerhouse economies of New York and especially California. Lots of taxes from blue state California of course, which would be somewhere between seventh and ninth in the world if it were a separate country. And on the money flow back to the states, the gigantic military budget favors some red states where there are big military bases and large munitions factories.
Yes, it would be nice from a public policy perspective if the right wing Republicans didn’t live in an alternate reality. The ideological opposition to the very idea of climate change has become a cornerstone of far right Republicanism, and Trumpy is going to pander to the crazies who elected him.
Very apt, Niko – “Game of Thrones”, just like the one they have at Buck House – another fantasy adventure, though not nearly as entertaining. You’ll have noticed that Willz’n’Kate are about to add another sprog to the long list of Saxe-Coburg wasters. Mind you, they can afford it – we’ll be paying for it.
Thanks, Niko. Both articles good, and food for thought.
I notice that the Evening Standard (London paper) says “This isn’t just about the North. It’s also about rural areas and access to broadband in particular. ”
Even those criticising the current Tory party don’t see Scotland at all.
D’Ancona’s piece is good too.
I’m constantly surprised at who commnetators thick should be the next leader… Boris, Rudd, Hancock (who he) and Davidson… not an MP and a total outsider for PM because of the EVEL legislation.
Actually I reckon the Tory Party may be heading for a split over Brexit. But then, so too is the Labour Party over left and right.
The Scottish leadership will be interesting. So far we have Anas, from the right… and some bloke from Yorkshire that no one seems to have heard of.
I forgot to say thanks for the photos, particularly the orangutans! Mea maxima culpa! Quel manque de politesse! Bridges lovely too, of course, and the new one is just fabulous, but of course it’s a different sort of beauty entirely from our fuzzy orange cousins’.
MUNGUIN'S NEW REPUBLIC 
Great photo’s again Tris. Thanks for posting the bee, being.
Sent from my iPhone
>
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Thanks for offering it, Gerry. 🙂
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Tris, the Barras photo – when? Not strictly The Barras, it is Calton. The giveaway is The Oxford Tavern (now gone). As to date, the 18A tram ran from Springburn to Shawfield, service introduced 1955, withdrawn 1961. The car to the left of the pic is a Vauxhall Cresta, probably PA model produced 1957-1962. I’d guess photo taken around 1960. I’m sorry, I can’t say who any of the people in the photograph are 🙂
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LOL Why not?
Thanks Andi. 🙂
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You got in ahead of me andimac. I was going to say 1960 as well.
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Cheers Matthew. 🙂
You don’t happen to recognise the people, do you?
🙂
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I was just thinking that if the photie of the 18A tram was taken because it was one of the last before the service ended, that would have been on 2 June 1961 or shortly before, as I’m sure andimac could have told you. The tram itself does seem to be the “subject” of the photie. From the light and what I can see of the people’s clothing – quite light but not summery – a late May / early June date seems like a possibility to me, though I don’t expect we’ll ever know for sure. The source I’ve used says that buses were introduced on the route on 3 June 1961, so if that’s correct, it sets an absolute latest date.
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We found the place on Google Earth. My, it looks different today.
I love that tram, which, as you say, is what the photograph is really about.
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Lovely!
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Thank you.
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Smashing stuff and lovely pictures of Scotland. I’m a wee bit concerned about the bee given there is a bee eater below it 🙂
Rough Guide have just announced their top 20 most beautiful countries in the world- Wales and England are in top 20. The top three-
Third New Zealand
Second Canada
Most beautiful – drumroll please SCOTLAND!!
Of course British Nationalists will say it’s only possible due to the glorious union, we’re too inadequate to have good scenery on our own.
Now I have to go – I’m having visitors and I’ve no bananas in!!
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LOL…
Don’t worry about Gerry’s Bee. He has protection!
I saw that about Scotland being the most beautiful country in the world, and I thanked the Empire and her Britannic Majesty for making it so. Obviously!
Get lots of bananas. He wee fellow is hungry!
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Tris……The aerial view of the three bridges is breathtaking. As is the night view at river level. The new bridge looks better and better. Even its lighting scheme is beautiful. Please ask Mr. Munguin to convey my very best wishes to Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Prince Philip next Monday.
Will Her Majesty break a bottle of champagne over the bridge….omitting of course the part about God blessing “all who sail in her?” I understand that in 2014 the Queen broke a bottle of Islay single malt Scotch from the Bowmore distillery to christen the Scottish-built HMS Queen Elizabeth. I hope the bridge gets similar appropriate treatment.
The brightly colored houses on Skye are pretty, as are the blue flowers in Iceland.
Amazing how quickly your readers identify historic pictures…….right down to street names, automobile makes and models, places of business, etc. (Disappointing that the names of people on the street are not known.) Anyway, is there concern in Munguin Towers that MR readership may be underrepresented in the age 18-29 demographic?
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Danny, that’s heartbreaking, smashing a bottle of Islay malt just to name a ship. I’ll have to have a wee nip just to steady my nerves 🙂
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Yes andi……..heartbreaking I know!……LOL.
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Munguin will certainly remind her majesty of his long help opinion that you should be made a duke or something.
All I can say is that breaking a bottle of perfectly good drink over a bridge, even one as lovely as this, is a waste of good liquor!
I’ve not been to Skye for a long time, but I have two memories of it… the beauty of everything there (which made me want to stay), and the midges (which made me want to leave!)
We’re thinking of introducing articles to encourage the under 30s… but the trouble is, Munguin isn’t quite sure what they talk about these days!
He was wondering if some Latin verse might be appropriate…
(See what I mean?)
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LOL Tris……yes, Mr. Munguin’s Latin verse idea is indeed quite telling. Perhaps a media consultant is in order.
It occurs to me that the Midgies (or as I call them…….Culicoides impunctatus) may be Scotland’s best kept secret. In the USA, the image of the Highlands and the Islands are regions of unsurpassed natural beauty, (with the very occasional rainy and windy day.) Midgies are little known in the states.
I recently saw this travel piece on “Scotland’s 10 Most Beautiful islands.” Interestingly, Skye is not included. It is said to be overrun with tourists, and visitors are warned not to come if they haven’t booked lodging in advance. My first of the 10 choices would be Iona, since it is simply dripping with history.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/scotland/galleries/scotland-most-beautiful-islands/
However, the travel info fails to mention that the abbey on Iona is a twentieth century reconstruction on the SITE of St. Columba’s original church. (Which makes me think that the remains of those SIXTY Scottish, Irish, and Norwegian Kings it talks about probably aren’t actually around there anymore.) And of course it doesn’t mention the Midges. 😉
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The first thing to say on the article, Danny, is that the BBC and the Telegraph reported that Police had told people to stay away from Skye.
http://www.deadlinenews.co.uk/2017/08/10/police-slap-bbc-stay-away-skye-claim/
Once upon a time the Telegraph was a respected paper. It took a right wing, Conservative view in its editorials, but its news was largely accurate.
Then it’s owner, Lord Black, got himself into a bit of bother with the police.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conrad_Black
The Telegraph was sold to the Barclay Twins, residents of Sark, who set about making it a Tory Tabloid.
It masquerades as a serious newspaper but is empty of anything that resembles news.
There’s a lot of 20th century reconstructions going on. It kinda spoils things a bit.
No one mentions midges. Well except me. They REALLY don’t like me.
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I think I remember quite a while back that a British peer was in a US prison. Maybe that was Lord Black. It does seem that the actual police advice was good. An influx of 50,000 tourists in an area with 10,000 permanent residents must severely tax available accommodations.
There’s an old BBC documentary called “Civilisation” (available on DVD now) that has some very interesting material about the abbey on Iona. Apparently the old structure really didn’t survive the reformation.
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Probably was. Most peers manage to avoid prison.. something to do with the title, I suspect. So they stand out in memory.
The paper has, though, since his departure, become suitable only for packing china.
Another British peer, Lord Clark, did the Civilisation thing. I’m told it is VERY good, although I’ve never seen it… another “to do”!
Clark’s son was Alan Clark, a Tory minister and utter devotee of Mrs Thatcher…(and anything else that wore skirts.)
I think he’s most famous for, as a junior minister in Mrs T’s government addressing the House while well under the influence of a few bottles of Claret.
Clare Short, I think it was, called him out on it.
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Interesting about Clark’s son. I’d not heard of him.
The Clark family over generations was filthy rich from textiles and sewing thread. His father was also named Kenneth. Wikipedia says: Kenneth Clark senior worked briefly as a director of the firm and retired in his mid-twenties as a member of the “idle rich”, as Clark junior later put it: although “many people were richer, there can have been few who were idler”.
The Civilisation series is posted on YouTube. The small piece about Iona is in Episode 1 from 18:30 to 23:00.
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I think you may be mixing him up with Ken Clarke who was also cabinet minister under Thatcher, Major and Cameron. Ken is a relatively smart cookie by Tory standards, and has been chancellor, home secretary and justice secretary (he’s a QC).
Lord Clark’s son of the claret fame was Alan Clark, a rather different fellow altogether. I suspect that his son was also inclined to idleness.
Thanks for the link to Civilisation.
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Well Tris now I’m totally confused….LOL. Actually all I know about the famous art expert Kenneth Clark (Kenneth Mackenzie Clark, Baron Clark) who made the BBC Civilisation series is what his Wkipedia article tells me. It talks about his wealthy family (from textiles and sewing thread) , and describes his anecdote about his “idle rich” family being not a rich as some…..but none being more idle.
Wikipedia says he had three children, and here’s what it says about his oldest son Alan who went into politics. “The Clarks’ relations with their three children were sometimes difficult, particularly with their elder son, Alan. He was regarded by his father as a fascist by conviction though also as the ablest member of the Clark family “parents included”; he became a Conservative member of parliament and junior minister, and a celebrated diarist.”
So that seems to be the son Alan you mentioned.
I don’t really know anything about a Ken Clark who was a cabinet minister under Maggie Thatcher. (Although I thought you brought up the Thatcher connection in your earlier posting above.)
Anyway, I’m OK about the guy who made Civilisation and was from a wealthy idle Scottish family of textile merchants. Also OK with his son Alan who went into politics. But I’m not asserting a Thatcher connection at this point……LOL.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Clark
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Mea culpa, Danny.
You said in your first post that ”His father was also named Kenneth”.
Somehow I managed to read that wrong… too complex to explain…
You are completely right, and I was muddled!!!
Blame it on… erm… me being muddle brained!
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LOL Tris….I blame it on Wikipedia. I had to read the Wikipedia comment over and over to get it straight. They use the term “junior” in a a way that is confusing, and it’s not really all that clear on quick reading which Kenneth Clark of which generation they’re talking about.
This is disturbing. If I can’t understand what Wikipedia is saying, then I’ve lost my expertise in almost every field of endeavor. 😉
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I know… disaster!!!!!!
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Midges are maybe little known in the states Danny but if you’ve been around the Great Lakes as much as I have then you quickly, and painfully, discover that Mosquitos are an extremely miserable alternative. They’re bigger, just as hungry and their favourite food is Scottish people.
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And with all the rain this year they are quite plentiful and some even carrying West Nile. Great pics. as usual Tris. Conrad Black is often a guest of John Oakley on AM640 Toronto
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Thanks, Doug.
Does Mr Black still use his silly title?
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Tris, Oakley only refers to him by name. I thought that he had lost his title due to his imprisonment.
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Not sure Doug, but none of the rest of them have.. the ones that went to prison for fire raising, embezzlement, stealing and perjury.
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Oh yes greig! We CERTAINLY have mosquitoes. I’ve encountered swarms of them in Florida. Really miserable! I guess they’re anywhere there’s water around. They are a real problem in the northern Lake country as you said. I’ve never been in Alaska, but I’m told that areas of Alaska are effectively uninhabitable from mosquitoes. At least for southerners from the “lower 48.” Maybe the native Alaskans are immune from them……LOL.
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Doug…..I’ve heard about the serious problem of West Nile Fever in some areas. Fortunately, yellow fever and malaria are not around anymore, but were a problem well into the 19th century I guess. Tourists are sometimes surprised to learn that we do occasionally have plague in the Mountain West, west of the the 100th meridian……sometimes called the “plague line” (Wiki says.) But we can’t blame that on mosquitoes. Then there are the rattlesnakes. It’s a jungle out there!
So all in all, it sounds like the midgies are a piece of cake….relatively speaking. 😉
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I know, we really shouldn’t complain in Scotland, Danny.
The worst you get with midges, as a rule, is itchy red spots.
And we definitely don;t have rattlesnakes.
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Danny, there has been a few reported cases in the Toronto area but i don’t know the number. Tonight we are having thunder storms due to the tail end of Harvey and 2 low pressure systems, so more breeding grounds for them.
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We taste of whisky, I think!
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Danny,
What did midges do for food before hill-walkers were invented?
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Good question.
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Do they favor one season of the year over another? That might be a clue. 😉
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Et ne nos inducas in tentationem de Stirling,
Sed libera nos a malo eiusdem.
Requiem Edinburgi dona eis, Domine,
Et lux ipsius luceat eis.
A porta tristitiae de Stirling,
Erue, Domine, animas et corpora eorum.
Credo gustare vinum Edinburgi,
In villa viventium.
Requiescant statim in Edinburgo. Amen.
Fresche fragrant claretis.
Domine, exaudi orationem meam,
Et clamor meus ad te veniat.
Oremus.
Loose translation:
The broon sauceless food west of Stirling cannae beat the Kebabs of Edinburgh, ye can get wines other than Buckie and ye can rest peacefully in yer bed…
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Seems like it takes longer to get to the point in Latin.
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Is that what they taught you in the posh capital, instead of the Lord’s Prayer, Conan?
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Ah went tae the skule in Broxburn Tris; the teachers didnae belt us, they stuck the heid oan us and stole oor fags.
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LOL.
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Hmm ! here is a better yoon pic of the bridges
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LOL LOL
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I just love Niko’s amazing photo shop skills.
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I wonder who gave him that blue crayon…
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Nah, Niko, we just blued out the super new bridge so that it won’t be too easy a target for the English bomber force, or Duffwaffe as it’s often known. An historic force, mind you, well-known too for its Stinke skive-bombers. its Shitfire and its reknowned squadron, the Dumbasterds. Chocks away, chaps!
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read this tris that is if the snp allow it
Poor Kevin McKenna will now be considered
an enemy of the Scottish people >
Will no one bridge the chasm between Scotland’s rich and poor
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/02/bridge-the-chasm-between-scotlands-rich-and-poor
Last week, Dugdale was accused by some SNP supporters of timing the announcement of her resignation as Labour leader in Scotland to coincide with the opening of the new Queensferry Crossing over the Forth. The inference was clear: Dugdale, in a final, petty anti-SNP act, had sought to siphon off some positive news coverage of the opening of the new bridge. I doubt this very much. Anyway, if you’re in the business of always seeing cynical media manipulation of the news then look no further than all those Scottish government supporters queuing up to cite the new bridge as an icon of what modern Scotland looks like.
It’s a bridge for God’s sake and there are already two of them across that stretch of water. It wasn’t designed or built by the world-class Caledonian engineering genius of legend but by a posse of foreign-owned firms in the absence of Scottish companies deemed capable of possessing the experience and skills for such a massive undertaking. Perhaps we need to take another look at who they’re letting into the engineering courses at Scotland’s universities and what they’re getting taught there.
I’m not suggesting for a minute here, by the way, that the Scottish government shouldn’t boast about the successful completion of this grand and beautiful bridge. But I have yet to be persuaded of the reasons behind building a third crossing over the river in the first place. And I don’t need to be persuaded of the case for doing something meaningful to address the issue of unfair and unequal Scotland.
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It’s a bridge FFS. Get over it.
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I like the bridge.
It’s the tallest bridge in Britain and also the longest three-tower, cable-stayed bridge in the world and by far the largest to feature cables which cross mid-span. For Edinburgh folk interested in technological achievement I’d just point out that picture no.11 is of a thing called a tram, they can provide a transport system across a whole city not just do a wee shuttle from one end of the road to another.
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LOL Jake…
To think the four big cities had perfectly good tram tracks all these years ago, and then they were ripped up.
I don’t suppose they’d have been much good though because they were in the middle of the roads. I still think it’s a pity we didn’t keep them.
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On a shop in West Maitland St during the construction there was a poster showing labyrinthic maps of tram systems in Europe. Underneath them, a map of Edinburgh’s; the punch line was “We must stop this before it spreads!”
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LOL.
I was on the Budapest trams last year. They are fabulous. I’ve yet to be on an Edinburgh tram.
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I took the grandbairns just after it opened. Amazingly smooth.
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Munguin wants a ride on the tram, so I guess we will do it soon.
Do media moguls get on free?
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There are lots of poor people in England – hasn’t stopped them commissioning HS2 which is far less necessary than replacing the failing existing road bridge.
Now please stop trolling. I know Tris indulges you but I find you very wearing. Now I’m off to see my orangutan visitor. I’ll probably get more sense from them than you!
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Not to mention Crossrail that opens next year.
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Ah, Marcia, I see you got there before me.
We helped pay for Crossrail. The Brits didn’t hep pay for the bridge.
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I’m very indulgent aren’t I?
And of course, you are right. HS2, is utterly unnecessary, although all other large EU countries have fast trains covering most of their area. Cross rail wasn’t entirely necessary either.
And instead of spending all that money on Buckingham Palace, the queen could have moved full time to Windsor, and the Houses pr parliament could have moved into a modern building a lot more cheaply that the £12 billion or so that it will cost to do up the present wreck of a building.
Anyway, I hope you got lots of bananas.
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Pandy
O0eer! Handbags if you close your eyes very
tight and put your fingers in your ears you will
Never hear or see any horrible things in Scotland
Ever again….suits you
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Stop being ridiculous, Niko.
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Best leave the cork in the bottle.
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He’s entitled to his opinion.
As I understand it the reason for building the bridge was that the old one wasn’t able to cope with the kind of traffic that now travels over it every day. It wasn’t built for ANYthing like the amount of traffic it carries
Just like, I suppose, why did they build the old one when there were perfectly good ferries doing the job… except of course, they couldn’t cope with the volume of traffic that needed to get into Edinburgh from the North.
Today, if the bridge fails, the economy takes a huge hit; people can’t get to work, chaos.
It’s already happened, when they had to close the bridge for repairs a couple of years ago.
20 years ago they were talking about building a bridge because the old one couldn’t cope. But they couldn’t find the money.
As for why it was an international effort… Mainly that’s the way things are today. Although clearly in the light for Brexit we will have to look at that.
And yews, he’s right… our schools and universities will have to start pushing engineering and technology rather than media studies and PPP if we have to survive outside the EU.
I don’t like the bridge becasue it was the SNP that built it, any more than I would dislike the trams because it was Labour that built them.
I don’t think the trams were necessary but they are beautiful and add to Edinburgh’s elegance.
I think the bridge was necessary.
I don’t know whether Dugdale decided to make her announcement to take away from the bridge. If she did, it didn’t make any difference. I looked at what was trending on Twitter. The bridge was; she wasn’t. The BBC may have thought it was important; the Twitterati didn’t.
But the bridge IS what modern Scotland looks like, no matter who or what built it. That it was built in cooperation with other countries is surely something to be proud of. That in 5 years that will be much more difficult and expensive is something to worry about.
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Not to be pedantic but all three bridges are over a Firth. Not a river, not an estuary, but a Firth.
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Indeed it is.
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I had to look it up actually. I’m not certain that we Americans accept the word at all, but it looks like it’s probably OK to use it to describe coastal waters in Scotland and England.
The term “Firth of Forth” is very confusing to Americans, and so its use should probably be discouraged. (I doubt that Trumpy has a clue about it.) 😉
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firth
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According to Wiki, it’s quite complex for us too.
Interesting that it is linguistically cognate to fjord.
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Here’s the thing Niko. If folk want to take some pride in a bridge, then where’s the harm? Who are you, the yoon press, the armies of Satan or Kevin McKenna to say otherwise? There’s little enough to be jolly about at present for fcuk’s sake so why is it such a crime to celebrate something good that’s happening? For a country that’s continually told we’re rubbish and dependent on handouts from our benevolent neighbour to, for a wee while, feel good about itself. Just what is your problem with that?
Kevs article doesn’t make him the enemy, he’s just saying stuff that was true last year or last week and will no doubt still be true next year. All he was doing was twisting a good thing because he was short of material to meet a deadline and that doesn’t make him bad.
It just makes him a journalist.
PS. Who the fuck cares whether McKenna’s convinced about the need for a third crossing, the pompous arse.
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Well put, Greig!
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Tris, the caption to the last pic of the little orang says, ” I’m off to Panda Paws’ for my lunch! She’s a sucker for a pretty orange face.” I’m not so sure Panda Paws will be too pleased at that – doesn’t that Donald Trump fellow have a “pretty orange face”? 🙂
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Trunp – it may be an orange face but in no universe can it be called pretty!
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No, you’re right, but I was thinking along the lines of pretty stupid, pretty obnoxious, etc. Maybe I should’ve written not “pretty orange”, but “garishly orange”. I was probably too upset at any possible comparison between a charming, intelligent creature like an orang-utan and the tangerine-faced dolt who’s currently POTUS.
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LOL Andi… that just sums him up.
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LOL PP. He thinks he’s beautiful… and he lives in his own little universe… oh and did you know he had the biggest crowd at his inauguration in the history of the whole world.. and other places too?
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No. He has a grotesque orange face. That’s the difference… Oh, that and the fact that the orangutans are much better suited to running America. 🙂
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That frog with the umbrella? There have been arguments about ‘tool use’ by animals. Like they are starting to get a clue. [I could bore you all to tears about ant extraction and stuff], but protecting yourself against the rain?
That is so English. Who knew the frogs – that was not a synonym – could do that.
New to me.
Quite remarkable.
You may have added another dimension to the drip, drip, drip of animals catching up upon us.
Thanks for all your Soppy Sundays.
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Given that frogs like water, I think its rather a weird photo, and probably a bit photoshopped. But I thought it was pretty appropriate given how much rain there has been this year.
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The leaf umbrella must be one of the most appealing Soppy Sunday snaps. The brats love it.
The difficulties in building this bridge pales into insignificance compared to building bridges with the EU when the fecking ‘negotiators’ describe the EU as ‘silly’ and ‘black-mailers’. Interesting times ahead!
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Glad the little frog gave pleasure.
Munguin has a mate who is a frog. His name is Ed the Frog, because he was acquired in Edinburgh (actually in Morningside, if you please, so rather a posh frog) I must include a picture of him at some point.
I think Mr Fox must be one of the stupidest ever cabinet ministers. Not content with disgracing himself once, he appears to have decided to do it all over again.
Thank goodness he gave up medicine.
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I liked the frog under the green umbrella too.
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Sorry to go O/T but I’ve just been told Kate Middleton is pregnant with her third child. Since the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha’s are the largest collectors of State Benefits in the U.K, does this mean that she will have to prove that she has been the subject of a serious sexual assault before she can claim any new benefit? Is’nt that what the Tory law now says?
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Oh, I’m relatively certain that she will continue to get benefits of all sorts for her offspring regardless.
I’m surprised William hasn’t been given a new Dukedom and some more lands.
Amazingly the news was trending on Twitter this morning. I just though, “another scrounger to keep the palaces, footmen and chauffeurs”.
They really should get our permission before the add more costs on to the country.
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Nice picture, Niko – “The future contemplating the past” would be a good title, don’t you think?
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Aye, if the cap fits Niko…
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I was looking at the pictures. Looked like decent weather, although cloudy, with the ceremony going off without a hitch. I saw no whisky or champagne bottles broken in the newspaper accounts.
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Danny
thought you might like this
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https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/21192321_1432393990185311_8079023397527651787_n.jpg?oh=de12c50e2df5bfb3ad271638366bbf0f&oe=5A5193C0
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Niko…..No one bashes socialism like a right wing Republican Texas politician. But of course they are the first hogs at the public trough when federal money is being doled out to Texas, for disaster relief for example. The politicians like Cruz never rise a finger to curtail SOCIAL Security or Medicare either, because they know how popular these federal programs are among the Texas voters who don’t make the “socialism connection.” There’s no verified instance of a socialism-hating right wing Republican ever returning a Social Security retirement check to Washington. 😉
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Well, aren’t all right wingers like that?
Our bankers, for example?
Privatise profits; socialise losses.
Of course, a natural disaster is a long way from the utter greed of the bankers and the city, but Texas is mighty rich. However, Texans also pay Federal Taxes so it is right that they get something back a time like this.
I just wish that Washington would admit that weather events like this are on the increase and listen to the scientists.
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Yep…..we have socialism for the rich and free enterprise for the poor.
Studies show that a larger proportion of federal tax money flows back to the “red” (Republican) states in proportion to their tax load than it does for the “blue” (Democratic) states. So the blue states are paying the federal taxes that disproportionately flow to the red states (whose voters scream about “socialism.”) The statistics are skewed somewhat due to the powerhouse economies of New York and especially California. Lots of taxes from blue state California of course, which would be somewhere between seventh and ninth in the world if it were a separate country. And on the money flow back to the states, the gigantic military budget favors some red states where there are big military bases and large munitions factories.
Yes, it would be nice from a public policy perspective if the right wing Republicans didn’t live in an alternate reality. The ideological opposition to the very idea of climate change has become a cornerstone of far right Republicanism, and Trumpy is going to pander to the crazies who elected him.
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Funny old word, that!
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Danny: Munguin did the champagne bit, no need to repeat it.
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LOL Tris……I should have known.
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Aye you should have… you better look out for the summons to Munguin Towers. 🙂
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this is how our Queen should deal with those
who refuse to bend the knee to our rightful
rulers
That’l be you and conan for sure
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Very apt, Niko – “Game of Thrones”, just like the one they have at Buck House – another fantasy adventure, though not nearly as entertaining. You’ll have noticed that Willz’n’Kate are about to add another sprog to the long list of Saxe-Coburg wasters. Mind you, they can afford it – we’ll be paying for it.
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Thank goodness for those broad shoulders.
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tris aka Andy cap
Even the tory righwingers are turning on her now
https://www.standard.co.uk/comment/comment/tim-montgomerie-under-theresa-may-the-tory-party-is-on-a-mission-to-selfdestruct-a3626356.html
Tim Montgomerie: Under Theresa May, the Tory party is on a mission to self-destruct
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/03/planet-tory-radio-signal-earth-weaker-brexit
On Planet Tory, the radio signal from Earth is growing weaker by the day
Matthew d’Ancona
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Thanks, Niko. Both articles good, and food for thought.
I notice that the Evening Standard (London paper) says “This isn’t just about the North. It’s also about rural areas and access to broadband in particular. ”
Even those criticising the current Tory party don’t see Scotland at all.
D’Ancona’s piece is good too.
I’m constantly surprised at who commnetators thick should be the next leader… Boris, Rudd, Hancock (who he) and Davidson… not an MP and a total outsider for PM because of the EVEL legislation.
Actually I reckon the Tory Party may be heading for a split over Brexit. But then, so too is the Labour Party over left and right.
The Scottish leadership will be interesting. So far we have Anas, from the right… and some bloke from Yorkshire that no one seems to have heard of.
Bring it on…
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I forgot to say thanks for the photos, particularly the orangutans! Mea maxima culpa! Quel manque de politesse! Bridges lovely too, of course, and the new one is just fabulous, but of course it’s a different sort of beauty entirely from our fuzzy orange cousins’.
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Pas du tout. 🙂
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