Wonderful Women

This photo was taken one lunchtime in colourful Kuala Lumpur

International Women’s Day
8th March 2008

I have just had a look at this site for International Women’s Day and I am staggered by how much women have achieved in the last decade without compromising their femininity. The women featured in the clips are spokespersons for their sponsorship companies and hail from all over the world. They are pretty inspiring

I will be spending International Woman's Day with a bunch of writers at the Scottish Association of Writers Conference in Erskine and I suspect the majority of them are women.

As a gesture for this auspicious day I have included on this blog a link to The Breast Cancer Site which I click on daily. The more daily clicks the site receives the more money the sponsor gives towards free mammograms. I am oblivious to the adverts on the site and have the click button as a recurring appointment on my calendar. Every little helps and it only takes a minute.
http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=2

The UK site doesn't host such a gimmick but it is still worth bookmarking and keeping up with their fundraising events throughout the UK.

Writing and Reading

My writing regime is sinking in another peat bog. Every day my morning pages are filled with good intentions, but there is always something else needed attended to.

The problem is many of my characters are only half formed and the fully formed ones are taking me into areas of unknown. This means I am required to research, which of course is a wonderful distraction.

One of the books I have just read in a desperate attempt to pull me out of the bog is Odd Girl Out by Rachel Simmons sub titled The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls.

The book chronicles the author’s finding after a year long series of interviews with young girls and women on the subject of female bullying. This study was sparked by her casual question on the Internet, ‘how many women were bullied at school.’ The response she received was phenomenal; she was bombarded with cases, all with a similar story, that of, what she calls ‘Alternative aggression’ - non violent bullying.

Unlike boys who bully through violence and conflict, girls are taught from an early age to avoid conflict. The result of this lesson is a form of bullying that includes, rumour spreading, exclusion, silent treatment, and narrow eyed staring. I was surprised at how many of these devices I recognised from my youth and shocked at how many are still present in my adulthood.

Although this is a book of sociological study, the poetic style of writing made it a very enjoyable read. Simmons uses colourful and memorable metaphors to make her points. The book’s one flaw is that a number of issues are laboured and repeated.

Another book I have just completed as part of my research is the fascinating Grasping Africa by Stephen Chan.

I am red faced to admit that most of my knowledge of Africa comes from Wilbur Smith novels and Paul Theroux’s Dark Star Safari. Shocking I know! I am making amends now.
Grasping Africa begins at the Gleneagles G8 summit and rewinds to cover various aspects of African’s cultural and political history.

For such a modest book (171 pages) Grasping Africa does what it says on the cover. By skimming the surface of most of Africa’s nations, Chan has gifted me a taster of this vast continent. By also providing and discussing a number of novels and studies on the subject he’s provided me with enough food and distraction to keep me for my novel for the next six months.

Neil Young at Edinburgh Playhouse

Minto and I plus Michael (jun) and James were at the most wonderful concert last night. After waiting for 36 years at last Neil came to see us in Edinburgh. If he had been mediocre it would have been awesome; but he was brilliant so I don’t have a word for the experience!

We first saw him in Glasgow Apollo on 8th November 1973. It cost an astronomical £2.50.
My little sister Moira came with us then. With the successes of Harvest and After The Gold Rush still ringing in our ears we were all very excited to hear our old favourites. How were we to know that this tour was to go down in history as the one where he performed all of Tonight’s The Night (released 1975), with a couple of old favourites thrown in at the end? Oh Neil!

His support that night was rather excellent though; a little known band called The Eagles (yes, that’s right – but that’s a story for another day).

Note: He redeemed himself 20 years later in the SECC; another story for yet another day.

Back to last night. Neil made amends for The Apollo – and some! We sat down at 7.30pm and floated through 3 performances (Pegi Young, Neil unplugged, Neil electric) taking us up to midnight. This was Neil at his classic BEST and half the numbers pre-dated his ’73 concert. I won’t describe the detail; better people than I can do that:
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/neil-young-playhouse-edinburgh-790928.html?r=RSS

Lining up our previous 3 audiences with Neil (1973, 1993 and also the 1996 SECC Crazy Horse heavy metal frenzy) I have always considered 1993 to be his finest by far.

Last night that all changed!

Setlist: http://www.sugarmtn.org/years/08nysets.html

The winter of change

I wanted to post a snowy photo of the hill, but tonight's stunning evening light was so pink the hill disappeared into the background. This photo was taken last year; the view is almost the same, minus the pink sky.


Fifty First Timer No.7

Attend a political meeting

Yes it’s true. I have almost reached the significant age of fifty and have never attended a political meeting, which is strange because there are so many causes that I feel passionately about. Maybe in my maturing years I will become a radical!

The meeting, 'Socialism in the 21st Century', was held in Glasgow University and organised by Rock Around The Blockade. The event had been brought to my attention by my mother in law who also attended with my niece. What I didn’t realise before the meeting was that it solely featured Cuba, a country I have been fascinated with since I read a book about the Bay of Pigs in school.

The representatives from RATB kicked off the proceedings with a propaganda rant that I could have done without. It was ‘comrade this’ and ‘comrade that’, I felt I had stumbled onto the film set of Citizen Smith. This tirade rambled on for ten minutes before the real speakers were introduced.

The first Cuban speaker was Yoselín Rufín Díaz, the twenty two year old President of the municipal Federation of University Students (FEU). She took her audience through systems of education in Cuba. With the exception of the twenty pupil class size what she told us appears similar to what is in place in the UK, but her enthusiasm and charm wafted over the audience and rose above the storm that raged outside. She inspired me so much I wanted to go back to school, but this time in Cuba.

The next speaker, Jesús Pastor García Brigos, had a magnificent soup strainer moustache which transfixed me. He spoke eloquently in English about the political systems in place in Cuba. It seems to me from what these speakers were saying that Cuba has implemented socialism in the way it was spelled out in theory.

Later Jesus answered a question raised by a secondary school pupil in the crowd about what made Eastern Block socialism fail. Jesus said that in Europe the Left have differing ideas. They need to agree on one idea and make that work.

From what I was hearing, I concluded that the Cubans may be poor, but they are all poor together within their sustainable economy and environment.
If I were Cuban and if the success story is true, I would build the blockade higher to prevent the invasion of the nasties of the so called developed world. Who wants trans-fats and market forces with all their evil trappings? The Cubans could end up like other developing nation and match the galloping diabetes statistics that now plague East Asia since they began eating crap processed foods.

The last speaker was worth battering through the streets of Glasgow in the torrential rain and force ten gale to attend this talk.

Orlando Borrego (Che’s pal)
What a charming man he is. Through the able translation of his candid interpreter, the charisma Borrego exuded transformed this political event into a one/two man show.

He used funny observations of his personal life and relaxed anecdotes about political giants Fidel and Chavez to explain the strong links between Cuba and Venezuela. But it was his Che Guevarastories that I could see enthralled the young kids in the audience and I couldn’t help but marvel at the legend of the Argentinean doctor.

I’m off to read ‘The Motor Cycle Diaries’


Just Read

The Pillars of The Earth by Ken Follett

Hurray, hurray, I have finished it, all 1076 pages of this epic tale of the building of a cathedral.

My son gave me the book as a Christmas present so I was mother bound to read it, but it has been a struggle. The story and the concept are reasonable enough but the writing is excruciating. The author finds it necessary to recap every few chapters. Either he thinks his reader are dense or he has forgotten the plot himself.

His characters are predictable and tinged with many shades of beige and the whole sorry tale is drenched in cliches.

This is probably the worst endurance test I have undertaken and I succeeded, I am so proud.

War and Peace will be a skoosh in comparison.




>The Nag

I am pleased to say the The Nag website have redeemed themselves. In their Mother's Day newsletter they recommended buying Fair Trade products as presents. I could find no profit in this for them. Keep it up chaps.

Fair Trade Fortnight

We are now in the middle of Fair Trade Fortnight, so I hope there is an extra push by the UK public to support this fine initiative. (My local Co-op stocks a huge range of their goodies including some decent wines).

It is just a pity Fair Trade's website was down at the beginning of the fortnight; hopefully is was due to high hits.

reason for the silence

My Computer had a seizure, but it is well now and backed up with belt and braces.

Ben Alder Cottage (Photo Colin Baird)

Fifty First Timer No.6

Stay over night in the haunted bothy Ben Alder Cottage
(or A woman and her shovel)

And I am sorry to disappoint the ghost hunters of the world but the only thing this bothy is haunted by is vermin.

Four of us walked twelve and a half kilometers from Rannoch Lodge to Ben Alder Cottage. We had estimated our ETA based on normal walking pace and heavy sacks. What we failed to take into account was boggy terrain and the extra four kilos of fire fuel we each carried in our back breaking rucksacks. The result of this logistical error was four very tired walkers ploutering about in near darkness with only a twinkle of a light, way in the distance, to guide us to our destination. We eventually stumbled into the packed bothy five hours after our departure from the car.

This Mountain Bothies Association bothy hunkers at the foot of Ben Alder, a fine mountain, which is situated in the wilderness between the A9 and West Highland Railway Line. It is a pretty remote spot. The stone building has three rooms. The largest room has a sleeping platform and a stove, the middle and smallest room has a couple of bunks and the third room, the only one free for our occupancy, has a floor to sleep on, but also a fire.

In my novel Torque, character Frank walks into a bothy and produces from his rucksack a bag of coal and kindling, tined oysters and pancakes. My writing buddy disputed the feasibility of this load, but as I sat sipping my gin and tonic, crunching pistachio nuts beside the peat briquette fire and looking forward to couscous, salmon and a wee dram, I knew I had captured the experience accurately.

The other bothy occupants had traveled vast distances by car to then to either cycle, walk or canoe into this magical spot. The weather was freezing but dry and next day my party enjoyed a spectacular walk onto Ben Alder over steep ground and some crisp snow fields. That evening we enjoyed our G & T sitting outside on mouse chewed chairs and watched the moon sparkle on Loch Ericht. The previous company had departed in search of other bothies and shores, but we were joined by two guys from Sheffield who had carried a bag of coal over several mountains. The ironic thing is that Ben Alder is one of the few bothies where wood is plentiful from the near by forest and saws and axes are available for use.

The cottage toilet is a shovel and The MBA had pinned clear instructions on the door as to where to go with your shovel and how to act responsibly when shitting in the woods.

This fantastic image of Loch Ericht with Ben Alder on the left was taken on the walk out. The air was so still even the fish were scared to disturb the calm.




This same image turned on its side gives an interesting insight into the courtship rituals of the native ducks!

The rain has stopped, stop building that ark

Michael Marra, one of Scotland's best

Fifty First Timer No.5

The Cremation of Sam McGee - Tolbooth, Stirling Saturday 9th February 2008

This performance qualifies as a fifty first on two counts. Firstly I have always wanted to see Michael Marra live. I almost achieved this last year then he appeared in collaboration with Scotland's poet laureate, Liz Lochhead but by the time I got around to buying the tickets the event was sold out.

Secondly ever since I first heard a Robert Service poem during a performance at Oran Mor, Glasgow, I made a mental note to find out more about his work.

This staggering show at the Tolbooth was the creation of cellist Christine Hanson. She managed to cajole the finest musicians in Scotland to join her in this performance of multi media magic.

In The Cremation of Sam McGee, Hanson took the rascally poem of Robert Service and composed a series of intricate traditional pieces to blend through the story. As if that wasn't enough, her compositions were accompanied, not only by the fine musicians but by the bright, inspiring images of artist Ted Harrison, one of Canada's foremost painters.

Micheal Marra narrated the poem and for anyone one who has never heard Marra speak or sing, to say his voice is gravely is not only a cliché, it is an understatement. His voice is crushed concrete, fag ash and whiskey mash churned together and matured in the corner of a smoky bar room, it is perfect for this narration.

The Line up

Michael Marra

Christine Hanson

Rick Taylor (Peatbog Faeries)

Kevin Murray (The Cutting Edge)

Bruce MacGregor (Blazin Fiddles)

Gordon Gunn

Anna Massie (The Anna Massie Band)

Kevin Maguire

Brian McAlpine (Session A9)

James Mackintosh (Shooglenifty)

Spring is almost here

Today I heard a woodpecker rapping in the trees. Later my bird feeder was visited by a woodpecker, maybe the same one. His comic grin and red backside never fail to make me gasp in delight. Unfortunately he was too speedy for my camera.

Yesterday was spent in the garden, pruning and chopping. I hauled a rusty old bin out of the corner of the big compost heap and started off another household waste compost bin with it. With any luck the resident black bin that happily plays host to hundreds of clever little worms and beasties that break down the waste, if left alone, will mulch away to fine compost by this time next year.

Result

After weeks of picking up, from the door mat, brown envelopes addressed to me in my own hand containing rejection slips, I received one this morning informing me that a short story had been short listed in a competition. The publication wanted to place my story in a forthcoming issue. Result!

food, books, and nag

Made-up Recipe



This tastes better than it looks - I think I need to add photography lessons to my list of Fifty First Timers!


I have been cooking for myself a lot recently and have tried to live on what’s in the fridge. This is a great way to use up ingredient and flex my imagination to invent new dishes. Here is the most interesting from last week

Tofu and Halloumi Frittata

Chop a clove of garlic, a red chilli, two spring onions, a ripe tomato and a couple of mushrooms; fry these for a few minutes, add about 75gs of Tofu and toss around a bit. Add two eggs beaten with a little soya milk and some ground black pepper. Cook as for an omelet, in the mean time heat the grill to hot. When most of the egg is cooked, take off the hob, slice enough slivers of halloumi to give a decent covering and sling the lot under the grill until the egg become golden and begins to turn up at the pan edge.

I always sprinkle Worcestershire Sauce over eggs for a special treat.

Note; this was delicious but I think in future I would try a mild tofu. I used a braised smoked tofu which overpowered many of the ingredients.



Just Read

Runaway by Alice Munro

Alice Munro has been on my must read list for years and I still can’t believe that I, someone who relishes good short story writing, has failed to read a single story by this accomplished writer. I have made up for this now.

Munro writes about everyday folk living everyday lives and her stories are long enough to let the reader into those lives in detail. A number of the tales in Runaway follows one character, Juliet, from early adulthood through to old ages, and it is fascinating to watch the character develop in this way. But even the shorter one-off stories left me caring for these well crafted characters.
I have watched my own writing style develop over the years but still can’t crack the short story form. I am now eager to immerse myself in all Master Munro’s writing to see if any of her style sinks in.

The Nag

After reading Briony's comments on my last post I thought I had better look more closely at The Nag.

I am now even more skeptical. Briony was right, she could change to what she believed to be Green energy in minutes because the website directs it devotees to do their bidding. But I doubt their motives, especially when they are selective in the sites they recommend, is this perhaps because they earn revenue for these schemes?

I joined The Nag because I thought it was a great idea to receive an email every month to prompt me to do something. But my major objection to the devises used in the Nag is that it is leading folk to believe they are doing some good and absolving them of responsibility to actually change bad pratice. I would prefer to see The Nag encouraging folk to do little things like turning their shower control down a couple of notches or grow some of their own vegetables. Even window boxes can produce a healthy crop of rocket or spinach.
But maybe The Nag wouldn’t earn so much revenue from a couple of packets of seeds.

Try looking at the Soil Association news letter Why Organic http://www.whyorganic.org/default.asp. It has information about Fair Trade, Organic and local produce as well as seasonal recipes, gardening advice and free competitions – and no hidden agenda.

Green Energy and green issues are big business now, but it shouldn't be like that. We all have a responsibility to save our planet, not look for an easy buck or an easy let off.

I feel there will be more on this subject soon.