Nae Respect!

For many years, the statue of Wellington in Glasgow city centre has been famous for always having a road cone on its head. It has become almost iconic.

Well, look what's happened to Lord Kelvin and in Kelvingrove Park as well! Could this practice be spreading or did someone just think the man who invented the temperature scale just looked a bit cold.

I don't think he would have approved.

Is That Spring In The Air ?

I spotted these tell tale signs of warmer things to come on Sunday but with Scottish weather, you can never be sure.

You can only hope!

Staggering Statistics.

Over the weekend, reports in the papers have shown up that Scots are the eighth largest consumers of alcohol in the world. Adults over the age of sixteen, consume an average equivalent of 570 pints of beer or 157 bottles of wine or a staggering 52 bottles of vodka per year.

Now I'm not going to get on my high horse here as in my early days in newspapers, alcohol played a big part in daily life. I don't know the answer to this problem but I noticed a t shirt on display in a shop window on Sunday.

Maybe this kind of attitude goes a long way to explaining the problem.


On a lighter note, all you people out there who don't get the merits of blasting a wee white ball five miles around a course, might agree with the message on another t shirt.

"The Likely Lads"

I have been finding a lot of old photographs recently that have been stored away over the years.

This one has to be the one and only time I ever wore a top hat. Back in 1982 I was the best man at my oldest pal Alastair's wedding in Edinburgh. ( That's me on the left )

It was the first time I had ever done any public speaking and I don't remember anything I said.

I do remember having a great time though.

The Magical Titan Crane.

I was commissioned by Clydebank Re-Built to take some nights shots of the last crane on site of the world renowned John Brown Engineering of Clydebank.

John Brown were known as the "Rolls Royce" of shipbuilding and were responsible for building many of the worlds greatest ever ships, the QE2 being the last one.

The Titan Crane is now a visitor attraction which allows you to travel up to the top and
what a view you get.

Who would ever have thought that a massive crane who's main purpose was lifting massive engines into ships would end up as an iconic piece of architecture.

It is well worth a visit.

Things You Vividly Remember.

I am constantly being asked by my PR clients, "How does it work"? My answer has been the same for many years, " I don't know, I just know it does".

I put it down to the human brain being able to remember things from so long ago that simple images or words trigger a reaction which unleashes memories you had completely forgotten about.

You can see from a few entries ago, that I found a treasure chest of old photographs from the early sixties that I didn't know existed. This one in particular, although a bit under exposed, brought back the incident of me trying for the first time to hold back the tide. We have all tried and failed in this exercise but I remember vividly getting really frustrated as to why my wall wasn't working. It was a strange experience
for me to have it all come back.

That's me waving my spade at the incoming tide and it was taken in 1962.

Bygone Days.

As I was driving along Argyle Street in Glasgow recently I saw an old corner tenement which looks like it is soon to be renovated.

It took me back to the old days before neon signs. I have always liked that classic style of signage but over the years it would be covered over as times move on. It surfaces now and again as life moves full circle.

Like most old shops, there is a story behind them. The Kelvingrove Cafe is no different.

Who says romance is dead ?

Foxy Lady !

The snow that has been hitting the rest of the country for the last week, finally made it to Glasgow.

I went over to the south side of the city on Sunday for a walk around Rouken Glen Park and witnessed something I had never seen before. It is well known that the city has a huge population of what have become known as "urban foxes", these usually secretive animals are rarely seen during the day. I spotted this one in the walled garden of the park,munching on what looked like an old sandwich. The poor thing was obviously starving
but was still very wary of me and didn't hang around for to long.

For you bloggers in warmer climes, I have posted up some shots of what happens when the temperature drops below freezing.

Anyone in the Caribbean looking to swap places for a couple of weeks?

Timber !

The old cherry tree in the back garden finally decided it had had enough on Monday.

I had to get some other old trees cut down a few months ago and the guy with the chain saw advised me to do the same to it while he was here.

I knew it didn't have long to go and decided to let nature take its natural course. You see, I had gotten really attached to the old thing. It used to have three big limbs and one by one over the years they fell off. In a few months there would have been a pink blossom extravaganza and the spooky thing, it was the day most likely in the year for us mortals to throw a sickie.