Irish Folk Music At The Cutting Edge.

What do you do of a Sunday night?

Watch the telly, read a book, go for a pint, yes! Go for a pint at the Old Fruitmarket and listen to the greatest Irish Folk band on the planet. Solas, headed up by Seamus Egan played a set which was indescribable. They did a version of "A Fond Kiss" which could only be described as, almost spiritual.

The fiddle playing of Winifred Horan was mesmeric. I was glad I didn't take my big digital cameras as the whole gig was so spectacular I would have spent the entire time with my eye glued to the viewfinder.

I hope they come back next year, I'll be first in the queue for tickets.

Wee Doggie-But Not For Long!

Just after the new year, I visited my oldest pal Alastair in Edinburgh. What can you say about the latest addition to his family ?

Meet Skye.

Puppies are always great but especially, Golden Retrievers. My own dog, who is pushing 15 years, didn't quite know how to take the wee girl.

I was back in Edinburgh working a few weeks later and the wee dog has just about doubled in size and is chewing everything and anything it can get its wee sharp teeth around. My poor old thing is losing teeth but as I am always saying, none of us get any younger.

Magical Loch Ard.

I have a great job!

On Thursday I was asked to take photos of a family reunion at the
Forrest Hills Hotel on the shores of Loch Ard. When you turn left after Aberfoyle, you enter another world. The scenery is stunning and this was a particularly cold but spectacular day. It reminded me of a Fenimore Cooper novel and right on queue, along came a canoe, fortunately not being paddled by Mohicans. It looked like they were having a great time.

The Forrest Hills Hotel was lit up like a Christmas tree and looked like an oil painting from the bottom of the drive. My wee dog spent no time in exploring and even joined me at the end of the jetty for a portrait.

The reunion party was brilliant as the family hadn't seen many of their close relatives for quite a while and getting them all together had been a mammoth task.

All this and less than an hour from the centre of Glasgow, fantastic!

Over The Sea to Rothesay.

I had a very pleasant day on the Isle of Bute on Thursday. Off I went on the
Calmac ferry from Wemyss Bay and shortly after docked in at Rothesay Pier. I was met by Tony from Bute recycling. Yes, that was the job. A day in the life of the recycling team for a feature story. And what a job they do. All types of rubbish is sorted, crushed and sent off to enjoy life as something else. I noticed a huge proportion of the cans being crushed were of the alcoholic variety, I was reliably informed there was a reason for that. I'll not state the obvious. They were a really friendly bunch and looked after me royally.

I have been going to Rothesay for longer than I can remember but I hardly recognized the pier. It is now all roll on, roll off huge hydraulic machines to get cars and people turned around at super speed. The romance has gone. Some things however don't change. I noticed from the top deck on my return, a familiar landmark. The "Black Bull"! Now be warned, it may look quite innocent but I've never come out of it in any fit state of mind, ever. It does absolutely great food by the way. I was very impressed by the hardy soul in his dingy as the freezing wind would have cut you in half. Where he was going to or had come from, I'll never know.

And finally, another first in my life. I managed to get on and off the Isle without one drop of alcohol passing my lips. I can hardly believe it!

Steven Lindsay, King Tut's 18.12.07.

I heard Steven Lindsay live for the first time back in April of this year at the CCA in
Glasgow accompanied only with keyboards. On Tuesday night, he was playing King Tut's with his full band. Both gigs were brilliant.

I strongly recommend that you add his albums Kite and Exit Music to your collection.

What A Nice Bunch Of Chaps !

I had my first visit from my eldest son Roddy by car on Monday night. Yes, he has passed his driving test and arrived with four of his mates to borrow a winged shirt and black tie for the school dance.

One of his pals is very keen on photography and seemed very impressed by the studio and
all the gear lying around. They suggested I take a "studio portrait" for posterity. This is the result !

Ah well, boys will be boys.

Scary Or What !

I was travelling into Fife recently over the Forth Road Bridge. To my right was the magnificent Forth Rail Bridge. I am probably one of the few lucky people on the planet who have ever stood at the very top of this colossus of engineering.

Back in 1998, I was commissioned by Railtrack to take photos of ongoing work and the visit of the QE2 to the River Forth. Up I went, replete with mandatory high viz, hard hat and steel boots. What a buzz! Four hundred feet above the river and standing on a platform no bigger than a snooker table I found the whole experience quite overwhelming. To my utter astonishment, I heard a voice, " How's it going mate"? From out of nowhere and walking as if he was out for a Sunday stroll was Andy. Now Andy's job title was " Rope Technician". He prowled the structure with an arrogance that beggared belief.












I had a great conversation with him. I found out that his job was to get to places
where no mere mortal would even think about going, what a guy!

He then helped me out by getting involved in some set up stuff. I couldn't believe my luck and in the middle of all this, his phone rang. " Sorry mate, can't talk right now I'm getting my photos taken". Unbelievable.

Anyway it turned out really well for us both. I had a contract with the Sunday Mirror in those days to cover soccer matches on Saturday. They were running a series of "Men In High Places" features and the editor phoned shortly after this shoot asking if I had anything suitable. We both earned a few extra bob but Andy was without a doubt, the star man.