Fin de Cinema (Free subscription) | 15/11/2009
The St. Louis International Film Festival has kept me busy, so I'm just now getting around to posting the February Criterion additions, which were announced on Friday. Through IFC, Steve McQueen's Hunger will make its way to DVD and Blu-ray; Max Ophüls' Lola Montès will be upgraded from the old (lousy) Fox Lorber disc on DVD and Blu-ray; Janus Films' first-run release of Götz Spielmann's...
Dog and Deco (Free subscription) | 16/10/2009
K8 telephone kiosks, nr Kilmartin Village – Bruce Martin, 1968 As promised a few months ago, I have found these wonderful examples of the very rare K8 telephone kiosk on the north side of the approach road to the Erskine Bridge in Renfrewshire. Designed by Bruce Martin in 1968, they were a rationalisation of the earlier [...]
Stephen's Linlithgow Journal (Free subscription) | 15/10/2009
Speaking today in Inverness at the start of the SNP conference Alex Salmond tried to do a Gordon Brown and list some achievements. Here is what he said, in brackets is what he missed out. “Today, I am proud to be addressing you as First Minister on behalf of a successful and popular SNP administration – delivering for the people of Scotland. “Scotland is a great nation, and is even...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 12/10/2009
The readers's editor on ... the need for responsible reporting of suicide stories Newspapers have been reporting suicides for more than 200 years, but it's only relatively recently that the press have been considering the social and ethical implications of writing about them. Research cited by the Samaritans and others shows that media coverage of suicides can lead to copycat behaviour, particularly...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 09/10/2009
• Local people saw friends before bridge tragedy • Pair said to have lived 'chaotic, difficult lives' It was shortly after 8.15pm on Sunday that David Bunting first saw the two girls walking along the edge of the road near the village of Bishopton in Renfrewshire, Scotland. Bunting, 23, a landscape gardener from nearby Erskine, spotted the pair again 10 minutes later as he made his way home....
The Ben Lomond Free Press (Free subscription) | 06/10/2009
I work about five miles from the Erskine Bridge. One of my earliest memories was regularly making the short trip on the Erskine Ferry before the bridge was finished in 1971. It connects the A82 in Dunbartonshire with the M8 motorway in Renfrewshire. From there it is a short journey to Glasgow Airport, Paisley and [...]
Shaken Baby and unsafe convictions (Free subscription) | 05/10/2009
Two girls, from the "care" system take their lives, unlike Baby Peter, blue eyed and blonde haired and oh so innocent they won't headline for weeks or months, they will be forgotten, already "tainted goods" yet their deaths are as tragic and pointless as that of Peter, their deaths are because of the failings of society to protect them from harm, their abuse; well it couldn't be...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 05/10/2009
Two teenage girls who are believed to have killed themselves by leaping more than 50 metres from a bridge together had gone missing from a residential care home, it emerged today. The bodies of Georgina Rowe, 14, and Niamh Lafferty, 15, were pulled from the river Clyde near Glasgow after witnesses reported seeing them grasp each other's hands as they jumped from the Erskine bridge, which arches over...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 05/10/2009
Bodies recovered of pair who reportedly held hands as they jumped from bridge near Glasgow Police are investigating the suspected double suicide of two teenage girls who jumped off the Erskine bridge into the Clyde near Glasgow on Sunday evening. Strathclyde police confirmed that the bodies of two people had been recovered from the Clyde between 8.50 and 10.30pm near the 38-metre-high cable-stayed...
The Daily Record (Free subscription) | 05/10/2009
TWO teenage girls died last night after jumping from one of Scotland's highest bridges.
The Daily Record (Free subscription) | 05/10/2009
TWO teenage girls died last night after jumping from one of Scotland's highest bridges.
IanRStewart (Free subscription) | 02/10/2009
It's been all go since we got back from Exeter on Monday. Tuesday morning was meetings in Fraserburgh, then dash back to Aberdeen for more meetings. Wednesday was Aberdeen in the morning then down to Glasgow in the afternoon. I met Dawn at Bridge of Allan (where she now works) and we went for a short stroll and sat on a park bench for an hour or two. Dawn headed home and I made my way past the horrible...
Linda & Andrew (Free subscription) | 03/09/2009
Our summer holiday this year was much anticipated and we headed off for a couple of weeks on the west coast of one of THE most beautiful countries in the world, Scotland! Our main location for the first week being Tobermory on the enchanting Isle of Mull. There's something very exciting and very calming about driving North. All too often I have to turn right when I reach the M6 motorway and drive down...
Ramblings from the Fens (Free subscription) | 18/08/2009
Day One August 16th It was an early start today for us this morning. Car packed to bursting point with enough items for any eventuality. Well that ’ s what it seems like. A bit of fiddling with our new toy, a GPS Sat and we ’ re off. Three short pit stops later and we ’ re whizzing through Glasgow with no hesitation. 'Tom,' the Sat Nav's male voice, gives the driver clear instructions...
Cumbrian Castle Blog!! (Free subscription) | 18/08/2009
Mars Wark Castle Wynd Stirling Scotland Built between 1569 and 1572, Mars Wark is an enigmatic ruin that stands at the head of Castle Wynd with its back facing into the grave yard of the Holy Rude. I've included this building on the blog for one specific reason. All along the facade are a number of gun loops....I counted about four in total....one in each wing, and one in each of the octagonal towers...
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