Category: Music

  • After 8 Mince

  • Plantastic

    For anyone with an interest in plants, art or indeed both, below is a link to the degree show at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh.  They offer training in botanical drawing, a uniquely special method of documenting the life story of a plant.  I have long been in awe of this, and its practitioners.…

  • Toothsome

    I think most of us are experiencing sleep issues during lockdown.  For me, it’s a mix of wakefulness, wild dreams, dozing instead of non REM, sensitivity to the early dawn, and so on.  One aspect is that I wake up, frequently, singing. Many tunes wash through my cerebral cortex, I would love to say that…

  • Notes from my perch

    Occasionally my wanderings on the internet surprise even me.  Today I found out that James Dick, a successful business man who was born in Kilmarnock and moved to Glasgow, developed the school gym shoe known by various names over the UK.  He and his brother had experimented with using Gutta-percha to cover the soles of…

  • Balladeers

    It’s Fife’s worst kept secret that the 100th new Lidl* store in Scotland will be opened here.  In a marketing coup they have nobbled Burns’ Night (Day?) for the occasion, and have also, allegedly, secured the services of musician KT Tunstall for the event.  KT is indeed currently working with the brand Lidl Live, and…

  • Tunes help you breathe

    One of my hopes for 2020 is that I can start to discover some new music, I’m plum tuckered out of not being able to add anything to the conversation on that topic.  So, here’s a very anglophonic (I made that up) tune from a band that actually hails from Texas. Midlake           

  • December birds

    In the interest of sharing musical gems, absolutely no apologies for reposting this. Anent nothing, walked past 60+ curlew feeding on the local football pitches, alongside oyster catchers, lesser black backed gulls, wood pigeons and carrion crows. 20th anniversary of the folk club tomorrow.  Looking forward to it.

  • Random

    So, à propos of nothing, here is a picture of Barbie as Darth Vader.                   Sold by a firm in Dalgety Bay called darksidetoys, found when looking for something completely different.  That might be serendipitous. A conversation with my cousins recalled this song. it’s great when a…

  • Tunes

    A fair raft of tunes is rattling around my head just now, for many reasons. This is on the radio a lot, and on my stereo.  Karine Polwart and her fellow musicians play Dignity.  And this, for good measure.  Chance. One I haven’t thought of in years, from Everything but the Girl .    

  • Play well

    The word “lego” is derived from the Danish words “leg godt”, meaning “play well”.  Really enjoyed seeing these Lego sculptures at Edinburgh Zoo, on a rather close and muggy summer’s day. All the models were of sea creatures, which brought this tune to mind.  Stick with it for the chorus harmonies.