January 2007

Two Millionth Visitor to Kelvingrove Art Gallery

It's just been announced here that the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow has now welcomed its two millionth visitor since it re-opened following major refurbishment.

This outstanding figure was reached during the morning of 25th January, when Marta Zurakowska and her three year old daughter Ola passed through the Argyle Street entrance.

The place only re-opened on 11 July 2006 after a three-year refurb, and has been phenomenally successful in attracting visitors ever since, so much so that the Kelvingrove is now Scotland's biggest visitor attraction, overtaking even the old favourite Edinburgh Castle, and nudging our esteemed 'Capital City' once again back into second place where it belongs.

I'm planning on building a full review page on the place in the very near future (yeah, we'll believe it when we see it Docherty), and it should fit nicely at the top of my new Top Ten Glasgow Attractions section which is working its way very carefully and gradually from the dark mushiness in my brain, towards its place on the site.

I'm just hoping they won't have bulldozed the old place by the time I finally get round to it...

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Clyde launches world's most advanced warship

Not that I'm holding myself out as someone with telephathic skills or anything, but I think it's safe to say that when people think of Glasgow, they think of the Clyde, and of a wealthy history of ship-building.

We've just watched here on the Clyde the launch of HMS Dauntless, the world's most advanced warship.

Now, whatever you or I may think about war and its weapons of mass destruction, from our City's point of view it has safe-guarded about 3,000 jobs at BAE Systems shipyard in Govan, Glasgow, with the entire programme involving six Type 45 destroyers in total and raking in about 6 billion pounds for the City.

In an era where Glasgow has been relying more and more on its tourist industry to fund its re-growth and development, in my mind having our traditional core industry pulling in this much for us can only be a good thing.

The launch itself was like days of old on the Clyde, something I certainly don't remember but which I've read plenty about. The shipyard threw open its doors and in flocked about 8,000 of us, with even more on the other banks of the river.

There was a great deal of anticipation about the whole thing, and when Lady Bugnell-Nugent, the wife of the Commander in Chief of the UK fleet, did the old breaking of the champagne bottle trick, the ship rolled down the slipway to a wave of applause, bringing a real warmth to what turned out to be a bitingly cold day.

This is more like it. Visitors coming to Glasgow shouldn't be faced with just remnants of the past and an almost-forgotten history. The tour bus guide shouldn't have to point out this is where that used to be, and look to your left and you'll see where this used to happen.

Tourists should be completely breathtaken with the City's fierce persistence in preserving its foundations, in celebrating not only its ambition but also its ship-building past and hopeful future, rather than simply having it glossed over and being shown only what you'd expect to see in any European city.

So next time you're in Glasgow, or even if you live here, take a trip down the Clyde, walk along its banks for a while, and breathe in the gutsy rebirth of one of history's most famous rivers. We've caught on slower than many other cities who've concentrated on highlighting their waterfronts, but haud on a minute, we're getting there. It started with the construction of the Science Museum and the Armadillo, and in years to come there are plans to regenerate long-forgotten parts of the City all along the Clyde (take a look at the Glasgow Harbour and the Pacific Quay as examples), wiping away the memory that for about 50 years, Glasgow pretty much ignored the opportunity.

All in all, a step in the right direction. Long may it continue...

Red Onions and the King of Scotland

Well? What did I say about progress on the site in 2007? What's that? You weren't listening anyway?

Tracey and I recently visited Red Onion Glasgow, one of our favourite restaurants in the City, and as promised, I flicked the brain onto 'review mode' and jotted down a page on the place.

Have a look below, and I'd thouroughly recommend booking a table there if you're in the vicinity, as it's a perfectly laid back dining experience that'll set you up for the night or let you wind down after a hard day's work or shopping.

So two out of the top ten eating out in Glasgow guide sorted, one of which is closing down. Steady progress methinks. I'll get there at some point though, I do give you that.

While I'm here I also have to mention that last night we went to the Cineworld Renfrew Street to see the Last King of Scotland, as without doubt, it was the most outstanding movie I've seen in a long time, and not just because Scotland was mentioned throughout the thing or that a Scot played the lead role. Honestly, I ain't that patriotic.

Best line in the movie though - 'If Scotland had monkeys, we'd probably deep-fry them'. Fantastic, but no really, it's actually true. Anywho, have a look at my Red Onion review below. I promise they don't serve monkeys there, so just don't drool on your keyboard - health and safety etc.

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Sorry for the confusing stuff

I know some of you will be thinking that that Scott character has lost a few of his dubious marbles again, and has just spewed out for you two bloglets of liquid mince with even more nonsensical tatties than usual.

But don't worry - the Google and Yahoo verification stuff you were just treated to is nothing more confusing than my overly-technical attempt to prove to them that I'm a real person, and that as such, I should get a bit more exposure in their search engines from now on - 'yeah, not as though that'd be the best idea', some might add.

So please just ignore the last two blogs [not archived]. If anything it's given you an insight into how savvy I'm becoming about all this technical claptrap - all just to satisfy your life-long desire to keep in touch with a wee fella whose blog proves each and every time that by scratching the surface of Glasgow, you'll unearth the pounding heart of abnormality.

Yes, I'm a character, what can I say? Or as Lobey himself told me once - Ye're a disgrace tae Calton Creek. Ye're a bad example tae the Boy Scouts an the B.B., an tae a' the wee boys who read this strip. Ye're a contributor tae juvenile delinquency. Ye're an eyesore tae the community...

And so on.

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New Territories, Glasgow Film Festival and Smartypants Readers

Yeah OK, fair enough then. Remember those bold words of mine the other day? When I rambled on that festival wise, first up this year in Glasgow was the Aye Write Book Festival? Sounded pretty knowledgeable of me, didn't it?

Well, having read yesterday's post with utter delight, smartypants Cianna from Lusevera in Italy has kindly pointed out to me that Celtic Connections 2007 actually comes before that. No really, thanks for that Cianna.

Now I'm realising why I keep missing all those Court appearances, this whole confusion about the passing of time and why dinner comes after lunch. Maybe it comes from watching the Back to the Future trilogy too often.

Well just to compound my error then, you'll be interested to know that also coming up on the festival events calendar before the Aye Write, is New Territories and the Glasgow Film Festival.

New Territories, Glasgow's international festival of live arts is now in its sixth year, and from what I hear, it promises a superb programme of some of the world's most talented and influential artists.

It runs from 7th February to 10th March at the up and coming venue Tramway, in the South of Glasgow.

I'd recommend popping along and taking a look. Glasgow's been hosting more and more of this type of thing in recent years, and for one, I can't get enough of it. For example, I remember going to the Arches in the City Centre and watching a weird but enthralling performance called Horses, Horses, Horses Coming in from all Directions, which was all about performing art and involved Tracey and I being watched by everyone at the start of the show, when a silent clown began hovering around us eerily before directing everyone in to sit underneath a huge blanket on the floor where dancers acted out a short story. I could go on but suffice to say again, weird but enthralling.

And from 15th to 25th February there's the Glasgow Film Festival. I don't need to say much about this one, because in Europe it's fast becoming more hotly anticipated than that Edinburgh one along the road. Last year it attracted 10,000 film fans to about 80 shows, and it's growing every year.

They've just launched a new pass for 2007, and you can get it at the official site below which also tells you about the great venues hosting the festival.

While I do get the Cineworld monthly card which gets me into unlimited movies for only a tenner a month, I'll always be happy to scrape off the dust from my wallet for the GFF, as it can only get better as it grows in confidence every year.

So there you go Cianna. We're all in the right order now. Thanks for being my Doc Brown and explaining how this whole time thing works. I'm off to celebrate New Year again and then buy my Christmas presents. Yes?

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Celtic Connections Glasgow 2007

OK, I reckon that I'll have to do the whole events announcement malarky a wee bitty earlier than this, but well, I've been told that being late is just characteristic of a dude who lives right there on the edge. So hey, stuff your idea of advance notice. It's 17th January tomorrow, the first day of Glasgow's Celtic Connections Festival of 2007 - I'm off to boil the kettle for my second, yes count that out, my second cup of tea today.

I mean, is that crazy or what?

Anyways, Celtic Connections 2007. It's a big deal in my City, and has become one of the largest and most important music festivals in the world.

Originally arranged in 1994 to fill a wee gap in the calendar of the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, last year about 103,000 lovers of all things musical descended on the City's numerous venues to see acts as diverse as the Levellers, Fairport Convention, and the Renaud Garcia Fons Trio, and enjoyed a veritable feast of Scottish, Celtic and international talent.

This year, the 14th of the festival which runs until 4th February, the diary includes some big name artists from around the globe, Scotland's own kipper's knickers (or 'best', to the chanty-wrastler doughheids who dinnae ken ra Glesca patter), and new acts who wouldn't have had an opportunity otherwise to perform to such a huge audience.

The festival takes place all around the City these days, in places like King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow Cathedral, the Old Fruitmarket and the Tron, although the larger acts still centre on the Royal Concert Hall where it all started - I think they've got first dibs.

There are now over 200 events being arranged, and you'll be treated to concerts, lectures, ceilidhs and workshops, with a little street artistry dotted about to top it all off and brighten your shopping day.

So without wanting to over-egg the pudding here, my suggestion is that if you're in Glasgow between now and 4th February, you'd never forgive yourself if you didn't attend something - I mean, really, you'd end up quivering in a corner somewhere on the streets, wondering why your head felt so empty, why no-one spoke to you any longer and pointed to you as they ambled past your mess of an existence. And that's no exaggeration - if you look hard enough on most days, you'll still see me slumped against a wall outside the Argyle Street Woolworths, whistling madly to myself.

With Glasgow, it's all about the music. To listen is to discover, or at the very least to drown out the sound of my perpetual gibberish. The end.

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Glasgow Airport Travel Woes

If you'll be flying via Glasgow Airport at any time during the four months beginning 29th January, I'd strongly recommend that you take the bus or the train, and don't arrange a car rental pick-up or drop off at the Airport.

It's just been announced today that from that date onwards, the second part of a four-part upgrade of the M8 Whitecart Viaduct (part of the Motorway route taking you to and from the City Centre) will be taking place.

A contraflow will be put in place between Junctions 27 and 29 of the M8 Motorway, reducing it to two lanes with a 40mph speed limit, and the airport slip roads will be closed with (no doubt pointlessly-mazy) diversions in place.

It will depend of course on when you're travelling, but if the first phase gave us an example of what it'll be like, you can bet your bottom dollar that there will be lines of irate drivers tearing their hair out in and around the area, every one of them having thought in advance that the route they'd chosen would be a faster one.

And regretfully, you can include me as one of them. As I go past there every day to work, and having been a victim the other day of the Erskine Bridge closure due to debatably-high winds (resulting in a joyful three hour trip to work), at the next Partners meeting at work I've decided to propose boldly that we open a brand new office in Glasgow, let's say perhaps near, well, somewhere like my spare bedroom. I mean that sounds fair, doesn't it? And just because it'd be a complete inconvenience for any staff to have to travel there, given that it'd be my proposal, hey, I'd take one for the team and be the one who had to work from there. My only condition, and hear me out on this, would be that I could watch daytime TV all day and have the Junior travel from our Dumbarton office to my kitchen twice a day to make me a cup of tea.

Too much? Anyone?

Well anywho, like I say, make sure you plan your journey well in advance, and catch the bus or train to cut out the delays and to ensure you don't miss your flight.

And as you sit there in relative comfort, go on, spare a few thoughts for poor old me, as I sit there on the jam-packed Motorway, slumped over the steering wheel in abject despondency having been laughed rapturously out the office, my Partners in howling tears of amusement having been subjected to the worst business proposal they'd ever heard.

Just wait until they hear my brilliant suggestion about Jack Daniels barrels instead of Water At Work dispensers...

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Aye Write - Ricky Gervais in Glasgow?...

Glasgow really is hotting up and beginning to earn its self-assigned title as the UK's Premier Festival City. First up in 2007? The ever-burgeoning Aye Write Book Festival (see what they did there? Aye Write? Aye right? The popular Glaswegian patter? Anyone? OK, whatever...).

Running between 16th to 25th February at the magnificant Mitchell Library (Charing Cross, Glasgow), this year's event promises to deliver a superb line up of international authors and our local but world-acclaimed talent, including my old university tutor Denise Mina (although she'd hate me for calling her old...), best-selling Iain Banks, and Alasdair Gray, who wrote a (now well-thumbed) book of mine on one of my all-time favourite poets, Jorge Luis Borges.

Looking at the swathe of events arranged for this year, if you're as interested as myself in reading and writing, and in the macromechanics and inspiration behind the work of exceptional international writers, you'll unearth some fascinating insights within this year's programme, the extent of which I'm pretty sure will be unparalleled in the UK.

The festival aims to encourage reading, writing and creativity in Glasgow, but as with all the other funky arts events popping up around the City these days, goes even further by uncorking the bottle and pouring out for you an illustrative dram of Glasgow's stimulating brew of offbeat imagination. And yeah, I'm all about the similes these days (or is it the metaphors? I really need to look out those High School English books again...).

Have a look at the official site below, in which you'll be able to book tickets in advance.

Also thought I'd shoehorn in a wee mention of Ricky Gervais while I was here though.

Last night I went with my mate Alan to the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall to see the man in action again. It was the first gig on his new 2007 tour, and I just have to say that I've not laughed as hard as that for quite some time.

The thing about Ricky Gervais however, is that whilst he'll be sure to leave you contorted in agonising laughter for hours on end, at the same time you'll be left feeling a bile of guilt build up in your newly twisted innards. Should we really have cackled as hard as we did to the jokes about disease and crime? Mary Whitehouse would've had a field day at one of his gigs, but hey, when all's said and done, the bloke's an absolute genius and he deserves every one of the plaudits bestowed on him.

Aside from the occasional interjection from tragically-embarassing Glaswegians in the audience out to make themselves heard (I mean, who invited them anyway?), the night was crazy fantastic, and I'm fairly certain the man himself would agree, as the usual exclamations of 'Glasgow's my favourite gig' and 'You lot are much better than that Edinburgh mob of pansies' seemed a little more genuine than usual. It's all good.

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Happy New Year

Well that went pretty quickly.

I'm now back at work. Looking out the window wondering where Christmas whimpered off to. Listening to the rain belt the bejesus out of the window my head's pressed against so absently. You know, they really should think about inserting a few more weeks in between Christmas and Hogmanay. If they'd done so, I'd have had time to recover and enjoy at least a couple of days without sneezing painfully into my drenched tissue, downing Beechams like it was Jack Daniels, and sleeping feverishly with tears in my eyes with little energy to do anything else.

But hey, other than that? Christmas was great.

I rather suspect that it's all my fault, that the way I'm feeling now has a lot to do with the month-long injection of roast turkey dinners and the usual bucketload of 'one-too-many' drinks. I'm no doctor, but I think that's what it is. That, and being utterly trounced at every DVD quiz game I've attempted to play recently (I still refuse to believe my dad knows more about 90's and 00's music than I do. I can only presume that in the lead up to Christmas he's been secretly plugged into iTunes, downloading studiously every night until sunrise...).

So 2007. There you go then. Once I wind my flu-clogged brain back into tandem with the way of things, and cast away those so obvious January blues, I'll be hoping to roar my way through a challenging and exciting year for Glasgow and its hopefully-soon-to-be-most-visited site (ehm, that's this one, just in case you were thinking about that other one).

First thing's first, I'll be expanding my little Photo Box, and if you'd like to send any images of Glasgow my way for inclusion, please send them to me via my contact form. The restaurant section will be revamped and completed, provided that I remember my camera every time I treat Tracey to a decent meal. And as promised at the end of last year, I'll try to combine the nonsensical mince I dribble onto el Lobey Dosser blog, with more in the way of proper, grown-up pages about the City, all with a view to justifying what it says on the tin - that this whole bunch of words here, it's actually a Top Ten Guide to Glasgow rather than just about some weirdo who lives there.

So here's to you lads and lassies. As the the man who thought that this would be interesting said to the other man, 'this should be interesting'...

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