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Henrietta the hen saves the day.

Why did the chicken cross the road?

As if Gorgeous (if a bit oily) George Galloway wasn't enough for the Americans, they now face the prospect of another tongue lashing from Rosie Kane, Member of the Scottish Parliament. Rosie is a Scottish Socialist and not best known for "huddin' her wheesht" (holding her tongue, for anyone requiring a translation).

And talking about Galloway, he was not amused at being treated with so little "RESPECT" at Hampden Park, when he went along to the Scottish Cup Final on Saturday. He was refused entry by security staff, which should have been no problem to George. He's so slippery they could never have held him if he had just darted past them.

Everybody loves these spiky wee chaps. A real kick in the teeth for Scottish National Heritage, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, and the Scottish Executive.

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This land had life in it before the Highland Clearances. Now even the sheep that replaced the people are gone.

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What a sad story. It's impossible to comprehend the horrors of Passchendaele all these years ago in 1917. The description of how this man was found is just so touching. Whether he is identified or not, at least a proper burial will follow.

And in the Philippines, is this a sad or a happy ending? I'm not sure.

In another "act of war" from the West Bank, no more than one can expect from soldiers who shoot children for throwing stones or less.

So cheer up.

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I recently got an invitation from Rodrigo Rempel to join a Flickr group. The "Top 20 Cemetry Shots" group!!! Hmmm. Why do people spend so much of their valuable hours hanging round graveyards when they know they will have plenty of time to loiter in one when they're dead?

Top 20 Cemetry Shots here

The new BBC weather Map, introduced a couple of weeks ago, brought a storm, indeed a flood of complaints from viewers in the North of Scotland who claimed the angle of the map made seeing the forecast impossible. They are now changing the angle of the map.

Personally, I don't need to see rain falling on a weather map to know I'm getting wet, I can feel it. And if the forecast for my area says sunshine, that invariably means it will rain anyway so what is the bloody point?

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Scotland has one of the worst records in Europe for drowning incidents (hardly surprising with the amount of rain we get, I get drowned nearly every time I step out of the door) so the Scottish Accident Prevention Council is to hold talks with Jack McConnell, the Scottish First Minister.

Our Jack, a pragmatic type of chap, badly in need of being seen to do something about something, could respond by outlawing the taking of baths and showers and encouraging the public to go jump in the river, in an effort to keep the health and fitness, tourist and Keep Scotland Tidy pressure groups happy.

This would allow him to maintain his excellent record of doing nothing USEFUL for the electorate in Scotland.

Rain sweeping down Loch Ness in Scotland. Not a big green monster in sight.



Probably sheltering from the showers.

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Looking over the River Tay to Dundee.

The new Lonely Planet guide has finally discovered Dundee. Tourists have yet to realize there is more to Scotland than a fictitious monster in Highland Loch Ness.



The River Tay and the Tay Rail Bridge.

The poor Americans always end up being chief suspects for just about anything.

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Duh !

Well, I have to say George Galloway certainly gave me a laugh when he dished it out in no uncertain terms to Norm Coleman and his sidekicks. Today I'm still laughing at the gullibility of the American people as they fall for the grandstanding and bluster of this insignificant little man. Has anyone over there actually bothered to look more closely into this mans background?

Presumably the lecture tours that are being talked about are purely for entertainment? Like comedy shows? They could never take George seriously, could they?

See previous posts on Oily Galloway

To the many who have visited this humble site during the past five days, especially those who look in regularly, my sincere and grovelling apologies for the lack of new posts between May 17 and 21st. I try to keep up daily posts, and have usually succeeded, even if it might be only a picture.

Truth is, I was away from my beloved Mac Powerbook, being naughty. It wont happen again.



This one for Elizabeth, Janet and Dan, who got in touch with me. Thanks all.

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I would go along with this view.

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The McCartney sisters in Belfast have been nominated for the Robert Burns Humanitarian Award. Fingers crossed it's theirs when the winner is announced in Scotland this week.

*UPDATE*. The award was presented to Archbishop Pius Ncube of Zimbabwe.

Self Portrait.

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It is heartening to see that George Galloway has been working tirelessly for his new constituents in London since the general election on May 5th. How sad that his efforts were dashed yesterday when he had to leave the Algarve to return to London to defend himself against allegations that he took kickbacks from Saddam Hussein.

According to wee George, he is such an important figure that George Bush, the Great Satan himself, has taken time out to hatch a conspiracy to implicate him in the oil for food scandal. Of course Republicans and Democrats are in on this vile plot to discredit the whiter than white Galloway.

I, like Galloway, come from Dundee in Scotland, and remember his days in that city. I wouldn't send him to collect my grannies pension. The poor old dear might starve.

A profile of George Galloway.
Go to Seedy Wee George
Go to No Respect

I was in Dundee again yesterday picking up a new bike. The old Vespa ET4 125 was being traded in, so it was one last trip over Drumochter Pass - the poor wee thing was probably delighted about that. She's certainly been around. Northern Ireland, Wick in Northern Scotland, Cumbria and Lancashire in England, North Uist in the Outer Hebrides, plenty other places too.

The new one, a Piaggio X8, is great. Big, comfy and much less tiring on a long trip, and faster, with better cornering. I had a fine run on the 130 miles back up north. Unfortunately I drove it into the back garden as I always did with the Vespa, and don't know how I will get it back out. Not so easy to push backwards and round to face the gate. Oh well, can't think of everything.

The X8.



And the ET4 on North Uist - mind the otters.

Who says smoking is bad for you? If it's good enough for cute tits, it's good enough for me.

Are you an unhappy bunsy-woozle? Help is at hand here if you feel suicidal.

Scottish Parliament members are obviously determined to reach new lows in their determination to think up ideas for legislation, no matter how ridiculous, to make it look like they are actually doing something about something. Unfortunately our MSPs are not a very bright or creative bunch. Not content at banning smoking in public places, including all pubs, whether they sell food or not, they are now planning laws to prevent Scottish people seeing magazines and newspapers which will continue to be legal in England, Wales and Ireland, not to mention everywhere else in Europe

Existing legislation prevents publication of erotic images of girls under the age of 16, which few would argue with. Our great leaders, however, in their wisdom, have decided that it should be illegal for The Sun, or magazines such as FHM, Maxim, GQ and similar publications to publish images of a 17 year old model topless, or even wearing lingerie.

After years of fighting outmoded and puritanical censorship laws in the latter part of the 20th century, what are our elected morons doing, and do we really want our taxes being used to pay the enormous salaries and expense accounts of people like this? Fresh into the 21st century and we have a puritanical, priggish gang of Victorian prissies capable of nothing more than trying to justify their own existence by any means possible.

Could this be linked to the fact that Jack McConnell, Scottish first minister, who gave up wearing a skirt in favour of trousers some time ago, has now burned his bra as well?

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Or perhaps the members of the Scottish Parliament read this from India Knight, which would have saved them the effort of thinking at all. Assuming any minister had the attention span to actually get to the last part of the article, the Scots, and Tesco, could find themselves being prosecuted for giving a grape to anyone under the age of 18.

What a nice thought. malt whisky protecting you from cancer. But when the claim is made by an independent consultant to the drinks industry, it's about as reliable as the Scottish tourist board claiming the Loch Ness Monster really does exist.

Come to sunny Drumnadrochit on the shores of Loch Ness, see the monster which really exists - honest, really, and get pissed on our whisky at grossly hiked prices while you beat the big C.

Nice one.

because I was in Dundee all day and did a one day motorcycle course with Scotriders. Because of UK law, anybody who wants to use a motorcycle must do compulsory motorcycle training before they can ride on the road. I did mine two years ago, and because the certificate is only valid for two years, and because I was too goddamned lazy to then sit the test for a full licence, I had to go and do it again - after 20,000 miles on the road.

But it was an enjoyable day, and I got a magical mystery tour of parts of my home town that I had forgotten existed, or that had changed beyond all recognition in fifteen years

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And I passed, despite turning right instead of left on a couple of occasions. I never could tell the difference without time to think about it, and with Heather (the instructor, wee Dundee lassie on big bike) right behind me all the time issuing instructions into my lug via radio, and me trying to take in the scenery, it's a wonder.

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A great result in the UK election. A comfortable majority for Tony Blair, the end for Michael Howard.

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The wee rabble-rouser Galloway showed himself up for what he is when he opened his venomous mouth after taking Bethnal Green and Bow in east London. He is probably the only person around that makes me feel ashamed to be Scottish. Undoubtedly his never-ending rantings will do the people of that constituency no good, and will only harm the hard work put in by Oona King, who he deposed by creating racial divisions which I am sure he will continue to exploit. The only thing important to this malicious little nobody is his own sordid agenda.

George Galloway, ex Labour MP, now leader of the Respect Coalition, really is a seedy little character. His vitriolic, ridiculous rantings annoy me intensely, although he isn't worth it.

The other day he stormed off a TV interview in a tantrum, and we discovered that his wife apparently does not RESPECT or salute his courage, his strength and his indefatigability.

Not that that stops him mouthing off in the press about Tony Blair's last days. Wee George will just go on bleating about what a clever guy he is and whining about all the supposed conspiracies against him till everybody else is blue in the face.

This Link to Kurdo's World, and an open letter to wee George.

This 76 year old yob from Tain, fleshpot of North-East Scotland, should be grateful she was dealt with so lightly when she got drunk and fell out of her buggy. Politicians have been concerned for some time about anti-social grannies. Had a Tory government been in power, this hooligan would undoubtedly have been deported back to the Nazi concentration camp she came from.

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The Independent reports that Tony Blair has secretly decided to upgrade the British nuclear deterrent at a cost of £10 billion. Great. A big new toybox of Trident missiles will really help to improve the third world roads in Highland Scotland.......

Which have been packed nose to tail this May bank holiday weekend with tourists from England, zillions of whom drove up here to avoid the beautiful weather in the south of the UK to experience our Highland rain, which obligingly pissed upon them for two days solid. Of course they enjoy coming here for more than just rain. Great pleasure is had by driving along our twisting, pot-holed highways at 30 mph, and running off the road into ditches, or into each other, causing road closures and long delays which prevent locals going anywhere.

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The scheme announced yesterday to install artists in communities across Scotland for the "culture- poor" appears not to include the Highland region. Of course we already have an abundance of culture in Fort William and Inverness - the ubiquitous kilted "Scottish Pipers" with tortured cats under their arms and begging bowls at their feet. And the buskers hanging about in underpasses murdering Dylan songs and playing on the talents of their pathetic, half starved looking dogs to gain the sympathy of passers by.

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Because some who read these pages may not go as far as reading the comments sent by others, I felt I had to publish this from Entibuli, posted in reply to my Sunday May 01 entry about George Bush.
Thanks Entibuli, and I hope you don't mind.

anonymous said...

A president in the bush is better than George

Seeing the first lady’s oration on the news has done precious little to restore confidence that all is well. Indeed, if anything I am more concerned with the course the USA is taking. Even more worrying, is the almost certain fact, that advisors in the White house wrote the injudicious speech for her. I assume we are supposed to envisage good old G.W. Bush as an average family man, whose wife gently slanders in an affectionate {and presumably, all American} manner. Makes you feel all warm inside doesn’t it? I have a reasonable idea what my wife would have to say if I went to bed at 9 o’clock every night.
Gone lamentably, are the halcyon days of good old Bill Clinton, when the only misguided discharge of weapons was directed at Monika Lewinski. Pretty docile when you consider the evidence gathered over the last four decades on another influential American political family. Only the good Lord has any idea what this nation will produce after G.W.B and, that’s probably just as well.

Entibuli.

A freelance photographer was pulled up on anti-terrorism laws for taking photographs of the Houses of Parliament from the other side of the River Thames.

The only surprise about this example of police using their new powers improperly is that it has taken so long for an incident like this to be publicized. Constable Plod must be delighted knowing he can now bully at random with no comeback.

See Good Advice from the French.

on the uptake, North Korea has discovered something we in the UK have known for years - President George W. Bush is "a half baked man and a philistine, a cowboy who can stun audiences with his utter ignorance".

And now we hear from a wisecracking Mrs Bush that the President goes to his bed at nine o' clock every nite! The leader of the "free world", for God sake. Does that make you feel safe? There you go, Kim Jong-il old son, chuck the nuke at 10 o' clock, and they'll never hear it coming over the snores.

Some light bedtime reading from the rather tempestuous Stalinist State.

And just hours ago a missile test, a bit short on range this time Mr President, so just go back to bed and sleep tight.