Colcam

Three old vases....... not any old vases, just 300 year old Chinese ones from the Qing Dynasty, priceless and beautiful, were knocked off a shelf in a museum and smashed into tiny pieces when a visitor tripped over his shoelace.

The thought of doing something like that makes me cringe, but at least I would have offered them the price of a couple of tubes of superglue!


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Less than 24 hours after Lance Corporal Alan Douglas was killed by enemy fire on his first tour of duty in Iraq, another British soldier has been killed by an explosion and three other injured this morning.

Corporal Douglas’s father, Walter, from Aberdeen in Scotland, told the Daily Mirror that his son had not wanted to go to Iraq.

"He was against the war. He couldn’t see the point of it. The lives of 99 young men have now been lost - and all for nothing," he said last night.

And now it's 100, and still all for nothing.


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Latest figures for military deaths show 2,242 US troops killed since March 2003. The total number dead from all of the other coalition forces is 94.

Estimates suggest that between 4,895 and 6,370 Iraqi soldiers have been killed and there have been between 28,224 and 31,826 civilian deaths.


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According to this Daily Mirror report, Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Ian Blair is in more trouble, with more than 140 "leading" Met officers openly discussing how to get rid of him, condemning him as an "arrogant" intellectual too remote to lead his force.

Which proves there are at least 140 policemen in the Met who are rather slow on the uptake, because an awful lot of ordinary people round the country have known Blair is a blundering idiot for a long time now, and cannot understand why he has managed to keep his job after the debacle of the Stockwell killing of Jean Charles de Menezes and the attempts at cover-up which followed.

Scotland Yard is this morning denying the Mirror claims, and also denying that Blair met Home Secretary Charles Clarke on Monday for "talks about his future".

Ian Blair - Over The Top And Over The Edge.


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George Bush will deliver the State of the Union Propaganda address today, and attempt to persuade Americans that progress is being made on the most crucial issues confronting the nation.

The Independent lists ten global situations or flashpoints, North Korea, Canada, Europe, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Arab-Israel, Africa, Latin America, and China.

In 'The world according to George W Bush', the paper explains the Bush "optimistic" State of the Union view on matters.

Followed by the reality.

If it wasn't all so serious and sad, if Bush wasn't so criminally inept, and if his policies and handling of events didn't have such far-reaching consequences for the rest of the world outside America, it would make you laugh.


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The trial of Saddam Hussein has resumed with a new chief judge in place, Raouf Abdel-Rahman, who quickly made it clear that his court was not the place for political speeches.

Within minutes, Saddam's former intelligence chief, Barzan al-Tikriti, was kicked out after he called the trial "a daughter of a whore".

Soon after that Saddam told the judge that he wanted to leave.

Then leave," said the judge.

"It is a tragedy. I led you for 35 years. How can you lead me out of court?" Saddam asked.

"You wanted to leave," the judge replied.

So he did, and the trial resumed without the defence team, Saddam or any of the defendants.

Saddam walks out in trial uproar (BBC)
Saddam walks out of court (Telegraph)

Unfortunately, after the criticism of the previous judge for being too lenient in allowing Saddam to rave on, in the interests of being seen to be fair, this judge will be accused of bias against the defendants.

Maybe it would be better to have the former dictator present in court, put up with his speeches - then hang him when everybody gets thoroughly bored with listening to him.


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I'm a Grandad....... again, and it's come as a bit of a shock to the system, apart from the fact I now have to go on a bear hunt.

The Teddy kind, of course. Nothing too dangerous.

The bear is easy enough, but getting him a crash helmet to fit, and teaching him how to stay on the back of the bike for a 350 mile trip to Morecambe in England is something else.

But the hardest bit about being a Grandad is, I don't even know what I'M going to do when I grow up, which makes it difficult to be of much help to them.

Maybe 18 month old Mishka and 1 week old Jasmine can give me some ideas.



Morecambe.

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....... And this one is for little Zeph, who touched many hearts in his short life.



Grandad.Image


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A short post, because everything I might have said about the Metropolitan Police chief has been voiced most eloquently by A Logical Voice.

Sir Ian Blair seems to have lost his marbles as well as the plot, and it's long past time for him to be removed from such a position of authority and power.


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AN AUDIT of US reconstruction spending in Iraq has uncovered spectacular misuse of tens of millions of dollars in cash, including bundles of money stashed in filing cabinets, a US soldier who gambled away thousands and stacks of newly minted notes distributed without receipts.

Considering the plight of Iraq and the Iraqi people this makes pretty obscene reading.

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$108,140 paid to contractor to refurbish Olympic swimming pool in Hilla. Work never done.

$662,800 paid to repair Hilla hospital. Much of work never done, including renewing central lift. Three people later died when lift crashed.

$40,000 gambled away by US soldier assigned as assistant to Iraqi Olympic boxing team on trip to Philippines.

$2 million locked in a the bathroom safe of a US official.

$678,000 stashed away in an unlocked foot locker.

$473,000 paid for internet installation in Ramadi. Work never done.

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Figures showed nearly 36,000 people were stopped and searched under the Government's anti-terror emergency powers last year.

The Act came into force in 2001, when 10,200 people were stopped.

The Terrorism Act allows police to stop and search people even without suspicion - something that campaigners say is a throwback to the notorious "sus" laws of the 1970s. Shami Chakrabarti, the director of Liberty, said: "This is almost worse than the sus laws. The police have the power to change the law of the land in whole parts of the country.''

I remember the notorious and hated "sus" laws back then, widely abused by the police until abolition in 1981.

Unsurprisingly, the Terrorism Act is being widely abused now, and campaigners are mounting a legal challenge in the House of Lords in an attempt to limit the laws giving police sweeping powers to stop people even if they have no grounds to suspect them of a crime.


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George Bush, when asked about Tony Blair's image in Britain as a "yes man."

"I'm sure that his relationship with me causes him problems at home. Sometimes I can be a little allergic for people overseas."

A bit of an understatement, George.


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I've written quite a few times in the past on this blog about "Gorgeous" George Galloway, none of it complementary, as I have always regarded him as an arrogant, self-seeking, sleazy scumbag, ever since I had occasion to meet him in those dark, far-off days in Dundee at the start of his "career" in politics and "charity work".

Having resisted the temptation, until now, to write about Galloway's participation in the Big Brother reality television show, I can hold back no longer. I have not watched any of the TV footage, but admit to following what has been said in the press during his three weeks in the BB household with some interest.

Needless to say, my perspective on the man has not changed.

In my humble opinion, he's a certifiable bampot.

And in an effort to keep this short, as I'm about to fall off my chair laughing, I happily leave the rest to the list of links to a few of todays newspapers.


The Times. From respect to contempt, Galloway gets back to reality.
The Times again - As he read the hooting headlines, it slowly sank in: trouble, deep trouble
And, oh dear, the Times yet again - Voters lose faith in an MP who put his celebrity status first
The Independent - Galloway is evicted from 'Big Brother' to face public ridicule
The Guardian - Out of the frying pan into the ire
Media Guardian - Galloway evicted from Big Brother house
Galloway may face fraud inquiry over Iraq oil-for-food scandal


I wonder where George has stuck his four inch Havana cigar?


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The United States was accused of "gangster tactics" yesterday, and European governments were accused of turning a blind eye to the "outsourcing of torture", as a human rights watchdog concluded that the CIA conducted illegal anti-terror activities in Europe.





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To A Mouse, On Turning Her Up In Her Nest With The Plough.


Wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie,
O, what a panic's in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi' bickering brattle!
I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee,
Wi' murd'ring pattle!

I'm truly sorry man's dominion,
Has broken nature's social union,
An' justifies that ill opinion,
Which makes thee startle
At me, thy poor, earth-born companion,
An' fellow-mortal!

I doubt na, whiles, but thou may thieve;
What then? poor beastie, thou maun live!
A daimen icker in a thrave
'S a sma' request;
I'll get a blessin wi' the lave,
An' never miss't!

Thy wee bit housie, too, in ruin!
It's silly wa's the win's are strewin!
An' naething, now, to big a new ane,
O' foggage green!
An' bleak December's winds ensuin,
Baith snell an' keen!

Thou saw the fields laid bare an' waste,
An' weary winter comin fast,
An' cozie here, beneath the blast,
Thou thought to dwell-
Till crash! the cruel coulter past
Out thro' thy cell.

That wee bit heap o' leaves an' stibble,
Has cost thee mony a weary nibble!
Now thou's turn'd out, for a' thy trouble,
But house or hald,
To thole the winter's sleety dribble,
An' cranreuch cauld!

But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane,
In proving foresight may be vain;
The best-laid schemes o' mice an 'men
Gang aft agley,
An'lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!

Still thou art blest, compar'd wi' me
The present only toucheth thee:
But, Och! I backward cast my e'e.
On prospects drear!
An' forward, tho' I canna see,
I guess an' fear!


Robert Burns, born 25th January, 1759 in Alloway, Ayrshire in south-west Scotland.


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Colcam.Image


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For the second time in the space of a week in the House of Lords, angry peers trashed the Government's planned legislation for identity cards, invoking the memory of fascist regimes which forced citizens to carry their papers at all times.

Home Office minister Baroness Scotland listened as a succession of peers denounced plans to include all holders of biometric passports on the planned ID cards register. Not one peer spoke in favour of the move.

Lord Stoddard of Swindon said: "Some of these measures have the elements of a fascist state - and this country is preaching to many countries about democracy."

Lord Selsdon, a Tory peer, protested that the proposed scheme had echoes of totalitarian regimes. He said: "It's strange we should be swinging so far backwards... Most of the new members of the European Union are longing for the days when they don't have to carry their papers day and night."

Last week, peers voted to require ministers to set out detailed costs of ID cards.


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Rescue charity workers who battled in vain to save the whale found swimming up the River Thames are now facing a bill of more than £300 in parking fines.

Members of the British Divers Marine Rescue Group involved in the attempted rescue of the whale parked their marked vehicles on meters before going aboard a rescue barge. Obviously that meant they were gone for some time, so the meters ran out.

A perfect opportunity for the mental midgets of our time, the traffic wardens, to amply display their contempt for common sense or decency by slapping tickets on the vehicles.


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Mark Oaten quits after admitting newspaper claims of affair with male prostitute. I apologise to my wife, my family and my party, says former leadership candidate.

They all say that, don't they?

With the Liberal Democrats still struggling to find their feet after the resignation of their leader, Charles Kennedy, for being an alchoholic (I saw him in a local shop near to here the other week, and my, he looked rough - not pissed, just rough) the Home Affairs spokesman and contender (until recently) for the leadership of the party, Mark Oaten, has suddenly quit from the front bench team after being caught with his pants down - metaphorically speaking - by a Sunday newspaper, after reporters confronted him yesterday morning with details of his repeated encounters with a male prostitute that included three-in-a-bed sex.

Oh dear. What on earth gets into these guys?

Only last week Oaten, in responding to the Government's strategy on prostitution, stated that prostitutes, including rent boys, should be "subject to a code of conduct and regular contact with police and health workers.

"The object was not to 'tolerate' prostitution but to move it to a specified area where professionals can work with them to help them reach a point where they can choose other employment."

Right. So he's probably telling his wife and daughters right now that he was 'researching' the subject - and if she's got any sense she's told him to bugger off back to his rent boys because there's no nooky to be had with her.

Turbulent few days for Lib Dems. And while you're reading this, look at the photo, obviously taken before this revelation hit the streets. Is it just me, or does Oatens wife look like she's about to bury a knife in his back?


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When MP Grant Shapps took up the case of a constituent's son who had been wrongly arrested and had DNA taken, he asked questions in parliament and discovered there were some 24,000 youngsters on the database who had never been charged or even cautioned with anything.



It is indeed disturbing that the police can collect DNA from children who are innocent of any crime and keep it forever on a database, without even the consent of the child's parents. "This is just a question of building a database by stealth, by the back door," the MP told the BBC.

As for the British public as a whole, the Home Office announced earlier this month that 7% of the UK population would be on the database in two years' time. It is already the biggest in the world and has so far cost £300m.



Just over 5% of UK residents currently have their DNA profile held, compared with an EU average of 1.13% and 0.5% in the US.

Earlier this month GeneWatch UK called on the government to act to safeguard peoples privacy against Big Brother style intrusion from the national DNA database run by the police. GeneWatch argues the database creates a permanent list of "suspects" which includes anyone arrested for a recordable offence even if they are never charged.



The Home Office say there are no plans to introduce a universal DNA database.

I suppose they don't have to with the 'State Police' doing it for them.


Building A Better Lego DNA. I Wonder if PC Plod would know the difference?


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A screenshot from Drudge Report today. What did poor old Osama do to deserve that?

Prime Minister Tony Blair is under pressure to make a Commons statement on the use of UK airspace to transport prisoners who may be tortured, following the leak of a Foreign Office memo.

The secret memo reveals the truth: the government knows rendition is illegal but it has no idea what it has been letting the CIA get away with on our soil. By Martin Bright in the New Statesman

New Statesman political editor Martin Bright told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "What the advice is saying is, 'Look, this is almost certainly illegal. We do not really know whether it has been going on on our territory, but let's try and spin ourselves out of this situation and try and move the debate on'."

And yesterday the Scottish National Party released a dossier of suspected CIA rendition flights through Scottish airports, listing in detail planes, dates and ten firms allegedly operated on behalf of the CIA.

Following the release of the SNP report, The Scottish Executive has been asked to co-operate fully with a new European committee's investigation into US flights carrying terror suspects.

The executive says it has no knowledge of Scottish airports being used.

SNP foreign affairs spokesman Angus Robertson has sent a copy of the dossier to First Minister Jack McConnell as well as committees of the Council of Europe, European Parliament and Westminster, which are investigating the claims of rendition flights.

The Moray MP accused First Minister McConnell of turning a blind eye to the issue.

The Scottish National Party has released a dossier of suspected CIA rendition flights through Scottish airports, listing in detail planes, dates and ten firms allegedly operated on behalf of the CIA.


The complete document (1.14mb) can be downloaded here.

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And a leaked Foreign Office memo suggests the US may have used UK airports to transport terror suspects more than the twice so far admitted.

The Foreign Office and Downing Street both refused to comment on a leaked document.

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A suitably sarcastic letter published in Iraq's Azzaman newspaper, 'thanking' George Bush for all that he has done for the people of Iraq. The writer explains that as Bush invaded his country on the basis of 'heavenly advice,' the Iraqi people have little option but to 'thank God' for all the suffering and calamities that have befallen them.



Dear Mr. Bush,

Please accept my warmest greetings and appreciation for all the "good things" your "friendly and liberating" troops have brought to my country.

In the nearly three years since "the liberation," you and your troops have been leading us along the path of "democracy and freedom" and have managed to bring security and stability to our land after decades of oppression.

And because I am so happy with what you have done for us I dreamed of you the other night. Your face beamed, and you kept smiling and you had an olive branch in your right hand.

You were surrounded by angels in the form of birds and looked like an upright, pious man, with a Godly mission. You said all your actions were driven by heavenly advice, including your invasion of our country.

For this reason we thank God for all the suffering, grievances and calamities that have befallen us because of you, since that, at least in your mind, is the wish of God.

Your deeds in Iraq are bearing fruit and your efforts have not gone in vain. "The new Iraq" is a product of your persistence and perseverance.

[Al-Ahram, Egypt]
And because of you and your deeds, "'democracy"' is now deeply rooted in Iraq.

Because of you we have gained nothing and lost almost everything – and may God bless you for it?

We now enjoy the privileges of your humanitarian largess, and because of this our country has returned to the pre-industrial age, which your father once predicted for us.

Our country now has no drinking water, no electricity and no fuel. But what do we need these luxuries for at a time when we are so busy relishing the taste of the "democracy" you have given us?

You should know, now that we are in a tunnel without light, the end of which will be the disintegration of our country into unstable Statelets, that we will be easy to devour for others.

Congratulations Mr. President.


Yours faithfully,


Sammak.




Thanks to the AZZAMAN newspaper in Iraq.

An African Grey parrot called Ziggy, belonging to a guy called Chris, who loved a girl called Suzy, started saying "Hi Gary!" every time Suzy's mobile phone rang, which rather disturbed Chris.

He was even more disturbed when Ziggy started to make long kissing noises whenever he heard the word Gary on the TV or radio, and downright suspicious when his feathered friend blurted out: "I love you Gary" in Suzy's voice.

Chris then confronted Suzy, who admitted having an affair with Gary, so Suzy and Chris split up and, unable to put up with Ziggy continuing to squawk on about Gary, Chris took Ziggy to a local parrot dealer and left him there.


"I wasn't sorry to see the back of Suzy after what she did, but it really broke my heart to let Ziggy go," said Chris. "I love him to bits and I really miss having him around, but it was torture hearing him repeat that name over and over again. I still can't believe he's gone. I know I'll get over Suzy, but I don't think I'll ever get over Ziggy."

"I'm surprised to hear he's got rid of that bloody bird," said Suzy. "He spent more time talking to it than he did to me. I couldn't stand Ziggy and it looks now like the feeling was mutual."


A sad tale indeed, the moral of which is, of course, that a man can never trust his bird.

Thirty years ago, the scientist James Lovelock worked out that the Earth possessed a planetary-scale control system which kept the environment fit for life. He called it Gaia, and the theory has become widely accepted. Now, he believes mankind's abuse of the environment is making that mechanism work against us. His astonishing conclusion - that climate change is already insoluble, and life on Earth will never be the same again.


In today's Independent, he writes: "We will do our best to survive, but sadly I cannot see the United States or the emerging economies of China and India cutting back in time, and they are the main source of [CO2] emissions. The worst will happen ..."


The Earth is about to catch a morbid fever that may last as long as 100,000 years.
Each nation must find the best use of its resources to sustain civilisation for as long as they can


Why Gaia is wreaking revenge on our abuse of the environment


The above pieces in todays Independent make sobering reading. No wonder I get depressed.


"Before this century is over, billions of us will die, and the few breeding pairs of people that survive will be in the Arctic where the climate remains tolerable."




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The government has been defeated in the Lords as peers said the controversial ID cards scheme could not go ahead until its full costs were revealed.

Amen for that. Not such a bunch of daft old fuddy duddies after all, it would seem.

NO2ID

Oh I can just feel it coming on, when it's announced that the Scottish Labour Party are planning to review its position on nuclear power stations as part of an internal consultation so soon after Tony Blair decided he wanted to end the moratorium on new plants in Britain.

Never mind the Scottish Executive promises that there would be no new power stations until the issue of waste disposal was dealt with, which could take another twenty years, and the oft repeated assurances of the First Minister to that effect.

It looks suspiciously like shorthand for Jack McConnell, Scotland's First Minister, getting another good telling off from Blair in London, causing his wee knees to tremble as his bowels to leak in fright. A review is just about the only way he can tell us he's changed his mind, that nuclear power is a great opportunity and a wonderful idea for Scotland, especially now he suddenly believes that the problem of safe disposal of nuclear waste has been miraculously solved overnight.

I can imagine wee Jack now, there on bended knee before his master. "Aye Tony your greatness, anything you say. Just dump the stuff on us in Scotland. It's a great privilege and I'm honoured you see fit to let us have it, your Tonyness. We've got plenty room for it all. Trust me, I wont let you down and by the way, anytime you want your boots licked clean, sir, I'm your man. And aye, it's a bonnie wee country we've got up there and you've given us the chance to make it even bonnier. Oh my, it'll look just lovely when it glows green in the dark."

Chancellor Gordon Brown, a highly probable to be the next Prime Minister, should know better. He's Scottish after all, with his constituency in Fife in Central Scotland, and twittering on about Britishness, British national identity and the Union flag went down like a lead balloon up here.

Alex Salmond, leader of the Scottish National Party, quickly retorted that "Britishness went bust long ago" north of the border, and he's right. We are comfortable with our identity, and it's Scottish. Our flag is the St Andrews Cross, not the Union Jack, and I think most of us are quite happy with that.

Alex is also right about those south of the border perhaps having a renewed sense of Englishness rather than Britishness. Only this last week we were treated to BBC Breakfast News inviting viewers to suggest things which they felt defined the best of being English, icons of England or whatever.

Oh well, I guess it's a start, and it was obvious a cup of tea would be in there....... but the FA Cup, the bible and Jerusalem?

If Tony Blair gets his way, anyone phoning their constituency MP will have to consider the possibility that any conversation they have with the elected member may be monitored by MI5, a situation that will surely enrage MP's of every political persuasion, and should be of great concern to members of the public and organizations who expect to be able to communicate with their MP in complete confidence.

Blair wants to give security services the powers to bug the telephones of MP's, overturning a forty year ban on the practice, a step that will do away with any pretense of Britain having a free parliament. To try to justify this on the grounds of security and the prevention of terrorism is absurd, and the move should be resisted by all as an attempt by a paranoid Prime Minister to assert his control-freakery even further in a country he has increasingly turned into a secret state with little regard for the civil liberties of its population.

It is common knowledge that Tony Blair, nearing the end of his time as Prime Minister, is scrabbling round frantically trying to create a last minute legacy for himself. In truth, he's dreaming, and he's too late. The legacy, or obituary, is already cast in stone.

A control-freak who wasted his premiership on an illegal and disastrous war, based on lies, in the wrong country, and the architect of the British police state.

But then I would say that, being a socialist who used to support the Labour Party.......

If you don't live in Britain, it must be hard to imagine how crazy the whole place has become with political correctness, backed up, of course, with equally crazy laws which stifle free speech, free thought and even a natural sense of humour.

I think I commented on the case in May last year of the student from Belfast who approached a police horse in Oxford, England, and suggested to the witless and humourless dummy perched aboard that the animal was gay.

The student was arrested after two police cars were called by the offended horse - sorry, no, apparently the horse wasn't offended, only the police officer - and after a night in the cells the student was fined £80, which he subsequently refused to pay. As a result, the police took the case to the Crown Prosecution Service who have just decided not to pursue the matter.

Anyone browsing the archives of this blog will quickly gather that I am no great fan of the British Bobby, but despite my critical view of the species, I always assumed that no matter how dumb and institutionally everything undesirable they may appear, they, or at least the higher ranking officers among them, would be just about well educated enough to know that criminals - at least the majority of them - are pondlife.

Apparently not.

A detective constable, along with three other cops, have been taken off frontline duties that might bring them into contact with members of the public after being taped, inadvertently, during an investigation into alleged corruption involving another member of staff. One of the four, who were not involved in any criminal activity, was heard referring to a career criminal as "pondlife" during a private conversation, and has been told he might lose his job as the criminal “might have been offended” had he heard the remark, although he was not present at the time.

Duh!

Unlike their human colleagues, police animals do not indulge in such ridiculous petty nit-picking and PC lunacy, and just get on with the job. Jazz the Springer Spaniel, a sniffer dog in Leeds, England, has just returned to work after coming close to death when he accidentally punctured a bag of heroin with his teeth. No doubt at the time he wasn't thinking about political correctness, or whether the owner of the heroin would be offended at his methods of police work, and almost certainly he will not put in a claim for injury at work, consult the health and safety handbook, or even look for promotion for his actions, just as the horse didn't consult a therapist when his manhood was questioned.

They just got on with the job the public employed them to do.

It seems an appropriate day to write something, Friday the thirteenth, here in this corner of the Highlands at the ass-end of the bit of the world God forgot to finish, with the rain pouring down for the third day in a row and the wind blowing, the back garden flooded again and every light in the house on all day because it's darker than Hell with the fires doused outside.

It's touch and go with blogging. If I had a bugle I'd put the cigarette in the ashtray, swallow the last dram in the bottle, take a deep breath, then another between coughs, and sound the last post. Or write it, at least, because I'm fed up of the bloody thing.

The general consensus of opinion around here among those who know me, that is the Mongrel, the dog and the cat and, of course, myself, is that I am suffering from SAD, or Seasonal Thingiemajig Disorder. I used to laugh at "experts" who suggested such a thing existed, but I've noticed the way I have felt over the past couple of winters in the months of darkness and perpetual gloom that descend on this godforsaken place, have asked around, done a bit of research, and the symptoms fit exactly how I feel. Thankfully I seem to have the mild version, and it'll pass as the daylight hours lengthen, and when the sun starts to shine, if it ever does here!

Anyway, 'nuff about that. Thanks Kats for asking about my absence, and for the beautiful Christmas e-cards. I really enjoyed them, and I hope you and "him indoors" had a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year. I hope '06 brings all you wish of it.

Elizabeth, and Sarkasmo. I wish you both all the best for the future - love you both. A lum is a chimney, so it depends on whether you have a coal or log fire in the house whether you have a lum. The old Scots saying, "Lang may yir lum reek wi ither fowks coal", means "long may your chimney pour forth smoke from the coal which others bring to your house as lucky first foot offerings."

Mushsis, you shooter of wonderful images. Continue, please, to inspire me with your work, which gives me much pleasure. Thanks, and all the best to you this 2006.

Elektrofly, greetings to you in freezing Texas. I will be commenting soon, as promised, on the episodes - hope you have them finished!

And everyone else, too many to mention - may you all have a safe and happy and prosperous year, whether you have lums or not.

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My Mac Mini, which tends to be underused because I prefer using a laptop, despite the Mini being faster, has got a new lease of life. Apart from the fact that I got a nice new 17 inch flat screen monitor for it, I recently discovered it makes a fine mat for a whisky glass and the bottle to go with it. Some people might be alarmed at anyone setting liquids on a computer but, being Scots, it isn't a danger provided it's only the amber nectar that gets sat on it. We never spill whisky! Coke, vodka, gin perhaps, might topple over and drown Twiggy, but never a whisky.

Twiggy? Oh yes. Delving deep into things nobody needs to know about their computer, I found, among other things, a code number and the name of the cute little beauty right alongside the code - Twiggy.

Of course I looked in the same place on my PowerBook, found the code - and no name. It's such a shame. My beloved portable baby has no name!






The drinks mat.


Proud to be Scots - except that's a bottle of Irish whisky, spelt whiskey as they do over there in Coleraine, but it's pretty good stuff - despite the typo on the bottle!

___________________________


And while I'm here.......




Colcam.Image


Kaspy the Collie went to the beach on the West Coast of Scotland - too much energy, and high speed play all the way.



Colcam.Image

Near Mallaig. Damn Collie was here a minute ago!

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Despite my lethargy and need to sleep 24 hours a day at the moment, I dragged out the vacuum cleaner yesterday, because the Mongrel was working and I had to do something about the muck and dog hairs covering everything in the house. Spike the big brave tomcat headed for the kitchen sink at first sight of the infernal machine.




Colcam.Image

Look at the disgusting mess of that sink!

Didn't clean it. Spike was in there.

G'night.

All the very best for 2006 to all who read my ramblings.

Lang may yir lum reek wi ither fowks coal.




Colin Campbell.