Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Old haunts again

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Back at the old paperbacks again - my third Michael Innes in three weeks,  a reversion to almost-childhood with one of my favourites, Op...
Saturday, May 19, 2012

Grey May thoughts

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The weather remains thoroughly and dispiritingly wintry - for winter in these maritime parts is just like this: raw winds, smirring rain wit...
8 comments:
Sunday, May 06, 2012

Miners' Gala 1984

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Miners' gala Originally uploaded by goforchris . I’m riding on a lorry through the Edinburgh streets. Beside me is a missile...
Saturday, May 05, 2012

Hugh Lyons, RIP

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Hugh on the bonfire Originally uploaded by goforchris . Hugh Lyons was an adventurer. I was aware of him around Holy Trinity Church fo...
1 comment:
Friday, May 04, 2012

Stylish nonsense

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There are times when the brain shrinks and all one needs is the soothing assurance of a good friend - like, for instance, when one has a b...
3 comments:
Wednesday, May 02, 2012

Rite of passage

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I became acquainted with the writing of Michael Arditti through the meticulous and often hilarious Easter , and wishlisted his rite-of-pas...
Monday, April 23, 2012

Fragmentation capured in a first novel

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Writing on Shakespeare's birthday, I'm tempted to report that my withers are wrung by Samantha Harvey's The Wilderness .  This...
Sunday, April 22, 2012

Haydn sets me off again ...

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It happened again. That sudden tide of memory washing over and through, this time triggered by four notes: the opening of Hadyn's Symp...
Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Lilacs out of the dead land

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April is the cruellest month - you bet it is. These light, chilly days, the sudden glimpse of primroses by a burn or a lone violet amids...
2 comments:
Sunday, April 15, 2012

Deeply satisfying

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A couple of weeks ago now I finished reading Vikram Seth's An Equal Music  - though if I'd read the review published on the Amazon...
Friday, April 06, 2012

The Garden

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That night there was no peace in the garden. The voice beat randomly and wordless on the shrinking sense as the flames flickered irr...
Sunday, April 01, 2012

Queasy among the palms

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I think I have never felt good about Palm Sunday. Whether it was reading/hearing the whole of the Passion story, or concentrating on the eve...
2 comments:
Thursday, March 29, 2012

Never constituted to be a saint*

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I finished reading Richard Holloway's Leaving Alexandria last week, but was overtaken by sunshine and the desire to be out of doors so...
1 comment:

Of plainsong, penitence and nightly fears and fantasies

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We were practising plainsong this morning - a group from the congregation learning the Tonus Peregrinus and familiarising themselves with th...
2 comments:
Saturday, March 24, 2012

Going back

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A concert in memory of Kenneth Elliott had me back at Glasgow University last night. Oddly, I felt most at home actually in the Memorial Ch...
Thursday, March 22, 2012

An unseasonal soup recipe

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Hmm. Posting this on a day when the sun is shining and it's warm enough to be outside in only one layer of clothing, the steaming soup i...
4 comments:
Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Confessions of a church cleaner

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Water jug Originally uploaded by goforchris . I'm just back from the last stint for now of church cleaning. My partner-in-crime a...
2 comments:
Monday, March 19, 2012

Nothing new about teaching Scottish Literature, but.

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I was irritated by something I overheard on Radio Scotland this morning - something that had already irritated me when it was first announce...
2 comments:
Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Dali's Christ

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 © Culture and Sport Glasgow (Museums) There are no nails no bonds or blood to mar perfection. Instead, the figure hangs beautif...
6 comments:
Friday, March 09, 2012

Another for the suitcase

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I've just finished Erin Kelly's novel The Poison Tree . If you follow the link to Amazon, you can watch a short video of the author ...
2 comments: