From the department of All Things Scottish comes some entertainment and writing I've had on the brain lately. Mostly it's 'cause I visited some friends of mine out on the Left Coast a few weeks ago, a couple with a darling year-old girl, and he is Glaswegan. So, E & F and li'l M, these are for you:

I give you Dame Evelyn Glennie touching the sound:



...as well as showing us all how to listen to music with our whole bodies:



I give you this fellow from Paisley, whose real surname is McDonald. The man is good, whether he's not saying a word, whether he's in a singing and dancing drama, or he's investigating his family's roots. Yep, if you could do what he can do, then you would do it, too.



And finally, I give you the writings of author and comedienne A.L. Kennedy. A taste of her blog at The New Statesman:

I’m sure you’ve already guessed this – the most stylish possible way to arrive at a summer festival is on board a burning train. So my trip to Latitude was pretty much perfect. As the smoke billowed, we were detained at Berwick for more than an hour. This was “…due to the driver carrying out safety checks.” As matters progressed, we learned that a) train announcements will always avoid mentioning “Fire !” and “Brakes !” even if – or perhaps especially if - the train is on fire in exactly that rather important brake area and b) that trains with hot wheels trigger a hitherto unguessed-at system of restraints which then hold them for random intervals, no matter where they go.

Still, no one was hurt - or even alarmed – many of us enjoyed bonding and grumbling, and my reading was cancelled for the coolest reason ever “A.L.Kennedy cannot be with us tonight – her train caught fire.”

...Meanwhile, it has come to my attention that some of you, having found these blogs sometimes give the impression that I am an amusing writer, have been considering buying my books. Now, while my volumes are occasionally funny – particularly if you are, may I respectfully suggest, slightly twisted or the tiniest bit unwell - I wouldn’t necessarily recommend them if you’re – say – vulnerable, unless you want to have perhaps a slightly bruisng giggle.

So maybe flick through one in a bookshop as a tester. Or, better yet – given that a recognisable continuum from stern to pliant is suggesting itself here - wait until you see another, compatibly dominant or submissive reader browsing nearby, then hook up and give each other the thumping good read you deserve. Not that I wish to intrude. Your reading pleasure is my only aim.