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Features
David Gandy on male modelling and his next moves
THIS has been a long time coming. Four months, to be precise.
Saoirse Ronan on playing a vampire in Byzantium
WHO is afraid of Saoirse Ronan? In the bowels of a Glasgow hotel, she looks innocent enough, sitting demurely in the manner of a 1950s model, legs crossed at the ankle and chatting about how best to drain a body of blood.
Love at first tweet with Commander Hadfield
IT STARTED, as so many love affairs do these days, with a tweet.
Seeking spiritual enlightenment on Iona
A NEW dawn on Iona. The bright sun bounces off buoys and creels and shines like a benediction on skipper Davie Kirkpatrick’s beautiful wooden boat, Iolaire, Gaelic for eagle, as she leaves the harbour for Staffa.
Motoring
Chevy’s making Trax
THE Chevrolet Trax is a compact SUV in the Nissan Juke/Skoda Yeti mould. As well as chunky looks and a tempting price tag, the lil’ Chevy also has heritage on its side – its maker claims to have got the sport-utility vehicle ball rolling in the 1930s, with the Carryall Suburban, an eight-seater car the size of a bread van and built for the North American market in the days before anyone thought of calling SUVs “SUVs”.
BMW Z4: On the roadster again
WELCOME to Monaco. Park your yacht over there and join me for a couple of laps of the world’s most celebrated F1 venue. With race weekend just a few days away, the barriers, grandstands and banners are in place and the circuit is ready for action.
Back on track at Ingliston
“YOU lucky sod” was the first of many similar, albeit more colourful and less printable responses I received when I told people what I was up to last weekend.
Yamaha XJ6: Follow Diversion
THE Diversion feels like an old friend. The faithful sort that knows just what you need, when you need it. It doesn’t need expensive technology or to shout about how cool it is. There is no pretence; just honesty – and its integrity is what keeps the Diversion competitive in the middleweight market.
Volkswagen Touran: A new family edition
VOLKSWAGEN really should be good at MPVs. The German manufacturer’s output is almost always simple, sturdy and user-friendly, which is just what most of us want in a family car. If any model falling below those standards did slip out of a VW factory’s gates and into dealerships, you get the impression that heads would roll at Wolfsburg in short order.
Food and Drink
EU to ban olive oil jugs in restaurants
A PROPOSAL by the EU to ban the serving of olive oil in glass jugs in restaurants has been ridiculed by British politicians.
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Tom Kitchin: Wagyu beef recipes
WAGYU beef is renowned worldwide as one of the most expensive beefs you can buy.
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Restaurant review: The Harbourview Grille, Royal Hotel, Campbeltown
HERE’S a non-typical example of a conversation at Spectrum Towers.
Wine: ‘Greece produces some terrific wines’
FOR people of a certain age, familiarity with wine and the delightfully quirky Oddbins chain went hand in hand.
Gavin Hewitt: Minimum pricing would damage whisky industry
THE Scottish Government’s legislation to introduce minimum unit pricing (MUP) for alcohol is a high-profile controversial policy that has generated much debate in Scotland and beyond.
Outdoors
Roger Cox: ‘Socialising at Tarbert is legendary – so is the sailing’
AS regattas go, the Scottish Series has it all: a stunning backdrop for the racing courtesy of the dark, densely forested hillsides that surround Loch Fyne; a stretch of water blessed with consistent winds and minimal tides; and a legendary party atmosphere courtesy of the picturesque little port of Tarbert – so busy when the sailing circus comes to town that boats often have to tie up two, three and four abreast beside the pontoons.
Roger Cox: If your favourite sport’s not often televised, you must rely on witnesses who can create romantic myths
ONE of the best things I’ve read so far this year is Found At Sea, a new book of poems by Andrew Greig.
Saddle up for the Borders Festival of the Horse
THEY say you have to be mad to live in the Borders. Mad on rugby and mad on horses.
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Scot becomes first deaf man to sail around world
A SCOTTISH teacher has became the first deaf sailor to sail around the world single-handedly.
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Roger Cox: The 60th anniversary of Hillary and Tenzing’s Everest ascent
Sex sells – and so, it seems, do round-number anniversaries. This month, to mark the 60th anniversary of Hillary and Tenzing’s historic first ascent of Everest on 29 May 1953, there will be celebrations all over the world, and so much money will change hands that you’ll be able to hear the cash registers ringing from here to Nepal.
Travel
Travel: The authentic vibes of Krakow
IT’S –5°C when I arrive in Krakow’s medieval market square, the largest of its kind in Europe, dating back to the 13th century.
Travel: The Hilton, Glasgow
FROM the outside, Glasgow’s tallest hotel is as likely to be praised for its architecture as one of the city’s last remaining 1960s high rises.
Travel: White Island, New Zealand
DWARVES, elves and orcs, wizards and warrens full of hobbits – New Zealand is Middle-earth these days, Peter Jackson’s films providing a marvellous showcase for the country’s awesome natural landscapes.
Travel: Stobo Castle, Perthshire
AS we tootled along the country roads from Lanark in the general direction of Peebles on our way to Stobo Castle for a day trip, the chat was already high octane.
Travel: Safari in Kenya
THE conservation message comes over loud and clear when visiting Kenya’s famous animals on safari.
Music
Texas’ Sharleen Spiteri on the band’s comeback
PART tomboy, part rock chick, part soul siren and complete Glasgow girl, Sharleen Spiteri and texas are back. And after 25 years in the business, she’s still got plenty to talk about.
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Album review: Daft Punk, Random Access Memories
Like the ubiquitous single Get Lucky, Daft Punk’s new album is a distillation of pop’s better moments of the last four decades.
The best of Abba outsells Beatles
ABBA’S greatest hits collection has overtaken the Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band to become the UK’s second-biggest selling album of all time, according to the Official Charts Company.
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Gig review: Mr McFall’s Chamber, Edinburgh
With empanadas in the bar and candles flickering on the intimate tables that had replaced the usual Queen’s Hall seating, we could just about have been in a sultry Buenos Aires nightclub – well, maybe.
Books
Book review: All That Is by James Salter
IF AN aged, once-eminent author, close to the end, ekes out one almost-certainly-last novel, and it’s of an indifferent standard, or worse, should it be published out of respect for his or her more glorious past?
Book review: Inferno by Dan Brown
ONE of the first characters to appear in Inferno is a spiky-haired, malevolent biker chick dressed in black leather.
Book review: The Devonshires by Roy Hattersley
A PUNCH cartoon, two dukes at a party, one whispering into the other’s ear: “Don’t you think it must be just terrible being an earl?”
Book review: Grace And Mary by Melvyn Bragg
OVER the years, Melvyn Bragg’s writing has attracted a degree of (jealous?) teasing, but the dissenting voices compete with a louder chorus of praise in which he is favourably compared with DH Lawrence and Thomas Hardy.
Stephen McGinty: Going to town on Positano
The Italian ‘dream place’ and its famous hotel popularised by John Steinbeck 60 years ago still casts its spell over celebrity and non-celebrity guests alike, writes Stephen McGinty
Comedy
Comedy review: Bill Bailey, Glasgow
There are some brilliant set-pieces in this latest show from stand-up musician Bill Bailey, so much so that reprises are demanded in the encore.
Bill Bailey on cockatoos and his new stand-up tour
Ask bill bailey about his stand-up tour and somehow you end up with a lesson on the behaviour of cockatoos. What to do? Throw away the script and enjoy the surreal ride
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10 things to do in Scotland this week
THIS WEEK’S arts, entertainment and lifestyle highlights from around Scotland, including music from Malcolm Middleton and Seasick Steve, fiery festivities in Edinburgh and Speyside, and comedian Eddie Izzard kicking off his UK tour in Aberdeen.
Karen Koren: New ice rink plans will get a frosty reception
THE headlines in the Evening News last week announced that the ice rink will be moving to George Street for the Christmas period.
Lorna Watson and Ingrid Oliver on the art of the double act
OH, DOUBLE acts and their conversational helices! Sentences beginning in one mouth finish in another, or return to their starting place for a final flourish.
Film
Film review: Beware Of Mr Baker
THERE are probably more foolhardy enterprises than interviewing the aggressively venomous rock drummer Ginger Baker for a documentary, but it’s hard to think of many.
Film review: The Great Gatsby
IT HAS been suggested that there’s something of the Gatsby about Baz Luhrmann, since both men are predisposed to throwing extravagantly spectacular parties, with just a hint of hollowness.
Film reviews: Fast & Furious 6 | Something In The Air | Epic
DO YOU like cars? Or do you prefer movies where bulging, baldy action heroes like Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel glower at each other like homoerotic new potatoes?
Cannes: Man fires pistol blanks into live TV crowd
A MAN armed with a starter pistol fired blanks into a crowd at the Cannes Film Festival, sending Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz ducking for cover.
Cannes: Million-dollar jewel theft from hotel room
Thieves ripped a safe from the wall of a hotel room near the Cannes Film Festival and made off with jewellery worth about $1 million (£655,000), in a brazen late-night burglary.
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TV and Radio
TV preview: Case Histories | The Last Days of Anne Boleyn
ADAPTING crime novels for TV is a notoriously hit-or-miss business. With a fraction of the space a book can give to fleshing out suspects and setting up false trails, perhaps having to condense several hundred pages into an hour of drama, the results can come across as shallow.
St Serf’s players celebrate anniversary | Politician’s Husband
EDINBURGH amateur dramatic club St Serf’s Players, celebrate their 65th anniversary this year with a production of Tony Roper’s classic, bitter-sweet comedy, The Steamie.
Sacked Apprentice Sophie Lau plans to bounce back
SHE may have heard the dreaded words – but Apprentice-hopeful Sophie Lau insists being sacked by Alan Sugar won’t stop her sinking her teeth in to a new venture.
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Scottish fact of the day: first TV signal broadcast
OPENED in 1883 and designed by the Edinburgh-born architect Sir Robert Rowand Anderson, the Grand Central Hotel in Glasgow - known to locals by its original name the Central Hotel - has a rich and fascinating history.
Delia Smith criticises Masterchef
COOKERY queen Delia Smith has taken a swipe at MasterChef for undermining the confidence of aspiring cooks.
Performing Arts
Opera review: Simon Boccanegra, Perth Festival
Was English Touring Opera wise to take on such a dark and weighty chunk of Verdi as Simon Boccanegra? On last night’s evidence in Perth – a tail-end performance in this current Spring tour – it seems to have bitten off slightly more than it can chew.
The ‘lesbian’ teacher scandal that shook society
IT WAS a salacious scandal that rocked the upper echelons of 19th-century Edinburgh society to the core. Two female teachers at an exclusive boarding school for girls had their careers ruined after being accused by a pupil of having an affair.
5 commentsTheatre review: Ghost, Playhouse
THE plot of Ghost the movie is, more or less, incidental to Ghost the Musical. It’s an excuse to put on an almighty stage show celebrating the exuberant zing of NYC with a barrage of light, sound and 80s casual wear. Kind of like one long MTV commercial beamed onto an iMax screen.
St Serf’s players celebrate anniversary | Politician’s Husband
EDINBURGH amateur dramatic club St Serf’s Players, celebrate their 65th anniversary this year with a production of Tony Roper’s classic, bitter-sweet comedy, The Steamie.
Grant Stott to take on new ‘serious’ acting role
HE is used to being booed as he stalks the stage as a panto villain or rolling back the years on Forth One’s golden hour – but now Grant Stott is out to show he has a serious side too.
Visual Arts
Art review: Scotland + Venice 2013, Venice
I MEET the artist Hayley Tompkins in a Glasgow coffee shop during a brief sunny interlude in a week of rain.
Images of Scotland: Pentland Hills
Eric Tomlinson’s photograph of a walker and dog captures the tranquility of the Threipmuir Reservoir on the Pentland Hills
Scotland set for Generation visual arts celebration
A BLOCKBUSTER celebration of the visual arts – the biggest ever in Scotland – will be staged in more than 50 venues across the country to coincide with the staging of the Commonwealth Games next year.
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Images of Scotland: Jasper, Scottish farm cat
Tom Steven took this photograph of Jasper, a hard working Scottish farm cat, who catches a lot of mice, rats and rabbits
Readers’ pictures of the week; 10-16 May video
A SELECTION of pictures submitted by our readers in the past week to The Scotsman picture desk.
Fashion
Video: Shine in gold, silver and sequins this season video
THIS summer, make sure you shine in gold, silver and sequins.
H&M earns plus points for hot girl in a bikini
H&M is not, for me, a happy place. I associate it with fruitlessly searching for a school skirt acceptable to a teenager and getting up very early in the morning to queue for a Marni jacket.
Lori Anderson: Chanel exhibition makes scents
Some may claim No 5 ‘perfumed the 20th century’. Lori Anderson looks at the facts and finds this is far from fragrant nonsense
Designer John Rocha on his new range of glasses
CORRECTIVE lenses make it simpler to see a gap in the fashion market, so designer John Rocha was well-placed to create his first collection of glasses.
Fashion: Patterned outfits
Prepare yourself, a pattern revolution has hit the high street. For the past few seasons, the threat of head-to-toe textiles was sidelined for hardcore fashionistas.
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Homes and Gardens
Interiors: Logie Country House, back from the ashes
LIKE a phoenix, Logie Country House has risen from the ashes to become a five-star retreat – complete with a ghost.
Gardens: Inspiration rife at country’s biggest show
FOR gardeners who have been struggling with the unpredictable weather, expert help will be on hand at Scotland’s biggest horticultural show.
Gardening Scotland, which is being held at The Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh from 31 May-2 June, provides access to the most experienced professionals from the world of horticulture.
Creating a home full of character
SERENDIPITY is how Pauline Brotherton explains finding Cleish Mill eight years ago.
A Dalry apartment has an A-listed ceiling bearing the crests of the 17th century king Charles II
EVEN keen renovators sometimes need a break, and the catalyst for that break can be finding a property that’s too good to miss, and simply doesn’t need any work.
Original features and plenty of space for their kids to play
‘WE TOTALLY fell in love with this house,’ says Steph Middleton of her home at 2 Albert Terrace in Musselburgh. “We had been looking extensively and couldn’t find anywhere in our budget that offered the same amount of space, with all the original features that we love.”
Health
Krav Maga: The no nonsense self defence class
GET her on the ground!” is what I hear from the sidelines as I grapple with a stranger who’s grabbing my face like a bowling ball, his fingers almost in my eyes.
Meningitis leaves lasting legacy
FRIGHTENED and desperately ill, Jennifer Hamilton turned to the nurse beside her hospital bed and dared to ask the most terrifying question of them all.
“I needed the truth,” recalls the mum-of-four. “I needed to know if I’d still be alive in the morning.”
Glasgow 2014: Campaigners call for smoke-free games
ANTI-SMOKING charity Ash Scotland has called on the organisers of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow to make the event completely ‘smoke-free’.
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Lifelines: Karen Bell on child contact week
I HAVE two children aged ten and seven. My ex-partner and I had an acrimonious separation and I had to go to court to see my children. My ex made allegations that I was not a good father and therefore a contact centre was suggested by the sheriff.
Technology
Apple’s iPhone music plans ‘stall over licensing’
APPLE’S bid to launch iRadio, a streaming music service for iPhones and iPads, has reportedly hit a snag over payments for songs which users skip after just a few seconds.
Google denies disguising business to lower UK tax
INTERNET giant Google today denied trying to “disguise” the way its business operated to minimise its tax bill in the UK.
5 commentsFlorists and biologists in Chelsea Flower Show drive
IT must rank as one of the most bizarre collaborations in the history of floral art - the national branch of Scottish flower arrangers and marine biologists from Aberdeen University.
Train view app to highlight Scottish landscape video
A new app is giving rail passengers the chance to learn about the landmarks they pass, turning the view through the window into an interactive learning experience.
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Samsung 5G test: ‘Download film in a second’
SAMSUNG has developed “ultra-high speed” fifth-generation technology that could allow users to download an entire film in a second, the electronics giant has said.
Heritage
World Whisky Day: Scotland’s global export
The ‘water of life’, especially in single-malt form, is one of Scotland’s most enduring exports. But should it really be mixed with condensed milk? Fiona MacGregor reports
Readers’ pictures of the week; 10-16 May video
A SELECTION of pictures submitted by our readers in the past week to The Scotsman picture desk.
Scottish fact of the day: first TV signal broadcast
OPENED in 1883 and designed by the Edinburgh-born architect Sir Robert Rowand Anderson, the Grand Central Hotel in Glasgow - known to locals by its original name the Central Hotel - has a rich and fascinating history.
A Night at the Museum: What’s the appeal?
THE Museums at Night festival opens today and is expected to attract 120,000 visitors all over Britain this year. But is there really any magic of a museum after dark? Alice Wyllie went along to the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh to find out
Bid to save Skye terrier from extinction
DEVOTED dog breeders are campaigning to save the elegant Skye terrier – the Scottish breed with royal history and Greyfriers Bobby fame – from extinction.
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Weather for Edinburgh
Sunday 19 May 2013
Today
Fog
Temperature: 10 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Thunderstorm
Temperature: 9 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: West
