Main features

Truck Driver Geordi from Peterhead takes a break. Picture: Ian Rutherford

Truckers have a special affection for Stracathro services – perhaps it should become a world heritage site

I DROVE through the darkness and I drove through the dawn, mist lying thick on golden fields of oilseed rape, and I came at last to Stracathro Services, off the A90 just north of Brechin.

1 comment

Would you leave your new born baby to cry itself to sleep?

New research reveals high levels of stress hormones in babies left to cry themselves to sleep leaving new parents with a dilemna

AS IF the sleep-deprived husks of humanity otherwise known as new parents didn’t have enough to worry about, new research has emerged to plunge them further into a baby-brain stupor about how to get their screaming bundles of joy off to sleep.

He’s in mourning for Donna Summer and Robin Gibb, but Nile Rodgers survives against all the odds

IBIZA is hosting its annual gathering of the great and the good of dance music and Nile Rodgers is due to give the keynote address – yet more evidence of his status as the king of disco. But at three o’clock on his beachfront hotel balcony on a sizzling hot afternoon he only has thoughts for disco’s queen.

Revealing past convictions may bring justice for some victims of crime, but how many innocent people will it condemn?

RETIRED Chief Inspector Les Gray still recalls the frustration of seeing “career” criminals being presented as lily-white by defence lawyers who are all too aware of their client’s past history.

DVD review: The Artist

What is it? Surely this one can’t have passed you by? This is the modern-day silent movie that hoovered up awards this year, and made stars of both its leading man, Jean Dujardin – playing a silent movie star whose career flounders as talkies take over – and his dog.

Books

Game review: Max Payne

This grim and gritty noir sees Max Payne now working as private security for a rich family in Brazil. Burnt out, Max dulls the pain with pills.

Claire Black: “She looked confused. I probably did too – maybe she had a pet rabbit?”

STANDING in the supermarket queue the other day, I concentrated on lining up my groceries by order of size and density – with attention paid to the order in which they would be packed into my bag (What? Isn’t that what everyone does?).

Fordyce Maxwell: Liz wondered up to the last minute why a 12-year-old was getting married

AS A festivity-closer, Loch Lomond was new to me. It involved a lot of jumping up and down and several in-and-out rushes similar to Auld Lang Syne melees while the band belted out “You tak the high road…” at a tempo Kenneth McKellar would not have recognised. Along with, I seem to remember amid the mayhem, an occasional burst of the Proclaimers’ “I would walk 500 miles”.

The Shaint Islands are breeding grounds for puffins and razorbills

Book review: The Old Ways: A Journey

THIS volume completes a rough trilogy – Mountains Of The Mind, The Wild Places and now The Old Ways – and confirms Robert Macfarlane’s reputation as one of the most eloquent and observant of contemporary writers about nature; although a new term is increasingly necessary.

Andrew Eaton-Lewis: Antony Hegarty wants to change the world, and it’s life-affirming to see

HERE’S a challenge. Whatever kinds of cultural events you enjoy going to – comedy shows, concerts, exhibitions, plays, films etc – try, between now and August, only to go to ones that are not part of a festival.

Film

Game review: Max Payne

This grim and gritty noir sees Max Payne now working as private security for a rich family in Brazil. Burnt out, Max dulls the pain with pills.

Claire Black: “She looked confused. I probably did too – maybe she had a pet rabbit?”

STANDING in the supermarket queue the other day, I concentrated on lining up my groceries by order of size and density – with attention paid to the order in which they would be packed into my bag (What? Isn’t that what everyone does?).

Fordyce Maxwell: Liz wondered up to the last minute why a 12-year-old was getting married

AS A festivity-closer, Loch Lomond was new to me. It involved a lot of jumping up and down and several in-and-out rushes similar to Auld Lang Syne melees while the band belted out “You tak the high road…” at a tempo Kenneth McKellar would not have recognised. Along with, I seem to remember amid the mayhem, an occasional burst of the Proclaimers’ “I would walk 500 miles”.

Book review: The Old Ways: A Journey

THIS volume completes a rough trilogy – Mountains Of The Mind, The Wild Places and now The Old Ways – and confirms Robert Macfarlane’s reputation as one of the most eloquent and observant of contemporary writers about nature; although a new term is increasingly necessary.

Andrew Eaton-Lewis: Antony Hegarty wants to change the world, and it’s life-affirming to see

HERE’S a challenge. Whatever kinds of cultural events you enjoy going to – comedy shows, concerts, exhibitions, plays, films etc – try, between now and August, only to go to ones that are not part of a festival.

Music

Game review: Max Payne

This grim and gritty noir sees Max Payne now working as private security for a rich family in Brazil. Burnt out, Max dulls the pain with pills.

Claire Black: “She looked confused. I probably did too – maybe she had a pet rabbit?”

STANDING in the supermarket queue the other day, I concentrated on lining up my groceries by order of size and density – with attention paid to the order in which they would be packed into my bag (What? Isn’t that what everyone does?).

Fordyce Maxwell: Liz wondered up to the last minute why a 12-year-old was getting married

AS A festivity-closer, Loch Lomond was new to me. It involved a lot of jumping up and down and several in-and-out rushes similar to Auld Lang Syne melees while the band belted out “You tak the high road…” at a tempo Kenneth McKellar would not have recognised. Along with, I seem to remember amid the mayhem, an occasional burst of the Proclaimers’ “I would walk 500 miles”.

Book review: The Old Ways: A Journey

THIS volume completes a rough trilogy – Mountains Of The Mind, The Wild Places and now The Old Ways – and confirms Robert Macfarlane’s reputation as one of the most eloquent and observant of contemporary writers about nature; although a new term is increasingly necessary.

Andrew Eaton-Lewis: Antony Hegarty wants to change the world, and it’s life-affirming to see

HERE’S a challenge. Whatever kinds of cultural events you enjoy going to – comedy shows, concerts, exhibitions, plays, films etc – try, between now and August, only to go to ones that are not part of a festival.

Art

Game review: Max Payne

This grim and gritty noir sees Max Payne now working as private security for a rich family in Brazil. Burnt out, Max dulls the pain with pills.

Claire Black: “She looked confused. I probably did too – maybe she had a pet rabbit?”

STANDING in the supermarket queue the other day, I concentrated on lining up my groceries by order of size and density – with attention paid to the order in which they would be packed into my bag (What? Isn’t that what everyone does?).

Fordyce Maxwell: Liz wondered up to the last minute why a 12-year-old was getting married

AS A festivity-closer, Loch Lomond was new to me. It involved a lot of jumping up and down and several in-and-out rushes similar to Auld Lang Syne melees while the band belted out “You tak the high road…” at a tempo Kenneth McKellar would not have recognised. Along with, I seem to remember amid the mayhem, an occasional burst of the Proclaimers’ “I would walk 500 miles”.

Book review: The Old Ways: A Journey

THIS volume completes a rough trilogy – Mountains Of The Mind, The Wild Places and now The Old Ways – and confirms Robert Macfarlane’s reputation as one of the most eloquent and observant of contemporary writers about nature; although a new term is increasingly necessary.

Andrew Eaton-Lewis: Antony Hegarty wants to change the world, and it’s life-affirming to see

HERE’S a challenge. Whatever kinds of cultural events you enjoy going to – comedy shows, concerts, exhibitions, plays, films etc – try, between now and August, only to go to ones that are not part of a festival.

TV reviews

Game review: Max Payne

This grim and gritty noir sees Max Payne now working as private security for a rich family in Brazil. Burnt out, Max dulls the pain with pills.

Claire Black: “She looked confused. I probably did too – maybe she had a pet rabbit?”

STANDING in the supermarket queue the other day, I concentrated on lining up my groceries by order of size and density – with attention paid to the order in which they would be packed into my bag (What? Isn’t that what everyone does?).

Fordyce Maxwell: Liz wondered up to the last minute why a 12-year-old was getting married

AS A festivity-closer, Loch Lomond was new to me. It involved a lot of jumping up and down and several in-and-out rushes similar to Auld Lang Syne melees while the band belted out “You tak the high road…” at a tempo Kenneth McKellar would not have recognised. Along with, I seem to remember amid the mayhem, an occasional burst of the Proclaimers’ “I would walk 500 miles”.

Book review: The Old Ways: A Journey

THIS volume completes a rough trilogy – Mountains Of The Mind, The Wild Places and now The Old Ways – and confirms Robert Macfarlane’s reputation as one of the most eloquent and observant of contemporary writers about nature; although a new term is increasingly necessary.

Andrew Eaton-Lewis: Antony Hegarty wants to change the world, and it’s life-affirming to see

HERE’S a challenge. Whatever kinds of cultural events you enjoy going to – comedy shows, concerts, exhibitions, plays, films etc – try, between now and August, only to go to ones that are not part of a festival.

Peter Ross

Bert prepares a lamb for nursing to a ewe who has lost her own offspring. Picture: Ian Rutherford

Peter Ross: Rite of spring video

TO farmer Bert Leitch, Mull’s lambing season is a matter of life and death – and pride, even after 40 years

1 comment

Claire Black

Game review: Max Payne

This grim and gritty noir sees Max Payne now working as private security for a rich family in Brazil. Burnt out, Max dulls the pain with pills.

Claire Black: “She looked confused. I probably did too – maybe she had a pet rabbit?”

STANDING in the supermarket queue the other day, I concentrated on lining up my groceries by order of size and density – with attention paid to the order in which they would be packed into my bag (What? Isn’t that what everyone does?).

Fordyce Maxwell: Liz wondered up to the last minute why a 12-year-old was getting married

AS A festivity-closer, Loch Lomond was new to me. It involved a lot of jumping up and down and several in-and-out rushes similar to Auld Lang Syne melees while the band belted out “You tak the high road…” at a tempo Kenneth McKellar would not have recognised. Along with, I seem to remember amid the mayhem, an occasional burst of the Proclaimers’ “I would walk 500 miles”.

Book review: The Old Ways: A Journey

THIS volume completes a rough trilogy – Mountains Of The Mind, The Wild Places and now The Old Ways – and confirms Robert Macfarlane’s reputation as one of the most eloquent and observant of contemporary writers about nature; although a new term is increasingly necessary.

Andrew Eaton-Lewis: Antony Hegarty wants to change the world, and it’s life-affirming to see

HERE’S a challenge. Whatever kinds of cultural events you enjoy going to – comedy shows, concerts, exhibitions, plays, films etc – try, between now and August, only to go to ones that are not part of a festival.

Fordyce Maxwell

Fordyce Maxwell: On Apollo 13 they weren’t still having to use central heating in May

YOU can have too much information, and I’ve just switched off an example of that. Nothing to do with a DVD in questionable taste or a website called up by mistake. All to do with the good intentions of our gas and electricity supplier.

Fordyce Maxwell: The car washer and inveterate grass cutter might think the same about me

MOST of us have chores to do to keep house and home ticking over. Some we don’t mind, some we dislike, a few we might rather enjoy.

Fordyce Maxwell: The words ‘easily assembled’ in a flat pack can produce a cold sweat

‘THE cheque’s in the post” and “I was just thinking about you” are usually quoted as examples of great lies. I think that “easily assembled” tops them both. Opening a flat pack to find those words on the instruction leaflet can produce a cold sweat and mild hyperventilation.

1 comment

Fordyce Maxwell: They would learn that being smarter than you look is the best policy

I SPENT three hours in a bus with several dozen teenagers last week and thought: what’s modern youth coming to? No shouting, dubious chants, exaggerated laughter or bad language, and I couldn’t even get a sing-song under way.

Andrew Eaton-Lewis

Andrew Eaton-Lewis: Antony Hegarty wants to change the world, and it’s life-affirming to see

HERE’S a challenge. Whatever kinds of cultural events you enjoy going to – comedy shows, concerts, exhibitions, plays, films etc – try, between now and August, only to go to ones that are not part of a festival.

Andrew Eaton-Lewis: George Wyllie, you gave and continue to give inspiration to all of us

WHEN George Wyllie died last week, Scotland seemed suddenly drained of a little energy and colour. It reminded me of March 2006, when Ian Hamilton Finlay and Ivor Cutler died within weeks of each other. All these men were, in their different ways, mavericks – eccentric, subversive, not always appreciated for it, but irreplaceable once lost.

Tom Gabel, pictured here in 2008, has announced that he is to become Laura Jane Grace. Picture: AP

Andrew Eaton-Lewis: Good luck to Against Me!’s new female singer, Laura Jane Grace

‘PUNK star to change sex but will stay married,” went one typical headline on Thursday, as the American rock band Against Me! was suddenly introduced to a whole new audience.

The Smiths: Not getting back together, says Johnny Marr (PA)

Andrew Eaton-Lewis: Is a Smiths reunion any less likely than the Beach Boys reforming?

‘SINCE we published this article earlier today, denial of this reformation has been rife.” This may be my favourite quote of the week. It was added, late on Thursday afternoon, to the end of Music-news.com’s story that the Smiths “are to throw their differences aside and return to the live stage this autumn”.

Peter Ross: Rite of spring video

Looking for...

Featured advertisers

Jobs

Search for a job

Motors

Search for a car

Property

Search for a house

Weather for Edinburgh

Home

Services & Offers

Weather for Edinburgh