QUITE A BUSY DAY IN TOWN

It started when I counted 49 people in front of me in the queue in Marks and Spencer food hall while I was trying to buy 5 croissants and a baguette for breakfast at around 9-30am (when I finally got to the front, I felt it necessary to be reasonably pleasant to the poor cashier as I could see the day she was going to have ahead of her, especially once stock inevitably began to dwindle and tempers began to fray later in the afternoon). Busy-ness culminated in this view of Buchanan street taken at around 3pm.

TOP CAT

See what happens when you do a job you like? You live to 95!
Actually, I just wondered why this article on the death of one of the men us 60s kids probably spent most of our childhood TV viewing hours with, doesn't mention that most wonderful of TV series Top Cat. Although T.C. of course was the main star, I had a wee soft spot for the ever-cuddly Benny the Ball. I loved the other Hanna-Barbera stuff too of course - I particularly liked the Flintstones - probably because I genuinely believed my dad was Fred Flintstone for a while when I was wee - they kind of looked alike! I loved all the modern gadgets in it, I remember a dinosaur tin opener in one episode. It's great all this stuff is still running today, just a shame though that kids seem to prefer to watch all that Japanese shite on TV - Yu-gi-oh and the likes - Nothing really happens in them and they all shout at each other. Give me Fred and Wilma, Benny and Brain, and Tom and Jerry any day.

ALL THIS FOG

Southern England seems to be in meltdown all because of some fog - Heathrow has ground to a standstill and several hundred thousand people are facing Christmas asleep on the floor of terminal 4, apparently. But I was thinking how pretty fog can be from a photographer's perspective, many apologies to those stranded passengers who probably are struggling to see its beauty today. I found these pretty photos on the BBC today and they reminded me of this photo I took in Rouken Glen park a couple fo winters ago - I really like the tranquility of it.

GLASGOW SCIENCE TOWER

That famous tower is opening again! Apparently it is to re-open this morning. I have been desperate to go up it ever since I discovered photo-stitching because I think I could do a really nice 360 degree panorama of Glasgow on a clear day. Not only does it open today but the weather is actually fairly clear. Given the tower's less than impressive reliability since 2001 when it opened (it feels like it's been open a dozen days at most since then!) I wonder if I shouldn't actually drop everything and attempt an ascent before twelve noon for fear it might be shut for another five years by five pm! Several problems though:

1) I am working from home today as Pudge is sick so actually have to produce some work.

2) Pudge is sick so probably doesn't feel like being dragged up a tower on a photographic expedition.

3) The kids would want to come too but by the time I pick them up from school after 3pm and get to the tower it'll be dark given today is the shortest day.

4) If I did actually have some free time I should probably spend it Xmas shopping :-(

So I guess I need to leave it till Saturday at the earliest...what are the chances I will live to regret that decision? Surely they can't close it yet again without losing all their street cred? (Mind you I think I said that the last time! :-( )

A NEW CONVERT

Marcel's been playing on my computer all evening. At first I assumed he was playing online games on miniclip as usual but it turns out he'd opened a Word document, gone onto the Internet and got the lyrics to Away in manger and was trying with Charlotte to rewrite a more modern version for his school pals. Once he finished it, he then asked to start up his own blog and uploaded it. If this (and his second posting) are going to be the standard of things to come, I await his next offering trembling with fear, though it could give me some insight into the world of a 9 year old boy, which, given I have never been one, could be useful!

BABY NAME TRENDS

Reading through the BBC online magazine today, I came across an article on babies' names. It is so true that you can usually tell a person's age by their name in this country. For example most Jacquelines tends to be in their early 40s as it was popularized by Jackie Kennedy. Then people born late 60s (other than me, of course) are called Karen, Linda or Gillian, by early 70s that had moved on to Sharon or Tracy and so on. Marcel's peers all seem to be called Adam, Ryan, Cara or Katie and so on. Charlotte's surrounded by Archies and other what I would consider old people names. Last year when checking the Scottish birth records, I noticed there was only one Léon-Olivier registered in Scotland and equally unique there was also only one Sharon - that made me smile given I have spent most of my life knee-deep in Shazzis! Funny how no matter how many of the really old Maisies and Mollies and the likes come round Phyllis always seems to be overlooked! I guess I am destined to remain unique unless the likes of Eastenders introduces a youngish Phyllis character - I know it did wonders for the Alfies and Rubies of this decade's nursery classes!

RED POMPOMS

I saw these in the glass house in Glasgow's palm house last week. Wonder if this is where they grow the pompoms for kiddies' hats every winter! :-)

BOYS WILL BE BOYS :-)

Marcel has been coming home from school on a daily basis with Xmas cards from his classmates but unlike other years has shown no interest in reciprocating the greetings this year.
He's at that funny age between childhood and adolescence when some things little kids do or like, such as going to the office Xmas party, are still cool, whereas others, such as attending the school pantomime, are worse than unmentionable. There doesn't seem to be any obvious logic, so as a parent I am currently trying to wing it! When he seemed to be boycotting Xmas cards, I saw no point in nagging him.
Suddenly, last night he launched himself on a multi-box of cards, picking out all the snowmen cards. Charlotte has always loved Snowmen but Marcel has never shown any particular interest in all things Snowmen-shaped. He made a list of 12 or 13 male friends, picked out that many Snowmen cards and got down to work. As you can see from the card attached, it took him over an hour to complete his Xmas card list this year and he was extremely proud of the finished article! Somewhere between the devil, Darth Vader, a flasher and a grenade-tossing terrorist! And I can just imagine all his little mates grinning in an evil manner when they opened their card and then rushing off to do their own!

POOR SICK PUDGE AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN

Léon is sick once again. That poor baby has been through the wars - this time it is a chest and ear infection. So he's sitting wailing on my knee once again. This society has its priorities all wrong. I took a holiday yesterday because he was immobile, burning up and needed to see a doctor. Today, however, I had to finish off a schedule for next year's budget at work. Having no one free to babysit today with André away, mum already babysitting Pudge's cousin and dad out, that meant sick Léon had to take ibuprofen and go wail at nursery. Obviously with 20+ days of holiday left to take before March, staying off to babysit should in theory be no problem but companies have now stretched themselves so thin that people are expected to come in whether or not they or their kids are dying. The net result is nurseries and schools are full of miserable, sick kids infecting each other in a never ending loop. And stressed parents in a loop of worry about their kids, their job security, their kids, their job security... When did common sense go out the window? Wouldn't everyone be happier if we all started to prioritise what really is important in life again?

THE LOCAL HOUSEBLINGER

A photo as promised of the houseblinger at the on ramp of the M77 in Newton Mearns. These loonies must be outed (the guy's been slowly decorating his garden and driveway on a weekendly basis since the end of October, often to be seen up a ladder against some of the tall garden trees!) This guy is probably single-handedly using the entire output of a small nuclear power station! I imagine if he has kids they probably jump out their skins in fright every time they go to walk past that huge Frosty standing at the front door - Wonder if he's read one of my favourite books: Skipping Christmas?)! Funnily enough, I myself had cars slowing down and shouting amusing comments at me just for stopping on the edge of the road to take the photos! I guess whoever they are, they really enjoy Christmas anyway!

NO MORE CURRY!

I heard this morning the news that Café India had burnt down yesterday. I haven't been there since Marcel was a baby but it used to be one of my usual haunts in the 90s - It was the first big quality curry house in Glasgow to offer buffet options instead of an à la carte menu. Now they all offer buffet nights. It's sad to think of North Street without it.

THE HEIGHT OF NUMPTINESS

Another rant I am afraid: Why do people go out Xmas shopping without their brains?

There's a fairly handy wee car park in Garnethill behind St Aloysius church. It isn't very big and is only open on weekends but still it is handy. There is enough room for four rows of cars - obviously two then a gap then another two. So I left my car there today.

The big kids, Marcel and Charlotte were having a sleepover with my brother and his wife and I was to pick them up at 3ish. After 3 hours wandering round town, I decided to pick up my car and drive the 5-10 minutes to their house.

Into the church car park we went. There was a Toyota parked in front of my car and a Ford on either side...as I went to get into it I noticed the was also a bloody Ford parked at the back of it! Huh? Two rows, a GAP then two rows - not 3 rows of cars with mine stuck in middle! How stupid do you have to be to see two rows of cars and then park yours bumper to bumper at the back??? HOW BLOODY NUMPTY IS THAT? I had a great desire to leave a note full of expletives on their windscreen but was worried I'd return to smashed windows or flat tyres, so I wrote a slightly exasperated note asking exactly how I was meant to levitate over their car and complaining I now had to take a taxi to pick up my kids and then back to pick up my car. Of course we then had to walk to Derek's and back with all the kids and their belongings - a 50 minute round trip on foot I really could have done without after 3 hours in town!

Funnier still, 2 hours later I went round to see if I could retrieve my car - no luck - the Fords and the Toyota were still there - and amazingly the car I had left the nasty note on itself couldn't move as a fourth car had now boxed it in! Give me strength! Are they handing out driving licences to lobotomy patients these days??? (Finally escaped the church at 6pm, a full 3 hours late - won't be parking there in a hurry again!)

KIBBLE AT LAST

I finally made it to the Kibble Palace after about 3 weeks of trying! It seemed odd to walk through its doors after 45 months.

From the kids were born, until March 2003 when the Kibble closed for restoration, we spent some time inside the glass house most weekends - we had picnics in it, or coffee or walked round the plants sheltering from the weather, or we even just dropped in the say hi to the goldfish.

Although I have missed it dreadfully, as it was closed only 45 months out of the 467 I have been alive, it didn't seem like a terribly long time. To my kids though it has been closed nearly or in Charlotte's case more than half their life. It was interesting to see the mixture of recognition and newness rolled into one as they entered it.

The first thing that I noticed when I entered was the missing tree fern in the middle of the fish pond. I could see a shape deep down in the water, so hope it is lurking down there ready to re-grow.

In the main part of the glass house there were many beautiful tree ferns, and all the familiar squirrel-sided benches around the perimeter for you to sit and read or picnic. The marble statues shone white in the winter sun. It was great to be back.

It did feel a tiny bit too bare though. In the old days it felt wild and overgrown with ferns pushing against the ceiling and branches overhanging the paths. It was so neat and tidy today. I will be wandering around it, probably on a weekly basis from now on but I will secretly be longing for it to get a wee bit wilder and messier. It'll be great once you can't see for the plants again and the smell of damp fern fills your nose as soon as you enter!

RIVER KELVIN PHOTOS AS PROMISED

I remembered my camera yesterday so here's a taste of how things are looking around Pudge's nursery.

The farmer probably won't be taking a walk in his field for a few days.

This tree looks a little bewildered.

And finally God help anyone who lives in Milton of Campsie and is trying to drive past this park of the river Kelvin to get home!

THE CHRISTMAS FAIRIES HAVE ESCAPED

this site could give a laugh or two over the next ten days, though as it has just started up, there aren't too many nutters outed just yet (check out Wolverhampton!) There also seems to be a link to a US site which I can only assume might be even more crazy. I must upload that house on the motorway on ramp at junction 5 of the M77 later today if I get time to take a photo as they are definitely slightly madder than last year, and they were already crazy enough then!

I am sure watching
However, maybe the Christmas fairylight eccentrics should bear in mind what it might do to the price of their house!

MORE MATHS

Marcel has always been good at maths, in the top group at school since his first year in primary, he is about a year and a half ahead of what is expected of him at 9, on the same textbook as a couple of kids further down the street who are 12.

Anyway, tonight in the car Charlotte was muttering away to herself. When I strained to hear what she was saying I realized she was doing mental arithmetic - calculating the total price of items she had seen in a shop. She didn't have a pen and paper but was simply adding up large sums orally. As I listened, it suddenly occurred to me that not only was she doing it carrying over numbers and the likes in her head but she was doing it logically, as any (English-speaking) adult would - that is to say if she was adding £3-27 and £4-42, she didn't add 27 and 42 but instead added 20 and 40 then 7 and 2. I asked who had taught her to add that way and she just looked at me and said - 'no one but it is just obviously easier that way!' So when I got to the house I was determined to try out an experiment. I took out Marcel's maths homework and gave it to Charlotte (who is 3 years behind him at school and only 6) And as I suspected, she managed it.

WEATHER RIGHT UP TO OUR ARMPITS

I went to pick up Pudge today as usual at 1 o'clock. His nursery is about 200 metres from the river Kelvin in Kirkintilloch. As I drove along parallel to the river on its south bank every road on my left had a sign up saying 'road closed'. I didn't think much about it till I went to turn left into the road where the nursery is and that road too was closed! I managed to gain access after pointing out my baby was up there but wasn't allowed to drive beyond the nursery. The Kelvin had burst its banks and cars were in it up to their steering wheels. Why didn't I have my camera with me? I have made a mental note to leave my old camera in the boot of my car from tomorrow onwards. If the road is still in the same state I will photograph it then, but in the meantime these shots of Scotland also taken today probably give you a fair idea of the scale I am talking about.

WHAT'S YOURS?

A bit of Xmas fun - feel free to share yours with 'Wriggly Brandy butter-Sprout! '

BROLLY LITTERLOUTS

And now for a rant: what is it about people and their attitudes towards dead brollies?? The weather in Scotland has now been atrocious for about a week (well actually for several years but we'll not go there). We have puddles up to our armpits and worse still the wind accompanying this is of that amazing Scottish sidey-ways variety. To be honest, I haven't a clue why people persevere with brollies at all in such weather. There is no way an umbrella made of anything man has discovered so far can deal with Scottish weather. Consequently most brollies blow inside out within 5 minutes and are left as a twisted piled of material-less metal spokes within 10. But what baffles me even more than the use of the brollies in such weather is the way they are disposed of. You see people seem to think it is ok just to throw them on the pavement, possibly in disgust, once they blow inside out. This evening I passed two on one block of Cambridge street and another 3 in Rose street - 5 brollies in less than 2 minutes. Why do people think throwing a dead brolly on the pavement is acceptable when the same people possibly would think twice about throwing away any other form of rubbish: a bottle, a plastic bag or a newspaper? I find this sort of littering quite infuriating. This is the centre of Glasgow - there are bins everywhere - can't these lazy gits walk ten more steps even in the rain and put the broken umbrella in a bin instead?

CURRY MONSTER

It must be something about a 3rd kid. Whereas the first one was still on the bland mince and potatoes at 14 months, the 3rd one is acting like a grown-up. Tonight for dinner Pudge downed one poppadom, followed by one tandoori chicken wing, one piece of vegetable pakora, one side plate of chicken korma curry and boiled rice, followed by a second side plate of korma curry again with rice, followed by a third side plate of lamb bhuna also with rice. After that he only had room for half a glass of orange juice and one scoop of vanilla ice cream, but he refused the after eight mint! And this wasn't bland home-made baby curry - this was proper Indian restaurant curry! I don't think I can afford to keep feeding him at this rate - he'll need to get a job as soon as he can walk a wee bit better!