Làimhsich le cùram

Earrach gun teagamh

2012-03-17T23:33:00.002Z

Fèill Pàdraig, Jockie's 41 agus tha e follaiseach mu thràth: I survived winter, both literally and metaphorically.

'S ann anns an aimsir a tha e: an teothachd, solas nam maidnean ⁊ nam feasgairean, the fragrance of the air, na lusan a' tighinn fo bhlàth, ...

Forth and Clyde Canal, Glasgow Branch

Agus ged nach e cinnt ann dè cho fada a dh'fhuiricheas mi san obair agam, it's already certain I'm staying san dùthaich seo. Ay, bidh trioblaidean logistic ann fhathast, m' fhiaclan, an t-airgead Seacach 's am flat Bhudweis agam nan measg. Ach dh'atharraich an suidheachadh agus faodaidh mi treat them calmly a-nis.

Come hell or high water, fuirichidh mi an seo, le dìreach turas "finishing" dhan àite shean. Thionndaidh mi gu mo Ghlaswegian of a sort.

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Willie Rennie and Czechoslovak monetary history

2012-03-15T20:04:00.001Z

In the Scottish Lib Dem conference at the beginning of this month, the party's leader is reported (by the party's own website) as having said in his speech the following:

"So maybe they are tempted by the monetary union like, say, the one they tried when Czechoslovakia separated.
"And do you know how long the monetary union lasted there?
"Six weeks. In fact, they started to end it after three weeks."

Now, this is a great misrepresentation of what had happened then. It implies the newly established Czech and Slovak Republics tried a monetary union, then found out it didn't work and scrapped the idea.

While in fact the union was there only for the transitional period before the Czech and Slovak currencies becoming fully independent - as we all understood they would ("sooner rather than later", to quote a mantra of another Lib Dem Scot) ever since it became clear that Slovakia would separate.

Willie Rennie added

"Now, Scotland is not 1990s Slovakia."

No, Willie, it isn't, and your example tries to see analogy where there is none.

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Donald Trump

2012-03-14T21:16:00.000Z

I have never noticed this person complaining about the effect on Scottish countryside the Denny – Beauly pylon line, the Whitelee or any other wind farm, or indeed any other such project might have.

These days, it's hardly possible not to notice his ravings against the wind farm proposed to be built near his golf course.

He has every right to try and protect his business interests.

But to think us as daft as not to see that financial profit is what he's after, and using sanctimonious ("I am doing this to save Scotland."), hypocritical, revolting ("You [Alex Salmond] will single-handedly have done more damage to Scotland than virtually any event in Scottish history." - I wonder whether this metaphorical spit in the eye of people affected by the Clydebank Blitz, the Piper Alpha disaster and divers such tragedies is what Trump's speaker, a Mr Sorial, had in mind when he said "We are challenging, we are putting the facts out."), in short barefaced lies and to do it to boot in a manner of an apparatchik's spoiled son ("I can't let a thing like this happen") can probably be best characterized by the expression "a fuckin cheek".

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A' Chuibhle Mhòr ann an Ceàrnag Sheòrais

2012-03-08T20:43:00.001Z

Nuair a thàinig mi a Ghlaschu san t-Samhain an-uiridh, bha George Square 's mathaid beagan eadar-dhealaichte bho na bha i ann an 1990, an uair a bha mi sa bhaile roimhe, ach bha i gu mòr dìreach mar a bha cuimhn' oirre agam. (Ceart gu leòr, cha robh cuimhn' agam dè cho mòran ìomhaighean a bha ann.)

Beagan na b' fhadalaiche, leugh mi air làrach-lìn BhBC gun deach "Cuibhle Mhòr" a stèidheachadh sa cheàrnag. Chaidh mi ann a-rithist ro Àm na Nollaige airson a faicinn. Cha robh i dona idir. Bha i, cuide ris na "attractions" eile, a' cur ris a' shunnd chuirmeach.

Ach bidh mi a' dol dhan obair 's air ais gach latha tron cheàrnag a-nis, 's e Màrt a tha ann agus tha a' Chuibhle na seasamh (gu dearbh, na tionndadh) ann fhathast. An e permanent fixture a tha innte? Cha bu toil leam sin a bhith air a thachradh...

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Buses

2012-03-07T18:18:00.000Z

Naturally, customs differ from country to country. Take for example the interjection "sorry" and the phrase "you're welcome". The former is used much oftener in Glasgow, the latter in Budweis.

This, however, I knew before coming here. What I didn't know was you customarily thanked a municipal transport driver when leaving his bus, not just one driving an inter-city coach.

There are other differences. When your bus approaches, you gesture to the driver that he should stop for you. (In Budweis you'd sooner gesture he needn't.)

You don't have a ticket bought at a newsagent's to mark in a machine after getting on by one of the doors; there's just the door opposite the driver, to whom you show a pre-bought time ticket, or buy a ticket directly from him - and you need the exact amount, no change is being returned.

Bus stop names don't read "At factory X", "Hotel Y" or "Housing scheme Z"; the usual format is "District X, before/after street Y on street Z", and bus stops opposite each other consequently don't bear the same name.

What suprised me most was the bus stop named "Carntyne, after Abbeyhill Street on Carntynehall Road". It's placed on a roundabout. The first time we stopped there I wasn't sure my eyes weren't deluding me (it was already dark too) and had to check it in Google Earth when I got home. It was true. They had really made the roundabout wide enough to accomodate a bus stop - two in fact, because across is the one serving the other direction.

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Three Sundays

2012-03-04T21:19:00.002Z

Long time no see, as they say. But what with being employed again, often doing overtimes, and (shall I say it?) discovering how Twitter works and what makes people interested in it I had virtually no time to blog.

Not that there was nothing to blog about. For instance my visit to Provand's Lordship, Glasgow's oldest extant house, and (again) the adjacent St Nicholas Garden a fortnight ago. Certainly worth it, seeing what (tolerably well-off but non-gentry) people livid in several centuries ago. It felt sort of peculiar to see a chair made in 1646. The pictures of Glasgow by William "Crimean" Simpson displayed there weren't bad either.

Or another trip to the Cathedral a week ago: with a demonstration of I guess some 50 people to "Free Syria!" in front of the Royal Concert Hall on my way there; with a service going on in the Quire – a blessing in disguise, as it made me explore properly the Lower Church (which I affectionately call "the Vault Forest") and meditate this time in St Nicholas Chapel, maybe even a better place for the purpose than the Quire; with seeing a pair of mounted police (hadn't known Glasgow had them) going down North Hanover Street on my way back; and with the inevitable stroll in Ruchill Park afterwards.

Or today's walk to Ruchill Park, noticing there the first blooming flowers this year (daffodils?) then to the Maryhill Tesco post office, whence I sent my Voter Registration Form to Glasgow Electoral Registration Officer (so presumably I'll be able to take part in the local elections in May), a bus ride via Ruchill and Springburn to the Royal Infirmary, another Cathedral visit and a walk back by the Canal.

I still can't get used to the idea of Sunday being perceived as the first day of the week - it seems to go against tradition ("and [God] rested on the seventh day"), against the natural way of things (you sow before you reap, you earn before you spend, you work before you retire and so forth) and of course where I come from the week begins on Monday so it's firmly planted in my subconscious like that. That's irrelevant. Beginning or end of week, I had three very fine Sundays in a row.

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Tachraidh rudeigin

2012-02-18T01:31:00.000Z

Mu mhìos a thìde, cha robh obair sam bith san amharc.

Airson trì seachdainean as dèidh sin, cha robh ach dà rud glè neo-chinnteach ann.

Àrd-eaglais Ghlaschu (o Bhaile nam Marbh)

An-diugh, dh'fhàs an dà cha mhòr cinnteach; bha agam ri co-dhùnadh – gu sgiobalta! – eatorra.

Tha mi 'n dòchas gun do rinn mi a' bhreith cheart.

Mura rinn – uill, bidh co-dhùnaidhean eile ri dèanamh ann; cha bhiodh sin deireadh an t-saoghail.

Co-dhiù no co-dheth. Tachraidh rudeigin.

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Begging and homelessness

2012-02-15T22:04:00.000Z

According to the Scottish Government, there was a significant decrease in number of homeless Scots, and apparently their aim is no "voluntary" homeless people in Scotland at all. That may explain why I haven't seen anybody obviously homeless sleeping on the streets since I came here. Unlike in Budweis.

Beggars I see regulary, just like there, although they're of a different kind. They don't approach you to ask you for money - and whatever the reality may be, they don't seem to only need the cash to get another fix.

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LibreOffice

2012-02-15T21:53:00.001Z

What do you do if you download an installation program, click "Install" and after a few usual steps the installation wizard tells you "Please leave [the program] before you continue" – and after pushing the only button available, "OK", you're told the installation couldn't be finished and you should try another time? Maybe you close everything you had opened, restart your laptop and try again. And when after that the same things happens?

You think "Up yours!" and send the installation program to the basket, that's what you do. Or what I did, anyway.

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Latha math

2012-02-15T21:47:00.001Z

Tha fhios gun do mhothaich mi gun robh mi a' tuiteam dha gràthachas na seann dùthcha: a' cur seachad a' chuid as motha dhen àm agam air an Eadar-lìon. Ach leis na bha ann de dh'aimsir, leis na làithean goirid, leis nach robh obair agam 's nach robh mi glè shuas nam inntinn agus leis nach robh agam ri èiridh ro thràth sa mhadainn...

Ach bha latha gu math brèagha an-diugh agus mar sin chaidh mi a-mach a' rannsachadh Glaschu a-rithist. Lorg mi a' chathair-eaglais Grèigeach, thog mi dealbhan dhith (bha mi airson tè a chur dhan en-wiki – fhuair mi a-mach an-dràsta gun do chuir cuideigin eile tè ann o chionn trì làithean ach coma leam. 'S dòcha gun sgrìobhainn aiste ann an gd-wiki agus cleachdaidh tè ann), thill mi tron Ghàrradh Lusan (far an do rinn mi a' chiad "thumbs-up" agam mu dheireadh thall ri draibhear air choireigin) is ag atharrachadh bruaichean aibhne Kelvin, a' dol a' chiad turas fon drochaid aig Eaglais Stevenson (ged a bha mi air coimhead air an fhrith-rathad bhon drochaid iomadh uair), fhuair mi a-mach mu dheireadh thall ciamar a tha an abhainn a' ruith fon drochaid thar Rathad Mòr an Iar, agus...

... agus bha mi a' faireachdainn an ìre mhath mar a bha mi rè thursan coltach san t-Samhain. Leis a' ghrian 's an adhair, le eacarsaich chorporra, le fios nach robh cabhag orm agus le faighinn a-mach rudan ùra (agus rudan a bha mi airson faighinn a-mach greis fhada), bha sgriob sgoinneil agam.

'S mathaid gu bheil fiù 's an t-earrach a' tighinn?

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Wi a little bit o shock shock horra

2012-02-11T00:56:00.000Z

Sae I did jinx it. Cha dh'fhuair mi gairm bhon agency o Dhiluain gu Diciadain, agus nuair a chaidh mi ann Diardaoin chaidh m' innse nach do dh'fhòn am fishery dhaibhsan. Agus chan eilear fhios am biodh iad idir agus nam biodh, cuine. In the meantime, of course, I virtually cancelled my ionad-obrach application. Agus tha an t-airgead a tha agamsa an seo a' dol à sealladh steadily...

Ah well, what the hell. Tha an next appointment agam aig an fhiaclaire Dim, 21 Gear. Mar sin, I won't contact an ionad-obrach fhasthast, agus mura faigh mi obair gu reusanta cinnteach gus Dihaoine an-ath-sheachdain, ceannaichidh mi ticead plèana for after the dentist, cuiridh mi crìoch air a h-uile rud sa Phoblachd, agus tillidh mi, le càch airgid agam, for good.

Chan eil fhios 'am dè thachras as dèidh sin, agus seadh, tha a little bit o eagal orm. But I won't back down. I'll get by somehow; mura bhios, cha bu chòir dhomh a bhith san t-saoghal co-dhiù.

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Joggers and bikers

2012-02-05T20:41:00.000Z

Okay, let's be neutral for once.

I'd never thought about jogging as a Scottish (or for that matter, out-of-US) pastime, until the guide on my 2010 package tour planted the seeds of doubt in my head. Still, coming from a city where a jogger is not an unheard of, but all the same an unusual sight, it took me some time to get used to seeing so many Glaswegians jogging.

On the other hand, it seems there are far fewer adults riding bicycles than there are joggers hereabots - again a distinct difference, because although most Budweis folk go to work by car or using public transport, there is a significant portion of those going on their bikes - many even when the temperature falls under zero. Plus of course there are those who bike as a leisure activity.

(Myself? Oh, I avoid cars, buses, bikes and running as much as I can. Johnnie Walker is my middle name.)

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Na Cuaigearan

2012-02-05T02:55:00.001Z

Air 2 an Lùnastal '09, sgrìobh mi an teacsa seo. Mas math mo chuimhne, leugh mi an aiste ann an Uicipeid, ach cha do leugh mi rud sam bith eile mun deidhinn ach a-mhàin naidheachdan ùra an-dràsta 's a-rithist co-cheangailte ri bainnsean gèidh.

Chan eil cuimhne agam tuilleadh ciamar a thàinig am beachd-inntinn gum faighinn a-mach a bheil Cuaigearan sam bith ann an Glaschu dha m' eanchainn; co-dhiù, lorg mi gu bheil. On a bha mi gun obair, le àm gu leòr agus a' faireachdainn nam aonar, thòisich mi ri meòrachadh air tachairt riutha.

Taigh-coinneimh nan Cuaigeran
ann an Glaschu

Chuir mi seachad mòran uairean a' leughadh caochladh làraichean-lìn nan Cuaigearan; san fharsaingeachd, bu thoil leam na leugh mi. Agus Didòmhnaich, 22 am Faoilleach, rinn mi a' chùis air a' phòbia shòisealta orm agus ghabh mi pàirt anns a' "choinneamh adhraidh" aca.

Cha robh e dona idir. 'S e "adhradh neo-phrògramaichte" mar a chanas iad a tha aca: tha seo a' ciallachadh gun robh sinn a' chuid as motha dhen àm dìreach nar suidhe gu balbh. A dh'aindheoin sin, cha robh e ràsanach; chaidh an uair seachad gu socair ach gu luath. Thachair feadhainn "ministrealachdan" rè na tìde cuideachd, ach ged a bha fuaim car "textbookish" aca, chan ann eudmhorach no ro-fhaicsinneach a bha iad.

Bha e math a bhith a' beachd-smaoineachadh ann. Dh'fhalbh mi ann an glè dheagh shunnd, a' smaointinn gun tèid mi a-rithist an ath Dhidòmhnaich, agus gun fuirich mi fiù 's airson "àm cupa a' chofaidh" as dèidh an adhraidh. Ge-tà, fad na seachdaine as dèidh sin, bha mi a' cnuasachadh: am bu chòir dhomh a dhol ann (ma dh'fhaoidte eadhon iompaich gu Cuaigearachd san àm ri teachd)? Aig a’ cheann thall, cho-dhùin mi nach tèid mi.

Tha fhios agaibh, bu mhath leam tighinn gu bhith ball na coimhearsnachd sin - ach 's e sin a' cheart thrioblaid. Thuig mi gun robh ùidh na bu mhotha agam anns an raon shòisealta na anns an raon spioradail/fheallsanachail.

A dh'aindheoin a h-uile rud, 's e creideamh a tha ann an Cuaigearachd; tha cuideam ro mhòr air Dia innte air mo shonsa. Cuideachd, ged a tha mi a' creidsinn ann an onair, chan eil mi a' creidsinn gur ann an còmhnaidh a tha fìrinn nas fheàrr na breug. Agus ged as lugha orm fòirneart neo-fheumail, chan eil mi air a bhith riamh nam shìochantair.

Seadh, dh'fhaodainn leigeil orm gun robh mi a' sireadh mo fheallsanachd fhathast. Ach cha bhiodh sin onarach - agus cha bhiodh sin cothromach dhaibhsan a bharrachd.

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This is uncanny

2012-02-04T02:08:00.003Z

Seems I've landed a job. Don't want to jinx it, ach tha e coltach gu bheil am probability about 99% at the moment. Cha chreid mi gun còrd e rium gu mòr either, ach - unless I find myself wanting - còrdaidh an t-airgead. Not royal, but comparatively high for an unqualified labourer - gu h-àraidh san t-suidheachadh eaconamach seo. Agus chan e just a weekend or a one-week job - a rèir choltais, bu chòir dha mairsinn co-dhiù gus am foghar seo.

So far, so good. But I also managed to have my next visit at the dentist shifted to an earlier date, so as not to take a day off just after starting an obair ùr sin; fhuair mi confirmation that it was shifted sufficiently; meanwhile am P45 bhon fhastaiche mu dheireadh agam arrived (cha robh mi cinnteach an tig e idir); agus—

See, I came to this country because I love it. So I want to play it fair. Ach nuair a bha mi ag amas to the particular webpage from which you pay the TV license mu dheireadh thall, thadhail mi air na faclan "If you only watch catch-up services online, then you don’t need a licence. For example, you don’t need one to use BBC iPlayer, or ITV player, to catch up on programmes after they have been shown on TV." As I don't expect sth like this one-off to happen again in the foreseeable future (talking years rather than months here - 's dòcha gum bidh mi a' coimhead nuair a bhios the referendum results coming in in 2014), cho-dhùin mi gun do shàbhail mi £145.

Finally, cha mhòr nach robh dèidheadh orm idir tron latha - unlike yesterday.

So much luck in a single day is uncanny. I'm not used to this at all. Tha an t-eagal orm gun tachair something uabhasach pretty soon.

But to paraphrase CSN&Y, "I won't give in an inch to fear. I feel I owe it to myself".

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Fiaclan

2012-02-01T23:39:00.002Z

Mar a bha Škvorecký ag ràdh, "embarrassing symbols". (Chan fheuch mi ri sin eadar-theangachadh - chan eil fiù 's an abairt Bheurla ro fhaisg air an "trapné symboly" tùsail.) B' e "fiacal na ràithe" san iris Chothrom gheamhraidh '11 fiacail. Agus b' ann aig deireadh na bliadhna sin a thuit pàirt dhe tè agam a-mach.

Nuair a thuit pàirt dhe tè eile o chionn cola-deug, agus an dà a' goirteachadh an-dràsta 's a-rithist, bha agam ri dhol a thadhal air fiaclaire. A chionn 's nach robh bliadhna làn seachad bhon a dh'fhalbh mi "ullamh" à oifis aig fiaclaire eile, chuir na sheall an tè ùr dhomh iongnadh mì-thlachdmhor orm:

An-dè, chuir a' BhBC bhidio mu ionad fiaclaireachd ùr ann am Port Rìgh air, agus an-diugh, fhuair mi a' chiad dà lìonan.

O, cha robh e cho dona. Fìrinn innse, tha e coltach gur ann fada nas sgileile am fiaclaire seo na an tè sean agam. Ge-tà, chan eil fiughair orm ris an às-tharraing an ath sheachdainn idir...

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Those pandas

2012-02-01T14:52:00.001Z

Journalists and bloggers considering the independence referendum often mention the Edinburgh zoo pandas. It seemed to me that the joke was rather trite, but perhaps it just looks like a joke. Consider: last Sunday, when BBC visitors thought that the most interesting story worldwide was the Euro crisis and the UK-related one that concerning the RBS boss' bonus, they also found the Scottish matter of topmost urgency the health of those pandas. Go figure.

Air pollution alert service

2012-01-30T23:53:00.000Z

One of the things which surprised me most after coming to Glasgow was the air. Having spent the previous nineteen years in a city which is about four times smaller, near a mountain range covered with forests, surrounded by an area full of artificial lakes, and with comparatively little "heavy" industry, I came to allegedly the most industrial and therefore polluted city in Scotland - and the air felt cleaner than the one I had been used to.

I'm positive it is. But if you have medical (or other) reasons to be concerned about the pollution in Glasgow or, for that matter, the Central Belt as a whole, Dundee, Aberdeen and a few other places in Scotland, there's a website on which you can check the pollution level on a map or in a table.

You can even subscribe to get an email or a text sent each time the once-a-day updated pollution forecast exceeds a certain level.

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Uinneagan cearcaill

2012-01-29T22:41:00.002Z

Nam faighnicheadh sibh dhomh carson as fheàrr leam ailtireachd Ghlaschu na an tè Bhudweis, dh'fhaodainn bruidhinn mu dheidhinn iomadh rud – gur ann nas àilne a' chlach na a' choncrait; gur ann nas snoige na breigirean mur eil sglàib orra; gu bheil na dathan an-seo, uill, nas deusanta, nas urramaichte na iad an-sin; dè cho neo-chòrdail a tha togalaichean aosda agus ùr-nòsach a' coimhead ri taobh a chèile anns an dà àite; agus mar sin sìos.

Ge-tà, 's iad sin feartan coitcheann. Nam faighnicheadh sibh mu dheidhinn mion-chunntais air choireigin, theirinn sa bhad: uinneagan cearcaill. Tha iad cho bòidheach – agus tha iad cho pailt ann an Glaschu agus cho gann ann am Budweis. Gu dearbh, chan eil cuimhn' agam air a bhith riamh ann an seòmar le tè nuair a' bha mi a' fuireach sa Phoblachd, ach a-mhàin mar neach-turais sa chaisteal no rudeigin mar sin.

Bhon a ghluais mi dha bloc eile ann an Cùirt Cnoc Giuthaich, tha mi fiù 's a' fuireach ann am flat aig a tha tè sa chidsin. Uill, 's mathaid gum biodh "uinneag leth-chearcaill" abairt na bu phongaile: chan eil leòsain ach ann an dà thaobh dhith. Co-dhiù, tha mi a' còrdadh rium glan!

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Referendum question announced – and reacted to

2012-01-29T20:04:00.000Z

As you all now, on Wednesday the SNP published the question they want to see on the ballot paper as “Do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country?” Quite simple – in English at least – and straightforward. Well, apparently it isn't, judging from some of the reactions.

It's not surprising that Labour sees the question as "loaded", although they probably wouldn't like the proposal of a Merc commentator to turn the question round to “Do you agree that Scotland should be a dependent country?” either. I can hardly imagine a question they wouldn't find a fault with as long as anybody else than themselves thought it up.

It's not surprising that the Lib Dems refused to take any stance - they rarely do, nowadays. It's more surprising the Tories were, for once, quite consistent.

It's even hardly surprising that an American academic thinks the question will send the voters “down a particular cognitive chute designed to locate agreements rather than disagreements”. He obviously thinks that somebody who cares enough to go to vote can still not care enough to avoid being at the very last moment influenced by the question, which for some reason he'd never heard or seen before. But then being American he can simply assume the rest of the world to be as stupid as the rest of the world tends to assume the Americans to be.

What is surprising though, is a professor of politics at Strathclyde University saying “The UK government asked for a straightforward question and this is a straightforward question. That said, I do think you can question the question. If you say ‘you agree with me, don’t you?’ then you are almost obliged to say ‘yes’ to that person. So it is questionable.”

No sir it isn't, except in the sense that anything is questionable – not by that analogy. Because the question isn't “You agree that Scotland should be an independent country, don't you?” The question is “Do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country?” and anybody who would vote “Yes” because of the way it's phrased shouldn't probably have the right to vote at all until not just 16-year-olds, but even 8-year-olds have a right to vote as well, because he's no more brains than them.

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Campsie Fells

2012-01-29T00:36:00.007Z

There are few things which fill one with such fleeting but intense feeling of elation as unexpectedly coming across the answer to a question one wasn't able to find out however hard one tried.

Since the first time I climbed up the Ruchill Park hillock I wondered what was the name of the range of mountains I could see towards the north, and of its leftmost hill.

All my attempts at finding out through Google Earth and Ordnance Survey failed. Admittedly, my sense of direction was always poor, and that's a euphemism.

Until the other day I read John Porter's article describing his trip to Ben Venue. At the second last paragraph he says, "Agus nuair a choimhead sinn gu deas chunnaic sinn Monadh Champsaidh faisg air Glaschu". Cothrom being a bilingual magazine, I only had to turn my eyes to the right-hand column with the article's English version and there it was: Campsie Fells.

After that, making sure in GE & OS that this was really what I had been looking for was a piece of cake. As was, now I knew where to look, finding the name of that hill: Earl's Seat.

Who knows, maybe one day I'll come across the name of the wind farm visible from the park on the southward horizon.

ETA: Oh my. Did some research in the 'pedia and it seems it's the famous Whitelee, no less...

G. K. Chesterton: The Ball and the Cross

2012-01-28T01:31:00.000Z

Why shouldn't we quarrel about a word? What is the good of words if they aren't important enough to quarrel over? Why do we choose one word more than another if there isn't any difference between them?

Gilbert Keith Chesterton is one of my favourite authors. That doesn't mean that (like other favourite authors of mine) he doesn't every now and then disappoint me. Which happened with this book.

The format is the one that later used to be employed in the so-called "socialist realism": two heroes, one of them a stalwart supporter of the one and only correct ideology, the other a good guy in his heart of hearts, but misled by his personal history into being that ideology's enemy. For this or that reason they have to spend some time together, during which time the latter first discovers that the former is not a devil's reincarnation, then befriends him, then he himself sees the light and embraces The Truth.

The only difference is that Chesterton does not promote a communist party, but the Catholic Church. (Not so much of a difference, if you ask me.) And that he is a better writer than his socialist followers. Still, a much worse one than he himself was in, for instance, The Napoleon of Notting Hill or The Flying Inn.

Why is it, that even the best authors, and even those who can write a fascinating novel when promoting an idea, are only able to write something so-so tolerable when they promote an ideology?

Oh well. The above quotation at least made having read the book worthwhile to me. Come to think of it, the whole passage is good:

"Murder is a sin," said the immovable Highlander. "There is no sin of bloodshed."
"Well, we won't quarrel about a word," said the other, pleasantly.
"Why on earth not?" said MacIan, with a sudden asperity. "Why shouldn't we quarrel about a word? What is the good of words if they aren't important enough to quarrel over? Why do we choose one word more than another if there isn't any difference between them? If you called a woman a chimpanzee instead of an angel, wouldn't there be a quarrel about a word? If you're not going to argue about words, what are you going to argue about? Are you going to convey your meaning to me by moving your ears? The Church and the heresies always used to fight about words, because they are the only things worth fighting about. I say that murder is a sin, and bloodshed is not, and that there is as much difference between those words as there is between the word 'yes' and the word 'no'; or rather more difference, for 'yes' and 'no', at least, belong to the same category. Murder is a spiritual incident. Bloodshed is a physical incident. A surgeon commits bloodshed."

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Àm a' ruith a-mach

2012-01-25T23:36:00.000Z

Seadh, thòisich rèis leis an àm. Uill, rèis... cha tèid agam air ruith nas ealaimhe, mar gum biodh. 'S urrainn dhomh an ìre mhath dìreach feitheamh dè a thig nas luaithe.

Tha aon rud gu bhith soilleir: ma bhios mi meadhanach caomhantach, bidh airgead gu leòr agam airson fuireach an-seo gu deireadh a' Ghearrain - màl, biadh, toitein 's a h-uile rud. Rè an ama sin, 's èiginn dhomh tobar airgid sam bith fhaighinn. (B' urrain dhomh fuireach rud beag na b' fhaide nam biodh cinnt agam gu bhios e a' tighinn mar thà.) Mura faigheadh...

Triantan ⁊ leth-chearcall feòir ann am Pàirc Ruchill

Mura faigheadh, bidh agam ri tilleadh dhan Phoblachd fhuckin Theiceach, an t-airgead a tha agam an-siud a chruinneachadh, gnothaichean fosgailte uile a dhùnadh, agus dòigh air tighinn air ais a lorg. A' tighinn air ais airson fantainn gu bràth, eadhon nam biodh sin a' ciallachadh ùine ghoirid. Cha bu thoil leam sin idir, bhiodh sin toinnte gu mòr.

B' fheàrr leam fantainn a-nise mu thràth, agus a' dol dhan Phoblachd dìreach mar aoigh airson na cùisean sin a chrìochnachadh. Ach ge be dè a thachras, tha mi am beachd na làithean a tha dìreach romham a mhealladh. Cha chaith mi iad leis a bhith fo iomagain.

(Ùrachadh: eadar sgrìobhadh is postadh seo, fhuair mi gairm fòn: tha e coltach gum bi mi ag obair a-rithist, co-dhiù an deireadh seachdain seo. Agus bha mi sa BhBC... ach nas motha mu dhedhinn sin ann am blog eile.)
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Leabharlann Mhitcheill

2012-01-23T22:30:00.005Z

Rachainn seachad air am Mitchell Library gach latha-obrach rè an dà mhìos mu dheireadh an-uiridh, ach cha robh mi a-steach air gus an Diciadain seo chaidh.

Tha an Uicipeid Bheurla ag ràdh gur e "the largest public reference library in Europe" a tha ann. Uill, cha do lorg mi stòr sam bi eile a' dearbhadh na h-agairte seo ach a-mhàin stòir Albannach. Ach, suim nan leabhraichean no farsaingeachd an àite, tha e fada nas motha na leabharlann sam bith eile anns a tha mise air a bhith riamh. Agus cha chreid mi gum faca mi riamh cho mòran sheòmraichean-leughaidh no seòmraichean-leughaidh cho mòr a bharrachd.

Cha robh fhios agam gun do sgrìobh Ruairidh MacIlleathain leabhar Gàidhlig mu dheidhinn mhurt ainmeil, ach chunnaic mi e anns an t-seòmar ri taobh a' chafaidh. Cuideachd, meud nan leabhraichean eachdraidheil no diadhaireach - leabhraichean mu Zhen, Tibetan Buddhism no Cuaigearan san àireamh...

Bha e math tadhal ann. Tha cus agam ri leughadh an-dràsta; ge-tà, nuair nach bi, chanainn gur e an leabharlann seo an t-àite far a thèid mi airson leughadh eile fhaighinn.

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Les Chansons d'amour

2012-01-22T23:45:00.001Z

I came across the Ma mémoire sale video by sheer accident, but I liked it a lot. Well, not enough to immediately pursue the matter more than reading the film's 'pedia article. After a few months, I also saw J'ai cru entendre, and eventually, having seen As-tu déjà aimé? (and read the three songs' lyrics), I decided to buy the DVD.

Frankly, I was somewhat disappointed. Being a cynic I can happily admit that what I wanted to see most was more of Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet, who looks simply gorgeous. He only appears after half the film is over, and in just one song I hadn't already seen. (Moreover, this also means that the first half of the film is purely straight-and-lesbian.)

Still, I don't regret the purchase. There are two moments I would otherwise miss. First, the scene where Alice asks Erwann whether he and Ismaël are together. I wouldn't be surprised if he agreed, whether happily or cautiously, or disagreed, whether gloomily or insicerely, or was evasive or... but I certainly didn't expect this. The all-of-a-sudden cheerful smile and especially the phrasing of the answer, "J' espère que si", set me literally laughing with pleasure.

The other moment? Finding out that the splendid sentence with which one of the songs I had seen on YT ends, "Aime-moi moins mais aime-moi longtemps", is actually the very last sentence of the whole film...

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Necropolis

2012-01-22T18:27:00.001Z

One of the more noticeable differences between people in Glasgow and in Budweis is that Glaswegians are much more easy-going. This takes various forms; one of them surprised me when visiting for the first time the Glasgow Necropolis a short time ago.

Not entirely certain about the rules concerning headgear in cemeteries, I removed my cap while crossing the bridge which leads there. I didn't walk bare-headed for long, though, for presently I met a couple with a dog. It was a windy day and walking with the cap in my hand in a place where unleashed dogs were allowed seemed as exaggerating the piety.

I was definitively reassured I was doing nothing considered to be bad form when some time later I saw another couple having their snack there. It may be a burial ground, but that obviously doesn't mean that people are expected to behave as if a burial was currently going on.

And somehow this gave me the impression of a more close connection between the people of today and those of the past than the cemeteries I have known. Something like the difference between an ancient house still lived in and one turned into museum.

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The blackout and other this week's news

2012-01-21T23:03:00.002Z

Rupert Murdoch tweeted to support SOPA & PIPA and call Google a "piracy leader". Perhaps under the illusion that the bills, if passed, might stop search engines show links to webpages informing about phone hacking as well.

Perhaps they might. Apparently they are as vague as to allow censorship of all sorts.

None the less, several websites staged a 24-hour blackout protest against them. Unsurprisingly, in general their dedication to profit was inversely proportional to how far-reaching the blackout was.

Politicians took notice and some of them withdraw their support for the bills. Not to be more popular among the electorate, you see, they were convinced by the legislative arguments of the opponents, which they hadn't heard before.

Funnily enough, just after that one of the Internet's largest file-sharing sites was shut down and its founders arrested in New Zealand, proving that even without the proposed new laws the US Justice Department is pretty powerful indeed even beyond the US borders.

In other news, Donald Trump claimed he wouldn't build his golf resort in Aberdeenshire if the plans for a near wind farm were approved. Now this is a twist in the story. With the opposition there had been to the golf course to begin with, does he really think he made a threat?

Elsewhere, a woman was fined for expressing her opinions on the Net in a politically incorrect language. If this sort of thing continues, there's the end of social networking: everybody will be too scared of "defaming" somebody to actually post anything.

Another example of this development is the case of Tom Harris, who was ditched by his colleagues for defaming their opponens before the latter even protested. (Unrelated diversion: That article reminded me of a blog I once wrote: this time, I had to look up Downfall, "Keep calm and carry on", Jimmy Krankie and chicken korma in the 'pedia.)

Meanwhile, a research into work-related benefits revealed that actually British-born are much more likely to receive these than immigrants: which on the one hand means that fears of "benefit tourism" are unnecessary; on the other hand it can mean that we are robbing natives of jobs they could otherwise get.

Maybe that's why so many young people are unemployed. The situation seems to be so desperate that some argue for ways of making people unemployable since the age of 55. Much better than hinting to the young that if they were willing to condescend to learn a second language, they might be as employable on the Continent as people from the Continent are in the Isles.

There are good news too though: the bill to re-introduce the double summer time was blocked, for the time being at least. Tom Harris stars here again, virtually claiming that if political Anglo-Scottish controversies are overcome, geographical differences will disappear as well.

And finally... of course, that referendum. It seems that after last week's sabre-rattling, ~~haggling~~ oops, I meant serious negotiating has begun.

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Dathan bhrataichean

2012-01-21T20:52:00.000Z

Mhothaich mi dha rud neo-chudromach ach inntinneach o chionn ghoirid.

Nuair a bha mi a' fuireach ann am Brno (bliadhnaichean a b' fheàrr de mo bheatha), bha bratach nam baile geal is dearg agus bratach nan dùthcha buidhe is dearg:

As dèidh dhomh dh'imrich dham Budweis (far an robh mi a' fuireach na b' fhaide na ann an àite sam bith eile), bha bratach nam baile buidhe is dearg agus bratach nan dùthcha geal is dearg:

Hmm. Chan ann eadhon cho inntinneach mar a choimhead e an toiseach a tha e...

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Julian Barnes: The Sense of an Ending

2012-01-17T22:29:00.000Z

Generally I'm not interested in what either critics or sales figures say about a novel. Still, the Booker Prize was once won by one of the books I have read several times (and hopefully will again one day), Salman Rushdie's Midnight Children. When the 2011 winner was announced last October, I realized I had quite a few old books in my Kindle to take with me to Scotland (courtesy of their being out of copyright and the Gutenberg project), but almost none that was published during my life and that I hadn't read yet. I found a short synopsis somewhere, and since that looked reasonably promising, I bought the book.

Like Ut og stjæle hester some years ago, it's narrated by a character old enough to be in retirement. Both the books have only a middling appeal to me as far as the story goes, the Norwegian one dealing too much with childhood and the English one too much with the male-female relationship (though admittedly Barnes - or his character - is as cynical about women as Kingsley Amis was). Yet both make up for this by being told in a beautifully calm, unhurried, sedate manner - and by using the story as a skeleton upon which to hang many small pertinent observations. In a manner of speaking, it was not the happenings, but the commentary that really appealed to me.

Of course, most of these observations are either too long or too related to their imminent context to be used as quotations. Nevertheless, I did write down to my quotebook as many as seven. Here they are (not in the order in which they appear in the book):

This last isn't something I actually saw, but what you end up remembering isn't always the same as what you have witnessed.

If I can't be sure of the actual events any more, I can at least be true to the impressions those facts left. That's the best I can manage.

How often do we tell our own life story? How often do we adjust, embellish, make sly cuts? And the longer life goes on, the fewer are those around to challenge our account, to remind us that our life is not our life, merely the story we have told about our life. Told to others, but - mainly - to ourselves.

So my emotions as they actually are don't concern her. She prefers to assume that I have certain feelings and operate according to that assumption.

No: I exaggerate, I misrepresent. [....] Living alone has its moments of self-pity and paranoia.

But if nostalgia means the powerful recollection of strong emotions - and a regret that such feelings are no longer present in our lives - then I plead guilty.

The less time there remains in your life, the less you want to waste it. That's logical, isn't it? Though how you use the saved-up hours ... well, that's another thing you probably wouldn't have predicted in youth. For instance, I spend a lot of time clearing things up - and I'm not even a messy person. [....] I've achieved a state of peaceableness, even peacefulness. Because I get on with things. I don't like mess, and I don't like leaving a mess.

Twice on IT news

2012-01-16T23:20:00.002Z

(1) IT in English schools

According to the BBC, the education secretary Michael Gove and his adviser, computer games entrepreneur Ian Livingstone, want the current curriculum which means "children bored out of their minds being taught how to use Word or Excel by bored teachers" turned into a "flexible curriculum in computer science and programming" resulting in "11-year-olds able to write simple 2D computer animations, 16-year-olds creating their own apps for smartphones and 18-year-olds able to write their own simple programming language".

BBC: School ICT to be replaced by computer science programme

I don't want to look as a wet blanket, but I remember that the basics of programming, DOS, Basic and suchlike, were exactly what they were trying to teach us way back when I was having IT lessons. Most of us hardly learned anything and man, were we bored to death!

(2) New top-level domains

Elsewhere, the ICANN began accepting applications for new TLDs, and a Californian group named dotgay LLC applied for the domain .gay in order that it might "serve as a common platform for enhancing the resources, visibility and solidarity of the LGBT community".

PinkNews: US group aims for ‘dot gay’ web domain

It's sort of strange. I always identified as gay first and Scots after that. Yet somehow I'm more interested in the success of the .scot domain than the GLBT one

But then, I always preferred to put emphasis on how much gays and straights have in common, rather than on what makes them different.

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Wikiworld in a few words

2012-01-15T00:40:00.003Z

I'm checking my en-wiki watchlist daily, my gd-wiki and en-wikt ones almost daily, seldom visit (let alone work in) other projects. As chance would have it though, I haven't come across the following joke in any of the three named above, but in (English) Wikisource, on Ningauble's userpage.

It's not exceptionally funny; its appeal is based on the fact that it describes the whole Wikiworld rather succinctly - and rather precisely. As Ningauble meanwhile removed it from his userpage, I'm transferring it here:

Q: How many Wikimedians does it take to change a light bulb?
A: All of them – everything is done by consensus.

Q: No, really, how many Wikimedians does it take to change a light bulb?
A: No need to ask – just be bold and do it yourself!

Q: Isn't that contradictory?
A: Yes.

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Cofaidh

2012-01-09T23:18:00.001Z

Chan eil mi am measg nan daoine a chleachdas cofaidh an aghaidh cadail. 'S ann tric a dh'òlas mi cupa cofaidh dìreach mus rach mi dhan leabaidh - agus bidh mi a' cadal cho math 's mur òlainn e.

Mar sin, ged as àbhaist dhomh coimhead air strip ùr Daddy's Home le Rubino is Markstein gach latha, thuig mi am fear seo ach cha do chuir e gàire orm.

Cha robh no am fear a lean e.

Ach tha mi nam thràill cofaidh gun teagamh. Chan chreididh mi gun do thòisich latha ùr mar bu chòir gus an toir mi a' chiad chupa, agus bu fhìor thoil leam an treas fear san t-sreath.

Bu toil agus an ceathramh. Tha ùidh agam am bi tuilleadh a' tighinn...

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Rugbaidh

2012-01-04T23:42:00.000Z

Chan eil ùidh agam ann an rugbaidh. Leis an fhìrinn innse, chan eil ùidh agam ann am maids spòrsa sam bith mur aithne dhomh fear dhe na farpaisich - aithe pearsanta, tha mi a' ciallachadh.

Là na Bliahdn' Ùire seo ge-tà, nuair a chunnaic mi a' mhòr-shluagh a' dol seachad air an uinneig agam (tha an ostail dìreach ri taobh Lann-cluiche Cnoc an Ghiuthais), agus fhios agam nach robh Partick Thistle a' cluich , rinn mi rannsachadh sgiobalta agus fhuair mi a-mach gun robh na Glasgow Warriors a' cluich an aghaidh sgioba Dhùn Èideann - agus mhothaich mi gun robh am maids air BhBC Alba.

Bha e beagan neònach a bhith nam shuidhe anns an t-seòmar agam, le maids a bha air a chluich nas lugha na ceud meatair bhuamsa air an laptop agam. Ach chan eil ùidh agam ann an rugbaidh, 's mar sin, chluich mise dà gheama 囲碁 air PandaNet an àite coimhead air.

Bha mi toilichte gun do cheangail an laptop ris an t-server gun thrioblaid sam bith, eadhon gun iarraidh facal-faire orm, ged a bha seo a' chiad uair a bha mi a' ceangal à Alba. Cha robh mi cho toilichte nuair a chaill mi an dà gheama le chèile. Co-dhiù, bhuannaich na Warriors.

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Chaochail Josef Škvorecký

2012-01-03T22:14:00.004Z

Leugh mi mòran leabhraichean anns mo bheatha. Am measg a seachd as fheàrr dhiubh (air mo shon-sa), chaidh a ceithir air a sgrìobhadh le Sasannaich, a dhà le Ameireaganaich, agus a h-aon, Mìorbhail, le Teiceach. Josef Škvorecký.

Tha fhios gun do rinn sin mi brònach. Tha cho mòran sgrìobhadairean fàbharach agamsa marbh mu thràth: Kingsley Amis, G. K. Chesterton, David Gemmell, Joseph Heller, James Herriot, Compton Mackenzie, J. D. Salinger, Jack Schaefer, Josef Škvorecký, John Steinbeck, Kurt Vonnegut, H. G. Wells, ...

Bha agam ri dhol dhan chunntas LibraryThing agam. Fhuair mi a-mach gu bheil grunn eile beò: Patrick Gale, James Hawes, David Lodge, Richard Morgan, Terry Pratchett, Salman Rushdie, Irvine Welsh, ...

Seadh, tha sgrìobhadairean mìorbhaileach beò fhathast. Ach chan eil ùghdar Mìorbhail nam measg tuilleadh...

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Most visited BBC 2011 news stories

2012-01-02T18:35:00.000Z

If you live under the delusion that people visit websites of the so-called serious news media primarily in search of important matters, you can disabuse yourself of that silly notion by having a look at the 10 BBC stories with the highest numbers of page views in 2011.

Behind the winning windstorm of 8 December, which certainly was the most relevant affair at the time, you can see, in this order:

an attack on a football pitch
the funniest joke from the Fringe
an anecdote from a shopping centre
a royal wedding and
a betting fraud arrest

until you get to the parliamentary election's outstanding result in the seventh place.

What follows is:

an unlucky end to a restaurant contest
a glitch in a supermarket booze price and
another glitch, affecting a fireworks show.

Perhaps there is a difference between "quality" and tabloid journalists. There doesn't seem to be much of a difference between the readers though, does there?

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Àm strì ri feitheamh

2012-01-01T17:26:00.002Z

Uill, tha am bliadhna 2012 air tòiseachadh. Tha dà latha dheth eile romhainn, agus an dèidh sin, feumaidh mi oidhirp dhian a dhèanamh air obair fhaighinn gus cumail is seatlaigeadh san dùthaich seo gu bràth.

Sealladh a-staigh Cathair-eaglais Dhùn Chailleinn

Chan eil e coltach gun lorg mi, mar Mr. Polly, Potwell Inn air choireigin agamsa. Ach tha mi moiteil gun do dh'fhalbh mi, mar gum biodh, às am baile beag Fishbourne.

Chanainn gu bheil mi nas coltaiche ri Monte Walsh, agus na làithean rainse Slash Y seachad o chionn fhada. Ach mar a tha The Levellers a' seinn, "I swear that we ain't getting any younger / But we'll chase all of our dreams all the same".

'S dòcha gu bheil mi mar Mhike Perham, agus a dh'aindheoin cho mòran bhacaidhean is dhàlaichean a chur, agus a chuireas fhathast, mo chrannchur romham, ruigidh mi an t-amas as motha a th' agam. So, an trianaid agam a-rithist: fortan, misneachd is foighidinn - agus soirbhichidh mi fhathast.

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2011

2012-01-01T00:12:00.005Z

I won't go further into the past. But if 2007 was a year of touching the emotional and moral bottom, then beginning to rise again; 2008 a year of rediscovering community life, then finding out the immense possibilities the Net offers to somebody as idiosyncratic as me; 2009 a year of being fully involved in the virtual Web life, then learning not to be overdoing it; and 2010 the year of revisiting my country and undergoing a change of perspective with regard to my future life; how shall I describe 2011?

Possibly as a year of tidying up after a lifelong existence in one land then moving into another. Only interested in keeping new jobs for long enough to ensure my financial situation remained more or less unchanged, I was for significant periods of time unemployed. Yet not idle. I finished editing my diaries up to the watershed summer of 2007, cleared a lot of the mess I had done even after that, largely put my laptop and Net matters in (better) order, in short mostly covered my affairs in the old country. And throughout all the time my determination to move was increasing, rather than diminishing. So that when an opportunity of moving presented itself earlier than expected, I was ready to grab it and go.

True, I still may have to return. But if that happens, it won't be for long. I'll be back - and I'll be back for good. This is my country, the one I love above all the rest of the world, the one in which I mean to spend the rest of my life and die.

Particularities?

Friends: All the contacts with my former rehab fellows are broken, except for the therapists. That stage of my life too became a thing of the past, a matter of nostalgia only. Like the Tech: the reunion we had was marvellous, but these reunions no longer constitute the meaning of my life. As for Rob, after two months of living over 900 miles as the crow flies apart, our relationship doesn't so far show any signs of weakening.

Languages: my English hasn't improved much, even my knowledge of Scottish English has grown less than would befit a two-month stay; the more progress I have done sa Ghàidhlig. Am fuaimneachadh sa chiad àite, taing do Bhlas na Gàidhlig; ge-tà, taing do rudan eile chaidh am briathrachas (agus fèin-earbsa) agam a leasachadh cuideachd.

Books: I've read, both in print and on Kindle, several old ones (most notably the last favourite of mine I still hadn't read in the original - Monte Walsh) and several new ones, some of them quite good as well, though none as oustanding as a few the year before. Or perhaps a part of my mind was too occupied by the move all the time.

The Web: remains an inseparable part of my life - but since I came here, I no longer spend almost all my leisure time online. I'm able to enjoy "real life" once again. For the first time since I became connected, there are more things I want and plan to do offline in a beginning year.

GLBT: nothing of much importance this year as far as I'm concerned, except the hen at the SNP conference who finally put the thing into the right perspective: there shouldn't be a discussion of whether or not should gays be allowed to marry in a church. There should be a state marriage as the basic partnership, and a discussion on which churches' marriages can be allowed to count as if they were state ones.

Global: well there was the Arab Spring, the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the Euro troubles, the Iraqi nuclear programme, the English riots, Kim Jong-il's death and so forth and so forth, but from the Scottish point of view they were naturally all overshadowed by the SNP parliamentary victory in May. Although personally I do regret the adverse effect the Westminster coalition had on the Lib Dem vote.

Summary? It would have been a somewhat mediocre year - but the end made it an outstanding one. My only wish for the next one is that it will keep up what this one has begun. Ay, uncle Alister, there we have it. And I realize that what 2012 will look like depends a lot on me. But come to think of it, chan ann dìreach sa Ghàdhlig: tha mi a' cumail a dh'fhàs nas fhèin-earbsaiche san fharsaingeachd.

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NHS

2011-12-30T22:26:00.002Z

This doesn't trouble me because of any urgency directly affecting me (although I realize such urgencies usually arrive out of the blue), but because it proves that after more than three years of spending huge amounts of time on the Web I can still be unable to find there an information so basic that there's no doubt it's there.

I understand the system in the Czech Republic. Your employer assigns you some gross pay, from which he then deducts three portions: tax, social insurance and health insurance. The former two are managed by the state, the latest by individual health insurance companies. You're obliged to be registered at one of these and you have a card stating which one it is. When you visit a doctor, you show him this card so he knows who to contact for remuneration for the care he's given you. If you don't have one, he can refuse to treat you and if the Hippocratic Oath doesn't force him to, no law will.

When I was leaving the republic I returned the card to the company as advised. The fact that I would be working abroad, thus paying insurance abroad, and consequently also covered by a different system, was treated by them as a matter of fact.

Now here in the UK you apparently only get the tax and the national insurance deducted. Tax is obvious, and apparently the UK national insurance fulfills the same role that the Czech social insurance does. But despite all my efforts I was unable to find out whether it also covers the health insurance. What's certain is that I've got no card. Worse, I've no idea whether in need I'm entitled to any medical care (and if so, which) without paying more than just a token amount, as I would be in the CR. After all, I've no idea whether I have contributed anything to the UK NHS.

So far I luckily hasn't needed any doctor. Nevertheless, I'm pretty much annoyed by my inability to find this information, as it simply must be obtainable from several dozen websites.

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Eagal ro Ghlaschu

2011-12-30T21:17:00.004Z

Seo agaibh eisimpleir eile mar a tha gu tric eagal oirnn ro rudeigin dìreach oir nach eil sinn eòlach air.

Nuair a bha mi a' sireadh companaidhean Teacach a bha a' tairgsinn obair ann an Alba an-uiridh, cha do lorg mi tè le cothrom ann an àite sam bith ach a-mhàin Glaschu. Bha mi mì-thoilichte le sin, oir bha eagal mòr orm ro Ghlaschu: nam eanchainn, feumaidh gu bheil baile cho mòr làn eucorach. Feumaidh gur ann glè chunnartach a bhith a' coiseachd air sràid as dèidh dol fodha na grèine ann agus mar sin sìos.

O chionn trì mìosan, nuair a bha fios agam mu thràth gum b' e Glaschu gu dearbh an t-àite dham biodh mi a' dol a dh'fhuireach, bha gach naidheachd BhBC mu dheidhinn eucoir ùr air choireigin ann gam dhèanamh na bu nearbhaiche. Bha mi a' smaoineachadh, glè mhath, toiseach tòiseachaidh ann an Glaschu, ach teichidh mi cho luath 's a thèid agam.

Tha mi air a bhith cha mhòr dà mhìos an-seo a-nis, agus, mar a sgrìobh mi uair no dhà mar-thà, 's toil leam a' bhaile dha-rìribh, ged a b' fheàrr leam fear na bu lugha ann an Siorrachd Pheairt. Adhbhar a h-aon, tha e fada nas bòidhche na bha dùil agam; adhbhar a dhà, tha mi eòlach air grunnan àiteachan aige, dh'fhàs mi cleachdte riutha, agus mar sin, chan eil eagal orm ron bhaile san fharsaingeachd tuilleadh.

Co-dhiù no co-dheth, chan eil eagal nas motha orm an-seo na ann am Budweis.

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Staying

2011-12-29T00:21:00.007Z

Can finding out you're a prize twat make you happy sometimes? Och ay, it can.

A couple of weeks ago we were asked which of us wanted to continue working for Amazon after Christmas. At the same time we were told that those who did would be able to stay at the student hostel, but would have to move, by 11 January, to a different block.

Nevertheless, we had no certainty Amazon would want us to stay as well. So I began looking for another accommodation. And from the day they did fire me, my efforts intensified every other day.

I wasn't lucky. I answered many an advertisement and went to several "viewings", but either I got no reply to my initial email, or it turned out the costs were actually considerably higher than advertised, or the lessor decided he liked another lessee-to-be more... And twice there seemed to be something fishy about the lease to me, so I turned the offer down. But I was becoming desperate.

Until the night before yesterday's. Listening to some guys who'd already moved block at the "smoking area" it occurred to me that as far as I knew, not all of them were Amazon employees. To my great surprise I learned that only two of the hostel's four blocks are reserved for students, that I can move block and stay as long as I want (and pay, of course) regardless of whether I'm a student, an Amazon employee, or neither.

I'm a nitpicker, but I'm also a neurotic, so I had misinterpreted "if you go on with Amazon, you can stay but have to move block" as "if you don't go on with Amazon, you can't stay".

That revelation happened two nights ago. Tonight, I'm already typing this in the other block, and in a room which I don't share with another guy. (I got along with my roommate quite well; still, not having to share the desk, the bed (never mind it's only half as wide), the toilet, the wardrobe... the room is absolutely worth the higher price - which after all isn't higher than many I was ready to accept elsewhere.)

So after all these nerve-racking days, the only anxiety which remains is getting a job. Yet in my tonight's mood I'm finding it easy to trust I'll succeed even in that department.

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Is there a Gaelic word for "adventure"?

2011-12-28T23:06:00.005Z

When you have studied a second language for some time, you'll find out that some words are untranslatable. For example, you can translate particular kinds of babočka into English - but not the umbrella term babočka itself. In the opposite direction, various finches do have their Czech names - but the word finch itself has no Czech counterpart. (In dictionaries you'll see it translated as pěnkava - but that word only covers the chaffinch and the brambling.)

Then there are words whose translations do exist - only they're not to be found in dictionaries. For instance the transitive Czech verb zakřiknout in its figurative sense. Those few dictionaries which feature it at all translate it as "touch wood" - which is something altogether different. Zakřiknout means to prevent something desirable from happening by talking about it beforehand. It was only last year, and by sheer accident, that I came across the word jinx.

The same thing is happening now to me not just with Czech and English words, but also with Gaelic ones. In one of my Gaelic blogs around the beginning of my stay in Glasgow I wanted to mention that one of the ways I look at the experience is its being an adventure. I've tried all the dictionaries I could, and found lots of translations - but all of them seemed to put emphasis on something different than what an "adventure" means to me - the fact that it combines daring with expecting unexpected things to happen.

Ah well. Maybe one day I'll come across such a word just as I came across jinx.

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Trì bàsan

2011-12-27T19:58:00.000Z

Chaochail trì fir ainmeil taobh a-staigh grunnan latha o chionn ghoirid: Christopher Hitchens, Václav Havel agus 김정일.

'S e bàs Christopheir Hitcheins a bha na bu bhrònaiche dhomhsa. Feumaidh mi aideachadh nach do leugh mi càil a sgrìobh e. Ach chunnaic mi an deasbad telebhisein anns a bha e, còmhla ri Stephen Fry agus an aghaidh Ann Widdecombe is Àrd-easbaig John Onaiyekan à Nigeria, a' beachdachadh ma tha no mura bheil an Eaglais Chaitligeach "a force for good in the world". Nam bheachd-sa, rinn an dithis a' chùis leis na h-argamaidean làidir aca air an dà Chaitligeach leis an agitprop acasan.

Bu toil leam Havel nas motha mar dhràmaire na mar neach-poilitigs. Rinn e mòran airson deamocrasaidh ann am meadhan na h-Eòrpa ann an 1989, ach an dèidh sin 's na dhèidh, 's ann barrachd air fichead bliadhna a tha bho na làithean sin. Seadh, bha e na cheann-shuidhe airson bliadhnaichean as dèidh sin; ach chan eil ceann-suidhe na Teice fada nas cumhachdaiche na banrigh na Breatainne. 'S e am prìomh-ministear an ceannard anns na dùthchannan le chèile.

Cha robh mi san Theic aig an àm sin, ach cò air bith bhon a thug mi post-dealain mu dheidhinn, bha iad ag ràdh gun robh iad seachd searbh de mar a bha na meadhanan is na luchd-poilitigs reachdail air sgàth a' bhàis is an tòrraidh. A dh'aindheoin sin, bha rudan fada na b' os-fhìreaiche a' tachairt ann an Àisia...

Tha fios gum bi e gu math cudromach cò a bhios a' leantainn a' cheannard Coirea a Tuath, leis na h-airm niuclasach aig an dùthaich. Ge-tà, chan urrainn dhuinn càil a dhèanamh ach feitheamh. Air an làimh eile, bu mhath leam gum biodh fios agam dè cho fìor agus a bha na seallaidhean tuiridh air beulaibh nan camarathan. Bha agus mise a' fuireach ann an stàit co-mhaoineach...

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The thumbs-up sign

2011-12-27T13:05:00.004Z

When you move into a new region, you are confronted with new words, phrases, accent and even gestures.

Some of them you like more than the ones you were used to; you'd like to pick them up; you possibly even consciously try to. Others you like less: you attempt to maintain your old ones.

Nevertheless, what you want to change or keep isn't always what you end up with. In terms of language this means that having spent long periods of my life in three different regions, even when I try to speak the dialect of the particular area I'm currently in, I speak a hybrid language of my own instead, and people always know I'm not a "local guy" - anywhere.

(The silver lining is that I'm not frustrated by unsuccessful attemps to stick to a particular dialect in English. If people don't mind my mixing Standard Czech, Moravian (itself a mix of dialects when spoken by me) and Southern Bohemian within a single sentence, why should they mind my mixing BBC English, Lallans and Americanese, as long as they understand what I'm after?)

The same goes for gestures. I learned to show the number "two" using my thumb and my forefinger, I learned to use the V-sign rather than the middle finger to communicate you know what, but for the life of me I can't learn to begin using the thumbs-up sign. As far as I can tell, I haven't (unpremeditatedly) used it once so far.

Which is a pity because I really like it - not because, but the more so as it's so British. (A friend of mine who works as a truck driver all over Western Europe once remarked, "I think the English get born with their right-hand thumb joints already dislocated...")

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Partick / Pinkston Basin

2011-12-26T20:42:00.000Z

Between turning this from a journal to a blog and falling ill I accomplished two more trips I can't help mentioning at least very briefly: one to Partick and one to the Pinkston Basin - the end of the Glasgow Branch of the Forth and Clyde Canal.

Especially the one to Partick. For one thing, Partick was, apart from the city centre and the once infamous Gorbals, the only area in Glasgow I knew by name before coming here. For another, I knew it from watching one of the first series I saw on the BBC. For yet another, the series had been recommended to me by a Net friend - a fellow gay and learner of Gaelic. Furthermore, it meant walking past Comhairle nan Leabhraichean, from which I had bought (not only) my very first book in Gaelic. Finally, the name I use on the Net being Keith, I naturally wanted to discover Keith Street (it turned out there's also a Keith Court). The more so as I had learned there was a former Quaker burial ground there - Quakers being one of the Christian denominations that appear to be exceptionally tolerant.

I ended the trip by discovering the Kelvin Hall and visiting, for the third time, the Kelvingrove Museum - and although it was, unlike on most of the previous rambles, a rainy day, I enjoyed it as much as them.

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Allegedly "not homophobic"

2011-12-26T12:41:00.000Z

Some people's claims about their not being homophobic make one wonder whether they truly mean it or whether they are just afraid of consequences should they admit their homophobia.

Consider, exempli gratia, the case of a Rev James Gracie of the Free Church of Scotland. According to PinkNews, in a BBC Radio Scotland programme he first called homosexuality a lifestyle choice and asked "If the homosexuals, and these people, want to be treated equally, then what about paedophiles?", then added that in case gayness was congenital "Even if you were to take that view, there are people who steal, people have tendencies for all sorts of things".

So far, so usual. But speaking to The Scotsman later on he reportedly claimed "I’m not homophobic. If I was to go down the street and saw a man say to a homosexual ‘you are a queer’, I would go into court and be a witness for him".

Is it possible that the guy is really too stupid to realize that in principle this doesn't differ from saying "Black people should not be educated at the same schools, use the same hospitals etc because they are all latent felons and should be treated accordingly. But I'm no racist - if I was to go down the street and saw a man say to a black man ‘you are a Negro’, I would go into court and be a witness for him" ?

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Slàinte tha

2011-12-25T20:49:00.001Z

Now it's over I can write about it.

Although admittedly I sometimes considered writing a post titled "Is this the end?" while it lasted.

The fact is I was ill. Not just a common cold; in addition to coughing fits and a running nose there were, at the climax (towards mid-December), two T-shirt sweated through each night, spasms in my legs in the morning and in my hands in the evening, hypotension throughout the day, constipation, that quasi loss of hearing I don't know the English for... I don't think I'm a hypochondriac, but this time I really often felt like giving in. In the old country I certainly would have gone on a sick leave.

Only I couldn't. I didn't want to lose the money and risk being told I needn't care to come back once the illness was over. Not as long as I could go on. With the help of coffee, fags, Yorkies, some old personal clichés like "I've been through worse things and I'm still here" and reminding myself through how greater hardships many other people must have gone I persevered; gradually I began improving. Today I feel more or less my good old self again (touch wood).

What caused it? A combination of several factors I suppose. Lack of sleep, early getting up, the weather, improper clothing, too big/sudden changes of temperature, chronic dehydration, maybe some virus passing by... Once ill, of course, my recovery wasn't helped by the need to pretend as best I could "business as usual": attending at work, doing my shoppings, checking up the news, replying emails...

I even somehow managed a ramble now and then, I even occasionally blogged; the fact remains that in retrospect I can only see the better part of this December through a haze not entirely dissimilar to the one following a booze-up.

Just as I was getting back to normal I got the sack - but by now I overcame even that. I've no idea what the future will bring; I'm ready, both physically and mentally, to face whatever it may have up its sleeve next.

The title is family joke of a sort. "Slàinte mhath" is a Gaelic toast meaning "good health"; the misspelling "slàinte bha" (seen by somebody from FnaG) keeps the pronunciation but changes the meaning to "health was"; I in turn changed the latter into the present-tense "health is".

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BBC video advertisements

2011-12-25T18:34:00.000Z

Another example of how easy it is to fail to notice when things go right:

When you visit a BBC News page with a video while abroad, pretty often it's preceded by some advertising video, sometimes as long as 30 seconds (while the news video itself may be shorter than 2 minutes). If you use the BBC as your primary source of news, you can come across the very same ad three or four times within a half-hour.

(I still remember the "Egypt - where it all began" one, although I never knew or cared whether it promoted an airline or a travel agency, let alone which.)

I'm almost positive that I haven't seen one such advert since I moved here. Obviously, these wee buggers are only broadcast outwith the UK.

But it took me a month or more to notice this.

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Àiteachan as fheàrr ri fuireach

2011-12-24T22:28:00.000Z

A rèir Halifax, 's e roinn Hart ann an sgìre Hampshire an t-àite far a bheil càileachd bheatha as fheàrr anns an Rìoghachd Aonaichte. A rèir Banca na h-Alba, 's e Sealtainn an t-àite far bheil càileachd bheatha as fheàrr ann an Alba, ro Shiorrachd Obar Dheathain a bha na b' fheàrr an-uiridh.

Cha d' fhuair mi a-mach dè cho àrd a tha Sealtainn taobh a-staigh na RA gu lèir. Ach tha an aiste BhBC ag ràdh "nach robh àite sam bith ann an Sasainn a Tuath, Alba no a' Chuimrigh am measg nan caogad àite as àirde". Cha d' fhuair mi a-mach dè cho àrd a tha Glaschu taobh a-staigh na h-Alba a bharrachd.

Tha mi coma. 'S fheàrr leam Alba, 's fheàrr leam Siorrachd Pheairt ann an Alba - ach 's fìor thoil leam Glaschu mar an ceudna. Is e seo a' chiad àm Nollaige a tha mi a' cur seachad an-seo, agus tha mi an dòchas nach e àm mu dheireadh!

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A' tugsinn fileantach

2011-12-24T16:21:00.002Z

Lean mi sreath ceanglaichean aig toiseach a' mhìosa seo - rud gu math àbhaisteach air loidhne. Bho phost FnaG gu post Guthan nan Eilean gu aiste A' Phàipeir gu bhidio YouTube.

'S e a' bhidio a bha annasach dhomh. Chan ann oir bha e intinneach - 's àbhaist dha na bhidiothan anns a tha Gordon Wells an sàs a bhith mar seo. Chan ann air sgàth a' chuspair fhèin a bharrachd, ged a bha e inntinneach gu leòr. Ach cho fad 's a tha fhios agam, bha seo a' chiad bhidio nam bheatha (1) air a dèanamh le neach-aithris (Dòmhnall MacFhionghuin) aig a tha Gàidhlig mar a' chiad chànan agus (2) aig nach robh fo-thiotalan no tar-sgrìobhadh ach (3) a bha mi a' tuigsinn meadhanach math a dh'aindheoin sin!

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Trafaig rathaid - Glaschu is Budweis

2011-12-23T21:47:00.002Z

Chan eil mi airson bruidhinn mu dheidhinn dràibheadh air an làimh chlì agus air an làimh cheart - ged as urrainn dhomh luaidh a dhèanamh gun do dh'fhàs mi cleachdte ris an dòigh chlì, ach gun do thug e na b' fhaide na ann an '90 - 's mathaid a chionn 's gun robh mi na b' òige an uairsin?

Chan eil mi airson bruidhinn mu dheidhinn solais-trafaig airson coisichean a bharrachd - ged as urrainn dhomh luaidh a dhèanamh gus fheàrr leam an dòigh Bhreatannach far a bheil solas dearg a' ciallachadh "tha cead an rathaid aig càr ma tha fear ann" seach an dòigh Theiceach far a bheil e ag òrdachadh "stad eadhon mura bheil càr sam bi ann".

Bu mhath leam coimeas eile a dhèanamh: luaths is nàdar. Chan eil mi nam dhràibhear fhèin; chan eil fhios agam a bheil laghannan eadar-dhealaichte ann; ach tha e gu math follaiseach fiù 's dhomhsa gur ann nas slaodaiche a tha a' gluasad na càraichean ann an Glaschu na iadsan ann an Budweis. Chan ann annasach a bhith a' faicinn càr a' dol sa Bhudweis cho luath mar a bhiodh e air mòr-rathad. Cha chreid mi nach biodh an sealladh sin beagan annasach an-seo.

A dh'aindheoin sin (no bheil sin as coireach?), tha na dràibhearan an seo fada nas socraiche. Cha dhùraiginn ri dhol thar na rathaidean Bhudweis san dòigh a tha mi a' dèanamh gun eagal an-seo - agus nan dùraiginn, o mo chreach, am biodh na dùdaichean a' glaodhadh!

'S dòcha nach eil sin dìreach na coisichean is na dràibhearan ge-tà. Bha duine sam bith Teiceach ris a bha mi a' bruidhinn an-seo ag aontachadh gu bheil na h-Albannaich san fharsaingeachd gu math nas socraiche na sluagh an Teice...

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Taigh-solais Rubha na Cloiche

2011-12-22T21:19:00.002Z

O chionn mìosan, bha mi a' sireadh dealbh taigh-solais air choireigin airson pàipear-bhalla an laptop agam. Cha do lorg mi tè a bhiodh riaraichte gu leòr.

O chionn ghoirid, nuair a bhiodh mi a' siubhal eadar àite-còmhnaidh (Glaschu) agus àite-obrach (Guireag), bhiodh sinn uaireannan a' dol seachad air taigh-solais Rubha na Cloiche. Chòrd e rium glè mhath. Ach nuair a choimhead mi air dealbhan Ghoogle dheth, cha b' ann tè ann cho bòidheach ri dè a chunnaic mi bhon bhus.

'S dòcha nach eil an dearbh mhaise dhe taighean-solais ri fhaicinn ach ma tha duine a' gluasad mun timcheall, gam faicinn bho bharrachd taoibh na dìreach a h-aon. No an dèanadh dealbh air a togail bhon adhair a' chùis?

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Anxiety

2011-12-21T19:41:00.001Z

(Warning: This may turn out as an exercise in self-pitying. I'm one of those guys who always put a brave face on in the presence of others but perhaps complain the more in writing.)

Sneachda san Ruchill Park

Breaking news, as they say. What I had feared has happened. The online Xmas shopping fever had culminated, orders kept growing scarcer, some shifts shortened or cancelled, some people made redundant - and at ten o'clock this morning I was told I was among another bunch of these. No continuing after the New Year; I even finished two and a half days before the end of the contract.

I certainly didn't break down, as this was half-expected. But it did make me depressed. Because here I am once again with some savings but no income. Moreover, living in a hostel room provided as a part of the contract just terminated. Once again my future is just one big question mark.

There are several possibilities, but basically they could be all cut down to two. Either I manage to get another accommodation before they throw me out of here and some job before I run out of my savings, or I don't. In other words, either I manage to stay here, or have to return, sooner or later, to Czech fucking Republic.

I'm anxious that the latter might happen. I keep repeating to myself that after all I had only meant to come here next year to begin with, that this trip was a welcome but unexpectedly early beginning of the attempt to fulfill my dream. That I could (would) try again next year, with a somewhat better starting position, already having things like a National Insurance Number, a bank account, a mobile number... That I've been in worse situations in my life and survived.

Anyway. I paid my rent for the next week, so I have at least seven more days; tomorrow evening I'm meeting another guy about possible accommodation elsewhere - and before that in the morning I'll start searching for a job. Any job, though I'm afraid this is the very worst time of year for finding one.

Still, going back is the last resort if everything else fails.

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Take care

2011-12-20T19:13:00.002Z

This video was uploaded by the Australian Transport Accident Commission Victoria at the beginning of December 2009. It is a montage made of the road safety campaign commercials they produced over the preceding twenty years - and I believe it is as topical this year as any other.

So - enjoy Yuletide and Hogmanay, friends, but take care.

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Two open GLBT PMs in Europe

2011-12-19T19:21:00.000Z

If you told me on 13 June last year, when Belgium held general election, that it would take a record 541 days to create and swear in a government, and that in the meantime the country wouldn't fare any worse than many other EU members, I wouldn't find it unbelievable. Truth be told, I have a suspicion that caretaker governments usually do much less harm to any country's development than elected politicians.

But I would probably find it hard to believe that when the government finally would be established, it would be under an out gay, Elio Di Rupo - only the second out GLBT Prime Minister (after Iceland's Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir) and the first male one in modern-age world's history. And they're both serving in Europe and at the same time just now!

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Cookbooks

2011-12-18T19:48:00.002Z

My current job can be with some simplification described as finding the items people order in the store and bringing them for others to pack. This means you get some idea about which authors, films, albums &c sell better, which worse.

There are surprises too. I don't mean the many best-selling people and things I'd never heard of before - after all, not having a TV and only listening to radio for the news, what would you expect? But I'd never believe books and films about vampires to be that popular or expect so many footballers feeling the need to publish an "autobiography".

The biggest surprise for me though is the amount of cookbooks we sell. I'd read a lot about Britons being among the most obese nations. This is contrary to my own observations. In fact, having lived for the last two decades among South Bohemians, the average Strathclyder seems rather slim to me in comparison. (Okay, except for all those adolescent heavy-buttocked lasses.) But the number of cookbook authors and titles and the speed with which the latter are sold... anybody said anything about an economic crisis?

I know that when times get rough, people tend to spend their money mostly on things like booze, fags and food. But most of these books are no fantasy-novel paperbacks - they're usually large, impressive-looking tomes, and I daresay they're not being sold for peanuts either.

Or do people just like to look at the pictures of meals they'll never be actually preparing?

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Dath dol fodha na grèine

2011-12-17T21:04:00.001Z

'S àbhaist dhomh a bhith a' coimhead air dealbhan ùra le leughadairean BhBC gach deireadh seachdain airson na bliadhnaichean. Bhiodh e neònach dhomh dè cho tric 's a bha dol fodha na grèine orains anns na dealbhan sin. An robh na daoine a bha a' togail na dealbhan air rudeigin a dhèanamh leis na camarathan aca?

Bhon a thàinig mi seo, fhuair mi a-mach nach robh aca rud sam bi a dhèanamh. Eu-coltach ri far an robh mi a' fuireach roimhe, tha dol fodha na grèine a tha orains gu math tric an-seo. Chuir e iongnadh mòr orm, ach a rèir coltais tha e fada nas trice na fear a tha dearg no ruadh!

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A strangest kind of a tap

2011-12-13T11:48:00.002Z

Needless to say, I generally prefer British alternatives to Czechoslovak ones. From the most important, "big" matters, like the ways (all) the languages sound, to details like which way the words are written on the spine of a book.

Occasionally I found the Czechoslovak way the better of the two. Like using mixer-taps instead of one tap for cold water and one for hot. As far as I can tell, mixer-taps are already prevalent even here, but you still see the two-tap variation every now and then. In the 21st century I suspect this might be, in public places at least, an ingenious scheme of making people use less water. Can't find another explanation anyway.

But something completely beyond my comprehension is one of the taps in my current flat's kitchen. At first sight it looks like a common mixer-tap. Only it isn't, because it doesn't mix. At the outlet, the hot and cold water are still separated. And chosen the right strength of flows...

I mean, what's the point? Making people scald themselves? It can't be easier or cheaper to produce, it's less convenient for the user - is there something I'm missing perhaps?

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Speirs or Spiers?

2011-12-11T00:04:00.001Z

I know that many, if not most, Scots words have more than one possible spelling. But my mind still revolts against the idea of this being the case even with placenames.

Also, as an ousider you are more concerned about "having it right", knowing and using the "correct" form - which after all doesn't apply only to language.

What troubled me recently was Speirs/Spiers Wharf. I always thought I finally got it right and then saw the other spelling. It took some time before I realized it was actually written either way.

I took the trouble of documenting it. National Cycle Network uses Spiers. Google Earth uses Speirs. Ordnance Survey, usually more reliable than Google in these things (it's British after all) uses Spiers. Streetmap.co.uk funnily uses the OS map with Spiers for map scale 1:2500, but Speirs for 1:5000. There are also Speirs Locks Studios claiming so in large letters on Garscube Road and a plaque at the wharf itself again has Speirs.

Possibly neither of the forms is more "correct" than the other, however strange this might seem to somebody who spent most of his life where once had been the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Anyway, I found more instances of the -ei- spelling, thus henceforth I intend to use that. Still, if anyone could shed more light on the matter - well, I'm all ears.

(Btw the common usage of both variants seems to me to implicate that it's pronounced /spi:rz/, rather than /speɪrz/ or /spaɪərz/).

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Weegie so far

2011-12-06T21:23:00.000Z

During my first month here I have come across the whole range of native speakers.

There were those whom I understood just about every single word, even though some of them had a distinct Scottish accent (or what I think is one).

More usually I only understood a word or two but could get the gist (or at least topic) of the sentence from these.

Most usually, however, I only understand a word or two full stop. Although it seems to me this is slowly changing to "two words or three" and at least seeing what the topic is. (Unless this is wishful thinking.)

(Of course, at the end of the day we do get to the gist if we need to; I'm talking here also about situations when I just listen to somebody, as opposed to having a direct conversation with them.)

I'm learning. For example, I already know that [ʍɔʔ] is what. I'm getting used to hearing, say, [o:] instead of [əu] (as in [to:t] for tote). I had been using "hiya" and "cheers" myself since last year's visit; today "nae bother" and "are you okay?" are at least a part of my passive vocabulary. And so forth.

But some folk remain simply incomprehensible to me. Like a guy the other day who seemingly used ten vowels for each consonant - and ten glottal stops for each vowel...

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Floods and snow

2011-12-05T20:22:00.000Z

Despite having lived elsewhere, visiting daily BBC online news I couldn't avoid noticing all those floods and the last two winters' problems with snow in Scotland. I was always naturally interested as an onlooker, but not directly affected.

One and a half week ago I have in Gourock for the first time seen a snow-cap on a distant Scotland's mountain with my own eyes, rather than on a photograph. Last week's floods meant I only got to my afternoon shift when it was already half gone. I eventually fully realized that the weather news are directly relevant to me. That I'm reading or hearing not about something happening far away, but about something I can sometimes see from my very window.

Yesternight the Firhill Road was frozen - returning from my pre-bed outdoors fag I saw a taxi skid about-face and into the opposite lane. And waking up today, the snow was here. My first Scottish snow. From the central European point of view, a common winter snowfall, nothing outstanding. Here it meant amber warning from the Met Office and my bus getting to work on time in the morning, but taking half an hour longer return journey.

Still, I enjoy it, as one enjoys every such new experience when it eventually happens somewhere he likes. It may become a bother later on; so far I enjoy it as a child or a teenager would.

The snow even looks whiter than where I come from, but that's no doubt just my state of mind.

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Naidheachdan na Samhna '11

2011-12-03T01:03:00.002Z

Ged nach urrainn dhomh àm cho fada 's a b' àbhaist dhomh a chur seachad air an Eadar-lìon, bidh mi a' tadhal air na h-àiteachan naidheachd fàbharach agam gach latha airson greis. Mar sin, mhothaich mi:

- gun deach an duais "Dalm-bheachdaiche na bliadhna" aig Stonewall UK gu Melanie Phillips (chì sibh, ma leughas sibh an "leisgeul" airson na h-aiste aice, nach tuig i dè tha "double standards" a' ciallachadh. 'S dòcha ge-tà gum bu chòir an duais a dhol ri Alan "Gaystapo" Craig, duine eile a tha ag ràdh gum bu chòir dha Crìostaidhean a bhith os cionn laghannan airson nan saoranaich eile)

- gun tug an Àrd-Chùirt breith gu bheil buinteanas eadar an Eaglais Caitligeach agus a sagartan coltach ris an fhear eadar fastaiche is cosnaiche (tha gun teagamh - nach eil an Eaglais gam pàigheadh airson na h-òrduighean aice a choileanadh?)

- gun canar do dh'oileanaich ghèidh ann an Sheffield Hallam University gum bu chòir dhaibh aodaich atharrachadh ro leasanan foghlam corporra ann an àiteachan eadar-dhealaichte ri oileanaich dhìreach (carson nach canar? fhad 's nach eil aca sin a dhèanamh còmhla ri ban-oileanaich...)

- gun robh am Pàpa anabarrach feargach nuair a dh'fhoillseachadh Benetton sanas-reic le dealbh air a tha esan agus imam air choireigin a' pògadh a chèile (chan e iongnadh a tha ann - nach eil pòg samhla gràidh agus an duine sin samhla gràine?)

- deagh aiste le Michael Lucas mu dheidhinn buaidh rèabhlaidean Arabach agus an "Earraich Arabaich" am bliadhna air gèidhean (a rèir coltais, tha an aon eagal airsan a tha agamsa; gu neònach, tha daoine ann dha nach urrainn faicinn gun robh saighdearan an Iar a' sabaid ann an Libya a' cuideachadh an aon feallsanachd an aghaidh a bha iad a' sabaid ann an Afghanistan)

- aiste a rèir coltais fàbharach dha òigrigh. A rèir coltais, oir dhìochuimhnich an t-ùghdar gum biodh toradh air cuid dhe na tha e a' tairgsinn bàrrachd dhaoine nas sine na còigead bliadhna gun obair. Rud a thig leis a' ghaoith, falbhaidh e leis an uisge - no bheil, aig aois ceathrad 's a trì, claon-bhreith agam?

- gun do cheannaich Comhairle Shruighlea fichead crann-sneachda airson tuathanaich gus cuideachadh le glanadh rathaidean a gheamhradh (eisimpleir glè mhath cho-obrachaidh eadar ùghdarras ionadail agus daoine an àite nam bheachd-sa)

- gu bheil companaidhean ann a bhios a' pàigheadh dhaoine airson tòrr luaidhean math a dhèanamh mun deidhinn aig fòraman an Eadar-lìn (agus "a' bleith earbsa an Lìn" - uill, chan eil mi cinnteach, 's ann cho follaiseach gur e spama a tha anns na h-eisimpleirean a thog an aiste...)

- gun do bhuannaich am Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta Shealainn Nuadh taghadh a-rithist (gu ìre oir bhuannaich na h-"All Blacks" Cuach na Cruinne Rugbaidh - cò a tha cràicte, taghadairean Shealainn Nuadh no ùghdar na h-aiste?)

- gu bheil an Riaghaltas ag iarraidh gum biodh an A9 dùbailte eadar Inbhir Nis is Peart ro 2025 (ged a tha M8 nas chudromaiche dhomhsa an-diugh, bha A9 a' chiad rathad na h-Alba a b' urrainn dhomh ainmeachadh)

Ach cha b' fheum agam air naidheachdan airson mothachadh gun robh tuiltean ann aig deireadh a' mhìosa - chaidh am bus dhan obair agam ceithir uairean na b' anmoiche Dimàirt. Seo a' chiad àm a b' urrainn dhomh a' cheist aig a' BhBC "Have you been affected by ...?" a fhreagairt "Tha gu dearbh"...

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As dèidh a' chiad mhìos

2011-12-01T01:58:00.000Z

B' e Là Naomh Anndra an-diugh, agus tha mi air a bhith an-seo ceithir seachdainean a-nochd. Nas motha na rè nan trì tursan roimhe seo uile gu lèir.

Sunset over Ruchill Park

The initial tourist-like phase is over and I'm beginning to try and settle down. Tha mi ag obair, tha Àireamh Àrachais Nàiseanta agam, agus criomagan mar cairtean leabhar-linn is Tesco. Cuideachd, tha mi airson SIM (i.e. àireamh fòn Breatannach) a cheannach a-màireach agus tha coinneamh agam ann am banca mu dheidhinn current account Diluain. Agus mar sin sìos.

True, I'm still having less chance to talk in English than in Czech, hardly understand Scots so far agus cha robh còmhradh sam bith agam sa Ghàidhlig fhathast. But that's how I expected the beginning would be. True, I'm constantly in arrears with things I want to see/check/read/do on the Net, will have to cut on adding new bookmarks/tasks/ideas even more. But I didn't come here to be spending all my life between work, bed and the Net, as I was doing in the old country. And I am gradually getting accustomed to the life here. The real one, not the one for tourists - and that's what I was after.

Anyway, the most important to-do thing now is finding some accommodation. Oir mura leanas an cùmhnant obrach agam le CDR/Amazon, cha leag mi iad san ostail seo a bharrachd. Ma bhios còmhnaidh agam, faodaidh mi fuireach agus obair eile a shireadh. Anyway, ceum air ceum, tha mi a' faighinn nas fhaisge air an amas agam. Mar as àbhaist dhomh a ràdh, le foighdinn, misneach agus fortan...

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Obraiche Albannach / From journal to blog

2011-11-20T00:04:00.006Z

Abhainn Kelvin

Agus an-dè, dhèilig mi ris na dealbhan is bhidiothan mu dheireadh agam, bhrod mi airson a' chiad thuras bho thàinig mi a Ghlaschu, fhuair mi gu àm làthaireach leis a' bhlog seo, rinn mi lethbhreacan-glèidhidh dhe na faidhlichean ùra, agus mar sin, faodaidh mi crìoch a chur air an ùine seo. Bidh aon latha dheth tuilleadh agam a-màireach, agus an dèidh sin, bidh mi ag obair sia làithean gach seachdain.

A bheil mi riaraichte leis na sia làithean deug a bha mi ann an Alba gu ruige seo? Tha gu dearbh. B' iad ceum eile a dh'ionnsaigh an t-amas as motha agam, as prìseile dhomh, agus aig an aon àm, b' ann gu math tlachdmhor a bha iad. 'S mathaid nach tug mi gu buil a h-uile rud a bha mi ag iarraidh a thoirt rè na h-ùine, ach rinn mi fada nas motha na bha dùil agam ann an cùiseann eile. Ma chumas mi orm mar seo, le foighidinn, misneach is fortan...

This blog was so far more like a holiday day-to-day journal than a blog. After all, I have lived a bit as though I was on holidays. From now on it'll continue as a normal blog, occasionally mentioning outstanding happenings, things one just can't help ranting about, and those random ideas which simply ask for being written down, if only for the pleasure of the act of doing so.

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Dùn Chailleann

2011-11-19T20:33:00.001Z

(Dih, 18 Samh 11)

Chan eil cuimhne agam cuin a bhuail an t-smuain orm; co-dhiù, chuir mi romham gun tadhlainn air Cathair-eaglais Dhùn Chailleann a-rithist "a dh'innse dhi gun do chum mi a' Bhòid".

Bha mi a' sòradh sa mhadainn, on a bha i gu math neulach, ach b' e seo an deireadh seachdain "fada" mu dheireadh agus chaidh mi ann. Bha i neulach fad an latha agus bha uaireannan an t-uisge ann cuideachd, ach tha mi toilichte gun deach.

Chunnaic mi a-rithist sealladh-dùthcha Thaobh Tatha (ged a bha an cutie a bha na shuidhe thar trannsa na trèana a Pheairt beagan buaireach), Drochaid Dhùn Chailleann (ged a chaill mi an t-astar mus do lorg mi e), Abhainn Tatha, an ceàrnag agus an Cathair-eaglais fhèin. Bha mi nam shuidhe innte air an treast chlì mu dheireadh mar an do rinn mi an-uiridh, ach leam fhìn an turas seo. Dh'innis mi gun robh mi air ais, gheall mi a-rithist na gheall mi ann an Àrd-eaglais Naomh Anndra - agus rinn mi ceann-latha rium fhìn anns an dearbh àite aig deireadh samhraidh no foghar an-ath-bhliadhna.

Chunnaic mi an "taigh-tasgaidh" ann cuideachd, chuir mi seachad greis air lèanag na h-eaglaise a' coimhead an Tatha, cheannaich mi toitein is The Guardian aig a' bhùth phàipearan "for old times' [an-uiridh] sake", agus as dèidh uair gu leth bha mi a' dol air ais - ach b' fhiach e gu dearbh. B' fhìor thoil leam an turas, uisge ann no às, agus bu thoil leam gun do chuir mi crìoch samhlachail air cearcall beatha eile.

San Thesco air an oidhche, cheannaich mi eadhon canaichean Tennent's - cha do dh'òl mi alcol gu seo an Alba am bliadhna, ach an dèidh latha mar seo...

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An dàrna seachdain obrach

2011-11-19T15:47:00.000Z

(Dil-Dic, 14-16 Samh 11)

Ged a bha mi ag obair (sioftaichean an fheasgair), cha robh na chiad trì làithean dhen sheachdain gun thachartasan.

Dh'fhòn mi do dh'ionad-obrach sa mhadainn Dhiluain airson NINO fhaighinn: ged a bha am boireannach a' bruidhinn Beurla ghlan, b' ann mì-mhisneachail nach do thuig mi rithe gu math tric, ach rinn mi ceann-latha riutha mu dheireadh thall. Agus chòrd an turas bhon obair air an oidhche rium, nam shuidhe air cùlaibh a' dhràibheir.

A' dol dhan obair Dimàirt, mhothaich mi gu bheil an Stow College glè fhaisg air an M8 agus air stèisean rèile fon talamh Cowcaddens (eadar dà sgeul...), agus nuair a chunnaic mi gum b' e taigeis tè dhe na roghainnean suipeire, tha fhios dè a thagh mi. A' chiad turas a dh'ith mi i "mar bu chòir", le snèap is buntàta, agus ged nach eil mi, san fharsaingeachd, glè dhèidheil air glasraich ach a-mhàin buntàta, fhreagair an t-snèap ri càch gu math.

Diciadain? Chuireadh crìoch air "raon-smocaidh" an ostail; a' dol dhan obair a-rithist, chunnaic mi am "bridge to nowhere" ainmeil air an làimh chlì; agus air an oidhche, chleachd mi tostair airson a' chiad uair - riamh, 's mathaid...

Agus ged am b' e Diardaoin latha dheth agam, cha deach mi a dh'àite sam bith - bha mi ag iarraidh tadhal air Partaig ach bha an t-uisge ann air fad an fheasgair agus gus deach mi dha mo leabaidh... Ge-tà, fhuair mi a-mach gu bheil an cashcard agam ag obair ann an innealan-airgid Breatannach gu dearbh agus thàinig a' chiad bhileag-phàighidh agam. Ge-tà, chan eil an cashcard aice agam fhathast, agus air sgàth an uisge bha agam ri smocadh fon Nolly Brig...

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The second week

2011-11-19T13:59:00.000Z

(Dil-Did, 7-13 Nov 11)

Still to a great extent a "tourism" week, yet I did eventually begin slowing down. And settling down. I'm working again (currently the work seems good, at least as a starting point); the hostel room, so far from feeling as a home, no longer feels as a one-night-hotel one; and I'm becoming better orientated in Glasgow - in parts of Maryhill, Hillhead, Kelvingrove and the City Centre anyway. There are already several places that I no longer see with a tourist's, but with an newcomer's eyes. I hear more Czech than I used to in the old country and so far understand little Scottish speak, but that's what I had suspected...

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Kelvingrove II - paintings

2011-11-19T12:02:00.000Z

(Sat-Sun, 12-13 Nov 11)

On Saturday I eventually took a day off from new experiences and buckled down to "processing" those I had had so far. Not that I nearly finished that task; there had been far too many, far too interesting. The following morning I eventually had to try and operate, for the first time in my life, a washing-machine and a drying one. Somewhat surprisingly, neither me nor any of the machines malfunctioned. In the afternoon I went to see again, properly, so to say, the paintings in the Kelvingrove Museum.

Dalí's Christ (1) has obviously some deep symbolic meaning. So deep, in fact, that I couldn't see as far even with my glasses on. The Scottish paintings on the first floor - well, of course I'm prejudiced. For one thing, some I might not exactly like but they were like old friends as I've often seen them before, whether in a book (2) or on the Web (3); others, like Docharty's landscapes (4), I might possibly under different circumstances even call kitsch but as it were I did like them.

I also liked several of the French paintings, even though, however famous some of the painters may be, I would hardly consider the works more than beautiful living-room decorations. The Italian section didn't impress me at all, Boticelli and Titian included. The Dutch paintings were interesting - and having read Heller's Picture This I couldn't supress a smile when seeing Rembrandt next to Flinck or reading that their other Rembrandt may or may not be by Rembrandt (5) - but for all those Wijcks, Goyens and others (6) I haven't seen a painting that I would like to return to each time I was back in Kelvingrove, something like Steinbeck claimed he did to a Greco in Prado (7).

(Digression: Before going downstairs I listened for a while to the Glasgow Senior Citizens' Orchestra, which alternated with the organ recital - and they were better. You know, Scotland the Brave played on the organ does sound rather strange...)

But I did eventually find some downstairs, at the Glasgow Boys room. Call me prejudiced, call me an inverted snob, but that's how it is. Not that I liked it all - Kennedy's good but not outstanding (8), same goes for James Guthrie, some of whose paintings I've incidentally also seen before. (9) I generally didn't like Henry, Hornel and some others (10). Yet I did find me four favourites: Alexander Mann (11), James Paterson (12) and Robert Macaulay Stevenson (13), whom I'd already noticed during the preceding visit, and newly Thomas Millie Dow (14). (Funny thing was to later found out that all these were among the more or less half of the Boys who sported moustaches, like I do. Coincidence?)

Anyway, the three paintings I think I'll keep returning to are: Mann's By the Findhorn, Paterson's The Last Turning, Moniaive and Dow's Hudson River.

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1 - Salvador Dalí: Christ of Saint John of the Cross
2 - eg Henry Raeburn: The MacNab or John Michael Wright: Lord Mungo Murray
3 - eg Thomas Faed: The Last of the Clan
4 - eg Sam Bough: Burns' Cottage, Alloway, David Wilkie: The Cotter's Saturday Night or James Docharty: The Heart of the Trossachs
5 - Rembrandt van Rijn: A Man in Armour; Govert Flinck: Self-portrait; Rembrandt van Rijn and/or his workshop: The Carcase of an Ox
6 - eg Thomas Wijck: The Poor Being Fed at a Monastery; Frederick de Moucheron: Landscape with a Ruined Tower and Figures; Jan Van Goyen: Cottages and Fishermen by a River; Egbert van der Poel: A Fire at Night
7 - El Greco: San Pablo con un Libro
8 - William Kenndy: Stirling Station or The Deserter
9 - James Guthrie: Old Willie - the Village Worthy and A Funeral Service in the Highlands
10 - the exception was John Henry: Head of the Holy Loch; on the other hand, the acclaimed Henry & Hornel piece Druids Bringing Home the Mistletoe looked to me more like an illustration for The Last of the Mohicans
11 - Alexander Mann: By the Findhorn
12 - James Paterson: The Last Turning, Moniaive (the caption said the stream is Dalwhat Water); this time I also noticed his A Wooded Stream upstairs)
13 - Robert Macaulay Stevenson: Moonrise and Early Summer on the Seine
14 - Thomas Millie Dow: Hudson River and St Ives, Cornwall

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Falkirk (/Wheel)

2011-11-18T20:28:00.005Z

(Fri, 11 Nov 11)

Unlike the Kelvin Aqueduct, the Falkirk Wheel is an engineering achievement of whose existence I have know for years. But it never occurred to me I would ever go to see it.

Nevertheless, when I learned my first two working weeks would be Mon-Wed only, I began to ponder what was near enough to travel to instead of only discovering Glasgow during the two long weekends. Apparently, you can't get reasonably quickly to Loch Katrine and/or Ben Venue except by car; Dundee seemed too far to me at the time; I like Stirling, but not enough to go there (rather than to some new place) after just one year, and so forth. Falkirk was near enough, the fare cheap enough (the rail fare - after twenty-one years I'd travel by a UK train!), and I recollected there was the Wheel.

In fact, it didn't operate when we got there (maintenance), but seeing it with one's own eyes gives one an impression of how big it is even when it stands still. In fact, I liked the path by the canal which led us to the Wheel in the melancholy autumn weather even more (not just because it reminded me of one of my last autumn's laptop wallpapers), and the same goes for the following ramble to the Rough Castle Fort and back, but so much the better.

Wikipedia proved quite useful this time as well. The night before the travel I had a quick look at the Falkirk article to see if it named other places of interest. I had known about the Faw Kirk, but this was the first time I've ever noticed any mention of the Falkirk Steeple and the Callendar House and Park. We intentionally went to the Steeple first, by chance noticed the Faw Kirk when passing it on our way to the Wheel, and finished our trip by visiting the Callendar House. Another museum that I initially hadn't been sure I wanted to spend time in, but at the end of the day was quite glad I had. Pity there was only the lady in the kitchen doing the 19th century "costumed interpretation", not a guy in the printing shop, but luckily I only learned later there might have been one, so I just took fair pleasure out of seeing the workshop itself...

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Kelvin Aqueduct / M.o.t.W.

2011-11-17T22:41:00.002Z

(Thu, 10 Nov 11)

After coming to Glasgow I was often looking up places I'd already visited on Google Earth and in Wikipedia. This often led to discovering other places of whose existence I hadn't been aware, but now wanted to see. Including the Kelvin Aqueduct, whose additional appeal was that getting there meant seeing more of the Forth and Clyde Canal.

The idea was to get to some point from which I could see the Canal flowing over the Kelvin. Instead, after a quite pleasant walk on its bank (digression: two people overtook me, which is rather unusual. Have I got that much slower in the region of tardy walkers where I'd lived these last nineteen years? Or grown that old?) and, as intended, by the locks, I all of a sudden found myself atop the aqueduct. Which was just as good; a place overlooking the crossing apparently doesn't exist, at least I haven't found it, but that couldn't damp my mood.

Walking back on Kelvin's other side I presently found myself in another place I hadn't intended to be at but, once there, was glad to: the Botanic Gardens. And then by the University, St Silas Church (notable for me because...), Lynedoch Place and the three churches seen at night the previous Friday (St Mary's, Lansdowne & Kelvin Stevenson) back to Firhill.

And almost immediately to Ruchill Park, elated enough to keep true to my decision and clear away one Tesco bagful of the rubbish left on its hillock by the Bonfire night revellers, whoever the litter-bugs were.

The day had one more surprise up its sleeve: after six p.m., M.o.t.W. texted and when I replied, called. At 29'45'', the conversation was almost certainly the second longest one I've ever had over the phone.

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Q/A: First working week

2011-11-13T22:04:00.002Z

(Mon-Wed, 7-9 Nov 11)

Three days only? Ay; the next is supposed to be as short, afternoon shifts however, then six-day (Mon-Sat) weeks should follow until Christmas.

Have I ever worked in Scotland before? Nah, the Monday was my first time ever.

Was getting up at half past three a.m. hard? Not as hard as I was afraid it would.

Was it hard to get started? Not for a former Makro shelf-stacker. I certainly didn't hold a scanner for the first time...

Is the work tiresome? Can't tell yet: so far I haven't found out whether I'm half as or twice as "productive" as expected. (Wasn't more tired than in the Makro though.)

Will I be able to keep the job? Ditto. (Don't think I could work much harder though.)

Did I understand Scottish workmates? Some posed no problem, most were virtually unintelligible to me. The half-forgotten knack of making out a sentence's meaning from a single word and the context is some help.

Where did I have to give in? My first work where I simply can't cope without spectacles. Well I could but I'd can do about a fifth of what I can do wearing them.

A positive side aspect? Hot meals. £2.40 isn't that much; seems I'm going to have a hot meal each working day. Meaning about three times oftener than in the old country.

Will the work pay for more than just covering the costs? Time alone will tell...

Is there enough leisure time after work? So-so. Not enough for strolling the city; enough for a wee ramble in Ruchill Park. Not enough to be much active on the Net; enough to do more than just answering emails.

Unrelated surprise? John Knox has seen an otter in Edinburgh; waiting for the Wednesday morning bus to leave for Gourock I watched a live fox on the other side of the road.

What does Gourock look like? Truth be told, haven't really seen it properly even from the afternoon backwards bus so far. Hopefully next week...

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A' chiad sheachdain

2011-11-13T20:37:00.001Z

(Dic-Did, 2-6 Samh 11)

Uill, ceithir latha 's bìdeag co-dhiù.

Airson a' chuid as motha, bha e mar gum biodh mi nam fhear-turais, ach bha e sgoinneil. Chan ann gu math inntinneach a bha Glaschu nam chuimhne (agus cha do thuig mi deireadh a' bhlog seo), ach fhuair mi a-mach gu bheil tòrr a dh'fhaicinn ann. (Gu nàdarrach, tha ùidh agam ann an rudan anns nach biodh ùidh agam anns a' Phoblachd.) Agus chan eil an ìre mhath dìreach togalaichean is rathaidean ann mar a shaoil mi; gu dearbh, 's dòcha gu bheil barrachd phàircean is uisge an-seo na ann am Budweis. Tha an nàbaidheachd anns a tha mi a' fuireach a' còrdadh rium mar an ceudna.

An aithghearrachd, cha chreid mi gum bithinn duileach nam bithinn a' fuireach san bhaile seo airson bhliadhnaichean...

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Lynedoch Place / Kelvingrove

2011-11-13T20:07:00.000Z

(Did, 6 Samh 11)

Chunnaic sinn tùir inntinneach o mhullach an Ruchill Park agus chuir sinn romhainn gun coisicheamaid thuca. Bha sinn aig na h-Eaglaisean Naomh Moire is Lansdowne Dihaoine; ge-tà, thug e an uairsin 's mathaid uair a thìde a' sireadh air Google Earth mus d' fhuair sinn a-mach gur ann ann an Lynedoch Place a tha an fheadhainn eile. Chaidh sinn ann Didòmhnaich agus chuir iad iongnadh orm on a tha coltach gur e aon dhiubh dìreach an tùr, agus tha iad le chèile "for sale".

As dèidh sin, choisich sinn thar Kelvingrove Park gu Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. Cha chreid mi gun robh mi ann an taigh-tasgaidh no gailearaidh sam bith bho 1990 ann an Dùn Èideann ach nuair a bha mo phàrantan ag iarraidh orm ri dhol còmhla riuthasan. Mar as àbhaist, bha mi air mo shàrachadh. Ach chaidh sinn a-steach dhan Khelvingrove agus chòrd e rium. Chòrd e rium cho math gun do dh'innis mi dhomsa gum feumaidh mi a' dol ann dà thuras tuilleadh nuair a bhios aimsir dona ann (bha a' chiad sheachdain 's a bha mi an Alba glè ghrianach): aon thuras airson na dealbhan fhaicinn mar bu chòir (gu sònraichte, ach chan ann a-mhàin, The Glasgow Boys - fírinn innse, tha rudan nas fheàrr ann nan Crìosd le Dalí), an dàrna turas air sgàth nan ainmhidhean, eòin is èisg. 'S dòcha gun èist mi eadhon ceadal òrgain ma thèid mi Didòmhnaich eile...

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Air ais gu na h-àiteachan 1990

2011-11-12T10:45:00.004Z

(Dis, 5 Samh 11)

Cha deach mi ach air aon sgrìob; ge-tà, thug e ceithir uairean a thìde. An toiseach, chaidh mi dhan Woodside Library gus ballrachd fhaighinn. An uairsin, chuir mi romham gun tadhail mi anns na h-àiteachan anns an do thadhail mi ann an 1990 - nuair a bha Glaschu a' chiad bhaile an Alba anns an robh mi idir.

Glaschu Mheadhain (stèisean rathad-iarainn): 's dòcha gun do lorg mi an dearbh àite far an robh na pocannan-droma againne, fear dhinn a' cumail fàire orra agus càch a' siubhail a' bhaile. (Thug mi Rememberance poppy bho shaighdear aosta airson £1 ann.) Bruach a' Chluaidh mu dheireadh thall. (Cha robh mi air an abhainn fhaicinn rè na trì làithean fhathast.) Àrd-eaglais Naomh Anndra, 's mathaid a' chiad eaglais bheag am faca mi soillsichte air an oidhche. (Fhuair mi a-steach an turas seo, shuidh mi sìos ann an treast agus lean "bòid" eile an tè ann an Dùn Chaillinn.) Glasgow Green, far an do chuir sinn seachad an oidhche. (Cha do lorg mi an dearbh àite sin agus cha deach mi ro fhada a-steach oir bha deuchainn fhuaim ann ron Bhonfire Night. Taobh an Trongate leis a' Mhercat Cross (nach fhaca mi an uairsin) gu Ceàrnag Sheòrais leis na City Chambers far an do shuidh mi ann an seathar comhairliche taobh a-staigh turas-treòraichte. (Bha e coltach gun robh mi a' faicinn na demonstrators mu dheireadh a' dèanamh deiseil airson gluasad dhan Kelvingrove Park.) Oilthigh Srath Chluaidh nach do chòrd rium gu mòr aig an àm sin oir 's fheàrr leam clach na breicean. (Shaoilinn a-nis gu bheil breicean cho dualach do Ghlaschu ri clach.) Agus a' Chathair-eaglais - chan iongnadh gu bheil i cho math 's a bha i o chionn bliadhna air fhichead.

Eadar dà sgeul, chan eil fhios agam a bheil àile Ghlaschu nas glaine na ann am Budweis, no an e na tursan a tha mi a' dèanamh (seach a bhith nam shuidhe aig an laptop) as coireach, ach mhothaich mi gu bheil m' analachadh a' fàs fada nas fheàrr bhon thàinig mi an-seo...

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Sruthan is tùir

2011-11-10T20:59:00.004Z

(Dih, 4 Samh 11)

Chum mi aig a bhith nam fhear-turais/rannsachaidh air an dàrna latha. An toiseach, choisich mi air bruach meur Ghlaschu dhen Rathad-Uisge Fhoirthe is Chluaidh gus an drochaidh gu Murano Street Student Village; sgrìob tlachdmhor eadhon ged a bha ciùthran ann. As dèidh sin, a' dèanamh ceannach bìdh mu dheireadh thall ann an Tesco Express, tha fhios gun do cheannaich mi Yorkie. Na b' fhadalaiche, bha mi a' coiseachd thall 's a-bhos anns an Ruchill Park a-rithist, a' togail dealbhan an turas seo.

Thill mi aig ceithir uairean agus thuirt mo roommate gum biodh e a' dol a-mach le caraid na tùir a chì sibh bhon phàirc a shireadh ann an leth-uair a thìde. Shòr mi greis, ach chaidh mi riuthasan agus cha do chaoidh mi sin idir. Bha Àrd-eaglais Naomh Moire, Lansdowne Church, agus gu h-àraidh an Oilthigh is Taigh-tasgaidh Kelvingrove faicte bhon Oilthigh gu math snog fiù 's ann an dorchadas. 'S fìor thoil leam seòrsa na h-ailtireachd seo. (Gu nàdarrach, tha mi airson tilleadh gus am faicinn ann an solas na grèine.) Cuideachd, fhuair mi a-mach gu bheil dà abhainn ann an Glaschu, agus gum b' ann tarsainn Kelvin a bha an drochaid thar an deach sinn air an Great Western Road.

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Sauchiehall St / Ruchill Park / Subway

2011-11-07T17:42:00.000Z

(Diar, 3 Samh 11)

Sa chiad mhadainn ann an Glaschu, bha an roommate agam airson a dhol dhan bhaile le dithis a bha air fuireach an-seo greis mar tha agus fear ùr eile. Chaidh mi còmhla riutha, a' coiseachd airson a' chiad turas air Firhill Rd, Garscube Rd, fon M8 agus taobh Chambridge St chun t-Sauchiehall St. Chunnaic mi an t-ainm Sauchiehall gu math tric air pàipear no air an sgrìn, ach cha robh mi air an t-sràid riamh. Bha an-dràsta: ciamar a chomharraichidh mi seo? Seadh, cheannaich mi botal lionna nach do dh'òl mi bhon Lùnastal an-uiridh - IrnBru.

Tràth san fheasgar, chaidh mi leam fhìn an Ruchill Park fhaicinn. Chòrd i rium gu math - chan ann ro mhòr no ro bheag a tha i agus cha robh ach beagan dhaoine innte - bha i ciùin mar bu chòir dha pàirc a bhith. Bu toil leam as motha an dà pholl agus an tolman, ged nach eil Glaschu a' coimheadh ro bhrèagha bhuaithe. Nuair a bha mi ga fàgail, bha fhios agam gum bithinn a' tilleadh gun teagamh. An uairsin, lorg mi an Queen's Cross Church le Charles Rennie Macintosh.

Shiubhail mòran dhuinn na b' anmoiche san fheasgar dhan CDR airson deuchainnean alcoil is drugaichean. Bha mi, gu nàdarrach, cinnteach mu mo dheidhinn-sa; b' e an rèile fon talamh an rud a chuir iongnadh orm. Cho seann, beag is dachaigheil, le tunailean mar chearcaill seach ugh-chruthan, agus am mullach na b' ìsle na mise nuair nach robh mi nam sheasamh ann an teis-meadhan a' charbaid. Èibhinn ach math... Cha robh Govan (far a bheil oifisean a' chompanaidh) a' coimhead dona idir, ach chan eil fhios agam nach robh sin air sgàth 's gun robh e dorcha an dèidh a' chiaraidh.

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Rob / Turas-adhair

2011-11-05T21:16:00.002Z

(Dic, 2 Samh 11)

Bha e math gun robh Rob gar (mise, esan is a' chaileag aige) dràibheadh bhon bhaile anns a tha sinn a' fuireach chun a' phuirt-adhair (mu 150 mìle). B' esan am fear mu dheireadh air a tha mi eòlach còmhla ris a chuir mi seachad na h-uairean mu dheireadh san dùthaich sin. Freagarrach. Ged as fheudar dhomh aideachadh cha mhòr nach do shil mi deur no dhà nuair a bha mi ga choimhead a' fàgail talla a' phuirt-adhair, a' tuigsinn gum biodh ùine fhada gus am faic mi e a-rithist...

Cha robh mi air sgèith ach nuair a bha mi sia bliadhna deug agus, air adhbhar air choireigin, theab mi an turas a dhìochuimhneachadh gu tur. Mar sin, bha e mar gum b' e a' chiad phàirt dhen turas (le Ryanair a Lunnainn Stansted) a' chiad turas adhair agam. Bha e inntinneach, an toiseach gu sònraichte: dh'èirich sinn far nach robh beul na h-oidhche cho dorcha fhathast agus bha sinn a' sgèith os cionn nan sgòthan.

Tha fhios nach robh eagal orm gun tuit am plèana; tha eagal orm gun tig breisleach orm ann an Lunnainn agus cha tèid agam atharrachadh bhon chiad phlèana dhan dàrna fear. Mu dheireadh thall, bha agam ri feitheam còrr is uair gu leth. (Faireachdainn neònach ann: mar gum biodh m' eanchainn a' diùltadh creidsinn gun robh mi ann am Breatainn mu thràth, as dèidh dìreach seachd uairean.)

Bha an dàrna turas (le easyJet a Ghlaschu) furasta cuideachd, ach bha oidhche ann agus cha do dhùraig mi leantainn a Fhirhill leis a' mhàla-droma is poca-laptop air busaichean. Ghabh mi tagsaidh. An dèidh a h-uile càil, 's e dràibhear-tagsaidh a tha ann an Rob.

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Ceàrnag a dhà

2011-11-01T01:06:00.002Z

Tòiseachadh ùr eile...

He reached his right hand into the right pocket of his worn pants and pulled the pocket inside out, empty and frayed. Nothing and nobody, he said. That's what I've got like before. Nothing and nobody. And something stubborn in him said no, not quite.

Jack Schaefer: Monte Walsh

Taobh a-staigh mo bheatha, chan ann tearc gum b' fheudar dhomh tòiseachadh a-rithist ann an seagh air choireigin . Gun robh mi back to square one, mar a chanar ann am Beurla. As dèidh an fhiabhras-eanchainne nuair a bha mi nam bhalach, as dèidh na h-àrd-sgoil agus as dèidh na colaisde, as dèidh Seirbheis Nàiseanta, grunn uairean as dèidh daoraich ro fhada...

Tha fhios nach eil duine riamh air ais gu ceàrnag a h-aon gu buileach. Tha rudeigin an-còmhnaidh aige, eadhon ged nach biodh sin ach cuimhne agus fèin-fhiosrachadh. Tha agus agamsa a-nis. Bidh e tòiseachadh ùr thall thairis gun charaid sam bith; ge-tà, tha cuid airgid agam agus chan eil mi cho gealtach 's a bha mi fiù 's beagan bhliadhnaichean air ais.

Tha diofar eadar-dhealaichte ann cuideachd. Gu seo, b' àbhaist dhomh teicheadh air àite air a bha gràin agam. An-dràsta, tha mi ag amas a dh'àite air a tha gràdh agam. Ann am faclan eile, tha mi airson a' chiad uair a' dol a dh'àiteigin, seach air falbh bho àiteigin. No: tha togradh neartmhor, seach àicheil, agam. No: cha robh mi riamh ach a' dèanamh oidhirp gus nach bi mo bheatha a' fàs nas miosa; tha mi a' feuchainn ri mo bheatha a leasachadh mu dheireadh thall.

Co-dhiù, ma bhios mi soirbheachail gu leòr airson fuireach ann fad an t-siubhail, dè bhios mi a' fàgail an-seo? Leabhraichean-latha, dealbhan is cuimhneachain, ach 's dòcha gun tèid aca air a bhith a' cur thugam uaireigin. Mu cheud leabhar, ach 's e sin an aon ghnothach agus tha mòran dhiubh nam Khindle mu thràth. Am flat, ach 's ann dìreach air mhàl a tha e "agamsa", agus tha an nàbaidheachd a' dol bhuaithe. Càirdean bhon cholaisde, ach chan àbhaist dhomh am faicinn a h-uile bliadhna a dh'aon chuid. Rob - uill, Rob. Bithidh mi ga ionndrainn. Ge-tà, is e seo an t-aonamh linn air fhichead, linn TFC. Mar a tha Franz Ferdinand a' seinn, "If we're leaving we don't stop living, you know". Agus 's mathaid gun tachair mi air caraid no dhà ùr. Cha thachrainn an-seo...

Ceart gu leòr, bidh mi air ais gu ceàrnag a dhà; tha teansa ann gum faigh mi nas fhaide na tha mi a-nis. Seadh, tha mi nearbhach gu ìre mhòr; aig an aon àm, tha mi a' coimhead air adhart ri dhol.

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