It's Not Over Yet

 YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE

When you've been with someone a long time it gets harder to buy presents that surprise them, or meet a need.  So for Xmas 2019 we decided we both had plenty 'stuff', so instead of even more 'stuff' we'd buy a joint present that didn't add to the clutter of an already cluttered home.  Since we both like going to gigs we decided that tickets would be the best answer, but in a new venue, away from home.

That ended with a trip to Dublin in January 2020, to see the great Christy Moore perform at Vicar St.  Great gig, great experience, and we decided that this was the future of the Crawford Xmas.  How wrong we were.  Ten weeks later the first lockdown came and a gig in Edinburgh on the eleventh of March would prove to be our last of the year.  Xmas 2020 came and it was back to the 'stuff' again, because where could you book with any degree of certainty?

But it looked like being better this time around so, cautiously, we booked to go somewhere not too far away this time.  Tonight is the night for our Xmas gig in Newcastle.  Wasn't it?  Because this just happened...

That's me on the left.  Sadly Barbara came up positive, and trying again produced the same result.  So no trip for us today.  And I'm wondering how much live entertainment we will end up getting to see this year, because the record hasn't been good so far.  

My first outing of the year should have been to Murrayfield on the second of January to see Edinburgh take on Glasgow, with another match, this time against Cardiff, on the eighth.  Both of which fell within the period of the mini-lockdown we had at the turn of the year, meaning sports events were played behind closed doors.  (For once covid provided a silver lining when there was an outbreak in the Glasgow squad and the match has had to be postponed, so maybe I'll get to see that one.)  I did get to the next match, against Brive, on the twenty first.  So that's one.

We had booked five gigs through in Glasgow during the Celtic Connections festival.  One vanished quite early on, US musicians deciding not to come across.  Then another went, for 'covid-related' reasons.  Then another.  In the end we got to see two, moved to larger, socially distanced rooms, but at least they went ahead.  And reminded us how much we miss live music.

There are at least five more rugby matches to go to this season.  And the calendar shows a further five gigs.  Three of them have been rearranged from previous cancellations - one of them five times already.  All bar one are local events.  The first is two weeks from tomorrow.  Maybe.  Who knows what comes next? 

On the plus side, staying at home means more time with this ageing lady, who's not been too well recently.  Which might be a subject for a future post.

As if I'd stereotype Weegies....

Regular readers (who??) may be aware that we're big fans of the 'A Play, a Pie and a Pint' series that runs every Spring and Autumn.  Despite price increases it's still an amazing bargain, doing just what it says on the tin, and including some great new short plays.  Each one runs from Tuesday to Saturday, usually after a similar run the week before at Oran Mor in Glasgow.

But here was one, The Weir Sisters (review here), which wasn't making the trip along the M8.  And as it featured a friend of ours in one of the roles it seemed like a good excuse to return to Weegieland after several months absence.  I'd heard nothing but good things about Oran Mor as a venue, so I wondered if it would live up to expectations.  And how it might compare with our more  familiar haunt on Cambridge Street.

That comparison certainly started well, the Glasgow venue being in an old church, a fairly impressive building on a busy crossroads, and a big improvement on the Traverse's bland exterior.  So too the entrance lobby, a characterful space with cartoonish artwork on the walls, and the bar, a proper island bar in cosy wood clad surroundings.  But then....

Following the queue that snakes across the bar we go down into the performance area, and look to figure out the routine.  Sure enough the line takes us past a bar where we can choose from the list of drinks on offer, and round the corner to the pie section.  Then take the 'meal' and find a seat.  The seats are free standing, and you eat off your lap.  After a while the play begins.  And very enjoyable it was too.  But it's a rather different experience to the familiar Traverse one.

There's the choice of pies for a start.  Or rather the extreme lack of choice.  What we're used to is a list of, say, Scotch, haggis, veggie haggis, chicken and leek or macaroni pies, plus a veg tartlet.  while in OM there appears to be a choice of Scotch pie or..,. Scotch pie.  There's something unappetising looking that might be veggie, but that's it.  What we're used to is taking our comestibles to a table, and consuming them in civilised fashion, what we get is the juggling of items between hand, lap and floor, trying to keep pie from ending up underfoot.  No surprise when the sound of smashed glass rang out.  And what we're used to when we descend into the depths is tiered seating with good views from all angles, close to the action.  What we get is a distant view of the actors across a silver-grey lake of heads.

But this is Glasgow, and there is one area in which they are bound to outshine their smaller counterpart.  Here the drinks list gives a choice of a pint of ale, lager or cider, red or white wine (125ml measures if memory serves correct), soft drinks, tea or coffee.  There it looks subtly different.  To the pints list you can add Guiness, plus the choice of a couple of bottled beers, the wines include rose and come as 175s and.... erm, where were the soft drink options?  Weegieland, you do not disappoint....

But sorry Glasgow, your bus service is a bit crap....

Pisa is cooler than Glasgow

PISANS 1, WEEGIES 0

Who'd have guessed that the inhabitants of one of Italy's oldest cities had a great level of sophistication than Glasgow's finest?  If you doubt the validity of that possibility then here's a bit of photographic evidence.

Of all the many fine achievement that can be attributed to Glaswegians, none is greater than the equestrian statue of Wellington that stands proudly outside the Gallery of Modern Art.  Now monuments to the Iron Duke are ten a penny across the cities of Britain, and there is nothing particularly remarkable about this one.  Except for his headgear, which may have once been unofficial, but has come to be recognised as a permanent fixture.

That traffic cone says more about Weegies than any ex Tory Prime Minister ever could.

And yet I found today that the people of Pisa have outshone them.  Forget the Leaning Tower, and all those ever-so-imaginative tourists posing in front of it with their arms outstretched (oh, how my sides ached to see them all....)

Pisa wins because of this guy.

I have no idea who he is.  And does it really matter?  He's cool.  he's just finished off his cocktail and looks ready for another.  Wellington, you may have a silly hat, but can you out-cool James Bond?

No, thought not.

Here he is again, looking a bit shaken, but totally unstirred.

Credit for picture of Welling ton statue :
Statue of Wellington, mounted, Glasgow - DSC06285" by Rept0n1x - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons