Couple of photos

Been carrying the camera about in the mornings.  Here's a couple of early morning shots in Glasgow.

Gordon Street

Rogano Oyster bar

I took these with my bridge camera, which is compact enough to throw in the rucksack if I don't have much space, and want to carry a camera "just in case".  I'm going to go back with the DSLR and see what I can get when I'm not rushing to get somewhere.

Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games have (and at the time of writing, still are) taking place in Glasgow.  The atmosphere in the city has been amazing.  There has been a massive influx of visitors, and there's a really happy vibe about the place.

Prior to the opening ceremony, I had posted online regarding the uniforms the Scottish athletes would wear for the opening ceremony, and how (to me) they resembled a dodgy flashback to some acid casualties take on Brigadoon (or words to that effect).
Later when I won tickets to the boxing, I got called a hypocrite and two faced.  What, because I didn't like what they were wearing for the opening ceremony?  If fact, it would be fair to say I got pelters.
I stand by what I said.  The tartan is bad (or at least a bit garish), but I have seen worse.  But the shirts and the dresses........ seriously, they were, and still are, horrible.  That material/pattern is seriously bad.

Anyway, people seemed to think I was anti-games, which I was certainly not.  In fact, the boxing was amazing live, and I went down to Pollok Park to watch the marathon, and yesterday I went to the Trongate to see the time trials.  Add watching the swimming, gymnastics, and loving the athletics, and it's fair to say that I have really enjoyed the games, possibly more so than the Olympics, but that's probably down to them taking place where I live, and the fact that I've been able to enjoy not just the events on tv, but the whole atmosphere and the brilliant vibe that is engulfing Glasgow at the moment.

Finally, a quote from a lassie working in the merchandise tent on George Square - "The town is going to seem really weird and quite once this is all over".  And you know, she's right.

Scottish CND rally

Yesterday Scottish CND held a rally in George Square in Glasgow, as part of their Springwalk.  There was a really good atmosphere, and the speakers were all well recieved by the crowd.

Deputy First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, confirmed that if Scotland got independence, Trident would not be used as a bargaining chip with Westminster, and that they were committed to removing all nuclear weapons from Scotland.

So without further ado, here's some photos.

Big jaggy thistle in Central Station

On the way to work this morning, I saw the unveiling of the Commonwealth Games mech stand in Central Station.  Bit surreal seeing a scrum of photographers taking pics of a guy dressed as a thistle, cutting a ribbon, but hey, it's all fun.

Bit windy

The weather in Glasgow is a bit.....blustery today.  Winds of up to 95 miles per hour expected, no trains running at all, and part of the glass roof of Central Station has come crashing down, resulting in the station being evacuated.  Not that it makes much difference since there's no trains anyway.

It was torrential - and horizontal - rain when I left the house this morning.  Standing at the bus stop, a car was crawling along the flooded road, when a flatbed truck undertook it and soaked everyone standing at the stop.  On the upside, I now know that the waterproof trousers I bought for hillwalking, do what they're supposed to.

It's just over a week to go till the work Christmas night out.  Hope the weather isn't as bad as this.

Glasgow bike week

It's Bike Week in Glasgow.  This is a council run initiative to get people on their bikes.  Every year during bike week, they set up a gazebo on the Broomielaw on one morning, and hand out free breakfasts to people on bikes.  Today was that day.
Unfortunately for me, I passed at 0710 and they were still setting up.  The free food didn't start till 0730.
Ah well, never mind.  I did get a quick chat with a friend Collin, who's involved with the council on the cycling side of things, and we've arranged to do lunch on Friday, so it's all good.

Solid ball of rock

Went to see Saxon last night at the ABC.  Support was from the Quireboys, another band I love, and Redline, who I'd never heard before, but were pretty good, and I'd probably go and see again.

The Quireboys were up to their usual highly entertaining standard, and played a blinder of a set.

Spike and the Quireboys rocking the ABC

Then it was time for the main event.  From the off, it was a blinding set.  Biff announced that he hoped no-one was tired, as he fancied playing for two hours.  And that's exactly what they did.  At the end, he pointed at his watch as if to say "See, told you!".  

It was an absolute stormer of a set.  There was a fair few songs from the new album, which I've not heard yet, but they sounded great, and stood up really well next to the old favourites.

The Great Glasgow Transport rip-off

At the moment because of the weather, I'm not cycling to work, and get a train in the mornings.  For the privilege of going 2 stops, twice a day, 5 days a week, I pay £51.50 a month.  Now I can use it at weekends, except, well, there's no trains on my line on a Sunday.

The bus alternative is £52.  Admittedly that covers the whole Glasgow network, which appears to be split into only 2 zones, Glasgow City and Whole Network.  So, for £0.50 more, I get to travel on the whole network, and am not restricted to the days I travel.
The only problem is, despite the city centre having been open for business on a Sunday for about 20 years, we still have the antiquated "Sunday Service".  Now, this was fine when there was no shops open on a Sunday, but apparently shops do more business on a Sunday now than a Saturday, so having a reduced service on a Sunday makes no sense whatsoever.

The last option is the Zonecard.  Now this is provided by SPT and allows travel on buses, trains, underground, and ferry.  Excellent and as you would expect, having more options makes it more expensive.  A lot more.  3 zones (which is what I would need to get to work) is £85.10 for 4 weeks.

There's also the strange situation where the Zonecard has Glasgow split into a hell of a lot of zones, and not just the two that First bus has for the city.  This is sort of fair enough, when you consider that it covers a far wider area than the bus only card, but they use a completely different model.  From my house to the city centre with the Zonecard, is 3 zones.  With the bus card it's 2.

Now, another weird one is this.  Both the trains and the buses are run by First.  I have a 4 week train ticket. The other day my train was cancelled (and so was the next one).  Since there's only 2 an hour, I wasn't prepared to wait an hour to see if the one after that again was running.  First didn't lay on a replacement bus service (something they do when there is heavy snow and the trains can't run), so I jumped on a bus.  Now, even though I've already paid First to get from the town to the house by train, which they can't provide, I have to PAY AGAIN to use the bus to get home.  The bus driver doesn't recognise that my train isn't running and I should be able to travel by bus.  EVEN THOUGH when they recently electrified the line and there were no trains running, we COULD use the train tickets on the buses. It's not rocket science, it's the same company running the trains and the buses.  A ticket to travel should be just that, and the means of travel (bus or train) irrelevant.

I can't be the only one to think this.  Can I?

Dan Reed - Glasgow, March 2013

Wilko Johnson Farewell Tour pics

Well the holiday season is definately over

On the way in to work this morning, I took a wee detour through George Square.  The Christmas lights are still up and lit, but they are starting to dismantle the whole Christmas village thing that had been set up.  Here's a couple of pics.  One is of the lights, and the other of the big wheel.  The ice rink had already been dismantled, and most of the tent's/stalls are away as well.

Christmas Lights in George Square, Glasgow

The big wheel.  Or as I call it the Glasgow Aye, Right!

Cycling rant (pt2)

A while back I did a wee rant about the state of the roads in Glasgow being a danger to cyclists, and that the money the council spends promoting cycling was basically being pissed up against the wall, as people would be reluctant to take up cycling considering the state of the roads. Well, here's part 2, which justifies my initial rant.

Someone I know in work who also cycles in daily, and is in fact cycling daft (his idea if a relaxing weekend usually involves about 60 miles on the bike).  On Sunday he was out on a bike run with another work mate, and on the way back into Glasgow, coming down the Switchback, his front wheel hit a pothole.  He went over the bars, hitting the other cyclist, who somehow managed to stay on his bike.  Being clipped in, when he went over the bars, the bike came with him.  He's now in the hospital with a double skull fracture.

The guy who was with him thought he was a gonner, as he was making a "death rattle" sound in his throat.  Fortunately, he's still alive.

After accompanying him to the hospital, his mate headed back up to the site of the accident to take a photo of the pothole, but guess what, it had been filled in.  Funny that.  The police apparently have photos though, as if he had died they would have been needed for a fatal accident inquiry.

Just shows, someone is almost killed and the pothole gets filled just like that.  Would it have been filled if he hadn't crashed on Sunday?  Call me cynical, but I doubt it.

Screeeeaam for me Glasgow

And lo, Glasgow DID scream for him.  Yes, Bruce, Janick, Adrian, Dave, Nico and (last but not least) Steve totally blew the roof off the SECC last night.  There was a decent mix of the new album and some total classics, so that should have kept everyone happy.  The new stuff actually works really well live.

Yeah, that was an awesome gig.

Braiiiiiiiinssssss

World War Z is going to start filming in Glasgow next month.  It's based on the Max Brooks book of the same name, and is starring Brad Pitt.  Today there was a casting for extras, in Glasgow, and I took myself along.  Hey, it's a zombie movie and it pays £130 a day!

Anyway, I should find out in a couple of weeks if I'm getting a part.  That would be so cool :-)

Theatrical goodness

Last night we went to see The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Heart, by the National Theatre of Scotland, at the Tron in Glasgow.  It was excellent.  A story staged in a bar, about a lock in, or what happens after a lock in, in Kelso in the Borders.  It's also about the folkloric traditions, and is just brilliant.

It's touring now, and there's a wee trailer for it as well.  If you get a chance to check it out, I highly recommend you do.

Hmmm. Not good at keeping this thing going am I.

As mentioned in the last post (last year) I was going to Redemption. Well, I went, and had a great time. It was my first time in Coventry, and I have to say I like it. The 8 hour bus journey I likes a little less, but the train involved 2 transfers, and there was VERY little time to get from one to the next, so I didn't want to risk it. As it was I just vegged with the mp3 player, a book and occasionally slept.

Back in the real world, and the finish line is in sight as far as Satellite 2 goes. The guest of honour is in place, the programme is coming along nicely, and the first batch of t-shirts have been ordered.

So, if you stumble across this blog, click on the link, and come to the convention.