graham

I've been once - decent enough, predominantly fish on the menu. Service was a wee bit shambolic but friendly enough. Not up to the standards of Crabshakk across the road, but a fair bit cheaper I guess so maybe not trying to compete in that market.

Never seen that whole genre so succinctly and expertly described before. I'll be appalled if The Associates Party Fears Two isn't toppermost of the poppermost.

Jeez, what a depressing night out. I can recall a Bunnymen gig at the Barras in the mid 80s that had to be postponed for a week because, by all accounts, he was too drunk to stand. Last night was the first time since then that I've gone to see them - I reckon another 25 years won't be too soon for the next time.

Off the top of my head, and it would probably be an entirely different list tomorrow: Atlantic City, USA Gregory's Girl The Philadelphia Story North by Northwest Airplane Groundhog Day Singing in the Rain Pan's Labyrinth All Quiet on the Western Front Sunrise The Umbrellas of Cherbourg The Third Man

The ballboys at Falkirk have tops with "Ball Attendant" on the back. When will the madness stop?

"Hopefully we can play like we can play cos the boys can play." Can't say fairer than that!

The Great Statesman steps out

I remember seeing on the news a busload of Rangers fans, fresh back from Manchester, stopping outside Parkhead. A rather large lady took off her electric blue stetson (the kind you see sported on hen nights) and respectfully added it to the shrine. It was a completely bizarre sight, but quite moving at the same time.

Blue Monday

I suggest you lower your expectations!

Bar 82, which used to sit on a bit of wasteground where the Buchanan Galleries is now, was a favourite haunt on budget-conscious day-trips to Glasgow when I was a student. You always seemed to spend most of your time shaking your head in wonderment at just how little it cost for a round (and the rest of your time trying not to fall into conversation with some of the more dilapidated clientele).

British banks do indeed have headquarters. The Bank of England for example has its headquarters in London Town's Threadneedle Street and is oft termed "The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street" as a consequence. The headquarters of the Bank of Scotland is on the Mound in Edinburgh. Unfortunately there are no online banks, so customers of the aforementioned banks have to travel to the headquarters to retrieve their monies. Anyone planning to buy a house has to take a wheelbarrow.

Strange that Sir Alex has never expressed any anger over the Glazers bumping up season ticket prices at Old Trafford by 50% in five years....

The tall guy with the dark hair is David Craig is it not?

Not anymore I don't think. There was a brief mention in the Record last week of them letting him go. Usual stuff about "best football player at the club, but things not working out".

Hair today, gone tomorrow...

Off to see them at the weekend - haven't actually heard them to be honest, but there's enough interesting people involved to suggest that they're worth a shot.

I think my pie had been in the oven since Saturday. Worst I've had in living memory. The fact that it was about half the size of a proper pie was almost a blessing. Modern stadium, modern facilities and yet they can't serve edible food or even make a decent attempt at getting the fans into the ground before kick-off. All that aside, still a good night. Second half was the best half of football we've seen for a wee while.

There's a guy from Texas called Jandek who went 25 years (and about 50 albums) without ever appearing live or even revealing his identity. He decided to break cover with an unannounced performance at The Arches a few years back. I arrived about five minutes after he went off stage. To be honest though, he's a bit rubbish so I didn't really lose sleep over it.

Funnily enough the worst Fall gig I ever saw (a moderately crowded field) was at Motherwell Civic Centre. I think a reincarnated Elvis backed by Hendrix and the Beatles would be hard pushed to whip up much of an atmosphere there.

I accept that we scraped up from Division 2 by a similar method, but the idea that someone can finish 4th in a league of ten and still get promoted is farcical. Makes the very concept of a league redundant and will actually exacerbate one of the biggest turn-offs - that some teams will end up playing each other five, six or seven times a season. If the play-offs were two leg affairs then it's possible that two first division (sorry, SPL2) teams could play each other nine times.

I was in David Bann's vegetarian place in Edinburgh for lunch today and it was tip-top. Roastit Bubbly Jocks is pretty decent mid-week, but I've been a couple of times at weekends when it was busy and it was a bit of a shambles.

And Roddy McDonald I think.

There's a fifteen minute interview with Dougie McDonald on the BBC website. Fifteen minutes! It's like Frost vs Nixon.

With the benefit of hindsight, some of the stuff in this article makes for hilarious reading, not that we don't have some fine examples in our own recent past of proud boasts about prudence coming back to haunt us. It's interesting that Melville, according to the Sunday Times rich list of 2008, was worth (along with his brother) £75 million and yet he was being quoted as worth £120/130 million a year later. Either he had a very good year, or his propensity for bullsh*t was evident even at that point.