celticman's blog

I like Ruby Wax. I don’t know her, of course. I only know her projection on telly. She admits she had it good. She was the go-to person for the BBC to make quirky documentaries, which gave her the chance to meet other eccentrics. Then she hit 50. The unwritten rule was she was a woman and therefore too old. She admits she was hurt and jealous of her replacement, no, not Myriam Margolyes—that came late, like Bradley Walsh, that’s never off the...

Ruth’s story, coercive control, Fab Swinging, BBC, Radio Wales. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0ns3q5d Broadcaster Cartin Nye suggests over one million people in Britain have tried Swinging. That’s around 1—60 of the population. I think that’s bollocks. While my sympathy here was for Ruth, I don’t quite get what for example choking, beating and hair pulling have to do with sex but I do accept they did happen to her. Rough sex is as foreign...

Prime Minister, Andy Burnham cut ties with Israel and its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after accusing their leader of War Crimes. Citing a recent UN repot that declares Israel continues to commit genocide. He read from the report which claims they "deliberately carried out acts inflicting death and severe bodily and mental harm on hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children", and that the killings continued even after last October's...

After Brazil beat Scotland 3—0, without even trying very hard, John McGinn said in the post-match interview, ‘We gave everything.’ Steve Clarke said something similar. ‘We gave them the goals.’ Iconic Scottish commentator, Archie McPherson summed it up by saying this was the pishest Scotland team he’d ever seen—and he’s over 90. When it gets to a stramash, I tend to agree with Archie. It was nice being in the World Cup. There was none of the...

A not very good Scotland team play a not very good Brazil team in the hope of qualification for the next round of the World Cup. The first time I remember this happening was the World Cup in 1974. We’d beaten Zaire 2—0 and we drew 0—0 with Brazil. Billy Bremmer had a great chance to snatch it late at the back post. We went home undefeated and with a certain glow. Scotland have already been defeated. Morroco won on merit. Quite simply, they were...

I watched an interview with Chris Packham in Edinburgh, promoting his book, after I’d read almost 400 pages of his memoir. He’s around the same age as me, but looks at least ten years younger. Most of us know him from the telly. For example, Springwatch with around four million viewers. Packham is erudite about birds and biology and you know you’re listening to an expert. I read lots of books. But, at first, I couldn’t really find a way into...

Doug Johnstone keeps things simple. Two word titles his specialities. Hurting and fucked up families, his mainstay And a protagonist that’s so fully formed her or him steps out of the pages and into your life. Here it’s Finn Sullivan. He’s idling a few hours at Kirkwald Airport in Orkney, which is small as a bedsit. Johnstone’s novels usually take place in Edinburgh or that nook of the world. But ‘Orkney was so stunningly beautiful, like God...

What's Up Docs? https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002wxsx the podcast where identical twin doctors Chris and Xand van Tulleken cut through the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing. In this episode, Chris and Xand explore the lymphatic system, from its vital everyday functions supporting fluid balance and immunity to its more mysterious roles. They look at what happens when things go wrong, examine popular wellness claims...

How many languages can you speak? Read and write in? I do a passable impression of English. That’s about it. Eliska Tanzer, birthplace was Drovane. She was brought up in a Romani ghetto in Slovakia. Therefore, she can speak Slovak and Romani. She learned the language of dance from her mother, Lenka, a prostitute but continued to fail to learn their family trade and couldn’t blow a banana. Franz Volker was East German before he was German. So...

Did you pass the Scottish nationality test? I just managed it. Went to bed at 11.30pm and was up again for 1pm. Scotland were playing Haiti in Boston at 2am. That’s our time. Not US time. My favourite girl in the world, Tilly, aged eight, was allowed to watch the game with her dad, but Finn, aged three, was encouraged to sleep through the festivities in his Scotland top and shorts. It’s been a boon time for the bars. The game being on BBC meant...