You'll never guess where I'm going tomorrow? Polmont Young Offenders Institute! A few years ago I did a "Johnny Cash", I took my guitar and sang in the prison. A riot nearly broke out. I think the song lyrics were an invitation to violence. Anyway thought I'd get you thinking about prisons, but before you do I hope you enjoy this clip. [kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/N5Ts4M3irWM" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /] The central committee...
Continue Reading

It's just turned 1.00pm and in the next 30 minutes Willie and I will be heading for the Airport. Thanks for the info James about the flights. We've been told that the Air France flight took off this morning a couple of hours late, however it won't effect us because I believe the strike is now over. The city links seemingly have not been affected. So we should arrive home as planned. I was so good to receive your comments over the past week and I felt that many of you...
Continue Reading

I can't get the documentary I saw last Thursday on BBC4 out of my mind. the blurb on the BBCs web page reads as follows; "It was entitled BULGARIA'S ABANDONED CHILDREN. in the programme, Director Kate Blewett visits a children's care home in Bulgaria and investigates the conditions in which the children live. The Social Care Home - where 75 unwanted children are growing up - is the main employer in the small village of Mogilino. Few of the children can talk, not...
Continue Reading

When I was a wee boy I lived in Glasgow. one day a man from the Leprosy Mission came to our church. He showed us slides of people who suffered from leprosy and asked for our help. We were all invited to take a box and fill it with coins.  our family took one because we were all moved by the plight of the leperosy sufferers. I remember the box was L shaped made of wood  and coloured red.  We used to go collecting for the Mission on the streets. We didn't have a...
Continue Reading

This evening there was a glow in the sky all over Bo'ness. There is something about this little town that gets to you, especially on an evening like this, it's almost magical. Certainly Eva Cassidy singing Click here."Somewhere Over The Rainbow" is to my mind the definitive version and it too is quite magical. So when they come together like this on the blog I really hope you can just grab a wee bit magic for yourself. You look out across the Forth from our garden...
Continue Reading