Monthly Archives: February 2016

Gumshoe Cliches

Posted on February 27, 2016 by Grouse Beater

On the run up to the Golden Globule Awards and Oscars, and all the razzamatazz – in reality variety shows with prizes – it may be pleasant to take a diversion from the usual predictions of who will win Best Gay Still in … Continue reading →

Posted in Film review | 3 Comments

Bone Tomahawk – a review

Posted on February 20, 2016 by Grouse Beater

  This film is a real oddity. I guess Hollywood has grown bored with the standard cowboy plot and let its imagination run wild. What is it about American, and for that matter Japanese, cultures, that they so enjoy torture? Their … Continue reading →

Posted in Film review, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Death of a Don

Posted on February 18, 2016 by Grouse Beater

“The only difference between the ideas endorsed by Trump and Scalia is that Scalia has a robe and a lifetime appointment.” The man so described is the late Judge Antonin Scalia. Readers might wonder why there’s an essay about the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Is Our Society Democratic?

Posted on February 13, 2016 by Grouse Beater

It’s an incontrovertible fact a nation governed by another nation cannot by definition enjoy full and open democracy if it doesn’t command the mechanisms and structures required for self-determination, but instead is instructed to serve the interests of the dominant nation. Preamble Whilst … Continue reading →

Posted in Scottish Politics | 15 Comments

Goodbye Landie

Posted on February 10, 2016 by Grouse Beater

  Time for another car column. The dependable Land Rover Defender When playwright Tom Stoppard was an unemployed student he got a job writing car reviews. “Knowing nothing about cars, I sat inside them and just described what I saw.” When I … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Trumbo – a review

Posted on February 6, 2016 by Grouse Beater

  I am Trumbo. No, I am Trumbo. No, I’m Trumbo! Yes, the persecuted Dalton Trumbo wrote Spartacus, but he never got the credit or the Oscar until many years after the event. Trumbo was a blacklisted writer. And somewhere … Continue reading →

Posted in Film review, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Defining Yes and No

Posted on February 5, 2016 by Grouse Beater

Psychologists tell us the mental process called rationalisation is a term which actually does not mean ‘being rational’. Rather it means justifying a lot of things to make our self feel comfortable with a decision we made, or its outcome. We seek … Continue reading →

Posted in Scottish Politics, Uncategorized | 11 Comments