Monthly Archives: February 2017

BBC Scotland Goes Indy

Posted on February 25, 2017 by Grouse Beater

The Great British Broadcaster, BBC, plans a dedicated television channel for Scotland. The fashionable sarcastic rider is to add ‘What a time to be alive’. Trumpeted as if an announcement of Queen Elizabeth’s belated abdication, newspapers dutifully parroted the BBC director general’s puffery unchallenged, repeating the … Continue reading →

Posted in Scottish Politics | 16 Comments

The Great Wall – a review

Posted on February 20, 2017 by Grouse Beater

The Chinese invented paper, printing – block and moveable type, porcelain ceramics, lacquer, silk cloth, seed drills, iron ploughs, rice terraces, land cultivation, agriculture, fireworks, gunpowder, cannon, rockets, and military precision, the list is almost endless, but they needed Matt … Continue reading →

Posted in Film review | 8 Comments

Moonlight – a review

Posted on February 20, 2017 by Grouse Beater

Macho man incarnate, I’m the last movie fan to lose good lousing time to see a film about gay love among black men in Miami, but the street noise for Moonlight has been getting louder and louder; so, it was … Continue reading →

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Roots of English Racism

Posted on February 18, 2017 by Grouse Beater

The one that got away Fascinated by the monumental presence of steam locomotives, it was always a marvel to me that the Flying Scotsman – the world’s most famous locomotive – was not called the Flying Englishman. With the dominant … Continue reading →

Posted in Scottish Independence Referendum, Scottish Politics | 41 Comments

Car News: Carrozzeria Carnage

Posted on February 18, 2017 by Grouse Beater

There are three staple ingredients used and reused by lazy screenwriters. The first is the mobile phone. Need a plot problem solved instantaneously? Have a main character get a phone call with relevant information to move the plot forward.   The … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments

The Trump Backlash

Posted on February 11, 2017 by Grouse Beater

Remarkable how the worst, most incompetent politicians manage to hog the limelight, promoted by the Right-wing press and media pals. Bumbling Boris Johnson is one example, the odious Farage another. For months to come we are to be assailed by the … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Media | 9 Comments

Scotland – Shut Up!

Posted on February 11, 2017 by Grouse Beater

English politicians are apt to claim England as the greatest country in the world. The USA will disabuse them of that fantasy. The fact is, a wild-eyed narcissist tearing up the US Constitution and trampling on civil rights can blow us … Continue reading →

Posted in Scottish Independence Referendum, Scottish Politics | 42 Comments

That Bloody Union!

Posted on February 4, 2017 by Grouse Beater

“When a man’s spirit is low, he’s whipped.” A Texan said that to me in Houston. That terse aside could just as easily sum up unionist attitude to the people of Scotland. Keep ’em down, keep ’em wonderin’. The great … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 10 Comments

T2 Trainspotting – a review

Posted on February 3, 2017 by Grouse Beater

T2? What a stupid title! Okay, got that off my chest. The gang’s all here, ‘Spud’ Murphy, (Ewen Bremner) Renton, (Ewan McGregor) Sick Boy, (Jonny Lee Miller) and the psychotic Begbie, (Robert Carlyle) only … only now they’re all movie stars. How … Continue reading →

Posted in Film review, Uncategorized | 8 Comments