Strange things learned during trip to London. West Ham fans sing (and thanks to a tomboy fixation in the early 70s I now have to say Jimmy Greaves at this point) –I'm forever blowing bubbles. Why? My friend who's 8 months pregnant has only become anxious about the birth since going to ante natal classes. She also can't find any non fussy babywear and is ordering everything from a Nordic online firm –and was therefore well pleased with the right-on reggae babygro we picked up in a fab shop on Leith Walk the Cat's Miaou. It says "Get Up Stand Up" in Jamaican colours. The free Evening Standard has already seen off its trashy free-sheet competitors, London Lite and the London Paper – and it may well be performing miracles with the mindset of the average Londoner, who now reads weighty, thoughtful pieces on the Tube and bus instead of celebrity driven trash. I read a fab piece by Simon Jenkins about the green benefits of living in the city as opposed to the country. I've got to say he's right. On the other hand, well connected lefty and Scotty friends tell me of their horror at the way people in high places are lapping up the Tories. Uncritical articles are commonplace. And never mind policy being created on the playing fields of Eton – its friendships made in the bars of Knightsbridge, clubs of Soho and ski slopes of Zermatt that are changing allegiances. Bus travel is slipping back as an easy option for strangers. Even the shortest trip costs £2 and you need exact change to buy a ticket from a machine before you board. At 9.30am (after the rush hour) it was still standing room only all the way down the Holloway Road. Mind you people were very jolly, talkative, and helpful with mums and prams. Makes me wonder if the droid-like behaviour that comes over the same people on the Tube is down to lack of daylight.
Thinking about last night's Press TV programme, it's bizarre that the only chance to have a really long ,thoughtful talk about the future of Scotland is.... not in Scotland, and not even with an audience of Scots. There's something so wrong about the way Scots broadcasting has turned its back on robust debate – it would make me weep if I hadn't developed a thick Buddhist hide. One of the tenets of Buddhism apparently is that Life is difficult. Another (roughly paraphrased) is that It ain't over till it's over. No-one can say whether any single experience has been good or bad at the time. This economic crisis could be the making of us. It could force sloppy, complacent thinking out. Even lack of mature debate could create a head of steam that bursts with political impact at a useful time. Like an election. Who knows.
Meantime though I'm looking forward to a weekend with my ol man in Belfast, meeting our friends writer and journalist Malachi O'Docherty and his wife Maureen and Michelle and Tom Marken. Oh and we're off to see Eddie Izzard on Saturday night. Dead on.
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