Archives for June 2010

Tom Morton has volunteered to share with us his top tales from the Tom Morton Show every week...

Top tales this week have included an exploration of goats, not the men who stare at them but what exactly a 'scapegoat' is. (Old Testament, from the practice during the Day of Atonement of releasing a goat metaphorically loaded with Israel's sins, into the wilderness). This led, on Tuesday to a discussion on the orgins of the word 'scape' - thanks to Barbie for that enquiry. And the odd revelation that the green shoots that emerge from the top of garlic bulbs are known as 'garlic scapes'. Scape is the same as escape, in case you were worried, meaning departure or separation, as well as the obvious.



Strange objects people have had stolen (including the rear view mirror from an Austin A40, when a cash-loaded wallet was in the car; a left-foot cowboy boot, leaving the right-foot one behind, and a pair of tartan pyjama trousers, not while they were being worn). And then there were the parking fines, prompted by news that the US Embassy in London owes almost £40m in unpaid congestion charges. Alan informed us that it is illegal to park in the USA (a) more than 12 inches from the kerb and (b) in the opposite direction to traffic flow. You have been warned.



Top tale this week comes from Kevin's Old Man, though, on those little slips you make, Freudian or no. This was occasioned by the interview the BBC's own dear Alan Yentob gave to the Guardian during his trip to Glastonbury, when he was asked if he came to the festival often. He took some slight umbrage apparently: "I come to Glyndebourne all the time" he replied...Anyway. Here's Kevin's Old Man:



"My mate at work is very proud of his nephew who plays in the Scottish Premier League. His parents, when the football star was a wee boy, once went to a fortune teller. My confused colleague tells everyone proudly - aye they knew he would be a great player - the ventriloquist foresaw it in the future! "

Tonight's History Zone is produced by Bobby Seiler and he's provided this blog post to give us an idea of what we can look forward to...

With summer in full flow, Jamie McIvor introduces a History Zone celebrating the good weather with a collection of archive programmes with a seasonal flavour. This classic collection of "do you remember where you were" radio programmes include fascinating programmes on everything from the terrorist attacks on London in 2005, the death of Princess Diana in August 1997, the Pope's visit to Glasgow in 1982 and Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech from August 1963.

There are also personal recollections about Frank Sinatra's legendary gig at Ibrox in 1990, the Gloup Fishing Disaster in Shetland in 1881 and the history of the Edinburgh International Festival. Even if the weather doesn't behave itself, you're guaranteed some summer memories on this week's History Zone

Tonight's History Zone goes out on MW this evening at 0030 and is available to listen again on iPlayer.

Yesterday, as part of Deaf Awareness Week our Communications & Events Manager, Avril Morton arranged a visit from the RNID, including Delia Henry, Director of RNID in Scotland.

The team came ably equipped to carry out health hearing checks for BBC Scotland staff (especially useful for those covering T in the Park) and Delia explained the importance of Deaf Awareness Week in highlighting the day to day barriers facing deaf and hearing impaired people.

We took the opportunity to catch up with her for some good advice.

Vic Galloway is halfway through a two week stint presenting The Music Cafe, he was kind enough to write us this blog about the experience and people he's spoken to.

For two weeks I'm delighted to say I'm doing The Music Cafe on BBC Radio Scotland. It's always nice to be asked to present something a little different. Although I love my normally allocated Radio Scotland and Radio 1 slots, championing new, alternative, underground and emerging music from Scotland; I do also have interests that lie beyond unsigned indie bands, you know!

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Bryan Cooney sent us this blog about the new series of Stuff of Legends.

Interviewing sports stars can play havoc with your health. Imagine asking an uber-macho Australian fast bowler how it felt to be a gay icon. I breathed in deeply and raised this rather delicate matter with Mervyn Hughes back in the early 1990s. Unsurprisingly, he voted for immediate retribution. He extended that bull neck of his and lowered his menacing moustache until the bristles were antagonising my nose. His eyes, meanwhile, embarked on a search and destroy mission. I knew if I blinked, a death certificate might be issued. The torture lasted approximately 60 seconds and yet felt like an hour. He then broke into a ribald laugh and formed a response. I had been given the permission to breathe again.

On looking back at my colourful life, at sojourns with the Aberdeen Press and Journal, The Sun, Daily Star, Daily Mail, where I eventually became Head of Sport, and, of course, BBC Radio scotland, I recall many such episodes of tension, if not abject terror.

Even now, confrontations with famous sports personages visit me in nightmare form. Maybe I should follow popular trends and write a book about them. But these clashes were not provoked by bland, obsequious lines of questioning. In good journalists, there's an obligation to place your head on the butcher's block.

Happily, the latest series of Stuff of Legends ended without any blood being spilled. I tried to be relevant, to touch on controversy and avoid outright sycophancy in attempting to discover what made them the men and women they became. Not sure I achieved the latter.

But one thing is certain: in talking to icons such as John Jeffrey, Sir Henry Cooper, Sandy Lyle, Murray Walker, Sir Chay Blythe, Peter Alliss, Mary Peters, Graeme Souness and Jim Watt, I spent some of the most blissful moments of my working life. Please enjoy.

The new series of Stuff of Legends begins on Thursday 1 July with John Jeffrey.

It was the final day of the Royal Highland Show and the sun was shining - it was incredibly hot by 9am. It was also a busy day for Radio Scotland programming.

Shereen Nanjiani kicked off the schedule with her current affairs programme, joined by author Kirsty Scott, the Guardian's Scotland correspondent Severin Carrell and PR wizard Martin Raymond.

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Day 3, and there was considerably more activity at the BBC Scotland pavilion. Raven was entertaining children and the Landward rephotography exhibition was getting a lot of interest.

I however was focusing on the Janice Forsyth Show, two hours packed with live music, a comedian, an author and a food expert.

The first live band were Pearl and The Puppets, who hail from Kirkintilloch and are lead by Katie Sutherland. They've had a fair amount of success already and Elton John champions their music. Sounded great.

The other live band were L'Acoustica (I'm afraid I can't find any mention of them on the web to link to) who feature Bryan Tolland, a former member of Del Amitri, and identical twins on vocals and double bass. The double bass player sat astride his instrument and wore a kilt. They performed a cover of David Bowie's Oh You Pretty Things and an original. No album as yet, but one on the way. Worth checking out.

Janice also chatted to comedian Bruce Devlin, and author Karen Campbell. The audience were treated to an oxtail stew prepared by Mr Snax in his slow cooker. I didn't get to sample it, but it smelt wonderful - much better than the over-priced burger I had for lunch!

You can see many more photographs and now also videos (including the Quack Commandos) at BBC Scotland at the Royal Highland Show.

I'll be back tomorrow for Shereen, The Business and a Classics Unwrapped pre-record. Oh and I might find time to do a little shopping at the show too - the craft and design area has some gorgeous things.

Brian Taylor hosted his Big Debate from the Royal Highland Show where he was joined by Jim McLaren, Richard Lochhead MSP, David Mundell MP, Sarah Boyack MSP and Liam McArthur MSP who took questions from a packed pavilion. So nice to see so many people coming in to the Radio Scotland shows...

That's it from Radio Scotland today, tomorrow it's the turn of Janice. Raven will also be appearing outside the pavilion. Oh and if you're coming and you want to find the pavilion, it's close to the main arena just behind the clock tower.

I'm off to upload some more photos from this morning onto the BBC flickr group and then it's time to find something interesting for lunch - there's a lot to choose from. There are so many people here now I think today might break the record for attendance again. That said, I've managed to bump into my Great Aunt and Uncle!

First show from the Royal Highland Show went well and the Radio Scotland pavilion had a full house which was lovely to see.

Fred talked to David Dunsmuir, the manager of the show - apparently there was a record breaking first day crowd yesterday. He recommended that people bring suncream rather than waterproofs and wellies.

There was a huge cheddar cheese which co-presenter Lesley Kay attempted to core - she wasn't quite as accomplished as the expert!

Comedian Teddy talked about the Ivory Coast World Cup football team, whose strip is coincidentally the same colour as the cheddar... Then Teddy and Addy Van der Borgh did the "five things you didn't know last week".

And... did Fred get to fulfill his life-time dream of milking a cow? Well, you tell me. I left for the cattle shed at 11, but saw no sign of any milking. Either I missed it or it didn't happen.

The festival season is most definitely upon us, Rockness was a couple of weekends ago and the granddaddy of festivals Glastonbury is celebrating it's fortieth anniversary this weekend, so we asked presenter Tom Morton for his seasoned and always valued festival perspective:

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It's day two of the Royal Highland Show and the sun is shining. I took the bus from Edinburgh this morning (no 98), they're running every 10 minutes and cost £5 return - the same price as the car parks, and considerably faster than negotiating your way in and out by car.

It's still quite quiet, and I've taken the opportunity to time how long it takes on foot from the BBC tent to the cattle shed where Fred hopes to milk a cow. I managed it in 5 minutes but it's dependent on the "livestock crossings" - gates which are shut to allow for all the show animals to get to and from the arenas. There are 2 on my route. There's quite a tight window for the cow milking and it still may fall through depending on whether the cows return from the show ground in time... so watch this space, or tune in to MacAulay and Co this morning.

Although I've lived the best part of my life in Edinburgh, I've never before visited the Royal Highland Show. I'd been told it was huge, and that there was tonnes to see but that's an understatement - the show grounds are massive! Even the car park is the size of a small town. The grounds are set out like an American city, with avenues both numerical and alphabetical to help with navigation. Hasn't prevented me getting lost more than once already though.

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Bobby Seiler one of the BBC Radio Scotland Zones producers told me about the latest Culture Zone. Take a look at the video of Stephen Duffy who presents the Zone and read what Bobby says.

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When we're putting together an outline for a new series of Classic Scottish Albums one of the big questions is always this: will we be able to get a new interview with the artists and further will the producer's nervous system be able to cope with the little foibles of agents, managers and record companies in securing said interview?

Oh my Lord, the things we've almost done. Original CSA head honcho Fiona Croall once phoned me and said:

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Sushil K. Dade, producer of The Jazz House, was at The Young Scottish Jazz Musician of The Year 2010 finals on Sunday which broadcast live on BBC Radio Scotland, and is repeated on Wednesday's Jazz House (23 June) at 8pm.

I'm Still buzzing from this week's Young Scottish Jazz Musician Of The Year 2010 finals from the Old Fruitmarket as part of this year's Glasgow Jazz Festival.The atmosphere was electric and the sold out crowd was testament that Scotland truly has a healthy appetite for jazz and for supporting emerging talent. The camaraderie between the finalists throughout the competition has been great with each of them supporting each other over the the past few weeks.

After the various heats Sunday was judgement day and time for 2009's winner, bassist Andrew Robb, to hand over the title. The house lights dimmed and the backing group of pianist Brian Kellock, drummer Alyn Cosker and bassist Mario Caribe took to the stage and provided the finalists with an inspired backing to show off their talents and shine... and boy did they shine! We heard saxophones galore, driving piano, the pounding of drums and even some jazz clarsach from the finalists... but who won?

Perhaps you caught it LIVE on BBC Radio Scotland or you were at the gig so you may already know? If not (or you just fancy another listen!) be sure to tune in to the repeat on Wednesday's Jazz House (23 June) at 8pm to find out who was crowned this year's winner, and watch out for loads of added content to Scotland's Music over the coming days too.

Another Country with Ricky Ross is on a six-week break for the summer during which time Edith Bowman brings her album show to Radio Scotland. Edith can usually be found presenting Radio 1's Weekend Breakfast show. A Fifer from Anstruther, Edith is excited about coming to Radio Scotland and we asked her to write us a few words explaining what the new show is all about.

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Some people spent their lunch hour today listen to the doom and gloom that is the Budget 2010, but here at the BBC we took a break from reality when we were visited by a couple of Doctor WhoCybermen and a Dalek...

Children from Gourock High School and Lourdes Secondary School in Glasgow were entertained (and in some cases frightened!) by the monsters, before participating in a live webcast with Nick Briggs, voice of the Daleks, Phil Ford, writer of Doctor Who Adventure Games and Charles Cecil, Executive Producer of the Adventure Games and games design guru, hosted by Fred MacAulay. The children saw a preview of the new Doctor Who web game (available from Saturday 26 June) and a clip from the final episode of the series.

The event was broadcast via the web to schools around the country courtesy of BBC Scotland Learning.

I couldn't resist having my picture taken with one of the Cybermen!

In advance of the budget on June 22, we caught up with BBC Scotland Business and Economics Editor, Douglas Fraser.

Throughout the day he'll be discussing the budget implications on programmes across Radio and TV including Good Morning Scotland, Scotland Live, Newsdrive and on Reporting Scotland.

Jamie MacDougall and the Classics Unwrapped team broadcast the show live from Kirkwall with the musicians of St. Magnus Festival, including pianist Ewa Kupiec, The Royal String Quartet and Will Conway. Producer Dominic Jewel has written a post about the event:

As a child, one of my favourite days out involved visiting a windmill at an open-air museum not far from our house.

I would look up at its idle sails, dreaming of more laid-back times when the pace of life was governed by the movement of stones and the grinding of grain - where, doubtless, ruddy-cheeked folk of good spirits lay happily about on haystacks soaking up the sun.

If ever there was a place to rediscover the harmony between stone and grain- between man and nature - Orkney is it.

From the Ring of Brodgar, where a stone age circle that was probably more of a community centre than an obscure site of ritual, towers over ancient farmland, to Skara Brae where kitchen cupboards older than the pyramids are open to the sky, this is a place to come and imagine.

pianist Ewa Kupiec at the Ring of Brodgar

Imagine what it was like to work in the fields, totally dependent on the weather and unable to pop down to Tescos if the harvest failed. To know the quiet sounds of the land before the combustion engine overpowered them. To fish for fresh seafood without the risk of exceeding your quota, and to grind wheat or barley with the simple power of the wind.

Ah the wind. A little fault with my fantasy there: if the windmills of my mind were powered by an Orkney wind, these would not be lazy times of laying about on haystacks - you'd be loading up grain faster than you could imagine as the wheels span crazily around churning out more and more flour- a sort of Sorcerer's Apprentice of the mill. Because it is windy here - make no mistake about it - a place of windmills for sure, but these produce electricity not flour. And I bet they could keep the National Grid going single-handed.

As for ruddy-cheeked good spirits, though - they're here in abundance and not unconnected with grain, either: barley has been put to its very finest uses here with some considerable skill.

As a matter of fact I'm about to go and sample some of Orkney's finest - only I don't think I'll get to laze about on a haystack doing so. It would never stand up long enough in this wind.

Producer Dominic Jewel is producer of Classics Unwrapped, BBC Radio Scotland, Sunday 1705 - 1900.

You can hear more St Magnus coverage on BBC Radio 3 from June 28th as part of Afternoon on 3 and also on the BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concerts.

Producer James Christie from the MacAulay and Co. team has put together this blog post charting reporter Richard Cadey's efforts in creating a community cricket team.

It was inspired by an article on the Daily Telegraph website. But when I challenged roving reporter Richard Cadey to do similar and create a cricket team in his village. I don't think either of us realised how much work would be involved, but also how well it would bring his community together.

We are now 4 weeks on since the challenge was set and Richard has a team of over 20 people, but it didn't always appear that he'd get the numbers. Within the first week he met the members of the local Bowling Club:

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He also got a similar reaction from the local community council. While both groups were appreciative of the efforts they felt they couldn't bring much to the table.

Last Friday was the turning point and all it took was a visit to the local primary school sports day:

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He signed up the majority of members there. And has also had a slow trickle of players replying to the flyers he posted around the village.

There we have it, on Saturday they will meet for the first time. A group of individuals, a lot of whom won't know each other despite living in the same village but they are now Torrance Community Cricket Club.

And where do they go from here? Well the first game is pencilled in for August 30th. So they better get training!

Don't miss MacAulay and Co. Monday to Friday 1005 -1130 on BBC Radio Scotland.

Davie Scott presents Classic Scottish Albums and sent us this blog about the episode broadcasting on 28 June 2010.

I thought about the music of The Jesus and Mary Chain on two particular occasions over the past year. One was around the time we were commissioned to bring you another series of Classic Scottish Albums. While driving to a supermarket in East Kilbride, home of JAMC, to buy something nice for tea I had my CD copy of Psychocandy playing in the car and started thinking (Pseud's Corner here we come) that the sound of the album had a lot of East Kilbride in it. Not long before this the artist Sylvia Grace Borda had published a book called EK Modernism in which she sort of debunked all the unkind stuff people tend to say about the place they call Polo Mint City. Sylvia argued that huge optimism and deeply committed philosophy had gone into the planning of the town, and to prove it reproduced some beautiful photographs that showed the town's modernist brave new world at its best. Okay, and also its worst. For all the concrete, grey squareness of East Kilbride there's a lot of green too; you can walk most places (although you don't of course) and the folk are plenty colourful enough. So there I was, driving through Westwood with the chainsaw feedback of In A Hole taking the top of my head off and there were the harsh concrete blocks and there were the bleached underpasses and there were the modernist churches. It was quite the live documentary. By the pastoral 12-string acoustic of Taste Of Cindy I was seeing only the sun and the grass and the happy weans in Celtic and Rangers tops.

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The largest agricultural event is peeking eminently around the corner and at BBC Scotland's online department we are digging out all of the essentials sun cream, wellie boots, waterproofs and a camera!

So as we prepare to head to our nation's capital to cover the 2010 Royal Highland Show, we thought it might be a good time to spill the beans on BBC Scotland's coverage of this year's show.

BBC Scotland at the Royal Highland Show will have a host of videos and information, and will feature archive footage from previous shows and the latest from Edinburgh's Ingliston showground throughout the weekend.

You can get an instant snapshot of the show from our photographs which will build over the four-day event, and you can also add your own pictures to the collection by uploading to our flickr group.

BBC Scotland will have a large presence at the event with BBC Radio Scotland's Out of Doors and television series Landward recording from the show and rounding up what's on offer.

BBC Radio Scotland will broadcast a variety of programmes throughout the weekend and BBC Scotland's marquee will also be home to a number of other activities, from online to sports commentary to Raven challenges.

The Royal Highland Show mark a milestone as they celebrate 50 years at Ingliston, however the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS), have been hosting the show for 170 years.

Show manager David Dunsmuir ensures there is a correct combination of agriculture and entertainment and explains by staying true the society's values the continued success of the show is maintained:

The show takes place from 24 - 27 June offering a multitude of events and exhibitions from the farming and rural sector. Visit the official Royal Highland Show website for full details of the activities throughout the event.

You may have heard the sound of the vuvuzela hit the airwaves yesterday when Sports Report presenter Liam McLeod took one into the Newsdrive studio - have a listen to the clip below:

We also caught up with him after the show for some "expert" tuition into how to play this unpopular horn.

Is this the most annoying sound of the summer? Here's a Newsnight clip showing the vuvuzela being being played a professional. What do you think?

The 2010 Fringe programme has now been announced, and both MacAulay and Co and The Festival Cafe will be broadcasting live from the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) for 2 weeks: 9-13 and 16-20 August.

For a taster of what to expect, have a look at the photo galleries from last year's Fringe.

Tickets are available online via the Fringe website:

• MacAulay and Co.
• The Festival Cafe

As mentioned on the blog last week, the current edition of the Culture Zone is presented by Davie Scott, musician, producer and university lecturer. His co-presenters are two students from the University of the West of Scotland , Akira and Sarah Beth Brown. This video gives you a sneaky peak into the Culture Zone studio as they chat about their musical influences and expectations.

The tales we tell...it's what life's about, isn't it? Yarning, remembering, trying to understand what happened in the past, learning lessons for the future. And as we sit around the campfire (or the radio, or the carry-out curry, or all three) it's also about having a laugh, about wondering how we got away with it, about the sheer wonderful strangeness of human experience.

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Derek Farrell, the producer of Scotland's Landscape, has been in touch to tell us more about the site and the rephotography project.

This year BBC Scotland is exploring Scotland's landscape with programmes across radio and television taking a look at how even the wildest parts of the country have been shaped and influenced by human activity.

To start things off, Landward is running a series of films in which photographer, Colin Prior snaps modern day versions of archive landscape photographs from across the country. The differences between the old and new pictures are often dramatic and highlight how much things have changed.

For these rephotographs to be successful, it is important to try and match the exact position, angle and framing of the original picture, so it can be quite a challenge. But that doesn't mean you have to be a professional to take them. This week on Out of Doors, Mark Stephen has given rephotography a try himself. Mark travelled to West Wemyss in Fife, to see how the village has changed since it was photographed in 1900.

You can take part in our rephotography campaign too. The newly launched Scotland's Landscape features a range of images from across the country that we want you to take new versions of. You can also take a look at the modern day photos Mark and Colin have taken and pick up a few tips on taking great snaps and on how to upload them. We hope it inspires you to get out and get clicking.

Our colleagues from Scotland's Music spent their weekend up at the RockNess festival shooting video and photographing the many artists who performed.

If you visit the RockNess website you can find videos of live performances by Vampire Weekend, Fatboy Slim, Leftfield, Plan B, Ian Brown, High Contrast and Friendly Fires.

Here's a taster from Vampire Weekend:

There are also photos of Crystal Castles and Blondie (I hope I look that good when I'm 64!)

Vic Galloway will have highlights from the Festival on his show tonight (14 June) including Fatboy Slim, Vampire Weekend, Doves, Leftfield and Crystal Castles and unplugged sessions from the BBC Radio Scotland campervan.

This week our colleagues across the corridor in BBC Alba launched their new website celebrating the Gaelic Year of Song - It's an impressive project compiling an archive of Gaelic song throughout the year, at the moment it includes performances from over 350 artists and more than 450 songs.

Laura MacRitiche one of the producers has very kindly written a wee introduction to the site for us:

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Not only does the World Cup start over in South Africa and RockNess rocks the Scottish Highlands, but the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra begins its 75th anniversary celebrations this weekend (11-13 June) when it presents its third annual Listen Here!, a "big weekend" of free concerts and music-making events.

As part of the celebrations both MacAulay and Co, and Brian Taylor's Big Debate broadcast their programmes live from the City Halls, home of the BBC SSO today. I went down to join the audience and take a few photos.

You can see the photos from MacAulay and Co in the gallery, where guests included Jeremy Kyle, Raymond Mearns and Teddy. And here's a picture of Brian and his panel:

Following on from his post about Donovan Davie Scott wrote and sent me a blog about Big Country's The Crossing which is featured in Classic Scottish Albums on Monday 14 June.

Classic Scottish Albums: The Crossing

I've never been very good with brainteasers, puzzles or questions of any kind. I once completed the Glasgow Herald Quick Crossword but by and large when it comes to brain games I just can't see the wood for the trees. It is this flaw that led me to miss what would have undoubtedly been the journalistic scoop of the year. Forget Gordon Brown and Gillian Duffy, this would have had 'em talking.

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You're going to be hearing a lot of Chick Young over the next couple of weeks. He's the lucky - and lone - representative of the Sportsound team in South Africa.

But for the rest of us - like you - the World Cup will be something we watch on the telly. Thankfully I'm too young to remember Argentina in 1978, but ever since a world cup summer has meant the joy of being a couch potato for month. Being put to bed - then woken up again in the middle of the night to watch Mexico 86 - remains a favourite memory of mine.

But how will the rest of the Sportsound team be enjoying the festivities?

Well believe it or not our main commentator - and national treasure - David Begg is going cold turkey. He's in Shetland for the next fortnight - without a TV. But David has been closer to the action than many of us - he and Murdo commentated on the last World Cup final - with Murdo in Glasgow and David in the Olympic Stadium - some 1000 miles away - and believe it or not it worked!

Our pundit Allan Preston will be flying the flag for the Sportsound team in foreign parts- he's going to be in Las Vegas but has already worked out the time difference and will be getting up the for the first match each day at 4.30am - when most of Vegas will be stumbling home.

Stephen Craigan - host of The Pitch on Sportsound - could have been in South Africa in his role as captain of Northern Ireland. But like the Scotland players he'll be trying to fit in three games a day on telly along with pre-season training. He's supporting Slovakia and Slovenia who qualified from Northern Ireland's group. What a nice man.

Speaking of nice men... Jim Traynor is - in his own words 'retreating to his Largs lair and 'kicking every Jabulani with the Elephants, Indomitable Lions, Super Eagles and Bafana Bafana - while waiting for Shakira to shake her Waka Waka.

In the Sportsound team as in life itself, it really does take all kinds....

Davie Scott sent us this blog about recording this week's episode of The Culture Zone.

I'm spending today at PQ in the company of two students from the BA Commercial Music course at University of the West of Scotland, one of whom, Sarah Beth Brown, has just casually remarked that 1984, the year I made my first record, was the year she was born. Thanks, Sarah.

The reason we're here is that Elizabeth Clark, Zones producer, came along to one of our songwriting showcases and was seriously wowed by the quality of work on display. Now she knows how I feel almost every day going to work at UWS. Anyway, Elizabeth invited our students to curate an evening of the Culture Zone with selections from the seemingly bottomless Radio Scotland archive of music features and songs from our performance orientated students. So at the moment Sarah Beth (aka Born By Wires) and Andrew MacLellan (aka Akira) are giving the script some seriously forensic attention while I write this. In other words I am all but redundant. This has some resonance for quite a bit of my professional life; in fact it's probably fair to say that one aspiration for the teacher is to no longer be required, to simply provide a bit of space for the creation of great new work.

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Another Country producer Richard Murdoch sent us an update about the next series.

Last night Ricky Ross and I were invited onto Willie Nelson's tour bus in Edinburgh to record an interview for Another Country. It was a real buzz to meet one of the greatest singer-songwriters of country music and hear him talk about some of the many songs he's written and recorded like Man With The Blues and Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain.



We were supposed to do the interview the previous night in Glasgow, but word from America didn't reach us in time. Confirmation finally came through at 4pm yesterday, so we chased the tour bus to Edinburgh and caught up with Willie before his show. He clearly loves playing in Scotland and enthused about the audiences as he sipped a mug of black coffee. He's a very kind and friendly man and gave us a warm welcome on board his tour bus. You'll hear the full interview when we return in August, but tune into BBC Radio Scotland this Friday night from 8pm for a sneak preview. When we also have a session and interview with another talented singer-songwriter, Gretchen Peters.

Richard Murdoch is the producer of Another Country with Ricky Ross, Fridays 2000-2200

Swots producer Margaret-Anne Docherty called me last week to let us know about the new series. Jo Caulfield is standing in for Miles Jupp for the first two episodes alongside the ever-glamourous assistant Susan Morrison. The recordings took place at the CCA in Glasgow on June 4. I went along with Karen and Simone also from Radio Scotland online to photograph and film the sessions. Here's a collage of pics from the night, ahead of the first episode from the new series which can be heard on Saturday June 19 at 1205. It will, of course, be available to listen again to for seven days afterwards.

Just a brief post here to let you know of a schedule change. For the past few weeks Chick Young has presented Managing the Old Firm which has been part of Sportsound on Saturday afternoons.

Since Saturday 5 June the programme is no longer within Sportsound but is now a programme in its own right which should make it a lot easier to find and listen again to.

This Friday, 11 June, MacAulay and Co. is broadcasting LIVE from the City Halls in Glasgow, as part of the BBC SSO's 75th birthday celebrations.

The show promises a fun mix of music and Friday fun, with comedians Teddy and Raymond Mearns joining Fred for the 'Five Things We Didn't Know Last Week.' Members of the SSO will perform and Jeremy Kyle will be taking a seat alongside Fred.

And YOU can be part of the audience! If you want to join Fred, just let the team know by e-mailing [email protected]. Tickets are limited, and on a first-come-first served basis, so get in touch now!

It's been a busy week for us on Out of Doors and the Beechgrove Potting Shed - and it's not over yet! I've spent most of the day editing a special programme we recorded this week on the famous Fort William to Mallaig steam train - that's the one many Harry Potter fans lovingly regard as the Hogwarts Express.

Before capturing the major excitement of being on a steam train - what is it about steam? - we spent Wednesday dashing up and down the road between Fort William and Mallaig, meeting up with various people en route who could explain the wildlife and history of the area.

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The West Highland Line is frequently voted in weekend newspaper travel sections as one of the most picturesque railway journeys in the world. It runs from Mallaig to Fort William - or the other way round depending where you are.

Out of Doors on Saturday June 5 sees Mark and Euan invite you on that journey as they discover the history of the line and the landscape around it - from Bonnie Prince Charlie to the Hogwarts Express.

See photographs from Mark and Euan's journey in the Out of Doors gallery.

The annual Royal Highland Show at Ingliston is only three weeks away (where has this year gone???). Radio Scotland will be there in force with the following programmes broadcasting live:

• Fri 25 June 1000-1130: MacAulay & Co
• Fri 25 June 1215-1300: Brian Taylor's Big Debate
• Sat 26 June 1000-1130: Janice Forsyth (with special guests)
• Sun 27 June 0900-1000: Shereen
• Sun 27 June 1000-1100: The Business

Classics Unwrapped will be recording a show for future broadcast on Sunday afternoon, and the Out of Doors team will be collecting content too. Landward will be there for BBC Scotland.

Radio Scotland online will be there to capture key moments and will be posting regularly throughout the weekend here on the blog.

If you're going, please email us your photos afterwards and we'll put together a gallery.

Talking of events at Ingliston, this weekend is the Gardening Scotland Show, Mark Stephen and Beechgrove Potting Shed will be broadcasting live on Sunday afternoon at 1205. Again, if you're going and take any photos you'd like to share, please email them to us.

Annabelle came into BBC Scotland's studio 1 to record three tracks for Ricky Ross. The current series of Another Country ends on June 18 with a session from Court Yard Hounds. Annabelle's session will be featured when the programme returns after Edith Bowman's Album Show ends a six week run on July 30.

In the meantime, here's a sneaky peek at some of the photographs I took of Annabelle during the recording.Annabelle Chvostek in Studio 1, BBC Scotland, June 2010 recording a session for Another Country with Ricky Ross

How's your memory for lists? Birthdays? Faces? PIN numbers? I've spent hours playing brain training games but I don't think it's made any difference other than passing the time during a rainy lunch hour! However, our colleagues in Learning Scotland have been coming up with ways to help us improve our memories...

Most people feel their brainpower isn't quite what it should be, but did you know there are some really simple ways to get that information lodged in there?

Drew McAdam is a stage mindreader and memory expert, and he's just the person to ask about this. He's been known to memorise the entire contents of a thick magazine despite claiming to have "only an average memory, if that". It's all about having a system, he says. Or several systems, in fact.

Read the rest of this entry

On MacAulay & Co last week Fred celebrated handwritten letters with Dr Alison Wiggins. Fred asked his listeners to take the time to write to us here at BBC Radio Scotland - Pauline and Margaret took the time to do so - check out their beautiful letters below.

If you feel inspired, write to Fred MacAulay at

BBC Radio Scotland

4.07 Pacific Quay

Glasgow

G51 1DA.

And if you need some tips, here are some tips from Dr Wiggins;

1. Subject:

There is no doubt that it takes time and effort to write a letter. It can certainly be quicker to throw a sheep at your gran on Facebook, to text "U Rock" to your significant other, to click an online petition to your MP, or send out a standardised C.V to potential employers. But you have to ask yourself; what is going to achieve the best results? If you really want to get your message across, sometimes a letter can give you the edge. The key is to make sure your time and efforts are well spent - send a letter when it counts and to someone who will appreciate it!

2. Materials:

A formal letter, by email or post, must be typed. Go for black ink and stick to a nice grown-up font like Times or Helvetica, maybe Verdana for email. No Comic Sans. Please. An informal letter is another matter altogether. Give yourself a break from the computer screen and write to your friends and loved ones on pink paper, or on the back of an old map, photo or train ticket. Be playful, be romantic, be memorable, be creative. A handwritten letter is a gift, but priceless.

3. Address:

For a formal letter. The addresses should be set out well. This is important. To neglect this in a formal letter is worse than using Comic Sans.

4. Opening:

The classic way to start a letter is to frame it as a response to something, an event ("Just to say...thanks for the party...") a development ("After a miserable series of delays, I am writing to complain about the train service...") or a precious exchange ("I received your email this morning...!") This is your chance to set the time and agenda, so make the most of it. Be polite, be direct. Get their attention!

5. Content:

Make sure your letter is not too long (boring) or too short (shallow). There are a million ways to write a letter. If you're stuck, here's a tip: aim to write 3 paragraphs each about the past, present and future. This model works for most topics. Try it! Magic!

6. Subscription:

You'll remember this from school: when you start "Dear Sir/Madam" subscribe "Yours Faithfully", when you start "Dear Mr. MacAulay" subscribe "Yours Sincerely". Fine. Easy. In an informal letter of course, the rules are less rigid. This means you can use the subscription to define your relationship with the other person. There is a scale of increasing warmth here. So you might go with a cool-to-icy "Regards". Or a temperate "Yours" or "Cordially". Or a warm and affectionate "Much love" or "Thinking of you". Or go volcanic with "Counting the moments until you are in my arms again".

7. Signature:

Make sure you sign your name clearly. Be careful how free you are with the number and size of your kisses. A string of 'xxxxx's' can be perfect for your mum, but possibly not for your boss.

Yours Faithfully,

Lindsay Gillies, producer of BBC Radio Scotland's MacAulay and Co.