Posted in Curiosities, Scottish Football Grounds, War Memorials at 12:00 on 14 January 2020
From the path to the park which contains Brechin’s War Memorial there is a good view of the reverse of the beech hedge which forms the western boundary of Glebe Park. You can also see the David Will Stand in this photo:-
The following two photos were taken of Sons new strip for 2018-19 (now superseded again) at the game on 25/8/18, a game we should have won.
Posted in Curiosities, Dundee at 12:00 on 9 December 2019
Last summer we were in Dundee and when walking past the Railway Station I spotted this platform sign. It has ‘Dundee’ in both English and Gaelic. I couldn’t tell you when Gaelic was last spoken in Dundee on a daily basis.
On coming back the other way I noticed that above the entrance to the station the sign has the Gaelic phrase, “Faìlte gu stèisean Dùn Deagh,” under the English, “Welcome to Dundee Station.”
My knowledge of Gaelic is not even hazy so is there a reason for there to be two spellings of ‘Dundee’ in Gaelic, Dùn Dè on the platform, Dùn Deagh on the entrance? Or do they just make it up as they go along?
There was an exhibition from the archives of the Dundee Publisher D C Thomson at Dundee’s McManus Galleries on at the time. D C Thomson were/are publishers of the comics The Beezer, The Topper, The Beano and The Dandy as well as Dundee based newspaper The Courier plus The Sunday Post – which gave us Oor Wullie and The Broons. The gallery was temporarily renamed The McMenace in tribute to The Dandy‘s denizen Dennis the Menace.
Dundee is proud of the D C Thomson legacy. There is a statue of Desperate Dan and his dog in the city centre.
One of the exhibits was this montage of comic characters set against the backdrop of the Galleries:-
D C Thomson’s offices overlooked the playground of Dundee High School. The writers and drawers of The Bash Street Kids apprently took inspiration from the goings-on there!
Comic characters and Dundee High School:-
Posted in Curiosities, Trips at 20:00 on 18 October 2019
It’s amazing what you see when wandering about a town on an early summer’s evening.
A train track in someone’s garden.
Unfortunately I couldn’t get far enough back to get it all in one photo:-
Posted in Curiosities, Trips at 12:00 on 31 July 2019
This was one of two bookshops we found in Dingwall.
It has a great name.
Posted in Curiosities at 20:00 on 8 July 2019
Apart from the Carron Restaurant – see previous post – Stonehaven, via the medium of the Carron Fish Bar, formerly The Haven, is the birthplace of that Scottish culinary delicacy, the deep fried Mars Bar.
Posted in Curiosities at 12:00 on 3 March 2019
Weather phenomena can be very strange indeed.
I found this photograph on Astronomy Picture of the Day for 25/2/19 – which sprinkles the odd meteorological image amongst its astronomical ones.
The photograph shows red sprites – a form of lightning that was only recognised as such 30 years ago.
More information about atmospheric sprites can be found here.
Also on that page is an illustration of different atmospheric electrical phenomena which I reproduce below. These appear to take place at different heights abobe the ground. (Image credited to Abestrobi.)
By Abestrobi – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
Posted in Curiosities, Doctor Who, Kirkcaldy, Linguistic Annoyances at 20:00 on 5 December 2018
Yesterday I spotted in a charity shop in Kirkcaldy the legend, “Theives will be prosecuted.”
My immediate thought was, “So do thieves get away scot-free, then?”
On Monday I saw in the Guardian that for the first time there would be an episode of Doctor Who on New Year’s Day this year.
No. That would already have happened. The clue is in the name. New year.
The episode will actually be broadcast next year.
Posted in Curiosities at 21:00 on 3 December 2018
I came across this on Astronomy Picture of the Day, for 26/11/18. I missed it on the day as I was away.
It’s a view of the launch of a rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome as seen from the International Space Station and the video compresses 15 minutes into 90 seconds.
It’s not strictly speaking astronomy so I haven’t categorised it as such.
Posted in Curiosities, Doctor Who, Trips at 20:16 on 10 September 2018
The friends we were visiting in Lancashire last year took us to Blackpool. We went on a tram trip (all the way to Fleetwood) and on the way passed these daleks, and a TARDIS; part of the Illuminations. Photo is a bit blurred due to being taken through the tram window:-
Posted in Curiosities, Dumbarton, Linguistic Annoyances at 20:00 on 2 August 2018
This isn’t really a linguistic annoyance but I’ve not used that category for a while.
Anyway I was tickled by the title of a listing (now vanished) on eBay. (PHOTO DUMBARTON CENTRAL RAILWAY STATION VIEW IN THE 1960`S WITH AN EMU IN VIEW.)
“An emu?” I thought.
Then after a second I realised it must be train-buff speak for electrical multiple unit.
