Ally

They likely thought they were just going to make it then got snarled up in traffic in Aberdeen. It's grim being able to see the boat but being held up near Union St. Back in the old days you would phone up and, thanks to the goodwill of the P&O staff, they would hold the boat back by about 10 mins if necessary. Obviously you couldn't take the p1$$ and casually turn up ages later, but there was a sensible degree of flexibility. Given the duration of the journey, 10-15 mins is hardly a big deal - especially when we know that they slow the boat down deliberately (and not unreasonably) to allow for appropriate docking times.
 

At least the pubs are still world class. Cough.

It's really not that simple to get on the property ladder in Shetland. In some cases people are paying 20% over the asking price, and reasonably priced property in Lerwick is like gold dust. First time buyers are usually in competition with developers, many of whom can throw resources (and even people from their own building firms) at a property to fix it up and rent to Gas Plant\Oil Folks for daft money. 



 

Given the astronomical profiteering that goes on in the Shetland rental market (although who can blame them?), I think £9.99 is incredibly reasonable - especially if it means the rest of us can still enjoy such a quality, free service. 

That's mental! Well done.

Yeah, I recently went private for route canal treatment, as I just couldn't wait. In retrospect I wish I'd put up with the pain for another few weeks, which was the earliest appointment the NHS could do.

The treatment was no better than I'd have got at Montfield which, to be fair, is usually pretty good once you get seen. Overall it cost nearly £500. Wish I'd just had the tooth out to be honest.

I never hear folk in Aberdeen complaining about all the commercial gear being slap bang next to a shopping 'experience'.....

 

Death will bring sweet release, no doubt

On what planet would that be a reasonable comparison? Maybe if the Aberdeen equivalent was the freakin' Death Star...

Moving house next week and thought I'd take the opportunity to switch providers as my current supplier (Sky) is a bit pricey.

My connection is mostly rubbish (often less than 0.5Mb) at peak times. I'm aware that they all use BT infrastructure anyway, so the speed shouldn't change with the provider. However, when i was with plusnet at an address near by (same exchange i think) the speed was much faster, so now I'm not so sure...

Any recommendations?

The moronic swine who park on the pier every night in their badly pimped-up cars, incessantly beeping their horns at each other as if trying to communicate in some drunken, retarded attempt at Morse code. A pox on them all!

Sandwick social club on Thursday was superb. The concentration of skill on stage was staggering... I can't imagine being as good a guitarist as those guys, even if I practised 24hour a day from cradle to grave... To call them musical geniuses sounds cliché, but the talent on display that evening defies any other description. I'll also throw in 'Awesome' for good measure.

Friday in Yell was brilliant from start to finish. Rory Ellis and his band shared some typically antipodean banter in-between songs that may have been a little too...er... shall we say "colourful" for some venues, but went down an absolute storm in Yell. The Gaelic performance from Randan had folk practically up on the tables and, naturally, JP and the gifted Elliot Brothers brought the house down.

I met several of the performers while outside having a smoke. They were all really approachable and friendly, saying that they loved coming to Shetland - all clearly in their element performing to such appreciative audiences.

Okay, perhaps the drive home to Lerwick in the snow was a bit surreal, but otherwise it was well worth the trip North.

Saturday was in da club after a few drinks watching some sessions in da lounge. I can't really mind the end of it, but based on the immensity of my hangover and my spaiged legs I can conclude that much dancing and perhaps a little too much drink may have been taken. I can only marvel at the iron constitution and seemingly infinite reservoirs of energy the musicians and other more devoted folk members have. 3 days on da skite is my limit, so I can't comment on last night's proceedings but from what others tell me I'd say I definitely missed out.

Kudos to the organisers, musicians and all involved with this year's event - Definitely the highlight of the Shetland calendar.

Maybe every council employee that gets paid say over 60k could loss 5k in there wage, this 5k would keep all the lowpaid staff that they are targeting in the cuts being proposed

Here here!

Of course, you don’t have to post anonymously on Shetlink.

Although, having been rather embarrassingly challenged face-to-face (on what I mistakenly thought at the time was a harmless, throw away comment), I’ve certainly curtailed my shetlink activities and now tend to post under a moniker if I’m criticising anyone there's a slim chance I might actually meet!

Frank Black of The Pixies and his awesome cover of Dylan's Changing of The Gaurd... love it!

Piggy/Para Handy - Excellent! Have set the box accordingly, and I'm sure the Morecambe and Wise thing'll be on next year

Bug- cheers for that, but gonna keep looking for a freeware app that'll do it.

Para Handy - they wanted Dr Who and some old Morecambe and Wise show I think!

So, I forgot to record some festive show on my folk's digi-box (like they'd asked me to) when we were house-sitting...

Anybody know any decent freeware that'll download shows off iPlayer/4OD for burning on to DVD?

Just had to pay £20 extra for an electrical item from another website as AMAZON wouldn't deliver it up here, although they'd happily deliver the other - larger - item in my 'basket' for free.

Couldn't find it cheaper anywhere else... infuriating! I did try several other retailers, but most had a 'checkout powered by Amazon', so same result - even though they said they used royal mail (always the same price ANYWHERE in the UK) on their own independent website. Pah!

Without a shadow of a doubt, 'First Foot Soldiers' if you can't get them 'The Last' are surely quite good, I've not heard them tho but FFS are brilliant.

 

May and Mackie possibly too!

Saw "First Foot Soldiers" on Saturday... They were surprisingly awesome. Talented swines, actually. Impressive musicianship with beatle-esque harmonies and a really good choice of covers - their version of Talking Head's "Psycho Killer" was immense.

Someone told me that the lead singer/bassist is about 15, which is utterly depressing ( I was 34 that weekend), but I dunno if that's true.

Highly recommend.

So that'll be a 'no' then... or should I say "na min"?

Would a "like" button (or, dare I say it, a "Dislike") not be quite a nice feature to add if possible? The number of times I've read a post and totally agreed or been impressed by the argument, but been too lazy to actually reply... any chance of it?

Just finished Dawn of The Dumb, which is basically just the collected Charlie Brooker articles from his old Guardian column. Hilarious, but dates pretty badly as most of them are on that week's TV, dating back to 2006.

About to read The Roost by Shetland's Neil Butler, which looks a bit "Irvine Welshy", which I suppose can only be a good thing...

 

 

 

These are the people he has worked with and who know him the best.

AKA political rivals? Or are we to believe that the council is a place of harmonious team work, where councillors unfettered by ego or prejudice work together for the greater good? Recent local coverage would suggest otherwise... Besides, I wasn't being entirely serious. Learn your emoticons -they will serve you well!