Ally

Just tried replying to a thread from here in Melbourne and got this message : "WARNING! phpBB has flagged your post as an automatic bot message. The message has gone nowehere!" Luckily I noticed that if I preview the message first it'll then let me post it. I guess this is some sort of geographically defined filter? I didn't know Australia was full of 'automatic bots', although I've not stepped out of the hotel yet - maybe I'll see some in the pub later tonight!

During my recent hiatus from western civilization I have learned that Scotland is, in fact, a town in England whose residents are called The Scotch and live entirely on a diet of whiskey. Shetland is near the Isle of Mann, by the way. This kind of general ignorance made me rethink the notion (which I myself admittedly took for granted), that Scotland is some kind of big player on the world stage. As far as your average punter in the wider international community outside the EU is concerned, the UK, England, Scotland, Ireland etc are, at best, all the same place and at worst a collection of scattered European countries in the same ballpark as Poland, Germany, Latvia, Sweeden etc. Personally I found it pretty funny - what's the point in getting so het up regarding misconceptions about where you’re from when you're thousands of miles away anyway? True, when asked where I come from by fellow traveler’s I always say I'm from Shetland in Scotland, but if I'm honest I think that's just cos it sounds a lot more interesting than simply saying I'm British - although I do correct folks when they say I'm English as enjoy the Scottish/English banter. Also, the Canadians are notorious for stressing their nationality to foreigners, for fear of association with the US and their rather unfortunate worldwide reputation. Many go as far as to sow Maple leafs on their backpacks, although I’ve seen this piss off a lot of traveling yanks who rightly resent being demonized for American foreign policy they have no influence over and certainly don’t agree with, but I digress… Who else? Well there’s the Kiwis and the Aussies – mix them up at your peril. Then there’s the Swedish, the Finns, the Norwegians - all of whom have, to me, been frankly interchangeable with each other through my veil of general ignorance, but let’s not go there... As for the rather sweeping generalisations about the English made in this thread, i think they're a little unfair to be honest. What about those in the North of England who, politcally, had far more in common with Scotland than their southern counrtymen? Can you simply dismiss them as Grant Mitchel-esque thugs or leary, violent hooligans?

I'm flying out there in about 5 hours time from Singapore. I arrive at about 5am and know practically nothing about the place. Anyone got any tips, recommendations etc they want to share with me, so I don't find myself inadvertently strolling into the Australian equivalent of the Blue Oyster? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDPOz9L2wk4

That truly is blasphemous - the destruction of an original, mint condition copy of With The Beatles. Heretics!

That's a real shame - he was some character and a genuine talent. Even when the arthritis was contorting his hands he could still hold a tune better than most. http://www.tradmusichall.com/Images/PeerieWillieJohnson.jpg My condolences to his family and friends.

How was the gig? Naturally I expect it was a pale imitation of former Pilotcan glory, following the departure of their sensational bass player ( http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=5520003&blogID=230087559&MyToken=859e6747-3e35-4ec1-aff0-1b707d2010ec ), but I trust it went well?

My great great great (i forget how many greats) grandfather was the lord mayor of London 100s of years ago, apparently. It's not that impressive really - who can name 1 mayor before Ken Livingstone? Still, it was something to boast about when I was in primary school... Other weird/semi unique things i have done: Appeared on the front page of the aberdeen evening news dressed as a viking Swam in the sea off Balti-isle in unst (colder than space) eaten a deep fried scorpian (last week - tasted like metal and batter) Composed a shetlink response to a thread from the hippy town of Pai, Thailand, when i really should be out in the sun or catching up with other correspondence (now).

"Points you have by participating on the site's content: 666" Is that normal, or just another attempt to out out me as a follower of Satan, The Dark Lord who, on the glorious day of judgement, shall comeforth and consume us all with evil, orgiastic delight and...yeah, all that stuff? [this really is my last post for a long time, honest... ]

Greetings Shetland brethern! Just a quick note to say that, alas, I'll not be posting on Shetlink with the same (and arguably deranged) frequency as I have in the last year or so. I've quit the job, the country and am now in Thailand, with a view to traveling the world in the style of Uncle Traveling Mat (google “Fraggle Rock†if that statement confuses you) Since the local internet cafes seem reticent to fund my online rants (unlike my kindly employers at Napier university), you'll probably not be hearing from me for a while. I will, however, pop in from time to time to see if the bridge from Bressa to Orkney has been built, if the North Star has been turned into a brothel, or if Chris Hodge has gone on a killing spree with an impossibly cheap spatula. As I drunkenly tolds my colleageus at my leaving do a few weeks back - “I’d like to thank the Shetlink internet forum for helping my spend my time here so productivelyâ€. Happily, they had no idea what I was talking about. Love and Shrugs Ally http://www.phuket.net/images/visit/lanta1.jpg

The guy had hypothermia. It was pitch dark and the weather was horrendous . He made a mistake and nearly paid for it with his life. Can you imagine how terrified he must have been? And then we all turn around and say "I told you so" and call him a moron. The milk of human kindness seems to have gone just a wee bit sour around these here parts!

Plus they're about £100 a pop. I'll wager that, as we speak, some techy is tapping away on some Linux platform, trying to get his speccy emulator to "load" original speccy games using this device. I would if I could!

Presumably these tests ignore any experimental drugs the military have secretly slipped into the troop's diet (morning glory, bromide etc)? Don't tell me it doesn't happen! I've seen Jacob's Ladder! I know everything!

What's that Baxter? Come again? You know I don't speak Spanish! In English, please. What? You pooped in the refrigerator? And you ate the whole... wheel of cheese? How'd you do that? I'm not even mad, that's amazing...

I think the modern conservation approach is a reaction to the abysmal town planning that went on in the 50s/60s (and indeed beyond). As for "Modern looking" buildings, it's a difficult term to define. Afterall, one of the first buildings people see when arriving via ferry to shetland is the modern (and garish) ferry terminal. Then there's the mid-80s' architectural carbunkle that is the Shetland Hotel. Here in edinburgh there are a plethora of modern corporate buildings that have had to soften their edges to get planning permission, and even those are little more that glass and steel monolithes with few token classical facades and a shelf life of around 30 years...

Is it wrong that I want one of these? http://www.firebox.com/pic/p1700b.jpg http://www.firebox.com/product/1700?src_t=t20 "...Audio cassettes were great in their day, weren't they? Taping stuff off the radio, compiling party mixes, C60s, C90s, er, reeling in mangled tape using a pencil, forgetting what side you were supposed to be rewinding, accidentally recording over your favourites…actually, on second thoughts, tapes were a bit rubbish. The trouble is you've probably got several boxfuls of cassettes filled with precious recordings languishing in the cupboard. And that's why you need the ingenious Plus Deck. This back to the future bit of kit is a full logic, front-loading cassette deck that can convert, edit and play tapes on your PC. Once you've hooked up the Plus Deck you can rediscover the music and sounds you grew up with in MP3 format, archive your collection, or simply use it to play tapes on your computer..."

Well, I got a call from my auld folk (who were due to come down tonight on the boat) to tell me that they'd arrived early in Aberdeen this morning, as they'd been told there would potentially be no sailings until Sunday. Alas, this left no time for me to clean the flat before work this morning. I expect they've probably retreated to a hotel in disgust by now, no doubt stopping off to get tetanus shots on the way, but that's another matter...

Maybe you should get the bailiffs in? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=430129&in_page_id=1770 "...Stunned customers at his branch of RBS watched as debt collectors seized four computers, two fax machines and a till filled with cash. The branch manager was told that the items would be sold unless RBS came up with the money owed to Mr Purcell. Only when the manager gave an undertaking that the debt would be paid did the bailiffs leave. Mr Purcell said: "I think the bank was pretty shocked when the bailiffs went in. But my view is that this is exactly what they would have done to me." The move, which will raise a cheer from millions of other bank customers, is part of a consumer fightback against bank charges, which net an estimated £4.5 billion every year..."

Is it wrong that I kinda feel sorry for her?!

...from Dial-A-Loan.com! How depressing is that? Def one of those "time to leave the country" moments!

Class!

I hate the fact that the battery / credit on my phone will always run out when i need to make an important call. Nokia's Law, i believe it's called. (Ok, i made that up. The phenomemnon definately deserves a name though!)

It'll be something like the drink driving laws - You can get done if you're drunk at the wheel, even if the car's parked and the engine is off. If you apply this logic to your lemonade/Buckfast scam, you'll still be in charge of an opened drinking recepticle used to despence booze... This, combined with the "attempting to pervert the cause of justice" charge they'll inevitable throw at you... they'll throw away the key mate!

I think there are laws already in place to help folk avoid getting into the "state of mind" I was in on dat night (The Mental Health act being just wan o dem!) Besides, it was Xmas - Different rules apply !

I think it'll be fairly black and white to be honest. If the cops see you with a bottle of beer in the street they will be obliged to remove it from you. I also think it's a further errosion of civil liberties that provides yet more ammo to those constantly bitching about the Nanny state. I know there are certainly more noble causes to rally behind, and I accept that virtually noone will feel affected by this to the extent that it has a truly negative impact upon their lives. However, I personally hugely resent being told that I can't, for example, drink a bottle of beer as I walk in o'er with a carry out on my way to a friend's house on a saturday evening, without the risk of some policeman confiscating the bottle (and probably the whole bag) and issuing a fine. I find that, really, really unsettling. :grrr: