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Organising your emotionsby grum (all) Mon 11 Jun 12, 11:37AM 4 responsesAt the moment, I'm mainly stressed, and unfortunately, stress doesn't lend itself particularly well to creativity in my experience. Nonetheless, Robin and I have been talking about dealing with life, love and moving on, and it got me thinking about how we each deal with emotions generally. More than...

Scotland. England. Random thoughts on UK.by grum (all) Sat 29 Oct 11, 10:35PM 2 responsesThe United Kingdom. Born 1707. When I was young, I identified as Scottish. As I grew up, I increasingly identified as British too. British second, but British nonetheless. I think, as you grow older, you begin to understand what the United Kingdom is, and what it is not. And everyone's free to ta...

Voting Labourby grum (all) Tue 4 May 10, 6:27PM 17 responsesWho, then, is prepared to look at the plain facts when choosing who to vote for in the UK General Election this Thursday? Of course, the facts look very different from varying standpoints and everyone has their own agenda. Nonetheless, I can't help but feel people have blindly jumped on the 'not ...

The Final Battleby grum (all) Thu 3 Dec 09, 10:52PM 2 responsesOver in America, each of the states, as United as they stand, is forging its own way through the divisive issue of gay marriage. A relentless struggle between progressive civil rights and old fashioned traditionalism, with strong voices in both camps. It's a battle and it's happening right now. It m...

Music and Film / World Eventsby grum (all) Sat 5 Sep 09, 8:26PM 1 responsesToday I watched two films, both of which used music to create a soundtrack equally as important as the visuals, in turn to produce something really quite good. Both of these films, incidentally, are movies which I'd never buy; not because they didn't speak to me, but because I'd feel embarrassed to ...

The release of al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomberby grum (all) Fri 21 Aug 09, 8:09PM 3 responsesSo, a couple of days back, the Scottish Justice Secretary, Kenny MacAskill, agreed to release the Libyan national Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi who was convicted in 2001 for the mass murder of 270 innocent people. He was charged with blowing up an American airliner in the skies above the small southern ...

Final chance to save the Odeon Edinburgh Clerk Stby grum (all) Mon 13 Apr 09, 12:19PM 1 responsesEdinburgh Evening News:Heritage group urged to stop final curtain falling on Odeon Facebook Group of Petition Campaign Only one thing now stands in the way of Edinburgh losing the Odeon Clerk Street for good, and that is the government agency Historic Scotland. If they don't object to the plan to ...

A Decade of Progressby grum (all) Mon 6 Apr 09, 11:32PM 21 responses Speaking Out, 10 Years On I'm not sure where exactly in the timeline that this event occurred, memories are badly filed and generally prone to corruption after all, but I do remember where it happened. Down in the depths of the old Craigmount High School, Edinburgh, in what was supposed to be...

Scottish banks fall from graceby grum (all) Tue 17 Feb 09, 10:58PM 6 responsesSo, the Credit Crisis. The problem, as distant and invisible as it was, started in the US when the financial giants decided the way to increase growth was to sell credit [mortgages] to those with low credit ratings. Bad debt of course isn't something you want on your books, so they packaged them up ...

Tribesby grum (all) Sun 15 Feb 09, 8:09PM 2 responsesSo, Gary mentioned 'Tribes' by Seth Godin. I went and downloaded the audiobook, for free (woo). I haven't listened to that much so far but it seems quite insightful. I think I prefer when I'm either leading the people around me, or when I'm part of a socialist style group (like friends, say) where e...

Scottish Independence Is Misguidedby grum (all) Sat 27 Dec 08, 8:13PM 7 responsesThe Scottish National Party (SNP) is a large political party in Scotland, currently in power with a minority government led by Alex Salmond. Said party has an ultimate goal and that goal is an independent Scotland which is no-longer a constituent member of the United Kingdom. A nation in its own rig...

Odeon Clerk Streetby grum (all) Fri 31 Oct 08, 11:36PM 12 responsesSo, this week saw the announcement that the re-development of Edinburgh's old Odeon cinema on South Clerk Street will go ahead. The Planning Committee passed the verdict by majority vote. Most of the cinema will be demolished excepting the facade and, I think, parts of the main auditorium. This w...

Down Todayby grum (all) Tue 21 Oct 08, 9:05PM 0 responsesToday was my first full day back in the office, after a week off. It didn't take long before I was pacing up and down, like poor Mercedes the Polar Bear in her cage at Edinburgh Zoo. Trapped in tedious isolation. Going steadily insane. It's not good. My escape plans haven't come to fruition. I th...

Creation and Contributionby grum (all) Sun 19 Oct 08, 8:50PM 5 responsesWe all consume too much, and create too little. Perhaps that's the fault of the mass media, but it's also the realm of (arguably) the best creators with the widest audience. Being part of that audience should be used for inspiration though, it shouldn't merely be entertainment despite the big produc...

The world keeps turningby grum (all) Thu 14 Aug 08, 1:09AM 2 responsesSo as the planet spins I lose my focal point and end up all dizzy. I've stopped still and the world just keeps on turning. I'm at the centre of nothing, standing in the middle of a void with fuzzy, confusing edges. Maybe they lead into another world or maybe they disappear off into space but I would...

VideoRamblingsby grum (all) Sun 20 Jul 08, 5:28PM 6 responses A vlog for your general amusement. The YouTube conversion process has garbled the video for the first few seconds. It only seems to happen to MOV files? If you know how to prevent that, let me know :)...

Lost in Lifeby grum (all) Sun 6 Jul 08, 7:42PM 0 responses Sammidude mentioned The Rocket Summer. Never heard of them but a quick google brought up this song. Snap. This is me. This is where I'm at. In a stoopid town which I voluntarily moved to. In a stoopid job which I applied for. In a stoopid company that I chose to work for. And now completely u...

Sadby grum (all) Wed 4 Jun 08, 9:17PM 0 responsesI feel quite sad today. I woke up late and didn't get in to work until 11am, which is an hour late because I rarely get in before 10. I was in the office alone and the phones just kept ringing. Our office isn't the nicest of places at the best of times; we're buried in a building and there is no nat...

Contextual Confidenceby grum (all) Mon 12 May 08, 8:10PM 0 responsesI often wonder about my ability to fit in with the professional types, especially in the south of England where the style is hard and pretentious. It's clearly not my style as I'm right at home with friendly, easy going attitudes. The consequence of course is that I'm forever pondering the perceptio...

Focus and film the futureby grum (all) Sat 3 May 08, 11:13PM 2 responsesGary and I have broken up. It's a sad situation but I can't hack the distance. We're about six hours apart and travel is expensive. I was only seeing him about once a month maybe, during what I felt were surreal and tiring visits. I'm pretty sure that our paths will cross again but in the mean time...

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