Pulling the wool
IT was perhaps inevitable that when the BBC and newspapers down south got so excitable about the snow and the chaos it would bring, it would not turn out to be as bad as they forecasted. We liked the hint of Northern stoicism taken by Blackburn Police, north of Manchester, who commented on social media: "Current weather update: it's a bit nippy out - you might need a cardie."
Sinked in
GROWING old, continued. We are used to queues at ladies' toilets at concerts but not so much at gents' toilets. So perhaps it was an age thing when reader Michael Kelly of Bearsden was at the Johnny Cash Roadshow - yes we know he has died, it's a tribute band - at Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall the other night, and there was a queue at the gents in the interval. Says Michael: "I was patiently waiting my turn, legs crossed, when suddenly there appeared a big ‘gentleman’ shouting, 'Am bursting - is there a sink in here?'
"Pushing past the queue he immediately made for a sink and proceeded to relieve himself. When finished he didn’t even wash his hands."
Still it could have been worse - at least he wasn't suffering from The Ring of Fire that Johnny Cash used to sing about.
Horsey crowd
OUR story about the evangelist Billy Graham in Glasgow reminds Gordon Casely: "Billy, when he alighted from the London train at St Enoch Station in 1955, was welcomed by the second-largest crowd then ever assembled to greet a great hero. Sadly, Dr Billy had been beaten to the tape just a year earlier by an even larger crowd welcoming Roy Rogers and his horse Trigger."
Colourful remark
WE turn to holiday site TripAdvisor where the Wallace Monument near Stirling gets hundreds of enthusiastic reviews, and one negative remark where a visitor from Oaxaca, Mexico states: "We decided not to pay the entrance fee and waited for our companions in the Keeper's Lodge. We were initially delighted to be provided with a charming coloring page featuring a kilt-clad bear, but from this point on, our visit took a severe turn for the worse.
"We were exceptionally disappointed by the monument's upkeep of their colored pencil supplies. Not only were the vast majority dull to the point of disfunction, they were utterly lacking in pigmentation. I would warn any future visitors against high expectations for the colored pencil offerings at this location."
Wallace Monument staff replied that they have now sharpened the pencils.
Read the label
ROBIN Gilmour in Milngavie was having a birthday lunch at the very plush Trump Turnberry Hotel in Ayrshire when he noticed a fellow diner had a shop's bar-coded label sticking out from her jumper, but Robin's wife instructed him not to draw it to her attention. Says Robin: "The questions that came to my mind were - was the lady intentionally showing off her designer label, or was the jumper going back to the shop tomorrow?"
Taking off
AIRLINE Ryanair has announced it is halting most of its flights from Glasgow Airport. It reminds us of the reader flying to Glasgow with Ryanair who told us of the stewardess struggling to get travellers to take a copy of their duty free magazine. Eventually she told everyone: "Please take one. It's the only thing you get for free on a Ryanair flight."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here