Modern Caledonia

Well....a little bit of modern Caledonia as seen in Edinburgh.

Like it or loath it the Scottish Parliament building in the background will doubtless generate polarised views on its looks for ages to come. The modern sculpture in the foreground is part of a series of 'slabs' (for want of a better word) that illustrate the geography of Scotland.

I read a critical article this week in a Scottish newspaper printed in Edinburgh about Scotland's future (written by a chap who is director of communications for the Australian Prime Minister). He describes Scotland (as viewed from 'Down Under' as he put it) as ".....a cold - and old - country on the wrong side of the planet". He argues that no political party has a viable economic programme for Scotland that would see growth. And concludes by sharing his feeling that Scottish politics is about the management of decline or magical thinking and feels "it is confirming all Scottish politicians in their current paths of incremental failure." Wonder what the policy makers in the Scottish Parliament felt about the article. I will say though, that if someone were to ask me what the top 5 or 10 things were being done in Scotland to generate sustainable economic growth and jobs to build a great future for our children and grandchildern I'd be pretty hard pushed to name even one or two. I could cite plenty of examples of cuts and plenty of examples of talk of independence. But a clear credible vision for the future is not something I see or sense yet. (End of political commentary - could not resist it having taken a few stock photos of the Scottish Parliament building).

On a lighter note - and you'll just have to take my word for this - I bumped into Neil Oliver (the Scottish broadcaster) this evening. Neil lives in Stirling and I was walking Behr in a quiet walk towards the castle when Neil and some of his small children came down the hill. We chatted as you do when folks see Behr. But I didn't get a photograph nor did I ask if I could take a photo. I'm terrible at this when I meet celebrities. I figured that because he is out walking with his family it would be an intrusion to ask for a photograph. And sometimes in my experience it seems celebrities just want to be normal folks in the street. So.........sorry folks.........no photos of this celebrity. Maybe next time.