FRESHERS' Week for students just now and we fear they might not be as hedonistic as in the past.

Writer Deedee Cuddihy tells us she spoke to a friend's son attending Glasgow School Of Art, who explained his Freshers' Week events guide included a free bus trip to Ikea to buy furniture for their rooms and a networking "brunch".

It is hoped it is the Art School merely being superior to other students rather than a sea-change in what students like to do.

At his wit's end

READER Brian McLaughlin was in his newsagent the other day when a wheezing old chap behind him, clearly in his eighties, looked at all the headings of doom and gloom in the newspapers, and asked: "Has the world come to an end yet?"

When Brian told him "Not yet," the old fella replied: "Well it better hurry up or I'm no gonnae make it."

Bone of contention

SOME whimsy from Eva Carter who tells us: "Our local butcher advertised 'Dog bones for sale'. I know the economy is bad but that seemed a step too far. After I asked what type of dog they came from, he hastily changed the sign to read 'Bones For Dogs'."

Pardon his French

GLASGOW actor Angus Lennie - The Great Escape was his big film role - has died. Many other know him as chef Shughie McFee from television's Crossroads. He once said that years after Crossroads had finished he was entering the Barclays Bank branch in Paris when the doorman opened the door and greeted him with "Bonjour, Monsieur Shughie".

Step by step traffic guide

AH those cheeky chappies on the radio. Says Frank Owens: "Just heard a traffic report on Talksport which stated there was a set of ladders on the M876 in the Falkirk area, and that police were taking steps to recover them."

Penny dreadful

GLASGOW journalist Nuala Naughton's book entitled Glasgow's East End, published next month, is a light-hearted and personal look at that slice of the city.

It includes memories of the Barras, including the character who sold a cigarette lighter and a coat hanger for a penny.

Writes Nuala: "A real bargain, until you opened the bag to find you had actually bought a match and a nail."

In need of First Aid

SHOPPING for music has its pitfalls, the older you get.

Says Linda Owens in Lenzie: "I heard some great female harmonising being played in a Glasgow music shop, and I asked a staff member filling a display stand, 'What's that?', 'First Aid Kit' she replied. Thinking she was referring to the boxes in the display stand, I said 'No, what's the music being played?'

"Giving me the look reserved only for the over 50s, she informed me it was indeed the group 'First Aid Kit'. Despite my embarrassment, I still bought the CD."

Fancy a date? Yes/No?

SO the referendum will soon be over. Asks Malcom Boyd in Milngavie: "I wonder if one of the great chat-up lines in the future will be, 'So which way did you vote in the referendum?'"

Wayne's world of money

AND a reader phones: "So David Beckham has given his views on Scottish independence? Can't wait to hear Wayne Rooney's explanation of quantitative easing."