Jump to it

OUR stories about school parents' evenings remind Irene Thomson: "I went to one when my daughter was at Dowanhill Primary back in the sixties, and the teacher came up and said she had to ask me what my job was because during a class discussion about what the kids’ parents did for a living my daughter had told her ‘My mummy cuts up frogs’. I was a lab technician in physiology at the university, but I think she had expected me to turn up on a broomstick."

Balls up

SO the speculation begins over who will be the next Scotland manager after the dismissal yesterday of Alex McLeish. Christopher G. comes up with the forecast: "New manager timeline: the SFA approach Kilmarnock manager Steve Clarke; Clarke turns down the post; former Ranger manager Walter Smith expresses an interest; Smith withdraws interest as SFA don't offer him the job immediately; then SFA 'delighted to announce' Alex McLeish for a third spell."

When I'm 64

GROWING old, continued. Brian in Clydebank tells us: "On a recent visit my 12-year-old grandson admired my framed album covers on my lounge wall. 'That's The Beatles, Grandad,' he said. 'Well spotted,' says I. 'I know because we're doing them in History at school'."

Dig it

THE Herald reported that Beechgrove Garden presenter Jim McColl is finally retiring from the programme at the age of 83. As he shrewdly put it: "If I get down on my knees, I’m not sure I can get back up again." We recall when he was appearing at a community hall in Gairloch and some locals were discussing how old he was. "I understand," declared one of them, " that he served his apprenticeship in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon."

Read more: Stretching a point, and making a clean break

Gunning for him

YES, it's Easter this weekend of course and some folk on social media were telling their favourite tourist stories to make the holiday. A Howard Batey recalled: "Visited Edinburgh Castle as a boy, stood next to an American kid about my age watching them fire the one o'clock gun, to which he said, 'Aw man, it was only a blank', like they were really going to fire a live shell over a major city every day."

Egged on

TALKING about Easter, a Glasgow reader hears a woman on his train into town tell her pal: "So I told my husband not to buy me an Easter egg. I told him, 'Honestly I don't want one'. But he'll be in such big trouble if he doesn't buy me one."

Well oiled

GOOD to see the National Theatre of Scotland, in association with Dundee Rep Theatre, reviving that great play The Cheviot, The Stag, and The Black, Black Oil for a tour of Scotland this year. Indulge us for repeating our favourite story that the writer, the late John McGrath, told of staging the play with the 7:84 Theatre Company. He stopped for petrol with his Volvo estate car and the attendant asked what the 7:84 sticker on the car meant. John explained that it was to remind people that seven per cent of the population owned 84 per cent of the country's wealth.

"No need to brag about it," replied the attendant.

Spurred on

GREAT game between Manchester City and Tottenham this week with the new video assistant referee adding to the drama. As a reader emails us: "Fair play to Manchester City...so near yet so VAR."