Buck the trend
LIKE Paris, Rome or Vienna, the city of Glasgow has a rich musical heritage. Strolling the boulevards of an evening, one is likely to hear operatic warblings wafting from a taxi queue as an ardent gallant romances his inamorata with a lilting rendition of "Gonnie Geeza Snoghen" (the lyrics deriving from one of the lesser known Italian operas.)
Glasgow’s illustrious musical pedigree means it’s no surprise that the city is now on a shortlist of two, along with Liverpool, to host next year’s Eurovision Song Contest.
Michael Lyttle from Cumbernauld is eagerly rubbing his hands in anticipation, and says: “If Glasgow gets the go-ahead, the UK entry for the competition should be based on our 1981 winners. Though instead of being named Bucks Fizz, it would be more appropriate if the group is called Buck Fast.”
Parental concerns
THE 12-year-old granddaughter of reader Linda McGrath was confiding in gran the other day about her mum and dad, who are always complaining.
“No wonder they’re called grown-ups,” mused the youngster. “They groan about everything.”
Trickle of sense
OUR readers continue to nibble greedily from the economic chocolate box of delights that is the romantic gift Kwasi Kwarteng has given to the nation.
Many are expressing their profound satisfaction at trickle-down economics, the idea that the rich receive generous tax cuts which ultimately benefit the entire country.
Adam Francis from East Kilbride says: “It makes sense to me. It’s the same principle as giving a millionaire a free Cuban cigar, then hoping he’ll blow smoke in his butler’s face.”
Taking the pith
CURIOUS reader Olivia Hatton gets in touch to say: “I’ve always wondered what people who write ‘u’ or ‘ur’ do with all their extra time.”
No Luv, Bruv
WE continue describing famous novels in the most underwhelming way possible. Heather Devlin suggests "Grumpy bloke decides he doesn’t believe in brotherly love."
The book is, of course… 1984.
Gassing about gas
WE reach the second layer of the Tory Party’s chocolate box of delights. Glasgow comedian Mark Nelson growls: “Apparently Liz Truss has lost the UK £500 billion in her first three weeks. Absolutely disgraceful. That could’ve paid someone’s winter gas bill.”
Red alert
THRILLING times in Aberdeen, where reader Jennifer Munro resides. She gets in touch to tell us: “I told my husband that I saw a red squirrel on the way to work. Without looking up from his paper, he replied: ‘How can you be sure that it was on its way to work?’”
Read more of the Diary:
Brought to book at the hairdressers
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