Saturday 31 May 2008

An unknown Scottish Gem



There has been a wonderful exhibition of artwork on the beautiful island of Arran, and it needs advertising.

ALEXANDRA GARDNER

Scottish artist extraordinaries

Biography

Born 1945

1963-1968 Studied at Glasgow School of Art
1968-1989 Lecturer at Glasgow School of Art

AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIPS
1974 Lauder Award, Glasgow Society of Artists
1980 Travelling Award to Italy, Scottish Arts Council
1981 Prizewinner, Cleveland (UK) 5th International Drawing Biennale, (Touring Great Britain and America)
1990 Lauder Award, Glasgow Society or Women Artists
1993 Paper Boat Award, Mayfest, Scotland on Sunday

It took quite some finding. Sandie Gardner's work was exciting and imaginative when I first came across it some twenty years ago. Her works of her daughter and some of the larger, luxurious ladies she painted is full of humour and colour. Scotland produces more than bad lager and whisky, bent lawyers and over pompous politicians, Taggart and Billy Connelly. I believe her work is also available at the Portland Gallery in London.

Thursday 29 May 2008

Flit through Sunday news

The families of five British men being held hostage in Iraq are marking a year without their loved ones.

The civilian contractors were kidnapped by armed militants at the Iraqi Ministry of Finance in Baghdad.

Some of their friends and relatives have marked the anniversary with an exclusive interview with the BBC.

Notareargunner wishes the families well and urges the Government to do it's all to get these Brits home.

Bishop: Collapse of Christianity is wrecking British society - and Islam is filling the void

Do they really need to ask why so many Brits have emigrated?

Betrayed: Kirkcaldy sub-postmaster writes blistering letter to PM over closure of thousands of post offices

Why has it taken so long for the electorate to discover that modern politicians seem to be more self-indulgent than their predecessors? Surely noblesse oblige was worth all the cant that professional politicians now fabricate? Within the modern politicians' rhetoric is avoidance and none-answers. What a legacy.

Friday 2 May 2008

A letter from Zimbabwe

Dear Family and Friends,
Behind every tree, under every bush and around every corner, it seems there is a British enemy waiting to invade
Zimbabwe.
"We must maintain the utmost vigilance in the face of vicious British machinations," Mr Mugabe warned as he spoke at his celebration of
Zimbabwe's 28th anniversary of Independence.

No one that I've spoken to this week had even the vaguest clue of what a machination is. A few thought it had something to do with machinery or engines, others that it was a mispronunciation of the word imagination. Still others wondered if these mysterious machinations had anything to do with the Chinese ship steaming around looking for somewhere to unload its cargo of death destined for
Harare. The ship loaded with 3 million bullets, 1500 rocket propelled grenades and 3000 mortar shells. So we sat on the edge of our chairs this Independence day wondering just exactly where the British are hiding and what their unknown vicious something-or-other means to our daily lives.

Nearly thirty years after
Independence the threats and warnings of British plots haven't just worn thin, they've worn out altogether. It is generally agreed that at most there are perhaps thirty thousand white people left in Zimbabwe - a miniscule percentage in a population of approximately 11 million
people. It's way past time for our leaders to stop blaming someone else and accept responsibility for their own deeds and machinations such as those portrayed on the front page of one weekly independent newspaper:
"Hundreds flee Zanu PF Rampage."
"Murder, torture, terror."

It's three weeks since
Zimbabwe voted and we are exhausted, frustrated and frightened. As each day passes there is less and less food to buy, more and more reports of people beaten and hiding and still no final election results. Zimbabweans want food and jobs not grenades and bullets. We want our voices to be heard and our votes to be respected. When the South African Transport workers union refused to unload the Chinese cargo ship in Durban this week they showed the way and we thank them for this. Zimbabwe is not at war, it is hungry. Until next week, thanks for reading, love cathy
Copyright cathy buckle
19th April 2008.

Dear Cathy,
Were you one of those not listening to the Rhodesian Army when we were proving what lying, psychopathic cowards the "Freedom Fighters" are? The Katanga were uncivilised thugs then, and is now a legitimate African Government???
Zambia used to survive on the hard work and industry of 6,000 white farmers until the Chinese invested in Zambia's raw materials. Now they will deport the Whites and add to African starvation. And who is to say that Morgan will become a magician and halt African racism and fulfil Zimbabwe's expectations?
Notareargunner.