You Really Had to Be There

By 1980, I was ensconsed in Embra and had been a member of North Berwick West for five years.

A notice went up in the locker room advising members that volunteer stewards were required for that year’s Open at our neighbouring course. Muirfield, home of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers.

My mate Dave and I signed up instanter. In due course we got the call to go for training on a Wednesday evening in June. We took an hour off work, drove the 25 miles to NB and smacked our drives down the first fairway just after 5 pm. Continue reading “You Really Had to Be There”

To tell or not to tell?

There’s a readers’ poll in Le Figaro this morning.  The question is “Was Hollande right to make public the fact that an Islamist plot has been discovered and dismantled in France?”  Seventy-seven percent of those who responded voted that Hollande was wrong to do so. (Of course 77% of the French would say Hollande was wrong to say it was raining while standing in the middle of a downpour!)

One would hope that Hollande had the agreement of France’s security and intelligence services to make this announcement, but we don’t know.  So, is it better to rub the noses of of wannabe terrorists in France in yet another failure?  Or would it be better to simply jail the would-be perpetrators quietly and leave the terrorist community in the dark?  I should imagine that the first alternative might simply spur them on to greater efforts, while the second might spread disquiet and despondency “pour décourager les autres”.

Joining the back-benchers

More in sadness than in anger, I’m dragging Backside out of the glare of the front bench and joining the rest of the cherished colleagues (most of you in fact!) who also serve by only sitting and wha’ever.

It's a hard life as a backbencher: "Sir" Tricky Dicky Ottaway, left, in the House of Commons. Is he asleep? or just "resting his eyes"?

I have deleted all but a a few of my posts too, realising that therein lies no wisdom or wit but hot air enough to fill several of those big’uns.

So kindly do your worst! And IF any mildly interesting posts emerge from the mists, I might drop in and play at gadflies! Tataa.

Och Aye

I fear, Oberkommandant Backside that our cover has been blown due to poor choices in plants. My mission to peacefully integrate the United Kingdom into a greater German Empire has not gone as planned. In shame, I will resign from the mission and go into self-imposed exile in China. I regret that my failure will lead to Germany’s continued Orkney Cheddar deprivation. The fault, however, is not entirely my own. Your choice of Dougal MacDog as mole was a poor one indeed. Also, you seriously underestimated the abilities of Scotland’s two finest Mi6 agents, Mr and Mrs Mackie.

Continue reading “Och Aye”

Cricket, Lovely Cricket

The waiting is almost over and the premier cricket event of the year is about to start.

I refer, of course, to the ICC World T20 Qualifiers 2015 which start tomorrow. There are lots of mouth-watering fixtures to come over the next fortnight. We kick off against the UAE and the match next week between the USA and Jersey looks particularly tasty.

http://www.icc-cricket.com/world-t20-qualifier

To be fair and given our weather at present, most of the games will probably be rained off so I may have to seek other entertainment.

There seems to be a match going on just now between England and some touring Colonial side. I suppose I could check it out.

Oxi

Greece has voted “oxi” to the EU’s demands. Fair enough, they’ve achieved nothing but making an already bad situation infinitely worse over the past 6 years. Over the last week there were countless threats from all corners of the Old Continent should the Hellenes not bow to the pressure of the Huns and Allies. So will the sky now fall? Will the Flying Dutchman sail on Syntagma Square? Will Godzilla tear down the Acropolis? Or will, in extremis, the Bank of Greece simply print 20-euro notes by the stone? It’s worth keeping in mind that the Latin Monetary Union collapsed after Greece and Italy printed banknotes past the last inch of credibility.

Christopher Aus Trier Aber Im Embra

Well, we finally get rid of Christopher tomorrow.

He seems to have enjoyed himself and I await, with interest,  his critique of Embra and those parts of Caledonia that he has visited in the past week.

All credit to him. He has dealt with everything that I have thrown at him, including the Full Scottish Breakfast which he consumed on the banks of the Union Canal on Friday. This was particularly impressive when you consider that he had just visited the home town of Alex Salmond.

Anyhow, here’s that breakfast:-

Full Scottish

The chips are, to be fair, not his (although he did pinch a few). Not that I’m bitter.

Haggis and black pudding front left. Potato scone rear right behind the beans.

When we offered him  his choice for his last meal in Scotland, he specified another FSB. I will be up at the crack of dawn tomorrow to prepare it for him.

No beans will be involved but he’s going to have to cope with a bit of clootie dumpling.

Photo to follow.