BACKLIST

Has Oliver Stone looked into the future with Wild Palms or just borrowed some buzzwords to mix with his usual 60$ obsessions? Well he said it . . . is Steve Coogan a bag 0’ shite? Is the S&M photography exhibition at the Converse Gallery provocative art or a publicity stunt? Tell us what you think and you could win a bottle of Jose Cuervo tequila.

Quality control

I was interested to read about proposals to introduce a quality stamp on Scottish food produce (The List 213) Any move which improves the quality and reputation of Scottish food is to be welcomed so I'm reluctantto carp.

But . . . the quality mark idea seems to be a gimmick aimed primarily at the export market; an attempt to extend the good reputation of Scottish products like wild salmon. shortbread and yes. even haggis. to foodstuffs made for a mass market which do not rely on ‘Scottishness' for their marketing appeal.

Who is going to trust a quality mark. even if the highest standards are upheld, above their own judgement of a particular product. This is surely a case where the proof of the pudding ought to be in the eating, not the packaging.

More worrying would be if standards were not kept high, leading to a loss of

| l

Glasgow

: Am 1 alone in thinking that cheeky

LETTERS

confidence in Scottish food. The f Scottish Office should certainly encourage producers to improve the quality oftheir products but a rubber stamp may not be the best way and could do more harm than good. Shona Watt

Old Rutherglen Road

Up for the Cup

chappy Alistair McCoist had a rather prominent erection when receiving the

u League Cup. Maybe I am mistaken. and a

perhaps Chic Young had slipped him a minature Jose Cuervo which stored in his pants. I think we should be tooled. , Craig Johnston Bank Street Falkirk

Shell-shocked

According to your Glasgay! feature, ‘two women walking hand in hand

down Sauchiehall Street should be

about as remarkable as a soccer fan in a shell suit‘. Surely making patronising statements about football fans is just as ; unacceptable as taking the piss out of gays.

I am a regular football fan. which means that it is now time for me to put on my shell suit. drink twelve pints of lager. take my pet pit bull tenier for a walk. Not.

David Petrie Maryhill Road Glasgow

Third Eye witness

I The reopening of the CCA is indeed an 1 event to be welcomed (Tlte List 213).

} But whether it will ‘finally re-establish

the building as a contemporary arts venue‘ is far from certain. The Third Eye is still much missed in

Glasgow and the scale of its

achievement in promoting contemporary art and culture in the city over some twenty years becomes all the more apparent when compared to the efforts of the CCA.

The CCA director. lo Beddoe. is right to take care to avoid any risk of another financial collapse. But it should not be

forgotten that the collapse occurred due

to exceptional circumstances in just one

; programming. It all tnust have involved taking many bold risks but together

.‘ enough. It is the quality ofthe

; administration team is up to this challenge remains to be seen.

, Lawrence Street Glasgow

collect it. Missive to explain

of Radio Scotland’s music policy. when

programme network. FM is the

year. after many. many years of innovative and imaginative

they paid off and played a substantial part in putting Glasgow in the forefront of the international arts scene long before I990 City of Culture was even considered.

Good administration in itself is not

programme of exhibitions, performances and events together with

a strong sense of commitment to i contemporary art which will re-

establish the Centre. Whether the new

R. Mackenzie

The rise and subsequent/all of the Third Eye showed that a financial cock- up is sadly more memorable than artistic achievement. If the CCA is run smoothly. hopefully attention willfocus on its arts output which is ltow it

' should be judged. Take the tequila for

your trouble. Visit the Glasgow office to

You wrote a perfectly accurate account

it was publicised in September. Why

the reservations in response to Bill

Alexander‘s letter (issue 212)? Radio Scotland is the last mixed

principal channel; it is founded on news and current affairs. and is speech-

; based. Because Radio Scotland has a

responsibility to cover the whole of Scottish culture. from news to football commentaries to garage rock in this country. the schedules have to be arranged carefully and coherently. FM. though speech-based. does carry. however. orchestra and chamber music and. in carefully arranged patterns. the bulk of our popular music.

You will find that the weekday evenings carry, as publicised. popular

BBC Scotland Queen Margaret Drive

music on MW. Most ofthese series are repeated on FM together with Beat Patrol. which is placed against the Top 40 on Sunday evenings. (Jump the Queue. Brand New Opry and The Reel Blend are exceptions to this. If we had more room. they would also be on FM.) Both Celtic Connections on Tuseday evenings and the newly-extended Travelling Folk on Thursdays provide extensive coverage of their respective musical fields.

The coherence of the schedule is based on our principal task —- speech- based programming. Popular music is very important to Scottish culture and we pack in as much as we can on the two frequencies. However, during weekday evenings. there is no sense in

l i creating a pattern of music to be i

disrupted constantly by sports broadcasting and other material from

the speech channel. Better to give it a ; consistent origination on medium wave 1 and a regular slot on weekcnd FM i where a music audience can find it. ' 3 Pass the bottle.

James Boyle Head of Radio :

Glasgow Thanks very much/or the letter we 3 appreciate it when the higlt heid yins take the trouble to respond to criticism. However we're sure you would be for

too busy to collect tlte tequila in :

person.

7 Postscript

Address your letters to the List Letters at: 14 High Street

Edinburgh EH1 lTE

Of Old Athenaeum Theatre 179 Buchanan Street

' Glasgow GI ZJZ

Ol’

Fax them to: 031 557 8500

We will not print you/“full address or phone number but you must include

them. Deadline is the Friday before

2 publication. Keep them pithy. as

overlong letters may be cut. The best letter next issue will win a bottle of Jose Cuervo tequila and a natty

baseball cap.

NEXT ISSUE OUT THURSDAY 18 NOVEMBER

David Hayman on The Hawk and A Wonuttt 's Guide To Adultery. i Annabel Sciorra stars in Mr Wonder/id.

Australian outrage with Kathy Lette.

PLUS: Mike Myet‘s‘s So I lVlarried An ,-\.\'e li’llllllflll’l‘ (left ). James get Laid. Ben

[ilton‘s Stark is adapted for TV. Robyn Hitchcock. Sylvian and liripp and whisky galore!

onoen voun copy now:

80 The List S—I 8 November 1993

Printed by Scottish County Press. Sherwood Industrial Estate. Bonnyrigg. Midlothian. Tel: 031 663 2404.