The Front
‘ hiqhfive
IAIN ROBERTSON, the Scottish
actor who plays Nellie in the new Scottish film,
One Last Chance, gets nostalgic and chooses his five greatest Scots.
1 Robert Burns Despite recent articles to the contrary the man and his poetry are timeless.
2 Frankie Miller Described by Peter McDougall as having ‘a voice to soothe the savage beast’, and having been covered by everyone from Ray Charles to Roy Orbison, he remains a living legend.
3 Billy Connolly Undoubtedly one of the greatest comedians ever. beyond that. he is to me a kind of modern philosopher.
4 John Byrne A real gentle giant rather like the BFG. Not only an evocative painter but an extraordinary writer too. A true artist.
5 Kevin McKidd Having worked with him on our first film I used to think Kevin was a contemporary — but he is in a league of his own. Just wait until you see 76 years of Alcohol: few actors come close to this man's talent.
SITE OF THE FORTNIGHT
http://glasgowdave.blog- city.com/ Are you ready to blog’? If you haven't yet switched onto blogging (or to use its full name. web logging). you're missing out on the biggest publishing explosion since DTP. When the Baghdad Blogger sent incisive reports out of Iraq at the height of the war. it was clear that blogging could be a daring way to publish views that might never hit the traditional news media.
it you're new to it. try dipping into the burgeoning Scottish blogging scene. with Glasgow Dave and his mates.
l“? Brandon
(Ia/radian {It'll/tiller
!t was great to see a Canadian lilll‘. '.‘.’|li Best l-oreign l5iln‘ and lord of the
all the recognition I thought the ceremony came together well too.
6 THE LIST 4 —ia Mar 20px.
Rings really deserved
lok heads
Mark Robertson explains why plans for congestion charging in Edinburgh really get up his nose.
ur city is under siege? But the weapons of
mass destruction are ours this time and we are
crippling our line city under the weight ol~ our
own cars. The trallic log jam is so great that we may
be forced to burn our driving gloves and slash our
tyres or pay a toll to get within revving distance of the Royal Mile.
W‘ll. I walk to work every day. liven so. the idea ol~
paying £2 every day to cross into the city boundary is ludicrous. I cross over Queen Street. one ol‘ the supposedly congested streets in lidinburgh. almost every day. At rush hour it is actually possible to get across without waiting for the traffic lights. Sure. there are points in the city where you may be caught at a junction for four or live minutes at rush hour but come on. we‘re not exactly grinding to a standstill yet. Look out ol‘ the window. lidinburgh is a comparatively small city. What works for London or Manhattan (places the term where ‘gridlock‘ was invented for) doesn‘t necessarily transpose to the cobbles ol liH I.
When London's mayor Ken Livingstone announced the introduction ol‘ congestion charging on central London he estimated it would generate EIXOm
in revenue for the city. Instead it raised just a third of
that. ‘By all means introduce it in your city.‘ he said last month. ‘But don’t do it as a money making exercise. because it‘s not.‘
The cost. not to mention the upheaval. ol~ installing
I I n Academy Awards, Warner Village Theatre, Edinburgh Mon 1 March
Grant
Fd/Iibi/rg/i Council worker
Probany the most entertaining Academy Awards in years. Watching it live here though is definitely orin for die-hard iriovre lans.
ANOTHER SCHEME TO FLEECE THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE EDINBURGH VIBRANT
such a system in lidinburgh would be huge. And the benelits'.’ ll‘ it would reduce toxic car emissions then great btit would it actually be economically viable'.’
L'nion leaders have voiced concern that a huge portion of the city‘s social work and emergency care workers would be among the people getting stung an extra tenner a week with these plans. The aim is surely to keep lidinburgh as industrious a city as possible. not to l‘orce everyone and everything out of the centre to create a hollow tourist trap.
Plans to extend the city's rail links and to introduce trams would mean l‘urther opportunity for commuters not to take cars into the city for work: but these are in their inl’ancy. Maybe trallic would be reduced just by presenting commuters with more travel options.
(‘ynics (I am. ol~ course. already a subscriber to the Skeptical Enquirer) would say that this. alongside council tax. zonal car parking charges and growing parking lines. as another scheme to fleece the very people who make lidinburgh as vibrant and flourishing a city as it is: those residing and working in its boundaries.
Maybe by 2006 we'll all be driving hover cars and eating three course meals in tablet form. struggling to see the castle through the congestion smog. Or perhaps we'll be zipping to work in trams. Yes. there should always be plans. btrt we should come tip with our own instead ol~ trying to adopt the habits of others in the name ol‘ progress.
Lauren Shiite"? Iziitlit’t expect it to be so busy o" for exeryohe to stay untfi frilll‘, it was itll‘. seeing everyone so dressed up and cheerng
Rachel Restaurant manager in: so happy the theatre was doing this. and the red carpet was fantastic. lhis has been an atria/mg night out.