Mailbox
ROAD RAGE
Fdrnhurgh rs turnrng rnto a traffrc nrghtmare. The amount of trme and money Invested by E-drnburgh Crty Councrl rn 'traffrc management systems" rs vergrng on the rrdrculous. Traffrc srgns change on an almost darly basrs. Once you have almost run over several small chrldren whrle tryrng to frgrrre out where you are meant to be. you frnally get onto Prrnces Street and. before you can say 'double yellow Irne'. one of Fdrnburgh's army of parkrng wardens lumps out from behrnd the Scott Monument to grve you a trcket. Ben Baser Walker Fdrnhurgh
POLY MATHS
Some may be wonderrng why all the frrss over a tax on poly bags. The latest on thrs proposal rs that the Parlrament needs more Information before rt goes any further. Not a had thrng. It's rrnportant We get rt rrght. brrt the statements; of some who oppose the move rfrérérl (:lf;1H(2r1r;(>rl.
It rs clear that charges on poly bags work and that they result rn dramatrc decreases rn the amount of bags used. Some say rt wrll create an rncrease rn use of paper bags. but thrs rs not evrdenced. and rn any case paper rs recyclable and reuseable. Some say rt wrll hurt the poor whrch rs lust plarn daft. No one rs forced to buy a bag; there rs the reuseable optron. Of course. rt may affect the profrts of Tesco et al hardly the poorest.
There rs work to do on the brll rn areas such as VAT and srmplrfyrng the collectron mechanrsm If these can be resolved then the brll shorrld pass next year.
The Greens v-rant Scotland to adopt a ‘/ero waste' approach
The List,
to dramatrcallv reduce the amount of y'./aste berng created rn the frrst place. Bv usrng resources effrcrently’. Scotland wrll hecorne more self suffrcrent and we can cut out the Inter that blrghts our streets.
Mark Ruskell MSP
Green speaker on the
I nvrronment
OFFICE ANTICS
Oh, God. It's that trrne of year agarn. when you have to stagger out of the offrce clutchrng your 'secret Santa" offerrng. and get lashed '.'./rth your co workers. all In the
n; me of festive 'honrlrng‘
I et's be honest. the Christmas party rs a disaster ‘.'.'artrng to happen. You 'nrght let slrp about that crush you've get on your bcss, Worse. you might drunkenly decrde that you must act on thrs hassron. How are you meant to command respect the next mornrng after your husrhesslrke exterror has been exploded. and everyone knoy'rs that you are besotted wrth the boss and a
pt ssronate far‘. of (lelrne I)ron karaoke? If you must rnrx y'rork and play. lust make sure that someone else rs alsxays more drunk than you.
Eleanor Duff
St Andrews
CHAOS THEORY Scotland's ermronment and de\.relopment groups have come together to form Stop ()lrmate Chaos Scotland. We are y‘xorkrr‘rg together to press for strong targets and actron on clrrnate change to help people make srrnple changes rn their Irves to reduce clrrnate change emrssrons.
The threat posed by clrrnate change rs the greatest r‘rrsrs hurnanrty has far ed. If we let
the average global
What did YOU think? Highlights of 2005
Magali
Centre
Kort"? 1' (Mono?) fit":
'I realty irkezl some of the theatre here at the MAC, BlueOrange was very good' the acting was great. I also loved the Roslyn Festrval '
2 THE LIST 17') Her, 7005) 7') Jan 70’?!)
14 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1TE
or The List at the CCA
350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow G2 3JD or email editor@list.co.uk
temperature rrse by more then ’2 (3 we wrll face the threat of devastatrng runaway clrrnate change leadrng to extreme weather. crop larlures. floodrng and overall me ssrve socral. econornrc and envrronment;tl costs. Wrthout urgent actron hy thrs generatron we are headrng for a clrrnate catastrophe.
Ihe UK Government was crucral In gettrng the ()llttl'téll Kyoto Protocol agreed but Tony H!arr's recent statements are sendrng y'xorryrng srgnals. In a frrtrle attempt to get the llnrted States on board he rs talking about the ‘end of Kyoto'. and appears to be drstancrng hrmself tr'orn legally hrndrng clrrnate targets.
ll‘rs mistaken strategy on chntate change could not
come at a ‘.'.rorse trrne.
homosexual par'tnershrps. Harriet Shawcross I drnburgh
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
I am completely rn favour of the rntroductron of same sex crvrl
THE LETTER OF THE ISSUE WILL RECEIVE TWO BOTTLES O
Internatronally we need deeper and more raprd crrts rn emrssrons to help prevent dangerous clrrnate change. At home the Scottrsh Parlrament must set ambrtrous targets for Scotland when rt prrhlrshes rts revrsed Clrmate Change Programme after Chrrstmas. Christian Aid, FoE Scotland, Oxfam, RSPB, Scotland Campaign against Climate Change, Scottish Environment Link, SUSTRANS, Tearfund, WWF Scotland, the Woodland Trust
CORRECTION
In the last Issue we ran a prece on new skate shops. and credrted rt rncorrectly to our shopprng edator'. Katy McAulay. In fact. the prece was wrrtten by Anne Ivtclvleakrn.
partnerships. but wanted to share a cautronary tale, about my experrerrces rn Calrfornra last year. Srnce January 200:") vegrstered domestrc partners rn Calrlornra have enjoyed the same rrghts as legally married couples. rnclrrdrng cornrnunrty property rrghts Ilerern lres a tale. Whrle rn San l 'ancrsco I met Hrrttany' and (iorrrn. a female couple who adored each others company and had been cohabrtrng for two years. I ast /\prrl they got 'marrred' and became legal dornestrc partners. rn a beautrful ceremony complete wrth flowers and vows. l-Iowever'. Brrttany and ()orrrn are heterosexual roommates. who were tak'ng advantage of the tax breaks that berng a legal couple gave them on then student rent. So before we extol the vrrtues of gay marrrage. bear rn rnrnd that rt rs an rnstrtrrtron that can all too easrlv he explorted. cheapenrng the perception of
GIL-uh".
GRAHAM'S THE TAWNY
GLASGOW AND EDINBURGH
Michael
f .‘m maker
'lhe f'ytark Morras Dance Group really stood out. It's rare for clroreograpners to he so musical. Ihrs rs also a great trme for Scottrsh Ballet We should be proud
Kenny
Srrger; Krng (Jamsote 'lhe best moment for me was to see the whole of the C'een Man festrval arrdrence stand up durrng Krng Crrx>sotes “Twrn Tub Twm".'
EVENTS GUIDE
CONTRIBUTORS Publisher 8 General Editor RCIELI‘. Hodge
EDITORIAL
Editor Nrck Bad-3y
Deputy Editor Brran Donaldson Assistant Editors
Mark Robertson Paul Da Subeditor Ashon Dawes Research Manager Juer Graham
Research Henry Northmoro (Frlm. Rock 8 Jam Ruth Hodges rArtl Rachael Street tlhoatrc- Dance. Comedy 8 Sport» Morao Bruce rAround Town. Classrcal folk 8 KrdSr
SALES & MARKETING Advertising Sales Manager Rachel Shrclds
Senior Media Sales Executives
Carol Ferguson
Brrord Kennedy
Media Sales Executive chhro Moldrum
Media Sales Support Sharon Stephen Promotions Manager Shcrr irrers Promotions Assistant Comma Board Circulation Manager \‘c'i Tarnshan Circulation Executive K-Erlh Boone
Special Projects Amanda Munqall
PRODUCTION Art Director
Krrsta Robertson Production Manager Srmon Armrn Designer lucy Reeves Production Assistant Russell Sloedman
ADMINISTRATION Accounts Manager Georgette Ron-rack Accounts Assistant Manager Donna Taylor
Reception
Tracey Frsher
Edinburgh Office Manager Karro Scott
Glasgow Office Manager Katharrno Haslett
SECTION EDITORS Around Town Morao Br uro Books Brran Donaldson Clubs Henry Northmorc- wrlh Sandra Marroni Comedy Brran Donaldson Comics Paul Dale
Dance Kelly Aptor
Eat 8 Drink Barry Sholbv Film Parrl Dale
Gay Robrn too
Kids Kelly Aptor
Music Mark Robertson
rmth Norman Chalmers (iarol Va." Kenny h‘atltrosr‘r‘ Irona Shophordi
News Allan Radclrlfe
Play Henry Northmoro
rwrth Iarn Dayrdsonl
Shop Katy McAulav
Television Brran DonaldsOn
Theatre Stove Cramer
Travel Rachael Street
Visual Art Alexander Kennedy