Events
Events are listed by date, then city. Submit listings at least ten days before publication to
suzanne.black®list.co.uk. Listings are compiled by Suzanne Black.
Thursday 14
Glasgow Read All About It! Mitchell Library.
2()l .\'orth Street. 287 299‘). t'ntil 31 Dec.
Mon 'l'hu: 9am 8pm: l-‘ri & Sat:
9am 5pm. l‘ree. l’re\ iousl)’ Slit)“ n at the
National l.iht'at’_\ of Scotland. this
exhibition jotlt‘ttc} \ through 400 _\ears of
the ttc\\\ in Scotlaitd.
Edinburgh
Ian Rankin llattthornden Lecture 'l'healre. National (killer) of Scotland. The Mound. 624 0200. (i 7pm. tree
(ticketed). the best-selling crime \xritei'
reads from his short slot-V. Sinner:
./lt.\'ll_'/it't/. lispeciall} colitlttissioncd lot' the Douglas (iot'don catalogue. it responds to the theme of doubling in (iordon's \\t)l'l\' h) exploring the Jek} Il/ll}de dichotom)
thing.
Glasgow
Waves of Light Street l.e\cl (ittllcl'). 4s
King Street. 552 2151. 7pm. U. :\n
e\ening \\ ith the cream of" Scotland's he“ \\l'llL‘l‘\ emerging from (ilttsgtm ('ollege
ol~ .\'atitica| Studies' litill tiiiie ('reathe Writing ('otirse. Tonight's guest ot honour is \\ i'iter 'ltHll Leonard \\ ith lltL‘ll()\\ tall from Michael Kell). .-\|l [)l'ocL'L‘dx go to local 50+ L‘ltat‘ll} 'lliL‘ (ioi‘halitcs‘.
Edinburgh The Guid Crack Club: Yuletest Wmerlc} Bar. I St .\t;u-_\\ Street. 556
()579. 7.30pm. £3 donation. l.ocal\ 11ml
\ lSllUl'\ alike are \xclcome to go along and hear some l’esti\e )ttl'lls \\ ith the
option of contributing a few of their oun.
Saturday 16
Glasgow Radical Independent Book Fair Project ('(':\. 350 Satichieliall Street.
352 49”). l laiii 7pm. Free. Supporting small press publishers and independent producers. and circulating radical reading materials and information. this mini lair
pl‘ttlttlsL‘s counter-culttire publications. exciting \ lsllttlx. \i\ id lilllls and stimulating political discourse.
John O'Kane \\'titci\loiic\. I55 I57
Satichiehall Street. 332 ‘)l()5. .\'oon. l-ree.
John ()‘Kane signs his memoir. ('i'ltii' Sm‘t't'r ('rt'ii'. an ltl\lgltt into toolhall hooliganism.
Ian Rankin Borders Books, l‘ort Retail
Park. 390 Mount \Valk. 773 2910
2 3pm. l'lL'C. like its tenacious lict‘t). the Inspector Rehtis thrillers keep on going. The author \tt)[)\ in to sign The Mimi/re (I, I/lt' /)('(l(/. the latest and lllttsl political in
the series. locating the action at 2005's (i8 \tllttltlll.
I Alan Warner The Worms Can Carry Me to Heaven One of his less ‘difficult‘ books. the Oban-born. Dublin-based writer’s return was a metaphysical lurch into desperation with a Spanish protagonist living in the shadow of HIV. A typical gallery of Warnerian offbeat rogues made this a summer read with a difference. I Gordon Burn Best and Edwards When it comes to dissecting the lives of social and cultural icons (whether they be snooker players or serial killers). Burn is your man. Here. he tackles the wasted talent of two Manchester United legends and asks if celebrity was ever all that it‘s cracked up to be.
I Giacomo Papi Under Arrest A captivating collection of mug shots down the years from the rich and famous (Hanoi Jane's fist salute and Wacko Jacko‘s stanled alien expression) to the poor and desperate (concentration camp prisoners and Shanghai prostitutes). I Maggie O’Farrell The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox If you were a woman in the 1930s who caused your elders a bit of bother, it was a small room in a mental institution for you. In O'Farrell's devastating novel. the subjugation of women has shifted only in its methods.
I Benrik This Diary Will Change Your Life And that's a cast-iron guarantee if you follow the advice given here. ‘This week. smile inappropriately'; ‘This week, help finish roadworks’; ‘Monopolise radio phone-ins this week.’ And so on. (Brian Donaldson)
Glasgow
Seasonal Tales tor a Victorian Fireside (killer) of Modern Art. Rt)_\ill lixchange Square. 22‘) 10%. l 3.30pm & 4.30 7.30pm. An ttpptil‘llltill) l'or \\l'llL‘l'\ to gather together and share lll)lll.\. folklore. pncttts and stories ot- tt lt‘sliu‘ nature. It" )titt are interested in performing please email marcsherland(0 _\;lllt)(LL‘U.lll\.
Edinburgh
Beatnix Poetry Nite The Jan Bar. l ('hamhers Street. 22f) 4290. 7.30 l()pin. £4 (£3: l’oets free). :\ mix ol‘ open mic. [k‘l'lttl'lllttllCL‘ poetr} and singer/song“riters. hosted h} Anita
(im an. (‘all 07962 ‘)l25‘)() for details.
Comics
COMIC ANNUAL BEANO ANNUAL 2007
(DC Thompson)
It's pretty much business as usual in Beano-land. you'll be glad to hear: we open at the ‘Softies Fashion and Fabric Show' where Walter and a couple of eqoally flamboyant chums Vie for the lead in The Naked Civi/ Servant. Inside. proto-riot grrrl Minnie the Minx destroys a topiary hedge: child conman Roger the Dodger takes an alien invasion and gets in some practice for the career in politics which surely awaits him and there's a great Bash Street Kids stOry featuring the terrifying Bash Street mums and dads.
It's rather comforting to know that when we're all dead and gone. when there are no more seasons. and the world's coastal regions lie soggy under the waves. there wrll still be a Beano Annual and it Will still look a lot like this.
(Grant Morrison is the best selling comics author of Arkham Asylum, Animal Man and 52 amongst others)
COMIC ANNUAL THE BROONS 1 939 ANNUAL (DC Thompson)
Christmas JUSl wouldn't be Christmas Without a Broons Annua/ under the tree and this reproduction of the very first annual from 1939 finds Dundee's favourite family getting caught in the same situations they have been re-living over and over for the past (ST-odd years.
Like some weird Groundhog Day set in Dundee. Paw. With his
Books
{at
"in, mm" pvtgvnrwsy prov -
walrus-esotie moustache. is destined to be forever sitting on newly painted park benches and lanky Hen will always be getting caught in the rain wearing new suits that shrink past his knees allowing hunky Joe to steal his prospective girlfriends. Horace will always be the swot. just as the twms Will always be loveable proto-neds. constantly in trouble (nothing serious though. no ASBOS needed here).The Bairn and Grandpa wrll always be sucking ioob-joos and. in 1939. a particularly unattractive Daphne is destined to spend the rest of her life as the ugly sister to Maggie — the tastiest thing to come out of Dundee since the 'ingin pie'.
It's these familiar tales where nothing bad ever happens except maybe a goat eating the picnic or Paw sticking a nail through a pipe that have been the template for all subsequent Broons books. and that's their enduring appeal. We know what's gonig to happen and that at the end all Will be well in Glebe Street. It's this perfect. unchanging Dundonian world that makes it the perfect Christmas annual for all the family. As it says on the cover. 'Scotland's happy family that makes every family happy.‘
(Colin Newton is the drummer with Scots indie rockers ldlewild)
COMlC ANNUAL OOR WULLIE ANNUAL 2007 (DC Thompson)
‘Wt ill/e and his pals sti/I look nifty. They still live in 1950' As a nation. we Scots take great pride in the technological achievements of our forebears: John Logie
Baird. inventor of the TV. Alexander Graham Bell. the inventor of the telephone. Yet. too often, we overlook the genius of DC Thompson. inventor of time travel.
Every Sunday. through the pages of The Sunday Post. we can transport ourselves back in time to a land where the clocks all stopped some time in the 50s. where children indulge in innocent pastimes like conkers and carties. where pornography and heroin have never eXisted. and where it is safe for kids to walk up the Stoorie Burn without being attacked by the local paedOphile.
Of all Wullie's mates. only Fat Bob appears to live in the 2lst century. But then. in this day and age. what are the chances of any Scottish kid only having one friend who is clinically obese?
Each stOry is made all the more charming by its quaint poetic sub- heading such as:
‘He's reading what the postcard says.
His bucket on its ho/idays'
Some people think the cartoons should more accurately reflect modern Scotland. So. will next year's annual have stories such as:
'Wu/li'e buys a porno mag.
Fat Bob '3 off his tits on scag'
Or
'Wul/ie's rna' is black- affronted
Cos he's drunk Buckfast and got cunted."
Hopefully not. Stay in the past forever Wullie. we love you like you are.
(Paul Sneddon is a stand-up comedian best known as Bob Doolaly and Vladimir Mc'l'avish)
1.1 Dec 2006 «1 Jan 2007 THE LIST 49