Sunday, 12 April 2009

Birlinn

One of the books I got in the excellent Ullapool Book Shop yesterday was the "Kingdom of the Isles:Scotland’s Western Seaboard, 1100–1336" by R. Andrew McDonald. I noticed that, once more, it was a book from the publishers, Birlinn. Rather appropriately, it features a birlinn on the cover, as seen on the right of the carving.

alexander_macleod_6476-01

Sholto of Scheltrum Miniatures has been modelling some birlinn, and some of us at the club are talking about a "Lord of the Isles” campaign. It should be fun, and give us clansmen a bit of personal background to research.

8 comments:

paul martin said...

a long lingering departure: 1545-7, hmmm how times change

AktoMan said...

For some, but for others there is time for closure, more enjoyment of life, and never, ever going gently into that good night, boyo. Rage eternal and kick DEATH where his bones rattle, steal his scythe and run off into the night. Sod the passivity of it all, grab life by the nuts and hold on tight.

In the words of the oft-quoted-here kids song "you've got to fight for what is right". And what I think is worth fighting for is different for others. For me, it's no longer just fight or flight; but "fight", "flight" or "I'd don't give a f... about it". Sometimes I just laugh at the pettiness of life and wonder what some people have done to get to the stage where they quibble over the colour of pens. I'm going to have to get hold of "30 Rock". I saw some of it today for the first time, and grown adults were making a big issue out of pens.

Is that today's human condition?

paul martin said...

for some not allowed in the starting gate for the latest gadgets fighting over student leftover pens, looking forward to the dentist, sweet or savoury/salad dressing, etc is the only consolation in life's lottery we have left

AktoMan said...

try play.com

paul martin said...

i cannot say play.com has ever appealed to me - a bit like ebay the UI is not my bag. Indeed I tire of twitter its too blue, or rather there is a high buy in overhead; sure I can appreciate the benefits for xyz but I reckon its a sport that will not make the 2012 olympics

AktoMan said...

I don't like the way HMV is set out, but I'll still go in there.

As to online comms - it's getting too diverse, and maybe too insular too. Maybe that's where Facebook, Bebo and Twitter wins out. Hook people into one system. Same thing happens in shops, eg Amazon, eBay. I guess some people like one store where they can get a deal instead of shopping round the Net. Convenience. Also trust, I guess.

scott said...

I do like that pub in Ullapool that's actually got the bookshop in it. The Ceilidh Place, if I mind right?

Pure genius. As it were.

:0)

paul martin said...

just spent in HMV - is apple another word for slow