Is the Rangers fans' celebrations not a 'Get it right up ye' moment?

I AM ABOUT AS FAR as you could get from being a football fan. I've never been to a game nor ever wanted to attend one. Once I shared a railway carriage from Edinburgh with ...

Why Words and their meanings really matter

THE PHONE RANG. “Hello”, I said.  

“Ey-up Alex”.  

“Hi John” I answered.  

“I ain’t John no more, I’m Samantha”.  

“No, you’re not”, ...

The Mummy Diaries – Next Monday can’t arrive soon enough as lockdown costs escalate

“WELL, THE SILVER LINING to being quarantined is we are not out spending money!” I hear someone saying…

Mmm, yeah. (While I click add to basket!)

It’s bad when ...

Our educational crisis – has intelligence gone out of fashion?

TO BE FAIR on Tony Blair, the expansion of the education system isn’t the only reason that intelligence has been chucked to the back of the wardrobe, but credit where credit is due, it’s a ...

Musings of a Real Tank Commander – Part 28 fighting the wrong wars, death’s acre and a careering Hercules’

WITH THE Kuwait War over, life in HQBFME became increasingly tedious as we all waited to hear when we might be able to go home. However, one important task we had to complete was the ...

The Mummy Diaries – “I’ve had enough of this pandemix – I’m off to Gwannies!”

IS THERE finally light at the end of the tunnel? I know that whatever the government decides to do, they are damned either way, but I for one am glad they are taking the ‘go ...

Musings of a Real Tank Commander – Part 27 Baghdad retreat, battlefield booty and boredom

FOR ME AT LEAST, the first Gulf War stopped at 0800 hours local time on 28th February 1991. The Iraqis had now collapsed completely and were streaming back north to Baghdad, and it had got ...

How Scotch beer prospered under the Union – and still can

FROM THE ISLE OF MAN to Edinburgh to Brussels and back I've been getting the hang of brewing strong balanced malty ales. Having worked in Brussels I had the full choice of Belgium's beer to ...

The Mummy Diaries – Theme nights, Valentines & Jamie’s baking assistant!

IT'S BEEN A week of nights in, fancy dinners, treats and pancakes. Joe Wicks is going to have to physically make an appearance and actually sew my mouth up if I’m to complete his ‘lean ...

Why ‘Contagion’ lingers around the Covid pandemic like a bad smell

BASKING in the glow of the UK government’s successful vaccine rollout, Matt Hancock recently admitted it was a Hollywood film, Contagion, that inspired him to buy vast stocks of vaccine for the British population. The film, ...

Musings of a REAL tank commander – Part 26: briefings, de la Billiere, boardgames and body armour

AND THEN, all of a sudden, it was G Day. At 0100 hours GMT on 24 February 1991 it all started – the biggest land operation since the Normandy landings in 1944, so we were ...

The Mummy Diaries – “I’m off to get my nails done Daddy!”

WE MADE IT through the 62 days of January. Well that’s what it felt like! 

Most January’s are tough going but this year felt like the dreaded January-on-steroids. And while we’ve made ...