Occupy the Blogosphere

I think I need to stop reading The Metro on the train in the morning; it is just bumming me out. Although I am aware that the climate of “we are all fucking doomed” in which we find ourselves at present is not the fault of The Metro I just don’t think I can cope with another story about debt, unemployment, cuts and futile protests.

Having said that, the article that irked me the most was the one about people camping overnight to queue outside H&M in Glasgow in order to be the first in line to spend, in one case, over £1K on items from the new Versace for H&M line. Now I have been known in the past to indulge the odd fashion related fantasy and far be it from me to dictate to you what you can do with (what I hope) is your disposable income but come on! Camping out overnight? Spending upwards of a grand? Really?!

The part that annoyed me the most was that I couldn’t get past the notion that this was probably just a brand obsessed frenzy that involved very little assessment of the garments these people were spending their money on. We’re talking about a crowd that has formed over night, which according to the article required management through a wristband system. This doesn’t sound to me like a group of people who when the doors finally opened calmly browsed what was on offer, gave consideration to personal taste or regard for whether or not it was going to suit them. Rather, I picture a kill or be killed environment in which the purpose of the mission is “it’s Versace, it’s cheap, fucking buy it”! I assume the sales assistants will be having Vietnam style flashbacks until next winter, at least.

Call me cynical but when an article like this is adjacent to others describing aggressive removal tactics towards people protesting corporate greed, cynicism would appear to be the order of the day.

On a slightly less ranty note the Versace article was very well written...it was written by Jen Lavery. Click to read her blog. You’ll see this lass alongside Charlie Brooker in the Guardian one day, mark my words.

In the list of other things being occupied is my mind, or at the very least I am trying to keep it occupied. What am I working on? Things at Fringe HQ are pretty quiet at the moment; I am experiencing what is a seasonal lull in my particular department. What this does do is free up some time for heavy research into industry trends, politics, policy and opportunities all of which will prove useful moving forward. This research will also aid me in my planning of new artist resources. I have some ideas up my sleeve with regard to international exchange and supporting emerging producers, both of which I can’t really discuss in great detail at this early stage. Fingers crossed all will go well.

The Made in Scotland 2012 deadline is fast approaching. This is actually my favourite bit of the whole process, discovering what new artistic plans are bubbling away across Scotland’s creative landscape. It’s very exciting and I enjoy being privy to the debate and discussion that follows.

In other Fringe news, I will be heading out to Australia for the Adelaide Fringe in March 2012, which is super cool. My colleague Barry and I will be leading on a Fringe Roadshow and a networking event as well as meeting with artists, companies, venues and promoters about their plans for the 2012 Edinburgh Fringe. The Adelaide Fringe is the sister to Edinburgh and the second largest Fringe in the world; a vast amount of work transfers from Adelaide to Edinburgh so I am really looking forward to exploring what is on offer and getting the jump on seeing the shows I will inevitably miss during August! But most importantly, I am looking forward to seeing my pal Jen Mackie whose face I sorely miss.

Following Adelaide, given that I am on the other side of the world and should take advantage of the opportunity, I am planning on dossing about South East Asia. Kicking off in Singapore I am then hopping over to Japan for a few days to explore the arts scene out there and potentially spread the good Edinburgh Fringe word.

Other travel plans for 2012 that don’t necessarily involve the Fringe will concern NYC but more on that at a later date.

Never one to be satisfied with one project to occupy my brain I am keeping myself creatively satisfied with a new idea entitled Project Memory Box. All the information about this wee project is available via its own online platform so I shan’t waste word count on repeating it here (as this is already looking to be a longer blog than I can expect your attention for). Needless to say, I am in the very early stages of development for this so haven’t accurately mapped out it’s trajectory but what I do know is that however the research develops the end result will be a performance. When? I don’t know. Where? I don’t know.

It was inspired by the need to get some closure on some and to find a way with dealing with other things in my personal life. At some point in the near future I am going to start a conversation with the Neuroscience department of Glasgow University to flesh out the sciency bit of understanding memory. The way the brain works, I think, is at the core of this process.

I am looking for friends, strangers, confidantes and acquaintances to get involved so please have a look at Project Memory Box online and find out how you can contribute. The thoughts, memories and stories of real people is what will drive things forward. You can tweet me about it too (crazy, modern bint that I am) @lucilleburn but please remember to include the hash tag #projectmemorybox

At some point I will be on the lookout for any clever creative types to collaborate with me on creating the performance element of the whole thing so feel free to Tweet me about that too.

I think that will do from me for now. Before I sign off, here a few things I recommend to make the coming winter months a little bit nicer...

Pass the Spoon. Me Selling Some Pretty Things. 1770 House Meatloaf. Franks Wild Band. Fringe (not the Festival). Dr Sketchy Glasgow Goes Tiki.

Five by Five Y’all x

Adventures in Montreal

I spent the entirety of last week exploring the sights, sounds and cultural landscape of Montreal, Canada. In true intrepid adventurer style I made a number of influential discoveries. The first and most important of which is Poutine, a popular Canadian dish; one part french fries, one part incredibly rich beef gravy, one part cheese curds and one (optional) part chicken. I had to acquiesce and credit Canada with perfecting the ultimate hangover cure, knocking a can of Irn-Bru and Piece n’ Square Sausage off the top of the league table. Poutine is equally enjoyable as the reverse of remedy, as an accompaniment to copious amounts of beer. In fact, it can bolster you into drinking twice as much, comfortably and with panache!

The second discovery and of, now that I consider it properly, of equal importance is the fact that it is not uncommon in Montreal to find bars with beer taps plumbed into the tables; allowing you the freedom to pull your own pints as frequently as you wish regardless of the business levels at the bar. Dangerous yes, but where’s the fun without a little risk? If you ask me, this particular concept is long overdue in Scotland. Tennents, there’s something for you to market.

Another discovery made was that I quite enjoy ice-hockey, however this may be down to the utterly infectious passion that the natives have for this brutally fun sport.

However, I was not there solely as an ambassador for sport, beer and deliciously unhealthy snacks. The real purpose of my trip was as a delegate at CINARS – the International Exchange for the Performing Arts. Probably the largest of these types of conferences I have attended in my career to date it consisted of showcase performances, workshops, seminars and exhibition booths for companies and artists participating in CINARS. The purpose of CINARS, and of these types of events in general, is to strengthen the circulation of the performing arts, endorse artistic creation and promote business exchange and collaboration.

My specific responsibility during this trip was to speak on the panel of one the discussion events being held in the programme of activity, the focus of which was the “OFF Phenomenon”. To clarify, this phrase doesn’t actually exist within the UKs cultural vocabulary but it can be interpreted to mean the same as “fringe”. So in the same way that the Edinburgh Festival Fringe exists “on the fringes” of the Edinburgh International Festival other large cultural events across the globe have seen the inception of smaller, alternative programming side events bearing the “off” label.

It’s often easy to become acclimatised to the peculiarities to your own situation, because you’re in it, and what was brought home for me during the course of this discussion event was just how unique the Edinburgh Festival Fringe is as a model. The ripples of amused astonishment that reacted through the crowd of attendees as I relayed some staggering statistics about the Edinburgh Festival Fringe that to me have become commonplace in some ways; 40,254 performances of 2,453 shows in 259 venues is utterly mind boggling. So in a way, through enlightening others to the fact I was reminded of just how wonderful a situation that is to have gotten used to and experienced the awe of it anew.

Other discoveries I made were artistic; there was a lot of performances to see over the course of my short six days. I confess that some of the theatre work I struggled with due to my terrible grasp of French.

I was exposed to some...interesting dance work...interesting being for lack of a less polite adjective.

Let’s put it this way, on more than one occasion I was transported to Spaced – Series 1 – Episode 3 “Art”. In my head I heard “Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit....ooh, like a little flower...rabbit, rabbit, rabbit”. It’s true what they say; really great art is NOT as easy as it looks.

What I did love however, and will keenly spread the word to anyone willing to be bored by me was:
L’Orchestre d’hommes-orchestre - http://www.lodho.com/ - Also check out their Facebook

I’m not sure how to describe them other than what I saw was an epic tribute to the works of Tom Waits, crazily performed in the most non-traditional fashion.

Just....well, just look them up.

They were, I think, my main highlight. Not least because of my pre-existing enjoyment of their muse but I remained utterly enraptured by their manic performance style throughout. Unique, insane and captivating; it’s these sort of crazy bastards that make travelling thousands of miles, across on ocean, to discuss the politics of art worthwhile. Because discussions, politics and business aside, they are making it happen, in their own way, and that is ultimately what really fucking matters!

IETM Glasgow 2010: Reflections, Part 1

One thing that I have enjoyed is the opportunity to reconnect with my own city. Even before I started spending five days of my week in Edinburgh I hadn’t really engaged with Glasgow properly in a long time. Pounding the streets during IETM has allowed me to do that and in some ways perceive it a new.

By visiting all of my home towns significant cultural locations I’m feeling imbued with a feeling of pride, confidence in what my country has to say in the Europe wide cultural dialogue and, perhaps most importantly, a feeling of security in my own participation in that conversation.

Round table discussions about the mobilisation of arts advocacy across the European Union has helped me to identify more with the cultural landscape in which I work and play, create and enable.

Over the course of three short days I have created links not only for myself, as a creative individual, but for the Edinburgh Fringe Society, the organisation I represent, with Barcelona, Poland, Germany, France and the Netherlands.

I also won £5.40 on the euro millions which I have decided to take as significant. Perhaps it is representative of the fact that primarily I am Scottish but I am also European.

All this cross-cultural interconnectivity has been illuminating not only in the context of what I already know but also on where my knowledge could do with sharpening.

A point that has been addressed more than once this weekend is that it is so easy to work in your own little bubble and forget that there are entire continents out there with whom we can communicate and work alongside in order to make things easier and better, creatively and politically.

It is important to remember that we, the current generation of creative practitioners and professionals, leave the legacy for the next and therefore we should endeavour together to make sure that it is a good and sustainable legacy.

We should be aware of what our colleagues and peers are doing and what we can to do to support each other.

One of the key issues highlighted during the sessions of IETM is, of course, the universal problem of budget cuts for the arts and the societal value of arts activities, or lack there of.

What stood out in my mind, and it is a symptom of where we are going wrong and a consistent bad habit within the cultural sector. It is, to paraphrase John Holden, that arts policy debate takes place between experts when it should be a conversation between audiences.

Linking into that is the fact that the fate of cultural funding is always in the hands of politicians who will campaign for what is important to society at large.
Society at large is your audience; you take the debate on policy to them then you create value in cultural activity where perhaps it hasn’t existed before. That will inevitably translate into influence on how they use their vote. You instill value for what you do in the people that can consume it then it follows that you instill it in the policy makers, because they have to respond to their audience just as much as we do.

A Musing; you get what you pay for.

I've been thinking recently about value for money when it comes to entertainment and theatre. The thing is, we are as a nation, a big bunch of complainers and for some it's what they do best and, having said that, I do think that when it is justified then you are absolutely within your rights to complain; there's a fly in my soup and all that.

But when it comes to something as objective as art where can you draw the line? If someone leaves a theatre having not liked what they saw and subsequently asks for a refund then I think we are straying into a gray area.

Sometimes it's black; Disgruntled Patron - "I found that offensive, there was nudity, swearing and people making jam out of baptised babies!" Helpful Steward - "Oh I am sorry Sir/Madam (NB: I'm all about equal ops when it comes to complainers!) Did you not read the disclaimer on the flyer/poster/ticket - Warning; May Contain Baby Jam? I'm afraid you were made aware and as such we cannot issue a refund in this instance".

And sometimes it's white; Disgruntled Patron - "Excuse me, I paid to see the Sound of Music and what I got was an angry lesbian shouting expletives at me for most of the evening" Helpful, albeit foul-mouthed, Steward - "Well fuck me and call me Wendy, you are absolutely fucking right, that was unexpected, here's your fucking money back".

But then there's the grey area of "Well I just plain didn't like that, can I have my money back?".

Well...no. No you can't. It can't be helped if it wasn't your cup of tea now can it? That's the risk you take when engaging in culturally stimulating activities such as going to the theatre now isn't it?

Now I don't mean to sound like a pretentious twit but to me that is much the same as ordering something in restaurant, eating every last morsel and then at the very end claiming it wasn't up to much and you'd really rather not pay for it. Tough tittie, you ate it!

I am going somewhere with this; although I think art is objective and you can't justifiably ask for a refund just because you didn't like something I do firmly believe in giving someone what they pay for. If you charge them £20 for something then you darn well give them £20 worth of a good time, on all counts. Quality of show, venue, service delivery - the whole shebang has to be top notch for £20, particularly at Fringe time.

The only thing I have dished out £20 of my hard earned (and in short supply *sob*) cash for this year is La Clique and even with a show of this calibre I still have a couple of minor suggestions on how to make that £20 go a little farther.
Let me preface this by saying that the show and quality of acts at La Clique is so amazingly high that you do forget the cost but...
The close to 2 hour long queue to get a seat (just a seat, not even a decent seat) is a bit much therefore I would suggest for £20 you get an assigned seat and for those of us that don't get into that queue in time or rather don't want to have to stand in the rain for nearly 2 hours should pay slightly less for a standing ticket, which makes up half of their house anyway.
Given the nature of the venue and the way they pack them in there is restricted viewing and quite frankly a bit of a battle for a decent viewpoint - again, someone in this position shouldn't have to pay the same amount as those sat comfortably at the front.
Secondly; by running things in this manner you are narrowing your audience - for those who are disabled or elderly, do they have to queue for the two hours to get a seat?

However, these are minor gripes (this is a blog based on complaints after all) as I have yet to encounter a dissatisfied La Clique customer.

What does seem to have produced many an unhappy and disgruntled customer however is Club Noir's Edinburgh Fringe Show this year, which is plain from the reviews at EdFringe.com. I have to confess I wasn't in attendance but a few people I know were and the general consensus was not positive. In addition to this the majority of the complaints are the same ones I had last year, as I was at that one.
My issues were with a number of things; ramming a venue that, had it been at the appropriate capacity levels would have been perfectly suitable to a cabaret show to the point of bursting - it was hot, unpleasant, you couldn't see a thing if you weren't right at the front and you couldn't get near the bar for love nor money. Now these are the sorts of complaints you expect from a dirty techno night where everyone is too off their tits to care, not a burlesque club.

What I want to know was Club Noir at the Fringe a night club with a show tacked on or a show that has descended into a night club? It seems that their advertising has led a lot of people who bought tickets and left disappointed or angry this year to believe they were getting a sit-down cabaret show when actual fact they were going to a burlesque/fetish themed night club where the intention is to get wrecked while a show goes on in the background. Those who did just that, and had a great time it would seem (which is totally fine and I'm glad) appear to be Club Noir regulars (at least that's what this years reviews have led me to believe) and as such know what to expect and pay little heed to the quality of the show as long as they get a little bit of glitz.

Now, for £20 (which is what a Club Noir ticket cost this year plus booking fee) you have an obligation to give your audience a brilliant experience all round - which they do in Glasgow at their regular nights at the Carling Academy - and at the Fringe when drink prices are high and people come from all across the country you can't afford to scrimp. It's unethical to pack them in like sardines and not care much for the quality of the rest of the experience just to maintain the tag-line - "the biggest burlesque club in the world". Biggest night club or show? In terms of numbers through the door for a night club of this genre certainly, but in terms of showmanship and burlesque entertainment, absolutely not.

From the sounds of things I would have asked for my money back as well and to be honest I would have done so last year as well if I had actually paid for the ticket.

And to sign off; Jim Bowen was part of their line-up? Again, you are paying 20 quid for a show whose directors have clearly not thought through their programming to the benefit of their audience. He may be a pop-culture icon but you don't need to read the dreadful reviews he is getting this year to realise that perhaps he is not ideal for the cutting edge show that Club Noir inaccurately claims to be.

Special Agent Lucille reporting from Week 2 of the Edinburgh Fringe & beyond...

Right...well...I've not long crawled out from underneath my duvet where I have been hiding since the 12th.

I've managed a good solid 2 days of sleep catch-up (deprived doesn't even begin to describe my sleep reserves by Tuesday, we need to invent a new word). At present I am quaffing some cheap shite red wine before setting off for the Smirnoff Underbelly to appear at Sideshow, I feel that this helps the blogging process.

According to my last report I was about to embark on week 2 of my Fringe based shenanigans by appearing at the Ministry of Burlesque's 3-night run of Edinburgh High Tease at The Voodoo Rooms. I am delighted to say that this was a roaring success and tonnes of fun! Each night was packed out, with standing room only and then some on both the Friday and Saturday night.
The bill featured some of the burlesque and cabaret elite from across the world; award-winning songstress Dolores Delight, the queen of British burlesque, Kittie Klaw, the epitome of glamour and hollywood chic, Missy Malone, punk-burlesque icon Kitten on the Keys, compere and ukele extraordinaire Des O Conner (yes, alright, not the Des O Conner but rather part of a crack team of Des O Conner's whose mission it is to bring blisteringly good entertainment to the masses). Who else? The hysterical, can-can dancing experts Gypsy Charms & Viva Misadventure, London's vaudeville celebrities Pustra & Vile-een and of course the glamorous, bent on world domination, Molly Crabapple. It was such an honour to be performing amongst such talent, all of whom were some of the nicest people I have ever met.

During this run we had the Battle of Burlesque where some of freakiest and chicest new burlesquers of the UK fought it out for a covetted performance spot at this years biggest party, hosted by Bizarre Magazine, The Bizarre Ball. Bizarre were in attendance so expect announcements of the winners soon.

In between all of this, somewhere, Rufus and I taught a roving BBC Radio reporter how to fire-eat and juggle for the Fred MacAulay Show, being broadcast live every morning of the Fringe at the Spiegel Garden. This was a peculiar gig as it involved being in full clown make-up, on the street at 9am, doing something for the Radio that is entirely visual....hmmm. However, it was jolly good fun and great publicity. I can report that the reporter did succeed at least once with fire-eating and luckily was already a competent juggler!

So that was that; After the last MoB show on the 9th, I of course not knowing my limits spent far too much time with my drink tickets in the bar afterwards (I really can't be held responsible, the chat was very good!) which meant I went into one of the biggest events of my career on a measly couple hours sleep. Not to worry, fuelled by double espressos and cigarettes I powered on through.

On Sunday, The Dr Sketchy 1st Birthday Bash, at The Arches. I can't really begin to describe this event, I'm still in awe of its success. At double our usual capacity I am delighted to say that we filled the place for both the party and the art session beforehand. Kitten on the Keys was a joy and Glasgow loved her, as was predicted, her unique brand of punk cabaret and smutty songs was hilarious. Molly Crabapple received the royal welcome she deserved, it is after all, down to her that Glasgow has such a wonderfully entertaining way to spend a Sunday afternoon every month. She signed books, sold merchandise, had her picture taken - she got the celebrity treatment she deserved.

The show was incredible, everyone was well received and it filled me with pride to produce an event with such a stellar line-up of hugely experienced, talented and consummate professionals.
Although I was exhausted I had the time of my life, and the champagne backstage keep me going (my lushness knows no limits!)
On a rather exciting side note - Alisdair Gray was in attendance sketching at the session!!!!!! If you don't know who that is go look him up, you'll understand why I was humbled and excited by the fact he was there.

There are some hilarious and beautifully candid backstage shots courtesy of our amazing Stage Manager, Miss Carrie, up on the Sketchy MySpace, do have a look if you are remotely interested - www.myspace.com/sketchyglasgow.

Blissful and exhausted it was homeward bound, with a few guests, for tea and chat then bed by 4am (Again! Argh!)

The following day was a relative write-off until the evening when Molly Crabapple, myself and Rufus went to Edinburgh for her appearance in And The Devil Will Drag You Under - an eccentric and excellently produced cabaret show from Des O Conner and Pustra/Vile-een's Vaudeville.

This is where it gets messy; from there we joined Des for his appearance in Sideshow at the Underbelly after which we met with Missy Malone and the Sideshow team for 1 or 2 (perhaps 5) wee drinks. Time of course got away from us and it was about 4am before we realised we were still drinking, in Edinburgh and Molly had a plane to London to catch (in Glasgow!!!) at 7am!
Sleep, as I'm sure you have worked out, was not on the cards. But this doesn't matter, I can sleep when I'm dead, it was entirely worth it. If not only for the banter with such lovely people but to have Molly sit and sketch everyone beautifully as we all sat around enjoying ourselves.
I think that's everything, it's all been such a whirlwind. It will need to be all for now as I have yet another show to do this evening and must be off - see you in September!

Reporting from the glamorous world of showbiz...and I’m bloody exhausted!

Fringe madness has begun and it occurred to me that I completely neglected to blog the amazing time I had last year during the run of Waiting for Groucho, which considering some of the fantastic experiences and shows we had that is a crying shame. So since this is my first day off since the 31st I thought I'd take this opportunity to document some of the fun had thus far.
Things kicked off on Thursday 31 July with the rather spectacular List Magazine's Festival Launch Party at the glamorous (and prestigious!) Spiegel Garden. Apart from the fact that the weather was a tad inclement I thoroughly enjoyed swanning around as a silvery, white feathered show girl – even if my feathers did get a bit soggy and my complimentary bottles of 1881 beer didn't quite go with my outfit!

Myself, Daiquiri Dusk, Vendetta Vain & Cat Aclysmic were also assisting to promote TEAZE at the event, a glamorous burlesque fundraiser in aid of St Columbus Care Hospice that we will all be appearing at on Friday 22 August at Studio 24 – see my calendar for details.
Then from one party to another we swung by The Stand Comedy Club's Launch Party for a quick drink and injection of laughs before calling it a night. We got there just in time to see Tom Stade, one of my Fringe favourites, if you are looking for some comedy on your Fringe Wish List do try and see him (and Phil Nicol).

Sunday 3 August saw Rufus T Fahrenheit and I appearing at the first night of Fringe institution The Bongo Club Cabaret, as always this was riotously good fun and we were well looked after by fabulous producer – Wild Card Kitty. Our compere for the evening was Luke Wright, the motor-mouthed performance poet, whose wit and charm held the evening together splendidly. He has two shows this year at the Underbelly – Who Writes This Crap? and a Poet's Work is Never Done.Also on the bill was the beautiful, mini-starlette Amelie Soliel, the hula-hooping pocket rocket Anna Lamb (awesome!), international drag sensation Bunny Galore, our friend and wonderful performer Miss Leggy Pee and some rather handsome boys from a dance show at the Udderbelly for whom my only complaint was that they didn't remove their t-shirts! Phew, thanks to sponsorship from Red Stripe the beer and chat was flowing until 4am – got home a touch late!

On Monday 4 August we were back in Glasgow for the first class of our Fire Performance Workshops – this was a huge success, our pupils are all naturals and we expect to have some talented fire newbies on our hands. To promote the workshops Rufus, myself and class participant Daiquiri Dusk took part in a photo shoot for Closer Magazine, Heat Magazine and weirdly enough Marie Claire, who knew women's glamour mags were so interested in fire-performance?Laura from Channel 4s online lifestyle series, Bite, was also there taking part – we had her fire-eating within the hour and she interviewed us along with some of the pupils so keep your eyes peeled for that broadcast.

And finally Tuesday 5 August – Rufus and I were hot-footing it (literally!) back to Edinburgh for a photo call with Wild Card Kitty and cabaret super-star Kitten on the Keys to promote The Bongo Cabaret. These photos are going to look super; Rufus was fire-breathing across the venues quadrangle while we ladies pouted and posed! Keep an eye on Fringe Media publications to have a look.
Following on from the shoot we enjoyed a lovely lunch and a natter with Wild Card Kitty and Kitten on the Keys where Kitten enjoyed her first taste of Haggis! Or as she called it Haggis Nips & Titties!

Rufus and I were booked later in the evening to wow the crowds at The Skinny Magazine's Festival Launch Party, this was a huge amount of fun as we ran around as our cheeky clown characters fire-breathing and fire-eating for the glitterati of the Fringe. The party was sponsored by Miller's Gin & Spicebox so hooray for complimentary booze and nibbles, it's why I got into this game.

And LASTLY we were then lucky enough to score some free tickets to see the absolutely AWESOME Wau-Wau Sisters at the Baby Belly. Good Lord those girls are fantastic – a raucous, unpredictable and downright smutty burlesque/cabaret revue. The audience are part of the show, the girls perform acrobatics whilst playing their cheeky country songs and to be quite honest you'll just need to go see it because anything I say here will just not do it justice!
This show was accompanied by several beers in the cabaret bar so I'm feeling a little fragile, a little exhausted but plenty joyful!

I'm off to relax whilst I still can as the rest of the week is going to be jam-packed; Molly Crabapple is coming to visit, there's 3 nights with the fabulous Ministry of Burlesque at the Voodoo Rooms, Rufus and I will be attempting to teach a BBC reporter how to fire-eat and juggle for a spot on the Fred MacAulay show this Friday and then of course the hotly anticipated Dr Sketchy Glasgow's Birthday on Sunday at The Arches! Phew, if I'm still alive come Monday the 11th I will report all!