Tag Archives: Scotland

Moshi Cake Madness

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Happy Birthday Boy!

The grand day is almost upon us.  My eldest, The Thinker, turns ten years old upon the morrow.  I am so proud of him, he is a super lad.  Polite, resourceful and a hard worker to boot.

As part of his birthday celebrations it is customary for us to get him a unique cake that will serve thirty to forty people for his party.  This year the party is at an activity centre in nearby Dailly (a mile or two from Girvan) and the cake is all about ‘Moshi Monsters‘.  As you can see it is a great creation and proves there is a lot of talent in Ayrshire beyond the gaming sector!

I will post about the big day (assuming I do not overdose on Cake, Jelly and Ice-Cream) but I had to just show you all this icing coated treat before it is decimated by a horde of children.

GBS

Girvan Gig on the Green 2012 – Civic Week

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So here we are on an intermittently wet and sunny Sunday in late June.  I had been working on a project and then I remembered that today was Girvan’s Gig on  the Green!

The family headed out to have a look.  Actually I could hear it soon after going out, as we live quite near Stair Park which is where the stage was set up.   I have to say that I was unaware that today was also parade day in Girvan where civic week begins with a procession though the town with lots of people dressed up (this year was an Olympic theme…duh!) but I ran into the parade on the way to the park.  It had only just begun but we snapped a quick picture as it went by led by a piper and with the rear brought up by characters including Super Mario and I think Postman Pat (the kids were very taken with this).  More people joined it as I watched and though we were waved at to join I could hear an electric guitar so no chance of that and off we went.

The Parade gathering pace

Stair Park is in the rear of the above picture so it was not much of a walk to reach the park.  Below you can see a lot of what was laid out in the park including the main stage, several inflatable slides, a bucking bronco, a really lovely and brand new climbing wall along with a lot of stands selling refreshments and also offering face painting, flag making, puppets, balloon modelling and the like. I think there was a couple of hundred people there but it was early as Gig on the Green goes on from noon until after eight in the evening and this was about half past two.

The Crowd gathers under the Clouds

The weather kept changing from bright sunlight to dark and moody grey light.  If you look at the rear of the above image you will see why.  Something Scotland is well known for; low laying mist.  The picture does not do the colour justice as it is ominous and beautiful both sitting right atop the Carrick Hills.

The Stage

I have been to several of the Gigs on the Green in previous years and this year the sound quality on the stage was excellent, no feedback or other haze to interrupt it.  The stage is a purpose built truck trailer with its own power supply and such and it makes a big difference to the performers.  I watched and listen to a good few tunes until the kids got fed up and dragged me away.  The line up included Counselled Out and Escapade but I think I saw Audio Juice (Girvan band in the picture) but in eight hours of live music more than seven bands were listed to perform.

So i was a good couple of hours out for me and I enjoyed it but it was let down by two things I feel.  The first is the weather which is always a risk in Ayrshire as it can be VERY wet and we have had several inches of rain in the last couple of days, but it did stay dry if dark.  Secondly I just cannot help but think that Girvan would get on a lot better that these great little events if they were better advertised.  Not nationally but locally in Ayrshire.  As I said I go to a lot of the events but I was barely aware of it; and I live here!  Perhaps a full page in the weekly paper with a big advert for it, including a free parking notice (as the whole town is) and a tie in with local retailers to offer special incentives on food, drink and other things might do the trick.

Rock on Girvan!

GBS

Olympic Torch passes through Girvan

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An event that has seemed so far very far away and often irrelevant to life in Girvan has just passed through our little town.  The Olympic Torch procession made it’s way through Girvan today  just after seven in the morning.  Myself and the rest of the family were up super early and out in the street to see it.

The Crowd Gathers in the Early Morning

Luckily the rain held off and the turn out was very good.  Many of the local children were there and most were waving self made torches and little flags.  The procession began with the normal clearing of the roads and then a number of corporate sponsored vehicles handing out their wares, playing music and generally trying to incite an atmosphere into a slightly damp and sleepy crowd.  It worked well though and by the time the local runner (a man from the village of Mossblown which is up past Ayr) went by everyone was cheering and waving madly.

Cheer the Mascot!

The Torch!

So while the Olympics are happening far away they were, if only for an hour, part of everyone here’s life.  I greatly enjoyed it and the chance to see the ‘torch’ in person and for the children it was the culmination to a week of school based preparation.

The Warrior having Fun!

Oh…and I got a little bottle of free Coca Cola.  Nice and Sporting.

Excellent  🙂

GBS

Carrick Lowland Gathering 2012

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It is June now and that means time for the annual Carrick Lowland Gathering which takes place around the same weekend each year at the Victory Park in the middle of Girvan.  The Gathering as it is known has been a fixture of life in Girvan for a long time and it encompasses a lot of fun and festivity.  This year was no different on that score but it was an improvement on last year.

Throwing the Hammer at the Lowland Gathering!

A sunny Sunday lunchtime saw the Syme clan arrive and while I trotted about and had a few chats my good lady took some photos, the best two are in this posting.  The Gathering has a highland games event that includes hammer throwing, Highland Dancing and it has a Pipe Band championship too.  Alongside this are other smaller events and charities and a number of fairground rides and many stalls selling everything from traditional sweets and clothing to local wares like tartans and curling stones.  There are also workshops on how to dance and play the drums and pipes.

The Poet enjoying the Trampoline! (He is jumping, it just looks like he is tied up in the ropes)

Unlike last year it was dry and sunny which I think increased the turnout to more than two thousand all in and it meant more traders turned up too; there were no spare pitches left.  The pricing of everything was reasonable too and as always it was great to see the town busy and the children having fun.

Good Times!

GBS

Prometheus Movie 2012 – Review

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Space Jockey Alien from the back

I went to see Prometheus last night at the new Odeon cinema in Kilmarnock.  Due to work commitments I do not have a lot of time to spend just now on writing my normal longer posts but I will just say that the film was brilliant!

I knew nothing of the plot and nothing of the film beyond rumours and trailers so I went with an open mind to a late evening showing.  The film really is a forerunner to Alien and is very much set in the same universe with many nods to similar characters, technology, species and dialogue as well in the other films.  It helped that I re-watched Alien the night before and it was the ‘space jockey’ that I went to see the film as I have always wanted to know who the ‘big dude in the chair’ was.  Without spoiling it for those of you yet too see it I will say that it left my head battered and bruised as a viewing experience.  It was visceral, it was emotional and it went at a hellish fast pace too.  Many new questions are raised but you get to see the ‘origin’ of the ‘Alien’ and also to see something of the Jockey’s culture and abilities.  Visual effects are terrific but it is down to the director to deliver a first rate movie where plot and characterisation mean way more than CGI ‘bugs and ships’ and Ridley Scott did just that.

The movie also shot and featured Scotland and the landscape of Skye among other places.  Lovely to see it on the big screen.

Prometheus is a great movie which I highly recommend.  I do not agree with the 15 age certificate though, it should have been an 18 rating.  Go see it!

Oh and as always why do supposedly smart people not take care and precautions and insist on trying to touch everything with acid for blood… 🙂

GBS

Sunshine Superstar

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Blazing Sun and Sand...Spain...no Girvan!

Come to Scotland and see the verdant green, the deep blues and the slate grey skies of a celtic land.  But not this week!

Due to a coincidence of  weather fronts the normal warming of May has given way to a much more intense heating that has given South Ayrshire, Scotland and actually Girvan in particular (my town was named the hottest place in the land at one point on Friday and I could believe it) temperatures of 25c to 28c across the middle of the week to this weekend.  While this temperature is not unknown here it is rare and it is even more rare to have happened in May.  In fact while attending my children’s school fete yesterday afternoon two of the kids actually fainted from heat exhaustion.

From the Promenade to the Beach on Tuesday. Volleyball Tournament on Sat 26th, see the net?

Promenade looking to the south at the Carrick Hills back on Tuesday afternoon

So the play park, the beach and the sea.  I took a few pictures so you could see what I mean.  Some people say to me ‘why live in Girvan, it is so cold and icy in the winter’…well its cold and icy anywhere in Scotland in the winter but in good weather…well you don’t get scene’s like this in Glasgow or Edinburgh!

The above images were earlier in the week when I took some time to walk the prom to have a thinks and a ponder on certain things while the kids played.   But moving on!

Today was also the Volleyball Tournament on the beach and it had a really good turn out.  No, I did not play in it but I did sit and watch for a while before heading home…bare foot…across the roasting tarmac.

Volleyball on the Beach!

A hundred plus cars and coaches in the beach facing car park and not a space left anywhere.

I just have to get all of the sand out of my pockets and put some aftersun on now. Scorchio!

Oh, and the tiddler in the top picture…that’s my little warrior!

GBS