Summer's Over - Back to Uni

Well the summer's almost come to an end. University properly gets going again on Monday. We were relatively curtailed in our activities over the summer as my mum's been in hospital for quite a while, but it was good to spend some time back with the family. After some anxious waiting, my sister got her Highers results in and got a brilliant 5As. She should stand a good chance of getting to do her preferred course (Law) at University when she applies later this year. I'm really pleased for her as she worked hard and is really focused on what she wants to do. I spent two weeks working at my old school as a caller in their alumni fundraising campaign which was challenging but good fun.

I went along to the Pie and Bovril 5s in June, which, is a football tournament held by Scotland's biggest online football forum. It's always good fun and an excuse to have a few beers and a chin wag with the people behind the avatars. Whether it's a St Mirren fan in Cambridgeshire exile or a Linlithgow Rose maths geek, they're all a great laugh. This year the post-tournament venue was The Arc in Glasgow City centre which is a great venue and the weather was good enough for us to sit outside. One of the highlights of the evening was watching the initiation ritual to which the Welsh National Fencing Team were subjected, namely trying to eat a whole raw leek as quickly as possible without vomiting!

Dad and I spent the summer tentatively looking around for my first car. I've said before I really want a classic rather than just a new hatchback, and sharing my dad's enthusiasm for older cars, I was prepared to put in the time to restore an older car if required. The problem with it being based in Aberdeen is that there aren't that many cars within close distance to go and take a look at. I was especially keen to acquire an MG B or Midget, as my dad also owns an MGB GT which is a cracking wee car. We first took a look at a car we found on eBay that turned out to be a complete rust-bucket. The driver-side door wouldn't shut after we opened it and it would have required thousands of investment and substantial rebuilding to become roadworthy. A few weeks later we decided to take a look at another GT, which whilst very tired and in need of a fair bit of work was at least a solid enough shell. The guy looking to sell it runs a classic car business and had panels from other cars he was willing to include in any deal to help us with a rebuild project. We gave it serious thought but in the end we concluded that for the moment it wasn't something we could be sure of committing to, but it's definitely something we'll look at again. It was certainly a valuable learning experience and whilst I would want to consult my dad when buying my first car, I now feel as though I have a much better idea of what to look for as "tell-tale signs" of problems in a classic.

I caught up with old school-friends, most of whom I don't see so much of now they're in Edinburgh. I don't say it much, but they're all great people. I look forward to catching up with them all again at Christmas, if not before then. I'm sure I'll head across at some point over the next couple of months. Quick shout out to Chris Dyer who is on his languages year abroad studying in Malaga and Milan.

Since getting back to Glasgow I attended Nick Clegg's well documented meeting with Lib Dem activists in the city, replaced a broken cooker hood, been to a few Thistle games, and finished a summer marathon viewing of The West Wing. Whilst the summer has been light relief, it has latterly dragged on a little and I'm actually glad to be getting back to work at Uni. With this being my junior honours year, I'll be focusing on honours courses of my own choosing rather than solely taking core courses, which I hope will be more rewarding. I'm especially looking forward to my Law course about the Scots Law Human Rights context and my second semester Politics option on Egalitarianism and its Critics. Whilst it will be good to see people again, it will be a fair bit quieter this year, especially in semester two, as lots of people will be studying abroad. John's already in Toronto and seems to be enjoying himself with a frenetic workload and ample other stuff to keep him amused. He was impressed with Thistle in their 1-1 draw against Hamilton when I roped him along to Firhill in August so hopefully I can persuade him back when he returns! I'm looking to get more involved in the local Lib Dem and the Uni Debating scenes if time allows!

After a difficult start, Thistle are really picking up some form. Just yesterday we dispatched Ayr in a comfortable 4-0 victory. The First Division is really tight after 6 games, only 2 points separating 2nd top from 2nd bottom. We look really settled as a team now and McNamara could really make a big impact if we keep this up.

Who knows what the next year holds? Bring it on.

Ends and Beginnings

Another multi-subject update seems in order. News in various places since I last posted.

First up, I've got my first 2 of 4 exams in this diet out the way. International Politics at the end of April should have gone fine and Commercial Law just yesterday seemed not to be too bad a paper. Just Business Organisations next Saturday then Property Law on the Wednesday and I'm off for the summer! Not a moment too soon frankly!

Then there's the various elections from a few days ago. Sadly, as predicted, the Yes2AV campaign was comprehensively defeated. It's sad, really, because the No campaign's propaganda and lies (even David Blunkett admitted they just drew up the figures for the "extra cost" on the back of a fag packet) really seemed to penetrate to most of the electorate. It speaks volumes that some of the few areas to vote in favour of AV were areas you might regard as having a significant "intelligentsia" population. Glasgow Kelvin, if my memory serves, was the only area to vote for AV in Scotland.

As for the main event, the Scottish Parliamentary elections, I've got mixed feelings. As a relatively new member of the Lib Dem, I knew this was going to be a pretty tough campaign, but the scale of the decimation (sometimes literally) of the Lib Dem vote in some constituencies was pretty galling. 5 seats left, Tavish Scott's resigned and everyone's a bit scunnered. A small crumb of comfort, perhaps, but at least we held enough seats to stay clear of the Greens and although a lot of deposits have been lost, I can't see the vote falling much, if any further. Time to rebuild for the Council elections next May.

As for the SNP though, I've got to say they have had a staggeringly good campaign. They outflanked Labour wherever Labour didn't manage to outflank themselves and had an unremittingly positive campaign, really catching the mood of the electorate. To see seats in Glasgow and South Lanarkshire fall from Labour's grasp is a truly historic moment. Scottish voters are finally waking up to the idea that Labour aren't the be all and end all of politics. Once they can abandon them once, they can do it again. It will be very interesting to see the dynamics of an SNP majority administration. Uncharted waters for both the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish people: we live in interesting times.

Anyway enough of politics. Back to what really matters: football!

Because of the University of Glasgow's propensity for organising idiotic exam timetables, I was unfortunate in that I missed the final game of the season at Firhill, with my big team and my wee team playing each other (Raith Rovers visiting). By the sounds of it I missed a cracker. Tommy Stewart, who looks like quite a good find now he's had a run of games, Doolan (joint top First Division scorer) and David Rowson all got on the scoresheet and by the sounds of it Rowson's goal was an absolute beezer. I really hope Rowson gets signed up for next season as he is just such a warrior in the red and yellow. He's been through a difficult few days with his father passing away and his goal must have been a very emotional moment for him.

A very upbeat result brings to an end a somewhat mixed season. It certainly started very badly, but things picked up late 2010 and I read somewhere that we have the best defensive record at home in Britain. Jackie McNamara's few games in charge have been on the whole pretty positive and should he get the manager's gig on a permanent basis I hope he can put some entertaining football on the park. It's particularly pleasing to see how keen he's been to bring the youngsters into the fold, albeit his hand has been forced by squad injuries.

We've done a fair bit of Jagscast recording over the last wee while, including our End of Season review, a few John Lambie Hall of Fame inductions and Manly J Panda even got an interview with Jaggie Mac. I wanted him to ask how he'd vote in the AV referendum but the Panda wanted to focus on dull stuff like football and whether he was more of a grey suit and brown brogues or trackies sort of gaffer. The cast is good fun and hopefully next season we'll be back on iTunes so more people can listen in routinely. Quick thanks to Vinny and Panda's parents for the excellent home made pizza when we did our end of season recording at their gaffe.

What's left... mum's in hospital again for a bit. She's been long overdue some time off work. When I was up over the holidays she was running on empty but, in her usual way, adamant that she'd get the Easter stuff done before resting for a while. Hopefully it won't be long before she's back to her good old moany self!

Dad's finally finished re-assembling an MGB of an MG Owners' Club acquaintance in his garage, so he's got room to put his MGB GT back in. I heard he took it out for a drive a few days ago, only for the fuel pump to pack in when he was in the middle of rush-hour traffic. This wouldn't have been a problem, but he had no phone, no tools, and no breakdown cover information. Kay had to call a friend to help tow dad clear. He's since bought a solid-state replacement fuel pump which should, he claims confidently, never need replacing! Where have I heard that one before...

I'm still on the look-out for an MG to call my own. It's slightly on the backburner for a bit while I look to see what work I can get over the summer. Just have to wait and see.

That's all for now. A couple of days of dossing about now before I have to crank things up again for the next exams!

Revision Procrastination, Football, Snooker and Cars

In an effort to avoid facing up to the necessary revision for my impending exams ('the fear' must surely come soon...) I've been focusing my mind on other things of perhaps dubious productive merit...

Cars

Dad's MGB GT 1968

Right... I want a car. Not just any car though. I want a classic.

I went to see an MGB GT which a guy was selling near Aberdeen, but after seeing it close up, we were pretty quick to walk away. I'm keen to do a bit of a restoration project, and my dad's done a lot of work on his MGB GT as well since acquiring it a few years ago, but this one was frankly scrap material despite the photographs having looked a little more kindly on its condition. There's solid cars out there; we've just got to find one.

My dad's first car: Rover P6 (2000SC) 1969

I'm not just looking at MGBs, much as my dad's experience with them would really come in handy. Snooping around some other options as well, I wouldn't mind some sort of 4-door saloon of the same era. I quite like the look of the Rover and Triumph 2000s or a Hillman Minx (I particularly like the look of the Series V). With any luck I'll be able to build up some savings over the summer to acquire something and maybe get some work done and MOT/Insurance covered. I'll keep you all posted.

Football

First game I've seen in ages yesterday. Jags beat Morton 2-0 in a slightly scrappy game, but one we were never in danger of losing. Cracking goal from Erskine and a decent right-footed rebound from Boyle to wrap up the points. Youngster Jamie Campbell had a reasonably good shift at right midfield and Kris Doolan and Tommy Stewart were both unlucky not to get on the score-sheet. This will be my last game of the season as the University of Glasgow/School of Law have, in their infinite wisdom, decided to schedule the Commercial Law exam between 2pm and 4pm on a Saturday, clashing with the final home match against title contenders Raith Rovers. It's been a funny old season and with McCall out the door we could have another period of transition, but such as is life.

Snooker

Part of my procrastination schedule has involved a passing interest in this year's World Snooker Championships. Nothing much to write home about yet, but Ronnie O'Sullivan's been pegged back a bit by Shaun Murphy. Sounds like Stephen Hendry's on the verge of retirement, which is a bit of a shame. Great player in his day but lost his way in recent years.

Anyway, Politics exam on Thursday morning, which I've done precious little preparation for. Better get back to work!