Well I thought I would do a post on something a little different as I went to see the live Still Game show last night up at the SSE Hydro, which started its 21 show run on Friday night there and I will always also mention something about the Scottish referendum since it has now passed. So let's gie it a look and I will mention a bit about the plot but I will try not give it all away.
So as for the story well there isn't really much to it as the main plot line is Jack Jarvis (Ford Kiernan) longs to see his daughter, Fiona, renew her wedding vows as she lives in Canada he regrets not being able to fly over and visit. So the rest of the story follows a bit of an every day life in Craiglang, and Jack and his good friend, Victor McDade (Greg Hemphill) interacting with the rest of the characters. The characters include Winston (Paul Riley) who has lost his aritifical leg after he tried to boot a dog in the balls (or baws!) who went at him and Jack and Victor set about trying to get him a replacement. Bobby the barman (Gavin Mitchell) who runs the town's local, the Clansman, shows off his brand new iPad (or fudge as Jack calls it!) and Tam Mullen (Mark Cox) the tightest of tightwads, carries on trying to get freebies off the town including a pint from Bobby. Then there is the town's biggest gossip, Isa Drennan (Jane McCarry) who can't keep her mouth shut, who works for Navid Harrid (Sanjeev Kohli) who is essentially good natured and filled with witty one-liners, who is nagged incecessantly by his wife, Meena, who's face is never revealed to the audience. And as the show goes on Jack and Victor break the fourth wall and start interacting with the crowd as does the rest of the cast and plenty of hilarity ensues.
Still Game was and has always been the real gem of Scottish comedy in the last 10 years or so and it was great to see it brought back for the live stage. And they used the expansive size of the Hydro very well for the show and built a great set for the setting of Craiglang with Jack's flat on the far left of the stage, the Clansman pub in the middle, and Navid's store on the right. The show was naturally also filled with some hilarious one liners and it featured some moments of comedic genius as well, such as the scene where Winston replaces his artificial leg with a ukulele and it starts playing some notes as he walks! The show is also interspersed during scene changes with tips on how to speak the Craiglang lingo such as "Open the door I'm a bogus gas man!". And while I won't give away the specifics the show also features a hilarious Bollywood number where Navid sings to Isa such lines as "Yoor oot yer bastard box!" and "Oot yer bastard dome!". Also given the current climate of the referendum the show also pokes a bit of fun at that as well where at one moment Meena during the Bollywood number gives the audience a chance to vote yes or no to see her face and the audience mostly voted yes although her face is not quite what you'd expect!
So is the Still Game show worth seeing??? Aye it sure is! Its a great laugh and the cast came together really well to provide some real moments of hilarity so if you manage to get a ticket or have already got a ticket to get along to see it, I'd thoroughly recommend you give it a go.
Right well that was pretty short (short than I expected!) and now onto something about Scotland's 2014 referendum for independence. But as well all know the referendum was about Scotland deciding over they should remain as part of the UK or become an independent country, and the Yes campaign was lead by the SNP leader and First Minister, Alex Salmond, whereas the campaign against it, the Better together campaign was lead by the former chancellor of the exchequor, Alistair Darling. And in the end the result saw Scotland reject independence with the no campaign winning the majority of the vote, 55% and at just over two million voters and the Yes campaign losing, but still gaining 45% of the country's vote with 1.6 million people voting for independence. And with that Scotland remains part of the UK.
Well I for one voted yes for independence but I don't have any real ill feelings towards those who voted no as each person is entitled to their own vote, but I must admit I am still shocked that a nation would reject its own independence and in doing so I think this country has lost something as well as a sense of its own individuality. And watching scenes of celebration from the No voters when the verdict was announced were for me frankly quite disturbing in watching them dance and cheer in delight. It also stuns me how out of 32 electorates that only 4 voted for independence with only Glasgow, Dundee, North Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire voting Yes.
And as a result the Prime Minister, David Cameron has issued a statement saying he will grant more powers to Scotland to control its own affairs as well as spend more on the NHS, as the government before this was set to implement a UK-wide privitisation of the NHS. But it remains to be seen whether or not that Cameron will keep to his promise to devolve these powers and already his fellow Tory MPs are pushing for him to renege on his promise and Ed Miliband, the Labour leader has reneged already. And with 55% of the country having voted no it remains to be seen what potential impacts that will have on us as a result as the Tory government could easily go ahead and renege on all promises and carry on with its original intent.
There is also the concern that even if Cameron will honour his promises to devolve more powers that once his term as PM is up after that we will have Boris Johnson, the current mayor of London, take over as the future PM, which frankly doesn't bear thinking about! And Johnson has already made some bungled comments in the press about how Scotland doesn't need these powers, which basically means if he get's into power then he will take them away with a blink of an eye. And this again reinforces that the No campaign even though its intentions were for Scotland to remain part of the UK, it was also based on fear and the fear of change, whereas the Yes campaign was based on hope and prosperity and looking to changing the future for the better. There were plenty ifs and buts surrounding the Yes campaign and if the projections given in the White paper would hold up if the nation did in fact vote that way, but I felt (and feel) it was worth taking a risk to see if Scotland could move ahead as its own independent nation, but now we may never know.
And I also think a fair part of this was also to do with the the manipulation of the media where the Yes campaign was ridiculed as being negative, poorly thought out as well as anti-British or English and violent towards the opposite side, which is entirely untrue. The BBC also throughout the campaign spun their own version of events and during the campaign, the political editor for the BBC, Nick Robinson also disgraced himself when he asked Alex Salmond a question during an international conference which Robinson in his report later stated that Salmond did not answer when in fact he did! The BBC also didn't even broadcast a protest in Trafalgar square a few weeks back where English protesters spoke out against privitising the NHS, which was again the result of the Government controlling the media.
But the Yes campaign itself was actually carried out peacefully with little actual trouble and I myself briefly attended a rally during the week and there was no trouble whatsoever or rioting as a result. But what transpired on Friday night 19 September with pro-unionists was utterly shameful and a disgrace where Unionists started to attack the Yes supporters in George square with the riot police forced to quell the disturbances which also saw Unionists burn the Saltire flag and wave the Union Jack. And I'm sure this sort of thing will not be tolerated by either the Yes or No side, its a disgrace to burn the nation's flag and its something that still leaves me aghast. But I was pleased to see that last night there were no more disturbances like this in George square, but it does remain troubling that scenes like this happened although in a way it was also inevitable.
So as it stands Scotland still remains as part of the UK, what will happen to us as a result who knows, the Yes campaign will naturally carry on campaigning for its independence. Will things change for the better?? Who knows? But one day we may yet have another referendum where Scotland will again have a chance to vote for its own independence.
And on that note I will leave yee there.
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