Greetings bloggers, Happy New Year! Hope you all enjoyed the festive season.
The Hilltown Writers' group CD-ROM of poems, prose, artwork, photographs, is progressing well and should be finished by the end of February. We are going into the studio at Hilltown FM to record readings, introduction/voiceover next Friday and are visiting The Courier photos archive at Meadowside, Dundee in 2 weeks time to look at publishing copyright and archive photos for the project.
I am mastering my new digital camera, will upload or download pics on the blog when I understand the manual!, enjoying my bottle of malt whisky and admiring my new watch - all great Xmas presents. Have a good 2008.

Fish Out Of Water

Feeling out of place: a fish out of water,
'Snobby' Perthite decamped 22 miles downwater
To City of Discovery; home of Oor Wullie,
The Broons, The Courier, Sunday Post, Evening Tullay.
Good points: Hilltown Writers' Group, DCA, Rep, entertainment;
Bad points: deprivation, depression, widespread unemployment,
Anti-social neighbours, crime, vandalism, litter louts,
But not all rosy in Perth either, swings and roundabouts.
So, go with the flow, make new friends, develop interests,
Realising Dundee's fine when you get to know it.

By Erik Zoha

MAKES YOU THINK!

London Times Obituary of the late Mr. Common Sense

'Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who
has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was,
since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.
He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the
worm; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more
than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in
charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but
overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy
charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended
from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for
reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the
job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly
children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental
consent to administer sun lotion or an Elastoplast to a student; but
could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to
have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became
contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better
treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you
couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar
could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to
realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in
her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his
wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason.
He
is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, I Want It Now,
Someone Else Is To Blame, and I'm A Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If
you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do
nothing.'

And a little extra........................

Can you imagine working for a company that has a little more than 600
employees and has the following statistics?

29 have been accused of spouse abuse

7 have been arrested for fraud

19 have been accused of writing bad cheques

117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses

3 have done time for assault

71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit

4 have been arrested on drug-related charges

8 have been arrested for shoplifting

21 are currently defendants in lawsuits

84 have been arrested for drink driving in the last year

Which organization is this?

It's the 635 members of the House of Commons, the same group that cranks
out hundreds of new laws each year designed to keep the rest of us in
line.

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all you Clavie veterans/bloggers!
Have a very good time over the festive season, Erik. Keep blogging in 2008, I will.

Volunteering at CAB, News Update

I am now volunteering two half days a week at the Citizens Advice Bureau in the Wellgate Centre near the Central Library. Settling in well, after induction, basic training, and am doing reception cover and database work, updating the CAB's information sources, list of contacts, general information about Council services, doctors and dentists, NHS sites, what's on in Dundee arts/leisure, etc. Going well so far, early days, there may be some paid work available there later in the New Year. Going to temp admin/clerical interview at Abertay University next Wednesday.
Enjoying the Hilltown Writers' Group meets once a week on Wed pm and CD-ROM project with HWG and Central Library every Tues pm. Assembled some good digital photos, artwork, poems and short stories/prose about life in Hilltown, Dundee, changes over the last 50 years, going in to record voiceover and readings at Hilltown FM local radio next Jan 18th.

Scotland v Italy reaction

Re the Scotland v Italy game... Can't believe the referee and linesman could award a free kick to Italy for the barge on Hutton, that led to the Italy winning goal. Fair play to Italy, both teams played well and a draw would have been a fair result. Scotland played too much good football to lose, very undeserved final score. A draw would have been fair and would have kept the qualification hopes alive until midweek and the chance of Ukraine beating France. Scotland deserve great credit for playing so well in such a tough group but that's of little consolation right now, as qualification was so close for Euro 2008. Probably, the defeat against Georgia was the main reason for not making it into the top 2 places and qualifying.

Preparing to do some part time voluntary admin IT work at the CAB (Citizens Advice) office at Central Library/Wellgate centre. Had a practice interview session and positive feedback at Remploy's Dundee office, good to know I am on the right lines, begin to wonder sometimes with job interview knockbacks...

Hilltown/Dundee CD-ROM Update

CD-ROM taking shape, writing poems, short stories. I spent Monday morning taking digital photos of Hilltown Park, Hilltown, Stirling Street, the Clock, to add to Powerpoint programme; another part of the group took panoramic all-round view photos from the Law. Looking to use Hilltown FM's studio to record voiceover, tour of Highwayman Community Centre where writers' group is based, and for reading the written poems/stories. Could also record a short session for the next Hilltown FM broadcast next Spring. How's the rest of the Clavie bloggers getting on?