THE LIST
I’anto season is with us again. Oh no it isn't! Oh yes it is! It brings with it the usual crop of seasonal anxieties. problemsand oddities. In Dunferrnlinc. for instance. some schools performances of Babes in the Wood are having to be staged at 9.30am because of school busing difficulties. which is pretty accommodating of the company. In Edinburgh. Savourna Stevenson will be unable to play the music she has written for The Snow Queen because ofthe imminent arrival of her first baby. In (ilasgow 'I‘he (‘itizens‘ Theatre is staging a production of Pinocchio. but has encountered some problems because the Walt Disney Corporation owns the copyright on all the names in the film version. This has meant that the characters have had to be renamed. Jiminee (.‘ricket. for example. has been renamed Benjamin. the suggestion that he be called (iordon the Grasshopper having been dismissed. Also in (ilasgow. meanwhile. though it‘s not exactly a panto. Rikki Fulton is playing the Lord (‘hancellor in Scottish ()pera‘s Christmas production of lolanIlu'. a sort ofVictorian musical political satire. (iiven the funny man's mischievous wit. are we to expect a barrage of Wee Free jokes. aimed ever so slightly at the present occupant of the Woolsack'.’ McAye.
A spot of bad timing, though it's no fault of their own. In view of the recent salmonella-in-our-eggs hype in the media, it’s perhaps a bit untortunate
’ I CANNOT STRUGGLE ALONE. as IWHNDER THRO'JCoH THE Misr iSEEtC A coMFmsriosr To snow ME THE WAH AND “W SHARE M‘I JOWENE‘i
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that the winter issue at William Low's ‘Life Style‘ magazine, which is
distributed free to shoppers, contains a
page entitled ‘Ways with Eggs.‘ which is all about a booklet called the ‘Young
Chef's Egg Recipe Book‘. The booklet is
aimed at children, and includes a
number of egg recipes printed in large,
easy to read type. What is even more unfortunate is that it is a fundraising device for Save The Children's Nutrition Project in Honduras.
You can't have failed to notice. if
you read either of them. that two of our quality Sunday papers have recently been engaged in a rather unseemly spot of circulation warring reminiscent of the battle some years back between the Murdoch-owned Sun and the .llr’rmr. though this resemblance can surely be nothing other than pure coincidence. Various claims are being made by both sides in the contest. but for the Sunday 'l'r'nu's. according to figures it printed in its own pages two weeks running. the key area in the battle over circulation with Scot/and On Sunday is the town of I"alkirk where. it seems. the SI sells 138‘) copies whereas S()S can only manage a measly I388. But 'l‘llli LIST. a Scottish magazine. written. printed. produced and manufactured in Scotland. is now in a position to reveal. exclusively. that its Auntie May. who has been in [England at a health spa for the last couple of weeks. will be back in I’alkirk next Sunday. and she only ever reads S()S. (‘an we expect to see blood on the streets in I"alkirk'.’
Neal Ascherson is widely respected as an independent political observer with a truly Scottish voice. Witness his recent contributions on Channel 4 to the debate about the validity of the United Kingdom as a political unit. and his wholehearted support of the Scottish supplement of The Observer. Strange then, isn’t it, that his new book. an excellent collection of his journalistic pieces called ‘Games With Shadows‘, should proclaim on its dust jacket that it contains an examination
of ‘what it means to be English“?
()ne of our co-editors was in New York a couple of weeks ago and has brought back with him a package of goodies including the Novembe r
issue of Spy. a very trendy. upmarket '
New York style magazine. l’erusing this in the office one day. we were all amused to read of the very newest fad in accessories for going to gallery openings: whippets. Previously the sole preserve of the Yorkshire working classes. these small greyhound look-alikes are now . we read. absolutely dc riguer at swish i'i'rnrsstmrs in Manhattan. We were still more amused when one of our number reported. this week. having seen. at a recent opening in lidinburgh. a large. middle-aged woman dwarfing one of these very canines. Mere coincidence. or anotherexample ofthe willingness ofsornc people to seize upon even the silliest of American fashions‘.’
It seems that Glasgow‘s West End is dueforsomething ofa cinematic shake-up, as The Salon in Vinicombe Street is taken over by the group which
CONTRIBUTORS I
PUbIISheT Rtihill I Iticlgc‘. Editors \igel Billen. Sarah lIcmrning. Associate Editor Allan I Iunter. Editorial Assistants .s'iuair litrlligate. Andrew Bur net. lain ( irant. Oesign Simon listcrson. Advertising/Circulation .Ic‘ss Harrow. Rhobat Bryn. Sliclltt Maclean. Accounts (ieor'gellc chwick. Typesetting .lo Kennedy. llewer 'cht Production Editor I’aul Keir. Production Co-ordinafor Mark I'islicr . Production Assistant Nikki llti.th.ArI Alice Bain. BOOKS Alan ’I'aylol'. Kristina I \Voolnough Classical I MUSICCarol .‘ylain.Oance i
l’aul Keir.
Alice Barn. Film Allan
Hunter. I t'eyor' Iohnstorr. Folk/JaZZNorman (Italntcr s. FOOd .Iulre Morrice. Sally Stewart. Kids Sally Is'innes. Media \rgel Ifillen. Nightlife Stuart Raikcr . Andy
t 'r .ibb. t ’olrn Stey en. Open Sarah I lemming. Rock(Edinburgh) Alastair Mabbotl. Rock (Glasgow) .Iolin \Villiamson. Sport Stuart Ifalhgate.Thealre Sarah I lemming. Travel Kristina \Voolnough Camera Izdrnburgh .\Iakc-upSer\rces Cover Illustration by Paul ( iray. CoverOesign Nigel Iilllc‘lt.
controls the nearby Grosvenor (as well as the Rialto in Dumbarton and the Paisley Kelburne). Good news is that the cinema will still be known by its existing, romantic name, and the management will remain unchanged. Even better news is that The Salon‘s programming may now be along the same lines as that of its nearby former rival. including, it is to be hoped, the ever popular late night showings. Any slight shortening of the queues of people waiting in Ashton Lane to get info the Grosvenor would only be really l bad news for the hungry-looking buskers who work that patch.
'lilu' 1.1.x! would like to apologise for the erroneous comment on Saracens 34S Saracen Street. ( ilasgow
(tel II-II 33b SUSS). which was mistakenly included in the recent l.ist Student (iuidc. The 11's! acknowledges that life Saracen Bar is both maintained and run to the highest standards of ( ilasgow I’ublic Bars and The Us! regrets any suggestion to the contrary.
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4The List 9— 22 December 1988