RA How the papers filled their pages this fortnight
BOOK BONANZA Grassic Gibbon’s Sunset Song voted Best Scottish Book
I It was with a tear in the eye that The List celebrated the culmination
of the search to find the nation's fav0urite Scottish book. ‘At a glittering ceremony' (Scotland on Sunday) in the Edinburgh Book Festival‘s main theatre, the winner of the poll that has excited its fair share of controversy and over 5000 votes in total. was finally named as Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s Sunset Song. The announcement was made by BBC Radio 4 journalist James Naughtie. who was unable to contain his approval as ‘a slow smile spread over his face before he read out the name of the winner' (The Scotsman).
The choice was seen as ‘a worthy and uncontroversial winner‘. perhaps because of its status as ‘a staple of school reading lists‘ (Sunday Herald), although. as David Robinson pointed out in The Scotsman, this is more often than not ‘a hindrance to the book's enduring popularity'. Of course. the event was not without one or two detractors but, as Stuart Kelly said in The Scotsman. the true value of the contest will be reflected in ‘the electronic point-of-sale figures for Sunset Song in a month‘s time'.
TORY HORSEPLAY
Clarke throws his hat in the ring in the race for the party leadership
I if it’s true that the third time is usually the luckiest, then it may also be fair to say that an old dog can’t learn new tricks. But which of these truisms will win out for Kenneth Clarke is only a matter of time, following his recent
8 THE LIST 8 3/? Sop 2005i
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GOLF MAGAZINES
Tall tales from the fairways and clubhouses
I With Sky TV pushing the notion of pro-celebrity golf on us with images of Jodie Kidd, George Clooney and Catherine Zeta—Jones clubbed up, it’s the right time to see if the press have caught on with the glamorising of
Scotland’s home-grown sport.
I Bunkered, Scotland’s own independent golf magazine, takes a sophisticated, if local, view on an international sport, and manages to seem deftly cosmopolitan despite having hoards of pasty blokes as its photo stars. And we’ve decided we want a full-sized golfing
robot for the office.
I Golf Punk is former Loaded editor Tim Southwell’s take on whacking a small ball round a long walk. Leading with the strap line ‘the golf mag for everyone . . .’ it obviously means everyone who likes tits and pints with their putters and drivers. lts piece on golf in the movies was excellent. and its drunken recollections of the Scottish Open were less shambolic than one might expect from former lad mag hacks. It’s good to see that the silly boys
never grow up — they just get hobbies.
I The suggestion that we must ‘get the most out of our lob wedge’ seems like sound advice indeed from Golf Monthly. An altogether more useful read, it’s for the nerds rather than the lifestyle club wielders. We never did work out what a lob wedge was but we did love the feature on new Brit up-and-comer Ian Poulter, particularly the aside on his fantastic trouser collection. Our personal favourites were the pink ones. Where do we track down a pair of those?
announcement that he will stand as Conservative party leader when Michael Howard steps down later this year. The Herald celebrated his entry, if only to up the stakes on the entertainment front, as it ‘will undoubtedly liven up proceedings, given his outspoken and somewhat unconventional approach’.
In what The Guardian referred to as the predicted ‘three-horse race’ with David Davis and David Cameron, the former chancellor’s
age and pro-European stance could work against him. However, proving that there’s still life in the old dog yet, The Scotsman suggested Clarke was ready for an out and out fight with the man expected to be his Labour opponent should everything go to plan. Apparently, his allies are billing him as ‘a heavyweight who is capable of winning an expected showdown with Gordon Brown’. John Prescott eat your heart out.
‘Let us hope that in the next 25 years, a woman winner of a comedy award will not be an unusual event.’
Perrier Award boss Nica Burns reflects on Laura Solon surprise SUCCESS.
‘This guy is doing my head in. What if my girlfriend runs off with him?’
Ex-Busted front guy Charlie Simpson rs a little concerned about his lookalike stalker.
‘They’re supposed to be fashionable and cool but they look awful, like the Railway Children.’
Kasabian wag Serge Pizzorno takes a really insightful swipe at Franz Ferdinand.
‘As far as coffee goes, I’d say espresso gets the job done; it goes right to your nipples.’
Pamela Anderson on the hot liquid that really gets her going.
‘He did say that Mick had big balls as in he admired him because he was gutsy and courageous. How would he know anything about the size of his willy?’ A spokesperson for Keith Richards attempts to smooth over his alleged criticism of Mick '3 member.
‘Bruce Dickinson doesn’t have the manners to realise that when you are invited into someone’s home, are seated at their dinner table, are eating their food and drinking their wine, you shouldn’t talk disrespectfully about them otherwise you just might get yourass handedto you.’
We suspect that the Iron Maiden leader may not be welcome back for Sunday lunch at Sharon USDOUHTOS pad.