Breaking News

This is from our local news website at:

http://www.shetland-news.co.uk/news_12_2008/Isles%20engineers%20to%20rescue%20Santa.htm

Isles engineers to rescue Santa

20 December, 2008

The Shetland News has learned that a local firm has been contracted to fly two engineers to the North Pole to fix Santa Claus' sledge.

The trip north is expected to take some days due to a very poor weather forecast and the likelihood of ferry cancellations, as the pair need to connect with a special charter flight from Aberdeen.

Reports suggest Santa has been trying to do his bit to help the global economy by increasing production levels this year.

However the sheer weight of presents has proved too much for his specially designed sledge, and urgent welding is required to fix the problem.

A spokesman for Santa Claus said that the reputation of Shetland’s engineers and craftsmen was well known outside the islands, and he wanted the best men available to do the work to ensure he could meet his annual deadline this year.

Attempts to contact the engineers in Lerwick yesterday proved fruitless. Every workshop contacted by Shetland News said they had been vowed to the strictest secrecy and wondered how the story had got out.

Standup@sound - the pics

A local magazine I'I Shetland has a 3-page spread about our recent standup@sound event. Here's pics from the article (all taken by Craig Sim) Remember, you heard of us before we were famous.

Blair MacKay - making sure they can hear at the back

Sandy Nelson - realising who he has to work with

Alex Goodlad - demonstrating the size of something or other

Clint Watt - and his dark & mysterious world

And me - phoning in sick

Island Blogging

The first post on this blog mentions BBC Island Blogging shutting down. I've now moved all of my stuff, photos etc. from the BBC's blogging site to the new Island Blogging setup at Soljey Island-Blogging. This includes photos from the past 2 and a half years.

If John Wayne had been frae Shetland....

We all remember those westerns we watched as kids. The Apaches attacking the stagecoach, the last minute rescue by the cavalry. But what if we Shetlanders had colonised the Wild West - and brought our ponies....


Click here for what might have been:

Ta tae Radio Shetland

Managed to get a copy of the item on Standup@Sound that BBC Radio Shetland did. Quite a chunk of the programme given over to it. We were all interviewed before and after the event, but only Alex, Sandy and myself made it onto the final cut. Gives a good flavour of the whole evening - thanks Jordan for a job well done!

Apparently, there's video footage - taken on mobile phones of us. I keeping looking on YouTube, etc. If I get a hold of any I'll put it up.

Here's the Radio Shetland item in its entirety.

Standup@Sound

Last Friday night came - as did the snow!!! Now was the moment of truth for us budding stand-up comics. After several weeks of our Stand-up Comedy evening class it was time for our 'graduation'. The venue was sold out in one day. Apparently, it could have sold out 3 times over!! Sandy Nelson, our tutor and MC for the night (and himself a professional stand-up) informed the audience that this was our debut performance - and that we had written all the material ourselves!! It was amazing the amount of people in the past week or so, who would say: "Well, give us one of your jokes then." Totally missing the point. Stand-up is more like a dialogue by the comedian with the audience. Not the old-fashioned rattling off of old jokes. I couldn't say any of it out of context of the routine.

The music played and I was first up on stage. Take the mic out of the stand and there you are. Just you in the spotlight and the creature called the audience out there. When the laughs start coming - what an incredible buzz!! And when they keep on coming..... No matter how you think you'd maybe done well in rehearsals, getting that energy from the audience moves it up umpteen notches.

I, for one, am desperate to do it again. Of course, there may be times when it doesn't go so well, but that's life.

Fareweel tae an aald freen'

For the past 3 years, I've been (ir)regularly blogging, under the name of Soljey, on BBC Scotland's Islandblogging. This was set up to provide snapshots into the unique life - some of it intelligent - on the Scottish Islands. Now the Beeb has decided that Islandblogging has run its course and they'll be pulling the plug on it. Hope I can import the images, etc from Islandblogging to this one - wouldn't want to lose them.

Who says the Vikings are all dead

Big hairy vikings are still alive and marauding around the Northern Isles - see pic. And I don't mean just at Up-Helly-Aa!!

I have a blog on BBC Scotland's Islandblogging. However, it seems that this is being wound up. So here I am. Hopefully will eventually be able to import my Islandblogging entries to here.