I like the drawstring trousers. I do get a bit of MC Hammer patter from my pals, but I can take it. You just have to be careful not to overload your pockets or they can drop off you randomly! 
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My dad has finally got some weight back on him after being alarmingly thin. His dementia stops him from thinking… I’m hungry and going and getting something. And my maw’s still thinks we’re rationing with her portions. I gave him some clothes that had passed the ‘not worn in a year’ test and he’s now cutting about (the middle of nowhere with the dog ) in some nice Folk drawstring trousers and an Albam fleece, amongst some other bits 
And he is 100% in the drawstring camp.
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My heart goes out to your family. I went through that with my mum.
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It’s tough going, especially when I work in social and mental health care now. Last year was very hard as he got a UTI and had a mini stroke. He needed help to do everything. Once he got antibiotics that worked, and some help, he’s bounced back. He’s fully accepted his condition, knows he still has a good life. He wrote an obscure book years ago about Cowdenbeath, the town and its football club, coal mining, Communist council. And it became a cult book. People have started following the team because of the book, like a group of guys from Sheffield who travel north to as many games as they can.
And a couple of weeks ago, a very good playwright, along with the Lyceum in Edinburgh, have decided to do a play based on the book. It was in the air before his dementia diagnosis, but seemed dead with covid coming along. He’s absolutely thrilled because that part of his life seemed over. Ricky Ross from Deacon Blue is writing the music and performing it for the shows during the festival.
I walk with him with the dog most days and its a gift as he’s still there (for now anyway).
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Awww this is lovely…
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Thats amazing mate 
What’s the book called ?
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Oh man - that’s a beautiful thing!
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That’s brilliant. He must get a real buzz from the upcoming play.
I’m going away with my 89 year old Dad and my brother this weekend. Going back to Aberdaron in North Wales where we used to go on family holidays when we were kids. As you say, got to treasure these opportunities while you can
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That’s lovely, Ally. I hope you’re able to enjoy each other’s company for a little longer yet. Never knew that about Cowdenbeath Council.
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Oh that’s fantastic!
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I miss belt loops for carabina
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Shades (no pun intended) of pedro pascal in this photo
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Black Diamonds and the Blue Brazil. It’s a history of the town and it’s people with the tribulations of the football team during a season.
I remember going down to London with my dad during the Euros in 1996. He was on a discussion panel at the southbank centre (Lofty from Eastenders was also on the panel having written about his team, Arsenal). Anyway, I just wanted to go record shopping and skateboarding. Southbank Centre you say… 
I did meet the legend that is Jim Baxter. And got tickets for games, including Scotland v England, but in the England end 
And Alex Ferguson. But I’ve known him most of my life. My dad knew him when he was the manager of St Mirren and advised him on his first autobiography. He’s a Govan boy, where I grew up. Left wing politics, football and religion was the background to everything growing up.
There was a big movement of people from Ayrshire (south of Glasgow) to Fife when coal was found. My dad’s side of the family are part of that story. As with so many places, once the coal went, the place went downhill fast. The football team were once the official worst team in the UK, so they changed their away kit to the famous yellow tops and blue shorts of the great Brazil teams of the 1970’s, hence Blue Brazil, the teams nickname.
He’s getting flown down to take part in the writing process, and then flights and tickets for the first show. It’s given him a big boost. His life was using his brain, so the dementia was a tough blow. About a year ago, he seemed to just accept the reality and the fact he still has a good life. You get out of life what you put in. He has pals round every other day for drives in classic cars or just a chat and a coffee. They don’t come because me or my mum ask them, or by obligation. It’s pure friendship and community. Things that are becoming rare.
Spend time with your family (if you like them) and friends, or whoever makes a positive impact on your life. Join communities, or start one. My job has taught me more in three years than anything in the last 43. Life is short, spend your precious time wisely. And always allocate time for play. Something creative, but without intention, or end goal.
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Anyway, he loves his new clobber. And looks dapper.
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Just spotted this on the Service Works website that @IanPethick1 mentioned up-thread. I’m sure manuel gottsching would approve.
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One of my better angles, but I’ll take that 
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It’s a beauty - but I keep getting an unsettling Begbie vibe too….
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What a story! Your arl fella sound like a proper boss bloke. Has he wrote just that one book, or others ? Being brought up in a mining community myself, and my dad was a miner, and also being a massive footy fan the book sounds right up my street, so I just bought it 
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He’s wrote quite a few. A few biographies. One is of a, unknown to most now, Church of Scotland minister and radical socialist called Geoff Shaw. I believe he was writing that book when my mum was pregnant with me, so my middle name is Geoffrey - a tough, but character building, one for a wee boy living in a pretty rough area of Glasgow
He was part of that group in Glasgow that was heavily involved in socialist politics and the Labour Party - with the then young radicals like Gordon Brown, Donald Dewar and John Smith. It was an interesting house to grow up in
He wrote for the Glasgow Herald for around 16 years and books of his writings for the paper came out as books. He also wrote a few religious books. He was a young journalist for a local paper and reporting on a bad mining accident resulting in a few deaths turned him to religion. That was his second degree and him and his brother and two sisters were the first to go to university in the family. He was ordained and worked in some the worst parts of Glasgow, including Easterhouse where he was doing things like help set up a CAB and working against religious sectarianism. He also worked at Carstairs, the notorious State hospital for the biggest nutters and murderers in Scotland. That’s were he met the absolute nutcase, Jimmy Boyle, who ended becoming an artist, and became lifelong friends. We have a raised fist sculpture that Jimmy made for him that’s still sits on top of a chest of drawers to this day.
His last book was about the Orcadian poet, George McKay Brown, who was one of the main reasons he ended up moving there.
He started writing plays later in life. And was in the process of writing a book about his sister, who had schizophrenia, and left her husband and 3 kids and disappeared for over 40 years, before getting in contact through a psychotherapist who noticed she had pretty much all his books. It turned out she lived in London most of that time, often on the streets, sometimes working and finding a place to live. We found that she often would be outside a Burger King about 5 minutes from where I was living at the time. I probably walked past her, but had never met her so wouldn’t have recognised her. He tried to piece her missing years together and found that she was writing letters to Stephen Hawking, was involved in R D Laing’s group (who my dad also knew). He was still writing it when he was diagnosed and that fucked him up for a while. But he’s back doing it and is nearly finished, with a friend transcribing for him. Some of my Aunties family members didn’t want it to be published, so we’re going to get a small run made for family and friends.
He’s had an interesting and varied life, and not long after I moved up to help, he just accepted his dementia and is happy and still has a good social life. He lost a lot of weight so we got him well fed, swimming once a week and got him out walking again with the dog, where we have great chats about everything and anything. He wanted to do mushrooms with me (not taking any). His dementia had gotten worse by the time we had the chance and decided against it. That would have been an interesting experience. He’s also admitted to me that he no longer believes in God, but is still religious. Which is funny because I have believed in a God at any time in my life. The idea doesn’t interest me, but I am certainly interested in religion, its history and impact on human lives Despite his time as a minister, I never had any religion forced on me or went to church, but I do have a more positive view of religion through the people i knew and their actions. Another good friend is Richard Holloway, now a writer, married gay couples, secretly back in the late '70’s and 1980’s.
Religion and left wing politics were intertwinned in Scotland (and throughout the UK through the non-conformist movements). There was an old (and very true) saying that the Labour and left wing movement in the UK was more influenced by Methodism than Marxism.
And thanks for buying the book
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What a life he’s lived, defo the sort of bloke you could go for a few pints with and just listen to his stories. Funny you mention Carstairs, i watched a documentary on it couple of years ago, scary stuff! I look forward to reading the book next week
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