Category Archives: Trivia
Where dreams were dreamed
One of the most interesting looking buildings to be found in my adopted home city of Glasgow is the Clyde Auditorium, known to us locals as “The Armadillo”. Sitting on the site of the now infilled Queen’s Dock on the River Clyde, it is adjacent to the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC).
It was completed in 1997 and earned its affectionate nickname due to the similarity of its shape to that of the animal of the same name. It is often been compared with the Sydney Opera House although this wasn’t the architects’ inspiration for the design, which was in fact an interlocking series of ship hulls in reference to the Clyde’s shipbuilding heritage.
The building has quickly become one of the most recognisable on Clydeside and one of the images most associated with modern Glasgow. Its success has led to planning for a third venue on the complex – the Scottish Hydro Arena, due for completion in 2013, and already with a nickname of its own – “the Oyster”.
Those of you who watch the Simpson will also remember that the facade was a venue that featured in a promotional video which parodied the famous Susan Boyle audition for Britain’s Got Talent in January 2009.
I count myself as very lucky to have been in the audience that day when Susan stepped out onto the stage and blew us away with her amazing voice. I was one of those people who sniggered behind my hand and sank down in my seat as this rather strange looking woman in a shiny gold dress with black tights and a grey, frizzy perm strolled onto the stage and told us she wanted to be talked about in the same breath as Elaine Paige. 
None of us there that night will ever forget how, in just a split second, Susan taught us an extremely valuable lesson … don’t judge a book by its cover and give everyone a chance to show what they are capable of doing.
Another lasting image of that night is the one of Simon Cowell, head cupped in his hands and a broad grin on his face. If I were to insert a thought bubble onto this picture it would simply say “£££££££”.
Whatever your opinion of this type of reality show, the Armadillo has a place in history and will be forever known as the place where Susan Boyle was discovered and where dreams CAN come true.
What’s it called?
Now that the aforementioned roadworks have gone from the M80, it is possible for drivers to enjoy the full effect of the Cumbernauld Mermaid. The 33ft high mermaid, named Arria and designed by artist Andy Scott, overlooks the A80 northbound to the north of Auchenkilns junction in Cumbernauld.
The £250,000 publicly funded work is the latest in a long line of monolithic sculptures springing up around the country in the name of public art.
Her form, similar to a giant metal mermaid, features two huge swooping arcs inspired by the Gaelic name for Cumbernauld, “comar nan allt”, which means “coming together of waters.” and it is hoped the work will help Cumbernauld start ridding itself of its dismal image that has seen it win the Carbuncle Award for poor architecture.
The poem “Watershed” penned by award-winning Scottish poet Jim Carruth is displayed at the foot of the sculpture, which sports a retro hairstyle meant to evoke the optimistic early days of the 1960s-built new town.
People generally don’t have anything particularly nice to say about Cumbernauld, but lets not forget some of its plus points:
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It was the setting for the film Gregory’s Girl.
- It is within easy commuting distance of Glasgow but is just seven miles from the picturesque Campsie Fells.
- House prices are lower than in much of the Central Belt.
- The £40million Antonine Shopping Centre opened in 2007.
- It is a business hub boasting the world headquarters of AG Barr and Yaskawa Electronics and the UK base of OKI.
- It has its own airport.
Hmmm … maybe it needs a little more than a mermaid statue. If you were to ask local residents I’m pretty sure they’d say that Cumbernauld needs burning down and rebuilding, especially the town centre. It needs new shops, new restaurants and new bars … something to liven the place up at night. Lets hope this is just the start of good things to come for the area.
Where have all the cones gone?
For the first time, ever, I was able to drive along the M80 from Glasgow to Falkirk this morning without a single traffic cone in sight on either carriageway. Now some people reading this will say “so what?” but for those of us who have used this route regularly over the past 10 years or so, you will understand what a momentous occasion this is!
For as long as I can remember there have been speed limits and hold-ups on this road and the delays and frustrations for anyone travelling north to places such as Perth, Dundee, Inverness and Aberdeen are well documented. What an absolute pleasure it is to be able to drive at 70mph at last! For all my friends who live in Cumbernauld I am sure you will have been dancing in the street and celebrating being released from the prison of roadworks that have been endured for so long.
In fact, it is almost as exciting as the recent opening of the M74 extension … almost, but not quite!
The origin of the modern traffic cone is a mystery but further research has been carried out on the subject and for those interested information on its evolution can be found at www.trafficcone.com, the home of the Traffic Cone Preservation Society.
Love it!!!
Driving to work along the M80 this morning I found myself behind a car displaying this sticker on the back window. I nearly crashed into them it made me laugh out loud! What are the best car stickers you’ve seen?
Man Crisps?
With a few limited exceptions, it’s illegal to publish or broadcast an advert which discriminates because of sex, or which advertises discriminatory services. For example, it is illegal for an employer to advertise for a job using words like ‘craftsman’ or ‘handyman’, as this might give the impression that the job is only open to men. Likewise, in today’s politically correct society I am pretty sure it’s illegal to advertise that a packet of crisps are “Man Crisps”. 
Imagine my surprise, therefore, that having consumed a packet of McCoy’s Flame Grilled Steak crips, I turned over the packet to read that they were indeed “Man Crisps” … you could have knocked me down with a feather!
I was so shocked that I dialled the Customer Services number for United Biscuits printed on the back of the packet, underneath the further politically incorrect words “Have you tried our other flavour man crisps”.
Unsurprisingly the lady that answered was ready with her answers (I can only assume that I am not the first person to have made this complaint). She advised me that these were a special promotion (which is not apparent on the front of the packet) and that it was a bit of fun because the thickness of the crisps and the ridges on them made them more “manly” but that of course women could enjoy them too!!!
Now I am no bra-burning feminist I can assure you but things like this absolutely horrify me. In the 21st Century I would have thought that a company the size of United Biscuits who in 2009 turned over £1.26billion with a profit before tax of £223.4million would not wish to alienate 50% of their customer base.
Don’t believe everything you read
A story which suggested that users of Internet Explorer have a lower IQ than people who chose other browsers appears to have been an elaborate hoax.
A number of media organisations, including the BBC, reported on the research, put out by Canadian firm ApTiquant. It later emerged that the company’s website was only recently set up and staff images were copied from a legitimate business in Paris. It is unclear who was behind the stunt.
The story was reported by many high profile organisations including CNN, the Daily Mail, the Telegraph and Forbes.
Questions about the authenticity of the story were raised by readers of the BBC website who established that the company which put out the research – ApTiquant – appeared to have only set-up its website in the past month. Thumbnail images of the firm’s staff on the website also matched those on the site of French research company Central Test, although many of the names had been changed.
The BBC contacted Central Test who confirmed that they had been made aware of the copy but had no knowledge of ApTiquant or its activities.
ApTiquant issued a press release claming that it had invited 100,000 web users to take IQ tests and matched their results with the type of browser they used. It also supplied extensive research data. The results claimed to show that Internet Explorer users were generally of lower intelligence.
The BBC sought alternative views for the original story, including Professor David Spiegelhalter of Cambridge University’s Statistical Laboratory, who said: “I believe these figures are implausibly low – and an insult to IE users.”
No-one on ApTiquant’s contact number was available for comment.
I’m stuck on you!
Far too often we find ourselves complaining about poor customer service, reading about the problems we face with difficult suppliers and consequently being inordinately pleased at having received the barest minimum of success when ordering things online.
It is important, therefore, to make sure that when you receive a service which is above and beyond what you could ever expect, that you make sure you shout this from the rafters and give that organisation the credit it deserves (and hopefully a few more orders as a result!).
Friends, please let me introduce you to www.motivationinlearning.com, based in Co. Down, N.Ireland and in particular their subsidiary www.superstickers.com.
I was looking for some reasonably priced stickers for a promotional event I was organising in Falkirk and a google search led me to the Superstickers site. It was extremely simple to upload the image I required onto the website, I ticked the box stating I was happy with the image and sat back and waited for my stickers to arrive. Sure enough, a few days later they were dropping through my letterbox, carefully packaged, and exactly what I wanted. I was delighted.
Coincidentally, a couple of days later, a business acquaintance asked me if I knew of somewhere she could get some stickers from and I naturally told her about superstickers.com. I suggested that since I had all the details to hand, if she provided me with her logo I would have the stickers made for her. This she agreed to do and I duly went through the same process for her stickers, uploading the image onto their website, paying the requisite amount and was prepared to just sit back and wait for the delivery as I had done on the previous occasion.
I was surprised therefore to receive an email a couple of days later from Superstickers saying there was a problem with the stickers. When they ran them off, the image was blurred and they asked if I could send them a jpeg file of the image to see if that made things clearer. I emailed them the file straight away and thought no more about it. Imagine my surprise therefore when I received a phone call from Rita at Motivation in Learning to see if there was another solution as the file I’d sent was still not producing a good enough quality end product. After a brief discussion we decided that it would be best if they substituted one of the images I’d sent with something they already had and the very next day I received the finished stickers which are absolutely perfect and exactly what I’d wanted.
All this for an end product that cost less than £10. I wholeheartedly recommend Motivation in Learning and Superstickers. The service is above excellent, the people delightful and the finished product is of a quality that is second to none
What’s in a name?
So the Beckhams have decided to call their new baby daughter Harper Seven – the latest in a long line of celebrity nonsense names! We’ve seen it so many times before. However, is it just me or have they not thought that this could get shortened to “Harpie” in time – or that it sounds vaguely like the latest space mission – Apollo 13, Harper 7? Perhaps it is just that David needs an excuse for another tattoo and is running out of skin space?
Please vote on my poll below – it’s just for fun!
Thursday’s Conundrum
Can anyone help me? I am trying to find out why, when putting petrol into my car, I am unable to put in a round figure of, say £40 – it is always £40.01. The same thing happens if I try £30 or £50 – is it possible to stop the pump at an even number or are they programmed to go over by 1p for a possibly sinister reason – keeping 1p coins in general circulation when they are pretty useless otherwise??? Answers on a postcard please!!!
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