iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Death In Vegas at the QM tonight unapologetically doing their own un-nostalgic thang. Loved that.

I don't usually read all the Booker nominated books, but as I've reached 4/6 I might continue. John of John, really drew me in, Black Bag was amusing but ran out of steam Rebecca Perry's May We Feed The King is a short, punchy book, but poetic and ruminative. Enjoyed that.

Front cover of Rebecca Perry's May We Feed The King.

010 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 14h

Wee trot around The Drumchapel Way, an 8km green circuit on the edge of the Drum. I do always feel I have to say it in the style of Sean Connery in The Untouchables - "THATS the Drumchapel Way".

Signpost under blue skies and leafy trees proclaiming The Drumchapel Way

A wooden statue of a Roman legionary with the Drumchapel water tower behind him.

140 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 17h

The newsagent's across the road from my granny sold singles with a big hole in the middle that came out of juke boxes, so probably my first single bought was The Jam with Going Underground on one side and Town Called Malice on the other.

250 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

I had Mercury Rev's Deserter's Songs on repeat for about 2 years when it came out. Nice to hear them smooch their way through some of it tonight in Glasgow, though sadly no theremins on show.

020 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Marlon James's book is a difficult read at times, and brutal, but absolutely engrossing and eye-opening. Lets many different voices tell their stories. Best of the Booker nominated books that I've read so far.

Cover of Marlon James's latest book, The Disappearers.

120 0

Reposted by Paul 4Jags

Counterflows Festival @counterflows.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Delighted to be teaming up with Arika to present an event as part of their new Episode, From the Rivers to the Seas, taking place at Tramway (Glasgow) We welcome Mazen Kerbaj, Kamilya Jubran & Ejrad (Masa Nazzal and Hajar Ibrahim) on 15 November 2026. counterflows.com/event/from-t...

133 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Stob Bàn in the Mamores, one of two Stob Bàn Munros. The Gaelic means "white/pale coloured peak", which you can see comes from the quartzite stone at the summit.

040 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Reading JG Ballard's book about a dystopian world of out of town shopping malls with shiny domes, and deadening sports that lead to the rise of a Fascist cult based on consumerism, while sitting in the Home of the Set Fare Arena in Livingston for the football.

Anonymous concrete and glass shopping mall with a shiny dome

JG Ballard's book Kingdom Come while waiting for Partick Thistle V Livingston at the Home of the Set Fare Arena.

2184 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

I'm only two episodes in to this so far, and think that Lucy Mangan nails it here. Did not know that it is the granddaughter of the director of the James Dean version running this one. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

theguardian.com

East of Eden review – Florence Pugh in soapy Steinbeck adaptation is brilliant, compelling TV

This take on the 1952 novel is lavishly shot and full of excellent performances. It lacks the heft to be a full examination of human nature, but it’s a high-quality family saga

010 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

I was reading a lot around that when i read it this time around, trying to keep up with the moral ruminations of the character Lee. Steinbeck crammed so much into that book.

010 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

I happened to re-read it this year, not knowing they were about to do a TV series. Always anxious about reading a book again that I loved as a teenager, but by the end I was absolutely immersed their world. I think I missed all the biblical allusions first time around, somehow.

220 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Unveiling of the statue of Nelson Mandela today in Glasgow. 33 years after I stood in George Sq in the rain as a steward when he came to accept freedom of the city, I got to stand in the rain again as a steward. Here's my mum sat behind Mandela in 1993, and my dad holding banner on a torchlit vigil.

Nelson Mandela statue covered in a gold sheet, as staff from the blood transfusion service in Nelson Mandela Place.

As the rain falls and the umbrellas went up, the cover came off the statue. The word in the window behind the statue politely says 'please'.

Nelson Mandela on stage in Glasgow Royal Concert Hall in 1993, my mum sat behind him on stage with the Eurydice choir.

A torchlit demonstration in Glasgow in the 1970s organised by the Scottish Anti-Apartheid Movement, my dad carrying a banner that says "Free Nelson Mandela".

1304 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Brief film reviews. -Digger shoots and misses. Wildly. -Uprising needed more Wat Tyler and less Robin Hood.

000 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Extreme foot care. Not a single blister.

010 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Day 4 on my nostalgic walk up the West Highland Way, and I'd forgotten quite how much this whole 100 miles is all my favourite places in the world. Glorious morning leaving Kingshouse and pishing with rain in Fort William. As usual. Shanks's pony, none of that baggage transfers nonsense. Loved that.

Early start before sunrise. Silhouette of a deer in the early morning sky

Buachaille Etive Mor as the early light of the day strikes it, viewed from the Devil's Staircase

Stob Ban seen from the Lairig, the pass between Kinlochleven and Fort William

A pint of Black Isle beer in their pub in Fort William

270 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Ha! They'll last one more day I reckon.

010 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I wasn't just focussed on roads, the views were pretty good too. It's illegal to walk past Black Rock Cottage and Buchaille Etive Mor without stopping to take a photo whenever you are up here. Owned and maintained by the Ladies' Scottish Climbing Club, is it Scotland's most photogenic wee cottage?

The wee white cottage that looks too chocolate boxy to be real, under evening clouds. Buchaille Etive Mor beyond.

Buchaille Etive Mor as the sun sets, but ggy land in the foreground creating pretty reflections

The pyramidal silhouette of Buchaille Etive Mor under blue skies with wispy clouds

Buchaille Etive Mor reflected in the River Etive as the light fades.

260 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Day 3 on WHW - a history of roads. From Tyndrum with open vistas across Rannoch Moor. Started by following General Wade's Military Road (1730-1810), then Telford's Parliamentary Road (1810-1931), then dashing across the A82 (1931-present) to reach Kingshouse.

The West Highland Way follows the route of General Wade's roads as it leaves Tyndrum, the track here heading towards Beiin Dorain

The West Highland Way across Rannoch Moor follows the road engineered by Telford in the early 1800s when General Wade's road was beginning to deteriorated. It was used here until the modern route replaced it in 1931, leaving the Clachaig Inn and Inveroran Hotels sitting on the old road.

The A82 passes in front of Buchaille Etive Mor

140 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Yes, I'll not be making myself a wild mushroom risotto any time soon.

120 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

As you can see from the alt text I've avoided putting names to them (though I could recognise the Fly Agaric)

120 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I passed Inversnaid today, so here's the last verse of Gerard Manley Hopkins's poem of that name written after he visited in 1881. "What would the world be, once bereft Of wet and of wildness? Let them be left, O let them be left, wildness and wet; Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet."

170 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Day 2 on the WHW, and it was all about the mushrooms. Rowardennan to Tyndrum today, but arrived too late to catch the cafe at Green Welly Stop. Boo!

Look, this alt text won't be great because I don't know my mushrooms, so don't take cooking advice from me. These look like wee white mushrooms you'd buy in an organic greengrocers, so probably safe, or maybe deadly.

Kinda pale brown mushrooms on an old tree stump, looks tasty, so probably good in a stir fry...or possibly deadly.

Cartoon mushrooms like you'd get as a mushroom emoji. White stalk, red cap with wee white spots. This one cries out "don't eat me".

The dinner plate sized mushrooms that grow out of rotting trees. These ones I think are called horse hoof fungus, which I think people used to carry fire about with them, to cook other deadly fungi.

260 0

Reposted by Paul 4Jags

Andy Arthur💃🏰⚓🦌 Threadinburgh 🧵 @threadinburgh.scot · 05/10/2026

Me, swiping through this listing: This is dull, this is dull, dull, still dull, boring, oh... 😯

8327 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

40 years after I first walked the West Highland Way in 1986, I've taken a notion to walk it again. Milngavie to Rowardennan through the showers today. Hoping for clearer skies tomorrow.

Me and my schoolmate looking out from our tent on Conic Hill to n 1986

Start point of the West Highland Way in Milngavie early this morning

Statue of Tom Weir, disapproving of my huffing and puffing at Balmaha

3180 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

It's fabulous. He's fabulous.

020 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

We've come to Derry this weekend to celebrate our friends' 25th wedding anniversary. It's been an absolute blast. It's a mad city that we've visited again and again, with a wild history, and the most lovely people you could wish to meet. Love it.

080 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Fux ache. Thistle and Scotland winning (and scoring) on the same day. That's sweet. I shall leave the country more often when they're playing if that's what it takes.

051 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

(I've been hollering Tarzan Boy all day as a result of this)

040 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Spent a fantastic morning in the company of Seamus Breslin on a tour of Derry City Cemetery. He was telling the stories of Dambuster pilots, the author "All Things Bright and Beautiful", Republican soldiers and hunger strikers, and Jimmy McShane who fronted the song "Tarzan Boy". A fascinating tour.

Views towards Derry City from the cemetery

Gravestone erected by the Republican Movement to Republicans killed in the 1920s

The older part of Derry City Cemetery that overlooks the floodlights of Celtic Park

The grave of Cecil Francis Alexander who wrote many hymns, including All Things Bright and Beautiful

140 0

Reposted by Paul 4Jags

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Lovely to see this film. Dunnes strikers Mary Manning and Cathy O'Reilly stayed with us in Maryhill whenever they came to speak to Trade Unionists in Scotland. Such ordinary, thoughtful people who took a stand against something they knew was wrong.

072 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

072 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I'm absolutely rubbish at just relaxing and doing nothing. Can't do it.

110 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Can you guess where I am? I'll give you some clues.

290 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

He is the walking, talking dictionary definition of the word 'confabulation'.

030 0

Reposted by Paul 4Jags

Past Glasgow @pastglasgow.co.uk · 02/10/2026

A very special lady is celebrating her 80th birthday today. 80 years ago today, on 2 October 1946, the paddle steamer Waverley was launched at the A. & J. Inglis Pointhouse shipyard in Glasgow, where the River Kelvin meets the Clyde. 📷 Bob Dougans #Glasgow #history #waverley

16116 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Lovely evening of Philip Glass music from the @rsno.bsky.social at Sonic-a tonight. Great start to the night with one of his piano études as the orchestra took to the stage (I was at the concert with my eldest child, who ALWAYS plays that on our piano when they visit).

030 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I did the same with a cartoon I'd seen in a comic. Sent it to the Whizzer and Chips. It got printed and I won an excellent joke set. No regrets.

020 0

Reposted by Paul 4Jags

Past Glasgow @pastglasgow.co.uk · 30/09/2026

In February 1972, 20 students from Glasgow School of Art greeted Gordon Campbell, the Scottish Secretary of State, as he opened the Charing Cross section of the M8. They waved banners that are as relevant now as they were then as Campbell passed beneath in the Lord Provost's car. 📷 Newqsquest

18529 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

As a Patrick Thistle and Scotland supporter, I'm beginning to forget what it's like to celebrate a goal. That was another long night at Hampden (unless you were Swiss).

Players hanging about waiting for VAR to make a penalty into a goal and a red card.

020 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I'll work my way through my family members tomorrow and unmask them.

010 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Sunny AND a public holiday on the same day, so jumped on the ferry to the Isle of Bute. First visit for me to Mount Stuart, the preposterous building that's the ancestral home to the Marquess of Bute.

Ludicrous ceiling of the marble hall at Mount Stuart on the Isle of Bute

A badger playing the bagpipes on a bedstead

The mosaic and marble urinals of the public toilets in Rothesay, a listed building.

050 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Like many things, again and again, we sleepwalk into a new normal. You forget it does not have to be this is way.

010 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I worked in geriatric wards in the west of Glasgow in the 1990s in Knightswood, Drumchapel, and Blawarthill - all closed now - when the NHS used to provide this care, and watched it all change in front of my eyes to become a private provision.

110 0

Paul 4Jags @paul4jags.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

That's me ready to do Tarkovsky's films for my Mastermind specialist subject now. Had planned to just catch my favourites, but ended up watching them all. Loved every minute of it. Seeing them back to back it's great to find the ideas, images and themes recurring, right to the last shot.

030 0