Sadly, otters don't always make it...

I was telephoned a couple of weeks ago by professional angler Leon, who,during a fishing trip on the west side of Shetland, had come across otters behaving rather oddly. It was his opinion that the otter population had boomed, and so these secretive and shy creatures were much more in evidence than normal. But to see one brazenly carrying a dead rabbit back to the sea was, to say the least, unusual.

We see otters quite regularly - we live on the shore and a gigantic dog otter is frequently to be spotted patrolling the sea wall. I have never seen an otter at the Mavis Grind - site of the famous 'beware otters crossing' sign. But occasionally, you will glimpse one by the side of the road, or dashing in front of the car. Bizarrely, I was showing Radio Two DJ Mark Radcliffe the cliffs at Eshaness when bold as brass, one popped up behind the lighthouse to have a look at us.

Today, taking Magnus to the airport, I came across a freshly-killed otter at the top of the Clavie, the hill climbing past Urafirth out of Hillswick. Then, on the way back, north of Orbister in Northmavine, another big otter ran (safely)in front of the car on the way from sea to loch. Most unusual.

We had an inquiry this week from a prospective renter of our holiday cottage in Heylor, and, in the week that Simon King's book about his sojourn in Shetland comes out, they were excitedly asking about wildlife. 'Any otters?' Yes. A lot. Just be careful you don't have a closer encounter with one than you may have wished.

Hey (Hey!) You (You!) I wanna be your...lawyer!

It sounds a bit like....it sounds very like...good grief, that reminds me of...

In my business, and at my advanced age, shiny, squeaky new pop music inevitably pushes the memory button all too often. Laura Marling's Devil's Spoke is a great wee record, but the verses are Bob dylan's It's Alright Ma, I'm Only Bleeding, somewhat folkified. The new American playlist darling Lissie Maurus sounds so much like Rumours-period Fleetwood Mac it's embarrassing. Newton Faulkener's Del Amitri and Peter Gabriel influences are written gauchely large and as for The View's shameless appropriation of Cornershop...don't start.

As it happens, I was perusing Lindsay Hutton's excellent Next Big Thing site the other day and came across this live video of the wilfully and wonderfully eccentric Rubinoos' 1979 hit I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend (they're still going weird: now children's entertainers, a kind of Singing Kettle with Fender Stratocasters).
Then, I was listening to SIBC in the car and Avril Lavigne's single (originally 2007, but now getting heavy rotation) Girlfriend popped up. My Sweet Lord, I thought!


The lawsuit was settled out of court, it seems.(Thanks to Anon. for that info - see comment below) Judge for yourselves!

Fabulous video from the great Joe West

Joe West is little known in this country - but he's in the fine tradition of eccentric, intellectual art-Americana, as pioneered by the likes of Terry Allen. James and I toured with him four years ago and had a fine time, though that was the trip during which James dropped his double bass down a Glasgow tenement stairwell, to disastrous effect.

Anyway, this charming video and lovely wee song is from his latest album. Enjoy!

Dogs...actually, 'Birds' by Vitalic.

It's four years old...a fabulous wee video that was shamelessly ripped off for a pet food advert.

Stupidity writ large: the day Scotland cast Shetland adrift

Here we sit, 180-odd miles from Aberdeen, 180-odd miles from Bergen, preparing for our abandonment by Greater Scotland.

That’s what it feels like. Stewart Stevenson, transport minister at the Holyrood Parliament, has announced that, to save money, the part-CaleyGov owned NorthLink Ferries will, from May and without any consultation at all, run its boats on two engines, not four. Because the boats run on schedules calculated to save cash anyway, and to arrive in port without incurring dockers’ overtime, this will mean ‘only’ an hour’s extra voyaging. The trip from Lerwick to Aberdeen will last 13 hours, not 12. But the killer is the twice-a-week Lerwick-Orkney-Aberdeen run, which will now have to leave at 4.00pm. With an hour’s check-in for vehicles, that means that most working stiffs won’t be able to make the deadline.

In addition, and betraying the complete lack of intelligence involved in this decision, a perceived ‘passenger over capacity’ in the winter could lead to cancellation of some sailings altogether.

Why is this abandonment? Why is this daft? Why does this exhibit either indifference or utter ignorance? Because these ferries are not just ‘passenger’ carriers. They are lifeline connections loaded with freight, exports, imports, essential supplies. Food, for example. Fish.

It’s also, on a wider scale, economically brainless . Shetland is facing up to a five-year-period in which it is poised to become even more of Scotland’s energy powerhouse – wind, tidal, gas as well as oil. There are massive construction projects in the offing which could employ hundreds of people, and every square foot of freight transport capacity is going to be needed.

It might be possible to view this as a Nationalist administration’s contempt for a community which is dyed-in the-wool Libocrat. But the potential loss to Scotland’s overall economy is massive. It’s hard to see this decision as anything but the utmost stupidity. Think again, Mr Stevenson. On the whole, we prefer to be Scottish. For the moment.