Bear Necessities

One of the jobs I do in a varied week is write a visual arts column for The Herald newspaper, a broadsheet based in Glasgow, but covering the whole of Scotland.

On Friday I went to the arts hacks' (or artshacks as organiser/arts editor, Keith Bruce, dubbed us) lunch at the Wee Curry Shop in Glasgow.

This is a relatively new annual do and it's great to see all the freelances and office based staff face-to-face.

So much work is now done virtually and you can't beat a bit of craic with like-minded souls.

I always enjoy a bit of chat with music journo, Nicola Meighan, a stylish mama if ever I saw one. Most arts journalists are fans at heart and Nicola is no exception.

She'd interviewed Ricky Ross of Deacon Blue for yesterday's Herald Arts supplement and knitted her undying fandom into the piece really nicely.

You can read her interview online http://www.heraldscotland.com/arts-ents/music/deacon-blue-return-to-the-stage-with-dignity-intact.22915521

(Sorry, the link thing isn't working...)

Then there's legendary dance critic and wearer of cool hats and flashing Christmas earrings, Mary Brennan, who at this time of year is suffering from panto fatigue as she tries to get around almost all the pantos in Scotland to review them.

Mary is a real trooper and totally cares about covering all the pantos come hook or by crook. Keith told me she even took the Mega Bus to Aberdeen as expenses (I can confirm) are not what they were on the good ship Herald.

Take a look at Mary's exhaustive panto reviews on The Herald website
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I usually take a snap of my page for my Facebook page, so I thought I'd blip it here tonight.

The Magic Carpets exhibition in Perth is well worth seeing, as is the new J.D. Fergusson show in the gallery which bears (geddit?) his name.