'HOMELAND', GLASGOW
HOMELAND, PART 1 (abridged)
FRIDAY Inside, the hotel is largely very Victorian, with lots of wood
panelling, a wide staircase with those broad, shallow steps much beloved of our
forebears. I smiled warmly at the American contingent, wondering which of at
least two redheads was Debi. There was a very attractive fairly tall straight
red-haired lady standing near me, with a warm voice and hazel eyes. After a
couple of sentences, I had a charge of sixth sense and KNEW. Indeed, it was
she. Here's a piccy of Debi (boing!) and Paul Edmonds.
Some of the Americans decided that they wanted to do the open-top bus tour
of Glasgow. I tagged along, wanting to see more of this very attractive city
for myself. We sat upstairs twiddling our thumbs, waiting. A young Glasweigan
gent came up and said something like (in a pretty thick Glasgow accent):- "I'msorry,theguidehasn'aearrivedyet;she'srunninglate,
sheshouldbeheresoon,
butifno'we'll transferyetaeanotherbus,whichwillbealonginabootfiveminutes,
okay?"
At which point the Americans said "Eh?" and I had to translate!
The best bit of the tour came when the guide revealed that on trams in the last
century gentlemen in traditional Scottish dress were barred from going upstairs
on windy days.........< :-) >.
Here are two interesting pictures from near the
hotel <G>
The Homeland welcome was very nice and informal. Afterwards I went back in
the dealers room and decided that £20 for a HUGE personally signed poster
of Adrian was worth its weight in gold, so I bought it. I FELT someone
standing behind me and to the right. I turned around - and it was Jim! Live
and in person! I smiled and turned around so that I wouldn't gawp. I
remember wandering around and trying to dispense a packet of the famous British
HIGHLANDER crisps (potato chips) to every American. The reactions varied from
'Oh, wow' to 'Where did you get them?!!' (Safeways!). Jim sang for
us. Penny had twisted my arm (spurred on by the sight of the Four HorseWOMEN of
the Apocalypse, complete with stunning cleavages) to come down in our own
costumes, so there we sat on the front row, Xena and Gabby. I hoped we wouldn't
give Jim a heart attack! Luckily the man knows no fear and gave us over half an
hour of wonderful singing and guitar playing. Penny was particularly affected
by Jim, because she has two false legs herself. I KNEW she had to be there to
meet him.
Continued on Homeland 2
