Welcome to this week’s Scottish Blog Roundup. In the absence of your usual hosts (who are taking a well-deserved week off), you have to put up with me as a guest-blogger.

It has been an interesting week in Scottish politics and it is clear that matters are intensifying in preparation for the elections. If, of course, the elections take place. The Court of Session judgement on the voting rights of prisoners has provoked Mr Eugenides, Devil’s Kitchen (I know, he’s moved down south but he obviously still takes an interest), Freedom and Whisky and the Select Society into flippancy about the prospect (but, hey, flippancy can be good) while Shuggy is less than sanguine about prisoners’ rights.

This has also been the week in which the national bard is celebrated. But the Scottish blogging community has been a bit backwards about coming forward. Just as well that Ranting’n'Raving and Select Society have kept up with tradition, assisted from down under by Adelaide Green Porridge Cafe. I regret to say that Dr Vee has disgraced himself, not only by failing to recognise ‘To a Haggis’ but also by dismissing the Scots language as ‘essentially slang’. See students nowadays…

To revert to political developments, Scottish Political News introduces us to the novel concept of ’sticky mud’, a substance with which the First Minister is becoming intimately acquainted. Mr Eugenides recounts the fascinating tale of Annabel Goldie and the canteen pie. And as for the LibDems, neither J Arthur MacN nor Ridiculous Politics seems disposed to believe their claims of ideological purity. HolyroodBelle (no relation) at World of Jack gives us a pictorial comment on the First Minister’s travails - which makes a nice change.

Scottish Political News has also discovered a new toy. Just enter in your polling predictions and it will generate the parliamentary numbers. I hesitate to give any additional publicity to the PR consultants responsible but you will find it via SPN.

Meanwhile Sarah of Whoopdedoo manages to encapsulate the Edinburgh social scene in a single sentence: ‘I have little respect for the people of Edinburgh who shop in Sainsbury, because really, if you were all that, you’d be shopping in Waitrose now, wouldn’t you?’ A brilliant apercu. This girl will go far.

Clairwil offers hope for bloggers everywhere. If she can find sufficient inspiration reading Metro on a bus to deliver the last word on the wretched Jade, then there can be no excuses for the rest of us. And I don’t believe her when she says that she’s an old bag.

Finally, a note of sadness. Cassilis has decided to hang up his keyboard. His final post is well worth reading. Regardless of his remarks about the quality of his writing, I for one will miss his contributions. The Scottish blogosphere is not so well-endowed that it can afford to lose a blogger of his ability. I hope that he will feel able to return to blogging when it suits him.

Nominations for next week, please, to scottishroundup [at] gmail [dot] com.

That’s all for this week. It’s been fun; my thanks to Dr Vee and Curious Hamster for the opportunity. Ta ta for now! HW

I’ve finally got an ‘about’ page sorted out — although it’s just an edited version of an old post I wrote on my blog. It does the job though.

Also, I’m pleased to announce that our first guest editor is on board, and it’s none other than Holyrood Watcher! He will be doing tomorrow’s roundup. It will probably be best to have a guest every three weeks for the moment (so that it goes me → Curious Hamster → guest → me, and so on…). That means we’ll be able to fit in five guests in total before the election.

So I’ll leave you in the hands of HW and see you next week!

Hello again and welcome to another Scottish Blog Roundup.

This week saw the 300th aniversary of the Act of Union. Gordon at Ranting and Raving has one simple question.

The celebrations may have been decidedly low key, non-existent really,  but bloggers have had plenty to say on the subject.

Neil Craig has a look at what the Union did for us and then has a look to the future

Shuggy looks at the odds of the union surviving.

The Tenement Tory does want to celebrate.

J. Arthur MacNumpty wins the award for best post title.

Bookdrunk raises an intersting question on the legality, or otherwise, of the SNP’s proposed referendum on independence.

Holyrood Chronicles is the place to go for informed analysis of Scottish politics. Peter Riddell of the Times might want to drop by occassionally.

Moving on to other Scottish political issues now, Clairwil has discovered the blog of the Labour councillor whose name I couldn’t remember the other week. She’s not impressed. (The post is only slightly tarnished by the suggestion that the SBR is run by “lovely boys”. The words of someone who has never met us, I fear.  Much appreciated all the same.)

Ridiculous Politics raises the dreaded issue of poolside footwear. Are the SNP really fans of the flip flop?

Meanwhile, Davie Hutchison highlights Labour council leader Jim McCabe’s rather cavilier attitude to the smoking ban. He’s even managed to unite FOREST (hurray for smoking!) and ASH (boo to smoking!) against him. Reactionary snob has more, well, reaction and there’s more still on Scottish Political News.

On to wider issues now as Osama Saeed points out that Richard Littlejohn is not nearly as clever as he thinks he is. That’s not news admittedly but it’s worth taking the time to read the post all the same. Next, week, I have it on good authority that Littlebrain be insulting all protestants by defining them as “the people who brought you the IRA”.

Our own doctorvee has managed to say some interesting things about the whole Big Brother broohaha. That’s not something many  mainstream commentators have managed. Naked Blog, as well as having the dubious pleasure of being right up there in searches for “Jade Goody Naked”, writes a post in defence of the girl. I suspect Mr Eugenides will not be following suit.

Back over to rhetorically speaking now, where Bookdrunk investigate the links between sex and pizza. That post also wins a new award for attracting possibly the longest, most baffling anonymous comment in the whole history of blogging. Crikey!

Cassilis has been thinking about progressive attitudes to taxation and government spending in a post which is more interesting than I’ve managed to make it sound

And finally, here’s Colin on the wonder that is the deep fried Mars bar. To all those doubters from other countries, no, it really isn’t an urban myth.

That’s it for this week. Doctorvee, who does much more and really deserves most of the credit for the SBR, may be doing it next week or it might be time to invite a guest host. Either way, we still want your nominations. Get those email in to scottishroundup [at] gmail [dot] com