Duncan isn’t the only member of the Scottish Roundup team who’s been a little introspective recently. 2009 has been a bit of a milestone for me in many ways, so even if it hadn’t been for a good few changes in my own life (some positive, some negative, some negatives I’m determined to turn into positives) the fact that it has been ten years since I left school, started blogging, met my best friend and all sorts of other things would still have struck a chord.

As we head into the year’s final stretch, many bloggers find themselves getting a little reflective. “List Season” tends to be a big deal for the music blogs I read a lot of in particular – it seems that, no matter how many times we tell ourselves we don’t see the point, we just can’t help it. With it being the end of the “noughties”, as well as the end of another year, thoughts are turning to the best albums of the decade – as well as the best albums of the year. For Matthew at Song by Toad though, it isn’t really possible:

[W]hat a task. I mean, I was a totally different person back in 2000. And again in about 2002, and 2004. I moved up here halfway through the decade and suddenly became not just a fan but a reviewer and a promoter as well – my whole relationship with music has been completely changed over the course of the decade… Imagine comparing Withered Hand’s superb Good News, which has been in existence for a mere handful of months, to a record like And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out by Yo La Tengo, which I have listened to in good times and bad for the last ten years.

It’s a post which has generated some interesting comments, as well as this riposte from Euan at The Steinberg Principle:

I fear that in dismissing end of year lists you might as well dismiss the whole exercise of reviewing music and having an opinion on music full stop.

Incidentally, I wouldn’t be taking full advantage of this week’s guest editing slot if I didn’t point out that my own Best of the Decade series reaches its conclusion this Thursday. Alternatively, two of my favourite London-based Scots Lolie Smith and slideintomyhand are ahead of the curve; and Under the Radar’s Nick Mitchell has contributed his own Top 5 to Scrawls and Bawls.

Our own Duncan has taken a slightly different tack, concluding his fantastic series on twenty years of Warp Records.

It’s been a while since I’ve contributed one of these Roundups, but I believe I commented at the time on the launch of Glasgow PodcART as a team of passionate local scene enthusiasts. Now on their 40th podcast, and with an impressive lineup of gigs and showcases already behind them (the most recent being at the 13th Note last week featuring Beerjacket and the Kays Lavelle, the team continues to grow and to support Scottish independent music.

Beerjacket in session for Glasgow PodcART at the 13th Note

[Incidentally, if you are looking for a quick primer on all things Scottish music blogosphere, The Pop Cop has a conveniently-timed primer.]

On the political side of things, Amused Cynicism discusses Highland and Islands MSP David Thompson’s call for drink-drive laws to be devolved to Scotland as recommended by the Calman commission:

Overall Calman has been very timid and unambitious in recommending more powers be devolved. If Scotland is going to re-visit the devolution settlement, and devolve more powers to the Scottish Parliament, then it must be realised that changing the settlement isn’t something that happens often, so each time Scotland seeks to change the settlement, it might as well have a big shopping list of new powers, rather than just a few. Just as if going to the supermarket was a long journey, you wouldn’t just buy one item.

On a day when the SNP have once again been urged to drop the independence debate and concentrate on getting the country out of recession, Three Thousand Versts of Lonliness points out that Scottish support for the Union is actually on the rise, according to YouGov.

Jonathan Calder of Liberal England recounts a trip to Edinburgh on the Caledonian Sleeper, with accompanying photography:

Sometimes with the rocking and lurching you feel that you are on board a ship rather than a train. Sometimes, as you feel every bolt in the train straining, it is like being on board a jet as it comes in to land. All this is compounded by the anonymity of election traction: you never hear the locomotive straining as you would with a diesel.

“Belle de Jour is the new Pretty Woman,” claims Nine, in a brilliantly-written riposte to tabloid handwringing following the “outing” of Dr Brooke Magnanti as the pseudonymous London call girl turned blogger, for The Rumpus.

Do Some Damage is a collaborative crime fiction blog by seven writers, one of whom is Scottish and one of whom isn’t Scottish, but who’s sitting on the sofa opposite me just now. Full disclosure, that.

…waves in Warsaw is musician, photographer and DJ Neil Milton’s blog on his upcoming move from Glasgow to Poland.

And that’s it for this week! John Ault’s up next Sunday, and I know he’ll appreciate your suggestions for what we feature. Get in touch either by using the handy form on the top-right of this webpage, or by emailing us at scottishroundup@gmail.com. You can also follow us on Twitter @ScottishRoundup.

Hello everyone and welcome to this week’s roundup.

First of all, I’d like to point out that I am having some thoughts about the future of this website, and part of that involves experimenting a bit with the format. I have begun to feel that Scottish Roundup has gone for quantity too much over quality, meaning that the truly great posts gets lost.

The new format I am considering will feature fewer posts, but more in-depth, with more of an emphasis on the editor’s personal take on a few issues that have caught bloggers’ attention. A short summary of the rest of the blogosphere can appear separately, or at the end of the post. I am experimenting with this format this week.

Like I say, it is an experiment and during the period between now and the new year I would greatly value any feedback anyone has on the future direction of Scottish Roundup. I am quite malleable at the moment as far as the roundup goes, so if something about it bugs you now is the time to let me know!

Perhaps somewhat regrettably, this week’s roundup will be a bit of a navel-gazer. But it does seem as though issues surrounding blogging have been occupying our thoughts. Evidently, it is not just Scottish Roundup that faces an uncertain future.

Blogging deaths

Jeff at SNP Tactical Voting has been considering the death of blogging.

One thing I have noticed through this addictive pastime is that for as long as the past year or so I have had very few hits from new sources. Don’t get me wrong, there have been some excellent new blogs which have kindly linked to me (and linkage has generally been reciprocated) but in my first year of blogging getting hits from new sources was a regular occurrence such was the rate of new blogs taking off and interest in blogs from numerous media sources…

The Scottish scene has already been hit by the hanging up of the Scottish Unionist and Malc in the Burgh keyboards with fellow Total Politics ‘top-tenner’ Caron significantly (and regrettably) scaling back her post rate (albeit due to ill health). Many other blogs are starting and stopping with activation energy seemingly in short supply.

A bit melodramatic? Perhaps. But I can’t help thinking that he may have a point. In addition to the list of blogs supplied by Jeff, at least two more major players in the Scottish blogosphere hung up their keyboards this week. Mike Cormack at Bucket of Tongues had begun to find it too time-consuming.

But the closure of another blog took place due to different reasons, raising eyebrows. Wardog’s blog is now nowhere to be seen.

Piecing together the puzzle, Jess the Dog probably has the most complete picture of what happened:

Apparently, blogger Wardog has packed up his soap-box after journalists have been in contact with his employer.

This has also been covered by George Laird, Bill Cameron and David Farrer who says, “We are Wardog”.

What do you think? Has Wardog been stitched up by the Labour establishment? Or is it right to think that you should expect better of bloggers than the sort of behaviour exhibited by Wardog?

One particular revelation about the increasing authority of Twitter sent me wondering about the future of my blog. Speaking of Twitter, John Connell has an interesting look at the demographics of Twitter users. No prizes for guessing — they’re particularly liberal, young and metropolitan.

Blogging births and marriages

I can hear you asking, now that I have moved on from blogging. I’ve done the blogging deaths, but where are the births and marriages? Fair enough. Just to prove I’m not such a misery guts, here is a new blog that was nominated this week.

Tattie Scones looked at the attempt of the Scottish Defence League to hold a rally in Glasgow last week. Good on those people of the Scotland United anti-fascists who vastly outnumbered them on the day.

As for marriages, well maybe I can’t quite come up with that. But a get-together is almost as good, right? Yesterday saw the first ever Liberal Democrat Voice Bloggers’ Unconference which was held in Edinburgh. Caron looked forward to it. I have not seen any reports on it yet, but no doubt they’ll trickle through today.

Threat to digital rights

Still on the subject of the internet (I promise I’ll move on in a minute), Cabalamat pledges not to vote for any MP who supports Lord Mandelson’s Digital Economy Bill:

The Digital Economy Bill plans to disconnect people from the internet if they’ve merely been accused of filesharing, or if anyone sharing their connection has been so accused. This is a breach of our human rights, and must be opposed.

No-one should be disconnected from the internet or otherwise punished for illegal filesharing unless they’ve been found guilty in a criminal court. Nor should anyone be punished merely for sharing a connection with an illegal filesharer; collective punishment is an infringement of human rights, and a war crime.

John Swinney: Politician of the Year?

Moving on, Munguin’s Republic congratulates John Swinney on winning The Herald’s Scottish Politician of the Year award:

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting John Swinney briefly in his office in parliament. Although he was busy, he took time to chat with me and make me feel welcome.

So, not only is John a consummate politician and a superb debater, he is also a really nice guy.

John Ault has a rather different take on Mr Swinney’s victory: “Well it is a bad year…!”

Climate research centre hacking

Neil Craig and Mr Eugenides both covered the alleged hacking of the email system of the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit.

Junior Eurovision

Finally, the Scottish blogosphere’s resident Eurovision expert Ewan Spence spent this week gearing up for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. It’s not broadcast in the UK, so he handily provided a preview of potential highlights prior to the event itself.

Get your nominations in!

That’s your lot for this week — thanks for reading. I’m not sure if you can tell much difference between this and the traditional format of the roundup. But please do let me know if you think the new format should be firmed up and kept, or if you’d prefer a return to the old style.

Next week’s roundup will be left in the very capable hands of Lis Ferla. In the meantime, keep getting those nominations in. They all get featured (unless there is a really good reason not to), and we could always do with some more, particularly on blogs that are not to do with politics!

So please send them in, either by using the handy form in the top-right of the page, or by emailing us at scottishroundup@gmail.com. Don’t forget you can now also follow us on Twitter @ScottishRoundup.

While the other part of this week’s Roundup focuses on the Glasgow North East by-election, there’s been no shortage of other topics to keep the MacBlogosphere talking this week, and as guest editor I’ve examined a few high and not so high profile issues in a little more detail, with the usual miscellany following.

With the contemporary high profile of environmental issues the Green Party’s James is pleased at the results of an opinion poll showing a lack of public enthusiasm for the Forth Road Bridge replacement, and he also proffers a comprehensive look at the various issues. The indefatigable Jeff agrees – albeit casting some doubt on the survey methodology – and takes a wider look at sustainable transport issues. Meanwhile, Gary Marshall compares the economics and practicalities of travelling by plane and train, and plumps for the eco-unfriendly option.

Perhaps last week’s story saying most about the sad state of much of our political discourse was Spelling-gate – Gordon Brown’s ostensibly slapdash note of condolence sent to the bereaved mother of a soldier killed in Afghanistan – and yours truly attempts to use several sources to conclude that The Sun’s attempt to discredit the prime minister backfired. But Advanced Media Watch takes a more critical approach, albeit with a smidgen of sympathy, while Rantin Rab suggests a rather Machiavellian attempt by Mr Brown to exploit the newspaper, assuming he’s not being tongue-in-cheek! However, Jack Deighton examines the circumstances surrounding the recording of the phone call and is extremely sceptical about the motives of Mrs Janes. Caron, on the other hand, manages to be totally uncynical and empathises with both parties, but not the dastardly Sun. Alex Massie carries a Politics Home poll showing strong support for Gordon Brown. Meanwhile, Jess the Dog links the controversy to the wider issues of equipment shortages, the ill-defined war aims and related politicking.

Sticking with the military theme, Scottish Tory Boy asks MSP Christina McKelvie what precisely the SNP have done for Scottish veterans in view of her claim that support for them is now “streets ahead”.

With an outbreak of the superbug C. Difficile at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee hitting the headlines this week, Subrosa uses her own experiences to proffer some thoughts on infection control.

Bill takes a nostalgic look at the fall of the Berlin wall on its twentieth anniversary, but seems distinctly un-nostalgic about socialism, despite acknowledging that the ancien régime at least provided some kind of comfort blanket for the East Germans.

A lucky CJ blogs from the European Parliament, where he’s been attending a seminar on politics and the web, and where he made a presentation on the Scottish blogosphere. He contrasts the conflictual nature of our own medium with the more consensual approach on the Continent. Chris also contemplates the future of the MacBlogophere and asks whether anyone is actually listening to us. Perhaps only to the extent that we’re preaching to the converted!

Neil Craig takes a sceptical look at both the forthcoming Copenhagen climate change summit and supra-national government.

PoliticsScot reflects on another FMQs triumph for Alex Salmond on the back of open goals from Iain Gray and Tavish Scott.

John Ault outlines some sage advice for election candidates who may get too big for their boots, but provides anecdotal evidence that at least one polling clerk may contribute  to the ego massaging! And MP Jo Swinson confirms her opposition to all-women shortlists, but is equally critical of the all-men equivalents. Continuing with the theme of Lib Dems and election candidates, Stephen Glenn examines the issue of political pillow talk.

Saturday’s anti-Muslim demonstration by the BNP-esque Scottish Defence League inspired a ‘unite against facism’ message from Indygal. On another nationalist note, Independence Cymru makes common cause with other Celtic nations.

But with SNP attention now turning to the referendum bill (note the pun!), SNP Tactical Voting suggests a postponement until after the 2011 Holyrood elections.

Away from the political bear pit domestikated celebrates Sesame Street’s 40th birthday, while dissident group In Trust for Scotland tries to influence the future direction of the National Trust for Scotland.

On a humorous note, Sky TV’s rumoured decision to launch a dedicated Scottish channel leads Big Rab to speculate on a possible schedule.

Sad news for the MacBlogosphere this week as the civilised and deservedly popular Malc in the Burgh seems to pack his keyboard away, but in true soap opera style leaves his broadband connection open with the possibility of occasional posts and a future return – haste ye back!

If you want to send in a link for next week’s Roundup, you can use the wotsit on the right, or send us an e-mail to scottishroundup@gmail.com. You can also follow us on Twitter: @ScottishRoundup.

Labour’s decision to delay the date of the Glasgow North East by-election seemed to pay dividends in view of the party’s widely trailed victory, but the winning margin, the SNP’s failure to make inroads and the jostling of the other parties for the minor places still makes for an interesting post-vote analysis from Scottish bloggers. The Roundup special below organises the various sources roughly along party lines.

Naturally the Labour MacBlogosphere has been sounding a triumphant/triumphalist note following their candidate’s overwhelming victory. Possibly first off the blocks was Yousuf, who points out that Willie Bain’s success occurred during a recession and at the end of a third Labour term at Westminster. Alex Salmond’s boast that the SNP could win 20 seats at next year’s general election is ridiculed by the Grumpy Spindoctor, who concludes: “The Salmond magic touch has lost its lustre somewhat.”

The Grumpy SD also asks why Alex Salmond hasn’t been around to account for the SNP defeat and questions why the party didn’t learn lessons from their reverse in Glenrothes.

Tom Harris rather obtusely compares Labour’s by-election record with the Tories’ while in office before 1997 and concludes that “Cameron has most definitely not sealed the deal”.

Away from the immediate aftermath of the declaration Yousuf highlights emerging divisions in the SNP over the decision to cancel GARL, and also outlines its impact on the by-election and future ramifications.

The Nationalist bloggers are understandably downcast and some have clearly decided that ‘no comment’ is the best strategy, but there’s still plenty reflection and suggestions for future strategy, not to mention predictable opprobrium aimed at Labour.

SNP Tactical Voting’s Jeff claims that Labour’s “dastardly” tactics and message utilised in the campaign won’t play well in other parts of the country. By the same token, the inimitable Lallands Peat Worrier – who headlines simply with “Gubbed” – posits (I think!) that Labour’s parochial neo-”Clydesideism” emphasis may be apt to “depress their broader electoral fortunes”.

Jim at No More Diaspora opines that the SNP’s candidate didn’t resonate with voters, and those who could be bothered voting just “went with the devil they know”. As a reformed Labourite Christian Jones dissects his former party’s approach, and uncompromisingly laments its lack of a positive message and lambasts the “level of downright lies and nasty personal attacks” which was a “new and rather crude development” He further claims that the SNP needs a “treasured local stalwart”, which would be preferable to a “bright young thing”. A more magnanimous Moridura takes solace from his view that Willie Bain seems more “old” than “new” Labour, and emphasises both the critical nature of candidate selection in view of the intense scrutiny during a campaign and the importance of one or two core issues that will be subject to “spin and distortion”.

North to Leith confines himself to expressing the irony of relief at the Tories coming third (thus ahead of the BNP) and Indygal conveys a similar sentiment. But the MSP also slates Jim Murphy for suggesting the SNP got “too big for its boots”, conflating the Scottish Secretary’s view of her party with the “people of Scotland” and the country generally.

As for the edgier pro-independence blogs, Wardog laments the “poverty of ambition” and “lack of aspiration” in the constituency. An indignant Omar at Advanced Media Watch points out that the prime minister was barely mentioned by Labour during the campaign but a victorious Willie Bain had declared his triumph an endorsement for Gordon Brown. Key Bored Warrior advises Alex Salmond to tone down his act but paradoxically advocates a course of action unlikely to be adopted by SNP strategists, at least in the literal sense: “The SNP need to get down in the sewer with Labour and start grabbing them by the bollocks and squeezing.”

For the Lib Dems, Caron puts her party’s poor performance down to a lack of financial resources while attributing the overall result to the SNP’s “shocking” performance rather than any Labour advance. Andrew Reeves compares the Glasgow East, Glenrothes and this week’s by-elections, and congratulates the Lib Dems much-criticised candidate Eileen Baxendale. John Ault says Labour have learned lessons from previous by-election defeats and thinks this presages a long general election campaign.

Tory Bear thinks Labour’s reaction to their victory is overdone in view of the ultra-safe nature of the seat, the low turnout and the “negative kitchen sink” campaigning thrown at David Kerr.

In the less partisan reaches of the MacBlogosphere Alan at Aye We Can claims Willie Bain is a “cut above the average Scottish MP”. James Kelly thinks Nick Griffin’s appearance on Question Time provided the BNP with a by-election fillip, but yours truly suggests that if UKIP had stood – as they did in May’s European elections, when they outpolled both the BNP and Tories – then this could have split the right wing vote and propelled Tommy Sheridan into third place.

On a lighter note Polaris at Wholly Rude suggests a secret plan to reverse the SNP’s fortunes in Glasgow – splitting off “TraitorLand” from the rest of Scotland and towing it into the Atlantic, as part of a strategy culminating in “Bagpipes, Whiskey, Tartan Dolls and Haggis for every patriot for generations tae come”.

As for the MSM blogs, at The Steamie David Maddox points out that although the SNP only secured 17.6% of the vote in 2005 they are now consistently showing around double that in opinion polls, and are thus likely to significantly increase their representation at Westminster from 6 seats, although 20 seems unlikely. And the Nationalists’ “dream” of 20 MPs is suggested by Alex Massie to mean that while once a dozen or so seats would be regarded a great success, “now, thanks to the SNP’s over-inflated rhetoric and hubris, it will look like failure”.

Brian Taylor underlines the “oppositional” nature of Labour’s campaign, which paradoxically concentrated on the record of the SNP administration at Holyrood in a Westminster contest, and also alludes to a Glasgow v Edinburgh dimension. And he doubts the SNP’s claim of a dearth of “aspirational” voters as distinguishing Glasgow NE from last year’s Glasgow East contest.

Well that’s it folks, and since the next Roundup election special will probably be the big one, I nominate, ahem, someone else!

If you want to send in a link for next week’s Roundup, you can use the thingy on the right, or send us an e-mail to scottishroundup@gmail.com. You can also follow us on Twitter: @ScottishRoundup.

Hi folks! After almost six months of waiting, we’re close to finding out who will be the next MP for Glasgow North East, and needless to say, it’s been the subject of much online chatter. Particularly over at The Steamie, where candidates themselves have been trying their hand at bloggery – or not, if some of the usernames deployed are any indication!

Anyway. On that very subject, Duncan looks at how the blogosphere has been deployed in this By-Election, but wonders if it’ll have had that much impact.

On the other hand, Anne McLaughlin wonders what activists taking part in the ‘ground war’ must look like to the general public.

In terms of the campaign itself, it’s been flatter than James Kelly expected. And it’s been far too flat for Alex Porter, who believes that the constituency needs a fighter.

Meanwhile, Brian Taylor tries to make sense of what those who don’t declare their intentions to canvassers are thinking. Frankly, we can’t ever know this, as they won’t tell us.

Yousuf hails Sir Alex Ferguson’s endorsement for Willie Bain (he’s pwoud, vewy pwoud, as Jonathan Watson might say), but Chris Stephens recalls the time Bain was jeered at the Labour Party Conference.

Subrosa publishes the results of a series of questions she posed to John Smeaton – stealing a march on The Steamie – but Stuart Winton looks at whether or not the BNP could steal Smeato’s thunder.

Meanwhile, Anne McLaughlin wasn’t impressed by either Smeato or Mikey Hughes at the hustings she attended.

Schism_schasm appears backs the Green candidate, despite calling him “the most prematurely aged twenty four year old I’ve ever seen”. He should have seen me when I was 24…

Incidentally, schism_schasm has produced this series of caricatures of the candidates. They’re rather impressive, though I must admit to mistaking the drawing of Willie Bain for Ruth Davidson. I believe that says more about the two candidates in question than about my eyes or the drawings!

But mostly, this By-Election has seen all sorts of statistics bandied about regarding the state of the area. David Thomson offers pictorial evidence, while Brian Taylor crunches the numbers.

Montague Burton and Archbishop Cranmer join in the number-crunching, but still see a Labour victory as the most probable outcome.

On the Labour side, Yousuf and Michael are optimistic. In the SNP camp, Jeff is not overly optimistic, but Torcuil Crichton reckons that Gordon Brown is sufficiently optimistic to have booked a slot on the Today Programme for tomorrow morning.

That said, over at The Garden Lobby and The Big Dollop, the feeling is that some factors may well work in the SNP’s favour, and the result may be closer than many think.

On a similar note, Lallands Peat Worrier offers a rather poetic note to proceedings.

Meanwhile, there’s a potential stooshie on the cards regarding postal vote applications: Anseo is concerned at the figures, while Tom Harris doesn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

Then there’s the reporting of the result: John Ault would like to remind everyone that if Labour win, it’s not a ‘Labour hold’ but a ‘Labour gain from Speaker’. All those Tories who complained about Michael Martin’s approach to impartiality might take issue with that, but technically, he has a point. And on a similar note, James reminds us that this By-Election is a rare beast: a By-Election in which the Government can increase its majority by winning.

Incidentally, for those who speak French (or have access to a decent dictionary/translator), check out this tale by Pepette, who’s been gearing up for her chance to vote, with the rather unfortunate ending, which, if you check the fine print on your electoral registration form, will become quite clear.

Finally, it wouldn’t be an Election night without Jeff hosting a liveblog!

So that it for this By-Election Special. On Sunday, Stuart Winton has the unenviable task of sifting through the reaction to tonight’s result, as well as all the other matters that have got you to your keyboards over the week. If you want to send in a link for next week’s Roundup, you can use the twiddlywotsit on the right, or send us an e-mail to scottishroundup@gmail.com. You can also follow us on Twitter: @ScottishRoundup. Bye-de-bye!