Scottish Roundup

Ho ho ho! It’s your virtual Scottish Santa, delivering a bulging sack of quality blog posts. Settle down with your mince pies and mulled wine for a look at the best of the week online.

As this is my first time editing Scottish Roundup, a quick introduction. I’m Ruth, and I blog as DorkyMum. I’ve recently left Scotland for Hertfordshire, but if you caught my recent Edinburgh A-Z you’ll know that it’s a place I still hold very dear in my heart.

Anyway… onwards! As every good gift giver should, I’ve tried to keep everybody happy this week, with a varied collection of posts.

We’ll satisfy the politicos among you first.

Bright Green ran two particularly interesting pieces this week; one from Adam Ramsay about the way Lib Dems are allowing Tory policy to pass, and one from Alyson MacDonald about abstinence education

Dealing with more specifically Scottish issues, A Burdz Eye View had a great post about the proposed Edinburgh bed tax, and The Drum was lamenting the loss of self-produced programmes on STV.

There were several different takes on the case of Alan Pollock – Big Man on the Train – but both Caron’s Musings and Mummy Central came to the conclusion that Big Man was out of line. Join in the debate on their comments pages.

Prompted by the close of the Equal Marriage consultation and a recently released report from the Centre for the Modern Family – but also appropriate given that holiday season is fast approaching – there were two lovely posts about the nature of family from Blur of Wood Smoke and In a Bun Dance.

Moving on to the world of Scottish entertainment, there are two treats this week for the comic lovers among you. Ali George over at 12 Books in 12 Months is attempting a graphic novel this month; follow her progress on the blog, which will also feature interviews with professional cartoonists over the next few weeks. You should also check out the latest from Paul and Al over at House to Astonish – a fortnightly podcast about comics which, as well as being hosted on their own site, is now also hosted on CBR – the second biggest comics website on the internet.

Finally, if you want a good giggle this Sunday morning, check out the Christmas special over at Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops. Poet and bookseller Jen Campbell used to work at the Edinburgh Bookshop; she has now moved to London but has continued to keep track of some of the stranger things that people come into her shop and ask for. Like, erm, snow.

Wishing you all a wonderful week, and a very Merry Christmas when it comes.