There were a lot of recommendations this week with a few leftover from last week, so here goes;

Starting with the visit of David Cameron to America to see Barack Obama and BP and Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi over on Red Meg’s blogshe is agreeing with David Cameron that the release of Al-Megrahi was wrong while Frankly’s Blogue explains the due process.

Caron’s Musings has the Florence and Precious Mhango vigil in Glasgow in words and pictures, including one of our very own J. Arthur MacNumpty who Caron spotted in the large crowd of supporters.

I thought there would be more about the Labour leadership race in the macblogosphere, giving my own blog a shameless plug I covered the news late last night that Ed Balls MP was considering quitting the leadership race on my running blog.  Tom Harris MPexplains why David Miliband would be the greatest threat to the coalition.

I did try to get more of a Labour Scottish angle on this but using the Total Politics top 50 Scottish blogs list, all of the Labour ones bar Tom Harris MP are no longer with us, invite only or really out of date.  I tried.

While we are talking about Total Politics blogging guides, it is that time of the year again when the 2010-11 Total Politics best blogs are being compiled and you only have the next week to participate.  For the explanation, rules and email address to send in your nominations can all be found here at the Total Politics site.

I am also going to highlight the proposed tax by Edinburgh Airport, they now want to start charging you a £1 just to drop off someone at the airport, the Scottish Liberal Democrats Margaret Smith MSPand Conservative Gavin Brown MSP both have petitions on this – if you want to tell BAA and Edinburgh Airport where to shove their proposed tax please sign them both!

Suitably Despairing questions whether the Green Party is being played by the SNP as the Home Renewable Energy Grants were axed by the SNP, a very good point put and one to remember as the budget discussion starts later this year.

Stephen Glenn on Stephen’s Liberal Journal talks about the passing of snooker’s great, Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins.

Who would you put on the naughty step? Christian Ronaldo, who has recently become a new father is the choice of Adventures of a lady in training.  While on football, the best round up of the World Cup from the Scottish angle that I’ve read comes from Billy Williamson over at Dear Scotland.

Sticking with the football theme The Scottish Football Blog has come under some pressure on copyright laws, a really interesting read and I for one are very sympathetic to his plight.

As we are on the sticky subject of copyright within blog posts etc, this post titled Blogger gets libel threat for criticising website caught my eye via twitter last night about Gordon Brown MPs website.

As we approach August, those of us who stay in Edinburgh are preparing for the Festivals, Alastair Braidwood on Scots Whay Hae! has done the first part of a few previews of the Edinburgh Fringe, well worth a read.

Now for a musical theme Aye Tunes is well worth keeping your eye on as a great and useful guide to what gigs and other events are coming up soon and for slightly different lists and views pop over to Peenko or perhaps The Pop Cop.  Staying on the musical review theme, Wesley Shearer AKA the Scottish Scribbler writes about the Blue Sky Archives while Have fun at dinner tells us about a folk trio from Aberdeen, The Son(s).

Nulty Goes To Partick has an amusing post, the good, the bad and the ugly (with swearing) about research recently undertaken by scientists about apples, well that is where it starts.

Moving onto home grown vegetables Taexalia tells us the story of her home grown potatoes, a really interesting read and while we are on the something different section Life in a Scots Sitting Room has a great post titled Freaky Trees.

BellgroveBelle explains her personal experiences, the good and bad, of breastfeeding her baby.

The SPVA Sucks! ventures into the territory of mental health issues, too often overlooked and not discussed, specifically screening for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and whether the Conservatives have backed down.

Now I iz 2 is a photo blog by Tom Clark, wow, an amazing selection and still on photos, although unlike Tom’s not an exclusive photo blog, Scotland Here And Now has a great post about the Royal Botanic Gardens here in Edinburgh while on Scotland in the Gloaming has an amazing picture of the Firth of Clyde afterglow.

Going the Extra Mileis fundraising for Help 4 Heroes in fact starting tomorrow the plan is to run over 200 miles in 10 days on Islay and Jura and a little on the Kintyre Peninsula.

I have left this one until last, delibrately, because I really couldn’t stop laughing, honestly, I am not telling you what it is about, but see if you can read it without smiling or laughing? The Missy M Misssives gets the last laugh of this week’s roundup.

That’s all folks, don’t forget to nominate your favourite blog posts for next week’s roundup.

In the meantime, though, there is still the past month of excellent blogging to get through, although it is a bit on the short side. Something to do with it being summer. Sort of. And the transition to the new way of doing things. Err. On we go.

Iain Hepburn outlined a stunning PR FAIL. The original post has now been removed, but you’ll get the idea.

As always, photobloggers have captured the imagination of those who have nominated blogs this month. There is this “Almost Daily Photo-Diary of Caithness”. If it rains later on this month, get in the pub. And watch out for this cheeky chappie.

Anas has a lengthy essay about his increasing disillusionment with music.

Something that would certainly make me disillusioned with music would be seeing U2 live. Gary Marshall wrote about his experience watching them perform at Hampden.

Of course, U2 weren’t the only ones putting on a dodgy performance at Hampden this month. Cruachan at Loose Change sums up all there is to say about Scotland’s World Cup challenge. For a slightly more lengthy take, check out Craigblog. For a very in-depth analysis, read Left Back in the Changing Room.

Richard Leyton muses on memory — a funny old thing, I agree.

For a change, Angry Steve was the calm one in this road rage incident.

I’ve been munching on a mince pie while compiling this roundup. Glad I’m not on my own in the early festivities. Mike Smith has noticed shopping channels preparing for Christmas in the middle of August.

On the back of the claim that haggis was actually invented in England, Finally Woken looked at Scottish attempts to claim customs as its own, and compares them with apparent attempts of Malaysia to claim Indonesian symbols as its own.

Redjotter has seen an application for swimming lessons which asks for the child’s name. How is that supposed to make adults wanting lessons feel?

Huttonian wrote about an old and unique bicycle.

And that’s it! And that’s the end of NoPoScoBloRo forever. Sorry the last one was a bit rubbish.

But please still get those nominations coming in, because the next time you can get interesting blogging featured will be this Sunday! So please do utilise the contact from on the right, or email us at scottishroundup@gmail.com. Thanks!

On a calmer note The Ill Man strums his ukelele whilst wearing shorts. I have known the Ill Man for about fifteen years and I’ve never known him to make an exhibition of himself by wearing shorts. I suspect it’s a cry for help.

Elsewhere Dumbarton High Street  remains ‘vibrant’ and ‘interesting’. Do I detect despair behind the chuckles? If the state of Dumbarton High Street leaves you tired of the grind and aching to be far  away but the credit crunch has left you stranded try Biking The Great Divide and marvel at corners of the world free from running potato battles.

Another wonderful find is Scotland in the Gloaming. This and this are the  lucky nominees in this round up but please have a look through the whole blog for more breathtaking pictures taken all over Scotland. Staying with fine Scottish photography flickr-Scotland treat us to this dramatic image.

Islay blog treats us to some views of Islay from old Ordnance Survey maps. Pray that Mr Clairwil never finds out these maps are available online. He’s a pleasant chap but there are only so many times one can have ones street pointed out on a map before becoming a wreck living in terror of the phrase ’shall I get the map?’ Don’t let that put you off reading Islay blog, it really is a fascinating post and I promise you, it won’t haunt you just waiting to hear the words ‘I’m not sure where that is’ before pouncing.

I’m afraid I  have lowered the tone somewhat over at my blog by posting not once but twice on matters related to sex. I don’t make a habit of it but sometimes events provoke a response. I shall endevour to find new topics for the rest of the month.

In light of what I learned during my research for the above posts I worry about this Edinburgh bike dolled up like a strumpet. Oh I know it’s just thinks ‘I’m worth it’ and ‘it’s the fashion’ but there are some funny folk out there. Stay safe bike -that’s all I’m saying.

Speaking of funny folk the mind boggles into what goes on in some parents minds as they redefine the word inappropriate using their own children.

Returning to more wholesame fare, a rather silly newspaper article causes Jay Jay’s mother to become alarmed. She has my sympathy. There is nothing worse than an alarmed mother. My life has been a living hell since mummy started taking the Daily Mail.  There is no reasoning with a mother who has read something in the papers, they’ll take the word of hack they’ve never met over their child every time. All one can do is keep a low profile until it blows over.

John Connell has some wise words on the subject of CCTV in the classroom. I don’t know if the modern child is a better behaved beastie than those of my generation but I can’t help but think that the presence of CCTV in the classrooms of my youth would have encouraged obscene gestures and showboating on a grand scale. Quite how that would ‘assist teacher training’ is beyond me.

Sticking with technology I’m not altogether sure what an HD box is, other than it’s something to do with telly. This chap seems to know his onions though so I’d ask him if you have any questions. I’d only palm you off with something I’d made up about magic and chips. It’d be bollocks and we’d all end up thinking less of each other afterwards.

Crying is nothing a quick skelp with a wet tea towel can’t sort but should the men be getting more practice in? I don’t mind a chap showing a bit of emotion as long as they don’t kick the arse out it. We don’t want men carrying on like those funny women who occasionally turn up at parties monopolise the bathroom for a tear fest.

Finally let me draw your attention to a chap who could be forgiven for crying, having decided to undergo a frightful ordeal for a good cause. Malc in the Burgh has embarked on a fundraiser for the MS Society Scotland and is going to run a marathon to loosen your pursestrings.  Give generously folks.

That’s all for this round up. Keep your eyes peeled for news of the BBQ and call back on Sunday for the political round up hosted by an as yet unconfirmed guest.

Do you ever type “June” when you mean “July”? For some reason, it is one of those bad keyboard tics that I unwittingly employ all the time. It has been the cause of a confusion that I only spotted yesterday. It’s it’s lucky that I did spot it, or there would have been no roundup today. Yikes!

But I caused the error, so it has fallen upon me to step in at the last minute to try and save the day. It does mean that for the second month in a row you have to endure my attempts to package the very best of this month’s Scottish blogging in a handy digest, an endeavour which is not unlike trying to collect water with a net.

Inevitably, the subject that most bloggers were writing about this month was the death of Michael Jackson. Even regular features were hijacked, with Mr Farty producing a Michael Jackson tribute edition of ‘Computer Terms Illustrated’.

Craig collects his favourite bits of Michael Jackson’s career, as well as producing this thoughtful post on Michael Jackson’s life, career and death.

Stephen Glenn recalls his memories of Thriller, the first album he bought.

Tom Harris brought up a point that interests me. The traditional media was clearly struggling to keep up with the story as it unfolded. And it’s not just the fact that the newspapers were already out of date by the time they hit news stands. I wonder how an outlet like TMZ can be so far ahead of traditional media companies. A sign of the times.

Iain Hepburn spotted one PR company, Burkowski, that may have overstepped the mark when it comes to jumping on the bandwagon.

You can’t have failed to spot the sometimes desperate bandwagon-hopping. Local Jacko is a tumblelog dedicated to tenuous mentions of Michael Jackson in local newspapers. It includes this story from the Glasgow Evening Times interviewing his hotel cleaner from when he performed in Glasgow 17 years ago. The cleaner didn’t even like him.

But was there too much coverage of Michael Jackson’s death? Not really says Kezia Dugdale, who thinks that while the global sense of mourning may seem superficial, it is perfectly understandable.

Sistah in Scotland would rather that the people mourning his death “GET A FRICKIN’ GRIP!”

But according to Caron, this type of mourning is nothing new. She notes the comparisons between Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley.

Moving on to other topics now. Those good people at Glasgow Guerilla Gardening are trying to get their site at Townhead looking good for the spring. They invite you to join The Ten Thousand Bulb Challenge where you can donate bulbs or cash to help brighten up this part of Glasgow.

On the back of Roger Federer winning more tennis Grand Slams than anyone else in history, Malc asks who the greatest sportsman of our generation is. What do you think? I’m afraid four of them are mere games players, while Michael Schumacher was a serial cheat so no-one wins that award from me.

Meanwhile, Kat at Wearing the Troosers looks at Scotland’s first female Muslim football club, Ansar Women’s FC. But Fifa’s rules can prevent players from wearing the hijab on “safety grounds”, which means that the club will not be able to play its league games as anticipated. “Not just sexist, but also racist” is Kat’s verdict.

Another post of Kat’s looks at ten reasons why Scotland is suffering from a “brain drain”. It’s all depressing enough. Are they good enough reasons to motivate someone to leave in the “Homecoming” year? Big Rab, referring to Jackie Stewart (resident in Switzerland) has his own thoughts:

Maybe it’s just me but the Year of Homecoming seems to be characterised by people who have been successful and buggered off out of Scotland to forever pay their taxes elsewhere.

It is apt that the new website Dear Scotland was brought to our attention this month. It focuses on Scottish bands that are gallivanting around the world. There, Alec Downie writes about “our tragic national tradition that sees our brightest minds scattered like wilting heather around the globe.” He does, however, find that Scottish music induces homesickness.

Staying with the music theme, Lis at Last Year’s Girl is celebrating a staggering ten years in blogging. She does so by publishing an old post about her first T in the Park.

Meanwhile, one classic advert is celebrating its twentieth anniversary. Sara hails its return. But check out those subtle changes in the new version. What they say about political correctness must be true.

Jackie Walker asks, why was Humpty Dumpty sitting on the wall?

I write this roundup smack in the middle of a typical Scottish summer. Personally I find the heat difficult to cope with. You might think that those sporadic rain showers might offer relief, but the unpredictability is infuriating. I went out for one of my regular walks around the park this week wearing short sleeves. I came home drenched.

Gordon McLean had a similarly changeable commute home, but it sounds like he had a much better visual spectacle. It’s a shame they were unable to photograph it, but the description is vivid enough.

At least we have Amy Palko’s collection of rainbow photographs to compensate.

We always like a bit of photography here on NoPoScoBloRo. Flickr Scotland features this intriguing photograph of a flock of geese following a power glider. It was all a ruse by a couple of people that wanted to film the geese.

Meanwhile, Tour Scotland Photographs brought back memories for another Scottish expat, Colin Campbell, who recounts part of his Fife childhood.

Not so visually appealing is this example of how not to do user-generated content, as unearthed by Gary.

Jeff Zycinski shows the fluffier side of the BBC, recounting his attempts to calm down a couple, one of whom had been trapped in a car park lift. Is it just me or are most stories about malfunctioning lifts specifically about those in car parks?…

And that wraps up this month’s non-political roundup! Look out for the next one which will be published on 19 August. We could always do with more suggestions to be included. So if you see any interesting bloggery, please do send them in using the contact form on the right, or by emailing scottishroundup@gmail.com. Or you can tweet us @ScottishRoundup.

Please also get in contact if you would be up for editing the roundup one day, as I am hoping to get some fresh faces involved. Thanks!

There was great news this month as the truly execrable Sandi Thom totally lost her rag — over a slightly negative review. Anyone who has had the misfortune to hear her terrible song where she sings about punk rockers that had flowers in their hair would think that “it was awful” is a bit of an understatement. But that is the verdict that tempted Ms Thom to pen this “musical ditty” which showcases her diverse lyrical talents to the full. Did someone touch a raw nerve?

The person who dared to call her music awful was none other than former blogger Andrew Learmonth, who has been featured in Scottish Roundup from time to time. Misssy M has the full lowdown.

In other creativity news, Gary Marshall has written a novel. But why didn’t he say before?

The excellent Scotland in the Gloaming blog — which showcases excellent photography of Scotland, er, in the gloaming — has become a regular on NoPoScoBloRo. This month it has produced another cracker in the shape of Sunray.

Keeping with the (sort of) ethereal theme, Radio Scotland chief Jeff Zycinski took a trip to Galaxy’s headquarters. Would have been good if it was the chocolate — he might have got some free samples. But instead it was the radio station for a bit of a chin-wag.

The post brings an insight into the way Galaxy is operated. Nowadays those painfully unfunny links being broadcast on an ostensibly Scottish station are brought to you from London by a presenter who is actually presenting on several “local” stations at once, with local references added in using computers. I’ve just taken a look into the dark future of local radio, and I don’t think I like it!

Probably better to stick to local sources like The Edinburgh Rock Network, who are much more likely to have their finger on the pulse of the local music scene.

Some more authentic local commentary comes from Mike Smith, who asks what home means to you, with Refugee Week in mind.

This month saw the tragic death of Dumbarton football player Gordon Lennon. Big Rab led the tributes from the blogosphere. He was a well-liked footballer, as can be seen from this discussion at Pie and Bovril.

My father has been a Dumbarton supporter all his life, and we all shared our thoughts on Gordon Lennon’s death. Here is my father’s post and here are my brother’s thoughts. I also wrote about Gordon Lennon, just a few weeks after attending my first Dumbarton match in years, the day the squad effectively sealed the Division 3 Championship.

There has been other football news, and Big Rab cast his eye over the SLP’s latest crisis.

Mr H is none too impressed with Susan Boyle’s apparent inability to work for more than a few minutes. Is more compassion required, or is she a scam artist?

Sticking with the theme of reality television, Cameron McEwan watches it so that you don’t have to. I can’t say I watch much television these days. I prefer to prevent my brain from rotting. As such, most of this stuff sadly goes right over my head. But I’m told it’s good.

Some of us end up spending our time staring into a different screen — increasingly the screen of a fancy-pants phone. I’ve been spending this evening trying to download the new iPhone software. Sadly, it seems as though millions of other users decided to do the same, and it’s taken hours. But Lis has had even more trouble with her phone, or more precisely with her phone’s network provider, 3.

Angry Steve is keeping an eye on the labour market (join the club), but “>he takes issue with recruitment agencies’ love of certifications. Why, he asks, does it matter if they haven’t got certifications if they’ve got plenty of experience in that line of work?

Armin Grewe reported on the happenings at Education 2020, and unconference about the future of education which took place on Islay. It includes the now-obligatory mention of Twitter. The use of Twitter in the classroom is an interesting one. Colinton Primary School is one school which is giving it a go.

Thankfully, Colinton’s tweets seem to be more sensible than the teacher at an Argyll and Bute school whose use of Twitter raised some eyebrows and is now being investigated. James Coltham has some thoughts on the appropriate use of Twitter by “tweechers”.

This seems like an apposite point to advertise the fact that I have finally decided that Scottish Roundup should have its own Twitter account. The Twitter account will immediately be updated as soon as a new Roundup is published, and I will also update on how things are progressing so you don’t have to wait around twiddling your thumbs if it’s a bit late. You can, of course, also use it to suggest any great bloggery you have seen by sending a tweet to @ScottishRoundup.

A quick mention also for Scotweb2, a project about Web 2.0 in Scotland. The second event will be held at The Melting Pot on Rose Street in Edinburgh on Friday. See here for more details. Keep an eye on the Scotweb2 blog and Twitter account. Both will be updated with news on the event. And for Twitter, the hashtag is (can you guess) #scotweb2.

That’s all for this month. Next month’s NoPoScoBloRo will be edited by Misssy M. Don’t forget the political roundups if you’re that way inclined. This Sunday’s will be edited by Will P.

For either roundup, get those nominations in! We are always grateful for more suggestions. So use the contact form on the left, or email scottishroundup@gmail.com. Or, indeed, tweet us @ScottishRoundup. Thanks!