It is great to be back doing a guest editorial for the Scottish Round Up team, I hope you enjoy the eclectic mix.

In the week where every broadcaster has been reporting on the snow, the cold or the traffic not moving because of the snow, it seems bloggers have got in on the act as well.  Love and Garbage has a live snow blog, well worth a read to get, well, erm live updates on the snow and Ken MacLeod demands to know what this strange substance falling from the sky is?

Carons Musings’ explains how West Lothian Council’s snow communications were excellent, having a dedicated helpline, website page and using facebook and twitter to maximum effect.

The snow meant that all Scottish football games bar one were off this weekend, so I blogged about the Edinburgh Capitals ice hockey teams proposals for all football season ticket holders – they beat the Belfast Giants last night and tonights face-off at Murrayfield ice rink is 6pm.

I have started writing match reports for Deadline News.

Alasdair McGill explains why he’s glad he broke his collarbone, as he continues to learn who his true friends are and there is a sort of challenge from Alasdair – you try to put your socks on with just one hand!

Love and Garbage has a post titled “Her illness” – please read this one if you do nothing else today, but you may well need a tissue!

From that tear jerk post to the other side of the compass, Andy G sends us an update from Campa World.

In Holyrood this week, Margo MacDonald MSP introduced her Bill, the End of Life Assistance Bill which was rejected.  Martin Kelly heaves a gentle sigh of relief, for now while Absolvitor explains why they would have voted against the Bill, had they been an MSP and Lallands Peat Warrior writes a balanced account of the debate and vote.

In Westminster the big debate is still about tuition fees, Caron has advice from outside the bubble for Lib Dem MPs while over at Better Nation they compare what devolution has to offer students.

We also saw St. Andrews Day this week and the Universalityof Cheese muses over Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama’s card while Michael Moore MP writes on Lib Dem Voice about strengthening Scotland’s future with the introduction of the Scotland Bill and A Burdz Eye View tells us of Scotland’s other Patron Saint.

The following day was World AIDS day, the internationally recognised day when we remember those we have lost to AIDS over the years, raise awareness of HIV and work to fight HIV prejudice.  Waverley Care explain their work and appeal for funds and help.

New-Right questions whether the National Conversation has misfired?  Bella Caledonia asks why Scotland doesn’t have a foreign policy?

Now onto music, Gillain Martin or Misssy M to us fellow bloggers wants us to meet not only Meester M but his band, The Lorelei and for those of us with an i-pod, we really should download some Christmas aye-tunes.  Sticking with music via a very loose musical link, into art, Alastair Braidwood explains how being an overnight success takes a long time.

Caron and Andrew both blog about former x-factor contestant Gamu Nhengu who sining with Aberlour Choir is trying to push Simon Cowell off the number one spot at Christmas – the single, Where will you sleep this Christmas? is released as a download on the 13th December.

The Edinburgh Reporter has a not so live blog on a night of horror.

Moving onto fairer votes, ie the referendum being held on the 5th May 2011 there is a great piece on Fairer Votes Edinburgh’s website explaing the Alternative Vote – Vote Early, Vote Often – I will leave aside my personal views on STV versus AV, that’s a whole round up of its own.

As bugs bunny used to say, that’s all folks, enjoy the rest of your weekend and if you spot any good blog posts let the team know at @ScottishRoundUp for next weeks round up.

Well it’s my first time here at the Scottish Roundup, I was feeling rather relaxed about it until I started reading articles on some of the nominated blogs, articles relating to both spelling and grammar, with Mike Ritchie noting:

“There is so much available to read as social media continues to expand but, unfortunately, a lot of it is riddled and marred by bad spelling and poor grammar. To me, rightly or otherwise, such factors indicate a sloppiness and a questionable attitude to detail.”

Then there’s Ellen Arnison at In a Bun Dance who recently noticed a spelling mistake in the London Aquarium, I’m sure to be under scrutiny!

This roundup will be a tour heading from the South to the North of Scotland focusing on what’s going on around Scotland at this point in the summer.

In Ayrshire, Socrates MacSporran discusses the upcoming London Olympics and the relevance of ‘team GB’ to “a small far away country of which we know little” (a title we may have previously been referred to as).

Sandy Stevenson provides us with many photos of Scotland, old and new, on Tour Scotland Photographs, from a statue of a dwarf near Peebles, to a crannog in Loch Tay.

On the Paisley Blog Brian McGuire discusses the problems Scottish holiday makers have as they miss their local food and drink: “A survey of passengers at Glasgow Airport has also revealed that Irn Bru and square sausage are the items holidaymakers miss the most.” Thankfully plans are in place to ensure they can get what they’ve been missing, before they even leave the airport.

Scotchpotch has an interesting poll currently, asking, “Should we pulverise The Proclaimers and make Leith (the place that spawned them) into a landfill site for Edinburgh?” The current result is very close so ensure to get your vote in!

The Edinburgh Festival posts have started to appear throughout the blogosphere, with the Arts Extravaganza already underway in the city and not long until the Fringe starts. The Edinburgh Spotlight is previewing some of the opportunities available to you, including dining 100ft in the air above Princes Street Gardens.

Throughout the country, university students are destined to be part of Coca Cola’s recent marketing campaign with new vending machines described on Revolver blog which may bring ‘happiness to all’!

Secret Scotland highlights one of the risks of being a tourist in Scotland – the midge – which he claims “It looks as if the Scottish midge has its roots in Glasgow, and taken after the example of the city’s legendary ‘hard’ men”.

Over at Other Aberdeen we get some pointers on the etymology of Mounthoolie, the name of a large roundabout in Aberdeen, a roundabout which has been designated by Aberdeen City Council as an ‘Urban Green Space’. “It’s ours, all ours to enjoy whenever we want to. But how is it possible to enjoy a roundabout?” Well you’ll have to visit Other Aberdeen to find out.

My Nairn recommends a trip to the Highland Aviation Museum, where there’s been a recent addition of a Nimrod that reached the museum by road. There are not many museums left where you can actually clamber into the exhibits.

Wendy from a Wee Bit of Cooking shares a great shot (as usual) from a road trip to Ullapool. Then we head to Caithness, where Not Delia visits the Caithness Smokehouse; the most northerly UK mainland smokehouse for our most northerly blog link of this roundup. Not Delia informs us that “[the smokehouse owner] is willing to smoke pretty much any foodstuffs his customers care to bring him”.

Now if you feel you’ve not had quite enough links to keep you going all week, Biogal at Panoptifier has provided you with a list of interesting links, from Bromosexuals to Juanita W. Goggins. If you’d like a quick extra laugh The Big Dollop can provide you with the kind of antics which you may expect more from the Duke of Edinburgh than the Prince of Wales.

That’s a small selection of what’s going on in Scotland, with quite a few new blogs in the mix. Please submit your nominations by using the form on the right of the Scottish Roundup site or by email to scottishroundup@gmail.com or by tweeting @ScottishRoundup.

This has been a strange week in politics in some respects but obviously politics isn’t the be all and end all of life as we know it (apparently) and therefore there are other topics that I have covered in this weeks roundup

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.

Hi everyone. Yes, it’s true. After a year, the non-political roundup experiment is being brought to an end. Most agreed that it was better to now re-merge the two roundups, so we will be reverting back to one roundup every Sunday covering the whole blogosphere.

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!

Welcome to what is for me,  a particularly exciting round up. Why the excitement? Well the blogosphere has sent me a sign that I am not be alone in my loathing of Adrian Chiles. He is a man simply designed for slapping yet he peers from our televisions five nights a week and no one does anything. Please do take the time to read this splendid rant from Mr H  which actually deals with Chiles fairly quickly before getting to the chief source of his rage  -  a particularly offensive cover of Countryfile magazine.

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.