There were no nominations this week so I’ve done what any self-respecting editor would do and imposed my own nominations on you all.  This week’s RoundUp consists of ten 16 of my favourite blogposts this week, chosen with a little help from Ellen over at In a Bun Dance (with whom I appear to have in common, an occasional coup of a house).

So, for one week only, here are a few of the Burdz favourite blog things.  And a diverse and wonderful gallimaufry they are too.

First up, Scots Whay Hae! who posts a great round-up of his own, of good choons from Scottish bands in the last month and a review of the new Iain Banks’s novel, which made me want to rush out and buy it.  So I did.  And you’ll do the same (I hope).

Next, a great blogpost from Is there a Plan B? on the environmental trials and tribulations of nappy provision and what to do with them (you might want to eat your breakfast before reading this one).  Ah, the guilt of motherhood, tis a wondrous thing.

There’s always something of interest and plenty to raise a smile and even, a laugh out loud moment, over at the Ben Lomond Free Press.  I was tickled by the poetry on offer this week, and more especially being reminded of the importance of friendship.

And just to take things a mite more serious, one of my essential reads every week is the lovely Audrey Birt’s breast cancer blog whose most recent missive encourages us all to visit Scotland more often.

They say a picture paints a thousand words (or something like that).  Sarah Rooftops’ blogpost this week is no exception.  Not a word beyond introduction is needed to tell the story of a big event in Aberdeen this week.  Superb photies.

But if it’s words you’re looking for, look no further than Lallands Peat Worrier.  There are plenty in his treatise on devolution and the social disunion of the United Kingdom, but every one is a winner.  Warning – this blogpost will make the wheels turn furiously.  Not to be tackled with a hangover.

Also offering some very wise words this week is Love and Garbage, who displays a distinct lack of local election fever and whose experience explains eloquently why apathy reigns.  The Reid Foundation also visits the issue of voter disengagement and decides that it isn’t the people who are broken.

Visiting Rangers Tax Case has become a regular feature in my blogging world, despite carrying no torch for Rangers (I won’t extend this metaphor for fear of inviting opprobrium to the pages of the Scottish Round Up), because it visits the parts of this saga the MSM are incapable of, or do not wish to, dissect.  This week, the Miller preferred bid.  Lanced.

Bright Green Scotland continues to deserve its plaudits as one of the most thoughtful and creative political blogs around.  20 Ways to Change the Way We Eat promoted the wonderful Fife Diet’s council manifesto which we should all promote to whichever colour of council we end up with.

Finnish lessons were the order of the day over at Another Side of Lesley Riddoch whose podcast discusses a fabulous Nordic Horizons event which considered Finland’s approach to education.  A must listen for any parent or teacher tearing their hair out.

Being a political anorak, I’ve rather enjoyed all the blogposts dissecting and analysing the local council election results.  Dispatches from Paisley has a very tidy summation which captures it all really.  And a fantastic post from Moridura looking at media commentators’ responses to the SNP’s performance.  Guess what?  They all had lots of measured things to say.  Not that you’d know if you visit some other Nationalist blogs (which won’t be linked to here).

There’s a very honest and painful dissection of the Liberal Democrats’ pitiful performance last week from Gavin Hamilton (the View from the Hills).  Ian Smart, who makes me laugh probably more than is proper, also has a far from triumphalist look at Labour’s performance.

And finally, my least favourite blogpost this week.  My ain round up of all the council results.  Ach, it’ll take a couple of hours I thought, it will be a scoosh.  And interesting I’m sure to somebody somewhere.

Ha!  Thanks to the BBC’s decision to do something bizarre with the results and gains and losses, it was the worst twelve hours of my life.  First drafting, then checking and re-checking, then changing, then apologising to everyone everywhere.  Never. again.  And no you can’t have a link to it.

 

I was going to start today’s offering with some fluffery and chocolate cakes, yet when I read a post by Juliet Swan on Better Nation I knew that more domestic things would have to wait. Juliet makes the outstandingly obvious observation that surely politics must promote equality.

This led me to find out more about Juliet and she blogs in her own right. She asks if gravitas is a euphemism for male. I often wonder if the same thing happens in the blogosphere and I’ve no reason to think it doesn’t as blogs reflect “real life”. Perhaps when women blog – particularly when they have also blogged about domestic matters – it has less clout than a blokey blog. Notable exceptions including Caron and Nic. If this bewilders you, as luck would have it, Is There A Plan B has some advice on how to be a feminist.

Right, now, gravitas out of the way, here’s how you might fill your Easter break.

First to the cakes. (I was going to make some comment about it being possible to be a feminist and still make wonderful cakes, but I thought better of it.)

The Scottish Mum Blog has a sweetie cake and Susan K Mann has a gingerbread house.

For many it’s a weekend off and what could be better than messing about on a boat. Scottishboating tells of a trip to Germany, but also hints at a juicy tale of arresting a ship “The whole episode involved time spent in the faculty library studying precedents and working out how one should nail the writ to a vessel with no masts.” I do hope a future post tells this tale.

If you fancy a spot of culture, Scottish Art Blog reviews the RSA New Contemporaries Exhibition.

Lower brow, after some hemming and hawing I took the kids to see The Hunger Games. See how we got on.

And the weather? Crazy isn’t it. Hawth discusses fluffy rain and howling winds.

Morning all. The good people of the Roundup have foolishly left their back door open again, so I’ve sneaked into the opulent editor’s suite for a good rummage through the blog drawer. Here are the best posts I found inside.

We begin with Turing. The extraordinary codebreaker was vital in World War II’s victory, but he took his own life in 1954. Mairi at From Speaker’s Corner reflects on his conviction of the then-crime of homosexuality, the horrible medical interventions which tried to “fix” him and the arguments for and against an official government apology for his treatment.

And moving from an act that should never have been a crime to one which too often is not treated as one, Sarah Lauren Scott writes about her participation in an upcoming documentary about sexual violence.

We pause now for a public service announcement. This week, the Roundup has received several nominations for blogs rather than specific blogposts. As this is a roundup of the week’s best writing rather than a Top of the Pops style weekly chart, please remember to nominate a particular post. (For younger readers, Top of the Pops was a music show where pop stars mimed their hits and Radio 1 DJs cracked awful jokes. I miss it terribly).

Anyway, back to the blog drawer. As usual, quite a lot of people are exercised about politics, none more so than the Cybernats. They are unimpressed with David Cameron’s speech at the Conservative’s knees-up in Troon, and their sentiments are echoed by Justified Spinner, who takes issue with Iain Duncan Smith’s latest attack on the SNP.

This week saw not only the Tories’ tryst in Troon but also the (Os)Borne Budget. It’s a bit like the Bourne trilogy, only longer and less exciting. Aidan at Better Nation produced an impressive analysis that frankly went right over my head, my Higher Economics being but a distant memory of guns and butter. And the Burd followed up her budget scrutiny with some gentle lampooning of the Unionist parties’ choice of Yes campaign leaders.

From politics to poop, avoiding the temptation to draw an analogy between the two, oor ain Ellen at In a Bun Dance writes about her attempts to get her toddler to use a potty, and his sweetly firm determination not to.

And finally, the hands-down winner of the Post of the Week award that I’ve just invented and will probably forget about immediately, Ruth at Dorky Mum produces a moving and measured account of a visit to the West Bank. If you read nothing else this week, read this.

Right, I think I can hear someone coming, so I’d better tidy up all these blog posts and leg it. Cheerybye!

Edited by Douglas Daniel

This is my first roundup, and as someone who generally sticks to the politics area of the Scottish blogosphere, it’s been interesting looking through lots of blogs which have nothing at all to do with politics, which is obviously the whole point of the roundup – to give a glimpse of the breadth and depth of the kind of blogs that are out there.

Let’s start off with Captain Scotland, a superhero who is coming to terms with his new-found superpowers and the side-effects they bring, including having to remain sober while watching the Scottish rugby team (a rather daunting task). It’s quite a new blog, only starting up last month, and I’d recommend going back to read the first few entries, so you get an idea of the backstory. One thing Captain Scotland could do with is a logo, so perhaps he could take the advice of David Wong, writing in Rookie Oven, who explains the hallmarks of a good logo (wish we’d had this advice when I was in a band…)

Sarah Rooftops talks about accepting the imperfections in a relationship, while Felicity Fox seems to have a similar tactic, which she calls the “long leash theory”. Not so sure about comparing us blokes to dogs though! Although perhaps a dog is just the solution to the problem posed by Fitba That Ba…

Brian Pope blogs on more familiar territory for me, noticing that the Scottish Government’s list of “shovel-ready” projects that have been presented to Westminster is rather sparse in terms of South of Scotland projects, and wonders if this represents a missed opportunity. Over at That Guy From Easterhouse, Kenneth Murray backs Asda’s move to ask suppliers to continue sending normal branded goods to their Scottish (and Northern Irish) supermarkets, rather than ones branded with Union Jacks.

Sticking with politics for a moment, Edinburgh Eye bemoans the lack of female representation in politics, a view echoed by Kirsty over at Better Nation while congratulating Leanne Wood on becoming Plaid Cymru’s new leader. The always excellent Burd (aka Kate) has brought attention to the alarming number of families who are going to be forced to do some recalculating of the household finances in the face of the Tory cuts to child tax credits, and a bit less close to home, Dorky Mum asks us to sign up to Save The Children’s petition to stop the killing in Syria.

Talking of mums (dorky or otherwise), as it’s Mothering Sunday, we’ll end on In A Bun Dance, where Ellen tells mothers to stop aspiring to silly standards set by TV parenting shows and super-slim celebrity mums and ask themselves a few simple questions to determine if they’re a good mother or not. I would add “do their old school friends still remember those fine home made chips you made them 25 years ago?” to the list, but I’m just showing off because my mum’s food is legendary. She is, of course, the best mum in the world, and she’ll continue to prove that by making lots of fine cakes with the food mixer she’s getting from me and my sister…

The Scottish Roundup is a wonderful and varied thing. That it covers politics and parenting, folk music and football is testament to the rich seam of blogs we are mining in Scotland.

When I take my shot at editing I find the job invariably takes me longer than it should as I discover new blogs or read wonderful posts from old favourites. But I don’t mind as I am informed, moved and amused by turn.

However, I’ve noticed that of late there haven’t been quite so many nominations for blog posts. Perhaps everyone is busy living the life rather than blogging about it…

So I’m writing this as an appeal, a reminder if you like, let us know what you’ve written or read that you want to share. Don’t be shy, if you’re pleased with a post of your own, send it over. Blog Images and videos work too.

Nominations by Twitter @scottishroundup or on the form here please.

Thank you.