Balmaha
[pronounced BAL ma ha]
Balmaha is a village 20 miles north of Glasgow with spectacular views over Loch Lomond. Busy with tourists in summer, Balmaha is nearly empty in winter.
"Chinny chin, chin again"
Sadie’s “Chinny chin, chin again” is from the nursery rhyme:
There was an old man called Michael Finnigan,
He grew whiskers on his chinigin.
The wind blew up and blew them in agin,
Poor old Michael Finnigan – Begin agen:
There was an old man called Michael Finnigan,
He kicked up an awful dinigin,
Because they said he must not singagin
Poor old Michael Finnigan, Begin agen:
There was an old man called Michael Finnigan,
He went fishing with a pinagin,
Caught a fish but dropped it inagin,
Poor old Michael Finnigan, Begin agen:
There was an old man called Michael Finnigan,
Climbed a tree and barked his shinnigan,
Tore off yards and yards of skinnigan,
Poor old Michael Finnigan, Begin agen:
There was an old man called Michael Finnigan,
He grew fat and he grew thinagin,
Then he died and had to be bornagen,
Poor old Michael Finnigan
You can listen to the nursery rhyme:
http://www.songsforteaching.com/childrenssongslyrics/artists/marlalewis/s/michaelfinnigan.mp3
Garibaldi Biscuit
A Garibaldi biscuit consists of currants mashed between two thin, biscuits—a currant sandwich, often eaten with and dunked into coffee or tea. The biscuits have been around the UK for nearly 150 years.
The biscuit got its name from the Italian General, Giuseppe Garibaldi, who encouraged his starving men to eat flies squished between bread.
Glasgow
Source: http://www.marquee-hire.info
Glasgow is the second largest city in Scotland, after Edinburgh. Scotland is one of four countries in the UK, along with England, Northern Ireland and Wales.
Glasgow City Centre:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deBPiuidG2Q&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deBPiuidG2Q&feature=related
A city of music: Songs and video footage of Glasgow
“I belong to Glasgow”
by Will Fyfe famous singer-songwriter who died in 1947 sings about the tearing up of the old Glasgow to make way for new industries—some of which never arrived:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNrVkDqPsbM&feature=related
“I was born in Glasgow”
by Billy Connolly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDXIYFDlC38&feature=related
“I wish I were in Glasgow”
Billy Connolly. Laments the communities torn down in the 1960s to make way for urban progress.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Sx5jN4x1Z4&feature=related
Marks and Spencer’s café
Marks and Spencer is a mid-range department store, something like Macy’s.
Penguins
Penguin biscuits are milk chocolate-covered biscuit bars filled with chocolate cream.
Produced since 1932, Each wrapper has a joke or fun fact and a portrait of a penguin skating, surfing, swimming, or kayaking.
Television
Bill and Sadie don't watch TV because it can induce fits, but Sadie would like to watch soaps.
Jackie says she “couldn’t help thinking about telly Noels.”
Both Crossroads, an old TV show, and the The Multicoloured Swap Shop, a kids’ show have presenters/actors called Noel/lle. And Noel Edmunds famously (in the UK) presented a Christmas show.
Taggart
The one show everyone in Scotland knows or watches is Taggart. The grizzly noir Scottish detective TV program is the UK's longest-running police drama. It features a group of detectives and is set in and around Glasgow. Its film noir quality, along with its stunning setting contributed to the series’ success—even after the death of the titular character. After 28 years, the English and Welsh ITV Network stopped producing Taggart in 2011, but the series is still wildly popular in re-runs. Taggart is available on DVD from Amazon.
Dave’s wine bar doesn't have a TV, but here are the news shows Jackie and Dave might see at home:
BBC Scotland's The News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/scotland/glasgow_and_west/
STV's Scotland Tonight
http://news.stv.tv/scotland-tonight/
Victoria sponge
Victoria sponge is a classic British cake named after Queen Victoria served at afternoon teas. Light and airy with layers of jam and cream sandwiched between the two cake layers.
Ingredients:
knob of butter, melted 1 cup (8oz) butter, softened 1 cup (8oz) sugar 4 large free-range eggs 2 tsp vanilla extract 1 cup (8oz) all-purpose flour, sifted (you may need a bit extra) 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt
For the filling:
strawberry jam 1 cup heavy whipping cream, lightly whipped
To serve:
powdered sugar, for dusting
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Gently heat the knob of butter in a pan and brush two 8 inch cake tins with the melted butter. Line the bottom of the two cake tins with a circle of greaseproof paper.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until pale and creamy, using an electric whisk or a wooden spoon. Beat well to ensure you get lots of air into the mixture. Beat in the eggs one at a time. You want to avoid the mixture curdling, so that it stays airy. If it does curdle, add a tbsp of flour. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Fold the flour mixture into the wet ingredients using a large metal spoon (this will cut into the mixture better than a wooden spoon). Be careful not to over-mix it. Pour the mixture equally between the two cake tins and level.
Place in the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the cakes are well-risen, spring back when pressed gently with a finger and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and set aside for 5 minutes, then remove from the tin and peel off the paper. Place onto a wire rack and let cool completely, about an hour. Sandwich the cakes together with the jam and whipped cream. Dust with powdered sugar and serve.
Source for Victoria sponge cake recipe: www.eatliverun.com
Where do Sadie & Bill live?
Sadie and Bill live in a council owned flat or public housing in the East End of Glasgow. Council houses are mostly owned by the local government (the councils) and rented out at reduced rates to the unemployed, elderly and those on welfare or benefits.Close to schools and universities and full of working artists at the beginning of their careers, some East End Glasgow neighborhoods are trendy and cool in a funkier sort of way than the West End. But, Sadie & Bill don’t live in one of the hip neighborhoods close by. While much of Glasgow is stunning, they live in an old tenement in the east end of the city. The chances of Sadie and Bill, who are on the care register, of securing an apartment in newer council housing is slim to none. Their tenement is badly in need of renovation.
A recent Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development report on Glasgow noted the city was developing a two track economy: bands of remarkable regeneration and prosperity alongside areas of continuing deprivation and exclusion; this applies to the East End.
Here’s an article about the poorer neighborhoods in the East End:
Aug 29 2008 By Lachlan Mackinnon
Men born in Glasgow's deprived east end will die nine years before men born in India. And male children born a 15-minute drive away in affluent Lenzie can expect to live 28 years longer.
A World Health Organisation report out yesterday revealed life expectancy for a male child born in Calton, Glasgow, was just 54. In India, the figure is 63.
John Dickie, head of the Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland, said: "This report provides a brutal example of the damage poverty and inequality does to children's life chances.
"It is completely unacceptable that in 21st century Scotland, in one of the richest countries in the world, a child's life expectancy can be undermined by the circumstances they are born into.
"As the report makes clear, there is nothing inevitable about this. The last 10 years have seen real progress in tackling child poverty in the UK but action has not gone nearly far enough. "The Chancellor must invest the £3billion urgently needed to boost child benefits and tax credits.
"And government at Holyrood and Westminster must do far more to tackle the poverty pay and lack of affordable childcare that undermines work as a route out of poverty."
Source: Ian R. Mitchell -Walking in Glasgow's East End
http://www.glasgowwestend.co.uk/out/outdoors/brigtoncross.html
Why are Sadie and Bill living on their own?
Margaret Thatcher, “The Iron Lady” of the film title, was Prime Minister from 1979-1990. In the 1980s, she implemented a policy of deinstitutionalization, which mandated treating and caring for physically and mentally disabled people in their homes rather than in institutions because first, it was cheaper; and second, Conservatives (her party) believed that state provision was bureaucratic and inefficient. In January 1998, the Labor Health Secretary, Frank Dobson, said the care in the community program launched by the Conservatives had failed.
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