Prize guys WITH the swish and swagger of the Brit Awards taking place a few days ago, our readers may be wondering why the Diary doesn’t have its own prize-giving ceremony. The answer, of course, is that appearing in the Diary is reward enough. It’s such an illustrious achievement that it may eventually make its way onto the headstones of many of our contributors. Carved in stone will be: ‘Here lies so-and-so. Proud mother (or father) to two lovely children. Captain of industry. Leader of nations. Loved by many. Admired by all. And – most importantly – the originator of a crackpot comment published in The Herald Diary.’
News just in… Reader Ron Cowley has spotted Elvis (with his trusty bicycle) on the balcony of a first floor flat in Denia, Costa Blanca in Spain. And we’re warning you. Anybody who claims it’s just a mannequin kitted out to look like El
Coatish concerns IN tomorrow evening’s STV documentary Billy Connolly: It’s Been A Pleasure, celebrity chums and the Big Yin himself reminisce about his career in what is being billed as a final farewell. Meanwhile, another of Billy’s buddies, novelist Kathy Lette, has revealed what she adores most about her friend, explaining he’s “not only wildly witty and deliciously self-deprecating, but without any self-pity”.
SEPTEMBER, 1977. One thousand CND supporters are marching the six miles from Dunoon to Ardnadam Pier to protest the presence of the US Polaris submarine base in the Holy Loch. The march is led by the Monktonhall Colliery Pipe Band, but as the marchers approach Ardnadam three young Japanese people in traditional dress, and beating drums, take up position at the head of the march. At the pierhead a short silence is observed in memory of the dead of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The demonstrators adjourned to Lazaretto Point, on the shores of Holy Loch, to listen to speeches (the speakers included STUC secretary James Milne and Lord MacLeod, of Fuinary) calling for the removal of the base and for Britain to commit to unilateral nuclear disarmament.
HAVE you ever visited the Louvre, back when Anglo-French relations allowed such things, and found yourself in the gallery where the Old Masters are displayed? There you will discover a particularly well executed sketch by da Vinci, which goes by the name of the Mona Lisa. As this is a rather famous little etching, we may as well dispense with formalities and call her Mona. What art lovers usually do when visiting the Louvre is check out Mona’s enigmatic smile for a couple of minutes, then move on to glance at other paintings. (It’s the Louvre. They’ve got one or two.)