Last weekend, I went to Oran Mor‘s annual vintage sale. There was a great array of clothes, jewellery and bags – each with its own unique vintage twist. I think my favourite was one jewellery stall where there were rings, each with a different Scrabble letter attached!

Check out my photo story below for some colourful pictures of the event!

At the beginning of October, Amazon announced they would release an international version of their US bestseller Kindle – originally named Kindle 2 International Version!

Both the Kindle and Kindle 2 have both been widely praised and criticised. If you look at the Amazon website, as is to be expected, there is a lovely American cheesy video where Kindle customers talk about how their lives have been enhanced by this new device.

The main advantages of the Kindle are its portability, light weight and easy design. As one happy customer said, he can now read while he travels and this has increased his ability to read more frequently. With the advent of the iPhone and similar phone/laptops/music players, the Kindle does seem to be just another extension of this. No longer will anyone finish their book on their travels and be bored without a replacement – the Kindle can hold up to 1500 non-illustrated books.

But the Kindle is not as perfect as Amazon are marketing it to be. One American writer, Nicholson Baker, wrote a lengthy feature for the Guardian. In summary, Baker says that while he was sucked into the Kindle culture, he soon realised it had many downfalls. First up, the screen is grey and difficult to read off. Furthermore, no illustrations are possible in the Kindle, detracting from the colourful imagery that can add to many novels.

So, there are both upsides and downfalls to the Kindle. Although I am interested to see one first hand, I doubt I will shell out the new, reduced price of $259. There is something about having a tangible object to show for hours of reading and a physical representation of your favourite book that can’t be replaced by an electronic device.

On Tuesday morning, Christine and I went to the Celtic Connections Press Launch at the Royal Concert  Hall.

First we heard from Ann Loughrey, Head of CSR for ScottishPower – Celtic Connections’ Principal Sponsor. She spoke about how glad ScottishPower are to yet again support the festival. This year, they are also launching the ScottishPower Powerful Performance schools competition, to give one school group the chance to appear as part of the music festival.

We then heard about the extensive Education Programme of the Festival. Finally, Donald Shaw, Artistic Director, announced this year’s kine-up, highlighting some of the great things we can look forward to in January.

Christine and I were also able to interview Jade Hewat, the Festival Manager. Below you can listen to some more details of the Festival and our interview with Jade.

Celtic Connections Press Launch

In its 25th year, the Turner Prize competition has begun. On 6th October, the nominees began exhibiting their work at the Tate Britain and will continue to do so until the winner is announced on 7th December.

Of this year’s four nominees, two hail from our own bonnie Scotland. Glasgow-born Lucy Skaer is exhibiting her works, which include a sperm whale’s skull and 26 skittle-like objects modelled from compressed coal dust:

Richard Wright, also from Glasgow, is most well-known for his epic walls of art. For the Turner Prize, he has covered an entire wall of his gallery space in gold-leaf, as shown below:

Despite coming from the same city as one of his fellow nominees, the competitive nature of Wright has not been quashed. In fact, the night before the opening of their galleries, Wright created a new abstract mural and placed it above the doorway between his and Skaer’s exhibitions. In this way, those about to enter into Skaer’s space will be halted in their progress by Wright’s final piece.

Other than Wright and Skaer, the other two nominees are Italian Enrico David and Roger Hiorns, from London. Each of the exhibitons this year has seemed more tame than their predecessors, such as Damian Hirst’s infamous pickled shark and Tracey Emin’s unmade bed. However, of the four, David has been hailed as the most controversial, with pieces that include a glimpse at a gay man’s bottom wearing a thong-type item, some suspiciously pornographic dollies and papier-mache eggmen. Hiorns has also sparked conversations with his chemical approach to art  – he once filled a south London bedsit with 90,000 litres of liquid copper sulphate. His Turner Prize exhibitions include an atomised passenger jet engine, now a heap of dust in varying shades of grey.

The four nominees will continue to exhibit their work in the Tate Britain until 3rd January.

As an obvious key focus, the piano music used throughout complements the action of the scenes. The film is also visually great to watch, despite the harrowing and, at times, traumatising events shown on-screen.

After enjoying this film so much, I was shocked to read of the 76 year old Polanski’s arrest this week by police in Zurich. He now awaits extradition to the US.

In 1977, Polanski was accused of unlawful sex with 13 year old Samantha Geimer and pleaded guilty. He struck a deal with the judge, that if he spent time in prison before the hearing, he would be let off for “time served”. It has been said that the judge reneged on this agreement, forcing Polanski to be exiled into France, who do not extradite their own.

While some have remained loyal to the award-winning director, many others cannot understand why he should be treated any differently from the average citizen. I do feel sympathy for Polanski’s own turbulent personal story – he spent his childhood hiding in the Krakow ghetto after his mother was killed in Auschwitz and his pregnant wife, Sharon Tate, was brutally murdered by the Charles Manson cult. These are terrible events. But surely Polanski’s personal tragedies and his acclaimed cinematic genius should not excuse from committing this crime.

Furthermore, he does not seem to treat his offence seriously. Some report the mocking tone with which Polanski treated the court in the late 70s. He has also openly stated that: “There’s a different justice for people who are public figures than for those who are not” in reference to the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky case. So did he think that due to his celebrity status, he was no longer accountable to the law?

Although I can understand that this incident did take place over two decades ago, I think it sets a bad example for both celebrities and the public if anyone, from any background, is let off, especially after admitting their guilt. Polanski is backed by the French government, particularly their Culture Minister, Frédéric Mitterrand, who claims that he understands America’s need for justice, but is appalled by the way in which Polanski was “trapped” by the Swiss Police on his way to an event that was, in fact, honouring him.

Polanski’s fame and clear creative talent have added an extra dimension to this case, but I believe they are not enough to diminish his status as an offender who must be punished for the crime that he committed. Yet, with such high publicity on the case, I am not entirely sure that the US government will follow through with their plans and imprison the director in the end.