Monday 4th January 2010 - Meeting the Mayor

          The car is covered in snow.  But it's so cold and dry, the windshield wipers just brush it off.  The weather forecasts suggest this cold is going to be with us for some time.  I wander round the car before I get in, wondering idly what the name of Sancho Panza's donkey was.

          Today I am going to see the mayor, and present him with the Glasgow Scotland pennant and letter from the Lord Provost.  This is the last Glasgow where I will get to do this.  It is also by far the biggest, with a population of about 15,000.

          But first, I have to stop off at the county clerk's office.  It was her staff who found the original 1799 court order book for me.  We take a few photos.

          Then it's off to City Hall, for a presentation to the mayor.  In fact, the mayor, in turn, presents me with the key of the city:

[n0687]

          After this, the mayor takes me to see the Plaza Theatre, which has been lovingly restored to its 1930s form.  It was a cinema back then, now it's live theatre, but, of course, thirties cinemas often had live acts as well.  We are only about 75 miles from Nashville, so the names of the stars who have appeared here is quite startling.  They've had Roy Rogers, and Gene Autry; Flatt & Scruggs and the Carter Family; Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton

          The director tells me the architectural style is 'atmospheric'.  It has a curved blue ceiling, with stars in it, and they have managed to restore the projectors which cause "clouds" to drift across it.

[n0693]

It is, unfortunately, dark at the moment, so I can't see it in performance.  As you can see, it is a big theatre, with over a thousand seats.

          It brings back memories of the Fort Peck Summer Theatre, in Montana, and the Sawdust Theatre in Oregon.

 

          Later that night, there is much ribald talk about the "patting-down" of certain airline passengers (this is the phrase favoured by the media).  The general feeling is that it is more "patting-up" than "patting-down' which is needed, if you follow my drift.  I guess in the right circumstances, you could get chaps volunteering for that.  In fact, in the right circumstances, you could catch the bombers because thay would be the only ones trying to avoid it.

         Do you think there is a secret department of government dedicated to getting explosives past expert patters?  It's got to be wigs next, hasn't it?