Issue 589

Ian Rankin's favourite culture snacks

1 Nov 2007

My 15-year-old son and I have a weekly pilgrimage where we go into HMV, Virgin, Game, Game Station and Waterstone’s. He gets his games and magazines and I get my CDs, DVDs, books, magazines, newspapers. That’s all I spend my money on. That and…

Ian Rankin interviews Aidan Moffat about comics

1 Nov 2007

Rankin When did you start reading comics? Were you a DC Thomson lad (Bimbo, Dandy, Beano, Victor, Hotspur)? Moffat I was definitely a Beano boy because it always seemed more edgy than the Dandy, but I insisted I got the Dandy as a sort of light…

Scottish crime writing

1 Nov 2007

‘Ah, well. If you’re Scottish, and you’re writing crime fiction, at some point someone is going to hail you as “the new Ian Rankin” until they remember, no, actually Ian Rankin is still there. Alex Gray has been described as the Glaswegian Ian Rankin.

Hitlist - the best events, talks and sport

1 Nov 2007

Bonfire Night Fireworks Displays Come on, who doesn’t love the cheap thrill of banging sparkly things? Meadowbank Stadium, Edinburgh. Glasgow Green, Glasgow, both Mon 5 Nov from 6.30pm. Glasgow Craft Mafia Massed gathering of emergent Scottish…

In England - interview with Don McCullin

1 Nov 2007

Don McCullin might seem like some kind of anachronistic beast among the top photographers today. Not for him the simpering vanities of celebrityhood; he has always been far more interested in the real problems that face ordinary people on a daily basis.

Spanning the void

1 Nov 2007

Think of post-war Eastern European modernisation and what comes to mind? Invariably, it is the drab, rashly executed housing blocks, service pavilions, train stations and shopping centres that inspire Monika Sosnowska, leading the Polish artist to…

Hitlist - the best gigs

Recommended

1 Nov 2007

* Ian Rankin's choice Idlewild and The Twilight Sad Yes, we could have picked a number of other homegrown treats of early November, but instead, we are going for the final night of this tour, a band at the top of their game, joined by arguably the…

Grub's Up

1 Nov 2007

CHILDREN’S THEATRE Platform, Glasgow, Sat 3 Nov; GilmorehillG12, Glasgow, Thu 8 Nov The smell of fried onions wafts through the air as a pot of tomato soup takes shape before our eyes. No, it’s not Ready, Steady, Cook, but the latest offering from…

Bill Bailey

1 Nov 2007

STAND-UP SECC, Glasgow, Wed 7–Fri 9 Nov It seems clear that Bill Bailey has never minded looking somewhat foolish in the pursuit of his chosen career path. Back in the early days when he was a mere West Country boy trying to earn a modest showbusiness…

Hitlist - The best film & dvd releases

1 Nov 2007

• Lions For Lambs When idealistic professor Dr Malley (Robert Redford) inspires two of his students to join the war in Afghanistan, he is unaware that, in Washington DC, presidential hopeful Senator Jasper Irving (Tom Cruise) is about to give a…

Numbers

1 Nov 2007

ELECTRONIC DANCEHALL/GLITCH Glasgow School of Art, Fri 2 Nov Modeselektor are two electronic geniuses from Berlin by the names of Gernot and Szary. The pair has just released Happy Birthday!, the follow up to their debut album Hello Mom, and are…

Hitlist - The best LGBT events

1 Nov 2007

Scott Capurro’s Premature Gift The San Francisco funnyman is back with a huge comedy gift for Glasgow. The Stand, Glasgow, Sun 11 Nov. Robopop Trendy Wendy and pals visit Edinburgh’s newest gay venue every Thursday with a bag-full of records. GHQ…

Denise Mina & Leonardo Manco - review

Horror

1 Nov 2007

While Ian Rankin is writing his own Hellblazer story, due in 2008, the current scribe bringing occult anti-hero John Constantine to life is fellow Scots crime author Denise Mina. In this direct sequel to her Empathy is the Enemy collection, the Empathy…

Hitlist - the best theatre

1 Nov 2007

*Ian Rankin's picks Tamburlaine Must Die A modern thriller in Elizabethan guise. Louise Welsh’s adaptation of her novel revisits the life, and mysterious death of Christopher Marlowe. Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Sat 3–Sun 11 Nov. Whipping It Up…

Remote Control

1 Nov 2007

I’m seriously starting to believe that Stephen Poliakoff has got some pretty incriminating photos in his possession. I can’t see any other reason for the BBC continuing to pour resources his way when he comes up with depressingly disappointing efforts…

Into The Wild

1 Nov 2007

TRUE STORY/DRAMA (15) 140min Sean Penn steps behind the camera once more, to write and direct this robust yet freewheeling adaptation of journalist John Krakauer’s non-fiction book about the extraordinary experiences on the road of young American…

BBC Good Food Show in Scotland

1 Nov 2007

This has been the year of the food fair. Events organisers up and down Scotland have sniffed the air and have, in their droves, turned to food and drink as a way of celebrating local identity and drawing crowds young and old. Numerous towns around the…

Stars of CCTV

1 Nov 2007

Fifteen-year-old Natalie glowers with resentment as she watches plain-clothed PCs Adam Dyer and Andy Johnson of Leith’s Youth Action Team pouring the half bottle of vodka and litre of cider that she had been planning to share with friends down the…

Secondhand record shops in Glasgow and Edinburgh

1 Nov 2007

Shopping and I have always had a love-hate relationship. But we put aside our differences for record shopping: that ritualistic, solitary activity that’s at once sombre yet exhilarating. Secondhand records possess the same mystique as old books; they…

The Rankin files - St Jude's Infirmary

1 Nov 2007

Firstly can you introduce yourselves? OK, we are Grant Campbell (bass, vocals), Ashley Campbell (guitar, vocals), Emma Jane (vocals), Mark Francis (guitar, vocals) and Alun Thomas (drums). How is the second album progressing? It’s been…

Crime & punishment - breaking the virtual rules

1 Nov 2007

These days, when we talk about crime in the cyber world we’re not referring to the joyriding depicted in Need for Speed or the multiple murders of Manhunt. These are crimes against computer controlled characters within games. This may sound…

Adapt or die - from page to screen

1 Nov 2007

THE BEST The Godfather Mario Puzo had three novels under his belt before he penned the tale of Don Vito Corleone and his Family/family in 1969 which was immortalised in movie form by Francis Ford Coppola three years later. One bit of advice: if an…

Gareth Sommerville

1 Nov 2007

Given the often niche-based appeal of many of Edinburgh’s most enduring clubs past and present – from techno (Pure) to drum & bass (Manga) and retro (Big Beat) – it makes a change to be able to celebrate the life of a night with broad appeal, and which…

Crime Scene: Edinburgh - the Ian Rankin exhibition

1 Nov 2007

There’s a pleasing circularity to this exhibition at the National Library. Ian Rankin wrote much of Knots and Crosses, the first Rebus book, in the reading room here, thanks to a PhD thesis on Muriel Spark that fell by the wayside. With Rankin’s famed…

The Verve - reformed and on tour

1 Nov 2007

Of all the seminal bands to have announced their reformation this year, The Verve are perhaps both the most and least in need of a revival. Although each of the group’s four founder members would no doubt welcome the wage packet – even Richard…