Last night i watched a programme about the tsunami that hit Japan in 2011. The programme included live video and still photographs taken by survivors at the time and I must say, it was horrendous and terrifying.

When i think of a tsunami, i think of a huge wave thundering towards the shore at great speed and this vision is probably due to Hollywood ad in particular a terrible film which i seem to recall was called Deep Impact. There is a scene on the beach where a father and daughter are holding each other as the visible wave approaches. For the tsunami that hit Japan, this is miles from the truth.

THe interveiwed survivors told of hearing the warnings of a major tsunami and evacuation requests, which they on the most part adhered to and from high ground they watched and waited and filmed. From the filming, the huge surfable wave did not approach, it was a swell and it wasnt immediately visible to the naked eye, unless seen against something in the background. So this meant that those who were slow to evacuate and were looking for the wave, saw nothing and so took more thime than they should. Then all of sudden, they were engulfed. One particularly impressive sight was of a harbour which had numerous very large vessels moored and seamen and port workers looking out to sea. Again, seeing nothing. Then, it became obvious that these large vessels were rising against the background and up they continued to go. It was a matter of seconds before they broke free from their moorings and started towards those watching, with no time to run, they were engulfed. That harbour ended up under around 18 meters of water. It was a sight to see huge sea-going vessels moving past terminal buildings and office blocks, riding on a sea of debris.

Another horrific scene was filmed by a man in a car who was stuck in traffic. There were cars and trucks in front and behind and one could hear the warnings but those in the cars did not make any move. All of a sudden, water started to flow in the street and passersby looked a little surprised, but not alarmed in any way. Then the swell struck and the in about 5 seconds, cars were floating and those people on the street who were glimpsed now holding desperately to fences and in those seconds, they were gone. The guy in the car stayed there and filmed and it was terrifying as the viewer could really feel the car moving and the terror at buildings nearing the car and the endless rise in water levels. Then a passing building hit the car and the filming was no more. the survivor from the car said he was then in deep water and not knowing which way was up or down... Horrible.

So although the filming and view of the tsunami were impressive, it was the personal side of it that really took the breath away and showed the real power of nature and the helplessness of humanity in the face of her.  

Im sure any right minded person is horrified at the reports of David Morrison the dangerous paedophile who raped a 14 month old girl..... I know, a 14 MONTH old girl. The man doesnt deserve jail, he deserves....... In fact no, he does deserve prison, for the rest of his life and how miserable an existence i hope it is... In with the prison population who im sure will take kindly to making his life hell.. And i hope they do.

I have often complained about paying tax to keep the worst criminals in jail, but now i think im turning and i appreciate the point now. Not only is it to keep animals like this deranged psycho away from society, its to leave them to ponder what they have done. And for someone like Morrison, its to leave him to rot and be brutalised by the other inmates. I hope there is someone out there who knows someone inside who would be happy to give Morrison the hell that he deserves.

Rot in hell, scum..

Though what about the 15 other paedophiles in this country who were in contact wth Morrison and happily taking his vile images for their own uses. WHat is wrong with these people? I dont think any normal thinking person will never know and maybe thats for the best. I cant fathom it. SO for those other 15, i hope that someone is waiting for you in prison. I hope you miss your families, friends and other enjoyable things in life.Rot in hell, scum.

Just think, there is a little girl out there somewhere, who at 14 MONTHS, 14 MONTHS for christs sake, was brutalised, photgraphed and distributed. I hope her loved ones take good care of her and when things get hard, as im sure they will, they remember what she went through. Though maybe she wont remember... I hope not. I hope the future for you and yours is bright.

Stargazing on BBC2 is a great show and hosted by Brian Cox, who has the knack of being able to detail important scientific ideas into laymans terms. And tonight he did it again by explaining the duration of the life of human beings in relation to the majestic movement through time of the stars.

There is a supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way and the Milky Way orbits around this black hole. The time taken for the Milky Way to revolve around this black hole is a day, in solar system terms. The amount of time that human beings have existed on Earth is more than 1000th of that solar day.

Thats why I love science...

In regards the Scottish Independence vote, I must say I am saddened that this has descended into snide remarks between Westminster and Holyrood. I didnt vote for the SNP and I do not want a break up if the UK and the snide remarks coming from Alex Salmond are boring me and to be honest, I am losing interest in the whole subject.

I listened to Salmond being interviewed on the radio this morning and I find him to be an attention seeker and this was clarified by his constant use of nationalist anti-English/UK rhetoric. The final straw for me was when he stated that they, Michael Moore and David Cameron, should go home and think again. In my opinion, this is typical Salmond, pressing the nationalist buttons. He also spoke of "thatcher-esque" meddling from the Prime Minister and that "London knows best" and again, this is not explaining the pros and cons of an independent Scotland, no this is again playing to his win at all costs agenda and forcing the anti-thatcher brigade to jump into line with his shortbread tin vision of Scotland. For me, thats not on. Getting 16 and 17 year olds to vite is also a means to boost the nationalist reaction as I know many who in their youth dreamed of a free Scotland, only to open theior eyes and smell the peat bog when a bit more mature.

A break of the United Kindom is not just a Scottish issue, its UK wide and its childish of Salmond to think otherwise. He cant ride over the rule of the land and poke snide comments at the Prime Minister and ignore the rule of law in this country. Its not Culloden or Bannockburn all over again, no matter how he dresses this up. This is a constitutional issue and therefore should be driven by the UK government who are responsible for the constitution. Salmond also keeps bleating on about the SMP being receiving the majority in Holdrood as a mandate for independence. I dont believe that those voters who voted SNP were thinking of an independent Scotland, more on the record of the SNP in politics to date. Which for me isnt great.. What about the Big Conversation or whatever it was called. Waste of time and money and to me showed that the Scottish people do not actually have a desire to be independent. 

The Scottish people cannot be treated as fools by Salmond's folly. Is it the kilted brigade who want independence? Or are the nationalists waking up to the fact that Salmond ruling the land would be a disaster. What about defence, our share of the national debt, currency, the European Union, cross border business etc etc etc. Salmond and his cronies are lacking in answers to the huge questions and this tells me its all down to pandering to a dream. Or is it a nightmare? For me, its a nightmare. 

I think the UK governement should challenge Salmond in court and put this side-show to bed. There are more important things to worry about than Scotland becoming like one of these tartan shops that line the streets of Edinburgh and that is my fear. We would become a drab attraction for tartan bunnets and fake kilts. That is not real life in Scotland, its the tartan vision from 1314 and its just not relevant anymore. An independent Scotland could not have saved the Scottish banks during the financial crisis and would we have run to Westminster for help? Probably.    

Salmond cant get away with this ruse.  If this was English nationalists spouting their hatred of the Scots in the manner that Salmond spouts his nationalist views, then we would be up in arms and demanding change. Lets do the same.

Wake up Scotland and voice your disapproval.

Just watched another fantastic episode of Sherlock with the Hound of the Baskervilles. The creativity to take the most famous of the Sherlock Holmes stories and make it new with lots of twists and turns along the way was a joy.

Baskerville is now a military research facility instead of a gloomy old house and the mood out on the moor was suspense touched with the possibility that Sherlock had come across a case which caused him fear made the story even more gripping. There was also the usual Sherlock humour which is great, with Sherlock's uncanny knack for saying the wrong thing and then b eing totally immune to the pain he is causing. There was also a flashback to the original with the lights flashing morse on the moor, but in the humour of the writers, this is turned into the lights of a car with a number of people pparticipating in some dogging. Hahaha.. Dogging, in Hound of the Baskervilles..... Hilarious.

Cant wait for the next episode.

Great show, great cast, great writing.

BlogGlasgow would like to wish all our readers, contributers and advertisers a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

All the best for the festive season and 2012.

If you like horror films, then The Loved Ones is for you. Its the end of year school and the experiences of two teenage boys on the night is expressed by sheer madness and mayhem.

The film starts like Grease or some other teen love flick, but then we go down… Brent, played by Xavier Samuel, who is well known for his turn in a certain vampire franchise, turns down Lola who asks him to the dance, but unknown to him, no-one says no to Lola..  !! Lola is not the kind of girl who takes rejection well and with the help of her father, she kidnaps Brent and from here the film descends into insanity.

And in the insanity, whatever you could think of in a horror is here, from injecting bleach into the neck, to a very uncomfortable scene which pushes to incest, drilling the skull etc etc etc. Wow….

Lola is the star of the film and this also adds to the madness of it all with the teenage killer and her devilish glee really make the film. The performance by John Brumpton as her creepy father and their deeply uncomfortable relationship add to the squirming feeling that the film so often delivers on. Expect to want to look away a lot during The Loved Ones. The film’s goriest moments come from the simplest household items, a hammer, an electric drill, a knife and a kettle.

You have to really watch the film a couple of times to realise how good it is. Its exceptionally cinematic in places, with the large disco ball and fantastic close shots, and the script is so nasty. Every line from Lola is dripping in nasty revelation and delivered with a sweet smile which hides the creeping insanity of the girl.

Unbelievably good film and the best horror I have seen in 10 years by a mile…..

As Lola says, Bring the hammer Daddy….

Went to see The Drums on Saturday at the O2 ABC in Glasgow and it was a fantastic gig. The sound quality was excellent and the band were on top form with old favourites from the first album and some new ones from Portamento. All in all it was a great night and could highly recommend either album. The soaring harmonies and bittersweet lyrics are great.

I laughed this morning as i read that the complaints against jeremy Clarkson have now reached 23,000. It makes me wonder if this is the same nonsense as Andrew Sachs. Of these 23,000 people how many are complaining over what he said and how many are complaining over what has been reported that he said? In other words how many of that 23,000 were offended and how many just have nothing better to do and like a good band wagon moan.

I would take them outside and execute them in front of their families.

I am afraid that this is misguided, the government is not attacking public service pensions, it is undertaking financial risk management in this area in the same way that it is having to do in many others.

What individuals in these areas forget is that the cost of funding their pension promise is significantly higher than the contributions that they make, even after the proposed increases come in per the government proposals.

Nobody is stealing their pensions, every penny of accrued rights will be maintained, it is only changes to their pension going forward which is relevant. Even then many workers are protected (eg anyone within 10 years of retirement).

What these individuals do not fully appreciate is the arithmetic associated with the level of funds necessary to pay for an index linked pension for the rest of their life at retirement. It is massive due to much improved mortality and low interest rates (which increases the present value of future pension payments).

A simple example which exemplifies the position with the current scheme where a 60 year old teacher retiring on a £24Kpa index linked pension (this is two thirds of a career in teaching with a final salary of around £36K), would cost around £600K to buy from an insurance company via an annuity.

With all due respect, a teacher reaching £36K salary late in their career could not possibly have afforded to contribute this type of money into a pension, indeed they would typically contribute around a quarter or £150K (and that is very optimistic), so the taxpayer is paying £450K+ and it is increasing all the time as longevity improves.

Some strikers say that there is not a problem since there is a surplus in their scheme (assuming it is funded which many are not), but they fail to appreciate that this is only the case because 75%+ of the contributions are paid by the taxpayer into the pension fund via the employer contribution.

This situation is wholly untenable given that the vast majority of taxpayers have reduced disposable income and are unable to make anything like adequate pension provision for themselves (this is the case for 70%+ of all taxpayers).

How therefore can the strikers genuinely feel aggrieved when they have a pension scheme which is now wholly outmoded and was designed for a time when people had only 5 years or so of retirement before dying. Now it can be on average 22 years for a woman and 18 years for a man.

It has to be addressed and my big concern is that the government bottles it and allows this massive problem to run on with all the ultimate consequences that this will bring.