south side happenings

The Little Cake Parlour

noreply@blogger.com (alburt) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:20:00 +0000

Other opening news of the day is the shutters rolling up on The Little Cake Parlour on Pollokshaws Road which opens for business at 10am this morning. We've been peaking in the windows for the last few weeks and are extremely interested in getting our teeth into some of the very tasty looking treats inside. Gutted we are in town all day and are going to miss out on the first batch of cupcakes.

We'll write a bit more once we've been in and eaten a barrel load of cakes but in the meantime if you want more info on the shop, the people behind it and about how they got involved with the MOBO awards then check out their site.

www.cakealicious.com

Pakistani Cafe to re-open

noreply@blogger.com (Southside) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:18:00 +0000

Tomorrow evening the Pakistani Cafe on Pollokshaws re-opens, after several months of renovation works. As far as we can see the main counter has been removed freeing up more table space but the general decor has remained the same. If you've not been to the Cafe it really is worth a visit, the food is delicious and very reasonably priced.

Art from the heart - 9 November 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Southside) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:01:00 +0000

Now in it's seventh year, Art from the Heart, is an art sale in aid of Epilepsy Scotland. This year it's featuring many well know Scottish artist's such as Denise Findlay, Jock Mcinnes, and Bryan Evans will be displaying in Scotland Street School on the 9th November 2009. There will be an open sale during the evening of paintings, ceramics, jewellery and crafts.

There will be wine and nibbles included in the ticket price. Tickets are £12 and admits 2 people

Call Rachel or Helen on 0141 427 4911 for tickets or e-mail fundraising@epilepsyscotland.org.uk

Autumn/Winter Show at the Tramway

noreply@blogger.com (Southside) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:35:00 +0000

The Tramway will launch their Autumn Winter exhibitions this Friday night with the opening of two major shows. Lara Favaretto, an Italian born artist, sculptor and performer will exhibit new work alongside London based film artist Hilary Lloyd until 20th December.

Lara Favaretto, uses sculpture, photography, film and installation to create artworks that produce a sense of magical fantasy and urgency, forming an immediate bond with the viewer through a sense of play.

For Tramway’s epic main gallery space, Favaretto will create a kinetic sculptural environment with various motor powered elements. These choreographed and durational sculptures will explore Favaretto’s ongoing artistic investigations into the idea of festival in its various incarnations, drawing on its popular forms and associations such as the carnival or circus. These themes often assuming the form of sculptural objects, installations or events united by the careful planning of their collapse, disintegration or corrosion, thus exploring the significance of an artistic gesture that accepts eventual compromise.

Lloyd creates video, film and slide installations which to date have focused on the themes of the modern city, its subcultures and the people that operate at it’s fringes, her gaze articulating both a personal relationship with her subject, and the processes of reconstructing the act of looking. Lloyd creates a form of ‘anti-portraiture’, shooting situations and protagonists with a contrived passivity that allows the viewer to form their own narratives from her rhythmic and highly charged compositions.

For more information click here

Queens Park Performance Project

noreply@blogger.com (alburt) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:36:00 +0000

[Queens Park Bandstand 1920]

Last week we were invited to a presentation by the Queen's Park Performance Project which is a community group, set up by a pilot Government Funding scheme, to explore regenerating the old queens park bandstand space.

The talk by Evelyn Silber and Bob Marshall was very interesting and they discussed the origin of the pilot funding scheme and the works which have been undertaken so far. The project has only been going for about 5 or 6 months but they have already made good head way getting the area surveyed, carrying out a questionnaire with locals and drawing up some rough proposals for basic costing purposes.

[Queens Park Bandstand 1995 by Monkeyiron]

Its been 13 years since the last band stand burned down and I think if done right, this project could be a huge benefit to the park and the local area.

The steering group have identified their aims as

creating a modified seating area for around 950 people.
a flat performance space suitable for use with or without staging, canopy projection
providing an electrical supply for sound and light systems
performer wc/ changing facilities
flexible space able to host drama, music, film, children's events and exercise classes
the capacity to host free and charged events
possibly a unique space capable of attracting city, national and international performances

All sounds good to me. With the Tramway, the Ballet and the Citizens also all in the Southside now we are building up quite the cultural flare.

In terms of visitors to the park I think it would be a great boost and in turn could result in the park being able to attract for funding for its maintenance and upkeep. Designed by Sir Joseph Paxton, Queens Park is one of the nicest parks in the city and with the Glasshouses, the reptile room and the free sports in the summer it already has a few fun things to get involved with but with a carefully designed and detailed bandstand it could become a real strong tourist attraction. I love wandering through Queens Park but I always feel it could do with something extra- possibly some modern sculptures or art works to give it another layer of interest.

[Queens Park Bandstand 2009 by Monkeyiron]

I guess ultimately the project will succeed or fail on the quality of the design and on the commitment and maintenance of both the finished construction and the programme of events that it stages.

So far only very basic designs have been drawn up by the Council's in house team - examples from the presentation are below. Don't judge them too harshly, I know they are not particularly very inspiring images but they are meant to get you thinking and to assist with costing purposes.

At the presentation someone raised the idea of a design competition and details have been passed on to the Steering group relating to the Glasgow Institute of Architects work with local projects and the RIAS matched funding schemes for getting advice and ideas worked up. I'm sure that this kind of project would be of great interest to local artists and architects etc but it's such an attractive project I could see it attracting interest at a national level.

The Scottish Government Funding £15k runs from April 2009 to March 2010 and will enable preliminary consultation, planning and costing to take place. The next steps will include discussions with potential users and the application for various grant funding based on fully researched and prepared costings - including the various community area committees and to external bodies such as the Lottery. The aim would be to have the work beginning on site in 2011.

There is a fair amount of information on the QPPP website but I understand there might be a public meeting further along the process to present the work and ideas to the wider area so we will let you all know when that is when it is announced.

In the mean time to be kept up to date with whats going on or if you have any questions or just wish to send the group messages of support then you can email chair@qppp.org.uk.

Seedbom

noreply@blogger.com (alburt) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:21:00 +0000

We had meant to mention this ages ago when the product launched back in August but completly forgot.

Seedbom, the brainchild of Darren Wilson an artist based at the Southside Studios in Govanhill is an innovative and eco-friendly guerrilla gardening tool. As the website says-

"Filled with flower seeds and made from recylced materials, Seedboms are ready to explode with life and colour. Join forces with nature and make a visible impact by throwing Seedboms into derelicy land, neglected spaces or even your neighbours garden and watch them grow."

Guerrilla gardening is becoming a bit of a craze at the moment with more and more occurances happenings around Glasgows streets. You can read a bit more about upcoming events here. There can't be any harm in trying to brighten up some of the waste ground sites. The only sad thing is that eventually the developers seem to roll in and all the hard work and flowers get concreted over - like the community garden that was set up just off Pollokshaws Road in the line of the new motorway, but I guess the fragile nature of the guerrilla gardens is also a part of their charm.

Anyways - if you know of a spot of waste ground in need of some brightening up then why not get out your gloves, a trowel a Seedbom and get gardening.

Dresser Room Evening

noreply@blogger.com (alburt) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:09:00 +0000

We have had a message from Jade of the Dresser room about a whole new range of stock in her shop. Given that Ann loved the place last week when she went in, I thought I should pass it on to everyone else in the hope that you buy everything before Ann gets a chance.

Here's Jades message

"The shop is now bursting with all the new stuff and I can honestly say it's the best stock I've ever had in, without a doubt. I'll not be putting photos of the new stuff up until after Thursday night's event, so if you fancy some drinks, chat and first dibs on all the fabulous new stuff, come along! 7pm-9pm, this Thursday (15th) The Dresser's Room, 47 Skirving Stree, Shawlands. Thanks, hope to see you here! Jade x"

This weekend - 02 - 04 0ctober

noreply@blogger.com (Southside) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:19:00 +0000

And another weekend is here.

As it's the first of the month the Farmers Market in Queens Park will be on, we'll be going along to stock up on local veggies and square sausage. Also on Saturday,the first Art and Craft fair at Beanscene, on Skirving Street, will take place between 11am and 3pm. The Patricia Cain exhibition is on at House for an Art Lover in Bellahouston Park, it's worth making a special trip over to see this.

It's La Roche Rumba night on Saturday night and the Tramway have a new performance piece being shown on Saturday night called An Argument About Sex.
A response to Pierre de Marivaux's comedy, 'La Dispute', writer Pamela Carter and director Stewart Laing's new work examines gendered attitudes towards risk-taking and settling arguments, in the context of relationships, the economy and a sociological experiment involving isolated teenagers. Tickets are £14

Samuel Dow's has a free acoustic gig on Sunday night from 8.30pm and of course there is also the free Ha Ha comedy night at the Ivory Hotel.

If you know of anythig else let us know or leave a comment

Govan Cross Environmental Improvements Community Consultation Event

noreply@blogger.com (Southside) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:02:00 +0000

Recent decisions by various bodies mean that there is a significant amount of funding available for improvements to Govan town centre and a key element of this is the improvement of Govan Cross. A two-session event will take place at the Pearce Institute on 1 October to hear the local community’s views on the project.Central Govan Action Plan are organising the event, and are looking to find out what local people think about the major environmental improvements planned, the types of improvements they would like to see, and the types of design they feel would fit Govan Cross best.There are three main sites at Govan Cross under consideration for improvement work - the square, the shopping centre’s forecourt and the underground / bus station precinct.

To book at a place at one of the consultation sessions on 1 October, please call 0141 445 5044 or email cgap@gswra.co.uk. Tea, coffee and cakes will be provided.

1 Oct 2009
15:30 - 17:30 & 19:00 - 21:00
Pearce Institute, 840 Govan Road, Glasgow

Arts and Crafts Fair - Skirving Street

noreply@blogger.com (Southside) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 15:23:00 +0000

A new arts and crafts fair will be held at Beanscene, Skirving Street, on the first Saturday of every month. Art, jewellery, bespoke handbags, cards and lots more will be on sale. The idea of the fair is to promote local talent and designers so if you are interested in participating e-mail barry@beanscene.com

Arts and Crafts Fair 11am - 3pm

19 Skirving Street - Shawlands

Tel: 0141 632 8090

The House of Bernarda Alba - Citizen's Theatre

noreply@blogger.com (Southside) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 10:05:00 +0000

The National Theatre of Scotland presents a major new version of Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba. It's been running at the Citizens theatre since the 15th of September but is will continue until the 3rd of October. It's received good reviews and tickets start at £9.50

Set in contemporary Scotland, Rona Munro’s bristling, edgy translation features Siobhan Redmond in the title role.
Following the gangland execution of her husband, the formidable matriarch Bernarda Alba will do anything to safeguard her family’s dubious fortune and the future of her five headstrong daughters. A deal is struck - a marriage of convenience between her eldest girl and the son of a business rival. All Bernarda has to do is ensure that the wedding happens, and quickly.

One of the most celebrated European dramas of the 20th century, Lorca described it as a “drama of women in the villages of Spain” - a theme that is electrifyingly transposed in this version to the tough communities of Glasgow’s East End. Faithfully preserving Lorca’s sense of boiling tension and impending tragedy, the production lines up a cast of twelve Scottish women who bring this classic text thrillingly up to date.

Click here to book tickets

Canterbury Tales - Langside College

noreply@blogger.com (Southside) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:34:00 +0000

So this event is not being held in the Southside however, Langside College Acting & Performance students present Phil Wood's hilarious and bawdy adaptation of Chaucer's timeless examination of human credibility and conformity. A production bursting at the wenches' seams promises a colourful, drunken and naughty night's entertainment for all. It is being held at Gilmorehill in the Westend - I can only imagine that this is because the Langside College's new theatre is under construction. Sounds like it will be a good show.

Gilmorehill G12
9 University Avenue
Box office: 0141 330 5522
Email: boxoffice@gilmorehillg12.co.uk
Website: www.gla.ac.uk/GHCentre

The Dresser's Room - 47 Skirving Street

noreply@blogger.com (Southside) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 15:35:00 +0000

Hidden at the bottom of Skirving Street, in Shawlands, is The Dresser's Room. This vintage boutique offers a real cacophony of vintage delights from across the eras. The lovely owner Jade Halbert, an experienced fashion editor and stylist, opened the boutique in April of this year.

Each piece in the store, whether it is one of the fabulous 1920's evening gowns or the 1940s coats and dresses has been expertly chosen, is unique and is very good quality. Jade also sells handbags and accessories by Pea Cooper and Dazed Dorothy

It's not just the clothing that is impressive the store itself and the presentation of the wears is impeccable. I could spend hours browsing and yes I did purchase a dress - I just couldn't help myself. Jade is very charismatic and obviously has a real passion for vintage clothing and her work in general. The Dresser's Room is very unique boutique and a great addition to Skirving Street.

Opening Hours:

Monday - Saturday 10am - 5.30pm

Thursday - 10am - 7pm

Sunday - Closed

Website

Food, glorious (organic and delivered) food

noreply@blogger.com (alburt) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:13:00 +0000

Andy contacted us yesterday and we thought it might be of interest to a few of our readers so agreed to pass it along.

Andy says

"Just wanted to let you know about an organisation I've been running for a few months now based on the Southside. We're called Southside Foodshare and aim to provide affordable, fresh organic fruit, vegetables and dairy to customers in the area. Much of the produce comes direct from one farmer, while the rest is sourced from other local producers and wholesalers. There are four delivery options and our bags are delivered every Wednesday to Tapa on Pollokshaws Road. By buying collectively we reduce transport costs (not to mention carbon emissions) and therefore get a cheaper rate than normal home delivery customers. "

There he blows!!

noreply@blogger.com (alburt) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 08:26:00 +0000

According to an article on the BBC website there is a whale in the Clyde - spotted beneath the Clyde Arc Bridge. I wonder if this will spark the same whalemania as the one that swam up the Thames a couple of years ago. Probably not as I don't think we get quite as many tourists as London.

Not much is known about Mr Whale though the Sun has drawn a funny little map that shows you the expert's guess at the whales route. (I like the fact their article was written by a Miss Otter. Maybe thats how they know the actual journey.)

Sadly all the articles seem to suggest that a happy fate is not likely for Glasgow's newest resident. Even if they can get him back out to sea, without his parents he won't know how to feed. Maybe with all the building work down on the Clyde we should instead quickly knock up a Seaworld type home and allow him to stay.

Anyone got a good Glasgow whale name suggestion?

Eid in the Drives - 21st September

noreply@blogger.com (Southside) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 10:51:00 +0000

This years Eid on the Drive celebrations will be taking place on the 21st of September in Polloksheilds. It's a unique and inportant event in the southside that brings the multi cultural community of Polloksheilds together to celebrate the end of Ramadhan. Lisa Peebles has been in touch to let us know about another event happening that day. If you are going to Eid on the Drives then you should wander over to 15 St Andrew Drive. A group of young people from Polloksheilds have designed a piece of neon Art which will be switched on.

This piece is a message from our kids to us, their parents, their community and their city and it says 'See it the way I do'. The switch on will be at 8pm and all are welcome to come along and support this installation. If you can't manage to be there on the night, then please look out for it after that date, when it is lit up every night

Patricia Cain Exhibition at House for an Art Lover

noreply@blogger.com (Southside) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:22:00 +0000

If you came along to Art in the Park this year, then you would have seen the work of Patricia Cain. A Glasgow based artist, Trish uses drawing and painting as a means of exploring the artist's process of thinking. Her focus in doing this has been on the destruction and re-construction of the urban landscape in Glasgow. She has a particular interest in the River Clyde and it's regeneration, the construction of the Loch Katrine Water Project and the new Riverside Museum.

Trish is exhibiting at the House for an Art Lover, in Bellahouston Park, from the 22 September - 2 November.

List Magazine

noreply@blogger.com (Southside) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:57:00 +0000

The List have published an article on the Southside - building on the Southside Shopping article which Alburt wrote a couple of months ago. It covers several southside restaurants, venues, bars and shops in the area. And reiterates what we've all known for ages that the Southside is one of the most rich and interesting in the city.

to read the article click here

Southside Festival AGM

noreply@blogger.com (Southside) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 10:33:00 +0000

The Southside Festival commitee have announced that they will be holding their AGM on 24th of September at 7.30pm. If you are interested in getting involved in the steering group and the organisation of next years festival go along to the meeting and join the group.

7.30pm @ Queens Park Church

Strathbungo Clean-up 20 Sept 2009

noreply@blogger.com (alburt) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:45:00 +0000

We have received an email from Scott MacKay from the Strathbungo Society inviting us all to join them in a clean up of Strathbungo. If you are interested in being involved have a look on the facebook site or turn up on the day.

Host: Cllr Meikle and The Strathbungo Society
Date: Sunday, 20 September 2009
Time: 12:30 - 15:30
Location: Lane entrance at Sammy Dows pub
Street: Nithsdale Road
Phone: 01414230182

Email:scott@scottandlaura.co.uk

Hampden Roar

noreply@blogger.com (alburt) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 13:12:00 +0000

With the big matches coming up for Scotland on Saturday and Wednesday I thought it would be a timely to post about our recent visit to the Hampden Sports museum.

Housed in the bowels of the stadium the museum does kind of feel like its been squeezed into space left over rather than having been purposely designed and the layout is a bit strange without a coherent story or thread to guide you through.

When we arrived there was a young guy on the desk and we were walking up to pay when I spotted a flyer and advert stand over to the left hand side. Amongst the leaflets etc there I spotted one which I'd read before which gives discounts on various tourist venues and buses. I wandered over picked one up and discovered inside that there was a voucher for two for one entry to the both the football museum and tour. We ripped the vouchers out and gave them to the guy on the desk. Not sure if it was his first day on the job but he initially charged us £25 with the vouchers which was actually more than it would have been without the vouchers. We explained that he must have made a wee mistake and despite looking very confused he tried it again and this time told us the total cost was £9 - which was pretty good value for 3 adults and 1 child.

Unfortunately the day we went the tours were not running as there a Queens Park match on. Apparently the rules changed this year and now if a match or concert is on then no tours are on that day. So its prob worth while phoning first as the tours look good.

The lack of tour was disappointing but we soldiered on. The museum is pretty packed with memorabilia and was quite interesting but it wasn't really managing to entertain Ann's 10 years old nephew. Everything is presented very dryly. We had guessed that the football museum would be more like a science centre for sport but in reality its a display case filled history museum. The adverts we've seen had sold us on getting to feel like a professional player, get a taste of the Hampden roar and play sporting games like testing the speed of your shots. In fact we kept our young guest entertained by the promise of the test your shot game coming up. Sadly for us - we discovered at the end that this, along with several other items, is part of the stadium tour and not the museum.

If a history tour is what you are after then you'll definitely love it and if you are doing football history research then you'll find a great resource - but if you are just after a bit of touristy fun for all the family then you might be a bit disappointed. Mostly the museum is made up of display cabinets showing medals, newspapers cuttings, old jerseys and trophies. Mixed in amongst these are some nice statues and some old bits of stands etc but with the odd layout and the really dull old fashioned lighting it all feels a bit lacking and a little bit cheap.

Definitely a missed opportunity - our imagination of what the museum would contain turned out to be a heck of a lot better than the actuality. Where were all the interaction and fun? Where was any actual contact with a football? For example the classic Archie Gemmel goal - one of Scotland's proudest moments is presented as a diorama of still statues meant to give you a feel of being there but it doesn't really work.

I guess the SFA don't really have the budget to do it properly with an all singing and all dancing museum but its a real shame. Football is supposedly our national sport and with a bit of money and a lot more imagination they could really have created a top tourist attraction here. As it is I'm not too sure how entertained tourists feel they've got for their pennies - especially if they didn't have the 2 for 1 vouchers we used. I'm not sure I'd recommend it to any visitors though I do think the tour is probably the best part so we will go back another time and check it out.

In summary - its worth a quick visit if you get the vouchers but don't expect the kids to be too entertained. Our favourite bits were the old stands where you could watch old recordings of football matches and the press booths where you picked up a phone and were played an excert from a random selection of radio clips.

Ann's football crazy nephew on the other hand was a bit bored with it all - in fact his favourite thing was the three free Foosball tables we could play on (all were slightly broken) and the six PS3 systems set up with Fifa2009.

Watch the skies

noreply@blogger.com (alburt) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:10:00 +0000

Doooo doooo deee doooooo
Quite a few Southsiders have posted messages about seeing spooky sites in the nights sky over the last month or so. Scott Young posts on uk-ufo of seeing orange lights flying over Queens Park "Looking through my binoculars I could only make out a solid spherical shape with a point of bright orange light at the base." and another person on another ufo site reports that "Multiple people reported seeing orange balls of light flying in formation."

Did anyone here see these?

Will the Southside be the first place to be visited by visitors from Mars or has someone been playing about with helium balloons, string and some torches?

New balls please

noreply@blogger.com (alburt) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:46:00 +0000

Have you still got the Wimbildon bug? With Mr Murray about to come back on court in the third round of the Montreal Masters in five minutes I thought it was a good time to mention the family tennis weekend taking place on the 29 and 30 August.

We also thought it worth a reminder that the lawn bowling, tennis and pitch and putt in the park are all free and are open all day until 9pm seven days a week in August. (Closing time will change to 8pm in September.)

If you fancy having a go, and we highly recomend it, give them a call first to double check they are open and to book a space in the highly popular tennis courts.

The telephone number is 07827305385

QP Camera Club show 2009

noreply@blogger.com (alburt) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 07:39:00 +0000

As part of the Southside Festival Ann organised the rather brill Art in the Park show in the Glass Houses in Queens Park. During that weekend we got chatting to members of the Queens Park Camera Club and suggested the Glass Houses might be a good venue for their upcoming summer show. I'm pleased to say that they took up our suggestion and on Sat 22 and Sun 23 August they will be showing a selection of their new work in the main space of the Glass Houses. They will also be showing a selection of work in Shawlands Arcade the following Saturday.

These events are meant to publicise the club's activities in advance of the new membership year which starts on 3 September. At the moment they are over subscribed for members but would love to encourage anyone interested to add their names to the waiting list.

For more info about the club and their exhibition check out http://www.qpcc.org.uk/

Crafty as a crafty fox who's just won craftiest fox of the year

noreply@blogger.com (alburt) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:14:00 +0000

We recieved an email from Fiona to remind us about the craft fair at Langside Halls this Saturday. We still haven't made it along to one the craft fairs and again this weekend I'm going to miss it as I head to London for the judging of the Common of Houses competition I set up. Hopefully Ann will make it along in my abscence and even more hopefully she'll buy me a present!

Glasgow Craft Fairs