Issue 24

Given half an excuse - or even no excuse at all - Arran will go into celebration mode, so Christmas is always crammed with concerts and events. But none of this could happen without the doggedly hard work put in by one or two people of particular abilities who are generous with their talents. Prime among these is Diana Hamilton, together with her marvellously able and good-tempered pianist husband, Douglas.

Diana, seen here in mid-confab with members of the Lochranza choir, had a particularly frantic time this year, with non-stop rehearsals for one or other of the many groups she is involved in. She conducts the Rowan Singers as well as the Lochranza choir, and is a member of the very popular singing group, Ain’t Misbehavin’. Performances for the festive season followed one after the other, and at Lamlash Church, Diana, as usual, co-ordinated the annual John Dick concert, with choirs, readers and the brass band - and all with astonishingly calm good humour. Admittedly, she did have a word of reproach to the Lochranza choir for being ‘unruly’ because of its cheerful tendency to exchange news and opinions whenever it meets, and the result was an abashed attentiveness that led to a better concert than anyone had a right to expect.

So this is a word of thanks to the Di and Doug duo for being so brilliant and so patient, and for having such sheer, dogged energy. All of us, whether performers, listeners or both, have much to thank them for.

On Sunday, January 13^th, the Corrie Film Cub offers this deadpan 1955 comedy directed by, of all the unlikely people, Alfred Hitchcock. Based on a tale by Jack Trevor Story, the plot centres round the eponymous Harry, who is dead. And the eponymous trouble is, several people in the small Vermont village are sure they have killed him. Captain Wiles (Edmund Gwenn) thinks he potted him with his rifle while hunting. Miss Gravely (Mildred Natwick) hit him with the heel of her hiking boot when he startled her in the bushes, and the wonderful Shirley MacLaine as Harry’s estranged wife, Jennifer, has hit him on the head with a milk bottle.

Nobody wants the body to come to the attention of Deputy Sheriff Calvin Wiggs who gets paid per arrest, so they devise various lunatic schemes for hiding it. Harry gets shifted from one makeshift grave to the next and at one panic-stricken point, gets shunted away to a bathtub. All ends happily, however - except, of course, for Harry.

Shooting the film was as bizarre as the script. Set in an autumnal Vermont, the crew had expected a wealth of scarlet foliage, but an early chill meant the trees were bare and had to be made camera-worthy with stuck-on leaves. Torrential rain drove the cast into the gym of a local school when the downpour rattled on the roof and gave the sound men a tricky job to edit it out. However, The Trouble With Harry remains a quirky, highly amusing film - and watch for a trademark Hitchcock appearance in person as the man who walks past a parked car, 21 minutes into the action.

As always, the showing starts at 8.00 pm in Corrie Hall and is open to everyone, whether members of the Film Club or not. Admission is free, though contributions to heating of the hall would be - er - warmly welcomed.

David Underdown

Corrie Film Club is repeating its Day in the Dark (held in the last two years) on Saturday 2^nd February. It’s effectively a mini-film festival - an all day programme of films chosen partly thematically and partly with the idea that they are films that you might not otherwise have a chance to see - for absolutely no charge.

This year’s theme is ‘eccentricity’. The morning programme starts with Chaplin’s Modern Times, made in 1936 when the world was struggling with the economic woes of the Depression. This wry protest at the puzzles and indignities of modern life is as fresh and relevant as ever. It is followed by a small gem, La Vida Util Useful Life), a recent film by the Uruguayan director Federico Veiroj. It is a docu-fictional account of a crumbling arthouse cinema in Montevideo, coupled with an unlikely love affair.

After a break for lunch (home made soup provided) the afternoon commences with a twinkly British documentary called Ping-pong, about the world over-eighties table tennis championships in Inner Mongolia (well, they said it would be eccentric!). This film from Britdoc’s Hugh Hartford follows aspiring veteran ping-pong champions - from Yorkshire, Sweden, China and the USA - in their hilarious quest for sporting glory. Very funny and strangely heartwarming. It is followed by Derek Jarman’s 1979 idiosyncratic adaptation of Shakespeare’s Tempest with Toyah Wilcox as Miranda. Forget any notions of worthiness - this film challenges the idea of ‘faithful’ literary adaptation and celebrates the visual magic of cinema as thoroughly as the magical arts of Prospero.

The meatiest offering of the day is probably Michael Haneke’s 2005 film Caché (Hidden), with superb performances by Juliette Binoche and Daniel Auteuil. This psychological thriller about a television presenter who starts to receive menacing surveillance videos of himself and his family has been described as ‘one of the great films of the past decade’. Hidden examines the denial and guilt built into the foundations of Western prosperity.

After a break for supper (baked potatoes provided but bring a filling or something else to share) the programme returns to something more celebratory. Latcho Drom by the French director Tony Gatlif is the story of Romany people in a year-long journey, told through their music and dance. Part of a trilogy of films about Gypsy people Latcho Drom is by turns touching, sad and joyous.

As with all Corrie Film Club events, you don’t have to be a member to come to the Day in the Dark (though a small donation towards the costs of heating etc will be welcome.) There is no need to commit the whole day, unless the idea appeals to you. The programming builds in gaps between films, and people can come for as much or as little of the day as they wish - or pop out for a stretch and return later. Provisional film times are as follows but check nearer the time for precise details.

• 10:00am - 10:30am    Coffee
• 10:30am - 12:00pm    Modern Times
• 12:05pm -  1:10pm    Soup lunch
•  1:45pm -  3:05pm    Ping Pong
•  3:15pm -  4:45pm    The Tempest
•  4:45pm -  5:15pm    Tea break
•  5:15pm -  7:00pm    Hidden
•  7:00pm -  8:00pm    Supper
•  8:00pm -  9:45pm    Latcho Drom

The next Music Society concert is on Saturday 19^th January, again at lunch-time, 1.30pm. It features the Cartha Trio (viola, clarinet and piano), who were prevented by bad weather from getting to Arran for their concert booked last year. Such unavoidable mishaps are one of the reasons why the Music Society is so grateful to Enterprise Music Scotland, who provide a loss-guarantee. This exceptional trio is doubly welcome on this second effort to brave the weather and CalMac. They will play a varied programme, including a rare chance to hear Mozart’s Kegelstatt Trio, written for exactly this combination of instruments.

Please note, this concert will be in the Lamlash CommunityTheatre so as to take advantage of the splendid Kawai grand piano. It’s a date to remember - Saturday 19^th January, 1:30pm, in the Community Theatre.

In the US, concern is mounting over the effect of ‘fracking’ (hydraulic fracturing) for gas trapped deep below the earth. Follow this link, provided on December 12th by the American site, Truth out, to read the results of a recent, in-depth survey on the public health effects of fracking:

www.earthworksaction.org

People who live near fracking operations are developing health problems they did not have before. They report dizziness, trembling of the limbs and irritation of the eyes, ears, nose and mouth. The closer they live to drilling operations, the worse the symptoms become. Over half of the children living within 1,500 feet of facilities (56%) reported nosebleeds, and the survey reports an average of 19 health symptoms not found in healthy children. 80% of respondents complained of the bad smells coming from the drilling sites, and were concerned that the chemicals used in fracking, like benzene and volatile organic compounds, could be causing serious health problems. This is being firmly denied by the authorities, despite some unexplained events.

In May 2012, the Cornerstone Care community clinic in Pennsylvania's Washington County was evacuated three times because nauseating fumes had filled the clinic for weeks, making both patients and health care workers ill. The building was shut down on May 25th and remained closed until early July. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) decided that the fumes could not be linked to oil and gas drilling - but has refused to hand over 400 pages of raw testing and quality control data to a concerned legal advisor.

State Representative Jesse White filed a Right to Know request for the records to be released, but the DEP said as there was no criminal element in the investigation, they were not obliged to release the 400 pages of raw data. To date, it has still not done so.

It has also withheld results from residents who believe their drinking water is contaminated by fracking. Samples from a Pennsylvania resident's drinking water were taken to a state lab to determine if the water had been contaminated by nearby fracking activity. The lab tested the water for 24 contaminants as required by federal standards, but the resident received the results for only eight of the tests. Those seeking to identify 16 other contaminants; including boron, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, silicon, lithium and molybdenum were not supplied.

Britain is committed by its Chancellor to an increasing use of fracking as a solution to its need for fuel and power, but this Trojan horse of so-called opportunity may well contain less friendly elements than we suspect. If, as the old saying goes, ‘What America does today, GB does tomorrow,’ has any truth to it, then we need to be extremely careful.

truth-out.org

Walmart, currently facing down a massive strike, is America’s largest private employer. In 2011 it enjoyed a profit of 16.4 billion dollars, by the simple wheeze of paying their staff so little that the state has to make up their wages. It’s not illegal. The US federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. That’s dollars, mind, not pounds. If you work in a restaurant or anywhere that might provide tips, the federal minimum wage is just $2.13 an hour, against which the value of meals provided by the employer can be deducted.

A recent study by University College Berkeley found that Walmart’s low wages are costing the state of California alone $86 million a year to provide public assistance like food stamps. The state spends nearly $2,000 every single year on each Walmart employee who can’t afford basic essentials like housing, food, and healthcare. The tax-payer has to fork out more than $2.6 billion every single year to enable Walmart workers to live. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Walmart has just adopted a new healthcare policy that will deny insurance for any employees working fewer than 30 hours a week. And guess what - hardly any of them are now employed for more than 30 hours a week.

So who exactly are the benefit scroungers? Not the wretched workers stuggling to stay alive, but their wealthy employers (owners of the British chain, ASDA, by the way) who are clawing money in from the state in order to foot their own wages bill. Talk about bah, humbug - it makes Scrooge look like the Angel Gabriel.

After a few days of R & R in Tauranga we set off to the Coromandel Peninsula. Again, taking advantage of a “three nights for the price of two” offer we stayed in a very nice motel in Hahei. The next morning, a short drive and a 45 minute walk took us to Te Whanganui-A-Hei or Cathedral Cove. Those of you who have seen the Narnia film Prince Caspian will recognise it as the opening location shot. Although the cove receives around 150,000 visitors a year we were the only ones there and had the beach to ourselves. Unfortunately the tide was up so we couldn't walk right through the arch.

Northern Energy Developments Limited (NEDL) has been working on the development of a biomass project on Arran. A Planning Application (Local Application) was submitted to North Ayrshire Council and was subsequently withdrawn in September 2012 to allow for further consultation on the application.

Ironside Farrar Ltd Environmental Consultants have been appointed to assist with consultation and will be running two new Consultation Events on Arran to during January and February 2013 with the aim of:

• Clearly setting out the Scheme Proposals
• Communicate the detail of the scheme and include the opportunity for site visits
• Allow further Community Consultation
• Review the opportunity to address issues raised and provide further mitigation
• Assist community/stakeholders participate and make representation to the planning process

Katy Clark MP points out that long-term unemployment in North Ayrshire and Arran has risen by 75% in the past year. The Office for National Statistics confirms that in November 2012, 3,758 people were seeking work in North Ayrshire and Arran. The number unemployed for more than 12 months has jumped from 740 to 1295 during that period, and is continuing to rise. Katy said, “These statistics confirm the extent to which the Government’s failed austerity programme is hurting the people of the North Ayrshire and Arran. Until the Government changes course there is little prospect of improvement.’ She added, ‘I will continue to do all I can in Parliament to persuade the Government to put a plan for growth at the centre of its economic strategy.

WWF - the World Wildlife Fund - published a report last month showing that over the past nine years fishing quotas have been set on average 45% higher than the recommended scientific advice. So ministers have approved the catching of 6.2 million tonnes of fish above the level that biologists see as basic to sustainability.

The 6.2 million tonnes does not include the quantity of fish that is thrown overboard and (dead) and not registered as catch. However, Arran is doing its best to provide a safe haven where fish can breed and young stock can with any luck grow to maturity. COAST sends us the following article.

The Community of Arran Seabed Trust (COAST) is seeking to recruit an experienced administration assistant to help deliver a programme of marine conservation and restoration, including the proposed South Arran Marine Protected Area. Assisting the Marine Project Officer across a range of activities, the successful applicant will have, ideally, a track record in bookkeeping and financial management, coupled with the ability to fundraise, excellent IT and organisational skills and a good understanding of marine conservation issues. For full a full job description and application details please visit our website: www.arrancoast.com.

COAST has an office behind the High School, just past the ACVS office, in the Old Haybarn, Park Terrace, Lamlash. Post code KA27 8NB. You can contact Andrew Binnie there, by phone on 01770 600656, mobile 0796 845 3827.

James Arnold, who lives in Whiting Bay, has produced an A4-sized booklet containing five well-written, warmly funny stories. He has put copies of it into local shops, priced at £3.50 - but every penny of the purchase price goes to whatever charity the shop and its local community choose to support. Whiting Bay’s Bay News will give the proceeds (which are mounting fast) to the defibrillator fund, which is seeking to buy this vital piece of life-saving equipment for the local First Response team.

With a disregard for publicity that verges on the magnificent, James - or Jim, as most people call him - shrugs off any enquiries about how the stories were written and whether he has future plans as a writer. An ex-teacher who taught Modern Studies and Economics at Dumbarton Academy for 30 years, there is not much he does not know about kids and about those who take charge of them, sometimes with risible results. These stories are a good read, gentle as well as funny, and filled with a quiet understanding of how children think and feel. Many people on Arran will be grateful to Jim, both for the delightful book and for his generosity.

Alison Prince

Ingredients to serve 4 people

600g (about 1½ lbs) stewing beef, cut into approx 2x2 cm cubes
2 tablespoons cooking oil
2 medium onions, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1-2 carrots, diced
2 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped, or use 1 tbs. tomato purée
2 fresh green peppers, cut up
At least 1 tablespoon sweet paprika powder - make sure you don’t accidentally use hot chilli powder as I once did, or the result will be spectacularly disastrous.
1 teaspoon ground caraway seed
1 bay leaf
ground black pepper and salt to taste
Sour cream if liked

Ideally, use a lidded cast-iron pot that can be started on the hob then put in the oven, but a heavy frying pan will do, transferring the goulash into a casserole to finish cooking in the oven with no risk of burning.

Method

Heat the oil and put in the beef and the chopped garlic, turning with a wooden spoon until gently browned. Add the chopped onions (unusually, you don’t fry them before the meat, and this seems to matter.) Cook gently for a few minutes then put in the paprika, bay leaf and the caraway seed, which is what gives the dish its real Hungarian flavour. Stir these in. When the onions are transparent, add the chopped tomatoes. If using tomato purée, splash some water in to give the same moisture as fresh tomatoes. Put in the diced carrots. Some people add parsnips and chopped potatoes as well, but this is closer to the goulash-soup commonly served everywhere in Europe from Germany eastwards. Check the flavour and add salt and black pepper to taste. Put the lidded pot in the oven or transfer the goulash to a casserole for oven cooking, at slowish heat, about Regulo 3 or equivalent, until the meat is thoroughly tender. Allow at least an hour. If you’ve opened a bottle of red wine to go with it, add a slurp to the goulash if it shows any sign of getting too thick, but don’t worry - it’s a dish that will hold with no bother.

If liked, you can top the goulash with thinly sliced potatoes, dotting them with knobs of butter and a sprinkle of salt, before putting it in the oven. Otherwise, serve the goulash with fluffy rice and a dollop of sour cream, called smetana in Russian, unless your guests go all British on you.

Perhaps because the Brodick Co’s automatic doors have been so much open in this festive season, birds have found their way in, and there has been a fluttering of wings above the shelves. From the staff point of view, these are not very popular visitors, since we all know what the bottom of a bird cage looks like, and it’s not very suitable for a supermarket. So there’s been a fair bit of shooing and flapping going on, even though the customers tend to take a sentimental view. On the Saturday before New Year, we were all touched to see a robin twittering on a high shelf above the tins of biscuits - though a member of staff was pursuing it with a vigorously wielded piece of cardboard. Back on your twig, mate, or else.