C for climate

 

Scotland is famous for its weather probably all over the world. I don't think there are many places which can boast about worse weather conditions than here.

So what is the weather like here? In short, it depends. Unlike in much of mainland Europe, you don't really see clear distinctions between different seasons when it comes to atmospheric conditions. It's true that the skies are (almost) never clear in winter as opposed to summer when it can be sunny sometimes even for several consecutive days, but temperatures rarely rise or drop significantly. If you don't like heat, you'll most probably find the Scottish summer pleasant but if you, like me, love the sun, go further south, preferably until you reach the Mediterranean.

Because summers are so short and almost negligible in comparison to the rest of the year, and winters are not true winters like I used to know them, I like to say that there are only two seasons here - light and dark. I think naming them like this is more appropriate.

It was the longest day of the year just a few days ago and, although the sun was below the horizon, it didn't get dark until after midnight, and only then it wasn't long (about three hours) before it got light again. Combine this with temperatures in the 20s and you're in for a lovely experience.
Wintertime, I'm afraid, is quite a different story. Long dark hours and almost constant rain and wind can really make you depressed.

The weather here is also very changeable. Some say that there can sometimes be all four seasons in one day. I personally wouldn't go as far as that but it is true that after a warm and cloudless morning, the sky can become completely clouded and temperatures can plummet rapidly only to go back to how they were just a few hours earlier.

Presidential elections 2010

Poles went to polls

I don’t know about others but Poland is a pseudo-democratic state. And not because until fairy recently we had a communist government but because we do what, I think, every other European democracy does – publish opinion polls before voting. To explain why I think it’s wrong, I’m going to use this year’s presidential elections as an example.

If you’d asked the citizens whom they were going to vote for in the next presidential elections back when the late president Kaczyński was alive and in office, many wouldn’t have the lightest idea whom they would like to be the next head of state. Even if they’d known the names of the candidates, they’d still struggle to name one they would’ve supported. Only after watching the debates and becoming more familiar with the candidates, could the people make up their minds and vote according to their political views. However, that wasn’t the case. Almost as soon as we knew we were going to have to vote, a number of polling companies published the results of their studies. Those polls showed that basically only two candidates were serious contenders (Kaczyński’s twin brother and Komorowski). From then on, many of those who’d been inclined towards voting for a certain candidate or weren’t sure who to vote for, realised that it didn’t matter anymore and that they’d have to vote for one of those two if they didn’t want their vote to be ‘wasted’.

I think such polls are a more powerful and cheaper tool in influencing people’s voting than the politicians’ multimillion euro campaigns.

Now, it may be true that a politician as dull as Komorowski would’ve still received the greatest share of votes even if there had been not polls published but I also know that the few people I’d spoken to told me that they weren’t going to vote the candidates that suited them most but for one of the two main ones.

For a short while even I considered that but in the end voted according to my conscience and my political views. 

Election walk

 

The weather was very pleasant today so I decided to walk instead of taking the underground to get to the polling station to cast my vote.

 

Govan Road

 

 

I must have photographed these buildings at least a hundred times

 

 

Das volle Leben

 

 

My retouching skills are abysmal but I’m slowly beginning to learn by experimenting

 

 

Yet another appalling act of vandalism

 

 

In front of Kelvingrove Museum where I lay on the grass waiting for Paulina

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ESC – 2nd Semi-Final

 

The second Semi-Final was nothing good. As with previous show, I watched it on the internet on CyBC live stream TV. Although I didn’t enjoy most of the songs, I loved the moment when Cyprus was announced as one of the qualifiers: the Cypriot presenter shouted KYPROS!, managed to say a few words and started crying. That’s the spirit.

Israel and Ireland were the two songs which I quite liked and they too managed to qualify. About the rest, I couldn’t care less.