PROJ A SHOW, CHARLES DOUGLAS

Wild conditions here in Glasgow, we are open of course.

We are extremely pleased to announce this year's Project Ability show which brings colour, vibrancy and excitement to the walls of Mono. This year's show features the work of Tommy Mason, one of the founding members of the artist-led group, Artrek & Friends, who has been with Project Ability since 1990. The exhibition opens on Thursday 9 December from 7pm with performances by Alasdair Roberts and R M Hubbert and International Airport djs. There will be raffles, prizes and a small shop full of handmade original items. This is a free event.

There's a record we've been enjoying a lot since we got a promo of it back in September. Charles Douglas, The Lives Of... on small Manchester imprint, Broken Horse is a real curio. It first appeared on the No.6 label in 1999 and after selling out its pressing disappeared. Douglas is a smart, deadpan New York City kind of guy who writes hilariously about this doomed record in the sleevenotes – Mo Tucker on drums and production, Kurt Ralske (UVS) and Dean Wareham couldn't save it or the group from their own junkie fate. But what they left behind is a nugget of a record; classic, melodic scuzz in the great style of the Modern Lovers, Jim Carroll Band and inevitably, the Velvet Underground. In the end - a winner.

Monorail Film Club returns on Sunday 19 December with seminal horror, The Omen presented by filmmaker, Gregor Johnstone who will also be screening his own short, I'll Be Right Here. GFT, 7.15pm.

This weather is providing hands-on survivalist training if nothing else. My shovelling skills have improved as has the improvisation of getting the car out of stuck situations using a spade and some random cardboard. It’s all a bit Blue Peter (not rhyming slang). Should be thankful for small merci’s though because at least I’ve made it to work and back (thus far). Some folks have been stuck on the motorways overnight as the freak conditions get evermore freaky. It’s minus 15 and plummeting but that’s nothing compared to what other countries have to deal with in winter.

The people at the sharp end of the authorities are fending off a barrage of complaints and the frustration of disgruntled punters. It’s the management that’s woeful but that’s par for the course in my experience. I just completed another spell of trying to make the bunker accessible, there doesn’t seem to be any sign of a gritter/plough being sent around here anytime soon. Them’s the breaks and I hope I ain’t tempting the fates here, so far nothing is broken. Contrary to popular belief, I’m not big on disruption even though I’ve been known to cause it on occasion.

Photo by Lewis McGowan from the BBC website