10
Percentage of prisoners in British jails who have served in the armed forces
32
Percentage of members of the Conservative Party who would like Boris Johnson as prime minister
53
Percentage of firemen who are overweight
67
Percentage of voters who want a referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU before the next election
At the start of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, some advice for performers:
The most important thing about acting is to be honest. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made
George Burns
You must give the public shivers
Maria Callas
In total command of the battlefield
John Gielgud describing the process of gripping an audience
Blow your nose and check your fly
Alec Guinness’s advice to actors before making an entrance
It comes in a small envelope at the end of the week
Noel Coward’s reply when asked by a young actor what motivated him
Stephen Covey, who has died at the age of 79, was an American management guru and the author of a best-selling book, ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’. The habits were:
1. Be proactive;
2. Begin with the end in mind;
3. Put first things first;
4. Think win-win;
5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood;
6. Synergise;
7. Sharpen the saw.
The seventh habit was a reference to the need to keep in good shape physically and mentally. Amazingly, many important people took ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ entirely seriously, and the book made Covey a fortune.
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Three poems
by Gerard
Rochford
Each summer, the Aboyne and Deeside Festival brings a whole wide world of culture, music and entertainment to Deeside. It has been the work of a few dedicated souls over 21 years and during this time top musicians and well-known personalities have provided entertainment, stimulating insights and memorable music and theatre at various venues in Aboyne and surrounding area.
This year the festival has a new board of directors and has refreshed its programme. Amongst the highlights was an evening with two politicians for whom Deeside might not be seen as obviously fertile territory – Dennis Canavan and Tam Dalyell. This was perhaps reflected in the rather less than full Deeside Theatre on the Saturday evening when they appeared. Nevertheless, both men spoke with passion about their lives in politics. Both were notoriously ‘awkward’ within their own party and to its leaders, as well as being troublesome for the government of the day, constantly questioning and re-questioning events or policies which seemed to them flawed or dishonest.
Who can forget Tam Dalyell’s famous West Lothian question, his unrelenting interrogation of Mrs Thatcher’s government about the sinking of the Belgrano during the Falklands conflict in 1982 or more recently his willingness to ask awkward questions about the Lockerbie atrocity and subsequent trial? Dennis Canavan was expelled from the Labour party, was elected as an Independent MSP on the strength of his own popularity and is now a leading light in the ‘Yes’ campaign.
