Thoughtland

PK column in The National: A sustainable Scots food system would be a fitting legacy for Andrew Fairlie

By Pat Kane. First published on JANUARY 26TH, 2019

WE mourned a quiet and substantial Scot earlier this week. It’s fair to say there was an outpouring of tributes for the late Andrew Fairlie – the two-Michelin-starred superchef at the Gleneagles Hotel, and my former fellow board member on Yes Scotland.

Andrew was a poignant package. A working-class boy who detected tarragon in the sauce of the hotel restaurant where he was skivvying. This sent him on a spectacular journey though the great kitchens of the world, particularly in London and Paris. In a world where taste – of all kinds – is notoriously subjective, and where the power relations between people can often be the most oppressive and instrumental, Andrew had quite the anchor: his memories of dinner-table debates about the future of Scotland, with his father, the notable SNP grandee Jim Fairlie.

PK column in The National: Pat Kane: Andrew Fairlie's input was exactly what the Yes Scotland board needed

By Pat Kane. First published on JANUARY 23RD, 2019

IN In the early days of the Yes campaign, I was asked by Jennifer Dempsie to join the Yes Scotland advisory board. I was part of a non-party-political cohort that included the actress Elaine C Smith, the property developer Dan MacDonald ... and the late Andrew Fairlie.

I often sat nearby Andrew, and in the midst of the general argy-bargy on strategy and performance milestones, would often glance at him, as someone that might ground the lightning. Was this discussion connecting with the world in which people run their enterprises, apply their graft and talent to succeed, have a basic faith in the country and its possibilities?

PK column in The National: Thinking out of the Baby Box to build a progressive and ambitious nation

By Pat Kane. First published on JANUARY 19TH, 2019

‘YE are my bonny blessed bairn, / My small miraculous gift. / I never kent luve like this.” Some of you may recognise these lines from the Jackie Kay poem that’s been tucked into each new ScotGov baby box (52,065 delivered in its first year).

For those who choose this journey, living on this bit of the planet, it’s hard to imagine the emotion could be expressed better.

PK column in The National: Humanoid robots are the very least of our worries for the future

By Pat Kane. First published on JANUARY 13TH, 2019

WHEN you walk into the forthcoming exhibition on robots at the National Museum of Scotland (NMS), you will first see a rosy, nappy-wearing baby, dreamily wiggling in mid-air, backlit by a soft halo.

Step to the side, and the truth is revealed. A column of wires explodes out of its back, into a knot of pistons and circuitry.

It’s a prop from the film industry, ensuring no actual little one is harmed on set. But from its flaxen hair to its chubby thighs, the human realism of this object creeps the flesh.

PK column in The National: In praise of Laurel and Hardy, a pair of comic geniuses who lit up my childhood

By Pat Kane. First published on JANUARY 12TH, 2019

IT’S a long, high set of public steps, and the piano crate is hurtling down to the bottom of them, for about the fifth time. Two men, in work clothes and bowler hats, look down – the fat one appalled, the thin one (as ever) dreamily confused.

Elbows out, they bustle to the bottom, and try again to deliver the goods. By this time, you doubt they’ll ever manage it.