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DAVIE'S LINKSCANMORE HOUSING Excellent non-profit making registered housing association, which manages some 2,000 homes for rent and shared ownership in Edinburgh and the surrounding area. One of the few places in Edinburgh still dedicated to providing affordable rented accommodation  Indulge yourself in all things Sinatra at the excellent blue-eyes.com website, or listen to Sinatra here  Have an online look around Holyrood Palace by clicking on the image  To visit The Searchers official website, click the image, or to listen to music by the band, click here To visit the website of the UB Hank Guitar Club and talk to other Shadows fans, click the image, or to listen to Shadows records, including 'Apache' here
Click here to visit Filmsite.org's excellent Casablanca pages, click the image. To read and add your own reviews of the film click here Click here to visit the Bob Hope's official website, click the image, or to check out what Bob films are available on video/dvd, click here FOR MORE FROM DAVIE:Discover the joys for gravy salt with Big Davie's cheap, cheerful and bloody delicious beef stew
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DAVIE FRASER I worked in the accounts office at Parsons Peebles, Granton for 31 years until the day it burnt down. I was working that day. I was sitting in the office at 12 oclock when the alarms went off. Everyone assumed they were just testing the alarms, then they saw black smoke and the factory blew up. Luckily, everyone was evacuated from the factory by the time it exploded. By the time the fire brigade arrived, the fire had taken hold. Everyone was sent home, then phoned by the supervisor to be told they'd been laid-off until further notice. Then following a meeting at Ainslie Park, the redundancies were handed out. The staff were supposed to get a letter once the new factory was built in Leith, but no offer was ever made. Parson Peebles was a big employer in the Granton and Pilton areas of the city, so its demise was a great blow to the communities. The fire was one of the biggest in Edinburgh for over 100 years. (I tried searching for more information on Parsons Peebles on the web, but depressingly, all I could find were CV's of the people who used to work there, 5 years on from the fire. LH)Born: 23 August 1946 at the Western General Hospital, Edinburgh Q: When/why did you first start drinking in the Tynecastle Arms? A: First came in occasionally on a Saturday afternoon after the football when I lived in Drylaw. In 1990 my wife, Anna and I got a flat upstairs through Canmore. We were married for 20 years, until she tragically died of cancer. I nursed her through it for 4 years. My nature somehow got me through watching what she was going through. Being made redundant was nothing in comparison Why do you keep going in?: A: It's where I meet my pals. Everyone I drink with drinks in here, and it's full of characters Q: What is your favourite song? A: Being the youngest of 4 brothers who were Frank Sinatra fans, I was brought up with his music and still like it. I loved The Searchers as well. They were my favourite band. Them and The Shadows. I had all their records at the time but over the years, you take them to parties and lose them. The first record I ever bought was The Shadows, 'Apache' and the second was their 'Atlantis.' I like most of the 60's stuff as it reminds me of when I was a teenager Q: What is your favourite film? A: I like all the old Humphrey Bogart films like 'Casablanca' and I love Bob Hope's Paleface films. I have them all on tape. I've watched them all 100 times but can still watch them. I could watch Bob Hope all day Q: What is your favourite tipple? A: A pint of Tartan Special Q: What place in Edinburgh do you think every visitor to the city should see? A: They should come to see the history - the Castle, the Palace - and sample the atmosphere. They should also definitely go to see a Hearts game, and come to the Tynie for a pint (when Stevie's not working.) There was a survey done recently that said Edinburgh folk dinnae smile. What a load of rubbish. It's a wonderful, cosmopolitan city I'd recommend to anybody. Do yourselves a favour. Have a visit to Edinburgh Q: What don't you like about Edinburgh? A: The traffic. The city centre wasn't built for traffic and it's too congested. They've tried to do things to improve it, but none of them have worked
THE 3 LOVES OF DAVIE'S LIFE2. Hearts 3. Our cat, Misty,but not necessarily in that order. Obviously, Anna was first but that was our wee joke together. We first got the cat, Misty, one Xmas day when we were up at Anna's sisters. Our neice came through with a big sob story about the neighbour's cat having kittens and one of them didn't have a home. We already had a 16 year old cat, but because it was Xmas and everything, we fell for it and took the kitten. Our cat hated the little ball of fluff at first. Have you ever heard a cat growling like a dog? Right from its stomach. We had to take it through to the bedroom with us at night. Poor wee thing didn't have a chance. Then eventually it grew up and started chasing our original cat about. Misty's the same age now as the other cat was when Misty first arrived
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