endlessrarities | Nose to the Grindstone...

This will, unfortunately, have to be short and sweet.

I'm giving a paper at the Society for Clay Pipe Research Group Annual Conference in Stirling next week, so my weekend is going to be spent wrestling with Powerpoint and trying to write a decent well-structured account of the clay pipe assemblage our lot dug up from William Christie's Glasgow clay pipe factory last year.

The audience will be extraordinarily learned and geeky, so I'll have to make sure I get my presentation polished up nicely. At least I know I'll have loads of pretty pictures! And I've certainly got a lot to say, though there's always a worry that I'll accidently find myself re-inventing the wheel.

The key argument will revolve around a particular clay pipe type, the 'Dr Jim', which I've pictured below:-

The picture comes courtesy of the SCRAN website, which if you haven't visited it before, is a really excellent resource relating to Scottish culture and history. (Check out http://www.scran.ac.uk if you're interested...) But in this instance, what they've got to say about the 'Dr Jim' is completely wrong...

I'm saying nothing more just now, on the slight, tiny, miniscule off-chance that someone in the archaeological (or more importantly, the clay pipe!) community tracks down this blog and pips me to the post next weekend...

I'm frustrated and annoyed, because I want to write my novel just now, but sometimes you've got to take some time off and put work first.

Though I haven't a clue what Inspirational Music I can use for this one. If I'm writing about the Bronze Age, I stick on some Enya or Clannad. But clay tobacco pipes??? Hmmm... I'd better have a wee rootle through my CD collection in the hope I can find something...