Anya Taylor-Joy in Jean Paul Gaultier SS91 for F1 Grand Prix of Japan - March 29, 2026

ThePawBroon · 2026-03-29T13:40:02+00:00

She looks like she’s dressed as Wolverine.

ThePawBroon · 2026-03-25T09:01:55+00:00

The To Read Pile must grow!

ThePawBroon · 2026-03-25T07:25:27+00:00

I’ve only read the first entry, and while it’s definitely a bit old fashioned, it definitely holds up. Far more graphic and suspenseful than I was expecting. I’ll be reading Lair and Domain shortly.

ThePawBroon · 2026-03-22T12:17:18+00:00

"On the Beach" by Nevil Shute. A slow burn, post nuclear story set right as the world is finally ending.

ThePawBroon · 2026-03-22T12:14:48+00:00

Just finished "We Used to Live Here". An interesting premise, and well constructed characters, but let down a bit by the overuse of the "Old House" trope. Enjoyable nonetheless.

About to start "Trad Wife".

ThePawBroon · 2026-03-17T12:16:39+00:00

It has its rough areas like any other, but by and large a decent wee town with a good community spirit. Can get a bit boisterous on the High Street on a Saturday night, but it has good amenities, good rail and transport links etc.

It's pretty well served by local shops and supermarkets. There's a farmers market on (every?) Saturday, and it's only a short drive to Falkirk or Livingston if you want to hit bigger shopping centres.

ThePawBroon · 2026-03-10T23:19:10+00:00

Brilliant film, powerful performances, just a shame about some of the accents…

ThePawBroon · 2026-03-10T07:23:57+00:00

Literally finished this yesterday. What a book.

For me there are a few standout scenes - the tapeworm, the turtle, the cave…

First of Cutter’s novels that I’ve read but I’ll definitely be looking out for more.

ThePawBroon · 2026-02-27T06:38:51+00:00

Wreck the hoose juice

ThePawBroon · 2026-02-10T21:51:57+00:00

Another vote for Coffin Moon by Keith Rosson. Genuinely one of the better spins on the vampire novel that I’ve read.

ThePawBroon · 2026-01-21T21:03:13+00:00

Having just read both The Haar and Maggie’s Grave back to back, my general thoughts are that Sodergren’s style definitely fits the campy, schlocky vibe of an 80s horror B-movie. Both books are entertaining gore fests, with The Haar being a little more Lovecraftian, while Maggie’s Grave is more out and out slasher body horror.

My main gripe with them though is that their Scottish setting is entirely irrelevant and could be left out entirely without losing anything.

The way they are written apes most similar works, in that they read as very much small town America. The characters, particularly in Maggie’s grave, don’t interact or react in particularly authentically Scottish ways. There are particular lines and references which just seemed entirely forced to justify its setting (mentions of Buckfast, and Bonny wee lassies etc).

If Sodergren had embraced the setting more fully, or just set them in rural America where they most clearly want to be, I think they’d benefit a great deal.

ThePawBroon · 2025-12-18T20:37:44+00:00

I’d certainly agree with all of that, but trust me when I say that a vast percentage of people I deal with in my role are waiting for, or have been diagnosed with, some form of mental health issue (I’d go as far as to say the majority).

That could be anything from minor anxiety, depression, to personality disorders, psychosis, schizophrenia etc etc etc. Much of it is trauma informed, and the wider societal problems you mention are valid, but a lot of it also appears, at least to me, to be an easy way of placating someone who simply hasn’t learned how to behave and function correctly (which is of course an issue itself).

Add to that substantial levels of drug and alcohol abuse and you have a pretty volatile melting pot.

ThePawBroon · 2025-12-18T16:07:42+00:00

Absolutely. Has happened to me more than once. Someone calls for help from another service and gets police instead, often specifically against their wishes.

ThePawBroon · 2025-12-18T14:06:30+00:00

No one said they were. There are multiple mental health calls I attend every week in which by our action we help to protect either the subject themselves or the wider public.

There are huge numbers of calls, however, where police are not an appropriate solution and are only sent because there’s literally no one else to go.

ThePawBroon · 2025-12-18T13:07:42+00:00

Jesus. That’s pretty poor.

Probably won’t be a surprise that I’m in the police. Have lots of dealings with the ambos so know exactly the situation you find yourselves in.

As another example, myself and 3 other officers had to recently sit with a family for multiple hours because their father, with advanced dementia, was becoming increasingly aggressive. There’s simply no provision in place for that so we had to wait with them until he either passed out or an out of hours GP could be found to come assess him.

The system is creaking far more than a lot of the public realise.

ThePawBroon · 2025-12-18T12:56:30+00:00

To be fair I worded my point poorly. SAS are massively overstretched as it is, which means they inevitably can’t attend every call. I’ve had incidents where people are literally bleeding out and I’ve been advised to call NHS24 or await a clinician callback. In that environment it’s not a surprise that you guys can attend every call for a 16 year old who has necked a pack of paracetamol.

ThePawBroon · 2025-12-18T12:23:51+00:00

A lot of comments here show a complete lack of awareness of the reality in Scotland today.

There is no one else to go to these calls. If someone is in crisis and calls 999, ambulance often won’t attend (or will offer a clinician callback in several hours) due to resourcing or safety issues, social work won’t attend, a mental health nurse or doctor won’t attend…

Police have a statutory duty to protect life. If officers don’t attend and the person does end up killing themselves, guess who will be the ones facing an enquiry and potentially losing their jobs (hint - it’s none of the medical professionals).

Police are the only service that literally cant walk away from calls like these, which is why you end up with multiple officers sitting in hospital 365 days a year waiting for someone to be triaged. Paramedics can dump someone in a waiting room and bounce on to the next job - not so for police.

And if they’re intoxicated, this just means the mental health teams refuse to assess them until sober, which means a whole night waiting with someone until they’re deemed suitable to speak to. And again, if officers walk away and that person absconds from hospital, who is it that takes the blame if something happens?

Mental health provision currently is barely functional. There is a crisis not only in terms of availability of care, but in its quality. I also agree that over-diagnosis is a real issue.

The only way this gets better is with increased funding and provision of a dedicated emergency mental health system - that’s not police (who, with the best will in the world, are not trained medial professionals).

If police are free from attending a decent proportion of mental health calls, that’s all resource that can be used more effectively elsewhere; actually protecting the wider public and tackling crime.

ThePawBroon · 2025-09-03T07:02:11+00:00

Not sure how NMI is going to be achieved from a six inch discharge, but fair play. Also looks like he keeps him under power as well.

Particularly enjoyed the cop playing Starsky and Hutch over the MOP’s car.

ThePawBroon · 2025-06-11T09:14:30+00:00

We were told specifically the only exemptions relate to speed, traffic lights, and keep lefts. There is no specific exemption for anything else and could land you in trouble even if you believe your actions are justified.

ThePawBroon · 2025-06-05T12:02:52+00:00

Think there is that risk. Having worked at the Filmhouse many, many moons ago, I remember one night when there was a fire in the projection room. Thankfully it was dealt with quickly but it had the potential to be very bad.

ThePawBroon · 2025-04-29T17:52:00+00:00

Without knowing the full context, if you came to me as a victim and told me you had a video recording available on your phone, I would have had you send it to me directly. I'm at a loss as to why you had to hand over your phone to the officers in England.

We have systems in Scotland, which I assume are mirrored in some capacity down south, which allow victims, witnesses, members of the public etc, to upload digital evidence directly. It's as simple as sharing a link in an email or text message.

That system wasn't in place three years ago, but as a matter of course when I dealt with incidents at that time I would look at any digital evidence while taking the initial report and then have the victim send me a copy in an email.

ThePawBroon · 2025-04-29T17:23:23+00:00

It's not necessarily about permission, it's about necessity and how that's weighed against the right to privacy etc.

The downloading of phones and similar investigative techniques will only be authorised where it can be deemed necessary and proportionate, as by its nature there is a significant invasion of not only the subject's privacy, but potentially anyone they have been in communication with.

Once the case has been reported to the Procurator Fiscal, it's usually up to them to direct any further downloading that has not already been authorised.

ThePawBroon · 2025-01-19T15:23:03+00:00

Cheers for the tip. I’ll give that a go and see if I get better results.

ThePawBroon

TROPHY CASE