SALMONDCHANTED evening. And an eventful afternoon, too, for the First Minister.
Before he scarpered to Glasgow East (well done the SNP, big nail in Gordon's coffin) he hosted a reception at Bute House for the Barcelona and Hibernian managements.
Twice in his speech he mistakenly mentioned Easter Road instead of Murrayfield. "
I must have been thinking of the Easter Road slope, thinking it would have given Hibs an outside chance against Barca," he said, quickly adding: "The slope's gone of course and now it's a level playing field but I was aware of it whenever I was there."
Wearing a maroon scarf? The word is he's a Jambo. In the exchange of gifts the Spaniards presented him with a silver salver. Handy when he has Gordon Brown's head on a plate. Holding it aloft he quipped: "I give you an absolute assurance that this will be fully declared."
Hibs boss Rod Petrie, who said that the decision to shut the "walk up" ticket office at Murrayfield at 5pm "beggared belief ," kept his cool with a glass of elderflower water. Perhaps his players in their final work-out would need some elderflower water?, I suggested.
His wry response: "A four-leaf clover's more like it."
A six-goal tanking from the Barca's class act wasn't the nightmare scenario. It might have been ten. The last journo standing (in fact, the only one to get an invitation), I wished Mr Salmond good luck and accepted his offer of a haggis ball on the way to his limo. That was some ball he had a few hours later.
Afterwords . . . . .You'll see it on the side of Lothian buses, MEET DAVE. First glance and you think, golly, gee, whizz - a chance to meet David "Call me Dave" Cameron, the PM in waiting!
But no. What's on the buses is an ad for a movie, now screening here. It stars one of cinema's unfunniest funny characters, the irksome Eddie Murphy.
For me Trading Places or 48 Hours vie with Nuns on the Run, starring Robbie Coltrane, among the all-time dud comedies.
Meet Dave, which has Murphy in a dual role, has been savaged by the critics. But don't let me put you off.
The full article contains 377 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
