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Scottish Picks: October 2000

Welcome to Scottish Picks, handpicked by our Scottish web connoisseur. If you have a
suggestion for a cool site you'd like to see included in a future edition, why not send us an email?

Big Brother may be over but the BBC's Castaway 2000 series, set on the tiny Hebridean island of Taransay, is just getting interesting - especially now that winter is coming. For the uninitiated, the emphasis of this television-driven experiment is less on personalities and winning prizes, and more about how thirty plus people handle self-sufficient living for a year on a desolate island. That means homegrown food, compost toilets, wind-powered turbines and so on. The web site is scant on details of the various hiccups experienced so far - in particular those castaways who decided to pack up and go home - but you will find reports and video diaries about life on their three by two mile home. You can send an email too. The only problem is that with no computer the email has to be printed out and delivered by Post Boat, which only sails fortnightly.

Should you get the crazy notion that you want to go and join the castaways yourself, pay a visit to the Western Isles Tourist Board. This simple site shows off the remarkably beautiful beaches that the Western Isles are famous for, as well as tourist information in several languages. Fingers crossed - there should be some good deals at this time of year.

Since launching their own record label, Chemikal Underground Records, back in 1994, Glasgow band The Delgados have proven that musicians can run a successful business on their own terms. They have scored points with other bands signed up to their label, like Arab Strap from Falkirk, and their music continues to win admirers and ecstatic reviews. The site provides more than adequate background about the label and the band with photos, interviews, and details of a world tour, beginning in the UK this month.

If folk and Scottish roots is more your bag, MusicScotland.com could be worth a visit. This is a useful portal to the music of many luminaries from the folk world like Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham, Capercaillie, Martyn Bennett and Shooglenifty to name a few. The music is for sale, but you can also download free full length tracks by some folk artists.

It seems there are never enough Scottish footie sites. The latest to appear, Superscoreboard offers live Scottish Premiere League football commentary from independent local radio stations like Radio Clyde in Glasgow and Radio Forth in Edinburgh. If you miss a game you can catch the goal highlights in the archive section. There is also the usual slew of tables, statistics and reports.

Sites Featured in Scottish Picks:

BBC Castaway 2000 - social experiment on a remote isle.

Western Isles Tourist Board - holiday with the castaways.

Chemikal Underground Records - indie record label.

MusicScotland.com - folk and roots music.

Superscoreboard - live football reports.

Previous Scottish Picks of the Month:

[ September 00 | August 00 | July 00 | June 00 ]