Following the Oscars & away from the glamour of Tinseltown a new wave of homegrown talent is emerging to put Scotland on the film-making map. I caught this news item in the P&J about Highland Film-makers and decided to unashamedly plug some local talent.

Extract from the Article:

“…At the other end of the scale, a new band of DIY film-makers are proving it is possible to reach an audience of millions with little more than a digital camera, a YouTube link-up and a good idea….
Adulation greeted teenager Drew Cameron, from Drumnadrochit, when he and four former school friends posted a series of surreal adventures featuring an empty milk carton on YouTube.
The youngsters became cult figures, getting stopped on the street by fans and winning admirers around the world.
Mr Cameron said it had been relatively easy to make the leap from aspiring filmmakers to internet sensations.”

See DDRW Films HERE

See Milk Paton HERE 

See full P&J Article HERE

The game of shinty goes back to the roots of Gaelic Scotland and the even earlier heritage of the Celtic race. Its demands of skill, speed, stamina and courage make camanachd, the sport of the curved stick, the perfect exercise of a warrior people.

2008 fixtures have been set and with a couple of  games already under their belts (see the results from the Boleskine Challenge Cup below) , the rivalry starts in earnest at the beginning of March.

Visit the Events page on www.visitlochness.com to see where you can see this magnificent game in and around the Loch Ness area from Drumnadrochit to Strathglass, Beauly to Boleskine, and Lovat to Glengarry .

Go to appreciate the skill of the game,  or to see some of the best legs in the  Glens!

 Boleskine Challenge Cup Results

Saturday 23 Feb  Boleskine 0 Kinlochshiel 2

Kinlochshiel were the invited club this season to compete for the Boleskine challenge cup . The  team from the west won the toss and elected to go with the strong wing which had an strong bearing on the game .  Kinlochshiel much as expected, had by far much better territorial advantage, keeping Boleskine pinned back in there own half for long periods and in the 24 minute Criosdan Mackenzie well taken first time low shot found the net from twenty five yards. Boleskine defence held out till the halftime whistle and with the wind now in our favour, the home spectators anticipated a better second period  for the team .  However, Boleskine never had the same territorial advantage as the visitors enjoyed in the first half and the spells they had in the ascendancy, their forwards lacked cohesion and were unable to penetrate the visitors defence . While the Kinlochshiel centre line were playing better against the wind than the home side managed and in the sixty third minute Alister Mackenzie made it two nil from close in . From then till the end of the game Boleskine had a few openings, but over the piece Kinlochshiel were fully deserving of their victory to win the Challenge Cup

Recently in the news it has been reported that as a conservation measure, any angler witnessed catching and releasing a spring salmon in the Ness system will receive a side of smoked salmon in return.

This has been prompted by a marked decline in spring fish stocks, so as part of its efforts to reverse this, the Ness District Fishery Board is issuing a detailed Catch and Release policy for the system.

To ensure those who return A fresh run “springer” prize fish from Loch Ness and its rivers do not go away empty handed, the board has introduced the reward scheme to emphasize the importance of releasing as many spring salmon as possible.

To claim their reward anglers should fill in one of the forms, available from either the licence issuer or beat representative.

Further, to encourage and promote catch and release the board has introduced a draw incorporating the spring fishing on all rivers within the system.

Names of angler and witness should be submitted to the licence issuer, gillie or angling club president who will keep them until the end of the spring fishing (16th June). The winners will be announced at the beginning of July 2008.

The prizes are: 1 – A Daiwa fly rod; 2 – £50 voucher for Graham’s tackle shop; 3 – two bottles of malt whisky and various other prizes. A shield will awarded to the angler releasing the biggest spring fish.

There have been no details reported of what the prize would be should a lucky angler manage to hook Nessie, but I’m sure that the rewards would be huge!*

* Please note - this Blogger would like to stress that if Nessie is caught, she should, of course, be released.