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A free talk in Glasgow is to explore why Scotlands cultural heritage is full of sex and the supernatural.

Part of the Celtic Connections festival, the "Selkies, shapeshifters and sex" lecture will look at examples of supernatural creatures and sex in Scottish Ballads, the poems which were created to chronicle otherwise unrecorded traditional Scottish folk songs.

The talk will be delivered by Dr Donna Heddle, director of the Centre for Nordic Studies at the University of the Highlands and Islands, as part of the festivals educational programme.

Speaking about the event, Dr Heddle said:

"This lecture is about the shape shifting supernatural creatures like selkies and faeries which inhabit Scottish ballads such as Tam Lin and Robert Burns' Tam o Shanter. I'll be discussing their nature, their history in oral ballads and their legacy in written literature. I'll also be exploring what these creatures and their associations with sex say about the society that created them, asking why do the Scots need the dark and sexy world of the supernatural?"

The Selkies, shapeshifters and sex lecture takes place from 12.30pm - 2pm on Friday 3 February at the Glasgow Royal Concert Halls. Entry is free and unticketed, on a first-come basis.

To find out more about the Centre for Nordic Studies and its courses, visit www.nordic.uhi.ac.uk

For more information on the Celtic Connections festival, visit www.celticconnections.com

The opening of a new exhibition at the Orkney Museum takes place on Saturday, February 4.

Recent Drawings by Rik Hammond is a collection of abstract drawings that challenge the viewer to use their own imagination to interpret the images on display.

Originally from Hastings in East Sussex, Rik studied Fine Art at Falmouth School of Art and Design in Cornwall. He lived in Hartlepool, in the north east of England, before moving to Orkney in 2004.

Rik, who lives in St Margaret’s Hope, is currently the Orkney World Heritage Site artist in residence, but the drawings in this exhibition are not from that project, as Rik explains:

“The work that I’ve chosen for the show here at the Orkney Museum is a brief snapshot of (mostly small-scale) drawings made between 2010 and 2012.

“I work in a variety of media, and in particular I draw extensively – commonly using fairly traditional materials such as paper, ink and pencil. My drawings are nearly always abstract and often automatic. I enjoy the immediacy and intimacy of working on paper. I rarely title drawings and I routinely work in series.

“I try to draw every day – often starting with a blank sheet of paper (loose or in a drawing book) and little, if any, specific direction in mind, perhaps just the type of pen or pencil I like the idea of starting with.

“For me drawing is an instinctive activity akin to the process of thinking. I tend to approach drawing in an experimental way, often treating it as an automatist exercise. I enjoy it when a drawing feels like it is beginning to direct its own route. Enquiry, chance and experiment tend to be the basis for the decisions I make whilst producing work – although recurring motifs, memories and shapes commonly emerge.”

Recent Drawings by Rik Hammond is on show from February 4 - 25. The Orkney Museum is open Monday – Saturday, 10.30am – 12.30pm, 1.30 – 5pm. Admission is free.

The artist will be at the Orkney Museum on Saturday, February 4, from 10.30am – 12.30pm to talk about his work.

Papa Westray will be enjoying an international contemporary art festival between 6th and 13th February.

The 2012 instalment of Papay Gyro Nights follows the succesful inaugural festival of 2011, and is the brainchild of locally based artists IVANOV + CHAN.

Taking advantage of the extremities of the festival's setting, climate and timing, a diverse range of themes and artforms will be explored, with emphasis on experimental film and video art in conjunction with performance, music and architecture.

The full programme is listed below (you may need to click Read More)

The festival is supported by the Danish Cultural Institute, Institut Francais and Land Art Papa Westray.

So The Condition scorn the free plug below and aren't playing over Christmas... typical.

Lots of Top Local Acts are though, so here it is distilled down in space and time, all the free entertainment laid on by the pubs and bars between Christmas and the New Year. Constant Party are getting around, and The MoHo (that's The Auld Motor Hoose) and Skippers are pushing the boat out admirably, with a creditable effort also by The Bothy. Thursday 29th looks like a top night oot particularly.

If you want to print this off, then the pdf link at the top of the article is just for you.

So no excuse to fester in the house worrying about completing your self-assessment tax return, or filling your face with Maltesers like a chocoholic hamster. That was maybe too autobiographical.

In The Toon

Thursday 22nd
Stevieoke Karaoke in Skippers - 4.40 onwards!
Karaoke in the back bar of The Ola

Friday 23rd
The Fastliners in The Bothy - 9pm onwards
Guest DJ Lee Miller in The Torv - 9.30pm onwards
Stevieoke Karaoke in The Ayre - 8.30pm onwards

Saturday 24th
Constant Party in The Torv - 9.45pm onwards

Monday 26th
DJ Honey Monster in The Torv - 9.45pm onwards

Tuesday 27th
Fat Elvis in The MoHo  - 9.30pm onwards
Stevieoke Karaoke in The Bothy - 9pm onwards
Karaoke in the back bar of The Ola

Wednesday 28th
Vagabonds in The MoHo - 9.30pm onwards

Thursday 29th
Rog and Mitch in The Bothy - 9.30 onwards
Constant Party in Skippers - 9.30pm onwards
Daft Notion in The MoHo - 9.30pm onwards

Friday 30th
The Tribe in Skippers
Allan Skea in The MoHo - 7.30pm onwards

Saturday 31st December
New Year's Eve Party in Skippers

Up West

Friday 23rd
Alpha Dixie in The Royal, Stromness

Friday 30th
Alpha Dixie in The Standing Stones

Saturday 31st
Scapa Sound in The Standing Stones

In Burray

Monday 26th
Bands in the Sands - Whole Lotta Burray and Constant Party

Saturday 31st
The Braelanders and Charles at the Sands Hotel

This week sees storytellers from near and far gathering for the annual Orkney Storytelling Festival.

Organised by the Orcadian Story Trust, the festival features a wide variety of events across Orkney, suitable for all ages, and runs from Thursday 27th - Sunday 30th October.

Details of the full programme can be found on the website www.orkneystorytellingfestival.co.uk. Tickets are available from SAS in Kirkwall, SOS in Stromness, and on the door.

Returning for a second year is Swedish Jerker Fahlström, who delighted audiences last year with his energetic  and entertaining stories about Nordic Gods. ‘He was fantastic,’ said an audience member from Jerker’s show in Stromness Town Hall last year. ‘I was weeping with laughter.’  Jerker will be sharing his stories this year in the Stromness Hotel, St Magnus Cathedral, and St Margaret’s Hope, as well as informal events throughout the weekend.

Jerker will be joined this year by Norwegian storyteller Maritha Nielsen, who has visited Orkney before but never had the chance to perform here. ‘ I am looking forward to it very much,’ said Maritha this week, ‘your islands are very beautiful and I am happy to be making the connections with Orkney’s history.’

Poets from three islands gather for a reading in Stromness on Thursday 20th October as part of the The Poet's Tour, when Uist-based poet Pauline Prior Pitt joins with Shetland's Gordon Dargie and Orkney poet Rosie Alexander for the event at the Pier Arts Centre (reading starts at 7pm, free entry), hosted by Stromness's own Pamela Beasant.

Pauline Prior Pitt is one of Scotland's foremost poets. She has appeared on Radio 4's Woman's Hour, Pick of the Week, Channel 4, Central, and Carlton Television. Pauline writes about the relationships between men and women, family life, the domestic scene, gynaecology, political issues, dresses, the ageing process, and love and death. In her book 'Storm Biscuits' she writes about the landscape of North Uist, where she now lives and her one woman shows attract large audiences at festivals. Her 'North Uist Sea Poems' won the Callum Macdonald Memorial Award for pamphlet poetry in 2006.