logo
Dundee Oor Wullie statue targeted by vandalism

Dundee Oor Wullie statue targeted by vandalism

The Couriera day ago

Locals have condemned the actions of 'mindless' vandals in Dundee city centre after an Oor Wullie statue was covered in pink paint.
The Oor Wullie statue, which depicts the iconic cartoon character aiming a pea shooter at a nearby statue of Robbie Burns, was found covered in pink paint on Wednesday morning.
A pornographic drawing and an obscene message had also been written on it.
The bronze comic book which sits next to the statue was also vandalised.
One passer-by called the damage a 'complete disgrace'.
Another branded the vandal's actions as 'mindless'.
A Dundee City Council also condemned the defacing of the statue.
A spokesperson said: 'This type of graffiti is completely unacceptable. Our rapid response team are aware and will be taking the necessary action.'
A council clean up team was spotted working to remove the paint at 3.30pm on Wednesday afternoon.
The statue was installed at the Albert Square site outside The McManus Galleries in 2016.
It was created to mark the 80th anniversary of the character's first appearance in The Sunday Post.
The statue also features a satchel containing Wullie's pet mouse, Jeemy, as well as a catapult and a bag of peas to refill his pea shooter.
Beside him is a poem entitled 'Tae Rabbie Burns'.
Scottish artist Malcolm Robertson, who created the 4ft tall sculpture, said at the time the project was one of the most enjoyable and fun of his life.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Chart-topping noughties popstar announces major Glasgow gig
Chart-topping noughties popstar announces major Glasgow gig

Scottish Sun

timean hour ago

  • Scottish Sun

Chart-topping noughties popstar announces major Glasgow gig

She made her return to music two years ago IT'S GOING DOWN IT'S GOING DOWN Chart-topping noughties popstar announces major Glasgow gig A CHART-topping noughties popstar has announced a major Glasgow gig. LA-born singer Kesha is set to bring the party back to Glasgow with a massive gig at the OVO Hydro as part of her upcoming world tour. Advertisement 2 Kesha has announced a major Scots gig next year Credit: Getty 2 The 38-year-old wowed crowds in Glasgow last night Credit: Splash The TiK ToK hitmaker left fans buzzing last night after a sold-out House of Kesha show at the O2 Academy, marking her first Scottish performance in years. The 38-year-old treated the crowd to a nostalgic set packed with two decades of bangers including Cannibal, Time, Your Love is My Drug and Die Young. But the real showstopper came at the end of the night when the best-selling star, whose real name is Kesha Rose Sebert, dropped the bombshell: she's heading back to Glasgow for an even bigger bash on March 11, 2026, with her bold and brash 'T**s Out' tour. Tickets for the Hydro gig go on pre-sale at midday on Tuesday, June 3, with general sale starting at 10am on Friday, June 6. Advertisement A statement shared on the venue's Instagram teased: 'So I got a question... do you wanna go to Kesha at the OVO Hydro? "Yup, Kesha is coming to town on March 11, 2026.' She burst onto the music scene in 2009 when she appeared on Flo Rida's number-one single, Right Round. She was born on March 1, 1987, in Los Angeles to singer and songwriter Patricia Rose Serbet who raised her as a single mother. Advertisement Kesha was signed to producer Dr. Luke's label, Kemosabe Records, in 2005 when she was just 15. The singer has been in a legal dispute with him since 2014 after accusing him of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and employment discrimination against her. She returned to the limelight in 2017 with the release of her third album, Rainbow, and performed the lead single, Praying, at the 2018 Grammy Awards. Kesha suffers embarrassing wardrobe malfunction as she flashes bare butt and loses shoe at Glamour Awards in Berlin Kesha had a meteoric rise to fame thanks to her debut album Animal, which topped the charts in numerous countries. Advertisement Her number-one singles include Tik Tok, We R Who We R, and Timber, on which she was a guest artist. Tik Tok was once the best-selling digital single in history. In 2012 the award-winning star released her second album, Warrior, and achieved her eighth consecutive top-ten single with Die Young. On May 19, 2023, Kesha released her fifth album, Gag Order, which climbed its way up Billboard's weekly new music poll, bringing in 68 percent of the vote and beating out new music from the likes of Post Malone and Bad Bunny.

A tip for you, JK: Harry Potter should be Scottish, don't you think?
A tip for you, JK: Harry Potter should be Scottish, don't you think?

The Herald Scotland

time2 hours ago

  • The Herald Scotland

A tip for you, JK: Harry Potter should be Scottish, don't you think?

He has thought about having a stern word with the bustling, buzzy beasties and demanding that they change their postcode. However, he gets the feeling that they aren't open to dialogue, so Graeme has concluded that he should change his address instead, and perhaps even retreat to foreign shores, to be as far away as possible from the enemy army. His wife is not persuaded and told him not to be a big dafty. After all, she adds: 'We're not talking about wasps. It's only bumble-bees.' An unrepentant Graeme tells the Diary: 'The problem is the word bumble, which makes the pesky varmints sound cute, when they're actually evil incarnate. 'The same thing would happen if you called the villain from Star Wars Bumble-Darth Vader.' MacMagic Congratulations to young Scottish actor Dominic McLaughlin, who will star as Harry Potter in a new TV adaptation of JK Rowling's fantasy series. JK herself is, of course, also based in Caledonia, so the Diary is wondering if a more Scottified version of her famous books should be made available. Reader Don Lawrence suggests one of the novels should go by the title Harry Potter and the Goblet of Buckie. Bendy boozing Shopping in her local supermarket in Glasgow's south side, reader Jenny Miller noticed a poster advertising wine and yoga classes. Jenny was not enticed, and tells us: 'It seems like an awful lot of effort to get a glass of wine. I prefer my local pub, which is offering wine and no yoga classes. Far more civilised.' David Donaldson notes that this is the sort of car that would drive you to drink… (Image: Contributed) Read rage, revisited We mentioned a chap who stopped reading Anger Management Magazine. Diary correspondent Ian Barnett received a call inquiring why he'd cancelled his subscription to the very same publication. In reply, Ian snarled: 'Who wants to know!?' Food for thought Glesga gourmand Steven Hutcheson visited an Italian chippy with his wife, and bought a square slice of pizza. 'So should it actually be called a piazza?' mused his wife. Morning mourning Overheard in a café in Glasgow's West End by reader Claire Oakley. One young lady said to her gal pal: 'What part of your morning routine takes longest?' Without skipping a beat, the morose chum replied: 'Finding the will to live.' Mind your language Linguistically-limber Craig Garvey from Giffnock tells us: 'Sometimes I use words I don't understand so I can sound more photosynthesis.'

'I became the AI voice of Lothian Buses, but didn't know about it', says angry Scottish voiceover artist
'I became the AI voice of Lothian Buses, but didn't know about it', says angry Scottish voiceover artist

Scotsman

time3 hours ago

  • Scotsman

'I became the AI voice of Lothian Buses, but didn't know about it', says angry Scottish voiceover artist

Second woman discovers a synthetic version of her voice being used by a Scottish transport operator - in this case, Lothian Buses. Sign up for the latest news and analysis about Scottish transport Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... A Glasgow voiceover artist has accused an AI company of 'stealing her vocal soul' for creating an synthetic version of her voice that has been supplied to Edinburgh bus operator Lothian for announcements. Diane Brooks told The Scotsman that other artists were likely to have been similarly treated after Midlothian-based Gayanne Potter revealed an AI version of her voice had been used by ScotRail for train announcements. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Voiceover artist Diane Brooks in her studio near Glasgow on Thursday | John Devlin/The Scotsman Ms Brooks said her voice recordings made 11 years ago for Belgian company Acapela had been used to created a synthetic voice known as 'Rhona'. She thought Rhona may also have been used by other transport operators. 'I am sorry to say and unbeknown to me, my voice is the voice on Lothian buses,' Ms Brooks said. 'I had done a text-to-speech (TTS) project in 2014 when TTS was in its infancy and had known my voice was on Acapela as Rhona, but thought it wouldn't get used as it has been. 'I have felt very strongly for a long time that I had to do something, but felt a bit alone about it all, and what chance would I have against a big corporate company?' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Ms Brooks said when Ms Potter revealed an AI version of her voice, known as Iona, had been used by ScotRail, 'it has given me the strength to do something about it, as it's an infringement of my rights as a voiceover artist'. ScotRail said Ms Potter's dispute was with Swedish firm ReadSpeaker, which supplied Iona. Gayanne Potter wants ScotRail to remove the 'Iona' AI version of her voice from its train announcements | Gayanne Potter Ms Brooks said: 'The worst thing is that I have no control of my own voice. I don't know where it will end up and basically, they have stolen my vocal soul. At first I was quite upset, but now I'm really angry. It's not right. 'It's a relief to know I am not the only one who is in the situation and am sure more voiceover artists will come out of the woodwork with the same issue. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'We must stick together and show a united approach to it all and we can't let these big corporate companies take away our identities and our livelihoods.' Ms Brooks said she was now taking legal advice 'as I want to make sure I have all the ammo I need to take on these companies that really take advantage in the most profitable way for them'. 'I hope strength in numbers will truly resolve this issue as AI is becoming increasingly dominant in everything we do and as voiceover artists we must be better protected in our work,' she said. Ms Brooks' work has included for BBC Bitesize, TV and radio commercials, and announcements for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The artist said she had recorded phrases for her agent, Scottish Voiceovers, now part of Voquent, on behalf of Acapela, but she had not been clear what they were to be used for and did not remember signing a contract. The recordings were later used by Acapela to create Rhona. Ms Brooks said: 'You are trusting your agent to do the best for you and look at things.' Performing arts union Equity said such cases had become common, which it said infringed its members' rights. Liam Budd, its industrial official for recorded media, said: 'It is extremely exploitative for companies to use and commercialise voice recordings to create digital replicas of artists from contracts which pre-date the development of generative AI or were not drafted explicitly for this purpose. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Sadly, we have heard from numerous performers who have lost control over their voice or likeness, and had their privacy and likeness hijacked through the misuse of AI. Such misuse is an attack on our members' fundamental rights. 'The union continues to call on the [UK] government for legal certainty around the use of historic contracts for AI-purposes and greater enforcement of existing GDPR [General Data Protection Regulation] laws, which give our members much-needed protections, but are currently being ignored.' A spokesperson for Lothian, which is owned by the City Of Edinburgh Council, said: 'We have two different passenger information systems in use. One uses a recording of a commissioned voice artist for mp3 playback, and the other uses a text-to-speech engine to synthesize a voice. 'Lothian is a licensed user of the text-to-speech engine, which originates from our equipment supplier and as such we were not involved in its creation.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Lothian said the engine had been supplied by a passenger information equipment provider, which it has yet to name. It said it had 'no direct agreement or contract with Acapela'.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store