Day 208: Cloud Cone

Day 207: Ben

and his mandolin.

Day 206: Sarah Moody

Brilliant cellist and fabulous friend. Check out The Devil's Violin when it comes to a town near you.

Day 205: Weird colour rendering

I'm only adding the pic because this was exactly how the the photo came out (without any post-processing) and I'm baffled as to why the digital camera struggled to render a red velvet drape (that was breathing like an anemone and therefore warranted a photo).

So anyone with a technical insight as to why this has an infra-red texture to it, let me know, I'm intrigued.

Day 204: Smashing...

Please feel free to add your own egg-themed punchline to this pic.

Day 203: Miss Behave

The charismatic compere of The Crack.

Not quite La Clique, I'm afraid, but Nina Conti was absolutely brilliant. I'm looking at ventriloquism with new eyes. It was definitely the show stealing set of an otherwise pretty disappointing Cabaret show.

Day 202: Scandamaniacs

Emile from the Scandamaniacs, looking a little like Johnny Depp.

Day 201: The Castle

Touristy pic, I know, but it did look a bit splendid the other evening.

It gives me the chance to make a tenuous connection to another dream I had. I should add in advance that I don't normally dream of celebrities but this one does yet again include one.

So the dream. I was staying in a big old mansion not dissimilar to above castle (ting! tenuous link made). I returned to my room to find a German sailor who spoke no English asleep in my bed. I was bemused but not entirely alarmed by it. Then I heard that George Clooney was staying in a mansion across the road so I decided to go over and ask to take his photo (I think I must still be subconsciously scarred by not asking Sylvain Chomet).

He agreed but when I went to change my lens I realised the body of my camera was full of pink powder. I was totally shocked and angry and decided that the German sailor must be responsible. I marched off to confront him, found him walking along the road with a plastic bag full of scented candles in his hand.

Then I put two and two together (which could make 7.3 in dream logic) and realised that the German sailor had been smuggling drugs and trying to hide the smell of heroin with the scented candles.

Canny, eh?

Day 200: Moomins

It must be something to do with the Festival being on but I've been having some very interesting dreams these last few days.

Dream No. 1: I went to see Grid Iron's Decky Does a Bronco, which is being performed in an Edinburgh park, the set being a large swing frame anchored to the grass. The characters climb all over this frame throughout the play. I then had a dream that half way through the show, the main actor had to leave very suddenly and I had to fill in for him. So I was climbing up to the top of the swing frame, looking down at the audience thinking 'I've got absolutely no idea what my next line is'.

I then sat at the top of the frame, trying to surreptitiously flick through a copy of the script desperately trying to identify where we actually were in the play hoping the audience wouldn't notice the main actor had gone... even though a woman had replaced him.

I love dream logic!

Dream No. 2: A S Byatt and Margaret Drabble (who I'm pretty sure I'd be unable to pick out from a line up) walked into the pub where a friend of mine was playing a set. There was a ripple of hushed whispers as they came in, as people recognised them. I went up to A S Byatt (Margaret Drabble was away getting the drinks in) and asked her if I could take her photo (whilst wishing I'd actually finished reading Possession all those years ago). She was very nice but in the end told me that I couldn't take her picture because her publisher owned the copyright to her image.

Tove Jansson, apart from writing the fabulous Moomin books also wrote this beautiful, gently funny book called The Summer Book about the tender relationship between a grandmother and grandchild sharing a tiny island off the coast of Finland one summer. I'm a big fan. And this year is the 65th anniversary of the Moomins, so I went slightly crazy in this design shop and my niece is now getting all things Moomin for her birthday (as am I... hee hee).

Day 199: Baby

Day 198: Sisters II

Day 197: N III

Day 196: R III

Day 195: R II

Day 194: R I

Day 193: N II

Day 192: N I

Day 191: Sisters

I had a fantastic day on Sunday. A friend asked me to take some photos of her daughters and what a delight. It really wasn't difficult to get beautiful photos of these fabulous and very photogenic sisters.

So here's a few to share with you.

Day 190: The Fringe

... has started.

Well it's been going for over a week now.

So far, I've mostly seen great shows. Derevo with Harlekin - fantastic, visually splendid and playful. Grid Iron - superb as always with a return for Decky Does a Bronco, Sarah's play The Harbour by Limbik, fabulous, and just got a well-deserved 4 star review in the Scotsman. Tom Wainright's Pedestrian, part surreal performance poetry, part stand up, very funny and clever as a man walks down the street trying to avoid Chuggers and assessing sandwich buyers in Tesco Metro (I'm definitely a 'sweaty back' according to his assessment criteria). George Ryegold, we won't mention.

I love the Festival.

And so long as you don't need to get anywhere quickly, it's a lot of fun.

Tonight I'm going to see Alan Cumming at midnight! Will I stay awake.

Will add links later. But that's my first week so far.

Day 189: Lillies

I will start posting photos of the Festival soon, I promise.

(once I've actually taken some)

Day 188: B+W

I've been watching a lot of old black and white films recently. Most recently, The Third Man, with Orson Welles as Harry Lime, with the brilliant lines:

"You know what the fellow said - in Italy, for thiry years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michaelangelo, Leonardo de Vinci and the Renaissance.

In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, they had five hundred years of democracy and peace - and what did that produce?

The Cuckoo Clock!"

But he forgot.

Chocolate.

and a murky reputation for banking the profits of said warface, terror, murder and bloodshed.

Day 187: Water

Day 186: The Harbour

If you're Edinburgh-based, looking for a Festival show to see then I suggest you start with The Harbour.

Wonderful music composed and performed by my lovely friend, Sarah, fantastic acting especially the character of Betty, great story telling of a Selkie myth and some really clever and playful imagery.

Day 185: Hog in a Pram

Day 184: Life Turns II

And today I went and joined in the fun. Lots of people wandering by, getting photographed in one of 8 poses so that eventually we'll all be part of the art project.

Day 183: Life Turns I

A cool art project, Life Turns, running out of Inspace.

Day 182: Big things on the Beach

Day 181: Check mate

Day 180: Lily

I'm pretty sure this is similar to one of those free sample pictures that come with Windows but since I'm on a Mac right now I can't verify that.

Oh and I'm a new auntie today! Or at least I have a new niece.

Welcome to the world little one.

Day 179: Ugly Fish

Day 178: Dragons