Sunburst and snowblind
Jan. 8th, 2003 12:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zotzWell, it was an odd one.
The Christmas Eve edition of the Calling went well in some ways. The atmosphere was good and I think those who turned up enjoyed themselves. There weren't as many, though, as usual and I'm not sure whether we lost money or not. Not enough to hurt, though, regardless. There were some displeased people at the end, including me - because the othe rdispleased people decided to have a go at the object of their displeasure rather than say anything to me about it, in spite of the fact that I was standing right next to them. Oh well. So it goes. I can ignore their opinion if I like, then, with a perfectly clear conscience.
Driving up the next day was interesting. I've never seen the M6 through Birmingham be empty before. There were roadworks, sure, but too few cars for anyone to be held up. It was a clear and fairly dry day, so I made good time and was at my folks' after a touch over six hours, by about 9 pm.
I stayed in Ayr for a few days. It's an odd place. It's where I grew up, but I don't really feel any connection to it any more. It's not home. It's changed, and not for the better. It used to be, among other things, a fishing port. I think there are still about 70 or 80 boats registered there, but the fish market closed years ago and that part of the riverside has been turned from a quay into a site for several blocks of flats, with nice pleasant little signs telling you that it's all private. There's a little inlet that used to be used by a local boat club for mooring various small craft. The developers have stuck a low bridge across the entrance. You'd have trouble getting a rowing boat in or out now. No use to man nor beast. Who said it was OK for them to do that?
It was very clear, though. From the shore I could see past Arran to Kintyre, which is a good few miles off. The shorefront's gradually decaying. Ayr used to also be a day-trip destination for Glasgow and the various industrial towns of west central Scotland. Glasgow Fair weekend used to be hoaching with paddling weegies. Not any more, I guess. There as a stamp works, as well. Industry. I don't really know how the place keeps afloat now. A nice retirement town, and commuter dorm for places further north and inland, perhaps. The one change that I like is the fact that there's now a statue on the High Street of a man disconsolately holding a dead fish.
I stayed in Ayr until Friday (seeing the Two Towers), and got a lift through to Edinburgh with my sister. That evening, we went for a drink with Glen, an old flatmate and mutual friend, in a pub near Old College called the Brass Monkey. It's unique selling point seems to be that the back room has been turned into a small cinema, and its whole floor has been turned into a large couch. I'll leave your imaginations to run rampage at this point and move swiftly on. We went to a small place off the cowgate which turned out to be painfully hip, so we didn't stay for a second but moved on to Bannerman's. It closed on us, and I went on with some friends we'd bumped into on the way to a dreadful rock night where I insisted on drunkenly doing silly knees-up dancing to nu-metal hits. Much fun for me, and doubtless also for all the wee nuggets taking the piss out of granddad.
Saturday and Sunday my parents were through. I spent some time with them, and some with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
gingiber and Seth. My folks' most recent acquisition in Edinburgh has a neighbour, they informed me, who used to be in a famous punk band, but now makes films and lives in Hertfordshire. That'll be Jobs, then. Very nice bloke, apparently. Monday was the 30th, so after som shopping I went round to Chris and Alison's for their little soiree. I got trashed. Utterly so. I took a fair while doing i, though - six or seven hours, I think. 'Twas good. Many friends were present and I managed to have sensible (or at least coherent) discussions with most of them before things got out of hand. Hogmanay itself started quietly (for good reasons) but after a while I was able to act normally. I ended up in the pub, of course - K Jackson's, in this case, to meet the usual mob. It was busy, but not more so than a usual night given its location, and things were pleasant and companionable until midnight, at which point we went outside to watch the fireworks over the castle. Very spectacular they were, too. I then got dragged away to ultravioletman's place (and party), also frequented by marymortis, among others, and after that to another party at an old friend's place (this friend being Jim). The plan was to go down to the West End for the usual party at the abode of ciphergoth,purplerabbitssibelian et al, but we'd fouled up our timing and were fading fast by this stage. Sorry. I'll try harder to make it next year.
The first involved being back in Ayr for dinner with my folks at a place in Belleisle Park. We got there at two, we had three courses, we left after five. It was very nice, but a touch prolonged. The evening was spent with family and on the second (early) I went back through to Edinburgh. By train, because I'd left the car keys in Marchmont. In the afternoon, I went to join some people bowling at skittles in the Sheep's Heid in Duddingston, after which it was back to Chris & Alison's. They went off to the cinema after a bit to see Nemesis (which I'm told is awful) and I went down to K Jackson's to see people. A slightly different (but overlapping) bunch this time. Onwards to a place opposite the medical school for late drinks, then home.
Friday was back to Ayr to pick up the car and bring it back through. And I went off to see L&S again. They hadretrogoth and Marianne. It was good to see them again. It's been a while. Saturday was my last day in Edinburgh, so I went record shopping with L&S. Too many things were bought, including a few books. Evening was . . . tadaaa! K Jackson's. Various folks. Very nice.
Sunday was a) loading the car, including with my (Edwardian rolltop) desk, which I'm very pleased to have down here, and b) driving down, on a beautiful clear dry day, with a paper-thin new moon ahead of me. Again, there was relatively little traffic, and the trip went swiftly.
In general, the weather was incredibly clear and dry, with fantastic visibility, for the whole time I was in Scotland, except for the periods it snowed. It was actually a bit nippy, compared to the balmy Cambridge climate - the only temperature I saw was by the M8 at about 5 one evening. 6 below. Incredibly beautiful, though. I will live in Edinburgh again. I will.
The Christmas Eve edition of the Calling went well in some ways. The atmosphere was good and I think those who turned up enjoyed themselves. There weren't as many, though, as usual and I'm not sure whether we lost money or not. Not enough to hurt, though, regardless. There were some displeased people at the end, including me - because the othe rdispleased people decided to have a go at the object of their displeasure rather than say anything to me about it, in spite of the fact that I was standing right next to them. Oh well. So it goes. I can ignore their opinion if I like, then, with a perfectly clear conscience.
Driving up the next day was interesting. I've never seen the M6 through Birmingham be empty before. There were roadworks, sure, but too few cars for anyone to be held up. It was a clear and fairly dry day, so I made good time and was at my folks' after a touch over six hours, by about 9 pm.
I stayed in Ayr for a few days. It's an odd place. It's where I grew up, but I don't really feel any connection to it any more. It's not home. It's changed, and not for the better. It used to be, among other things, a fishing port. I think there are still about 70 or 80 boats registered there, but the fish market closed years ago and that part of the riverside has been turned from a quay into a site for several blocks of flats, with nice pleasant little signs telling you that it's all private. There's a little inlet that used to be used by a local boat club for mooring various small craft. The developers have stuck a low bridge across the entrance. You'd have trouble getting a rowing boat in or out now. No use to man nor beast. Who said it was OK for them to do that?
It was very clear, though. From the shore I could see past Arran to Kintyre, which is a good few miles off. The shorefront's gradually decaying. Ayr used to also be a day-trip destination for Glasgow and the various industrial towns of west central Scotland. Glasgow Fair weekend used to be hoaching with paddling weegies. Not any more, I guess. There as a stamp works, as well. Industry. I don't really know how the place keeps afloat now. A nice retirement town, and commuter dorm for places further north and inland, perhaps. The one change that I like is the fact that there's now a statue on the High Street of a man disconsolately holding a dead fish.
I stayed in Ayr until Friday (seeing the Two Towers), and got a lift through to Edinburgh with my sister. That evening, we went for a drink with Glen, an old flatmate and mutual friend, in a pub near Old College called the Brass Monkey. It's unique selling point seems to be that the back room has been turned into a small cinema, and its whole floor has been turned into a large couch. I'll leave your imaginations to run rampage at this point and move swiftly on. We went to a small place off the cowgate which turned out to be painfully hip, so we didn't stay for a second but moved on to Bannerman's. It closed on us, and I went on with some friends we'd bumped into on the way to a dreadful rock night where I insisted on drunkenly doing silly knees-up dancing to nu-metal hits. Much fun for me, and doubtless also for all the wee nuggets taking the piss out of granddad.
Saturday and Sunday my parents were through. I spent some time with them, and some with
gingiber and Seth. My folks' most recent acquisition in Edinburgh has a neighbour, they informed me, who used to be in a famous punk band, but now makes films and lives in Hertfordshire. That'll be Jobs, then. Very nice bloke, apparently. Monday was the 30th, so after som shopping I went round to Chris and Alison's for their little soiree. I got trashed. Utterly so. I took a fair while doing i, though - six or seven hours, I think. 'Twas good. Many friends were present and I managed to have sensible (or at least coherent) discussions with most of them before things got out of hand. Hogmanay itself started quietly (for good reasons) but after a while I was able to act normally. I ended up in the pub, of course - K Jackson's, in this case, to meet the usual mob. It was busy, but not more so than a usual night given its location, and things were pleasant and companionable until midnight, at which point we went outside to watch the fireworks over the castle. Very spectacular they were, too. I then got dragged away to ultravioletman's place (and party), also frequented by marymortis, among others, and after that to another party at an old friend's place (this friend being Jim). The plan was to go down to the West End for the usual party at the abode of ciphergoth,purplerabbitssibelian et al, but we'd fouled up our timing and were fading fast by this stage. Sorry. I'll try harder to make it next year.The first involved being back in Ayr for dinner with my folks at a place in Belleisle Park. We got there at two, we had three courses, we left after five. It was very nice, but a touch prolonged. The evening was spent with family and on the second (early) I went back through to Edinburgh. By train, because I'd left the car keys in Marchmont. In the afternoon, I went to join some people bowling at skittles in the Sheep's Heid in Duddingston, after which it was back to Chris & Alison's. They went off to the cinema after a bit to see Nemesis (which I'm told is awful) and I went down to K Jackson's to see people. A slightly different (but overlapping) bunch this time. Onwards to a place opposite the medical school for late drinks, then home.
Friday was back to Ayr to pick up the car and bring it back through. And I went off to see L&S again. They had
retrogoth and Marianne. It was good to see them again. It's been a while. Saturday was my last day in Edinburgh, so I went record shopping with L&S. Too many things were bought, including a few books. Evening was . . . tadaaa! K Jackson's. Various folks. Very nice.Sunday was a) loading the car, including with my (Edwardian rolltop) desk, which I'm very pleased to have down here, and b) driving down, on a beautiful clear dry day, with a paper-thin new moon ahead of me. Again, there was relatively little traffic, and the trip went swiftly.
In general, the weather was incredibly clear and dry, with fantastic visibility, for the whole time I was in Scotland, except for the periods it snowed. It was actually a bit nippy, compared to the balmy Cambridge climate - the only temperature I saw was by the M8 at about 5 one evening. 6 below. Incredibly beautiful, though. I will live in Edinburgh again. I will.
