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I had a mostly calm weekend.

Friday evening became another trip to Portobello beach with a bonfire, burgers, garlic bread, wine, and excellent company as the light faded away. Back soon after midnight this time, though.

Saturday involved shopping and then spending the evening in a couple of pubs - one very salubrious and the other Opium - with a bekilted [livejournal.com profile] darthstoo. It suited him, I think, and it was good to see him (the rest of you to take a subtle hint at this point). Stoo's friend Jake and some of his friends were there, and they were very interesting too. Linguistics came up a lot, and therefore Y Goddoddin, apostrophes, and all the usual nonsense. It was also good to see [livejournal.com profile] purpledonna and [livejournal.com profile] ultravioletman and chat to them, which doesn't happen often enough. We also got approached by a couple of blonde 20ish women at one point, which was flattering if also untempting. They wandered off after a few minutes. I can only assume they were hoping we'd be amusingly desperate.

On Sunday I took the bike frame down to the warren under the station that that bike project use. I was worried for a moment that I'd never find my way out again. On the way back I got mugged by Avalanche for upwards of several pounds, and only left with vidos of Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi and Westway To The World for my trouble. I watched the first of these on Sunday late afternoon, which I think was the first time I've seen it since the Park Room, and highly excellent it was too. I must try to see Naqoyqatsi at some point. It doesn't seem to have made a big splash on public release.

Tonight I went to see Festival with Lara and Seth. Highly excellent it is, too, but not recommended for people who only like action films. No explosions, and only one car crash. Many laughs, though (often malicious), an acceptable amount of nudity, and nearly everyone ends up unhappy. My kind of film (except that it could have done with more swearing). Go see it. It's about various people - several members of the jury for the comedy award, some comedians, other performers and assorted associated - on the Fringe. And if anyone knows where the comedy awards scene is actually shot, could they please tell us? It's about the only setting we don't walk through regularly.

On the way back we were repeatedly passed on the links - right near one of the scenes in Festival was shot, actually - by a bat. I don't remember the last time I saw one of them in Edinburgh. I probably just haven't been paying attention.

Also, thanks to [livejournal.com profile] princealbert for linking to this dodgy flash animation (worksafe apart from some swearing and being flash animation, though) advertising . . . well, a real record that you can actually buy. If you decide against watching it or don't want to be surprised the main site is here.

[livejournal.com profile] reddragdiva has asked that word be spread of the Wikipedia article on Space Opera as a source of Scientology's esoteric doctrines. It's well worth a read.
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At very short notice, I spent last night on Portobello beach.

This, I suppose, was a replacement for the (Legendary? Infamous?) SFSoc Cramond Island solstice allnighters, to suit those of us who have to be at work in the morning. I got picked up before nine by Lara, Seth and Adele and by a bit after nine we were on Portobello beach with Mo. A few minutes later Eireann, Sharon and Alex joined us. The tide was still well out, beyond the end of the groynes, but we dumped everything just above what we took to be the high-water mark and S&L set to making a fire. It was soon crackling away merrily and we sat down to admire the fading light over Fife.

The next several hours were spent beside an eerily calm sea, as it rose and then started to ebb, chasing us a few feet back by being (only slightly) more enthusiastic than the day before, as the sky darkened and then lightened again, the lights from Fife, East Lothian and passing aircraft and ships twinkled, Alex and Seth took strange long-exposure photographs and made pig-nipple sandcastles using a roadcone as a mould. We got buzzed by passing swans and marauding naturists (there's a lot of that down there, apparently, after dark - Alex got accused of chasing them for photos until he pointed out that he'd had his camera set up pointing across the bay before they'd turned up and actually he was waiting for them to leave) and spotted a flare (probably from the coastguard - Lara phoned in to report it and they were already out there looking for a boat).

There were a couple of other groups, one aparently French, but they all left well before daybreak, so by the end it was just us and our fire.

When it got light, the five of us remaining (Mo, E &S having left) came back via Arthur's Seat to see the view over the city and out along the coast.

Adele's take is here. I don't think they were geese.

It was full daylight when I got to bed. A small number of hours' sleep later, here I am, suprisingly awake. I don't think I'll be out late tonight, though.

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