Archives for posts with tag: Edinburgh

Tweetup

May 12, 10 //
0

Tonight is the second of my “twitter” excursions. Heading over to IllegalJacks on Lothian road for a South-West Grill then drinks after with a crowd of local tweeters.

It’s fascinating the community that has grown up around Twitter. I’ve met more interesting people in Edinburgh over the past month than I have in the past 10 years (however I’m not sure what that says about me other than ‘Get out more Shell!’). There is a thriving active community here of folks who meet up regularly: twice hooked up with twitter folks to see films at the Filmhouse cinema, not so long ago the grand scale charity even of EdTwestival.

It has also put me in contact with some of my heroes: I’ve tweeted with writers, artists, designers, even film stars, making me feel part of a strange virtual global community…

Water of Leith stroll

January 11, 10 //
0

While much of the UK is snowed in, we decided to take a stroll up the Water of Leith on Saturday (rather than risk a trip outside of the city). Gorgeous and bitingly cold morning, but the river was really pretty. Much of the lower end of the river was frozen over, leaving the resident ducks looking peckish!

Ozu

January 4, 10 //
0

Seems to be part of being an editor is to read and watch absolutely everything to do with your magazines subject. Maybe that’s obvious, and I’m not complaining.

Over the next few weeks Sirin and I are following the Yasujiro Ozu season up at The Filmhouse Cinema. I have to confess I’d never seen any of this classic Japanese directors work, and we were pleasantly surprised by “Tokyo Story” last night. Unexpectedly accessible for a Japanese a movie of the 50s, with exceptional attension to details: the relationships between the depicted family members was almost painful to watch at times as our “hands” (as mere voyeurs) are tied and out vision fixed by the static knee-high camera work. It’s a great film, the characters believable and the story down to Earth, and as someone who studies Japanese culture this film really felt like a snapshot of “real life” in post-war Japan.

We’ve posted a review over at BiteSizedJapan.

Happy New Year!

January 1, 10 //
0

2010 is here, the year of flying cars, spaceships, alien worlds… or was that 2000? Anyway we saw the night in from the top of Calton Hill, Edinburgh, with a fantastic view of the castle and Princes Street. Really great atmosphere, and a brilliant way to see the new year in!

Edinburgh Hogmanay: Fire & Light

December 31, 09 //
0

Last night we trekked up to the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, to check out the Fire and Light installation. Sadly the weather was awful, with high winds meaning most of the planned show was canceled. But we were treated to some cool street installations, and a rather good atmosphere. This event is repeated on January 1st I believe. We shot some video, which you can find attached.

St. Andrews

December 30, 09 //
0

Trying to clear out some of the mountain of partly-used video tapes and came across some footage from St. Andrews mid-2009. So I slapped together a quick edit. Sadly it wasn’t a particularly nice day weather-wise, and not being a huge golf fan we weren’t that impressed. The harbor is very pretty, but I think Sirin and I both prefer Crail or North Berwick (down the coast).

Bonenkai

December 16, 09 //
0

Yesterday we had the pleasure of meeting up with some of the local Japanese community for a “Bonenkai”, a sort of ‘forget the year party’ at Bonsai restaurant across town. We met some interesting folks, drank plenty of sake and had a rather good time! A Japanese singing group also entertained us with 3 rather lovely songs (sadly short!). I think Atsuko has posted the audio we recorded over at her blog.

I won’t bore anyone with pictures from the meal, but Bonsai’s toilets were worth a few photos (!):