Edinburgh, Wall·E and interpuncts

I am in Edinburgh today for work, for the fifth time in as many weeks.

I’ve noticed the crowds get more and more sizeable and touristy as the city builds up to the annual hellish bedlam that is the Festival.  I’m sure I’ve vented my spleen on this blog as to how much I hate the Edinburgh festival and its pretentious mediocrity, so am glad that the trips down here are going to ease off in the coming couple of months.

Yet another expedition on the 0645 today was no easier thanks to a late night last night, but it was worth it – I went to see Wall·E at the cinema.

Wall·E is an animated film set in the future about a robot whose job is to tidy the planet up, after humankind made a mess of the place before retreating to a giant spaceship.  Wall·E is the last robot on the planet, and continues his work until…  well, I’ll not ruin the plot.  Just go and see it.

The film is most remarkable for its first half hour, where we simply get to know Wall·E, his work and his routines.  That sounds dull, but it – like the rest of the film - is gorgeously animated, with engaging characterisation, humour and even romance.  There is a real sense of “humanity” about Wall·E the robot, more than you get in many films’ human characters.

With nods to both early silent films and later epics like 2001, the story relies so much on music, subtle action and physical expression.  It’s an unusual watch, but a beautiful one.

And moreover, thanks to the film’s Wikipedia page, I have now discovered the excellent word ”interpunct“.

I hope I now get to use it as much as possible in conversation.

East coast, west coast

I’m not long back from Aberdeen, where among other things I was doing some planning with Justin for September’s mullet adventure to the west coast of the USA.

We’ve pin-pointed the mullets, and have a vague route lined up, taking us from southern California almost to the Canadian border.  It will be a packed fortnight.

I must confess, however, that apart from the mullets (and seeing a few friends out there) I’m really quite ambivalent about visiting the USA, and am not too bothered about many of the sights.

Justin, on the other hand, is very enthusiastic about the trip, and is keen to track down things like Death Valley, Apple HQ, the Space Needle in Seattle, and much more.  Whether or not we will visit Las Vegas is something of a moot point between us.

He’s also set on the idea of driving through the mean streets of Los Angeles, playing “Straight Outta Compton” full-blast on the car stereo.

I’ve said I’m fine with that, just as long as it’s the Nina Gordon cover version.

Oh, here are some photos from this past weekend.

Catching up

I got back last night from my work trip, and have had this evening to catch up with myself.

One of the main tasks has been uploading photos from the weekend, plus a few from the last couple of days.

You can see them here.

I’m off to Aberdeen tomorrow, for a mixture of birthday commiseration and mullet planning.

More photos from that trip, no doubt, next week.

Home and away

Over a week with no blog entry.   My reassurances to those already engaging in wailing, gnashing of teeth, and ripping of sackcloth: fear not, I have returned.

My absence has been partly down to very little to report and partly down to being busy at work.

This weekend was a fun exception though.  I had Australian travel writer Peter Moore staying with me for the weekend, taking up an invitation I sent him in response to his latest project, a tour of the UK to prepare for his forthcoming citizenship test.  You can follow his progress on his project site and on his blog.

(Talking of Peter’s blog, a recent post brought this to my attention.  Very, very funny for anyone who’s been to New Zealand.)

Highlights of this past weekend included the Inverness Highland Games, a trip to Applecross and some great (and some not so great) live music in town.  Sunday night, thanks to Peter, involved seeing The Proclaimers close the Games with a gig at Bught Park.

Photos of all the above and more to follow later on this week.  For now, though, work has spirited me away again on my own adventures – Edinburgh and Aberdeen for work until Wednesday night.

Mongol

To my shame, I had not been inside the newly-expanded Eden Court Theatre until last night.  It’s quite impressive inside, but still ugly and a sadly lost opportunity from the outside.

I went to see Mongol, a multi-nationally produced film about the life of Genghis Khan.  Filmed in China and Kazakhstan, but in the Mongol language, and directed by a Russian, the film looks, feels and sounds like no “western” film, so required a certain suspension of preconceptions of how films should be.  Not that it was a difficult watch – the plot jogged along nicely, the acting was excellent, the scenery outstanding, and the battle sequences spectacular.

And it’s not a part of history I know much about, and it’s amazing to think that a relatively unknown part of the world, today at least, gave birth to the largest contiguous empire ever.  And according to the Wikipedia links above, it seems the film had some substantial historical accuracy.  Hollywood take note.

Easily the best Mongolian film I’ve seen this year.

Photos

Not a lot to report, other than the above photo I took in between meetings in Edinburgh last week, part of my latest upload.

Oh yes, and the bluebottle invasion seems to have died down, just as I have located the source as being behind the blocked up fireplace.  I will investigate what’s behind there tomorrow evening.  Wish me luck.

And before I go, a text conversation that recently took place:

Me: What’s brown and rhymes with snoop?  Jay Z!
Justin: You’ve just made a hip hop joke!  Are you feeling ok?
Me: Fo’ shizzle.

Get me with my street lingo.

Smorgasbord

No major news to report at the moment, so here’s a run-down of the top ten bits and pieces not worth  whole blog entries to themselves.

1. I have a bluebottle infestation in the flat.  I am spending the evening with the windows open, looking for any piles of manure or rotting corpses I may have absent-mindedly left lying around.
2. The new Sigur Ros album arrived today.  It’s very good.  A little bit of a departure from their previous offerings, however, so I might take a few listens before reach any firm conclusions.  Incidentally, the latest edition of Q which I read in Loch Ossian Youth Hostel (of all places) has a hilarious article about the band.
3. I was in Dundee yesterday for work.
4. Work takes me to Glasgow tomorrow and Edinburgh the day after.  Here’s hoping the bluebottles don’t take over, horror film style, in the two days I am away.  Anyone at a loose end in Glasgow around 3 or Edinburgh around 8 tomorrow?
5. I recently booked flights to the USA for September’s mullet-hunting expedition.  Justin is coming too.  I must blog all the latest mullet news soon.  Nag me if I don’t.
6. I’m taking a holiday from Couchsurfing this month.  I’ve had some amazing people to stay the past couple of months, but I think I will appreciate a bit of peace and quiet in the flat for a while.  Bluebottles excepted.
7. Thanks to one of my recent couchsurfers, I have discovered and been thrilled by the spectacular Mogwai-esque American band Explosions in the Sky.
8. I am looking forward to August, when my work contract becomes permanent and I start working a four day week.
9. I turn 30 in just over three weeks.  Gulp.  The Stenna stairlift is on order.
10. I’ve taken a few ok-ish pictures around Inverness in the last few days.  One is above.

How are you?