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Edinburgh: Of Mice and Scared Little Boys

Friday, September 22nd, 2006

The two most likely ways you will jump a foot into the air whilst standing naked and half-asleep in front of your toilet at 4.16am taking a pee-pee:

1 – You wake up enough to realise that, in fact, that is not the toilet you’re standing in front of, leaving you thrashing about in semi-darkness like a first-day-on-the-job fire-fighter who has yet to master the art of keeping the hose steady, searching for the correct drain.

2 – A mouse practically tap dances over your toes, whistling a famous tune from some Broadway show you can’t remember the name of.

The second of those happened to me this morning. Although by saying practically tap danced, I mean sort of tap danced, by which I mean I saw a flash of something small and brown out of the corner of my eye darting along the bottom of the door frame about six inches from my foot. Of course, in my barely-conscious state, I couldn’t be sure it was a mouse, just that it was small and brown, which means it could’ve just as easily been a number seven billiard ball, or, say, Gary Coleman (yes, these are the things that go through your head at 4.16am).

[read on]

Edinburgh: Pipefest

Friday, August 26th, 2005

Our last weekend in Edinburgh, the middle of the Festival; comedians, music, theatre, we were spoiled for choice of how to celebrate our last few nights. And whilst we were going to see a funny-man on Saturday night, what we were most looking forward to for the weekend was bagpipes.

Yeah, that’s right. Bagpipes. And shitloads of ‘em.

Sunday August 21st was Pipefest in Edinburgh. Holyrood Park at the base of Arthur’s Seat, the 300 foot high cliff just minutes walk from Edinburgh Castle, was being turned into the biggest gathering of bagpipers ever known. 10,000 of the bloody things, being played by folks from many, many different countries, and of all sorts of ages, starting as young as about 5.

The real highlight of our final weekend in Edinburgh, at least for me, actually came before we made it to Pipefest. As Trickey and I were loading up his car out the front of our apartment, I was thoughtfully reminded by the passenger of a passing car exactly who I am. As the hatchback drove by, the lovely chap in the passenger seat hung his head out the window, and from the bottom of his gut, for all to hear, yelled “Rrrrrrrrrrrrusty Nut!!!”

Welcome to my world folks.

[read on]

Photos: Ben Lomond

Monday, August 8th, 2005
Right, now let's see if these photos do the views any justice. ben lomond Which way. Ben Lomond is thattaway, man. view image Lunacy. This guy was running up the mountain. view image Get outta the way!! ... [Continue reading this entry]

Glasgow: Bagging a Munro

Monday, August 8th, 2005
Bec and I left Edinburgh at around 8.45pm on Friday night, hiring a car to take us the hour or so west to Glasgow, where we were to stay with Trickey and Sarah. The next day we would be climbing ... [Continue reading this entry]

The Toilet Wars

Monday, August 1st, 2005
Ok, I think it’s necessary for a bit of a content warning on this entry. Possibly against my better judgment, it includes a number of references to poo, and haggis, so if you’re at your desk eating your lunch, you ... [Continue reading this entry]

Photos: Make Poverty History and the G8 Protests

Thursday, July 7th, 2005
I won't post a lot of photos of the Make Poverty History march on July 2nd, but if your appetite for seeing people in white holding placards isn't satisfied here, then check out my mate Trickey's photos from the day ... [Continue reading this entry]

The Carnival for Full Enjoyment

Tuesday, July 5th, 2005
Monday July 4th, and the Carnival for Full Enjoyment was set to hit the streets of Edinburgh. Well, at least that was the name the anarchist organisers had given to these anti-capitalism protests. I wandered down to Princes Street around 12.30 ... [Continue reading this entry]

Make Poverty History

Tuesday, July 5th, 2005
Bec and I were joined on the morning of Saturday July 2nd by a couple of our best friends, Trickey and Sarah, who had journeyed across from Glasgow to take part in the Make Poverty History march. We wandered from ... [Continue reading this entry]

The G8

Tuesday, June 28th, 2005
The lead up to next week’s G8 summit in Gleneagles, less than an hour Northwest of Edinburgh, has been pretty intense. I’m not sure what level of attention it has been receiving back in Australia, or in the US, but ... [Continue reading this entry]

Soaring Kaliedoscopic Electro-Folk

Monday, June 27th, 2005
Bec and I have been in Scotland now for almost three months. Coming from Melbourne, we both love going to see live music, as Melbourne is without doubt one of the greatest cities in the world for live music; up ... [Continue reading this entry]