Good to see that the Omni Centre giraffes are being looked after as the weather gets colder.  I had a wee visit to the zoo recently although I didn't climb all the way up the hill to see the giraffes. My objective was actually to see Honshu, the macaque who escaped from the Highland Wildlife Park a few months ago.  As a punishment or perhaps a reward he's been rehomed at the zoo where he's been joined by half a dozen others, including a couple from the Netherlands.  They all seemed to be having fun.

I've had a fair bit of fun myself in recent weeks what with concerts and meals out and films and theatre and of course rehearsals and ultimately performances of the Grads 70th anniversary Christmas show, Baba. That was one of Claire's creations full of entertaining characters and dialogue.  The cast enjoyed it, audiences enjoyed it but critics kept their enthusiasm under control.

There were two excellent choral works, Carmina Burana and Bach's Christmas Oratorio from the RSNO and SCO respectively and an Ellington evening from the SNJO/TSYJO.  The latter featured charming and accomplished vocalists, one from Glasgow and one from Leeds; rising stars we'll hear more of I'm sure.

As part of Edinburgh's celebration of being 900 years old (who knew and what counts as its birth point?) the Netherbow held a Scottish Theatre weekend.  The Saturday afternoon events consisted of a talk about the history of Scottish theatre, a chat about the EIF and a presentation on the refurbishment of the King's Theatre going on just now.  All very interesting.  I even bought a book by one of the speakers.  In the evening there was a oneman play called A Noble Clown about Duncan Macrae written and performed by  Michael Daviot. Macrae was a wonderful actor and the play provided a wonderful hour of skilful, witty and illuminating insights into the man and his achievements. 

There's an interesting series of podcasts about the history of Scottish drama, sponsored I think by The Traverse, available here. Naturally I was drawn to the episde about Losing Venice because I loved the play when I saw it and subsequently directed it. As director I employed two stratagems of which I was very proud but the review in The Scotsman (those were the days) scoffed at one and ignored the other.  I failed to be disheartened.

An event in the history of Scottish theatre, minor I admit but significant for me, taking place next year is that Arkle will complete 25 years of productions and will exist no more.  I was at their annual social gathering where next year's programme and this news were announced.  I've only performed for them a few times but have enjoyed the experience and admire what they've done. I'm sorry to see the company leave the Scottish amateur theatre scene.

One of my saxophone playing friends is very keen on and knowledgeable about Japanese food.  She's often suggested we try some of Edinburgh's Japanese restaurants and a week before we went to the Ellington gig we managed to get to Satoru where we had a very tasty meal. I had another very tasty meal out, this time with Claire, Siobhan and Ross at Lyla where dishes are many, presentation is exquisite, portions are small and prices are high. Claire and I also ate very well at Siobhan's one Sunday after a Baba rehearsal.  We'd been rehearsing at King's Buildings barely a hefty stone's throw away from her flat. 

I've seen a couple of films recently.  Both were set in Africa but were dramatically different.  Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat is a brilliant documentary that explores the mixture of jazz and geopolitics surrounding the emergence of the Belgian Congo from colonial rule. The film gets lots of stars from The Guardian here and here.  Wikipedia has some factual words to say.  Two music writers take stands for and against the film's treatment of jazz.  All those comments are of interest. I've bought no less than two relevant books as a result of seeing the film!

I won't be buying any books as a result of seeing On Becoming a Guinea Fowl. I didn't think much of it but it has earned praise from more perceptive filmgoers than me here and here. I did enjoy the joke about the Zambian police transport availability though.

Ewan and I went down to Keswick for a pleasant visit.  Ben came over from Hebden Bridge as well and train times were close enough for Connor to pick the three of us up together.  There had been an accident on the A66 so at one point we took a diversion, two diversions in fact because on the first one we came across a lorry stuck and blocking the road. It was a lovely valley we went through, very dramatic at points and not somewhere I'd ever been before.  It's not often you're happy to be delayed but on this occasion I was.

I've got two dramatic incidents at home to report.  One day noisy sirens caused me to look out of the window.  Half a dozen police cars were tearing along Brunswick Road.  They screeched to a halt just short of Dicksonfield, armed policemen jumped out and raced out of my sight.  They wandered back within seconds.  Some cars left smartish.  Others hung about for a while but I could glean nothing nor did the internet come up with an explanation.  False alarm.

In the other drama I was involved. For reasons never explained a cyclist placed himself in front of a number 11 bus I was on preventing the bus from leaving a bus stop. The driver was happy to shout at the cyclist, well not happy in the sense of enjoying, but not willing to engage in discussion with him.  I got involved to the extent of replacing the cyclist thus preventing the bus moving off while the cyclist attempted to engage the driver from the pavement.  But the driver was having none of it. Passengers meanwhile were leaving the non-sinking bus despite the driver's pleas for them to remain and declarations that the police were on their way.

Maybe like the Zambians they had transport problem for they didn't arrive before the cyclist lost heart and pedalled away allowing the bus to continue its journey.