Now that I've written up the backlog here are a few brief words (primarily as a reminder to self) on the last few events that finished off my Festival going.

Islam in the Mediterranean - drawn to this because of my various wanderings around Moorish Spain.  It's always impressive and not a little humbling to see how much an academic specialist knows about their subject.  Amira K Bennison gave an interesting and enjoyable presentation of the work that has brought forth The Almoravid and Almohad Empires, a book whose ninety quid price tag will keep it off my shelves.

The Toad Knew - one of those shows in which people dash about, grapple contortionally with others, do funny walks pinched from silent movies, swing and birl on stage machinery and indulge in other no doubt highly inventive and skilful pranks that leave me cold.

Humble Brassica - hard to know why I went to hear a talk about a novel called The Cauliflower which is a fictionalised account of the life of Sri Ramakrishna, a Hindu spiritual master.  The author was a perky and entertaining speaker so I quite enjoyed it though I can't see myself reading the book.  Stuart Kelly writing in The Guardian reckons she's a genius so maybe I'll try her golf novel, The Yips.

Richard III - I suppose there was a lot of good stuff in this production from Berlin but I found it irritating, not least the bulky microphone and cables that hung down centre stage partly obscuring the translation panel. 

I took a day off from Festival going on Saturday to attend Bob and Caroline's golden wedding celebration in Glasgow and had a thoroughly splendid afternoon.

Raw - billed as a work for young people and adults this dance show from Belgium was as odd as most modern dance is but checking the blurb when I got home I seem to have undestood its main messages.

Gurrelieder - the final concert of the EIF is generally a large scale work and you couldn't get much larger than this.  Between orchestra, chorus and soloists there must have been around three hundred people on the Usher Hall stage.  I enjoyed the big noisy bits but some of the more reflective passages had me shifting my bum around to ease the numbness. 

The Impact of Flemish Immigrants on Scotland - quite an interesting talk but I've already forgotten almost everything that was said.

Fireworks Concert - I've frequently thought of attending this, the final final concert of the Festival and now I've done it probably will never do so again.  I went in good heart having had a glass or two in St Andrew Square with some of the Midsummer Night's Dream cast and found a reasonably dark and convenient spot more or less behind the Ross bandstand which gave a pretty acceptable view of the fireworks.  I should I suppose have splashed out on a seat at the front but there I think you suffer a bit from all the light emanating from the bandstand and its surrounding infrastructure.

Anyway I snapped madly away for a little while with my phone camera.  None of the pictures are very good but here's one as a souvenir.