The sunshine tempted me out last Sunday morning and I had a stroll around the Figgie Park.  It's had a few upgrades in the forty seven years since I first visited it.  Not the least of them is this board at the entrance telling the visitor something of the stream it's named after and the history of the area.

Murals have been painted on the walls of the short tunnel that the burn runs through under Mountcastle Drive North.  Something which I heartily applaud because it seems to arouse the artistic sensitivites of grafitti taggers (who knew they had them?) who despoil the murals not. 

The electricity sub-station close by now enjoys the same protection

One of the features of the park that I often vaunted was that from a point just to the east of the pond the view westward contained not a vestige of the works of man despite thousands being housed within 100 yards of it.  Not quite true today, partly because of the seasonal loss of leaves but principally because a walkway has been built at the eastmost end of the pond allowing close but safe viewing of what's happening on the water.  It's also provided a handy perching place for the numerous gulls that frequent the park.

Apart from that excursion entertainment has continued to be confined to home and the occasional cinema outing.  The latter is due to cease shortly as tighter restrictions enfold us.

At the much delayed DORA AGM I managed to demit office but alarmingly no-one has taken my place and I have continued to monitor our email addresses and indeed respond to communicants.  Once at least in my own interest, in respect of a gas escape in my own block.

Two film festivals usually celebrated locally in the flesh (sort of) slid online for the nonce. The Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival and the Scotland Loves Anime shindig.  I was disappointed by the Spanish films on offer.  I watched only two feature films,  Pólvera en el corazón and El espíritu de la colmena.  Pólvera is a Guatemalan film that told the story of two female friends and their encounter with some nasty lads after a night at the funfair and their subsequent quest for revenge.  I´m sure I was mildy entertained as I watched it but it has left no lasting impression.  El espíritu was beautifully shot and the performance of the seven year old Anna Torrent was an early indicator of her subsequent success as an actress.  But it wasn't a terribly interesting film (for me).  Her young co-star as far as I know didn't make a career in the movies.

El hombre que diseñó España on the other hand was a documentary that I very much enjoyed.  Cruz Novillo did everything; railways, the postal service, the police, currency, the movies.  He even designed the poster for the documentary about him.  This was based on one of his most admired film posters.  Here they are side by side 

Since I started learning Japanese I've taken significantly more interest in animated films, starting from what might be euphemistically called a low base.  I can't say I've been converted. I will freely admit that they are (or can be) beautifully crafted and bursting with imaginative images but the storylines are another matter.  There's a lot of bang, crash wallop as baddies get their just deserts from sword wielding goodies.  There's a lot of school shenanigans and child heroes.  There are so many about disasters and aliens and scientific mumbo jumbo that I cry out for a grown up drama.

But the anime world is crawling with academic admirers so who am I to yearn for more than the mild enjoyment that some of these films have given me.  Spirited Away which I saw a while ago and Patema Inverted and Penguin Highway which I've watched this week were worth the watching time.  I have high hopes that the Lupin series of films, based as they are on the activities of a descendant of the great French fictional criminal Arsène Lupin will provide fare more suited to my tastes.

I've seen a Zoom play about Oppenheimer which I enjoyed.  It supplemented the documentary about him that I saw not so long ago.  Our own Zoom play, Shrapnel, is progressing.  Technical issues are being overcome magnificently and the cast aim to do just as well.

The musical The War of the Worlds made a brief appearance on Youtube.  The staging was terrific, the hologram appearances of Liam Neason belied belief, the music was tuneful, the actors acted and Well's story stood the test of time.

A comment on Ghost Quartet, another musical, said something to the effect of you won't understand what's going on but you'll enjoy it.  That was my experience.

Girls Like That was an excellent show that dealt with growing up, relationships, kids being nasty to their friends.  It was lets say economically staged on the less is more principle that suited the space and the cast admirably.  Viewers would have appreciated better or at least louder sound.

I ventured out to the cinema twice.  Once to see I am Greta, a documentary about the intriguing and wholly admirable Greta Thunberg.  It didn't entirely satisfy one's curiosity about her.  Suffice to say that a passionate and committed young woman has emerged from a diffident and isolated personality to shame us all.  I do hope the world listens.

The second cinema visit was to see a filmed version of a play that was forced to close in March because of the coronavirus.  This was a superb Uncle Vanya with one of my favourite actors, Toby Jones, in the title role.  I hope to catch it again when it's on telly later in the year.