Category: Embra

Just for a change – 28 November 2016

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28-nov

Just for a change today, I got the bus to Perth.  Now this may be a spoiler alert for Hazy, but I’m sure you expected I’d have to take the trip to Perth, didn’t you!

These CityLink buses are really comfortable.  Did you know they have heaters that work!  Isn’t that a simply wonderful innovation?  Typically one X3 bus in 100 has working heaters, and that’s the one you get every day in the summer and the heating is on full blast and the windows won’t open.  In the winter, it’s the one with the sign that says “SORRY NOT IN SERVICE” or more often in Scotland “A’HM NO WORKIN’”.  So, a comfortable journey north to the fair city of Perf.  It’s a bit like Embra which is also known by some of its inhabitants as Edinburgh.  Embra is its more usual and useable name.  Perf is much better than Perth IMO and MO is the only one that counts in this blog.  By the way, I once got an irate comment from an Edinburger on Flickr to the effect that: “It’s actually Edinburgh, not Embra, I know, I live there.”
My reply was: “That’s a shame, but I suppose somebody has to live in Embra, and it is Embra, hen.  It’s Embra, it’s always been Embra and it always will be Embra.  I know, because I’ve been there … once.  But it’s alright, I’ve had my jags.”  She didn’t reply to that – too many big words in it, I think.
Perf’s a nice place, I like it.  It’s pretty and has nice buildings, but the folk are not so stuck up as Embra folk.  It’s got a good coffee shop, an independent camera shop and a great second-hand bookshop too.

Anyway, purchases purchased I got the equally comfortable bus back down the road to less than scenic Cumbersheugh where they are painting the lovely butter coloured bricks of the town centre with a coat of ‘nearly black’.  Cooncil must have got a job lot of the paint going cheap.  I think it probably was originally black masonry paint, but they didn’t have enough to finish the job, so they got some equally cheap out-of-date emulsion for B&Q and just mixed it in to make the masonry paint go further.  That would explain the slightly purple tinge to the finished product.  If it looks boggin’ paint it black, that’ll fix it and make it look stylish into the bargain.  Aye Right.

Kizomba was a bit of a shambles tonight.  Class was a bit smaller with a lot of new faces.  Mainly black faces, so maybe friends of one of the teachers.  Also faces that were looking bemused most of the time because it appears this is the first time they had met this dance.  Methinks it might have been Rentamob, there to pad out the numbers.  ‘Left’ and ‘right’ seemed to be new concepts for some.  One girl had to be dragged away from her phone and on to the dance floor to help balance the numbers.  She was irate, because she didn’t know how to do the dance and didn’t want to learn.  Hmm, not impressed.

It also looked like our salsa teacher wasn’t present and no announcement was made about who would be taking his class. This gave us a bit of concern and made us wonder if it would be one of the, how should I put this, less able and teachers of AdS.  We needn’t have worried, Will took it and introduced us to a trio of twisty, turny moves that were a lot of fun.  The next class was not so lucky, but we were out the door by the time the music started.

Maybe going to do a painting tomorrow.  If I can remember how!

Embra – 8 October 2016

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8-oct

Embra was the choice today.  Now I won’t go in to the semantic arguments, the place is called ‘Embra’ and that’s it.

The train was fairly busy, but not excessively so – there’s a reason for this sentence.  As usual we got off at Haymarket and walked up towards the tea shop.  It was shut!  I should have checked his website, it was there in black and white, or red and white actually.  Go there, you’ll understand.  At the top of the road was the Exhibition Centre and also an enormous queue of middle aged and older folk.  Behind us too was a long train of people of that same demographic, most of whom had filled the seats on the train.  When we got to the Exhibition Centre the explanation was plain.  It was a Tesco wine tasting.  The early arrivals were already getting pissed oops, sampling and this lot seemed to be waiting for the first lot to be poured out the door.  We moved on.  Coffee in Cafe Nero then a walk through the farmers’ market.  I got some hogget for dinner tomorrow.  I suppose this is where farmers’ markets win.  Hogget is a lamb between a year and two years old.  I’ll taste it tomorrow.

On the subject of food, we went to a wee French place on the Grassmarket for lunch.  We’d been there a few months ago, well February actually, I hadn’t realised it was that long ago.  French Onion Soup again for me – creature of habit and Toulouse Sausage with mustard sauce and mash.  Scamp had Crayfish in a Garlic butter, a very garlic butter followed by Chicken Supreme with six thrice cooked chips.  Foodies? Us?  Surely not!  Both meals were voted excellent and I’ll say it again, we’ll be back.

Walked round to John Lewis and went back to 1984.  Not the date, the book!  Apparently the St James Centre is being … refurbished … reimagined. Perhaps demolished is a better description.  All the shops are now closed and shuttered, except John Lewis.  They didn’t get that memo, it seems.  It appears that it will remain like that until 2020 when, overnight, a new great new ‘retail opportunity’ will rise phoenix-like from the ashes.  Whether it will include John Lewis we’ll have to wait four years to find out.  For now, it feels as hopeless as the novel 1984 did.

Got the train home and, if you remember back to the second paragraph, first sentence of this epistle, it was a fairly busy train in the morning.  The afternoon train to Glasgow was mobbed, by a much younger contingent, mainly young men dressed in tartan and with lion rampant flags tied round their necks.  Yes, Scotland were playing football in Glasgow.  It turned out they were playing Lithuania (I think it was a Lithuanian school team – a primary school team).  The fans all seemed excited and were guzzling Becks like there was no tomorrow.  It might have been to induce a coma that would prevent them from seeing the game which was due to start at about 7.30pm.  This was the 3.30pm train.  The game ended in a 1-1 draw.  It’s easy to become cynical about football fans, especially Scottish football fans.  Too easy.

One sketch done for Inktober.  I’m happy with it.  Done in public in Princes Street Gardens.  Another step forward.

Serendipity – 6 August 2016

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6 AugLast night was a late night. It was Saturday morning about 1am when I finally dragged myself to bed. As a result, we woke late this morning, or should I say ‘later’ this morning. We had intended to go to Edinburgh, hereinafter referred to by its proper name of Embra. It was touch and go whether we would go or not, but finally we decided that we should just go, as there was nowhere else that interested us.

In Embra we walked through the Conference Square canyon.  I hadn’t realised just how ugly the Conference Centre was.  What a waste of concrete.   From there, up the Grassmarket through the crowds and on to the Royal Mile. That’s where the real ‘Maddies’ were. For a fair few blocks, the Royal Mile is pedestrianised at festival time and so it was today. Scamp was interested in a couple of groups of a cappella singers and I was just interested in taking photos of the nutters.

The fringe is interesting, but after a while you get fed up listening to the hype from these self centred eejits and have to get back to reality. That is what we did. We walked down The Bridges and on to the St James Centre. What a disaster that is now. All that’s left in the entire centre is John Lewis. Everything else is closed. It appears that the whole site is being rebuilt while the JL shop remains open. It is a really depressing site (and sight) and will remain that way for FOUR years. The new centre isn’t due to open until 2020. There are loads of ‘artists impressions’ or AutoCad renders of the proposed new retail opportunity. It looks very smart, but it is very difficult to work out what you are looking at as there are no landmarks on the beautifully rendered artwork, and let’s face it, it’s Embra. It has a few landmarks!

From the disaster that was the St James Centre, we walked through St Andrew’s Square (there are a lot of saints in Embra!) and on to George Street. Like the Royal Mile, part of George Street was pedestrianised for the festival with lots of drinks venues pitched on the roadway. We stopped at one for a beer (an expensive beer at £2.50 for a half pint!) and that’s where the ‘Serendipity’ came in. We were sitting at a table across from an older woman. As usual, Scamp got into conversation with her, but I must admit that for once she didn’t instigate it. It turned out that she was on a bus tour to see the Tattoo and she had come from Cambridge. She knew Baldock and also Little Downham. However, she had lived in South Wales before she got married and knew where Scamp’s aunt lived in Maesteg. Thirdly, she had been to Inverness last year and had gone on another bus tour to Skye and stayed in the Pink House in Portree! It was almost as if she had read our minds and plotted three places where we had synchronicity.

When we left her and George St then turned onto Princes Street, we could feel that the weather had turned.  It was cooler and there were spits and spots of rain in the wind, so we headed for the train and home. No lunch out today, but dinner was provided by Golden Bowl and was delicious. Rain and high winds forecast for tomorrow and I’ve got an appointment with the physio to see what’s wrong with my shoulder. Maybe he’ll just give it a rub with the magic sponge and it will be as good as new. Maybe!

On the slow train – 2 April 2016

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comboWe went to Edinburgh today, hereinafter referred to by its real name “Embra”.  Since the rail line to Embra is being electrified, the tunnel entrance to Queen Street Station in Glasgow is being closed to allow the necessary building work to proceed.  This means that trains will take a lot longer to get from Croy to Glasgow, 25 minutes longer.  That’s 25 minutes added to the 15 minutes it took before last Sunday.  On the other side of Croy, all the Embra trains now stop at all stations to Embra, meaning an extra 10 minutes on that journey too.  Now, I can almost understand why it takes the extra 25 minutes in to Glasgow with all the redirection that’s necessary, but I can’t see why closing a tunnel in Glasgow causes trains to stop at all the stations from Croy to Embra.  Maybe it’s a butterfly flaps its wings thing.  I never understood that either.

Anyway, the train arrived early, which was a surprise, and it was empty, which is unheard of.  Arrived in Embra and got tea (tea leaves, that is) at my favourite shop.  Walked up past the conference centre where there was a massive queue to get in to the Embra Comic Con, which at up to £27 for a ticket was really well named.  There were Doctors Who, Captains America and some vaguely demonic looking souls.  I said to Scamp that I should have worn my black and red striped rugby top and gone as Dennis the Menace, but she didn’t think that I was taking the thing seriously.  As if!

Walked through Princes Street Gardens, enjoying the thin sunshine.  Went to John Lewis and looked around the Toys.  Not the kids toys, the big boys’ toys.  Got an early birthday present of a camera bag.  Smiled at a bloke asking his wife if a radio he was thinking of buying was green or grey.  A constant topic of discussion between Scamp and I.

Walked back along to Zizzi and spent the voucher we got way back ages ago for complaining about the service and food in Exchange Square Zizzi.  Sometimes it pays to complain.  Squeaky wheels and grease.

On the way back to the train I went in to Waterstones and waited 15 minutes while a moron decided whether or not to buy a Dorling Kindersley book on Peru, because he was going there in June with a friend.  He has a friend?  Is it an imaginary friend?  I expect so.  He wasn’t sure whether to buy the book or not, because the new version was coming out.  He asked the girl behind the counter when the new version was due out and she said it was due to be published early June.  He then asked her if that meant the shop would have it then.  She said no, it was published on that date.  “What exactly do you mean by published?” he asked.  I sighed loudly “For fuck’s sake!” and walked away to go downstairs and pay for my book there.  How the hell is Peter the Peruvian Prick (alliteration) going to get all the way to Peru?
Go to the train station and ask Information “When is the next train to Peru?“
“It’s at 3.30pm sir, but you have to change at Queen Street and remember it stops at all the stations, so it will take you an extra 35 minutes.”
“What exactly do you mean by ‘stops at all the stations’?“
“For fuck’s sake!” Says the girl at Information and pulls down the blind.  “This position is now closed.”

We went home in the train in the rain, having had the best of the day.  It stopped at all the stations.

Sit an infinite number of morons at an infinite number of smartphones – 19 February 2016

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combo bThis blog starts with us sitting in a nice wee French restaurant in Embra next to a loud american who must be important – to himself at least. He rambled on about the wonderful food in this, his favourite restaurant. When his companion asked if the French onion soup was served with cheese he replied after a pause “It’s served the way it is in France.” (fancy that eh? In a French restaurant, now that’s a surprise). “I don’t know” would have been more honest, but then again he was american. Our soup, Scamp’s salmon and my pork chop were really excellent, especially after Wednesday’s disappointment at Browns. We will be back to Petit Paris in the Grassmarket.

On the train home we were stuck in a carriage with the six morons and their smartphones from the title. Three of them were discussing the merits of Twi’ur (sic!). One of them was explaining that she had a created the Genyus Bar (sic again! Although most of the carriage were sick by this time.) and emphasized her spelling of it. She then went on to create an on-line personna for one of them who then found that he had two followers. After that, there was no stopping them. They were hashtagging this and re-tweeting that. Then one of them got her jacket down from the rack. She had an EIS badge on it. Educational Institute of Scotland union. Teachers. Loud, opinionated and terminally stupid. I can say that now, I’m not a teacher anymore. I discovered the error of my ways and got out early. When we got off the train I pitied those left behind with the morons away from their lessons.

In between paragraph one and two, we just wandered down the Royal Mile then down The Bridges, through JL and then headed for the train.

Before paragraph one (are you still following me or do you need a map?) we got some tea in a new-to-us shop just off the Grassmarket as my usual tea shop was SHUT. Not closed, but SHUT. A very Scottish expression I always think. Maybe next time he’ll be open and we can discuss the world, its problems and ways to fix it.

Sit an infinite number of morons at an infinite number of smartphones and they will eventually … discover Twi’ur – well what did you expect? The entire works of Shakespeare? Remember, they were teachers.

Only the sphinx with the surprised expression came from today. The abstract was from Tesco carpark in a hailstorm yesterday (other supermarket carparks are available).

Arty Farty – 8 January 2016

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combo b5No procrastination today. Up, showered, grabbed my camera bag and drove to the station. Got my ticket and then realised I’d left the camera bag in the car, 200m away in the carpark. I didn’t have time to go back to get it, so carried on regardless. I did have my camera with me, in an emergency it would do the job. I was heading for the Arthur Melville exhibition in Edinburgh (AKA Embra). The exhibition was very impressive, such enormous watercolours. Some of the paintings had really subtle colours and others, full of luscious, deep, rich colours. I think what impressed me most was the lack of pencil outlines in the paintings. As well as the watercolours, the almost abstract oils were impressive, but it was the watercolours that won the day. While I was there, I visited the Turner Watercolour exhibition. It’s a show that goes on every January in Embra. Well worth going to both these shows.

The Princes Street gardens were full of workers taking down the Christmas attractions. With the amount of water that has poured from the skies recently being churned up by lorries, cranes and low-loaders it’s hard to believe that the grass will grow again, but I’m sure it will.

Spotted an interesting sign in Waverley Station. What’s so special about Coatbridge that means it gets its own weather forecast?

Icy start to the day and some bright sunshine, but then later the Tupperware box returned. Snow forecast for tomorrow.

The Far East – 12 December 2015

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combo bActually it wasn’t Japan, it was Embra and it rained.  Went to get some emergency supplies of tea at my favourite Embra establishment.  Just a wee tea shop where the proprietor doesn’t deal in metric measurements, only pounds and ounces.  A great sense of humour and a total disregard for any Politically Correctness.  A breath of fresh air in this world.  Long may he continue to run his shop his way.

After coffee in Nero, we walked through the farmers’ market to get some venison for tomorrow’s dinner.  Then it was along Princes Street to the Christmas Market.  It was as busy as it ever is, but I was listening to a podcast this week and have to agree with the presenter.  He was complaining that German Christmas Markets in this country are now run by Polish people selling goods made in China, and that seems to be as true here as anywhere else in the UK.  Maybe it’s different in mainland Europe.

For a change we went in to one building of the National Gallery and I enjoyed looking at the painting by the Old Masters.  After that we went in to the other building.  What a difference.  It was supposed to be award winners in some national competition.My one abiding memory is of a triptych of three ‘portraits’, like primary school pupils would have painted.  What is the point of that?  I’ve heard one critic try to explain how “Your child couldn’t have painted that”.  In my opinion, her assertions simply proved that they could have.  The Emperor’s New Clothes indeed.

After our cultural adventure we had lunch and went home.  Wet and a bit disappointed.  Sorry Embra, you just didn’t cut it today.