Discovering the fun in working 10 minutes walk from the Royal Mile and so being able to take it in small doses.
Fringe Fire by blackpuddinonnabike, on Flickr
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » General Edinburgh
Festival and Fringe
(22 posts)-
Posted 12 years ago #
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I hope he uses non-flammable hairspray, otherwise he'll go poof! :-)
Posted 12 years ago # -
My office is squeezed between Fringe Central and the Gilded Balloon and the Assembly complex and the Udderbelly complex and the Pleasance Dome, and the BBC complex opens today right outside my office window, and the Beeb has what sounded yesterday like an impressively powerful PA.
It all comes as a bit of a shock after a decade or two in the sylvan calm of King's Buildings, where there was rarely anything more noisy than a pheasant.
Posted 12 years ago # -
By the way - that's an amazing picture!
Posted 12 years ago # -
There are a lot of bicycles in David Mach's post-apocalyptic collages at the City Art Centre. Perhaps the quotidian emphasises the fantastic (geeza job Scotsman). The artist is on the fourth floor making a newpicture. Maybe I could ask him.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Oh god. Fire eaters. Jugglers. Street performing 'robots' and 'living statues'. Pan pipes. Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
My son used to go to nursery on the Royal Mile and I am heartily sick of the sight of festival performers. No, I don't want your flyer.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Apparently there is only one tune you can play on pan pipes.
Usually dodge Edinburgh during the festival.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Word to the wise.
Fire eater's kisses taste of paraffin, and remember to breath out if anyone strikes a match!
Who can remember when the Fringe programme was an A2 sheet folded into an A4 leaflet?
Posted 12 years ago # -
Foot and pedal were the only ways to get around central town today. Seriously, why were there so many cars piling into town - especially on the routes around the High Street? It was stupidity, all around old town was largely grid lock. George IV bridge was made dangerous by number of vehicles heading in direction of the Mound randomly deciding to give up and pull a U-turn across the cobbled central reservation without looking/mirror/signal/manoeuvre.
Pleasance - Jefferey Street was at a standstill both directions mainly taxis). Another cyclist and I filtered carefully down the middle of the road . I brushed wing mirror of a taxi with my bag and got a peep (my fault I know, but I wasn't that bothered considering the number of times taxis have brushed me as they zoom past with one set of wheels in each lane on St. Johns Road. However my hand waved apologetically, rather than any other gesture).
Mound going uphill wasn't much better. Man walking on pavement and wheeling bike up cycle lane got in my way but moved bike aside and said sorry when he heard me frowning. Mound onto George IV bridge heading south took a lot of right-angled filtering manoeuvres, with taxis stopped in bike lane picking up / depositing passengers and lost looking hire cars in the ASL and across the pedestrian crossing.
Touristy-looking type on a BSO ran every red light from Botanic Gardens to top of Dundas Street. I stopped at every light and still got to the top before him. He also got a loud frown each time I passed him. I thought up an idea for a special warning poster for light-jumping London types as I waited. Strapline was something about "going on green".
Pedicab driver said hello as I walked across road in Grassmarket. Must have spotted my new Prendas cap.
Posted 12 years ago # -
@kaputnik: What's a "loud frown"? Is it a bit like one of Paddington's hard stares?
Posted 12 years ago # -
OP is the amazing Gareth.
Posted 12 years ago # -
@crowriver - they should be able to hear your forehead wrinkling in dissaproval!
Inconsiderate taxi-driving chump of the day goes to driver of Taxi 446, SL02 BGE.
When I had safely navigated MMW, I found the crossing blocked by a Metrocab type taxi dropping off passengers. Annoying, but lights were red so I wasn't crossing anyway. Metrocab pulls away, light sequence begins to change, TXII type taxi arrives in place of Metrocab across cycle lane. Stops. Engine off. Begins to deal with his passengers. Window was open so I said audibly loud enough, but polite enough "Excuse, me you can't park there, you're blocking the cycle lane". Got ignored.
With the cycle lane still blocked and pedestrians commanding the footway (it's not a toucan crossing here, it's separate bike and pedestrian ones side by side, so I shouldn't cycle across that bit anyway!) I remembered my camera was handy in back pocket of shirt, so whipped it out and grabbed a few shots for "evidence".
Lights changed back to red again and taxi still sitting there. Driver gets out and asked what "all the shouting is about". Explained to him that he was parked across a cycle lane and was blocking it. Driver then started examining the road, asking where the cycle lane was, he couldn't see it, could I point it out etc.
I pointed out the cycle crossing lights. I pointed out the red tarmac with big bike symbols in it at foot of Argyle Place, the dotted white crossing lines, then the line on MMW with big bike symbol in it, the blue cycle route direction signs, the blue shared use path signs and the yellow line he was stopped on.
"So what, it's a yellow, I can park here, it's not a double". I pointed out that it's not a double because it doesn't need to be on a crossing, because you can't park on them. Asked him why he hadn't parked across the pedestrian crossing instead. "Because it's a pedestrian crossing" says he. "But it's only got a single yellow" says I. "Get a life" says he. "I have a life, thankyou" says I. "I also have your license number, registration and photographs."
I can't see from the photo which taxi company he is affiliated to (not that I think that makes any difference, it's not like they'll discipline the guy) so I shall draft a note to whomever it is at the cooncil who is in charge of Hackney Carriages.
Posted 12 years ago # -
"I pointed out that it's not a double because it doesn't need to be on a crossing, because you can't park on them."
What was David Cameron saying about bringing an American cop over here to talk about zero tolerance??
Posted 12 years ago # -
I'm always wary of reporting taxis as it involves giving your address. Is there an official complaint-route via the council?
Posted 12 years ago # -
Posted previously -
"
It's always worth making an allegation of dangerous driving against taxis because, while it won't go anywhere without witnesses, it will be noted on their record at the licencing office (you need to write to licencing, not just/or the police).
"http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=854#post-7566
Posted 12 years ago # -
"OP is the amazing Gareth."
I did wonder if you'd know ruggers. :)
Posted 12 years ago # -
Wee word of warning to the unwary. Do NOT - repeat - do NOT go to see the Circus of the Orient thinking it might be similar to the Chinese Circus that has been here a few times before. It is nothing like it. Not actually bad but not actually good either. I was a bit embarrassed in places. They had one good acrobat (who needs to run away and join a better circus) and two Shaolin Warriors (who need to run away and join a better circus). The rest were fine though the aerial wifie really needs to learn how to make her movements graceful and not thrash about like a dying fish. If it were people learning circus skills and showing off what they had done so far I would have been very impressed but if I had just paid £18 to see it (thankfully I didn't) I would have actually been angry rather than just - "meh".
The clowns were occasionally mildly amusing but were on too much.
Yeah.
:-/
Posted 12 years ago # -
We thought that with the Chinese Circus that was in town last year - unlike the Moscow State Circus which, while kitsch and cheesy (tautology?) was truly breathtaking in large parts.
Posted 12 years ago # -
All the vehicles of the Moscow state circus are British registered. And here was me thinking they'd driven all the way from mother Russia.
Posted 12 years ago # -
"All the vehicles of the Moscow state circus are British registered. And here was me thinking they'd driven all the way from mother Russia."
Well -
"The European Events Corporation is a company formed to promote & produce The Moscow State Circus." http://www.europeaneventscorporation.co.uk
"The title “Moscow State Circus” is used for a variety of circuses. Most commonly, it refers to one of the two circus buildings in Moscow, the “Circus Nikulin” (the old circus, featuring animal acts) and the “Bolshoi Circus” (the new circus, featuring trapeze and acrobatics), or to traveling shows which may or may not be directly related to Russia."
"The same name has been used for tours by circus companies selected from Russian resources to appear in the West. The first such tour was in 1956, when the Moscow State Circus amazed audiences in Paris and in London. The title is now owned and used in the UK by a touring circus owned and run by the Entertainment Corporation."
Posted 12 years ago # -
"SHE's a ten-year-old star in the making - and now the youngster has turned her talent into a lucrative street show.
Far from the usual haul of a handful of change and a couple of bottle tops, Saskia Eng is coining in more than £100 an hour as she entertains Festival-goers with her beautiful renditions of songs by Amy Winehouse, Adele and Celine Dion."
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/topstories/Saskia39s-on-song-to-the.6818926.jp
Posted 12 years ago # -
We went on Friday to see Camille O'Sullivan. I was left a little disapointed. Apart from a few new songs and no trapeeze, it was near identical to last year. She has a great vioce but the songs where she whispered or sing very quietly were not as good as the belters...
Posted 12 years ago #
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