Edinburgh Light Night

It the Christmas Light Night ceremony this weekend and I got to go. Hayley and I went to the Stand comedy club again for a free lunch time show of basically Whose Line is it Anyway first, and then had a wee coffee, and then joined the festivities. I maybe should have taken some pictures of George Street, because they had about 8 stages, where different groups and schools were putting on performances each, and I don't think I have ever seen anywhere that full of people, except for maybe a concert. So that was really nice to wander down the street watching bits and bobs from different people until the main stage was ready.

They sang some Christmas songs and then the countdown was on for the lights coming on, and fireworks too. It was really nice and you did feel full of the Christmas Spirit afterward. We also walked up to the Christmas tree to take photo of that with the Winter Village in the background. I do need to work on my timing for the Fireworks, I got way more of smoke than of the actual fire!

November So Far

So I have been pretty quiet this November, not that I haven't been up to anything, just haven't'e gotten around to posting anything up here. And I was making such progress in October, there were loads of posts. Anyway here is November so far, in pictures.

They have started setting up the Winter Village, it is meant to be a little bit different this year, for one thing, the Big Wheel is not in its normal place and it is not the same big wheel. It is amazing how fast they can build it though! The Christmas tree they were putting up as well was huge! I will have to see when they are turning on the lights, but It will be impressive!

I havne't been up to too much drawing lately, but I have been doing some wee sketches, here are some poppies I was attempting the other day. 

And finally, I nipped into the National Museum and they have a brilliant Kabuki exhibit on right now. I have to say it is amazing, the Museum usually is! I will need to go back soon and check it out again. I only got to look at it over my lunch break. Maybe I could have a wee wander around the rest of it as well!

Witches and Wicked Bodies

October is coming to a close, and I have hardly done anything Halloween-ish but that is now remedied. I have wanted to go to the Witches and Wicked Bodies Exhibit at the Gallery of Modern Art since before it came out and what could have been a more appropriate day than seeing it on Halloween. The Exhibit was beautiful and everything I expected and more.  I loved seeing the works of Goya and learning new artists like Salvator Rosa and Frans Francken II.  It was also fun, and perhaps a bit childish on my part to giggle when the family who came in just before us quickly rushed each of their kids in and out of the exhibit. For some reason the painters penchant for drawing and painting witches with there bosom exposed seemed to make them zip right through. Plus it was a beautiful day at the start and the grounds of the Modern Art Gallery were beautiful. The only thing I wish I would have come earlier for is the book for the exhibit, it was unfortunately sold out, and it seems to be sold out everywhere.

I could add more paintings and sketches that I loved, that would probably meant the whole catalog, but here are some I took of the gallery.

And along the Water of Leith, just up from the gallery. 

From there we headed up to the Union of Genius, for some amazing soup and salads. I need to learn to make more kinds of soup, cause theirs was awesome!! And afterwards we nipped into the Greyfriars Churchyard because it has been recently found out that Tom Riddle (AKA Lord Voldemort) has his grave there. I had heard before that J K Rowling used to look at names in the graveyards around Edinburgh, but this is the first one I have seen with a full name.

I know I am pretty cool, but graveyards are always interesting to take pictures in and Greyfriars is particularly beautiful.

Photography, Comedy and Walking

Its been another pretty busy week, which is exciting because I haven't just been working, I have been out doing stuff. So its going to be a long one again, luckily it is mostly pictures and not loads of me talking. 

So yes doing stuff! A lot of that has to do with Hayley, she has been inviting me out for a lot of things. So its been a lot of fun. First things first Hayley and I went to the Stand again, and it was really good, even though there was no seats left, so it was just standing room. We got to see some really great comedians and were surprised because John Bishop from telly turned up and did a wee set! We were a bit disappointing with Brendon Burns, pretty well all of his material I had heard before so it wasn't very exciting. He was still funny but still dissapointing.

We came home pretty early after that, Dixon had a gig but Hayley and I just missed out seeing them play. But since Darren and Mhairi were in town from Troon, we went for a walk with them and their daughter Brody and Jura their dog (she's a Norwegian Elkhound, not a husky as many people tried to point out, much to the dismay of Darren and Mhairi.). Dixon needed convincing since his hangover wanted him to stay home, but walking down Cramond way is always lovely and hopefully that will have made him feel a bit better. 

More exciting things? I know I have been up to a lot! The Stills Gallery I mentioned in a previous post had another great workshop on. Technically it was for the Luminate festival which celebrate creativity while aging and has exhibits and events for all ages. Which was lucky for me because I was really excited about this one. They showed you how to develop and enlarge a negative that you have in black and white. The course was for up to three people, and it turned out that today I was all by myself which meant that I got to learn loads. The instructor showed me not only how to develop a print but also a roll of film and a tour of the rest of the facility. I am hopefully going to be doing a lot more of that!

The first photos are the final prints and the graduated ones are the tests for how long they should be exposed.

And the day out today ended with a rainbow!