An end to grave watching?

A YEAR OF GRAVESTONES

One year ago I posted to say I'd be trying to keep up a wee project to post photos of the changing view from our windows on every Friday throughout 2016. Yesterday saw the fifty third and final post go up, and the blog come to an end (although if there's anything worth recording in future, like a decent snowfall, I may decide to post on the odd occasion). Did it achieve anything?

'Achieve' is too strong a word, but I'm glad I managed to document the changes across the seasons. With so many trees down below, and one high enough to be at eye level up on the fifth floor, the view was very different in June to the one that I began with in January. In retrospect it was a daft decision to go for weekly posts, as the transitions don't always happen that quickly, although come Autumn there were quite big differences between one Friday and the next. I should maybe have gone for a more flexible approach.

But I'm glad I stuck with it. As it became obvious that one week's post was much like another I had to find other ways to make the blog interesting (if only for myself). And that took me down to ground level and wandering around the cemetery. For me that was the best aspect of keeping the blog going, that I got to know what was down there much better than before. Whilst the original intent was to show the changes in the vegetation, and going to down to see it provided some interesting details, it was the graves and memorials themselves that provided the greatest fascination.

Forgotten names and occupations, a sculpture dedicated to stillbirths and a memorial to the biggest rail disaster in UK history, there always seems to be something fresh to discover. New graves too, with burials taking place on an irregular basis, and plenty of visitors to the deceased. Watching the gardeners was often interesting, and the men trying to raise old fallen stones back into their original position.  

So my regular Friday photo sessions will no longer be de rigueur.  I can stick to looking out for the occasional photogenic sunset.  But I don't see my walks around the dead ending next year.  There are still discoveries to be made in this small but fascinating world of memories.

2016, the best bits

BEST OF THE YEAR

History may not look kindly on 2016, with considerable evidence on offer of the depths to which human stupidity can sink. Let us hope it will not also be seen as the precursor for much more dangerous times ahead.

But I prefer to end the year reflecting on the positives. On a personal level it's been another enjoyable twelve months. A big part of that enjoyment comes from getting ourselves out to see live entertainment, and films, and my accompanying hobby of writing reviews to all that I get to. This becomes a handy reference point when I want to recall the best (and worst) bits I've been privileged to see. So, as I did last year, here's my list of my favourites broken down into various categories.

It was a quieter year in terms of numbers, especially for comedy - probably because we didn't feel 100% well during August and went to far fewer Fringe shows than we had the year before. In the end I've been to 24 comedy shows, 45 music gigs, 27 drama events, 28 films, and a couple that don't slot comfortably into any of these categories. I've also been to a large number of ice hockey matches....

1) Comedy 

As was the case last year it would be easy just to say Mark Thomas and move on. Still the best. Or I could plump for others we've seen before like Stewart Lee, Mark Steel or our friend Aidan Goatley (twice!), all of whom delivered the quality expected. 
But my preference is to recall someone I haven't seen before and has left a lasting impression. My first thought was Jonathan Pie, which was funny, thought provoking, and clever in the manner in which it adapted the YouTube character to an our long stage show. But the show was as much drama as it was comedy, and I'd like to choose a more pure comedy act. So my selection is Paul Currie. Inventive, bizarre, childish, involving, hilarious and utterly daft. Definitely a man I want to see again next year.

2) Music 

As above it would be so simple to just say that by far the best gig of the year was provided, once more, by the mighty Lau. Or another amongst our established favourites - Kris Drever, Moishe's Bagel, Merry Hell, the wonderful Dallahan..... Instead I'm choosing an act in which only one of the performers was already familiar. Seonaid Aitken and the Tokyo Django Collective delivered a magical event where virtuoso performances were combined with a sense of fun and enthusiasm. So memorable. With a special mention to an unlikely group of heroes, also performing in the Jazz and Blues Festival. The Bratislava Hot Serenaders didn't come close to providing the greatest musical experience of the year. But they did deliver by far the most charming.

3) Drama 

We got to all ten productions in the two seasons of A Play, a Pie and a Pint at the Traverse, and enjoyed almost all of them, with Dr Johnson Goes to Scotland the stand out performance. But I think my choice needs to head somewhere with more meat on the bones. Teatro Delusio was the unforgettable drama experience of the Fringe. Thon Man Moliere had much to recommend it. But... I'm going with Right Now, the funny, twisted, disturbing French Canadian family drama we saw back in April. There are images from that evening which have stayed with me ever since.

4) Film 

So often, when asked what our favourite was, we tend to provide the easy answer and just go for the last thing we enjoyed. But, although Paterson, was the last film I saw in 2016, I have no doubt about my choice. Quietly beautiful and inspiring. I can't look back at 2016 and not mention the film that provoked the greatest anger and empathy in me, I, Daniel Blake, which is a powerful condemnation of the society we've become. Most of the films I saw this year were as part of the Film Festival in June and July, and four stood above the others for me. The Carer, The Olive Tree, 24 Weeks and A Man Called Ove (from the UK, Spain, Germany and Sweden respectively) were all excellent, with the last of these evoking that word Charm once again.

5) Book 

I don't review them and I haven't read nearly as many this year. But looking back over those I have, the best by far was The Testament of Gideon Mack by James Robertson. Exploring the boundaries of religious faith, myth and fantasy, it shows up the credibility and credulity of we humans in a tale that questions reality. My favourite thriller was C J Sansom's Winter in Madrid, bringing with it a real sense of life in the Spain of the Civil War and the early years of the Franco regime.

6) Hockey Match 

I don't write reviews or keep notes, so I may be guilty of falling victim to 'recent memory' syndrome, but for atmosphere I can't recall anything to beat the Caps match against Fife Flyers on 2 October. The Edinburgh Capitals had never previously qualified for the quarter finals of the Challenge Cup. Win this match and their place was guaranteed. Maybe the atmosphere wasn't quite so good at the end of the second period. 0-1 down after the first, we'd fallen to 1-4 after the next twenty minutes. But the third was .... different. 
Matt Tipoff got one back after a couple of minutes, and the comeback definitely looked on just over a minute later when Mason Wilgosh made it 3-4. Another four minutes and there was Mr Tipoff again to equalise. All square, twelve and a bit minutes to go, and anybody's game. But now the home side had the momentum, and the noise from the crowd, to carry them. 
Less than five minutes left and Ian Schultz scored to take the lead for the first time. The Edinburgh fans were on their feet. And stayed up. Pretty much anyone who was capable of standing was doing so. And shouting, and chanting and generally going crazy, even the most normally staid amongst our number. When Pavel Vorobyev fired the puck into the empty net with a couple of minutes left we knew our Xmas had come very early this year. What a night to be a Caps fan....

And finally.... As I did last year, just to show I don't always make wise choices of shows to go and see, here are a few of the worst of the year. Musically Gol did little for me, and Orkestra Del Sol proved a disappointment when I'd expected so much. In the Film Festival I found Suntan and Mr Right lightweight and pointless. Surprisingly there was one of the Play, Pie and Pint series that proved to be a big let down, with One Thinks of It All as a Dream so much poorer than the others in the series. And my Turkey of the Year award is once again going to a Fringe 'comedy' show - The Simpsons Taught Me Everything I Know was even worse than the title suggests, an hour of 2016 I'd like to wipe from memory.

Here's to an entertaining (and Armageddon-free) 2017.

Selfie Season?

THAT SELFIE PROJECT

At the beginning of October I posted on here to say I was going to have a go at a photographic project, taking selfies over a period of several weeks and seeing what resulted.  The inspiration for the project was explained in the post and you can read about it here.

Now's the time to reveal the results.  Even if I'm as unimpressed with the outcome as I expected to be.  I wondered if there might be any way to claim my pictures, collectively, as an art form, as was the case for Ai Weiwei's exhibit of looping selfies at the exhibition that prompted my experiment.

It's really for others to give judgement on whether my own collection constitutes art in any way.  My own reaction is No.  Because, unlike the Chinese, I don't have much in the way of visual imagination or creativity.  In consequence there are many shots that are dull and repetitive.

But I'm leaving them in there.  If nothing else this is a warts and all form of portraiture, with only a few of the photos I took being left out because they were contributing nothing.  Over the period I was taking them I banged my forehead on a shelf; then had a haircut which involved a bit of a styling change (I thought it successful, but the photos show little real difference!); and for the past few weeks I've had a virus so there have been times when I've looked pale, tired, far from a depiction of good health.  There are shots taken in early morning, shots taken late at night.  Indoor light, outdoor light, and the wrinkle-highlighting brutality of flash.

One of the most notable (and to my eyes bizarre) selfie trends, and a great favourite with Japanese tourists in particular, is to take ones photo in front of a well know landmark.  Proof that they were really there?  A trend I've resisted, other than one featuring an Edinburgh standard (and cliche), the view down The Vennel with the castle in the background.  And Newhaven Harbour features now and then.  A cemetery features, as do bus interiors, but most were taken at home.  More time to experiment in the warmth!

You can find the photos on this Tumblr blog.

A final word.  There are almost three hundred photos on that Tumblr.  If you manage to look at them all you either have a very low boredom threshold, or way too much time on your hands.  Probably both.  There are much better ways to pass the time you know....