Another of the wonderful Jungle City sculptures all decorated by different artists, dotted all over the city for the last few weeks. This beautiful tiger was standing sentry outside Edinburgh’s City Chambers on the Royal Mile.
It’s August, it’s Festival time, the city is incredibly busy and the Fringe begins properly this weekend, although some performers have been doing preview shows for several days already. Came out of work yesterday a bit late, rainy day had gone and sun had put his hat back on, so I thought I’d de-stress by walking up the Royal Mile with the camera out and start bagging my first Fringe pics of 2011, got a bunch already, doubtless as usual I will take far too many over the next few weeks. First Fringe with the new camera, which technically is a better camera than my old, deceased on, but I got some great work out of that old one so the new one has a lot to live up to. Certainly worked nicely last night as I bagged my first couple of dozen Fringe pics with it, starting with this group from Diamond Dick, who were all dressed and made up in the style of 1920s silent movie folks:
(I am such a sucker for that Louise Brooks style...)
and this scene with the Fringe performers trying to bring a smile to an infant’s face was just to cute not to snap as it happened right in front of me:
If it runs like previous years I’m sure I’ll have plenty more pics to follow through August on my Flickr, which has now reached to a ridiculous more than 6, 000 images level..
Walking home from work on a sunny evening last week I had the lovely surprise discovery on the Royal Mile of a gaggle of classic old Bentley tourers, must have been out for a summer classic car rally, parked along the historic Royal Mile and in front of Saint Giles Cathedral at Parliament Square:
Got to love the old fashioned big lever handbrake on the outside of the cab – I don’t know why but these always appeal to me:
The classic British Racing Green colour that suits open top old Brit sports cars and grand tourers so well. Luckily the sun came out and all the chrome was gleaming in the evening sunshine. Love the big, leather straps on the bonnet too. Sudden urge to don leather flying helmet and goggles then race this lovely machine across the continent to Monte Carlo while trying to beat the fiendish cad Terry Thomas 
One chap fired his Bentley up while I was taking pictures and did a u-turn, no easy task in something this size – they may be gorgeous and fast but they’re not exactly known for a city-friendly tight turning circle! I switched to video for a few seconds mostly to try and get a little of that engine noise, sounds like it belongs in a Spitfire Lovely thing so just come across at the end of a day’s work, certainly made me smile, I do like when the city offers up little presents like this…
Loved this unusual semi-convertible in Parliament Square, which I am told is a Sedanca ‘Teardrop’ Coupe Bentley:
The Edinburgh Festival moves into full swing with the International Festival and Book Festival joining the Fringe which has been going for a week already. The city centre is bursting at the seams between tourists (which we have all the year round, more in the summer, of course) and and Festival goers – the city’s population practically doubles during August. Just trying to walk home from work of an evening is a nightmare, the streets are jam packed and most of the folks are moving slowly so it can be quite frustrating when you are trying to get around your normal working day, it’s not so bad when you are off and can relax and enjoy the vibe. That said it does give ma some good opportunities for some street shots on the way home, walking up the Royal Mile where a section of kept for performers to big up their shows, from handing out flyers to actually performing segments of their shows on the street or on tiny stages, to attract audiences, and with thousands of shows running the month you have to work to get your show noticed and get those bums on seats.
Performers range from unicyclers and jugglers to singers, musicians, comedy acts, plays, magic, dancing, it’s pretty much all there and you can get a great taster of it walking the Mile.
These guys were walking in super slow motion up the Mile (still pic, so you will have to take my word for it!), which did mean for a change with street shots I had time to get in position and get off a few shots. I’ve mentally named the guy on the rear left here ‘Igor’. I think he looks like an Igor from some mad scientist lab.
I passed the stilt-walking puppet master with his human marionette again last night, love their act – the girl is very expressive – and when I put some shekels in their collection box she blew me a kiss! I’m in there
We even have saucy space vixens in fab retro futuristic silver space garb and sexy silver space boots!
Sometimes wardrobe accidents happen – this poor woman’s braces have clearly become caught on something:
We even have Batman, presumably over on a Scottish motorbiking holiday:
You’re never too old to bike!
Electra Glide in (Saltire) Blue?
We even saw a greener alternative to the hideously expensive, over budget, over time and disruptive tram system they are (failing) to build in Edinburgh – we shall all commute in giant hamster wheels! Although one friend suggested actually this made the guy looked like he was a character on a tarot card.
We even have zombies!
and very sexy Little Mermaids with the Princesses show:
“I wonder if one day that, you’ll say that, you care
If you say you love me madly, I’ll gladly, be there
Like a puppet on a string
Love is just like a merry-go-round
With all the fun in the air
One day I’m feeling down on the ground
Then I’m up in the air
Are you leading me on?
Tomorrow will you be gone?
I wonder if one day that, you’ll say that, you care
If you love me madly, I’ll gladly, be there
Like a puppet on a string
I may win on the roundabout
Then I’ll lose on the swings
In or out, there is never a doubt
Just who’s pulling the strings
I’m all tied up to you
But where’s it leading me to?
I wonder if one day that, you’ll say that, you care
If you say you love me madly, I’ll gladly, be there
Like a puppet on a string
I wonder if one day that, you’ll say that, you care
If you say you love me madly, I’ll gladly, be there
Like a puppet on a string
Like a puppet on a….. string“
I loved these Fringe performers on the Royal Mile, snapped on the way home from work:
The woman playing the puppet pulled some fabulous expressions:
The Edinburgh Festival may still be a few weeks off yet, but already the always busy with tourists Royal Mile has street performers entertaining them (when the Fringe is on the pedestrianised area is used officially as an incredibly busy spot for performers to give a taste of their shows and promote themselves). I passed this young lad doing some very cool knife juggling on the Mile last night on the way home from work:
After finishing work for the year I walked up a very snowy Royal Mile to the Castle gates. For the first time ever I had it all to myself, not another soul there for ten minutes, just me standing in snow that came over the toes of my boots, that soft scrunching sound that reminds you instantly of childhood playtimes in the snow. Just me and the cold and the snow and the Castle glowing in the night above the city, dusted with snow like icing on a historical cake. Below and around me views across the whole of Edinburgh, right out to the Pentland Hills. Freezing but incomparably beautiful. Merry Christmas from a snowy Scotland!
Now that the clocks have gone back to GMT its fully dark by the time I leave work. Coming home one evening when it was unusually mild (and dry!) I decided on a whim to take a different route and walk up the Royal Mile, digging my camera out of my bag thinking I may get a couple of street night shots; in a slice of pure lucky chance I happened on a fire juggler on the cobbled pedestrianised section of street outside the Fringe office. Obviously I’ve seen and taken plenty of pics of jugglers chucking around all sorts of things from knives to firesticks around this spot during the Festival, but not usually this late in the year and at night; certainly made the use of fire look far more dramatic being dark!
Of course as I was walking home from work I didn’t have the tripod with me, so I had to make do; to be honest I think half the many night shots I have on my Flickr are improvised, spur of the moment affairs rather than done when I’ve gone out deliberately with the tripod to do some night work. One of the advantages of digital is you are willing to take chances improving a shot since you’re not wasting money and film if it doesn’t work. And in this case since he was moving around and the fiery ropes he was holding were also swirling around I doubt a tripod would have made much difference here, he and they would still be streaked and blurred, but even so its worth taking the shot for the subject even if the pic isn’t as sharp as I’d normally try for; as Lee Harvey Oswald once said, sometimes you just have to take the shot. And its fun when the city offers up a little surprise like this; if I had gone home my normal route I’d never have seen this, it was just a sudden whim to go this way.
In early to work, out late so feeling a little narked; beautiful, golden autumn evening outside so decide to enjoy slow walk home to unwind, wander up the Royal Mile, camera in hand, coming across this bloke playing some jazz on his trumpet. Nice autumn evening, cool breeze, cool jazz, nice. Put some coins in his instrument case, took a couple of pics then just settled nearby to listen for a few minutes and enjoy it.
A couple of buskers on the Royal Mile doing the rock thing but with ukuleles instead of electric guitar, but doing the full guitar heroes movements; as I listened to them rocking out on their ukes I realised they were giving big licks to Queens of the Stone Age! First time I’ve heard QOTSA on ukuleles – I had to shoot a brief vid clip so I could share the sound as well as grabbing a photo:
