Dylan in Princes Street

Yesterday as I looked out my kitchen window it was raining in Morningside yet when I walked through to my bedroom, not a long walk I should add and looked the window there it wasn't raining. Which was strangely satisfying if not very interesting. I suppose the rain has to stop somewhere and as well to stop over my building as anywhere else. This morning The Pentland Hills were all covered in mist which has now cleared and the hills are looking fine as usual. I often think how lucky I am to have that view from my apartment, and to have been enjoying it for all these years. To have shared the view over the years has been fine too, but now it's all mine.

Am listening to the fine Janice Forsyth on the radio as has been my delight on a Saturday morning for a good few years now. She is my favourite presenter on the old BBC. She has a fine taste in music and does some great interviews. Now the bosses at the BBC have announced that they will be scraping her prog in the summer to make way for more sport and news, as if we don't have enough already. Let's hope they come to their senses and leave Janice alone.

I've been busy writing my short stories so not much time for my blog recently. It takes a long time to write a  story and teacher has us doing one a week. Just like being back at school except it's not really, if you know what I mean, Even less time for housework, which is a bit of a bugger or a pleasure, depending on how you look at it.

Yesterday I went to the recently renovated Scottish National Portrait Gallery with my young friend Fiona, whom I've known for far too long to be mentioned here, but thanks for reminding me Fiona. And what a brilliant job the renovators have done. It's now a superb gallery, to add to all the other galleries and museums we have here in Edinburgh. If you haven't been yet it's definitely worth a few hours of your time. I will have to go back as there is so much to see.

There's a special exhibition called The War at Sea which is all about the First World War as seen by Sir John Lavery,who was a kind of official war painter. All the paintings are from the area around Firth of Forth and North Sea. Mostly of sea battles and preparations for battles and defences. The paintings are on loan from The Imperial War Museum so won't be there for long. I recommend you see it, it's educational and surprising in many ways and the paintings are brilliant.

This is longer than it was meant to be but I must mention a video which they are also showing at The Potrait Gallery. It's called "Eriskay, a Poem of Remote Lives", which was made by Werner Kissling and is the first film to be made with a Gaelic soundtrack. Hugely nostalgic for me. The film can be found on the Scottish Screen Archive website if anyone is interested.

Finally imagine my pleasant surprise to see a photo of Bob Dylan, taken in Princes Street in 1966, when he was on tour that year and played Edinburgh. I think my big brother saw him on that tour,  but of course as he didn't play in Stornoway I missed him that time round. Bob is looking good as usual, and so very young and handsome. He adds something special to Princes Street, genius I think it's called.