The Surreal and the sublime  

My goodness me, we've been very, very busy most of this August, so haven't had time to write about it here. But Alice has at last caught up with editing the photos she's taken of our various activities. She's such a perfectionist it takes an awful lot of hours where she's totally absorbed, forgets to eat, doesn't sleep when she's tired and so on, while Ba and I get bored.

But the results are worth it, I hasten to add, before she gets all sniffy and retorts, "Who's in most of them!" or starts muttering about the trials of being creative and misunderstood . . .

There was an exhibition called Surreal Encounters at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art One, where we've often been before. (If that's your sort of art, it's on until 11th September.) Ba doesn't "Do Art" like Alice and myself, but consented to come beause she likes spending time in the gardens.

Arriving somewhat after our lunch-time, we first went straight to the truely excellent cafe. They had a salad with spicey roast parsnips! It was so yummy we're going to try making it ourselves this very evening. If you click on the photo, you can read about the StreetSmart charity, which persuades diners to donate and help the local homeless and hungry. Cunningly good idea.

As for the exhibition itself, Alice admits she was glad she's a Friend of the Galleries, and doesn't have to pay for entry once her subscription's gone out, as there actually wasn't a lot in it we particularly liked. There was some interesting SalvadoR DAli work [ I think we should keep that typo, he would have liked it, I'm sure.] It included an absolutely gigantic Triptych, which we simply can't do justice to. See it online here, and let it fill your whole screen.

Despite herself, Ba was absolutely delighted by one of the famous Lobster Telephones (plural, as there are a few of them in the world.) It made her giggle a lot. I acknowledge it was amusing. But is it Art?

Alice and she were both quite drawn to Max Ernst's jungle paintings as well, with all their weird and wild greenery. Click on it and take a closer look at this one!

But we soon made up for our indoor disappointment, when we went into the totally real green garden outside. Here, in keeping with the exhibition theme, the gallery had set up a kids' playground called Surreal Adventures.

Where are we?
What's out there?

As ever, click on the images to see bigger versions.

Just take a look at the photos below: we won't bother to explain too much.

Remember the Escher Maze at Modern Two, last year? (There's a delightful video of it on YouTube.) Well, this was a lot less frustrating, and a great deal more fun! Plus it had an Alice in Wonderland theme, so our Alice was all the more enchanted.

Outside
looking in. Note what looks like the back of a grey sofa.

And inside,
looking out.

There were quotations like this on several of the "cards."

Looks comfy? Alice cheated and "took out" the edge of the text fully visible in the next picture.

There were helpful hints on how to make your photos look Surreal as well.

The Blogger interface here
isn't WYSIWYG at all (you Google that one!) and Alice is getting extremely frustrated trying to make it look how she wants, and swearing with terms I refuse to let her type in.

I've told her to give up gracefully, and just add the last few photos any old how. Oh dear, it seems from the next round of swearing that's as good as sacrilege to a perfectionist like her. But I was only trying to help.

This fallen over clock is very Lewis Carroll, isn't it?

And no, we didn't actually have a surreal ice-cream. They were just things like strawberry flavour, coloured green. And expensive too.

But it was a jolly good visit all round, I must say.













What else? 
Most of our Edinburgh Fringe Festival time was spent at Summerhall, attending the varied programme put on by the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards.

It was their first visit to the UK, and Alice says we were privileged to be able to see them here for nine days. It was quite an experience: it blew my socks off, as they say. (Why socks? Have a look at Quora and the video there.)

But it needs a completely separate post, with more photos of the venue plus some of the company, and a bit of history to explain what it's all about. Be patient, please.

The Sublime  

By way of ending this post, we'll just mention a concert we went to, given by the Edinburgh Renaissance Band. They play the most amazing collection of historical instruments, such as sackbuts and cornetts, shawm, recorders and viols. There's even a bizarre looking one called a Serpent.

Alice was keen to hear them, though I thought it would probably be rather old hat. (Why hat? Try here.)

They were joined by Polyhymnia, a dance trio who perform Renaissance dances. Some of these were so very slow and stately, they were barely dances at all, but they did liven up at points.

Alice took a bit of video, and hopes she'll eventually find time to edit that too. Watch this space. . .

Ba stayed at home with the geraniums and missed a treat. I have to admit, after all, that it was really very beautiful, even if in a weird kind of way. You can hear a sample of the music on YouTube.

EIFF Short Film Challenge, floral update, and (maybe) working on The Extras
[Updated Tuesday 9th August  2016] 

We're just recovering from the excitement of going to the Filmhouse on Saturday for the awards presentation of the winning films. It was all rather like a mini-version of the Oscars, but without a procession up the red carpet, I'm sorry to say. I'd been especially looking forward to that!

Having decided to dress more like Jenny Beavan, or Iris Apfel, than in an evening dress (Alice hasn't got one as such) and diamonds (ditto) we were relieved she's finally put up the rack for her collection of necklaces. Most of them come from a Cancer Research charity shop. The job entailed an awful lot of swearing and two sets of holes in the crumbly plaster. Don't ask.

She finally determined on her patchwork trousers and colour co-ordinated tops, with just a few of the necklaces. She had promised to make me a kilt, but progress there is particularly slow, given that we're very busy with The Extras, so Ba and I went "au naturel." Having wool and fur, it's not at all the same as it would have been for an elderly human being. [Alice won't type what I was going to say about that.] 

After watching all ten shortlisted films, we went up on stage for a Q&A with the other film-makers. Alice's son took some photos, but distance and camera only produced something very blurred and pixelly. Our photo whizz-kid spent ages doing her best, so please do click!

The lights were shining straight at us, and we couldn't see the audience very well, but we managed to pick out most of our friends and supporters, though not whether they were smiling or not. Still, they all said nice things afterwards, so we must have seemed OK.

Our submission was titled Reading in Bed @ 70, as you'll know if you've been following us. Ba says you must click on this image, to read her witty wording.

We didn't actually win any of the awards, but felt we'd done ourselves proud to be shortlisted as one of the ten out of thirty or so entries.

You can see the list of winners and the day's program on the EIFF site.
Now it's all over, you can also watch the video on Alice's friend's YouTube Channel.

Floral update
We like to keep our followers up to date with the state of our windowsill and indoor plants, so here's a few recent photos of their progress.

You can see how the windowbox has filled up as the plants gradually flourished after we planted them in early June. [See this post.] Ba loves the tiny, delicate Lobelia and I like the big bold Marigolds.

The tall straggly plants are Chrysanthemums, never removed since last year: we'll have to wait for them to flower later on. We were delighted when the first Nasturtium finally came out, ten days on.

And even more so when we got a whole bevvy of the beauties! This photo was taken only a week later. Funny how we seem to be sitting in almost exactly the same places, isn't it?

We've got a good collection of indoor plants as well, sitting behind the sink in the kitchen window. Several of these are Geraniums, some too tall to see here.

Living in a tenement flat wihout our own garden, all three of us take great pleasure in being able to look at the various plants growing away so happily.

I don't think you can really justify that "happily", unless it's a transferred epithet, but Ba insists that plants do experience such feelings, and she can tell. Alice sometimes talks to them, too, but she has an annoying habit of thinking out loud a lot of the time anyway. She says it's a great deal more deliberate with the plants, and she thanks them for looking so lovley and cheering her up if she's down. Humans!

Working on The Extras 
You'll need to wait for that, as there's plenty to say on the topic but weariness calls Alice to her bed for some sleep. 

This part of the title sequence gives you a taste of how much is involved. Click to see it at a readable size.

She's yawning. It really will have to wait.

An exciting email, Monkey's makeover, a few films and a flying finale
[Updated Tuesday 12th & Saturday 30th July 2016] 

Exciting email
Guess what! Our updated video of Reading in Bed @ 70 [see our previous blog post] has been shortlisted in the top ten by the Edinburgh International Film Festival Short Film Challenge, no less! It will be screened with the others on Saturday August 6th at the Edinburgh Filmhouse at 2:00pm. It's free, but ticketed, so if you intend to come, you should book. They will all be shown again on August 20th and 25th at this event as part of the Edinburgh Digital Entertainment Festival (looks interesting) but you'll have to pay! Oops, these showings are free, but others in the EDEF may cost you.
  
We were all so extremely excited when Alice got the email there was a lot of leaping about and laughing and cheering.

Of course, we don't have any expectations of actually winning, and suspect it was shortlisted just because it is so unusual, even if not up to professional standards. But then we did include some self-referential criticism! However, we notice there is "a special recognition for Most Innovative Use of the EIFF theme (seventy)" which might just apply. . . Watch this blog later.

Please be reassured that in the image above Ba has not trapped her hand, she is in the process of raising the clapper in order to bring it down again with a really satisfying bang. You can see and hear this in the original Reading in Bed [the one without the crucial @ 70 alterations and additions] on Alice's friend Joy's YouTube channel. If you can't manage to be at the Edinburgh event, or just don't feel so inclined, we're going to get her to post the new version too, after the show, for you to see at your leisure if you wish.

In view of this impending public event, I required some really real patching up. This involved being darned by Alice with Anchor embroidery thread (colour matched, of course.) Give her her due, she was very careful.

The first photo here (click to see larger) shows half-way through the process and reveals, for the first time, my remaining sad bald patches. (It's all that being carried about in a rucksack, rubbing against my sensitive fur, and nothing to do with age!) The second shows how I appear with the digital touching up, previously employed only for online appearances. I much prefer this look, but needs must, I suppose. Sigh.

Next, we found some wool, rather than embroidery thread, and darning with that seemed to have a less glaring effect. Whew. Then she decide Ba and I both needed  a good scrub-up (just on the non-delicate areas ..) The things we do for appearances! Here we are sitting together for mutual support while drying out and recovering. [Click as usual . . .]

Alice herself is already wondering whether she'll turn up in full feminine finery, or do a sort-of Jenny Beaven wearing her jeans, or bright patchwork trousers, with Iris Apfel style necklaces from the Cancer Research charity shop. We'll let you know, and might even have a photo.

It's getting late, as it usually does somehow when we're writing a blog, so the bit about a few films will have to wait for the updated version. Night, night!

A few films
I think two films will do for now, or this will never get posted before bed-time again.

See me here, beside a huge poster for Tale of Tales in Edinburgh's Cameo cinema, before going to see this super film of three interwoven  traditional 17th century fairytales. The little booklet below is much more my size.


Some of it is pretty gory (15 certificate) even more so than appears in the trailer, and horrific, as well as rather sexy. It had absolutely some of the most gorgeous design and cinematography we've ever seen, and wonderful music too. The acting was superb all round, the sets and settings were fantastic. The special effects were so well done that I even forgot they were almost certainly "added" to the scenes later.

There are of course morals to be found, but these are deep ones and Alice said you'll have to work them out for yourself. So there! In fact she has seen it twice, though once satisifed me.

We went to several films in the Edinburgh Film Festival, and our film friend has reviewed most of them, but one we really liked, Neither Wolf nor Dog (based on the book of the same title) hasn't got listed by Letterboxd yet, though it is on IMDb and Facebook.

See the trailer on YouTube to get a taste of it.

The most amazing thing about it is that Dan, stubborn, quirky, serious and humorous too, is played by 97 year old real-life Chief Dave Bald Eagle. He's simply terrific - and apparently still going strong.

The film reveals the horrific history of white oppression of the Native American Indian race, and is very enlightening as well as moving, especially when we reach the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre.

The whole enterprise was done with crowd-funding, and had just two in the crew. There's a good review of the film here, so read that, and we'll save Alice's weary typing fingers and some space on here.

A flying finale
As you will probably know if you've followed us for a while, we're avid fans of HBO's Game of Thrones. Recently we had occasion to see the last two episodes of Season Six with a neighbour down the road and her Monkey. WOW! What a blast that was. Those in the know will know what I mean. No spoilers here, however.

We thought you might enjoy this photo of the other Monkey, practising his dragon-riding. It clearly startled the leopard hiding behind baby Drogon's wing. There's something in the show for everyone, you see, human or not.

Films, forgotten photos, flowers . . . 

I know, it's been ages since our last post, but we've been very, very busy indeed.
If you've seen the video of Reading in Bed on Alice's friend Joy's YouTube channel, you will see this title is a bit different: we've added "@ 70". It's a new version, based on the earlier video, but with significant alterations to the title, the commentary by me and Ba, the background music, and other stuff, so we could enter it for a competition!

The Edinburgh International Film Festival (of which more in a while) has a yearly competition for a short film (under 8 minutes) and each year there's a key word which has to be included: this year, the 70th such festival, it was SEVENTY! Perfect for us, as Alice is just a bit over that age.

She was so keen to enter, that she's even allowed us to admit to her truly venerable years, not just here, but also in my commentary when her glasses slide off her nose. There's generosity in the cause of creativity for you! [She's blushing as she types.]

Of course, it's meant a lot of extra work and not a few bouts of swearing blue (why "blue?) slaving over the computer, preparing the new version in a hurry to get it submitted in time.

And then, they extended the deadline!! If we'd known, we could have tidied up some of the little glitches which had bothered Alice. She's a terrible perfectionist, with Virgo rising, which is why everything we do takes so very long. But then, I think, they are part of what lends the enterprise its own unique charm. Anyway we'd let Ba make her naive criticisms, as they sent the whole thing up in a trendy, filmic self-referential manner.

On top of this, we've also been working on the promised Extras! Lots of photos and bits of video to sort out there, not to mention our own judicious commentary. No wonder we're behind with this blog. When the competition is over, we'll ask our friend Joy to upload @ 70 to her channel as well.

Forgotten Photos

Back in April, when Alice recovered her funeral hat, we mentioned seeing the Titum Aurum, and posted a photo. Recently she was reminded of the sheer amazingness of plants, when her Poetry Group discussed a poem by Denise Levertov.

But she couldn't find the other photos of the visit! She eventually discovered it was because it was in late June 2015, after the momentous trip to Yorkshire (when we adopted Ba) and the delay in catching up extended from that catching up to this one too.

So Alice busily edited away and caught up.

And here they are, very much delayed. Just click to see them at a larger size.

Above I'm waiting in the long queue. On the left is a banner prepared by the RBGE explaining the growth cycle of the flower - not every year, but only rarely. See also the RGBE website for more details.

While we were there, we also visited the wonderful hot houses.

They are indeed very hot, and very steamy. But Alice declared it was worth a dose of sweating for the beautiful water lillies, and the graceful Hibiscus.

And the wilder flowers are lovely too. I enjoy just sitting in the gardens, soaking up the atmosphere, so we go back there every now and again, sometimes for an Art Exhibition, too. See our previous blog post, right below this one, or in a separate tab here.


More flowers still

As you may well know already, we have our own flowers at home, despite living in a tenement flat.

Our window boxes might not look like much from the outside, but they give us a lot of pleasure. [Do click!]

Recently we did a big re-planting, removing the dead bulbs and getting ready to replace them with fresh plants newly bought (from Homebase.) We've got some trailing blue Lobelia, some Empress of India Nasturtium (a gorgeous red, we hope) and some bright yellow Marigolds, already in flower. It was very late in the evening by the time the whole job was complete and we put them back outside, hoping the tender young plants would survive a slightly chilly night.

Alice decided to record the event, anyway. Shooting with flash at night has a quite dramatic effect, doesn't it?

Meanwhile, we have our indoor collection inside the kitchen window.

Ba didn't want to risk falling off the hanging basket, but sat more happily below.

Alice doesn't always "remember" to water them, as it invloves climbing a ladder and standing on the draining board, but the Geraniums seem to forgive her and keep on blooming. A welcome sight to cheer her while washing the dishes, I say! She's grunting now - it's not a favourite occupation.

The Film Festival

The 2016 Edinburgh International Film Festival will soon be upon us! Therefore much anticipatory excitement in our film-loving houshold.

We  grabbed a programme as soon as they came out.

There's lots and lots of films of all genres and styles and nationalities to choose from. Actually, Alice thinks it's easier to browse it online. You can start by making a provisional list, with the help of the "My EIFF" section.

By the time we'd compared our not-so-short list with what was possible, given the clashing dates and/or times, all four pages of the calendar looked like this! But our tickets are now booked, paid for and delivered. Hurrah!

I expect, however, there will be another long gap in our blogging while we enjoy, digest, and recover fom the event. You have been warned.

Another type of film
Meanwhile, we made a rare visit to our local multiplex, booking online (cheaper) and using an E-ticket on the smartphone for the first time.

Can you guess what we went to see?

Not a hard job, with our Alice's enthusiasm for all things related to the literary Alice and the original real-life Alice Liddell.

Yes, it was the new Disney film, called Alice Through the Looking-Glass. It's had terrible reviews in general, but our favourite critic, Mark Kermode, said on Radio5 that he liked it, so we gave it a go. If you don't mind spoilers, this early trailer (there are several versions around online) gives you a good feel of the piece. 

 [ We had to chop this rather splendid poster in half, it's so long and thin. . . ]

As long as you realise that the film is NOT a version of the original Lewis Carroll book, although we do see all our favourite characters - it's still good fun, and even touching in places.

One of the "new" characters is Time (deliciously played by Sacha Baron Cohen.) In the A Mad Tea-Party chapter of the original Wonderland book, the Hatter explains to Alice that Time is a "HE" not an "IT". In this film, he is owner of the Chronosphere, which keeps the minutes of the univese ticking as they should, but can be used to travel in time.

Time also has some delightful tiny machine-like helpers, the "Seconds" (they can aggregate into Minutes and Hours when required) who in character reminded me just a little of the Minions.

This one is Wilkins, metal-mustachioed and steam-powered, with an exhaust pipe on his head. He can speak, though the other Seconds communicate only in ticks and tocks. The cute, green-eyed robot propping up the book is "our little oil can with legs", says director James Bobin, "the curious puppy who always wants to help out."

See the article in Entertainment Weekly for more details, plus a scarey photo of an angry Minute. There's also a simply wonderful clip of Alice being introduced to the Seconds by Time on good old YouTube. It's well worth a look.

Even Ba, whom we dragged along rather reluctantly (she's not fond of the cinema in general, says it's all too artificial, too loud, too bright, and just Too Much!) appeared to have fun after all. I think the Seconds won her over.

There is a lot of manic time-travel in it, back and forth. Alice confuses the Hatter by meeting him when he is younger, but she is older.

The script is original and daring: not only is Alice a fiercely independent and talented young woman, who expertly captains her deceased father's ship, but the backstories to the madness of the Hatter and the rivalry between the Red Queen and the White are cleverly portrayed. The subtilty of the psychological lessons learned, but never forced on us, reminded us of those in Inside Out.

There's yet another trailer on YouTube if you feel up to taking on one more highly compressed version of the plot.

A long post this time: so that's us for now, folks, probably for a good while yet - we'll be busy.