Flossing a Dead Horse

Oh my, Candy Floss!
You are so, so sugary!
Oh my! Oh my! Oh!

Return of the Mai

Hello everyone,

Just a quick note to let you know that Mai will be back in your hemisphere very soon, and would love to meet as many of you as possible! She's going to study in Ireland for a month in Jan/Feb, but will be dropping in to London for about 5 days beforehand, and again on the way home. I'll let you know more details when I know them.

Also, she's hoping to study (some kind of design, possibly) in London from next autumn, so you might see a lot more of her. Good luck Mai!

Class Teas!

Drinking Class Teas, yes.
That is something I enjoy.
Yes, yes, yes it is.

Merrrry Christmas

Ho ho ho! I've been dying to put another post on but couldn't face another with nothing to say until...the fair came to town! Yay!! Another Edinburgh tradition that nobody mentioned until there was a fifty foot ferris wheel in the middle of the high street and then their only comment was 'och aye, another bleedin reezun fer the tourists tae git in ma way'. Ooh they're a dour lot. This is cheating a bit cos I haven't actually been up on the wheel yet, I'm waiting til the winds reach 70mph again (did I mention this last time? Edinburgh is WELL windy). But I have been round the German market. Although Scotland does a good line in shortbread, tartan and haggis, not to mention those little dolls dressed like a royal guard saying ' a souvenir in scotland' that are made in China and yet, strangely, only ever bought by the Chinese. I'm guessing it's the same in London. And rome for that matter. How about Tokyo Chris? Oh right, there the dolls say 'happy joy peace for my carrot' but I guess it's broadly the same sentiment. Anyway, yes the German market, although Scotland has it's own national produce they seem to invite the Germans over every year to sell stolen and pfeffernuse. It's quite jolly though, with much Christmas cheer and mulled wine. There's also a whole range of ye olde fayre attractions- a merry-go-round, an ice rink and a bungy dome. Of course these are all hideously dear because those fair-pikeys know that the average tourist has absolutely no grasp of exchange rates and of course the yanks and the Germans are flocking to this tourist honey-pot. Whilst I must moan about the tourists (although I'm doing myself out of another entry later in the year) this is a good time to talk about New Year in Edinburgh. Having realised the commercial potential of 'The Festival City' Hogmanay has been rebranded. Apparently they block off the whole of the centre of town, entry into which costs £5, wherein wonderous and fantastical happenings await you. I imagine it must be like a cambridge ball where everyone tries to hide in the bedroom of their friend who happens to have a flat within the blocked zone (WHY did you have to move to Marchmont Pheobe?). I'm also told that when the bells ring everyone has to be out in the street snogging a stranger, which means, taking the drunken swedish girls and neds from the borders into account, that it's one huge mother-lovin orgy out there. Unfortunately for this amateur reporter I'll be in Loughborough at New Year, a town that is sadly overlooked by the Swedish bombshells, although a haven for neds from the villages. But I will try to provide coverage of what all the 15 year olds are up to. Hey, it's a small town, everyone else has moved out.