Visit the film locations of One Day and Trainspotting on a walking tour of central Edinburgh brought to you by Cinematic Scotland and the National Library of Scotland. The full tour is about 3 miles and takes about two and half hours – at strolling pace – you don’t have to run full pelt like Ewan MacGregor. You can join the tour, which also points out interesting cinema buildings, at any point on the
Head over to a Facebook page called Dirty Old 1970s New York City for a shot – possibly from a dirty needle – of grimy, pre gentrification New York. The page is styled for ‘those who loved NYC before the 1980s took its balls away’. It’s easy to forget that before Woody Allen got us thinking the city was a book-lined psychiatrist’s study with a movie theatre on every corner, Nora Ephron
Most people love sharing what their favourite things are – holiday destinations, restaurants, pubs, books, films, albums – the list goes on. Scottish Book Trust has indulged us and asked the question – where is your favourite place in Scotland? The public were invited to send photos of their number one location as part of a photography competition. Here are some of the entries competing for the prize of a
For some reason, good glass art is hard to find. Much of it tends to the gaudy or the twee. These colourful bottles however – the biggest of which are two feet tall – are quite stunning. They are by award winning sculptor Elizabeth Lyons who handblows and signs each piece herself. They are custom works available directly from the Lyons Glass studio in Rochester New York. The images below show
The ‘Facekini’are a relatively a new (fashion?) trend, having first been noticed on the beaches of Qingdao a few weeks ago. For those of you who are fans of the look, you’ll be please to know that the ‘Facekini’ comes in a wide selection of colours. Some sellers have made the bold claim that orange coloured ‘Facekini’s’ in particular keep Jellyfish Stingers and Sharks at bay because ‘orange is the
Recognise this cover of Bananarama’s Cruel Summer? Bill Wells and Falkirk’s own Aidan Moffat couldn’t sound or look more different. The video is by Paul Fegan. Wells and Moffat recently won the first award for Scottish Album of the Year for ‘Everything’s Getting Older’. Here’s what Moffat had to say about the need for Scottish awards – very persuasive but cleverly avoiding all the usual parochial arguments. ‘But more important
Doors Open Day for central Fife, which brings an opportunity to explore buildings not normally open to the public, is on Sunday 9 September. West Fife’s day is on Sunday 16 September. Most of the buildings have stories to tell and many have more historical significance than passers by probably realise. In 1601 King James VI of Scotland held the General Assembly within the walls of Burntisland Parish Church (pictured above)
Appropriately enough some might say, it seems the best material when building churches is natural light. It is light which works its architectural magic at the Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Seattle, turning a downtown block with five stories of affordable housing above, into a colourful place of worship. In each of the examples below light is beckoned in to create churches out of stone, steel, concrete and glass: fiat lux.
Artists such as James Howden and Michael Havelin have donated artworks for a charity auction in Dunfermline, Fife on Friday 21 September. Michael Kirkham, an Edinburgh-based artist whose client list includes The New York Times and The Washington Post has provided three illustrations (pictured). Funds are being raised to help two-year old Roma Dellal, who has Germ Cell Cancer, travel from Edinburgh to the US for treatment. The woman behind the auction
One of the less universally liked aspects of the recent London Olympics was that big, pink awkward logo. The one designed for Rio 2016 however is gathering more love. Launched at an apparently drunken Copacabana beach party last year, it manages to simultaneously spell out ‘Rio’, describe the outline of Sugar Loaf mountain and show people holding hands and dancing. It was designed by Brazilian agency Tatil Design who, in