Jerusalem

Another afternoon/evening of festival stuff with my folks still in town and offering their babysitting services once more.

So, I'll cut to the chase, quick rundown.

Kalpna for lunch, if you've never been for the lunchtime buffet at this family-run Indian restaurant on the southside I implore you to go go go.

Read a couple of 5-star reviews for poet Luke Wright which was good enough persuasion for us to give him a whirl. A hugely impressive show all about modern (for 'modern' read 'broken') Britain with some nice illustrations projected and a charming, warm style from Luke who then stood at the exit after the show had finished and shook every single audience member's hand on the way out, thanking them for coming. His poems had a real grit to them, not least the absolute bomb that he dropped midway through his set based around a recentish news story that was pointedly and purposefully horrific. A bold move indeed.

I like going to places I've never been before, even though I've lived here for donkeys' years now there's always unexplored places. The Edinburgh Larder is a pretty nice cafe down on Blackfriars Street. They specialise in organic and/or local produce and although I had only had a decidely non-local latte the food that was being brought out of the kitchen to the other customers looked prety decent. Worth a return visit.

Josie Long is hugely likeable. I've seen her a few times now over the years and although I've not always completely loved her shows I've always liked her, which has seen me coming back for more. And, perhaps more importantly, last year's effort was incredibly good. So, big hopes for this year and happy to say I wasn't disappointed in the least. Her new found political activism has energised her as a person but she's more than aware that there's an awful lot to learn about this politics malarkey and realises that although she's way out of her depth at times it doesn't stop her dreaming. Mainly of a better society for the 99.99% of us that aren't , in her own words, "super-minted". Real heart-on-the -sleeve stuff again, like the earlier Luke Wright show, and, in its own way, quite inspirational.

OK, enough of the reviewing business, let's have a tune. This was the perfectly apt intro music at Luke Wright's show. I think I knew that with this as his track of choice, how could I not be in for a treat?