Oh my poor neglected blog

As predicted, August has been rather a busy month for me and it seems my blog has suffered somewhat as a result. Tut, tut. I shall endeavour to return to my regularly scheduled blogging each evening.

Amongst the numerous things which have been taking up my time recently was a day trip out to Glasgow to catch up with old friends Kevin and Mija and their absolutely delightful six month old baby girl Catriona (pronounced Catri-ona, not Katrina as I've mistakenly been calling her). Though she was evidently tired for most of the day she seemed as good natured a tot as almost any I've encountered and there was barely a tear during the whole day (by the end of which I was left with a strong hankering for a puppy again). It was good seeing all concerned again, albeit for too short a season as our day together was cut slightly short by a previous engagement which I'd earlier forgotten about, namely the Edinburgh Tattoo.

The the tickets were a birthday present from Nicky and Kerry who were also in attendance. Funnily enough although I've never been to the Tattoo before, I've been listening to it for the last week or so - the various cannon firings and firework displays are surprisingly audible from my flat. Anyway, it's not something I'd ever given much thought to about attending in the past but Nicky and Kerry had both been before and thought I'd enjoy it, so I went along with an open mind. And indeed, it was tremendous fun. Firstly the assembled pipe bands entering the esplanade from the castle gates made for an impressive sight and the quality of playing of the playing was also top notch. What really makes the evening work was the lack of seriousness with which many of the bands displayed. The New Zealand band in particular went out of their way to put on a good show, at various points breaking into familiar tunes such as the James Bond theme, and later the Bossa Nova, instantly recognisable to anyone who's ever watched an Austin Powers film. The Swiss drum band - named in all seriousness "Top Secret" - also put on a fantastic display of synchronised drumming. Even the grand assembly of all the different bands broke out into a Benny Goodman number at one point. There was even a rendition of "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" from a group of orphaned African children. The audience duly lapped it up.

Whilst I'm leery of all things patriotic, I have to confess that a montage projected on the castle walls towards the end of the night, with an accompanying voiceover describing the feats of the various Scottish armies over the course of the countrys history, left even me feeling a tinge of nationalistic pride.

A very enjoyable evening all in all.