Because I have been seeing a lot of theatre, I have been short on time to do Visual Aroma this. week. Fortunately, I was asked to be on the Edinburgh Film Podcast to talk about my book, Quiet Pictures so enjoy me chatting to my friend and colleague Dr Pasquale Iannone!
Those of you who have worked in hospitality and tourism (or if you’re a performer) know perfectly well that August in Edinburgh smells like exhaustion, energy drinks of dubious origin, and the most necessary Greggs trip of your life thus far. It is entirely possible that you will go an entire day having consumed only ice cream and gin. It is rammed with tourists who have never taken public transport in their lives, and for whom the concept of GPS and Google Maps do not exist. Slow walkers manifest on our tiny streets. It is also kind of amazing, because there is so much to do and so many interesting people to encounter. I tend to gallivant around with my Mary Poppins bag crammed with the necessities of life:
Portable charger
Water Bottle
Sunblock
Hand Sanitiser
Reading Material
Headphones
Folding fan
Umbrella
Becoming sun hat/shades
Shacket/pashmina
Cosmetics
All I can tell you is that I tend to spend this month traipsing all over and feeling grateful that so many of the fine citizens of my city (permanent and temporary) know how to turn out a look. We thank you for your service in keeping Scotland beautiful with your tasteful cleavage!
I have seen a bunch of shows, most of them were good! Particular highlights were seeing some of my students be incredibly funny in Take Me To Your Leader, and I also loved having direct eye contact with Temi, while she delivered the line “But I’m a bad bitch, and so are you” in her one-woman show Main Character Energy. I screamed, and was both impressed and aroused by Rouge because we love a sexy circus show that begins with a land acknowledgement. I will also be dipping into the International Festival, the Book Festival, and the Film Festival in due course. Pray for me and my bank balance, because those interval drinks are expensive but necessary. Next week I will certainly be more on top of things, and will regale you with my thoughts on the smells of Lynne Ramsay’s You Were Never Really Here, and if you’re lucky hot, hot aromatic takes on Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance and Alice Lowe’s Timestalker.
Fabulous post SJ, and glamorous pic too 💕