~ ANNE! ~

Urgh so tired� for some reason I�ve been waking up every night at 4 am, so I end up reading till 4:45 before I can fall asleep again. Okay, who am I kidding � we all know why I can�t sleep, and it�s because I�m not getting any exercise during the day. On that note, I am going to make a supreme effort tonight and (maybe) stop at the gym before I go visit Shannon. Lack of exercise = unhealthy, grouchy and tired, and I�m getting sick of it. (Not to mention chubby!)

So I had one heck of a weekend. Sunday (after my stint at the internet caf�, which was last time I posted) Scott and I raided the Half-Price Ticket Hut and got tickets for three shows. The first one was absolute rubbish (but luckily was only �4). It was meant to be an amusing take on Einstein�s theories, but it was barely amusing and the theoretical stuff was pub-level or lower. Blah.

But the other two were really cool � a comedy sort of thing that included stand-up, sketches and video clips, and the Kitch Kittens. The first one was held in the Caves, which are in fact actual caves. I was pretty impressed. We had to go down some steps to get under the city, and then walk along a stone tunnel packed with giant barrels. (I suspect this venue doubles as the back of a pub). We then went through a room made of stone that actually looked like it might have been lived in at some point in the past. It has stalactites (or stalagmites, can never remember which is which) hanging from the roof dripping, and the dank dark cave smell hit you as soon as you entered. Then up a twisty staircase, and into the actual venue which was a vault-shaped cave. SO COOL!!!! This is one of the things I like most about Edinburgh � that it has so many layers, and there are all these hidden bits (like caves under the tenements) that you would never know were there when you walk along the streets.

I actually went for a drink in the bar portion of the Caves a few weeks ago with Andrew. It�s only open during the Festival, apparently. I should have made an effort to go back, but too late now�

The Kittens were something else altogether. It was basically two women in 60s outfits singing girl band songs from the 50s and 60s, with much banter and audience participation in between. Happily, being female, I was not pulled up to participate (because I would not have been a happy camper, being stuck in the spotlight), but they did get Scott. Ha! I gave my abs a good workout laughing at him. It was really funny and well done, and I quickly got over my initial disappointment at the lack of beehive hairdos. The best bit was when they started The Name Game song and used the names of audience members (�Sarah Sarah bo barra banana nana fo ferra� etc). Then they made the mistake of picking on a girl called Tatiana. Amusing!

Prior to the shows we met up with Beth, Shannon and Lindsay. Then afterwards we joined Shannon and Lindsay at one of my least favorite bars in Edinburgh � which, to my surprise, was actually pretty decent fun that night. Shannon and Scott left early, but Lindsay was in fine form. She always looks so innocent, but a lot of guys got pinches in inappropriate places as soon as their backs were turned!

On Bank Holiday Monday I got to sleep in� bliss! Despite Steph calling and trying to incite people to rouse me out of bed. I then spent an hour in the waiting room of the Western General Hospital watching all the old people go in get their x-rays done. Finally, after I�d been sitting all alone for about 20 min, someone noticed me. �You�ve been here a while, haven�t you? Sorry about that, GP patients always go to the back of the queue�. Bah. But I did get my x-ray, and now have to wait a week to ten days before contacting my GP for information. I�m really starting to wonder what is going on, as it�s been a month since I �went over on my ankle� (what they apparently call a sprain here) and it�s still intermittently achy, sore to the touch, swollen and really weak. And makes impressive but scary cracking and grinding noises when I move it about.

Monday night I threw a dinner party, slightly on the spur of the moment, for eight. Turned out to be seven, though, since Brad ditched out. It was Kelly and Lindsay�s last night in Edinburgh before they set out to conquer Europe, and it was really good to see everybody. It came off really well (yes, okay, I was pleased with myself) and I have vowed to have more dinner parties. Except all my friends seem to be leaving, so I don�t know exactly who I would be inviting. And my natural laziness will probably interfere with this plan anyway. Nice thought, though!

And last night� last night was Franz Ferdinand! In case you couldn�t tell by the number of times I mentioned it, I was quite excited. Justifiably so, it turned out. It was held in Princes Street Gardens, so surrounded by a big green hedge and loomed over by the castle, all lit up. It spent all day looking as if it was going to rain, but never quite did, and in fact it cleared up and turned out to be a really beautiful, warm night. Such a gorgeous venue, with Castle Hill as a backdrop to the show.

The opening band (Ladytron) was okay but did not really grab me. They were also quite boring to watch, although the lead singer had great hair. Brad and I went down closer to the front for the actual show, which annoyed a lot of people because Brad is six foot eight. Luckily most of them turned out to be Australian and tension was diffused by a discussion of cricket.

I�d heard that Franz were good live, and they more than lived up to expectations. Tons of energy, both from the band and the crowd. They have a lot of charisma and a lot of chemistry, and you just can�t stop watching. And so cute with their Beatles-esque narrow-trousered suits and shaggy haircuts and big expressive eyes! They totally tore up the stage and we all sang along (I had a distinctly Australian echo of all the lyrics ringing in my left ear) and then at the end of their encore the drummer stabbed his drum with the drumstick and waved it at the crowd, and it was pretty darn cool.

The crowd was interesting as well. It looked like a family outing for a lot of people as there were a lot of groups of parents with their teenage kids. (Who were, of course, looking disdainful and staying as far from their parents as possible).

Franz Ferdinand played a bunch of their new stuff as well as the songs from the first album that everyone has memorised. I have to say it sounds quite good, so I will be interested to hear their new album. Always a tricky task making a second album that�s not a huge disappointment when your first was so huge�

Ooh, such a good show. Such a fun band, such a nice venue, such decent weather. I�m so glad Brad is organised about tickets and managed to get us a spot.

Everyone is leaving and I get their stuff. Shannon and the girls gave me a bunch of clothes and tupperware last night, and today Lucy from the office was giving away CDs. (She is Canadian and met her Scottish boyfriend online, and now is sponsoring him over to Canada � crazy!) I am a terrible packrat and cannot turn down free stuff, even though I know perfectly well I�ll end up giving it all away myself come December. Either that or my carry-on luggage will weigh 30kg.

Speaking of December, I have officially signed and sent off my contract to work through till December 31st, which I can get out of with two weeks notice�

Going to Orkney tomorrow! Can�t wait. I have bought a rain jacket and will bring my waterproof boots and lots of camera batteries.