I am going to merge the last two posts into a lovely mini-rant, here it goes :)…

• This article proclaims that French culture is over-hyped, “the factory which is the French cinema” produces only rubbish, and the French are stuck in the past. It seems to me like a very rude thing to say, especially standing there on the BBC website, but a friend recently enlightened me it’s an attitude reserved only for the French - the two countries being in a perpetual love-hate relationship and all that. Anyway, one example I can give in defence of French cinema is Dédales, a great crime drama that beats everything else I’ve watched recently; I also think Vilaine was very funny ( not to be confused with “Le Villain”; I haven’t watched that one.)

• My older post was about another article describing the ominous “anti-Santa Claus” movement in Austria.  Some say that Santa Claus is a commercial invention associated with Coca-Cola, and therefore it’s best to get rid of the jolly old man. Instead of Santa / Father Christmas, they are promoting Christkind, which is sort of more abstract and anti-materialistic. The article says it is based on a tradition that comes from Austria and is older than Santa Claus. I just can’t agree that  Santa Claus is a commercial invention. In Bulgaria gifts were delivered by “Father Frost” (Дядо Мраз or Дед Мoроз in Russian) on 31 December. Nowadays, Father Frost is replaced by Father Christmas (Дядо Коледа), and the date abruptly changed to 25 December. However, he’s clearly the same guy, with red outfit, reindeer and all; It’s an old pagan tradition.

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This time the photo session is a rather assorted one, with several shots of cool architecture plus a squirrel.

The photo to the left is one of the buildings inside Edinburgh Castle. It is not the most impressive one but it was getting dark (and cold) so I didn’t have time to do more.

The one to the right is some sort of medieval-looking house or… erh, tavern. I’m not sure what’s the original function of the building, no one seems to live there. I have to admit one of the windows on the pink turret is my invention. The real house has just one but I like it more with two.

This is an olden gazebo-like thingy next to the “Water of Leith” river; There is a lovely park along the river, one end goes down to the Gallery of Modern Art, then passes under an aqueduct and into a foresty park near Napier University.

Green grass, clouds and an extinct volcano in the background

Squirrels don’t like being photographed so this photo was a major achievement. More amazing architecture and beasts are to follow.

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My latest monstrous creation.

Click to see in full size

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Squids hopping around the “lava” traps. I’m not quite sure how a lava trap can be the home of an irradiated squid. More like a fire-resistant quid. Oh, well… it doesn’t really matter. I’ll try to be more consistent in the future.

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