Son of a gun reporters are never happy
It's been a weird last few days....
The Munich Eyes' Intrepid reporter Robert Johnson is in Edinburgh to attend and cover the biggest English Language Theater Festival in the world. Follow him here exclusively at the EYE.
Gentle reader, thank you very much for tuning in to this dispatch of what will hopefully be a successful run of columns, interviews and on the spot the updates from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. We are going to track down the Munich influence at this Festival, and explore one of Munich's most appealing sister cities. I hope you enjoy reading about it, as much as I am enjoying doing it.
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So far, on this trip as weird things go, we have met the Duke of Edinburgh ever so briefly, and given out a flier advertising a rather risque show to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He said "Thank you very much, er....Good Luck." It was ever so kind of him.
I'm here in Edinburgh, and well, there has been a lot of work both at home and abroad. We at the EYE have quite a few interviews with the hottest German talent that is here at the Fringe, so stay tuned, our first print interview will be with German Comedian Christian Loh who is doing multiple shows here at the Fringe. Before we get there though, here is the Fringe madness from tonight.
This reporter was walking up the hill in search (hopelessly it turns out) of a night bus to take him back to his flat. When lo and behold a young man surrounded by 4 beautiful young ladies who will remain nameless by request, ran quite furtively across the road and proceeded to take an unscheduled joyride on a scooter of the kind designed to help the elderly and overweight get around. Except this one is painted completely silver. When Gary Glitter is 85, this will be his means of transportation.
As you might know, we are in Edinburgh to hunt down and cover German talent and Festival goers and bring them back, at least electronically to you, our beloved public. But this was simply to good an opportunity to pass up, and it turns out to be quite topical. Please see the attached photo of the young man in question on his scooter odyssey.
Our Young Scooter Daredevil is named Niall Thomson. He is 31 years old. And, ladies and gentlemen, Young Niall is from Glasgow and teaches...wait for it...French and...German!
Yep. The synchronicity is synchronizing. When I asked him why he did it, the answer, "How could one not?" pretty much sums up a night on the streets here.
I have to admit it's been a hard day. One of my venues is fantastic, the other...well let's just say it needs a lot of work, and so far the crowds have not materialized. Tomorrow there will be guerrilla actions to help us get as many people's attention as possible. If we dispatch from prison you will all know we have been successful.
Watching these folks play in the street and being able to not only get an excellent photo but also connect the whole she bang to our collective home in the center of the EU has really made my night. Thank you Niall and thank you ladies. Now if I can only get them to come and see my shows...
These Bloody Streets...Literally!
In other news from the way home, the streets are covered in Blood. Literally. Although the people of Edinburgh are gentle enough, there are either quite a few drunken brawls or people don't get enough meat in their diets and they are bleeding from the nose everywhere. Enclosed are pics from the many bloodstains on the sidewalks. If I get enough I will start a gallery...At least there was no chunder on the way home.
Germans at last!
The Fringe is awash in beautiful people. Norway, Spain, and especially France. What is missing are the English, who are down south watching the Olympics. Tonight this reporter actually found some Germans and a couple of Austrians as well.
Recently arrived from Norfolk we see here from left to right, Angie 20, from Salzburg, Magdalena 19, from Salzburg, Felix 19, from Halle, Simon 19 ,from Offenburg, and Hannah 18, from Lönnecke.
They were kind enough to answer some questions for a tired reporter.
With the exception of Magdalena, they are all doing their full time volunteer year in the UK down in Norfolk. This really is the best foot forward from modern Germany.
Angie is from Austria and thought I should carry her bag to the train station for her. This reporter is no pack mule. Chivalry isn't dead, but it isn't dumb either.
So what will they do here?
"Attend the Festival of course! We are so excited to be here in this beautiful city," said the group leader and chief negotiator Hannah. "We will climb Arthur's seat, and run around and see as much as we can." At the mention of climbing Arthur's seat, the boys were a bit crestfallen, perhaps hiking was not to their liking...maybe some light bike riding?
The group find Edinburgh to be very beautiful, but they are concerned about understanding the dialect. Also, the bus stations are not as organized as back in Germany, as there were not enough lockers to accommodate many of the travelers who needed them. We took a picture and got their info and off they went on their adventure.
As they set off into the night, there were two important realizations. 1. There was not a night bus in any useful sense of the word, because this reporter had spent too much time photographing blood on the sidewalk and talking to interesting people. So we're hoofing it the 4k back to the flat. ...(The EYE doesn't do taxis) 2. As weird as it can be, not that the EYE has its press accreditation and the weather is nice, it's going to get a whole lot weirder. Stay Tuned!
