Bruges

One of the many great lines in the movie In Bruges is when Brendan Gleeson attempts to persuade a decidely unenthusiastic Colin Farrell into some tourist activities with the proclamation that "We shall strike a balance between culture and fun". This is the balance we were going for today, although some of the younger members of the group would have admittedly preferred to stay inside and watch a DVD or play on Moshi Monsters. But culture it was to be...

Tony Cragg at the Modern Art Gallery was pretty enjoyable, although slightly ironic that those of us who knew little about his work previously enjoyed it far more than the person who knew all about his work and really wanted to go. She didn't like it one bit. And the kids got bored quickly too, our culture fun/balance was clearly a bit off.

Fringe activity for some of us later with two different plays at the Traverse, both extremely good. Like, really good. Normally at festival time it takes a wee bit of time to get into your stride I find and so consequently the first few things you see tend to usually leave you satisfied enough, but not exactly exhilerated or gushing with enthusiasm. However, I can wholeheartedly recommend both A Slow Air and The Monster In The Hall. A great first festival day.

Early hours drink, chat and music in the kitchen with my old pal Rob to end the day. We listened to this and reminded ourself how much we both loved that first Air album, even though neither of us could remember the name of our favourite track. It may have been the time, it may have been the beer, but it was all good and felt just fine.