so this is progress...

the holyrood tavern has been closed since march 2007. it was my fave pub near the office all the time i was on staff, and i even had half my leaving do in there. scruffy, scuffed, but you didn't have to dress up (tho if you weren't wearing a lot of black you might stand out) and it was always welcoming and inexpensive. now i read in the local rag that, after being boarded up so long that weeds have grown in the doorway, its change into being a purple-fronted, 'mood-lighting in and out' poncey-arsed style bar is being cheered.

cheered by who? no-one i know who drank there is cheering - yeah, the loos were grim, the sofas knackered and the decor scuffed, but it was reasonably priced, cosy, comfy and had the best jukebox in the city, as well as some great barstaff. and yuk, purple frontage? in the old town, on the edge of a world heritage site? how on earth are they getting away with that? the ht's black and dark green outsides were far more in keeping. bah.

i'm not against change, but so often change is not for the better, which i complain about (vociferously in many cases) and so appear to be anti-change. yeah, it needed a tart up and a way to make more money so the landlord earned a crust, but style bar? in this neighbourhood? ok...

on the bright side, i just saw most of this weekend's 'doctor who' - OMG!!! it's ace.