Beloved, Let Us Once More Praise The Rain

Blimey! Who knew Edinburgh had so much rain in her? It was so wet yesterday that I had to sacrifice my principles and buy a Daily Telegraph – just so as to be able to get the free umbrella that went with it. It’s very embarrassing having to wander around flyering people whilst simultaneously advertising the right-wing press and I felt very much as though something had died within me – although such was the sheer velocity of the rain that I imagine whatever it was has been washed a long way away now.

Weirdly though, despite the weather – or perhaps because of it – I actually really enjoyed all the flyering. My dedication to the cause seemed to make everyone oddly sympathetic and a good 70% of the people I approached actually seemed very happy to stop and listen to my little pitch. What’s more, quite a few of them bought a ticket, and I returned home bedraggled but elated. The only downside is that the eagle puppet I made in order to make myself more noticeable has become iredeemably soggy and is now held together by little more than dreams and its own determination.

Flyering is a funny old game. I’ve tried a number of approaches now and I have decided that polite sincerity is the best way forward – much as it is in other situations. Of course, I am aware that consciously setting out to appear politely sincere is slightly disingenuous but I try not to think about this too much as it makes my head hurt.

Other than the weather-related sympathy I’ve been getting, I think that the other reason I’m enjoying myself so much at the moment is the fact that I had a day off on Sunday. And I mean a day off. I stayed in bed all morning, read a film magazine, had a walk in the park, got molested by a wingless bee (surprisingly inquisitive about the contents of my trousers), met up with some friends, went out for dinner and watched Allo Allo on YouTube.

I really like Allo Allo. For all its veneer of racism, sexism and homophobia, it is, deep down, rather charming – one of those brilliantly stupid and good-natured sitcoms that people don’t seem to make very much any more.

Also, I did my very best to take no notice of the Fringe at all. Other than uploading an entry to this blog (which I had written in advance and which I did not post until the very end of the day) I tried to pretend that I was somewhere else entirely. Of course this self-deception was not helped by the fact that the entire city is currently encased in a sheath of advertising, but I found that if you squint a bit, you can just pretend that it’s all part of a slightly dodgy mural. And as a long-time lover (and occasional perpetrator) of bad figurative art, I found this to be pleasing in the extreme.

So yes, I think the rest has done me good. I’m firing (and flyering) on all cylinders again and looking forward to the rest of the week. And as for the rain, I have decided to enjoy it. After all, there’s been a drought in Somalia, so it seems a little churlish to complain.