I go to see... ANDY MURRAY (again)

where: Festival Square
when: he'll be here for all his Wimbledon matches

Five sets and four hours saw Murray get past Stanislas Wawrinka last night to reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, and once again Edinburgh came out in force to cheer him on. First there was me and a guy doing tricks with his bike...

Then there was me and a guy doing tricks with his football...

After an hour I was freezing in the mist, so I cycled to Biblos for a pint and an indoor screen, and watched tennis while Oscar Wilde, Shakespeare and possibly Samuel Pepys watched me back...

Wawrinka and Murray fought like polecats to take it to two sets apiece, at which point I raced back to Festival Square to catch the atmosphere of the final set, and to my surprise, after nearly four hours, there was an atmosphere, though kind of spooky...






Murray's quarter-final is against Juan Carlos Ferrero on Wednesday...

I (don't) see... EDINBURGH CASTLE

One of the delights of writing in the Elephant House is to look out of the window at that castle in the air, Edinburgh Castle, perched high on its stump of extinct volcano, in-between the trees of Greyfriar's graveyard and the tenements of Merchant Street. But sometimes, like today, I look out of the window to find that the trees are there, and the tenements are there, but the castle isn't - mist has descended damply on its ramparts and crenellations, leaving just a hazy impression of the building behind.

To the right of the mist-obscured castle, above the houses, you can just see a spectator stand for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo (7th to 29th August). The Tattoo isn't really my thing, but if you like men and women in uniforms, marching parades, pipers, drummers, fireworks, dogs and really loud bangs that wake up everyone in Edinburgh late at night for most of August, it could be yours...

I go to see... ANDY MURRAY

where: Festival Square
when: he'll be here for all his Wimbledon matches

This shot shows Murray Madness hitting Edinburgh big time today as Andy Murray races past Victor Troicki to make the final 16 of Wimbledon. The atmosphere in Festival Square was crazy, delirious, almost four-dimensional as myself and two youths jostled for position before the giant screen.

Murray's next match is on Monday, when the crowds are expected to swell dangerously, perhaps to half a dozen. Hope to see you there...

I go to see... LOOKING FOR ERIC

film: Looking For Eric
director: Ken Loach
where and when: Cameo until 25 June


There are two Erics in Ken Loach's latest film: Eric Cantona plays Eric Cantona (method acting at its outermost limit), while Steve Evets plays depressed Mancunian postman Eric Bishop. This second and Lesser Eric has a helluva lot on his plate: a deep and guilty love for the first wife he abandoned, stressful childcare duties for their grandchild, contemptuous stepchildren in thrall to the local villain, plus a self-esteem so low that he could easily limbo under a doormat while balancing a bottle of beer on his pale and undernourished belly.

At the beginning of the film, Lesser Eric's near encounter with his first wife has him succumbing to a panic attack and driving the wrong way round a roundabout, smashing up the car and putting himself in hospital. Things go downhill for him from there. Fortunately he starts filching his stepson's dope to get some relief, which allows Greater Eric -- yes, renowned Kung-Fu expert, philosopher of seagull axioms and sometime footballer Eric Cantona - to start making pithy cameo appearances within Lesser Eric 's disintegrating consciousness.

Cantona's gnomic encouragements - on self-esteem, love and teamwork - are at times so incomprehensible that I couldn't tell if they were in French and English or some other language (Cantonese), but they educate Lesser Eric in how to respect himself and deal with all the problems that beset him; ninety minutes later, helped out by scores of like-minded working-class chums, Lesser Eric has won his woman back, solved the small matter of his stepson being viciously blackmailed to look after a gun, humiliated and neutralised the psycho who owns the shooter, transformed his deeply dysfunctional family into The Waltons, and become a real man just like Greater Eric - although not such a dab hand at football.

If I sound less than convinced, it's because I'm more than sceptical. The film reminded me of the more simplistic offerings of Radio Four's Thought For the Day, those ones in which an earnest cleric ends up saying that life's a bit like a game of football, isn't it, when you think about it, and God's like the referee...

Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed Looking For Eric for its entertainment value and the great performances, and I suppose that when viewed purely as a comedy-drama -- rather than the serious social commentary it also aspires to be -- it's a qualified success...

For a thumbs-up-high review, try Film4; for a 'this is a stinker', The Independent delivers.