Breaking news

A charity auction raising money for The British Heart Foundation Scotland, Marie Curie Cancer Care, and BLISS-caring for babies born too soon will take place at the Out of the Blue Drill Hall on Saturday 23 October.

For sale will be 12 unique pieces created by established Scottish jewellers alongside some of the finest up-and-coming new graduates as part of a project by the Precious Metals Workshop. Materials – metals and jewels – were donated by Hamilton & Inches, where the completed works have been on display this month. Clare Blatherwick of Bonham's will host the sale.

Residents in McDonald Place and McDonald Rd must be feeling under siege at the moment as two potential local developments demand their attention.

Carrick Motorcycles, currently of Queen Charlotte Street in Leith, are applying for permission to open a sales (200 square metres) and service centre (390 square metres) at 21 McDonald Place (Ref. 10/02918/FUL).

Elizabeth Fraser (née Simpson) has contacted Spurtle from Sydney, Australia. She was born at 7 New Broughton in 1931, then 'a slum', and now seeks a photograph of her birthplace at around that time.

A 'flashmob' of around 16 photographers assembled in Multrees Walk today at 12:30pm to protest against an alleged heavy-handed response by security staff to unauthorised photography there on Thursday.

Minutes of the New Town and Broughton Community Council's September meeting are now available in Extras.

A new exhibition of animal pictures – 'Into the Wild' – will show at Art Amatoria in Bellevue Crescent from 12-24 November.
All the works are by Flora Blackett, who has focused on African creatures as well as a few more familiar British ones for her first solo exhibition in the capital.

'Flora's skill lies in capturing at first hand animals and their surroundings, studying their movement and mannerisms to create an intimate portrait,' writes gallery owner Caroline Hay. 'She strives to capture both the immediacy and the serenity in every scene ...'.

Following September's Community Jazz Festival, Broughton St Mary's Parish Church is beginning to establish itself as a key music venue in the city.

On 23 October, Jazz Vehicle – a touring band from Lincoln – will play for free, hoping to enjoy the great acoustics in Bellevue Crescent and tap into an appreciative and knowledgable local audience.

Locals passing along Broughton Street, or looking at the shop's business cards or reading its advertisements online here may occasionally have wondered about the origin of Villeneuve Wines' fascinating artwork.

Their floating cockerel, the well-lubricated donkey, and the caricature below (of David Hockney?) are clearly extraordinary but where are they from?

Leith Central Community Council meets next on Monday 18 September at 7:30pm in McDonald Road Library.

An agenda and minutes of the 13 September meeting are available in Extras.

James Luckett has recognised the subject of the grafitti near Bruntsfield Links (Breaking news 9.10.10).

It was certainly based on a photograph of the 'German philosopher and all-round fun-guy' Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900).

'Nietzsche,' Mr Luckett continues, 'famously stated that "Art is not merely an imitation of the reality of nature, but in truth a metaphysical supplement to the reality of nature, placed alongside thereof for its conquest"'.

Erm ... quite. Think I'll go and buy a pick-up.

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