Edinburgh day 4

Wish the weather would make up its mind - dull and cool this morning, followed by dense drizzle, followed by sun - so now the humidity is high and everyone is damp and sweaty. Mmmmm lovely! Apparently one of the reasons cinema attendance didn't fall as badly as expected during the recent very hot spell was because people were going to see a film just so they could sit in an air conditioned room. Don't blame them - I've done it myself.

Just been to my first Fringe show of this year - a student comedy sketch/revue show by Mount Rushmore's Babes, four girls from Loughborough University doing their first fringe. They were good, if a little patchy - plenty of talent and imagination, they just need to tighten some of the sketches up a little as one or two of them fizzle out. The songs were good, but my favourite sketch was the audition for the drummer in an air band - "too heavy rock, we have more of a jazz sensibility" - v funny. And I've got a bundle of tickets for the next few days, including Shakespeare for Breakfast, and Dan Clark (hoorah/phew in equal measure).

Why are some film people a bit gittish? Bloke at a computer in the delegate centre, where there's a queue for computers, doesn't use his once while he conducts a very loud conversation on his mobile along the lines of "Eric Fellner blah blah blah, well, I said blah, Working Title, blah blah". Why not just wear a T shirt saying "I'm really really important so shut up while I bellow"? One of last night's films had a very funny scene at the beginning poking fun at blokes just like that, and you could guess where in the room the film-makers were sitting by where the loudest laughs came from. "Art School Confidential" poked fun very pointedly at the art world in general, but in a way that made the pretentiousness very funny. John Malkovich and Steve Buscemi in particular were very good as the disapointed artist turned lecturer, and the self-important gallery/cafe owner. Well worth seeing - my favourite so far.

Then I saw "In Between Days" - can't tell you what happened in the end, because shortly before I died from boredom I managed to make my escape froom the cinema. Not only was it a boring film but it was filmed in a really irritating way - tight close-ups almost all the time on the faces of the two lead characters. I'm beginning to think there's a limit to the amount of cutting edge new wave stuff I can take. Give me a story! Please!

Viv and Lizz saw Alan Rickman yesterday, but in keeping with my fine tradition, I haven't seen anyone famous ambling around. I think I have star-repellant, as well as man-repellant. Ah well. Will have to rest on last year's laurels of possibly seeing Elijah Wood - or not.