After all the fuss and frolics of Yuletide, it’s now austerity season. Nights are spent nesting on the sofa, cushion fighting over the remote control. Thumbing through the DVD collection uncovered a lost gem, something we’d picked up from the HMV bargain bucket and forgotten about. ‘Sunshine on Leith’ is the re-telling of the timeless girl meets boy story, played out in the streets and pubs of Edinburgh and set to the music of The Proclaimers. It’s a foot tapping joy from beginning to end with some glorious set pieces that really show off the Caledonian capital’s neo-classical elegance. Mind you, it’s just as well I’ve stepped out with a few Scots lads in my time. Those less familiar with Scottish brogue are advised to turn on the subtitles.
Jack Scott
Imagine the absurdity of two openly gay, married, middle aged, middle class men escaping the liberal sanctuary of anonymous London to relocate to a Muslim country. I chronicled our exploits with the mad, the bad, the sad and the glad in a blog for the whole world to ignore. Then came the book which became a critically acclaimed best seller. Its success opened out a whole new career for me, firstly as an author, and now as a publisher. Who'd have thought it? Certainly not me.
In June 2012, we ended our Anatolian affair and paddled back to Britain on the evening tide, washing up in Norwich, a surprising city in eastern England, then to the wilds of Norfolk as the only gays in the village. I’m sometimes nostalgic for our encounters with the hopeless, the hapless and, yes, the happy go lucky. They gave me an unexpected tale to tell and for this I thank them.
Perking the Pansies 
I have a little Bodrum story about this film. In 2000 or so, a screen writer rented our village house for a few months so he could work with few distractions. The family went to all the village weddings that go on in winter and his small daughter Freya got up and danced with all the other village girls. According to her dad, she realised that she loved dancing and singing to an audience and decided to be an actress. And a very good one she is too.
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And that actress is Freya Mavor, perhaps?
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As I live and work in Edinburgh I can relate to this film in many ways. I stay in the west side of the city but often find myself painting and decorating down leith. The proclaimers soundtrack was superb, do they have a new album out soon? Thanks.
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Last year, I think.
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Jeez! You’ll be promoting Brigadoon next! 😦
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Off to HMV to pick up a copy!
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😦 in fact 😦 😦
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I love that song and a lot of others by the Proclaimers. Movie sounds interesting too. )
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It’s fun and light. Something for a snowy Sunday!
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Is it a musical? While I love me a good musical, it’s a hard sell at home 👯👯👯
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Yes, it’s a musical and great fun too!
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