• went to Club Noir in Edinburgh
    This was fun. Carene was all dressed up as a cross between Roxie Hart and Liza Minnelli, and I made an effort (silver and black cheongsam-style dress, patent leather boots), which is a huge deal (i.e. I wasn’t wearing jeans). Most unfortunately, a lot of the females there were dressed almost identically, either as bunnies or Parisian can-can girls, i.e. any excuse to wear as little as legally possible. I very much appreciated those who dressed up because they really were into alternative styles, not just because they wanted to look hot.

    Then of course there were a couple of blokes who tried to chat us up, something that hasn’t happened in years (middle-aged deluded horndogs in Xiamen aren’t counted). It all started with a random comment about the time the first shows were starting (11.30pm), and then a throwaway comment about whether any of us could help him tie his bowtie. Probably much to his surprise, I volunteered — my cousin just taught Neil how to tie a bowtie (for the wedding) and I was there. So I managed to tie it for him and it actually looked acceptable. Which meant I didn’t even notice that he was trying to chat me up since I was being all self-congratulatory about getting it right. And then Carene pointed it out and hey man, this proves I’ve still got it. Once every five years or so, someone might try to pick me up. Heh.

    But what of the show itself? We only managed to watch the first show and half of the second, and given that I’m only 5′ 4″ and wasn’t right in the front row, I only got to see what the video cameras captured. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting or hoping for — I was thinking more variety and humour and wit and cross-dressing, and definitely less striptease. There was an interpretive dance-type striptease, though, which was appropriately odd. All in all, Club Noir is a good night out.