November 30th
That's jazz. Hep cats, sharp suits, so laid back they were damn near horizontal-aroonee (no, I don't know what I'm talking about either): the Euan Stevenson Trio featuring Jonathan Cairney were quite simply immense as they entertained a transfixed and transported audience in the wine bar last night. They'll be back I'm sure - and so should you because, trust me, these boys are going places.
Incidentally - and talking of triumphant returns - spotted at last night's gig was none other than Jonathan's dad John Cairney, whose show here at Henderson's was one of the highlights of this year's festival. Now, a little birdie tells me that you might want to keep your diary clear on Sunday 20th December this year for a very special Cairney Christmas treat. Oh, OK, it wasn't a little birdie, it was Peter Henderson. Anyway, more details here as soon as we have them.
Intriguing, eh?
November 27th
They said there'd be snow at Christmas, they said there'd be peace on earth - instead it just kept on raining, a veil of tears for the virgin birth. They said they would stop the tramworks, they said that this was the day - instead they just kept on digging, we held our opening anyway.
Good, huh? No? Maybe not.
Well, whatever - tramworks or no tramworks, The Henderson Gallery was once again buzzing last night for the opening of 'Wise Men and Angels', the Christmas Show for 2009. The secret ingredient this time round came in the shape of a guest curator - step forward the delightful Dzhuliet, if that is your real name - who pulled together an astonishing array of painting, drawing, furniture, glass, ceramics, jewellery and sculpture, some of it dating back to the seventeenth century, some of it with the canvas not yet dry, at prices ranging from £25 to £25,000 for an absolute humdinger of an exhibition. I know where I'll be doing my Christmas shopping this year.
And there's more - this year the gallery has teamed up with the New Pyjamas campaign to help them raise the money needed to make the new Edinburgh Sick Children's Hospital the best it can be. So every purchase you make during the show will be helping to make sick kids better - and giving you a nice festive glow in the process.
After all, as someone once said, the Christmas we get, we deserve.
November 24th
I'm worried about Subo. Well, I think the whole country is. As the giddy whirligig of fame spins faster and faster, the Scots Diva seems to be cracking up - and who can blame her? Which one of us would be any different? Imagine suddenly finding yourself the cover girl for magazines across the globe, your name on the lips of the Hollywood A-list, your every move scrutinised by saloon bar bores from Rio to Riyadh. Absolute hell. (This, incidentally, is why I don't envy the Royal Family, not one little bit, not their money, not their private jets, not their free golf club memberships, not their nicely cut grass, not their Koo Stark. I think they do a marvellous job. But I digress.) That kind of fame is enough to drive anyone mad.
Well, almost anyone - I happen to know someone here at Henderson's who handles it better than most. Yes, gentle reader, welcome to today's episode of 'What Nina Did Next'. Now, those of you who like to slip a surreptitious redtop inside your worthy but dull Independent of a morning may already know this, but for the rest of you - the gorgeous, pouting Nina can be found gazing out from the pages of today's super, soaraway Sun.
Um, no, not that page.
(We'd like to show you the photo, of course, but that nice Mr Murdoch won't let us. And we'd send you a link, but that nice Mr Murdoch would charge you - and quite right too. The sort of top-notch investigative journalism you get in the Sun doesn't come cheap.)
Anyway the question is, what on earth is going on? What with her radio appearances and now this, I suspect that Nina is probably listed on the FTSE 100 somewhere between Tesco and Starbucks. Thing is, though, Nina remains as level headed and down to earth as ever - or so they tell me. I can't talk to her anymore. Now that she has star quality oozing out of every pore I come over all funny every time we meet - tongue-tied, blushing furiously, staring at my shoes. But if you think you can handle it, why not pop into the Shop for a chat with a real, live celebrity? Ask her about her hampers. Ask her about the Shop Christmas specials. Ask her about her teapots.
Yes, the teapots - go on, just ask her.
November 15th
Henderson's - The Next Generation, aka Barrie the Young Savage and the delightful Dzhuliet were spotted among the great and the good gracing the Dnipro Orphans Charity do at the Hibs Club last night, writes our society correspondent. A grand old night, by all accounts, with hugely entertaining guest speakers in broadcaster Bill Barclay and goalkeeping legend Alan Rough. Roughie, it must be admitted, hasn't quite kept the slim and dashing figure of his playing days (stop sniggering) and indeed got the biggest laugh of the evening with his opening line: 'Good evening, fellow athletes'.
Actually that's a lie - the biggest laugh came before the event even started, when Dzhuliet and Franz Ferdinand body double Barrie foregathered in Easter Road's fashionable Tamson's Bar. The invite did say 'dress to impress' and our Juliet thought she'd done just that - but as she swept regally through the door, one Tamson's regular was heard to mutter, 'Aw naw, it's Paris Pilton'.
Honestly, the cheek of some people.
November 12th
She's a star in new York, she's a star in LA. Well, maybe not LA, but Leith certainly. Yes, it's Nina Time once again on the News pages, and her rise to superstardom continues apace. Yesterday a reporter from Real Radio (no, it wasn't the Renegade; yes, I did make a fool of myself by asking) called in at the Shop to interview her about her experiences in Scotland.
Today, astonishingly, she was invited up to the Radio Forth studios for more of the same. Personally I think it's all going to her head: my mole on Forth Street tells me her backstage rider made Mariah Carey's look positively spartan in comparison. '2 champagne flutes filled with yellow - and only yellow - M&Ms; 3 full-length mirrors each with a picture of The A-Team; hot and cold running Evian; an entire family of meerkats.....' She used to be so quiet and unassuming as well.
Nina hasn't yet revealed when these interviews are to be broadcast - but she will, readers, she will.
November 11th
Look, we all like Christmas, I know we do. And New Year means a hell of a party, right? But afterwards, well you don't really feel your best, do you? Bloated is a word that springs to mind; run-down is another.
Not this year, people, as Henderson's is offering the chance to make it a New You for the New Year. Dr Vinod Kumar, MBBS, MSc, is offering an introduction to Ayurveda - the Science of Life - and Pranayama - the Science of Conscious Breathing - to help you to become more capable, more efficient, to breathe correctly and deeply, to self-discipline and self-heal.
The opening workshop will be at The Henderson gallery on Sunday 17th January. More details on the 'Events' page soon.
Go on - because you're worth it.
November 10th
Those of you who attended the last Most Entertaining Workshop Concert back in October won't need too much persuading to return for more of the same; those of you who missed out will want to see what all the fuss was about.
Well, the latest graduates of the Most Entertaining Academy will be displaying their talents in the Wine Bar at 7pm on December 15th. A Christmas cracker of a night out guaranteed - and it's free!
November 9th
OK, it's a freezing evening in late November and you need cheering up. You want the entertainment to be top notch, but you don't want the price to be top dollar. Come on now, who you gonna call? Hend-busters, that's who! Perrier Award winning vocalist Jonathan Cairney will be joining forces in the Wine Bar on November 29th with the Euan Stevenson Trio, about whom Radio Scotland once said, 'This trio emanates joy.' Together they'll be paying tribute to some of the biggest names in jazz, from Ellington to Evans. And the cost to yourselves, dear readers? A mere fiver. Sheesh - sometimes we spoil you people, we really do. Tickets available from Henderson's shop, or email mail@thehendersongallery.com
November 7th
Disappointment for those of you tuning in for their daily fix of Nina news I'm afraid. Today she's been edged out of the spotlight by another Henderson's babe (if you're still allowed to say that sort of thing) the wonderful Johanna Wagner.
Johanna, when not working in Henderson's restaurant, is a filmmaker whose work 'The Inner Shape' many of you will have enjoyed as part of the Joyce Gunn Cairns exhibition. That film won a BAFTA Scotland New Talent award; her latest, 'Peter in Radioland', has been nominated in this year's BAFTA Scotland Best Short Film category.
The awards are announced tomorrow night and everyone here at Henderson's has their fingers, toes, even legs crossed for Johanna. Johanna herself meanwhile has just returned from a film festival in Germany - ooh, the glamorous jetset lifestyle - to another film festival in the equally glamorous Sheffield. (Yes, I know, but Peter W is from Sheffield and he'd just get angry if I said nasty things about it. And you don't want to see him when he's angry. He works out you know.)
November 6th
Just the t'other night I was listening to Bruce Springsteen's 'Born to Run' (look, I was in the pub and it came on the jukebox - it wasn't my choice, honest) and ended up musing once again on Americans and their inability to pronounce the word 'mirror'. I mean, 'girls comb their hair in rear view meers and the boys try to look so hard' - 'meers' - what's that all about? Then again, we all have our foibles. Australians are revoltingly sporty, Greeks eat lukewarm food, the English can't dance and Scots are all bandy-legged, carrot-topped, morbidly obese alcoholics. Oh yes we are. And Poles? Well, if the delightful Nina from the shop is anything to go by, Poles are decidedly the workers of the world. Twas only last week that I mentioned to her the lack of news stories coming from the shop, and here we have two in as many days.
Today we're talking hampers. (Please note Nina, that's hampers, not humpers or indeed hamsters.) The shop today launched its Christmas 2009 Hamper, along with a range of other hampers, Scottish, Fair Trade and Organic. Any one of them would make a fantastic Christmas gift - I'd certainly be delighted to find one in my stocking. Not that it would do my stocking much good. Anyway, mosey along to the shop page for further details.
So the big question is, what will Nina be getting up to tomorrow, the little minx? There really is no telling, but rest assured you'll read about it here first. In fact, this entire 'News' section might just have to be renamed 'Nina' if things go on like this. Not that we'd mind, of course, as we all love her dearly.
As the Boss himself might have put it, we wanna die with you Nina on the streets tonight in an everlasting kiss. X
November 5th
Tea - the cup that cheers but does not inebriate.
Everybody loves a cuppa, don't they? If that includes you, then why not pop along to Henderson's Shop this Saturday between 12 and 4pm, when the tea expert and herbalist Anthony Christy of the Flower and Leith Herbal Tea Co will be hosting a tasting session of his delicious brews.
Teas to calm, teas to refresh and teas to revive: I tell you what, I'm sitting here salivating at the very thought.
Or is that perhaps just too much information?
November 3rd
I may have mentioned before that here at Henderson's we don't like to blow our own trumpet. This is of course a lie - we'll triple tongue our way through a high octane uptempo version of The Flight of the Bumblebee with unholy glee given the slightest opportunity. However we do prefer it if someone else blows that trumpet for us, which is why we are delighted to direct your attention to the review of Henderson's in 'Bite' magazine here.
November 2nd
Now that Autumn is well and truly upon us, what better way to enjoy the misty, mellow, fruitful season than with a nice bracing walk? I'll tell you what's better - a nice bracing walk that ends up in Henderson's for some much-needed and well-deserved refreshments. The good news is that here at Henderson's we are planning to produce a series of mini-guides to just such tramps about town. The bad news is that we haven't produced any yet. We were relying on that Gregor Sloss lad to walk the routes for us you see, but after yesterday's downpour he point blank refused.
'But I might get my feet wet', he whined.
Aw diddums. They just don't breed 'em like they used to, do they?
In the meantime, if you've got a favourite Edinburgh walk you'd like to see included, why not let us know?
