Last Week...

[rhythmaning]

Last week, I…

• found a wallet in the street – in the gutter – as I was walking to work. I was late. I flicked through the wallet; I found a range of gold cards, but no phone number. I didn’t want to explore the wallet too much – it felt like I was intruding – it was a private place (someone’s life). I saw a driving licence; the address was just across the street – one of the poshest streets in Edinburgh, a beautiful Georgian circus in the New Town. I rang the doorbell a couple of time, but there was no reply, so I simply posted the wallet through the postbox.
  
  Later, I wasn’t sure whether this had been the right thing to do: perhaps I should have carried it to work, phoned the card company and got them to tell the guy that I had found his wallet. But putting through the door seemed a lot easier at the time; and I would have felt uneasy putting the wallet in my pocket.



• watched actors and a film crew filming beside the Water of Leith. I don’t know what they were filming: some cop show – there were lots of police cars parked around, and a very many police men larking about, drinking coffee and smoking. (I assume they were not real police men. I would like to think that they had better things to do than stand around watching film crews.) The police cars all had “City of Edinburgh Police” written on their side – as opposed to the real Lothians and Border Police.
  
  The only person I recognised was Michelle Gomez, who is currently featuring in Green Wing; but I remember her from a performance of the Vagina Monologues that my wife insisted I go to. (I have rarely felt more in a minority. And I found it very hard to shout out as instructed. The things I do for my wife.) She was energetically hugging one of the policemen; this was larking rather than filming, since no one asked me to get out of the shot or anything like that. Indeed, since I saw them four times last week – two mornings and two evenings – I don’t think I once saw them actually filming anything; just a lot of standing around drinking coffee, smoking (a lot of smoking; lucky for them they were out of doors! Although I wonder if that counts as a place of work?) and eating bacon rolls.
  
  I had half been expecting to see Ken Stott as Rebus, lurking under the arches by the river; or some characters from the ill-named Taggart, though they have enough hassle in Glasgow to keep themselves busy, I guess. But no-one other than Ms Gomez. I wonder what they were filming – and if I will see it, and recognise it?