Cameo Big Scream: Paddington (PG). These screenings are exclusively for babies under one year old and their parents/carers: low lights are left on in the auditorium, and nappy-changing facilities are available. 10.30am, Cameo, 38 Home Street. Membership of the Big Scream Club is required (£5) and tickets are then at Picturehouse members’ prices (babies free).
Growing Underground: Forest’s Very Open Stage. This month featuring local band Bonavent. If you would like to book a slot, contact Forest or sign up in the cafe and ‘please make sure there is something of you in your performance’. These events fill up fast, but five slots are kept back for acts turning up on the night. Free tea, coffee or corkage up to £1.50 for performers. 7.30-11pm, Forest Cafe, Lauriston Place. Free entry.
Gate 55 at Sighthill Library: drop in for a tea or coffee and a chat. 11am-12 noon today and every Thursday, Sighthill Library, 55 Sighthill Road. All welcome!
Printmaking in the Vaguest Sense: an exhibition by Laura Jardine Paterson and Jordan Pilling. Open preview tonight 6-9pm, then 10am-6pm until 1st February 2015, Dundas Street Gallery, 6a Dundas Street.
Fundraising Auction of Things That Money Can’t Buy: ever wanted to take a trip in a vintage Bentley or have your family tree researched? Come along to this auction in aid of the St John’s Development Fund – there will be refreshments and entertainment on a Burns Night theme, and the chance to bid for your chosen lot. 6pm, St John’s Church Hall, Princes Street.
Edinburgh University Theatre Company Presents The Real Inspector Hound: an original comedy by Tom Stoppard. 7.30pm, Bedlam Theatre, 11b Bristo Place. Tickets cost £5/£4.50/£4 and are available from the theatre.
SOLD OUT! An Evening with Deliciously Ella: healthy food blogger Ella Woodward will be speaking about her new cookbook, followed by an audience Q & A session. 6pm, Waterstones West End, 128 Princes Street. Tickets cost £5/£3 (Waterstones Card holders) and can be obtained from the store or booked online. For more information call 0131 226 2666.
Mayfield Salisbury Thursday Club: Rev Sarah Kilbey will talk about The Sounds of Silence: Coping with Deafness. 2pm, Mayfield Salisbury Church Upper Hall, 18 West Mayfield. All very welcome – for more information please contact Florence Smith on 0131 663 1234.
PRINT: MEDIA – Ars Brevis: Live and Let Die. Sophie Kromholz will deliver this lecture, examining the tension between infinity and the finite in printmaking, and questioning where the life of the print starts and where it finishes. Sophie is an art historian, creative explorer and communicator, currently completing her PhD at the University of Glasgow. PRINT: MEDIA is a series of lectures exploring the broad scope of print within the field of contemporary arts practice, with the aim of generating discussion around multimedia approaches to printmaking and expanded definitions of contemporary print. 6.30-7.30pm, Edinburgh Printmakers, 23 Union Street. Tickets cost £5 (or 2 for £8, free for EP members) and can be booked via eventbrite or by calling 0131 557 2479.
Rhubaba presents Patrick Keiller The Dilapidated Dwelling, a film examining the predicament of domestic space in advanced economies, the UK in particular. A fictional researcher (with the voice of Tilda Swinton) returns from a 20 year absence in the Arctic to find that, while the UK is still one of the world’s wealthiest economies, its houses, flats, etc are typically old, small, dilapidated, architecturally impoverished, energy-inefficient, and especially, extraordinarily expensive. The film asks why repeated attempts to modernise house production have not been more successful, and how the UK’s housing economy has become so ‘thoroughly dystopian’. The film will be followed by a Q & A session with the artist. 6pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets can be booked via the Filmhouse box office: prices vary.There will be an accompanying lecture by Patrick Keiller at 11.30am on 30th January at Edinburgh College of Art.
Edinburgh College Course Information Days: find out about courses starting in August – whether you want to get on the career ladder, learn new skills or continue with your studies, come and talk to staff across the curriculum. The College can offer all sorts of courses, from HND, HNC and associate degree programmes that lead on to university study, to Access courses to help you get back into education, community-based courses and industry-approved qualifications. 2-6.30pm, Edinburgh College Milton Road Campus, 24 Milton Road East. Another Information Day will take place at the College’s Sighthill campus on Tuesday 27th January: each Information Day will cover the full range of courses offered at all campuses.
Ecumenical Friends of St Cuthbert’s: Mary Moffett – Faith In Older People. Everyone is warmly welcome: bring your own packed lunch, tea and coffee provided. 12.30-2pm, St Cuthbert’s Parish Church, 5 Lothian Road. £1.50 per person, These events are organised by Edinburgh City Centre Churches TOGETHER.
North Edinburgh Grows: relief carving and letter cutting course. Come and learn a new technique with NE Grows Artist in Residence Natalie Taylor – this 5 week course of structured sessions will introduce you to the main elements of letter cutting into ‘dressed’ or sheet/wood planks. Simple starting techniques will introduce cutting into the wood, leading into carving shapes and letters in relief. (Please note this is not a 3-D carving class). No experience required, all tools and materials supplied – but please bring an old shirt or apron. Creche available at NE Arts: this must be booked in advance. 2-4pm today and 5th, 12th, 26th February and 5th March, CDT Department, Craigroyston Community High School 67 Pennywell Road. Free – £5 refundable deposit to be paid on booking. For more information and to book, contact North Edinburgh Arts, 15a Pennywell Court, tel: 0131 325 2151.
ECA Thursday History of Art Research Seminar Series 2015: The Life and The Life Writing. Chaired by Professor Alex Danchev (University of St Andrews) and followed by drinks in the Minto House Common Room. 5.15pm, Lecture Room 1, Minto House, University of Edinburgh, 20-22 Chambers Street. Free and open to all.
Scottish Book Trust New Writers’ Showcase: some of the hottest new writing talents in Scotland will perform their work live as the Scottish Book Trust celebrates its New Writer Awards. The awards identify and help to develop the authors of some of the most affecting, exciting and engaging new writing in Scotland; winners are selected from hundreds of entries by writers including Liz Lochhead, Doug Johnstone and Jenni Fagan. 7.30-9pm, The Jam House, 5 Queen Street. Tickets cost £2 + booking fee and can be booked via The Jam House website here.
